THDK Chapter 42

Operation: Rescue the Second Prince! (Part 1)

When I woke up, I quickly got ready and began making my way toward the royal capital. Oreole guided me through a shortcut with fewer dangers, so by the evening of the second day, I could see the buildings of the capital in the distance. Though I felt relieved, I tightened my resolve, remembering what Gil had told me about the state of the city.

As I stepped into the royal capital, I was shocked by how much more dilapidated the city was than I had imagined. The once lively market was now filled with exhausted-looking merchants and what appeared to be beggars wandering aimlessly.

The stark contrast to the demon lands left me bewildered. How could the first prince be pushing for war when things were this bad?

“…Food…”

I felt a tug on the hem of my clothes and turned to see a thin little boy begging for food. His appearance reminded me of my younger self, and my heart ached. But this boy wasn’t the only one starving. I could feel the piercing gazes of many others watching me, and I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation.

“…Ah! Maybe this will work.”

As I rummaged through the leather bag I had brought, an idea came to me. Inside the bag I had picked up in the forest when I was ten were seeds I had collected back then. I had thrown away the plants and fruits because they had rotted, but I had kept the seeds.

I told the boy to step back a little, then took out a few seeds from the bag and dropped them onto the ground. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I had been learning magic from Zain for a long time. I was sure I could do it.

I held my hand over the ground and activated earth magic, imagining the plants growing large. Then I added water magic and used light magic to simulate sunlight.

“Look, it’s sprouting!”

Someone’s voice echoed around us. In an instant, the sprouts that had emerged from the seeds grew rapidly into trees bearing kipple fruit. I did the same with the other seeds, and soon, fruits began to grow one after another. I plucked one and handed it to the boy.

“Here, eat this.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Some wary adults tried to stop him, but before they could, the boy bit into the fruit.

“It’s delicious!”

Tears streamed down his face as he devoured the fruit, and soon, others began plucking the fruits as well. Strangely, as soon as one fruit was picked, another grew in its place, and in no time, everyone nearby had their hands on one.

“That was a good choice.”

“Haha, this should last them for a while.”

“Indeed. Once the magic in the trees runs out, the fruits will stop growing. It should last about a month.”

“Okay. Let’s hurry on, then.”