The ground where Joel stood was high, providing a panoramic view of the city below.
A large city had formed around the harbor down there, with four or five small villages scattered around its center.
As Joel was looking around, debating which village to head to, he suddenly heard a rustling sound behind his back.
Assuming it was just the sound of leaves shaking in the wind, Joel didn’t pay it much mind.
He was more concerned about where to go.
He shaded his eyes with his hand against the bright sun and scanned the area, but when he heard the rustle a second time, he couldn’t help but turn around.
Driven by a nagging feeling, Joel turned his head and locked eyes with a pair of grey eyes peeking out from the bushes.
Realizing she had been caught, the owner of the grey eyes looked flustered.
“Wh-what the!”
Joel cried out, startled. How long had someone been standing there?
Wondering if the mule knew, Joel instinctively looked to his side.
However, Jack the mule was simply grazing as if nothing were wrong.
Joel turned his gaze back to the grey eyes.
As he stared, the person pushed through the bushes and revealed themselves.
The owner of the grey eyes was a small girl.
The thin girl looked to be in her early to mid-teens.
Even as she approached, Jack the mule remained unbothered, focusing only on filling his stomach.
It seemed Jack had known she was there all along.
‘If you knew, you could have at least given me a hint.’
Joel felt a bit slighted by Jack.
Joel looked away from Jack and focused on the girl.
Close up, she had a quite cute face.
Her grey eyes reminded him of Robert, sparkling with the same intelligent light.
Her brown hair was neatly combed and braided into pigtails, and although her clothes were old and shabby, they were clean.
She was a charming girl, especially with the freckles dusting the bridge of her nose.
If she had a look more suited to her age, she would have looked even cuter.
However, her eyes were filled with a deep worry unusual for a child.
Sensing the girl was fragile and harmless, Joel let down his guard and asked with genuine curiosity.
“What were you doing there? Do you… have something to say to me?”
“…Are you a fairy?”
The girl hesitated for a moment before tossing out the unexpected question.
“What?”
Joel asked back in a bewildered tone, immediately taking back his thought that the girl looked intelligent.
Even as a fool, he had known by that age that fairy tales were lies.
But to be called a fairy out of nowhere?
As Joel looked at her with an incredulous expression, the girl’s face turned bright red.
“In the stories, they say fairies have beautiful faces like yours, with ivory-gold hair and pale blue eyes. Are you really not a fairy?”
Despite her embarrassment, the girl pressed for an answer.
When Joel replied, “Of course not,” she slumped her shoulders in disappointment.
“If you aren’t… I’m sorry. My name is Becky.”
“It’s fine.”
Responding generously, Joel felt a little smug.
He knew well from experience that he was exceptionally handsome.
Even when he lived covered in dust at Sir Bennet’s estate, people from other lands praised his looks.
When he first dressed up to go to the capital after being adopted by Count Lucas, even the locals who had seen him his whole life surrounded him in awe.
Since even the arrogant nobles in the capital couldn’t hide their admiration, it made sense that a commoner child might mistake him for a fairy.
“More importantly, are you busy right now? There’s something I want to ask.”
“Huh? I’m not exactly free… I’m sorry. I’m on an errand for my mother. If I’m too late, she’ll scold me.”
Just as Becky answered with a troubled face, a loud, thunderous growl erupted from her stomach.
Becky turned beet-red at the sudden noise.
“I won’t take much of your time. If you answer my questions, I’ll reward you well, so please help me.”
Joel spoke while gesturing toward the large ham sitting in the cart.
Looking back and forth between the ham and Joel, the girl eventually swallowed hard and nodded.
Having been abused by his adoptive father for a long time, Joel knew the pain of hunger better than anyone.
Before questioning her, he decided to satisfy her hunger.
When he handed her a sandwich specially made with six slices of ham, Becky accepted it with a “Thank you.”
“You can talk while you eat.”
“Ah… I’ll eat it later. Please ask what you’re curious about first.”
“Alright then. Do you happen to know the name of that city?”
When he pointed toward the large port city, the girl answered brightly, “Of course. It’s Bursa.”
“Bursa?”
Joel tilted his head and pulled out his map again.
He had stared at the map for the last fifteen days until his eyes hurt, but he didn’t recall seeing a town by that name in the northern region of the Empire.
As Joel looked at the map, the girl leaned over and pointed to a corner.
“It’s right here.”
“Are you… are you sure this is the right place?”
Joel asked in horror as he looked at where Becky was pointing.
The town called ‘Bursa’ was located at the extreme southeastern tip of the continent.
“Yes.”
Even after hearing her confirmation, Joel looked back and forth between the map and the coastline with an expression of disbelief.
If this was the southeastern tip, he had moved incredibly far away from the Kingdom of Palein.
Beside the shell-shocked Joel, Becky added, “Um, excuse me, but I think the map is supposed to be held like this,” as she corrected the way he was holding it.
Only then did the scenery before him finally match the map.
Joel, who thought he had simply taken a wrong turn and ended up in a northern coastal village, belatedly realized he had been traveling in the opposite direction for fifteen days.
“I’m supposed to go North… Oh my god.”
“Oh! Be careful!”
As Joel’s legs gave out and he stumbled, the girl caught him.
With Becky’s help, Joel managed to sit down on a tree stump.
“But why are you trying to go North?”
“Ah, well. I… I was planning to go on a trip to the North.”
“Wow… Are you a noble?”
“Yeah, something like that. But how do you know how to read a map? Do you know how to read?”
Reading and writing were essentially exclusive to the nobility.
While most commoners never even touched a book in their lives, a poor child like Becky shouldn’t have had the chance to learn, but she answered modestly, “Not well, just a little. I learned it over people’s shoulders while doing chores at the church.” It seemed Joel’s first impression was right—Becky was indeed a sharp child.
As Joel looked at her with surprised eyes, Becky looked shy.
Despite her bashfulness, she continued clearly.
“But, My Lord. You probably won’t be able to cross the northern border.”
“Why?”
“From what I heard the merchants saying, the northern border has been closed off by order of the Crown Prince. A Young Master Omega, who was to become the Crown Princess, has gone missing. They say the capital and the North are in total chaos right now.”
“Gah!?”
Joel, who had let his guard down during his peaceful fifteen-day journey, let out a bizarre scream in shock.
While Becky grabbed his arm with a worried expression, Jack the mule took two steps away from Joel with a look that said, ‘I really hate this human…’
“No, I mean… I was just surprised. The Crown Prince’s fiancé disappeared? What is that all about? There’s no way such a crazy thing could happen. Did you hear wrong?”
“But I clearly heard the merchants on the trading ships talking about it this morning. They said the Crown Prince has even offered a massive reward. Just for reporting a sighting, they’ll give ten gold coins. People all over the North are looking for that Omega with fire in their eyes. Since this place is far from the capital, the news hasn’t spread fully yet, but they said missing person flyers for that Omega will be posted here soon, just like in the North.”
“Good grief…”
Joel muttered to himself in a dazed tone.
He had thought the Prince might look for him, but he never expected him to turn the entire North upside down.
He thought even if the Prince noticed he was gone, he would search a bit and then stop.
Wasn’t the Prince busy sweeping up treasures at Sir Bennet’s underground mansion?
In reality, the Prince had been searching for evidence of Count Lucas’s rebellion, but Joel, having no clue about that, had simply assumed the Prince was busy hoarding treasure.
