The Youngest Prince Copies Skills with Skeleton Soldiers

Chapter 278

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Chapter 278. The Rescue Targets

The ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍Gatekeeper guarded his post as usual.

Whenever ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍the youngest son moved his camp, the Gatekeeper's post changed with it. This time was no different.

“Sigh…. ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍Just my luck.”

He ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍laid his single-edged greatsword beside a beanstalk, perched on one of its stems, and wet his throat with liquor.

If ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍anyone climbed it, he was under orders not to interfere, only to send a messenger ghost. Or something like that.

Sitting on the beanstalk he had arbitrarily numbered one of four, he sighed.

The faint scent of liquor carried on his breath quickly dispersed in the night wind.

“What mad bastard would climb this thing all the way to the island? Tsk.”

Call it neglect of duty or whatever. He just kept drinking. He hadn't always been like this, but his surroundings had ruined him. At least, that was what the Gatekeeper thought.

The name of those surroundings was the youngest son, and thanks to him, even his post had become this damned weed.

Still, he knew his superior did not talk nonsense when it came to missions.

So even as he drank, the Gatekeeper watched the beanstalks without so much as blinking against the night wind.

And then he really did see something.

“Huh. Live long enough and you see everything.”

Something was wriggling on beanstalk number three across from him. Compared with the tree, it was no bigger than a caterpillar.

“I doubt they've come to gnaw on the leaves like caterpillars.”

Muttering under his breath, the Gatekeeper reported the three people climbing the beanstalk under cover of darkness to his superior.

The messenger ghost melted into the darkness more naturally than any human could.

“So they came after all.”

On receiving the report from the Gatekeeper posted at the beanstalks, the youngest son stopped what he was doing and rose.

He had wondered whether he would have to shelve and discard Operation Jack and the Beanstalk. At last, it would prove useful.

The Head Maid asked him, sensing his peculiar excitement.

“The report says there are two men and one woman. Apart from the First Daughter and the Third Son, who could the third person be?”

“Messenger Paras, I expect.”

“Ah. That messenger also has lingering feelings for Miss Josephine. I expect you are right, my lord.”

“This is getting more interesting.”

The Head Maid had another question.

“Do the three of them know that the Family Head of Wisdom tried to kill the Second Daughter?”

“They won't. The attempt was roughly three days ago. If they chose to travel by land, the timing doesn't allow it.”

“Just as you said, my lord. Things are getting interesting.”

“That's what I'm saying.”

The youngest son put on his coat to go out.

“Bring Josephine. Now that it has come to this, I should draw everyone's attention to one place.”

“J-Josephine….”

“…Pia, Big Sister.”

The two who had once been sisters spoke each other's names with painful awkwardness.

The youngest son, who had arranged this awkward and uncomfortable meeting, stood between them.

“I will wait outside.”

The Head Maid left first, feeling as though the air was vanishing from the room by the second.

[Hey. Even I feel sick, and I don't have a mouth. What are you going to do about this?]

―What else? I'll try.

The youngest son knew what he had done. As a player, he knew it all too well.

Put simply, he had shut a perpetrator of domestic violence and her victim in the same room.

It was a rotten thing to do. He could think of dozens of reasons not to do it, yet he had done it. Naturally, he had a reason.

“Josephine. You've heard what happened to the Second Daughter three days ago, haven't you?”

“…Yes. I heard Father's dream magic nearly reduced her to a helpless shell.”

Josephine could not hide the turmoil in her voice.

She had realized it too. If dream magic could reduce someone to that state, she could have suffered the same fate.

Yet the Family Head of Wisdom had not done it to her. Later, he had tried to do it to the Second Daughter.

What made the difference? If anything, the traitor to the family was the one he should have reduced to a shell.

That thought shook her more than the old burn scar Pia had left on her body.

“…It isn't hard to understand.”

Pia spoke. Her own thoughts had been shaken even earlier, and now she voiced the answer she had reached.

“He loved you more than he loved me, Josephine.”

“…….”

The concubine's daughter's eyes trembled.

“Don't say something so absurd.”

“That's simply what the outcome says.”

“That father of ours doesn't know what love is. He doesn't know how to give or show his feelings to anyone except our eldest sister.”

Josephine's voice, usually so lively, had sunk low.

Pia's eyes, like Josephine's voice, could not rise from the floor.

Since Josephine first entered the room, Pia had been unable to meet her eyes. Josephine, on the other hand, looked straight into Pia's turquoise eyes as she continued.

“Big Sister. Are you going to defect to the East?”

Pia shook her head.

“…No. I want to go back to the family. For now, I do.”

“Good. Don't ever change your mind.”

Pia moved her lips and lowered her head further.

Her hair now hid her eyes completely. Josephine turned away.

“Dante. I know why you brought me here.”

“Why do you think I did?”

“You want the Second Daughter to defect to the East. So, as you always do, you made us confront an uncomfortable problem head-on.”

“You're half right.”

The youngest son said no more, apparently unwilling to explain the other half yet.

“I've questioned what you're thinking before, Dante, but I've never refused to follow you. I know it always turns out to be the right answer. But this time….”

