Although I am now a prince, but in order to survive...BL

Chapter 19

How can this be? All the facts indicate that this is true. So, there's no way the information could be false, unless... some kind of guess came to Jay's head. And at the same moment, in order to confirm it, he walked around the area where the spell was cast and looked closely at the corpse. Well, it's worth admitting that they had some identical features, but cufflinks... my sister told me that the exiled prince's father wore cufflinks in the form of an eagle. The same corpse had them in the shape of a button.- Someone wanted to put on a show, knowing that we were going. Jay smiled wryly.- Very clever, it's just a pity that they messed up the details. This is not the real king. – Jay, having finished his inspection, retreated."What makes you so sure of that?" – The boy didn't really believe him.- Perhaps the brothers are similar to each other, but... the man you saw, his brother, he wears cufflinks in the shape of a bird, right?- And what does it give? – He remembered that, yes, there was such a thing, but he did not quite understand what it was leading to."That's the real king, and don't ask me how I know. Anyway, since I'm from their family, shouldn't I know that, huh? But it is strange that they have prepared such a trap. Even assuming that the guy could have contacted the king. But he's..." Jay stammered and began to reason mentally. He didn't want to share his guesses and assumptions with anyone."Did he know that I was the king's son? Or did he just tell him to share all the strange requests? And if so, then why would you arrange such a thing for some stranger? This is clearly a targeted murder. I don't understand anything... in any case, it turns out that my identity was somehow revealed." Jay frowned and decided to visit the head of the local kids later, but in the meantime he had to get out of here. Until someone wants to come here.- Do you hear? Looks like the guards are coming. – At this time, strange voices and the sound of boots reached the ears of the boy. – We need to get out of here.What kind of bastard read his thoughts right now? Jay didn't check to see if the boy was wrong. He acted according to the situation and according to what his intuition suggested. And since she was clearly leaning towards the words of his accomplice, he did not hesitate and headed back to the basement.- Then let's go. Earth Spirit, can you dig a tunnel quickly? – On the way, he turned to the spirit sleeping in his pocket. – Do you hear? He shook his pocket when there was no response.- You definitely want me dead. Can't you be more careful? I am a fragile creature, and if anything happens, I can take revenge.- Kill me, you will lose three meals a day. Will you help?- I'm not a wind spirit for you. It's useless to threaten me with food. – Although he said so, he got out of his pocket and, taking off, headed for the basement. – But to help, so be it. I'm tired of sitting in my pocket. – Jay didn't say anything about this revelation, as he decided not to point out the shortcomings of someone this time. There was no time to argue now.When they went down to the basement, the spirit of the earth had already begun to dig a tunnel. The extra earth was sent outside to the corner of the basement, thus creating an escape route. It seemed like an eternity when the spirit finished its work. Somewhere out there, even the guards have already come to the door.- Is he finished? The boy asked impatiently when he heard the approaching noise.- Be grateful that I often had to dig tunnels before. Otherwise, we would have to wait and wait. But, yes, I'm done. – Instead of Jay, the spirit of the earth answered, who during the work managed to acquire the courage and for the first time tell him everything he thought. And it's okay that after that he immediately hid behind Jay.- Finish your empty conversations already and let's go. – Jay shook his head at this verbal altercation, and was the first to descend into the tunnel.Well, what can I say, it turned out to be quite spacious here. In any case, it was possible to crawl forward freely, which Jay actually started right away, focusing on the touch. After a few long minutes, after which he moved forward, he asked the spirit of the earth, the entrance to fall asleep. So that they would not immediately notice that there was a stranger here, and even more so they followed him. He flew away for a while, after which, it seems, the air noticeably shrank inside. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.- Spirit! Didn't you dig the passage from the other side?! – Of course, Jay guessed what was going on and literally immediately turned to the culprit of this situation.- Oh, I somehow forgot. – He replied, not even a bit worried and scratching the top of his head.- You...- Shut up, - hearing that the boy from behind wanted to say something, Jay cut him off and demanded that the spirit immediately make a hole at the end of the tunnel before they all died from lack of oxygen.