Chapter 46 - The Prince of the Beastly Kingdom is Supposed to Have a Harem…11

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    Perhaps because the sun was rising, the room was fairly bright, although it was still dim due to the snowstorm, and the man still lying on the ground was clearly Herald, judging from his clothes and hair. Ruth's eyes narrowed from the wind blowing through the room but then suddenly handed Clark the lamp that had been blown out by the wind and ran over to the unmoving Herald.

"Mr. Herald!? Mr. Herald!"

　He called out to Herald, but there was no response. Even when he shook him hurriedly, there was no reaction at all. Ruth quickly turned him over and moved his hand to check his neck and wrist for a pulse.

"R-Ruth, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get a pulse."

"...A what?"

"Just shut up, Clark."

　Amidst the snow and wind, Ruth tried to feel the movement of blood with his fingertips. Ruth had no medical knowledge, but he understood that people couldn’t live without blood circulation. That was true whether it was in his past life or this one, but--

(I can't find it...)

　No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't feel anything on his fingertips. And Herald's face, who was lying on his back, was distorted as if he had been hit by something, and he could tell that the light had long since disappeared from his eyes. His body was cold, as if frozen by ice, and there didn’t seem to be any light of life in it. Ruth's hands, which were about to begin CPR, stopped of its own accord.

"Clark..."

"..."

“Clark!”

"Huh…wh-what?"

“Mom and Dad, call them.”

"Eh?"

"We can’t just leave Mr. Herald like this. We have to tell Mom and Dad first."

"Ah, yeah... that's right. Ruth, is- is that guy...?"

"...He's not breathing."

"...Oh"

　The sound of Clark swallowing and running down the hallway echoed.

(Why Mr. Herald...)

　Relying on the dim light outside, Ruth looked around and saw what Herald was holding.

(My knife?)

　What Herald was holding was the same knife that Ruth had received from Maxim*. It was something that he never usually carried around the house and just left in his room. However, particularly because it was a dangerous item, it was basically hidden in a storage area drawer.

*In case you forgot, Maxim is the captain of the royal knights.

　Ruth quickly looked for the hiding place, but all the drawers were ransacked, as if someone had gone through it, and the knife was no longer there. The state of disarray was such that it was hard to imagine it being caused by a snowstorm, and it was clear that someone had moved it intentionally.

　Ruth had a bad feeling and gently took the knife from Herald's hand before everyone else arrived.

“H-hm?”

　He thought the hand would be hardened due to rigor mortis, but the knife came out easier than expected. However, since he had never touched a human corpse, he tried not to think about it too much, even though he knew some unnecessary things from memories of his previous life. In any case, his knowledge probably only consisted of that from TV dramas.

　He kept the knife on his hip, pointing it vertically so it wouldn't be noticed, and tried to hide it behind his body as much as possible. If he put on a jacket, it would be completely unnoticeable.

(Mr. Herald is here...huh?)

　When Ruth looked at the broken window, he noticed that it looked a little strange. As he stepped past Herald’s body and approached the window, squinting at the oncoming snow, he realized what was wrong.

(…A circle?)

　He noticed that the broken part was not in the shape of a window, but rather had a slight circular shape. Normally, if a window were broken and a blizzard came in, the broken part would be the same square shape as the window.

(…Circle…)

　Ruth squinted his eyes at the blowing wind and snow as he looked at the beautifully carved opening.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

　Rossa and Celine, who were brought by Clark, came to the room, and the surrounding area suddenly became hectic. Rossa, who used to be an adventurer, seemed to be a little shaken, but he quickly confirmed the situation and shook his head. It seemed he shared the same opinion as Ruth.

　After that, the broken front window was simply boarded up, and Celine brought in Herald’s partner, Julia. However, at the same time, the other guests also noticed the commotion and came down, so they ended up telling everyone at the inn what had happened.

　Julia burst into tears when he saw Herald's state, Nikola was a little upset but still didn’t say anything, Wonok simply stared at the cloth-covered Herald with an unreadable expression, and Seju shone the lamplight on the broken window and stared at it.

“…It must have been an accident.”

“Do you think so too?”

　Rossa, who was also checking the situation, replied to Seju's voice.

“This room is at the far end of the building, and on the other side, there’s a small street with several uninhabited houses. It is quite possible that one of the buildings collapsed in the blizzard, and part of it struck the softest part of the window, blowing him away along with it. I don't know what he was doing in our son, Ruth's room, though…”

"…I agree"

　Rossa gave a heavy reply. His complexion didn't look very good.

　While Ruth was watching this from the corner of the room, Clark, who was putting away repair tools, came over.

"Ruth, are you okay?"

“Clark, what is it?”

"What do you mean... you may have seen dead animals, but it's rare for you to see a human corpse, right? Does it make you feel sick?

　When asked by Clark, who looked pale, Ruth thought he was calmer than he expected, considering it was his first time seeing a dead body. In reality, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to be as shaken up as Clark, but he also seemed to have acted incredibly calm when he discovered the body.

　Incidentally, Clark had apparently seen a corpse twice along the road while peddling goods to the royal capital, but neither times was he able to approach them and just reported it to the royal capital's security.

