"Right, who is this man? Make him spit out why he attacked."
Oscar gave the order to his coachman.
I leaned in to take a look at the face of the thug pinned beneath him—and then...
"It's you."
"Do you know him, Noah?"
"Yeah. Sort of."
The person who had ambushed me was none other than that debt collector.
I glanced around, but the group that had been prostrating themselves outside the Thirteenth Imperial Prince Mansion was nowhere to be seen.
I explained the whole sequence of events starting from Alice.
"I see. So it's purely a displaced grudge."
"Screw you! Let me go, damn it!"
"He's an eyesore. Dislocate his jaw."
"Yes, Your Highness."
At Oscar's command, the coachman dislocated the debt collector's jaw with remarkably practiced movements.
Quite skilled—he was clearly no ordinary coachman.
Well, this guy didn't really matter.
More importantly, there was the armor linked with Leviathan.
Oscar had marveled that I had already mastered it, but I didn't know yet whether that was truly the case.
I wanted to test it out a bit more.
I looked up at Oscar.
"Brother, could you do me a favor?"
"What is it? Go on."
"I'd like to test how well I can truly handle this armor. Could you lend me one of the mages in your employ?"
"That's easy enough. What do you want to do?"
"Well..."
I told Oscar what was on my mind.
Oscar listened in silence until the very end, and then broke into a broad grin.
"In that case, allow me to do it."
"Are you sure about that, Brother?"
"Yeah. I want to see how it works for myself, and doing it in person will give me a better feel for it, right?"
"Good point. Then let's head to my mansion."
"Sure."
Nodding, I entered the mansion grounds alongside Oscar.
Just before leaving the spot, Oscar shot a glance at his coachman, and the debt collector was hauled away somewhere.
He had attacked an imperial prince, so a fitting punishment awaited him.
Instead of entering the building, we made our way into the garden.
Then we squared off, putting about ten meters of distance between us.
"Here I come."
"Right."
As I nodded, Oscar began chanting an incantation.
A magic circle spread beneath his feet, his clothes billowing with his surging mana.
Immediately after, a volley of flame arrows flew at me all at once.
One, two, three—seventeen in total.
Seventeen fiery arrows shot forward, scattered all at once a few meters before me, and converged on me from all directions.
I didn't move; I simply stood there, calm and composed.
The incoming flame arrows were intercepted by shields that had morphed from the Leviathan-linked ring.
There were seventeen arrows, and seventeen shields had manifested around me.
They completely and cleanly blocked all seventeen arrows Oscar had fired.
"Whew... Incredible. Noah, you're the first one to ever block that spell of mine so perfectly."
"Really?"
"Yeah, even though I've kept up my training. Man, you're amazing, Noah. I really want to show this to His Majesty."
I nodded to the excited Oscar.
"Only after I get a better grasp on it myself."
"Why?"
"If I show it to His Majesty, he'll definitely ask, 'How does this work?' If I can't explain my own power then, it'll all be for nothing, won't it?"
"I see. You're clever, Noah, thinking that far ahead."
I smiled back at Oscar.
Then I pondered various ways to make this ability truly my own.
☆
The next day, to clear my head, I headed out to the establishment where Alice worked.
That debt collector was likely out of commission for good; if Alice was still worried, I wanted to let her know so she could put her mind at ease.
With that in mind, I went to the shop.
When I arrived, Alice happened to be singing.
I had no intention of interrupting her performance, so I handed the clerk ten Rien, including a tip, and listened to her song from the best seat in the house.
Yeah, just as I thought.
She would only improve the more she sang. Without a doubt.
Listening quietly to Alice's singing, I looked forward to what her future held.
The song came to an end, and Alice caught her breath.
During the intermission, quite a few patrons tossed coin-wrapped papers onto the stage.
Among them, one customer approached the stage with unsteady steps.
"Hey there, missy! That was some fine singin'. Here, take this as a reward."
"Thank you very much."
"Why don'tcha come over here and pour me a drink?"
"I am terribly sorry, but I do not do that sort of—"
Perhaps used to drunkards like this, Alice tried to turn him down without batting an eye, but...
"Huuuh? Back off, you! I spotted this girl first!"
Another drunkard stumbled up from the opposite side.
"Shut yer trap! I was here first!"
"You're the one who needs to shut up! Scram!"
The two drunkards brawled over Alice, trying to force their own rules on one another.