- Well, everyone, how nervous we are. – The Spirit snorted and reluctantly went to do the job.Although unlike these people, he didn't need much oxygen to breathe. He could even spend a few hours here and stay alive. But if this "benefactor" dies, his brother the wind spirit will then favor him. And it's such a headache... so be it for the sake of his own health and a future without trouble, he will do it.But unfortunately, the air did not arrive as quickly as Jay would have liked. Holding his breath, he had almost crawled to the end of the tunnel and was all blue in the face when, finally, a fresh breeze blew. "So that this spirit ..." Jay opened his mouth and greedily took a deep breath of air, thought that it was worth someone's diet to podsokrat. And he raised his head up, noticing a small target in the ground, which the spirit created and actually flew out of here, began to get out of the tunnel. Perhaps it is unnecessary to mention that after this he was all dirty and angry. And all because of the fact that a certain bug did not want to do her job to the end.- The more I live here, the less and less I like you spirits. You're of no use. – Jay said to the spirit of the earth, whom he immediately met as soon as he was on the surface. – You are excessively lazy and doing everything only for your own benefit.- As if people aren't the same.- Have you seen many people? – Jay looked around, noticed that there was no one on the road where they got out, began to shake off the ground in order to at least more or less put his appearance in order. Wondering in between, should he visit the head of the boys right now?- Killed, urgently report to the commander. – Someone's loud order sounded from the side of the house they had just left. – The nearest patrol is here.Looks like it's not going to be a good time. Well, then, we'll have to postpone this matter until the next visit to the city.- Yes, there are a lot of knights today. Consider him lucky– Jay took out a portal scroll and prepared to tear it. – Are you going to leave? – Having called the others before that, into the circle he had just drawn. However, they didn't need to repeat it a second time, and quickly realizing it, they joined Jay.Soon there was a magical flash in the city and a second ago, there was no one where Jay was.At the same time, one of the knights who discovered the body wrote a note and, folding it into a tube, sent it with the help of a pigeon to the person who expected an answer from him. And when he received it..."That's it... so he's still alive?" Damn old man, let me down. – A man whose face looked seventy percent like Jay, only at a more mature age, read the note and threw it into the fireplace with hatred when he finished."You shouldn't have trusted him so much. At this time, a red–haired teenager sitting at a table eating a duck said mockingly.- Shut up! Did I ask you to give me advice? – The man approached the table and, taking a glass of wine from it, threw it at the teenager. – Get out of here!"If I leave, who are you going to talk to?" Father, I'm the only one who still listens to you. – The teenager covered his face with his hand, and when the object collided with his palm and pain came in response, he laughed out loud. "Haha... it's just like back then. Do you remember the old man? At that time, my mother...- Crazy bastard, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk about this woman? – The man took the dishes from the table and threw it at the teenager. This kind of thing has become a habit with him for a long time. Therefore, he didn't even think about it when he did it. "If it wasn't for her, I'd still have my life. She took everything from me! I hate her... how I hate her! And you," he rushed to the teenager and hit him in the face. – How many times have I asked you not to catch my eye anymore?- Otherwise what, will you kill me? – The teenager didn't feel any pain at all. He got up when he was thrown away after a fist was raised on him and, picking up a duck that had fallen to the floor, continued to eat it, despite the fresh wound around his mouth. "We both know you can't do that, and neither can I come here." You killed her. Do you think such things are just forgotten? – Not forgetting meanwhile to anger the man more and more.Soon, in a house far from the city, the next sounds of beating sounded.Jay started when he heard the frightened cry of a bird, and looked around, trying to figure out where they were.He had already used two transfer scrolls. The last one remained. He didn't want to waste it in any way. After all, who knows when it will be possible to exchange more similar things with a magician. That infection is cunning and usually likes to overstate the number of items in a deal when it comes to magic scrolls. So it's better to wait with this for now. Now he needs to think about money first of all. Fortunately, the neighborhood turned out to be familiar, and as it turned out a little later - it was Jay's favorite forest.Well, there was no need to waste the remaining scroll. Hiding it far away, Jay decided to go to the cave. Since he was here today, it would be nice to find out how his rice grows there. Maybe it was time to harvest? But before that, it looks like he will have to solve the problem with her neighbor. After all, as he realized earlier, he hates his current family very much. And although he has little to do with her... but the way he looks at him fiercely now, as if he wants to kill him. It doesn't seem to matter at all to his neighbor.