SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 370: The Last Threshold of Wrath (4)

The crown prince and his people holed up in a small city, but this was more of an escape from reality. I surrounded the city with the Ducal Family of Ivansia’s knights, the imperial knights, and my own clan vassals. After that, I sent an envoy out of politeness.

“Well, let’s try sending an envoy to urge them to surrender first,” I said.

Of course, a crown prince who had fled from reality wouldn’t be polite to me in return. According to the envoy, the crown prince had said something like, “You all are just invaders from another world! I am the crown prince of this empire, and I’ll never bow to the thugs of the other world!”

I clicked my tongue at the news. “Idiot.”

A few of the empire’s nobles and commoners were unfriendly to people from the different world, so if I had just blindly intimidated the crown prince, I would have been treated like an invader from another world. If the crown prince had played his cards right, his claim to fight the other world invaders could have gained some support.

However, the emperor had given me the justification I needed. Even the clothes I was wearing now were in the empire style. Right now, I was the Duke Consort of Ivansia who was here to fight under the emperor’s orders. Checkmate.

“What do you plan to do now?” Sylvia asked, coming to stand beside me. She was aiding me on this matter with her profound knowledge of the empire’s matters. “As someone who has dated this guy, don’t expect him to surrender. He never goes back on his word once he’s made up his mind.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t surrender.”

“Heh. That means...”

I gripped the hilt of my holy sword. “I’ll go get him.”

That night, I scaled the city wall alone. The crown prince’s forces seemed to have prepared to hold out within the city for a long time. It was pretty well guarded, but that was all. They would need to do a better darn job than that to stop me.

Less than an hour later, I broke into the crown prince’s bedroom. The blond ramen was deep asleep, snoring soundly. He couldn’t be more oblivious to what was happening around him; the knights standing guard outside were all passed out.

Scoffing, I poked him in the cheek. “Hey. Get up already.”

“Ugh, phhh, hmmmm. What... is the matter...?” The crown prince blinked and glared at me. He was yet to wake up to reality.

“What do you mean? Show some respect. The person who married your first fiance and took your second fiance as a clan vassal has arrived.”

The crown prince’s eyes widened. “What...? Ack!”

I had been waiting for this moment. I immediately flicked his eyelid with the fingers I had been pressing against his cheek.

The crown prince covered his face and fell off the bed. “Aahhhhhh! My eye, my eyeeeeeee!”

“Stop whining. It was just a flick.”

“G-guaaaards! Guards! There’s an intruder! An intruder! What are you doing, guards!”

“All your guards are asleep, you vongole spicy udon. You’re like those extra noodle toppings that still aren’t on my table an hour after I ordered. Can’t you tell the guards are gone from how I’m stroking your eyebrows?”

“G-guaaaaaaards! Guaaaaards!”

I squatted down and looked at the crown prince, just like a neighborhood bully would do to their victim. The crown prince, born into the imperial family, had likely never seen someone look down on him like this before. As soon as our gazes met, he barely opened his eyes and shuddered.

“W-why is no one answering my call...?” the crown prince asked in a trembling voice.

“Because I’ve covered a six-meter radius with my aura like a dome. Even if you screamed at the top of your lungs, the aura barrier would block it, so no one would be able to hear you.”

“That’s imposs—”

“It’s very possible, and the barrier will keep on standing. Crown Prince, I also don’t want to be here with you, so let’s just get this over with.”

I pulled out the scroll that bore the emperor’s seal.

“W-what...? That’s...!” The prince’s mouth dropped open when he recognized the seal.

This time, I flicked his lips. An ugly scream came out of his mouth. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“Kid, for the sake of your udon brain, I’ll summarize and explain His Majesty’s divine words.” I smirked at the crown prince, whose lips had been split apart. “You’ll come studying abroad in my world, starting today.”

“S-study abroad? What are you talking about?”

“Well, it’s a fancy way to call it studying abroad, but you’re being exiled, you bastard. You dared not only to poison Raviel but also plotted against the emperor.”

The crown prince turned pale, probably realizing that the others and I had all the physical proof of what he had done. “I-I have countless nobles who follow me. There’s no way they’d tolerate such tyranny!”

“Well, interesting enough, they will. Look. If this continues, they’ll all be accused of treason, and their heads will be rolling on the floor. But I’m going to give them a chance.”

“A chance?”

“A chance to sever their ties with you and save their lives.” I tapped the crown prince on the forehead with the scroll. With each tap, the crown prince flinched, his shoulders shaking. “The nobles didn’t follow you and joined the treason. His Majesty the Emperor ordered you to go to the other world to study abroad, but you found the idea foreign and scary. That was how you ended up whining like a teenager in his rebellious phase.”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t even just whine alone in your room. You begged the nobles to hide you, and they, unable to refuse the crown prince’s request, hid you here. But the secret didn’t last long, and His Majesty discovered your location.”

The prince looked up at me as I grinned.

“Do you still not understand what’s going on? This is my scenario. According to it, the nobles don’t have to face treason charges. They’re only guilty of pampering the pathetic crown prince. Sending you abroad. That’s all everyone needs to live happily ever after. How do you think the nobles will react? Hmm? ‘Oh, nooooo. We’ll follow you till the end, Your Highness. It doesn’t matter if our heads are cut off and our families are killed.’ Do you think that’s what they’ll say?”

“Aaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaah!” The crown prince finally understood and started to throw a fit. “You’re a plague from the other world! Yes, it’s all because of you! Everything’s been ruined ever since you came. You stole Lady Ivansia and also my sweet, lovely Lady Golencup! It’s your fault! If it weren’t for you—”

“Please have a good dream, Your Highness. When you wake up, it’ll be a brand new world.”

I pressed the crown prince’s acupoint. The crown prince’s world went dark.