"Sometimes you show a side to me that makes it hard to believe that you're my younger brother."

"...Are you saying you and I are unrelated by blood?"

"No, I’m saying that you look like Mom, but your calmness definitely makes me think that you’re Dad’s son."

　Hearing that, Ruth felt a little relieved. For Ruth, being Rossa and Celine's son and Clark's younger brother was proof that he was born in this world.

　He remembered his past life, but he hoped it was in the distant past or a biography of someone only Ruth knew. Of course, he understood that it had influenced him to some extent, and he used his knowledge of it as a reference to not repeat his mistakes. He didn’t deny that he had fifty years of life experience in his memory. However, he tried not to think that he was the same person now as in his past life. Otherwise...

(I’ll lose track of who or what “I” am...)

　Was he an extension of his previous life, or was he okay as a newly born child of the Brau family? Remembering his previous life at the age of five and worrying about who he was became a bit of a trauma within Ruth.

"...s. Hey, Ruth!"

"--Ah, D-dad? What happened?"

　Before he knew it, Rossa was standing in front of him, looking down at Ruth with a worried look on his face. At some point, most of the guests at the inn had disappeared from the room, and the only one left was Wonok, who was still looking at Herald, still covered in cloth. Apparently Julia was so upset that Celine took her to the living room of the spacious main house.

"What's the matter? Did it make you feel sick? If it gets too tough to handle, take a break first and leave the rest to your Dad and Clark."

　Rossa said as he gently patted Ruth’s head. Feeling the big, reliable hands of his father, Ruth felt a sense of relief.

(Dad is big...)

　He thought he was calm, but maybe he was actually quite upset and just didn't realize it. Or maybe he was thinking about his past life so much that he was relieved to realize he was Rossa's son.

　Ruth took a deep breath and decided to talk to Rossa about his slightly troubled situation.

“Dad, it's about Mr. Herald. He was in my room, right?”

"Right. I heard you were in Clark's room because you were cold."

　Ruth glanced at Clark, who was standing next to him and was holding up his thumb so that Rossa couldn't see. It seemed like he agreed. He probably thought it was best not to talk about the white Ocal at this point.

"This thing. I took it without thinking, but Mr. Herald was holding this in his hand."

　Ruth then showed the knife he had hanging on his waist. At that moment, Rossa's face shifted a little.

"That’s the knife you got from that Royal Knight Captain..."

"Yes. It was supposed to be hidden in the knife holder in the drawer, but for some reason Mr. Herald got his hands on it..."

“Ruth, isn’t that made of mithril…?”

"Eh... Mithril?"

"Eh!?"

　Clark suddenly reacted to Ruth's knife. He asked Ruth to lend it to him, examined the edge of the blade at different angles, and then frowned.

“As expected, this is made by Mithril.”

"...Seriously? That Herald..."

"What do you mean ‘seriously’? Dad, shouldn’t you notice as an adventurer?"

“No, I specialize in hammers, so I just ask a familiar place when it comes to blades…”

"Good grief. If this is made of mithril, then it changes the meaning of why Mr. Herald had it, right?"

"...That's right. He had a high appraisal ability after all."

“Uh, what are you guys talking about?”

　Ruth asked, confused, as he didn't understand the conversation between the two, and Clark looked at him as if he were seeing a troubled child.

“Ruth, hasn’t your brother told you since you were little that you shouldn't accept things from other people, right?''

"Uh... yes..."

　Ruth may be older mentally than him based on his previous life, but having been Clark's younger brother for nearly 20 years, no matter how old the other person was, he had the absolute presence of an older brother to him. Maybe it was because his mind was pulled by physical growth, or the balance of power was determined by their relationship, or maybe there was some other reason, but in any case, past lives became irrelevant. Clark was someone who could scold Ruth.

"Mithril is extremely expensive. Even in the royal capital, only nobles could have weapons made of mithril."

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Don’t ‘Is that so?’ me… Well, it's understandable that you don't know. Anyway, Ruth, this is quite valuable, so make sure to always keep it with you or store it in a safer place."

"Okay… by the way, how expensive is it?"

"Nothing as expensive as a gem, but… you could probably buy this inn with one of those."

"EHHHH!?"

　Ruth began to fear holding the knife. He received it from Maxim as a thank you, but it was too much no matter how you look at it. He thought it was no different from that fancy knife he refused. Maxim was friendly, but it seemed that he was still a nobleman at heart.

(But the fact that Mr. Herald had it... if he knew its value, he must have stolen it...)

　When he sneaked a look at Rossa next to him, his face was as grim as when he faced a monster. It seemed that Ruth's prediction was not wrong.

　The room had been ransacked, and Herald must have taken it with him to steal the knife. During the robbery, a hole was punched in the window, causing him to lose consciousness or die from the impact, which was why he was found frozen in place.

"Hahh… Both of you, please forget what we just talked about for a while. I need to ask Julia about the situation, and I don't want to make a fuss."

　Ruth and Clark nodded silently to Rossa, who had a heavy expression on his face.

　Ruth also felt sick to his stomach when he thought about Rossa's state of mind. Ruth could never imagine how Rossa must have felt when he was put in the worst possible situation, such as when his old friend stole his son's belongings and died.

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