I Was Hired by the Dark Prince for My Life's Worth - Chapter 57

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 57. Whoosh
Yurian and I fell silent at the same moment.
The awkward tension that had hung between us just seconds before vanished in an instant.
“…Your Highness.”
“Shh.”
Yurian brought his forefinger to his lips.
[Be quiet.]
I held my breath and nodded obediently.
Then, after a moment’s hesitation, I released his hand.
“…….”
Yurian stared at his empty palm, then slowly opened and closed his fist.
As if confirming the lingering warmth that had just been there.
Then he looked at me.
‘…Why are you doing that?’
[It’s nothing. Nothing at all.]
He shook his head and eased open the Storage Room door.
Just a crack—thin enough for a single finger.
Through it, the Banquet Hall came into view.
I crept closer to his side and peered down into the scene below.
“Heh… hehehehe!”
Just as I’d expected.
The Mysterious Vagrant stood in the center of the party hall, gripping a torch.
His hair was matted and disheveled from months without washing, his eyes rabbit-red, his face deathly pale like someone who’d never properly seen the sun.
He was grinning inanely, like a man robbed of his senses.
“Hand it all over!”
He waved the torch wildly as he shouted.
“Rings, necklaces, money—give me everything you’ve got!”
An unknown vagrant dressed in rags, bursting into a nobleman’s party and threatening to set fires—it was absurd.
Ordinary people would have grasped the gravity of the situation.
But this was no ordinary place.
“…Pfft.”
It was a hedonistic gathering where not a single person possessed a sound mind.
Laughter erupted among the nobles as they exchanged glances.
“Hahahaha!”
“This event is quite convincing!”
“First our holy one appears, and now this. Today’s been fun.”
“Who arranged this?”
They were genuinely delighted.
Flushed with wine and perfume, they merely giggled and raised their glasses.
“Here, take some money!”
“Will you accept a wedding ring too? Haha!”
Cling!
Jewels and gold coins were hurled mercilessly at the vagrant’s feet.
Some struck his knuckles, others grazed his cheek and drew thin lines of blood.
To them, all of this was nothing but a game.
“…In a way, it’s impressive.”
“It’s pathetic. They can’t even protect their own lives.”
I nodded in agreement as Yurian spoke with a gentle smile.
This time, at least, we were of one mind.
Whoosh.
The vagrant gazed down at the money and jewels scattered at his feet.
Then he dropped to his knees.
“Gold… it’s real gold.”
He frantically shoved thick rings onto his fingers and draped necklaces around his wrists and neck.
He stuffed gold coins into pockets that were already so worn they threatened to split wide open.
The nobles laughed again at the sight.
“My, how vulgar. Look at his greed.”
“Hey, you’re planning to carry all of that?”
“Throw more! More!”
Cling—
With those words, a few Gold Coins flew through the air and struck the Mysterious Vagrant’s forehead.
This time a wine bottle came hurtling at him.
Thud!
The heavy bottle caught the Mysterious Vagrant squarely in the shoulder and shattered into fragments.
Red wine soaked his clothes and splattered across the floor.
…….
The Mysterious Vagrant stood motionless with his head bowed for a long moment.
His shoulders trembled faintly.
It was hard to tell whether he was laughing or crying.
…Heh.
He raised his eyes, veins bulging red with blood.
Heh heh…!
A twisted, eerie laugh leaked from his distorted mouth.
He fingered the ruined clothes on his body, the Ring and Necklace on his hands, the Gold Coins stuffed in his pockets, and laughed again.
Ha ha… ha ha ha!
Then he slowly lifted his head.
His bloodshot eyes swept methodically across the nobles.
Or rather, across the jewels and garments they wore.
“I was going to kill the 3rd Prince for just 150 Gold… but if I add all of this together, how much would it be? A thousand Gold?”
His muttering voice was chillingly rational.
His expression seemed to be calculating how to seize all these riches for himself.
I glanced sideways at Yurian.
“He’s going to start a fire, isn’t he?”
“Beasts grow greedier as their prey multiplies.”
He smiled gently and flicked something rolling across the floor with the tip of his boot.
An Oil Lamp Bottle.
A small lamp oil bottle, the size of a palm.
It rolled naturally among the other wine bottles, settling at the Mysterious Vagrant’s feet.
