Published: January 12, 2026
Although I had won, I quickly left the battlefield, troubled by the prisoner I had somehow captured.
“It’s over… completely over… I’ll be tortured and killed… the worst… it’s no good… I hate torture…”
Muttering those words, he sighed deeply.
“Of all people, one of them was a prince. That makes two now. I’m not trying to collect princes or anything.”
“Collecting princes…”
“Why are you trying to hold back your laughter?”
Til was strangely trying to suppress a laugh, so I tilted my head in confusion and looked back.
There, a young man with bright green hair, pressed at the neck with a drawn blade, was half crying.
He looked like a slender, idol-like guy, but his face was pale blue and drenched in cold sweat. His teary eyes made him look like a bullied middle schooler.
And from an outsider’s perspective, I was the bully.
“…Uh, you’re Prince Freitliner Yelinetta, right? For now, I don’t plan on killing or torturing you, okay?”
“For now!? So… when I rejoin the main force, you’ll just behead me on the spot…”
“No, no, no… you’re way too negative. I’m not even joining the main force. I’m heading back to my territory.”
“B-Back to your territory…? You… plan to torture me thoroughly…”
“I said I won’t.”
Freitliner trembled violently as he said that, and I answered half-exasperatedly. He didn’t seem to believe me at all.
In reality, I had already asked everything I wanted to know, and he had answered everything straightforwardly.
It was complicated, but it was a relief not to need any truth serum.
“To be honest, you’ve already given me enough information. Once I’ve confirmed you’re not lying, I’m thinking about releasing you, you know?”
Upon hearing that, Freitliner raised his head, his mouth forming a straight line.
“R-Really? You won’t kill me? You won’t torture me?”
“Nope, nope.”
I replied lightly with a bitter smile.
Out of fear, Freitliner was desperate with a kid like me. Well, no doubt he was scared, but I wish he would show at least a little royal dignity.
Then again, I might cry too if I were in his shoes.
“Still, the Yelinetta Kingdom really went all out. Even though we’re allied, sending the majority of their troops this way… I think their location is even more challenging than ours.”
I muttered that absentmindedly. Freitliner’s eyes lost their spark.
“…It can only be described as madness. There’s no such thing as a perfect alliance. Everyone naturally prioritizes their own country’s interests. Even the Black Orbs, it’s just an imported product, not something they monopolize… If it were me…”
Freitliner began muttering to himself. Whether viewed from afar or close up, he looked like a dangerous man, but what he said was something I couldn’t ignore.
“Wait a second, the ally is Hesel, which governs the eastern part of the continent, right? Has it always been that way? The Black Orbs come from the Central Continent?”
I asked to confirm. Freitliner sighed gloomily.
“…The siege weapons, the new magic, the new style of fortifications — all from the Central Continent. It wouldn’t be strange for the Black Orbs to come from there. At the very least, neither Hesel nor Yelinetta have the knowledge or technology to create such things.”
He muttered that self-destructively and averted his gaze. Watching that, I scratched my head.
Certainly, new technologies and knowledge often come from the Central Continent. To put it bluntly, their educational environment and everything else is probably more advanced.
However, this time it’s different from previous innovations in weapons or minor technical improvements. The use of gunpowder weapons is frankly terrifying.
If practical forms like the Black Orbs have reached us, perhaps some countries have already put guns into practical use.
I had been relieved, thinking that the existence of magic slowed development, but if there are units equipped with guns capable of accurate mid- to long-range shooting, that would be a real threat.