***

“Aaaah!” The crown prince jerked to his feet, breaking out in a cold sweat. He swallowed hard. “I-it was a dream, I guess. Phew...”

“Did you have a good dream last night?”

“Kieeeeeeee!” The prince jumped back as if he had just seen a terrible monster when he turned in my direction. Such a reaction could break my delicate heart. “W-where in the world am I?”

“This is the twenty-ninth floor, sir,” I replied with a smirk. “The genre of this floor used to be school drama, and it’s the floor that the Indoor Librarian used to rule. It’s also where one of my vassals, Kim Yul, lived.”

“H-huh?”

“Of course, none of this information will be of any use to you. You were the one and only crown prince of the empire, destined to wear the emperor’s crown in the future. There’s only one piece of information you need to know. No one in this world will treat you as a crown prince.”

Someone knocked on the door behind us.

“Come in,” I said.

“Okaaay, ” Sylvia answered cheerfully as she pushed open the door into the six-square-foot studio.

Actually, it was more of a gosiwon[1], so it didn’t deserve to be called a studio.

Sylvia looked around the room and narrowed her eyes. “Wow, it’s small.... Patriarch, do you really think he can live in such a cramped space? It seems impossible to me.”

“That’s the reality he’ll have to deal with from now on. Have you talked to the gosiwon owner?”

“Oh, yes. As soon as he saw the gold bars, his eyes lit up, and he said he looked forward to doing more business in the future. He seemed to think we were a mafia family from abroad or something.”

Yes, the twenty-ninth floor was operating as an academy city. Babylon had academies of their own, but it didn’t have an organized public education system yet. The twenty-ninth floor, with its time frozen in Kim Yul’s generation, was used for education.

“S-Sylvia?” the crown prince asked. Completely unaware of the situation, he was in disbelief at Sylvia’s appearance.

Dressed in modern clothes rather than a gigantic dress, Sylvia smiled brightly. “Yes, Your Highness. It’s me. Sylvia Evanail.”

“Oh, my Sylvia! My lark with the name of Goldencup! You must have come to rescue me from this devil! Yes, I’ve always trusted you. No, I’ve only trusted you, my delicate Goldencup!”

“Ewww. What? I feel like I’ve just stumbled upon my diary full of cringe history.” Sylvia looked disgusted and turned to me. “Anyway, I took care of the miscellaneous paperwork while talking to the gosiwon owner. As of next week, that dried pollock will be able to start attending the school. He’ll be the blond transfer student who looks like a typical prince.”

“Great work.”

“Yes, indeed, I do nothing but work. Although I’m not the one to say this... Aren’t bureaucrats too corrupt on this floor? Their public administration has too many loopholes to exploit. The administration is basically a sponge.”

“Well, that just proves the almighty power of the gold bars.”

“I wonder how many of those you’ve fed them...”

The crown prince blankly watched us chatting idly. “S-Sylvia, don’t you recognize me? And why are you calling me dried pollock?”

“Oh, I forgot.” Sylvia pulled out a card from her briefcase. “This will be the only way to prove your identity from now on.”

She politely handed him a student ID card. The crown prince’s square photograph was printed on the freshly made card.

Student ID:

Name: Kim Pollock.

Affiliation: Shinseo High School.

“... K-Kim Pollock[2]?”

“Yes, that’s your name from now on.” I flashed him a smile. “Pollock, you’re a Korean born overseas, but you ended up returning to your home country. Your family kicked you out, and you’re now living alone in this gosiwon. Of course, you don’t get any allowance, so you have to earn money by working part-time. Do you understand?”

“Working part-time? What are you talking about?”

“Yes, I’m so pleased that my Pollock doesn’t seem to understand his situation at all.” I patted him on the head. “If you’re three months behind on your rent, you’re out. If you miss school for more than a week, you’re still going to get kicked out. This may seem harsh for a boy who has been served as royalty his whole life, but that’s the way it is, Pollock! This is reality! Endure it! Be strong! You can do it!”

I clenched my fists.

“No one in this city will treat you like a crown prince, and they don’t care where the heck you came from or who you are. The world! Doesn’t! Care! About! You! At all! Work! A student can’t earn a lot of money, but that’s the way it is. It’s hard to earn money! Work hard every day. Sweat your ass off and make an effort to earn enough so you can get through the day! If you don’t, you’ll starve to death! But that’s also the course of nature, Pollock!”

I grabbed Kim Pollock, who looked soul-crushed, by his shoulders and asked, “How many days have you starved in your life?”

“What... what...?”

“Don’t worry. Starve for two days, and you’ll see the world differently. I’ll be cheering you on from afar as you start a new life. Go for it, Kim Pollock!”

I put down thirty thousand won and turned away.

Sylvia bowed to Kim Pollock. “Goodbye, Mr. Pollock. I would have done something for you if you had ever come to find me when the Patriarch crushed me, but what can I say? I’ll also be cheering you on from afar!”

The two of us left the room. As we walked down the dreary stairs, Sylvia asked, “So, how many years will he last before sending him back to the empire?”

“What do you mean ‘send him back?’ The second prince has already been appointed as the next heir, so Pollock will only get purged if he goes back. It would be more merciful to leave him here.”

“You’re really evil, Patriarch...”

A desperate scream came from up high in the gosiwon. On that day, a blond international student who looked like a prince transferred to Shinseo High School.

I heard later that after starving for four days, Kim Pollock began a new school drama chapter in his life by helping out the gosiwon owner with chores.

Cheer up, Kim Pollock! You’re the main character of this spin-off!

1. A short-term accommodation in Korea that comes with shared facilities. ☜

2. The raw is 황태, dried pollock, but when translated literally, it’s a yellow dried fish. It references the crown prince’s blond hair. ☜