- Let's talk about it later. Now, in any case, I have no desire to discuss it.- Do you really want to talk about it?"Otherwise, will you leave my house?" Jay asked this question, trying not to betray his interest.Yes, he still wanted to get rid of this guy, even though they had been neighbors enough and there should have been enough time to accept that this might be the case in the future. But for a second... hey, he didn't even want to be a free labor force. So why does he need it at all? At least the two he brought in are doing something. The same old man, despite his age, wanted to be a butler. And the girl, although she will give birth to her in three or two months, agreed to cook. And what about this one? Well, if he was his brother, he might have forgiven him for his laziness. But he's not his brother at all! So why should he put up with all this?!"Tc... it's a pity that I don't have enough strength. Otherwise I would have beaten him and thrown him right here, on the rations of hungry animals." Jay thought gloomily, but then he remembered that this guy actually saved his life by pulling him out of the trap set. And somehow his anger passed, and he even accepted his laziness. Perhaps he just can't do such things. After all, everyone has their own talent. It's not for nothing that there are so many different professions in the world. And this boy is among those who have not found their talent yet. By the way, has he tried it in construction? Jay was suddenly very interested in this question. After all, with his level of physical strength, for some reason he was sure that he would have made an excellent builder.- Okay, let's check it out later. Jay nodded to himself, then turned back to the boy. "I have other things to do here. I'll meet you at home. – He briefly said goodbye to him and headed for the cave. Until his enthusiasm immediately required him to implement the idea that had just occurred to him.The idea is certainly good, but it was too early to do it. Firstly, to begin with, it was necessary to create some kind of, but a drawing of the building where the bird would live. And secondly... there was no material for the case itself. (ಥ﹏ಥ), (ಥ﹏ಥ), here, unfortunately, as always, everything rested on money. And they... damn it! Yes, Jay did not have time to earn them, as he was left with an empty pocket again. Even for a rainy day, nothing could be postponed. Because the same shopping list has never decreased, but each time it has become more and more. It's like an endless circle.- It must be cool to be rich. You can easily survive the coming winter. In autumn, to be lazy and do nothing, just basking under the last summer rays. Krasotaaaa! – That's how Jay imagined this picture.- What are you going crazy for? - But as soon as the spirit spoke, the picture burst like a soap bubble and Jay had no choice but to cry bitterly.- Well, what have you done? He wiped away an invisible tear in the corner of his eyes and cast a stern look at the spirit sitting in his pocket. – You ruined my whole vacation. No, sooner or later I will stop feeding you. My dear vacation... - Jay sighed bitterly and with such a gloomy mood entered the cave and immediately left. Because it was dark there. And he didn't take a torch or even the same candle. And what should I do now?As a result, Jay decided to leave rice alone and went home. Let's come and see it later, sometime in the afternoon, and at the same time harvest it.On the way, he did not forget to ask the spirit some of the questions concerning him related to tonight's incident. Here, of course, we were talking about the magical component. Who created the blood spell? Could any spirit pull off such a thing? How difficult is it to do this?The spirit of the earth, who was going to sleep in his pocket at this time, immediately woke up. Oh, he'd forgotten all about it. Today, this boy was almost killed by a spell. Quite rare, I must say, and little known to anyone. In their current time, no one used this method of killing anymore. Besides... did someone really do such a great job just to kill this boy? After all, he is ordinary and does not stand out at all. Hmm, his curiosity was aroused, and due to the fact that he was now also an interested party to some extent, he began to reason out loud.- Well, look... - Perhaps it's needless to say that half of his words were worthless. But Jay, who already knew the nature of the spirits well, still kept silent and waited for him to get down to business.Well, you can say his patience was rewarded. He finally found out the answers to his questions. And they turned out to be very interesting. As it turned out, only a magician could create such a spell, a rather unusual magician by the way, but only one who had old records that had been handed down to him from a generation of other magicians."Could there be such in the magic tower? Quite. But what's the point of any of them cooperating with the king? Was it even a king? According to the story, he considered only the main character as his child, but he didn't care about the rest." Jay frowned at the spinning thoughts in his head and decided to talk to the magician