Chapter 158

"Smile a bit, Naell. I mean, look at Owly, he's used to it already." Enitma said while smirking.

Currently, the duo Naell and Owly, together with Prince Enitma, his knight Arawa Morning (The First Sunrise), Sanbu Hangen (The Wizard of Dunes), and the envoys for the other nobles of the Republic were taking a stroll.

It was one of the many walks of formality they were soon to hold. "Touring" it was called, where they intended to show their guests around town. Yet as Naell knew of the real reason behind their pleasant stroll, he could only produce a much strained smile.

Seeing that, Enitma couldn't help but chuckle and further taunt Naell who by then became familiar with the prince's antics.

"Aren't you in a good mood today prince. You must really love walking outside." In response, Naell jabbed back and immediately irked Enitma.

Enitma's usual perfect facade had hints of coldness directly in his eyes. He then replied, "Why, I sure do."

Naell couldn't help but chuckle in response. Even Arawa and Sanbu who knew of the prince's true personality couldn't help but smile dryly.

"I hope you'll still be jolly, friend, I have a surprise for you."

Upon hearing Enitma's remarks, Naell knew that the petty prince was back with his antics again.

Weeks have gone by since the duo agreed to help the prince raise his reputation within the Republic.

By that time, Naell and Enitma became truly acquainted with one another with their days filled with banter.

Arawa and Sanbu were surprised at first as they never thought that the prince who would often hide his personality would really become an open person towards Naell and Owly.

Yet they also soon realized that although Naell and Enitma had clashing personalities, both were kinda similar to each other.

And so, for those who were watching them from afar, they could only see that the whispering rumors were indeed quite real.

The story goes that Naell and Enitma's strong friendship all started when the prince went to Taglagas to act as a delegate.

One of the prince's missions was to go to the village of Noeadia, an estate run by a baroness under the Autumn Kingdom.

The baroness was also the mother of Aive Noeadia, a schoolmate and friend of Naell and Owly from Princess Utua's entourage.

Circumstances have led for Naell to be chosen as one of the adventurers and nobles who would escort the representatives of Summer and Taglagas to their destination.

That resulted in Naell displaying his exemplary skills and bravery which increased the entire traveling party's admiration and respect for him. Especially at the time when a bunch of monsters suddenly appeared and decided to head towards their group.

It took them all by surprise as no one would have thought they would be surrounded by Wildetaurs—C-rank monsters that traveled in hordes and when grouped are as dangerous as B-ranks.

Both sides seemed to be prepared for such scenario as knights from Tagalagas, soldiers from Summer, and adventurers hired as escorts (including Naell) all readied themselves to face the herd.

Even nobles who were known to be skilled in combat were brought along (also including Naell). All of this had been prepared for the protection of the two royal individuals in that traveling group; the princess of Taglagas, Utua, and the prince of Summer, Enitma.

Yet despite all of their preparations, the hordes of monsters running amok towards them managed to make it all insignificant.

Certainly, there were some select few in their group who could take on countless Wildetaurs. One of these was Sept Noom, a noble student who was also assigned to be an escort that could easily decimate 10 of the monsters alone.

Still, no matter how many they could possibly face, such hectic and plentiful monsters could easily cause someone to lose focus and become vulnerable.

At the time, the prince almost became an example of this. Afterall he was known for his wits and not his battle prowess. Thus deep in the midst of battle he made fatal errors.

[ Hark! Instead of remaining inside the carriage, he went and displayed honor by joining the fray. With this he gained respect from the other delegates of Summer who were cowering in fear inside the carriage… ] (This was a fabricated lie. He was actually inside the carriage).

Enitma also didn't bring his two loyal retainers whose abilities earned them prestige as martial artist and mage, respectively.

Lastly, he overestimated himself as the battle took everything he got just to allegedly evade a Wildetaur that preyed on him.

That's when he realized how much of a dolt he was as even the monster predicted his movement. For as he evaded, another Wildetaur aimed his horn towards his heart.

Only the sounds of cries and frantic rushing he heard as he thought he would breathe his last. Coldness overtook his body. It even betrayed his will to open his eyes as he knew he was trembling for the fear of death.

[ Yet the cold cruel death had never come, the warmth had remained by his side ]

"..."

[ And so he managed to opened his eyes and what behold his sight was the cause of his coldness! ]

"..."

[ Truly what he felt was indeed authentic, so real that it froze the entire Wildetaurs hordes! ]

"..."

Shouts came from the commoners who again heard the story from the passing bard. For Naell however, the repetitive list of tales that was happening throughout the Republic made him cringe so hard.

"So this is your surprise…" Naell said while sighing.

[ That was why the prince owed him a great deal and even went so far as to declare young master Naell a friend. ]

"..."

[ At first the young master Naell was reluctant as like his cold demeanor suggests, he was only known to be close to few people. ]

"..."

While the listeners attentively awaited for the bard's next words, Naell was eager to move on yet the prince who started it all, and knew of his "friend's" distaste of said stories didn't comply.

Enitma also managed to make Owly an ally, which kinda didn't surprise Naell at all. When it comes to teasing him, the young owl would not dare miss it afterall.

[ Yet soon with prince Enitma Summer…dependable bold like no other…loyal companion and brother! ]

"Hmm, that wasn't part of the script…" Muttered Enitma who failed to realized that stories shared upon hearsay, where bound to be more exaggerated overtime.

[ Their friendship had come to effect! ]

Shouts of glee again surrounded the crowd with an owl seemingly laughing along the way. Only Arawa and Sanbu was pitying both. Clearly both Naell and Enitma felt like dying which could be seen clearly from the faint embarrassment showing on their cheeks.