RUSTLE―

Josephine unbuttoned her robe and lifted her top.

A scar from the fire that had felt hotter than a furnace when she was a child ran across her side.

“Even if I know it's the right answer, I can't do what you want. I won't try to persuade my older sister. At least, not any more than I already have.”

“Do as you like. It's your choice.”

“Then may I leave now?”

He was about to ask her to stay a little longer when―

THUD―

Pia, whose shoulders had drooped like a guilty person's as she sat, knelt before Josephine like one.

Before Josephine, she was guilty. And this seemed her only chance to apologize.

The scar that still marked Josephine so vividly made Pia rise, kneel, and open her mouth.

“…Josephine, I'm sorry.”

“…….”

“Back then, I was so angry every day I thought I'd go mad. I kept losing to our sister, and every loss cost me more of Father's attention.”

So she had taken out her anger on the concubine's daughter whom no one valued.

Unable to do anything to the sister who stirred that anger, she had tormented her weaker younger sister.

She had been a petty, narrow-minded person with no right to criticize the East.

“I didn't kneel to ask you to forgive me. I have no right to ask for that. I just want you to know that I regret everything I did back then.”

Josephine looked at her kneeling sister in silence for a while, then nodded.

“I'll remember that.”

She was about to open the door and leave when someone came in first.

It was the Head Maid, who had stepped out a moment ago.

“My lord. They have climbed the beanstalk and entered the island.”

“And my brothers and sisters?”

“The Fourth Son is at the Black Colossal Fortress, the First Son is at the giant horse, and the daughters have gone to sleep.”

“Not a bad situation.”

“…Dante? Who climbed a beanstalk onto the island?”

The youngest son's index finger pointed at the kneeling Pia.

“The other half of the answer I couldn't give you earlier. A Wisdom rescue team is on its way here for the Second Daughter.”

“…!”

Pia's head, bowed like a stalk of ripe rice, shot up.

“For reference, the members of the rescue team are Wisdom's First Daughter and Third Son. The last is a messenger.”

Pia was not the only one to lift her head at the identity of the final member.

“…Brother Paras?”

“That's my guess. I'm not certain, but no one else comes to mind.”

The Second Daughter slowly got to her feet and looked around.

It was an ordinary room, neither large nor small.

The youngest son had gathered in this single room two people who seemed very much to be the rescue team's objectives.

The trap had all three of its parts.

Prey to draw in. A snare. And bait.

Josephine, one of the pieces of bait, nodded slowly.

“So that's why you brought me to meet Pia. If I were somewhere else, it'd be harder to control what happens.”

“I know it was rude of me. I'm sorry if I hurt you.”

“It's all right. Something like this won't leave a scar.”

“…….”

At the word scar, Pia flinched, though she had only just managed to stand.

“I'd like you to stay here for a little while. It won't take long.”

“All right. That's easy enough.”

“And you, Second Daughter.”

As the youngest son turned to her, a long needle of red ice formed in his hand.

“The Binding Rope's broken, so I'll have to use a rudimentary method.”

“…What if I refuse? What if I make a commotion right now and let my sister know where I am?”

“I know you won't. The more of a commotion you make, the more danger the prisoners in the basement will be in.”

“…….”

The heat that had begun to rise in the room subsided.

He drove the ice needle into her body, leaving her once again unable to resist.

If the Second Daughter tried to use magic carelessly, the needle would pierce her Core and burst it.

With the bare minimum of precautions in place, it was time to hunt.

“Head Maid. Send a messenger ghost only to my eldest brother.”

***

They climbed a beanstalk to the outskirts of Sky Island.

They looked around again and again, but saw no guards.

The Third Son, the most suspicious of the three, narrowed his eyes.

“…That was too easy.”

His arms felt as though they might come off after climbing the beanstalk with minimal mana, but that was only natural.

Climbing a beanstalk was hardly the difficult part of infiltrating enemy territory.

“Eldest Sister. It may be a long shot, but there could be an ambush. We can't rule out a trap.”

“I'll keep it in mind.”

“I'll watch closely too.”

The First Daughter and the messenger both said they would keep their eyes open, but their eyes were on other things.

The Third Son could tell.

‘I need to keep my head, at least. What is the messenger so distracted by?’

Paras had been turning his head this way and that. He looked less like he was keeping watch than searching for something.

No one would keep prisoners on the outskirts, yet he was already looking for something with desperate urgency.

For now, the Third Son could tell that both the First Daughter and the messenger were distracted and careless.

‘Fifth Son. Even if your vanguard has no one but blood relatives, surely you wouldn't leave this place without a single guard. I expected at least an undead.’

The Third Son craned his neck and surveyed the area.

He saw no one preparing to surround them, nor anyone guarding the place.

There was not even a sign of anyone nearby. The Third Son felt the same unease his sister had felt at the Tower of the Sky in the past.

And Pia had failed to dispel that unease, with disastrous results.

‘I can't let that happen this time.’

Walking at the rear, the Third Son stopped and gripped the other two by their shoulders.

“I've got a plan.”

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The Youngest Prince Copies Skills with Skeleton Soldiers

Chapter 278

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