…….
The Mysterious Vagrant’s gaze fixed on it.
He glanced once at the Torch in his hand, then crouched down.
“Does the divine watch over me?”
Muttering, he reached for the Oil Lamp Bottle.
His thin, rough hands gripped it tightly.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he hurled it toward the table where the nobles gathered.
“Eek!”
“What are you doing, you lunatic?”
“Ha ha ha, this is fun!”
The nobles’ reactions varied wildly.
Some grew angry, others laughed, all believing this was merely part of the spectacle.
“My dress, what have you done to my dress!”
A noblewoman shrieked at the Mysterious Vagrant.
The hem of her gown was slightly dampened by the oil.
He tilted his head as he looked at her.
“That looks like an expensive dress.”
“What… what did you say?”
“If I burn it… will only the jewels remain?”
In that instant.
He hurled the Torch he was holding at the noblewoman.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
The Torch traced an arc through the air and landed with perfect precision at the woman’s feet.
Right where the Oil Lamp Bottle had broken moments before.
And then—
“Eee….”
The noblewoman’s lips trembled violently.
“Eeeeek!”
Whoosh!
Flames engulfed the fabric in an instant.
Fire erupted from her feet upward.
She tore at her clothes in a frenzy, casting them away.
Her scream became a signal, and the interior descended into chaos.
“What—what is this!”
“Is that… real fire?”
“Where has the 4th Prince gone!”
Those who bolted upright in panic couldn’t make sense of the situation, their eyes darting frantically about.
The fire spread quickly.
Flames that had started on the floor climbed along the curtains stretched toward the ceiling, then raced across to the opposite end in moments.
A blast of scorching heat rolled forward.
“R-r-run….”
“Flee!”
“Fire! Real fire!”
Screams erupted in succession.
Crash!
Chairs toppled and bottles shattered.
The Banquet Hall dissolved into pandemonium as people shoved one another.
This meant it was finally my turn to act.
“The left exit—you remember it?”
“Yes.”
“Move immediately.”
“…And you, Your Highness?”
“I’ll follow shortly.”
Then I had to trust him.
I nodded and plunged into the chaos of the ground floor.
Everyone had crowded at the main entrance, straining to force the doors open.
But Kyle had already locked them from outside.
No amount of effort would open them from within.
“Damn it, damn it…! Why won’t it open!”
“Ahhhhh! I don’t want to die!”
The nobility, seized by panic, couldn’t even think to search for another way out.
I grabbed a Mask lying haphazardly on the floor and covered my face.
Then I squeezed in among them and shouted as if I were one of them.
“Yurian came to arrest that villain!”
“The Imperial Defense Force will arrive soon—everyone calm down!”
“He said he’d already unlocked the left exit! Hurry!”
As I bellowed until my voice grew hoarse, the light in their eyes wavered.
“The Prince….”
“Right! Why would he ever come to a place like this? Something did seem odd!”
“Where’s the left exit! Lead us there at once!”
“Save us, Your Highness!”
Fear is the finest instrument for manipulation.
I led the trembling, panicked crowd toward the exit I’d left unlocked beforehand.
As I released the lock, cold night air rushed in.
“This way!”
“Ahhhhh! I’m going first!”
People poured out like a flood.
Desperate to save their own lives, they pushed through without order or courtesy, bodies pressing forward blindly.
“Wait—ah! P-please, wait…!”
I was swept along in their midst, carried out as if caught in a current.
No—I had to return to Yurian…!
Gasp!
I barely tore through the crowd and bounced aside, rolling away from the throng.
I was just pushing myself up to rush back inside when it happened.
Kaboom―!!
A deafening blast tore through the air before my eyes.
A shock wave that shook the earth itself, and a scorching heat lashed across my face.
I blinked.
“What…?”
Black smoke was billowing through the windows.
The blood drained from my face.
‘That… wasn’t part of the plan?’
I’d expected the fire to spread moderately—nothing catastrophic.
That way, Yurian could suppress the Mysterious Vagrant naturally and rescue the others.
But an explosion.
“Your Highness…?”
My heart plummeted.
“Move!”
Yurian was still inside.
I shoved people aside roughly and hurled myself back into the Mansion engulfed in flames.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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