The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 27: The Abandoned Prince Returns to the Front Lines

Chapter 27: The Abandoned Prince Returns to the Front Lines

“Wow… It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

Looking down from far above the ground, I couldn’t help but get a little emotional.

Below me was the border between the Agarham Kingdom and the Dragoon Empire.

It used to be the front lines—

And now, thanks to the recent ceasefire falling apart, the Agarham army had returned after pulling back to their rear bases.

They were clearly preparing to restart the war.

“Fumu… They’ve set up a key base inside the forest. That’ll help them avoid wyvern attacks from the sky, while giving them a good spot to counter with anti-air magic. Not bad planning at all.”

“Not to brag, but I was actually the one who suggested placing camps in the forest and using anti-air magic to intercept wyverns.”

“Mu? Is that so? Still… if we burn down the forest, that won’t matter much, will it?”

…Well, she wasn’t wrong.

“Anyway, let’s get to work already.”

“Y-Yeah, I know.”

I hadn’t come back to the front lines to fight.

I was here to take the kingdom without shedding blood.

Reaching behind me, I grabbed a magical megaphone tool I’d strapped to Salion’s back.

“Ahem… Mic check, mic check…”

This device—created by Yelona—could project my voice across a wide area.

I took a deep breath, then called out to the Agarham troops below.

“This is Reyshel von Agarham, speaking to all kingdom soldiers. Please lay down your weapons. The empire doesn’t want bloodshed. Let’s settle this through words—not war.”

“…Do you really think something like that will make the enemy surrender?”

“You never know unless you try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go with Alcarion’s backup plan.”

And so, we waited.

Before long, some of the Agarham soldiers started dropping their weapons and stepping out of the forest.

Looked like about 30% of them.

When I squinted to get a better look, I recognized quite a few familiar faces among the ones surrendering.

That seemed to encourage a few more to give up as well.

But then—

A small group of soldiers, mostly the anti-air mages, launched magic attacks at Salion.

Salion gracefully twisted through the air to dodge, sounding oddly impressed.

“Oh my, that was close. A little more to the left and they would’ve hit me.”

“S-Salion… can you not move like that all of a sudden? You’re gonna make me sick.”

“Kukuku, right, right. My bad, my bad.”

Still… I didn’t expect anyone to actually attack me outright.

Back when I fought on the front lines, I’d gotten along well with both my superiors and subordinates.

So yeah—

It stung a little.

“Wait… Are they fighting each other now?”

I couldn’t see what was going on deeper in the forest—

The trees blocked too much of the view.

But then, the soldiers who had surrendered picked their weapons back up and went back into the forest.

A moment later, they came out dragging the ones who had attacked us—tied up in ropes.

Seriously, what was that?

“Looks like they captured the ones who attacked us. At this rate, it should be safe to land.”

So, I had Salion bring us down to the ground.

Some of the soldiers looked a little wary when they saw Salion—

Well, she was way bigger than a normal wyvern.

Then, one of the commanders I recognized stepped forward from the group.

“Prince Reyshel… That wyvern—Is it safe to be near her?”

“She’s fine. Doesn’t bite. Right?”

“Don’t lump me in with those sky-lizards, boy.”

“S-She talked!?”

Well… she does like seeing people suffer, and she’s totally the type to spray poison for fun—

But right now, she listens to me, so we’re good.

“I-I see. Ahem. Your Highness, we surrender. Please grant us fair treatment as prisoners of war.”

“Alright. But don’t worry. I’m actually kind of a big deal now, you know—I married the Empress and the Imperial Princess.”

“!? So… the rumors were true after all…”

The commander’s eyes went wide in surprise—

And just then—

“H-Hey!! Are you serious!? How dare you side with that traitor prince who betrayed the kingdom! Do you want to be charged with treason!?”

“…And that is?”

“He’s a commander recently sent from the capital to the front lines. That earlier attack came from his men too… Don’t worry—he and his troops have already been restrained.”

“Ahh, that makes sense.”

