I Was Reincarnated as a Villain Prince’s Follower, but I Refuse to Be Ruined—Turns Out the Prince Is Surprisingly Competent - Chapter 19

Jeremy was heading back to the manor from the royal palace by carriage. Exhausted from the repetitive cycle of school and magic practice, he was nodding off when the carriage suddenly screeched to a halt. Feeling a violent jolt, Jeremy snapped awake.

“Wh-what happened!?” he called out to the driver.

“I don’t know. Suddenly, a person appeared in front of—”

“What’s going on!?”

At that moment, the door was flung open. A person wearing a deep hood grabbed his arm.

(Wh-what!)

Jeremy tried to resist, but he had no strength and was dragged out onto the ground. The hooded person’s face was hidden.

“Who are you—!”

The stranger covered Jeremy’s mouth with their right hand, drew a dagger, and raised it to strike.

“Lord Jeremy!”

A knight burst onto the scene, causing the hooded figure to leap back. Immediately, a knight grabbed Jeremy’s arm and shielded him. The hooded person tensed up, but as more knights arrived, they vanished into the night like a shadow. At the same time, Jeremy regained the use of his limbs and was able to speak again.

“You guys are…”

“His Highness ordered us to guard you in secret. Please return to the palace at once!”

“What about the driver!”

“He is just unconscious. Do not worry.”

The knights put Jeremy back in the carriage and raced toward the palace. Inside, Jeremy hugged himself, trying to stop his body from trembling.

(I didn’t even have time to use magic…)

The moment he saw the blade, his mind had gone completely blank. Once escorted back to the palace, he was taken straight to Rufus’s private room. Rufus seemed to realize everything the moment he saw Jeremy arrive with the knights.

“Good work. You are dismissed.”

After receiving the report, Rufus sent the knights away. He reached out and touched Jeremy.

“Are you hurt?”

“Just a scratch, I’m fine.”

“I’ll call the court physician immediately.”

“I’m okay. You don’t need to call them for a tiny scratch like this!”

“…I see.”

Once the knights left and they were alone, Rufus whispered, “Thank goodness!” and pulled him into a hug.

“R-Rufus…!?”

Jeremy could feel Rufus trembling.

“Thank goodness you’re safe… truly…”

Jeremy heard the faint sound of a sniffle. He hugged Rufus back and rubbed his back.

“I’m only safe because of you, Rufus. Thank you.”

“…Don’t thank me. I’m the one who dragged you into this.”

“That’s not true. If you’re going to say that, I’m the one who dragged you into things at the party first. So please don’t feel responsible. The Crown Prince is the one at fault.”

“Stay here for a while starting today. Don’t go back to the Baron’s house.”

“But I’ll be a bother.”

“A bother? How could you ever be that?”

When Rufus said it so firmly, Jeremy started to hesitate again, but—

“…If you refuse, I will move into the Baron’s house myself. I mean it.”

Seeing how serious Rufus was, Jeremy nodded. “Alright.” Rufus didn’t say things like that as a joke. If he said he would do it, he would.

“I don’t want to die in a place like this, either.”

“Thank you.”

“I think I’m the one who should be saying thank you.”

Rufus smiled, looking relieved.

Jeremy’s life at the royal palace began. Whenever Rufus wasn’t around, knights guarded him constantly. It might have been natural since his life had been targeted, but being watched all the time was unsettling.

(I’m happy he worries about me, but…)

The one Jeremy was truly worried about was Rufus. Jeremy had been targeted because he was an easy mark, but the real target was surely Rufus.

(I can’t just keep living in fear of assassins. We should take action.)

During a school break, Jeremy slipped out of the building and made contact with the guard knights waiting outside.

“Could you help me capture the assassin?”

The knights looked at each other, their faces clouded with hesitation.

“We aren’t just sitting idle. We are tracking the assassin’s whereabouts. But we haven’t been able to catch their tail…”

“I have an idea of where they might be.”

Yes, thinking back on the assassin’s appearance, Jeremy realized he had seen them somewhere before. In the original story, this was the assassin Rufus hired to kill Reinhard. In the book, Reinhard raids their hideout and kills the assassin.

“How do you know such a thing?”

“Nobles have their own information networks. The details are a secret.”

“…Are you certain?”

“My own life is on the line; I wouldn’t joke about this.”

“Tell us the location. We will handle the rest.”

“I’m coming too. I’ve been training with His Highness lately, so I’m confident in my skills. It’s better to have someone who can use magic.”

“That is true, but does His Highness know about this?”

“I haven’t told him. I don’t want to worry him. We’ll finish this quickly and be back by the end of lunch break.”

“Understood. Let’s go at once.”