later to first find out from him whether any of the children living in the tower had carried out such an order. If so... well, either he will confirm or deny that his father was involved in this case.But apart from this, we must not forget about the head of the vagabonds. Since Jay couldn't visit him yet, and whether he would be there at all when he paid him a second visit is unknown. Then let's get information about him first. After all, having the necessary information, perhaps he will be able to understand exactly how he is connected with the king. Here's just a little snag turned out ... how can he do it in this world? He has no connections, no money either, to hire people and find out the necessary information. Jay scratched his chin thoughtfully, and suddenly knights came to mind. And why not try to negotiate with them so that they do it in their free time? Since they liked his "diner" so much, they can try to use it.- Well, let's do that. And then I'll prepare a retaliatory trap for him myself. Who said he was the only one who could set a mousetrap for me? Jay smiled as he thought about catching the killer and quickened his pace.In such a great mood, he reached home. But it quickly disappeared when he saw a whole crowd of mice putting their own order in his garden.He worked so hard. Every day I bent my back to dig up everything and plant the renewed plot with seeds. Destroyed weeds, cut off excess leaves, and now what? What has his beautiful and well-groomed plot turned into? What are these pits and gnawed plants?! Why are carrots not in the ground, but lying on the ground, and even bitten? And what happened to the corn... half of the grains from the cob were directly scattered on the ground!Jay stopped and clutched at his heart when he thought about the money he had lost due to unforeseen losses. Ah, his future capital! "Who... who did this?!" He took a deep breath and suddenly screamed loudly. – Where did the mice come from here? It's not the end of autumn or the beginning of winter. Why are they here? – Then he rushed to the vegetable garden and pulled the spirit of the earth out of his pocket, threw it into a pile of mice. – Since you're handling the land, then drive them away, and I'm still...- And you yet? – The spirit, still not understanding what was going on, flew out of the pile of mice that almost surrounded him, and looked questioningly at Jay.- I'm going to get a broom. – With these words, Jay disappeared and returned a minute later, where they immediately, together with the spirit of the earth, began to chase the mice from the site. But it wasn't an easy task. Whatever Jay did, and even more so the spirit, they still returned. – What's wrong with them? Earth Spirit, do you think this matter is unclean? – Jay thought it was strange. After all, the same rabbits would have escaped from such actions long ago. Either the mice were abnormal, or... - Could magic be involved in this?- Do you have any enemies among the spirits or magicians? – Asked the spirit of the earth, who decided to check something.- No, but I know one joker who could do it. – Jay waved a broom and thereby threw the mice far away.- If you're talking about the wind now, then he couldn't have done this. Although he likes to mess around, he always does it openly. In addition... - The spirit of the earth, seeing how a purple hue flashed on the ground under the light of the moon, abruptly fell silent and went after this light. – I already know who did it. – Soon he picked up a small purple stone from the ground and threw it to Jay. – There is one spirit living in the magic tower, which, if offended, he can arrange all kinds of trouble with this."This pebble?" – Jay caught the stone and looked at it with interest. – Does it contain some kind of magic?- Of course, that's what lures these people here. I would advise you to find all the parts of the stones, then you will get rid of the problem. By the way, how did you anger this spirit? He's very calm.- I? Tc... I'm not even involved in this. It's the wind spirit. The two of them had some sort of showdown. But one of them, apparently, decided to drag me into it. Jay shook his head irritably. – Did you say this spirit lives in the magic tower? So, I can quite claim compensation if I show evidence. Help me gather all the evidence.- Hey, me, what do you want a horse? Why should I do this. I've already done a good job today when I was digging the tunnel. So be grateful and... okay, okay, I'll help. – Jay looked at the spirit so much that he didn't remember why he shrank and eventually agreed to work more. When they finished with the selection of evidence and the spirit of the earth came to his senses, he almost showered Jay with abuse. That damn kid! How dare he look at him so menacingly!The spirit of the earth wanted to teach Jay a lesson, but he completely unaware of his anger, wrapped the evidence in a rag and buried it in the ground, not far from his plot, disappeared into the house for a long time.- I hate people! – Just had the spirit to shout out, because he didn't want to destroy the house. There was food there. And fly to the rabbits on their fur to nest to sleep.