“I’m terribly sorry. You guys weren’t hurt, were you?”

“We’re fine, really.”

While I was chatting casually with the old commander I knew, the other commander started yelling at us again.

Guess he wasn’t happy we were ignoring him.

“You traitors!! Have you no loyalty to the kingdom!?”

The man roared furiously.

He was loud, and honestly had the kind of energy that might make your average soldier shrink back.

But the commander next to me just snorted.

“Hah, that’s rich coming from you. Why should we swear loyalty to a kingdom that reignites a war that was finally ending, and needlessly throws its people into more suffering?”

“Damn right!!”

“If I have to choose, I’ll side with Prince Reyshel—He may be a bit sloppy, but at least he actually thinks about the people!”

“Exactly!! I’d take him over stuck-up leaders like you any day—even if he is a bit of a goof!”

“…Excuse me? You guys trying to start something? Because I will take you up on that. Did you forget I’m the kind of prince who buys that kind of fight?”

Yeah… maybe I should’ve just let Salion burn the whole forest down.

And then—

“Then die with the other traitors!! Rebels!! Long live His Majesty the King!!”

The furious commander suddenly spat something out of his mouth and threw it toward me and the old commander.

At first glance, it looked like a simple marble.

But it was brimming with magical energy—

One look was enough to tell it was a magic tool of some kind.

This is bad!!

“GET DOWN!!!”

I dove forward and grabbed the marble, covering it with my body.

Ugh… it was slimy and gross…

While I was mentally gagging, the marble triggered a massive explosion.

“Perfect Regeneration!!!”

My body was blown to bits—

But as long as I had even a shred of consciousness, I’d be fine.

In an instant, my body began regenerating.

“Your Highness!! A-Are you alright!?”

“Ahh, yeah. I’m fine. What about everyone else?”

“Sir!! Thanks to you, there were no injuries!!”

“Good, glad to hear it.”

“Uh… if I may… I know it’s weird to say this after you saved us but…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“…We’ll have someone bring you clothes immediately.”

“…Oh myy.”

Because I’d focused entirely on healing my body first, I didn’t even notice that my clothes had been completely vaporized in the explosion.

Seeing me standing there alive and completely unharmed after taking that blast point-blank—

The commander’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

“T-This can’t be!! How are you still alive!?”

“Stuff like that? I can heal from it. As long as my head’s still intact, I’ll be fine.”

“Y-You monster!!”

The commander stared at me with wide, terrified eyes—like he was looking at some kind of creature.

But then, his gaze shifted behind me, and he let out a quiet squeal.

I turned to look—

And there stood Salion, eyes bloodshot and full of rage.

Uh… what? She looks scary…

“YOU DARE… DO THAT… TO MY BOY…?”

“P-Please, have mercy! Please, forgive meee!!”

The commander fell to his knees, begging for his life—

While Salion looked about ready to tear him apart.

“Salion.”

“I know, I know. I’m well aware that my little one dislikes killing. Yes, I know. That’s why I won’t kill him. Instead—I’ll give him pain so terrible he’ll wish he was dead.”

“…Uh, well… if you’re not killing him, I guess that’s okay?”

Honestly, she was so mad it was kind of terrifying,

So I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Later, a soldier who accidentally witnessed Salion torturing the man deep in the forest simply muttered—

“Dragons are terrifying…”

And so, without a single casualty, we successfully got the Agarham army to surrender.

Now all that remained was marching to the capital and capturing Hecton.

Once that was done, everything would be settled.

But of course, not everything in life goes smoothly.

Just as the capital finally came into view—

I ran into a girl who called herself a Hero.

――――――――――――――――――――

[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “Man, the soldiers really don’t take this guy seriously, huh? lol”

R: “Call it being well-liked, please!!”

If you found yourself thinking, “They betrayed their side in seconds, lol,”  “Dude’s getting no respect,” or “How did he touch something a guy spit out without flinching…?”—Then please consider leaving a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, or review!