Slipping away from school, Jeremy and the knights headed out on horseback. He wore a cloak borrowed from a knight to hide his conspicuous school uniform. The hideout was inside the sewers. They entered through a culvert facing the river.

Because of the terrible smell, everyone covered the lower half of their faces with cloth. Flinching at the sound of rats scurrying at their feet, they felt their way through the darkness bit by bit.

“…Lord Jeremy, there’s a fork in the path. Which way?”

“O wind, swirl… become my five senses.”

A gentle breeze blew through the tunnel. It was just wind, but it was connected to Jeremy’s senses—a trick he had learned during magic training with Rufus. The wind caught the scent of fire.

“This way.”

After walking for a bit, they saw the light of a lamp hanging on a wall.

“There is a hidden room there.”

“Lord Jeremy, please wait here.”

Leaving one guard behind for Jeremy, the knights approached silently. Just as they were about to burst in, a small shadow leapt out from the room. The figure was caught in the lamplight for a split second. Caught off guard, they weren’t wearing their hood. It was a child. Holding a dagger, the child lunged at Jeremy.

“Wind Bullet!”

Jeremy fired a condensed ball of air like a projectile. However, the boy kicked off the wall, dodging with incredible reflexes. He kicked the guard knight’s chin, knocking him unconscious, then got behind Jeremy and pressed a blade to his throat.

“…Move a single inch, and I’ll slit his throat.”

At those cold words, the knights froze with their swords drawn.

“Move!”

Forced by the assassin’s blade, Jeremy was made to walk through the sewer.

“…It’s useless. There are knights outside, too. You’re a rat in a trap. It’s better to stop resisting.”

“Ha, is that so? Then you’ll be useful to me at that time, too.”

“L-look, the Crown Prince hired you, right? You should switch sides. Nothing good comes from serving him…”

Jeremy was struck hard in the side. He doubled over, coughing.

“Shut up. Be quiet.”

The exit of the sewer came into view. The sunlight pouring in blinded him for a moment.

(Rufus!?)

In his blurred vision, he couldn’t believe his eyes. A person who shouldn’t have been there was standing right there. The blade was about to sink deep into Jeremy’s neck, but Rufus grabbed the assassin’s arm before it could.

“Burst!”

A roar of explosion and heat erupted right by Jeremy’s ear.

“Agh… AAAAAHHH!”

The assassin screamed. The assassin moved away from Jeremy to try and shake off the flames clinging to his body, but Rufus pinned him to the ground face-down. The unpleasant smell of burning flesh drifted by.

“Rufus! That’s enough!”

The assassin’s wrists were burned a bright red; he could no longer hold a blade. A moment later, the knights caught up.

“You were all here, so how on earth did this happen!?”

“Your Highness, w-we are deeply sorry…!”

Though visibly irritated, Rufus grabbed the neck of the struggling assassin and shoved him toward one of the knights.

“This one is vital evidence. Do not let him be taken, and do not let him commit suicide. Heal his wounds, then grill him until he spits out everything we need.”

Rufus gave the order to the knights in a low, growling voice.

“U-understood.”

“Don’t take him to the station; secure him outside the capital. —You, come here!”

Pulled by the hand by Rufus after his rapid-fire orders, Jeremy was pinned against a wall in the back alley. Rufus’s grip dug into his arms, causing a flash of pain.

“Rufus…”

“Why did you do something so reckless? What was the point of giving you guards if you were going to do this? Don’t you think you should have said at least one word to me!?”

“…I thought I could handle it.”

“You couldn’t. In fact, you almost caused the worst possible outcome.”

Rufus’s face contorted as if he were about to cry. His eyes grew noticeably red. At that sight, Jeremy felt so much guilt he couldn’t look him in the eye.

“I’m sorry.”

Rufus took a deep breath to calm himself. His exhaled breath was trembling slightly.

“…At any rate, I’m just glad you’re safe,” Rufus said, his voice strained.

“I won’t do it again.”

“Of course, you won’t. I won’t let you.”

“…But how did you realize I had slipped away?”

“I asked your classmates to let me know if you went off somewhere alone.”

“! You… you were watching me?”

“No. I was worried the assassin might lure you out… it was just a precaution. I want to be by your side at all times, but it’s difficult since we are in different grades. But I never imagined you would skip class to raid an assassin’s hideout. Anyway, how did you know about this place?”

“…I had the Baron’s servants look into various things. One piece of info was about the sewers… I figured it would make a good hideout and be easy to escape from if found, so I placed a bet on this spot.”

He wondered if Rufus believed him.

“You really are an idiot.”

“…Yeah.”

“We’re going back to school.”

Rufus grabbed Jeremy’s arm firmly and pulled him along.

“Rufus, can you loosen your grip a bit?”

“Endure it.”