- Who's screaming in the middle of the night? – Jay, who heard the angry cry of the spirit through the kitchen window, silently envying his master.After all, this unknown person did not need to go and pick up the gnawed and crumpled crop and save it with a knife from all kinds of mouse microbes. This person can calmly go and sleep.He washed his face with cold water so as not to fall asleep and, taking a bucket with a knife, went to the garden, holding a candelabra in his free hand.Dawn wasn't due for another two hours. This means that he will have to cover everything himself in order to assess the real damage caused by mice. Yes, something told him that he hadn't seen all the mayhem yet.Returning to the garden, first of all he checked how bad everything was. Carrots, as it turned out, were almost all destroyed, only about ten percent of it was not damaged somewhere. And with corn, it wasn't all that bad. Mice destroyed a total of five cobs. Mostly they gnawed her trunks. So for sale, her entire crop could go. However, with tomatoes... they destroyed them more than corn. Here, not only the harvest, but also some parts of the plant will have to be thrown away, which, by the way, could still bring a harvest.- Calm down. I can still make money on the leftovers. – Jay touched the heart, which was bleeding, from the loss of profit and continued the examination.Cabbage, due to the fact that it was in the second garden, and it was next to the first one in a couple of steps, did not suffer at all. The same here included onions and melons. Well, that's not bad. There will be something for the magician to sell when he suddenly wants to buy not only fruits with berries. However, Jay will not let the rest of the harvest go to waste. Since he already has a hot pepper plot still alive and no flying or crawling creature wants to stuff his stomach with it, it seems to him that now is the time when he can start introducing spicy dishes on sale. Hot pot, spicy noodles, shish kebab cooked over an open fire in hot sauce...The main thing is that after selling these dishes, someone does not come to him with a complaint that he sells dishes of his country. After all, as Jay found out earlier, thanks to the same cabbage and onions, earlier in this world the demand was not only for sweets. Let's just say that thanks to the disaster that began to destroy entire countries with their culture, it began to be forgotten. Some vegetables disappeared as a result, which made it impossible to cook certain dishes. For example, take the same cucumbers, Jay has not yet met them in this. Or eggplant, it's not there either.- But if anything, it will be possible to negotiate. In any case, I will not be sued, because he is not in this world. – Jay calmed himself down and began to cut carrots.He threw the damaged edges directly onto the ground, from which he was going to make fertilizer. After all, the earth gives mineral substances to plants. From time to time they had to be replenished if he wanted to continue planting on the site he created. In addition, given that it is still unknown what will happen when the growth potion completely evaporates from the ground ... maybe it will become unsuitable for planting after that, it's better to hedge just in case. He was also going to send corn there. Moreover, neither efforts nor difficulties - it did not require any. It was only necessary to chop everything very finely, and for the winter from what turned out to cover your plot. And, perhaps, the destroyed trunks of tomatoes could also go there. They still contained a growth potion, somehow it was a pity to just throw them away or destroy them. Everything will do for the soil.In total, saving carrots and corn with tomatoes, after dawn had already come, Jay took the last fourth bucket overflowing with harvest and took it to the kitchen. Where he emptied everything in it into a wooden trough. He once bought this at the market to create his signature tomato sauce. And that a large volume immediately fit into it, and then it was easily possible to spread it out using a spoon in containers. By the way, Jay had a good supply of sauce at the moment. But it would not hurt to replenish it, because something tells him that the count will start selling it long before the agreed deadline. After all, did he try to promote it in his kiosk in vain?- Jay, are you awake already? Good morning. – Dina came into the kitchen, the same girl who became a cook working for Jay.- Good morning, Dina. – Jay, rubbed his red eyes, which clearly showed lack of sleep, and yawned. – I won't be at breakfast, I'm going to sleep. If you need vegetables, use what's lying here. When your father returns, let him spot half the adult rabbits. I need meat.- So he won't be back so soon. He just left yesterday. By the way, you were with him too, how did you get back so quickly?- A familiar magician helped. However, I think there is someone who will help him, too. – Jay stopped at the exit of the kitchen and thought about the wind spirit. He definitely, as not a fan of boring trips, sooner or later uses his magic. – Well, I hope the old man can stand it. – Jay said to himself, after which he turned back to Dina. – As soon as he comes back and does everything, wake me up. – Having finally finished giving orders, he retired to bed.