A troubled look crossed Alice's face.
"You wanna go, punk?!"
"I'll take ya on, bastard!"
The two grew increasingly heated, each clenching their fists and throwing a punch at the other.
Thud-crack.
A dull impact echoed twice in rapid succession.
"Aaaargh!"
"Gwaaah!"
Both men clutched their thrown fists in agonizing pain.
Between the two of them—stood me, stepping in.
At this rate, blood would be spilled.
I didn't care what happened to these two, but it would piss me off if Alice got dragged into it.
So I stepped in between their punches.
Leviathan reacted instantly, projecting two shields from the linked ring to block their strikes.
Having punched iron shields with all their might, the drunkards writhed in agony, clutching their arms.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Don't get in our way!"
Without a word, I drew Leviathan and slashed at the two of them.
In the next instant, their clothes were shredded to ribbons, leaving them completely naked.
"W-Wha-wha-wha..."
"Eeeeeeek!"
Having only their clothes sliced away in an instant, the men turned pale, shrieked, and ran for their lives.
The only reason I held back was that I didn't want to spill blood in front of Alice.
Intimidating them with Leviathan was fine, but actually "taking them down" might leave a bad impression on her.
So I gave them a comical exit instead.
"What was that just now? That was incredible swordsmanship!"
"That's the imperial prince. Whew... As expected of His Highness, his swordplay is first-rate too."
The surrounding patrons buzzed with chatter, but since the men had merely been stripped buck-naked and chased off, the atmosphere remained lighthearted.
I turned to Alice.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
"Y-Yes... Thank you very much."
"Right. Hey, shopkeeper."
"Y-Yes! My deepest apologies, Your Highness!"
The shopkeeper, who had been watching the events unfold from a short distance away, rushed over in a panic—so flustered he even slammed his leg against a table.
"From now on, do not let customers like that in."
"B-But customers like that are practically what keeps this establishment afloat. As a business, we also—"
"All right, all right. In that case, I'll buy the whole shop."
"—Huh?"
The shopkeeper stared in astonishment. I pulled out the pouch of money I was carrying and handed it to him.
"Here's one thousand Rien. I'm buying the entire shop, so turn away people like that."
"Y-Yes! Thank you so very much!"
Holding the money up high, the shopkeeper bowed his head over and over again.
"Um... Your Highness."
"What is it, Alice? Why the gloomy look?"
"To do so much for me... I don't know how I could ever repay your kindness."
"Just sing," I replied immediately. "What I want from you is your song. All you need to do is sing."
"All I need to do... is sing?"
"Yeah. I have high hopes for you. Eventually, I'd like His Majesty to hear you as well, so hone your craft until then."
"Yes..."
Alice's eyes welled with tears of gratitude, her cheeks flushing pink.
"Um... Your Highness?"
"Would you listen to one more song before you leave?"
"Yeah. Sing."
I nodded with a smile and returned to my seat at the very back.
Waiting for me to sit, Alice offered a bashful smile, touched the strings of her harp, and began to sing once more.
"Mmh..."
It was distinctively different right from the opening notes.
As the song progressed, the change became all the more striking.
Alice's singing enveloped the entire shop.
Myself, the remaining patrons—every single person was utterly captivated by her song.
It was on a completely different level compared to how she had sung before.
It was as if she had grown—no, evolved—in an instant.
I knew she had talent, so improving was only natural.
But why so suddenly?
While I remained captivated by the song in bewilderment, the performance came to an end.
The next instant, thunderous applause erupted.
Every customer who had witnessed Alice's emergence stood up, offering generous, unreserved applause.
"Seriously, what just happened?"
"I believe it is due to your influence, Your Highness."
"Hm?"
Addressed from the side, I turned around.
A familiar face. If I recalled correctly—
"Byron, was it?"
It was Byron, the merchant I had met at the Third Prime Minister's banquet.
Wearing an expression of deep respect, Byron stood beside me.
"Why are you here... No, more importantly, what do you mean by my influence?"
"It is because Your Highness brought about that girl's evolution. In her desire to live up to Your Highness's expectations, she has shed her old self."
"Such things can happen?"
"On rare occasions. To have brought it about only proves what a magnificent person Your Highness is."
"I see. Will this last?"
"For as long as Your Highness keeps your watchful eye upon her," Byron stated with utter certainty.
Then that was fine by me.