Chapter 4: Resistance of the Demon Sword

The residence of the 13th Prince.

　Adjacent to the royal palace, it is one of the residences of the kings that surround the perimeter of the palace.

　It was there that I woke up in the morning.

　It's been six years since I moved into this mansion, and at the age of six, I'm finally getting used to my new life and its style.

　I wake up in the morning, get out of bed and stand in my pajamas in a daze.

　Then the maids who were waiting for me outside my room would come in and wash my face, comb my hair, and change me out of my pajamas.

　I don't know who hired them, but the maids are mostly young teenage girls, with the exception of one who is in command.

　Having those young girls change clothes, and having them see me naked every day makes me nervous – I'm getting used to it.

　Today, too, I'm forced to change clothes while I'm in a daze until my mind starts to work.

"Yes, I'm done dressing you."

"You are looking very handsome today, sir."

"Hm."

　I nodded briefly and left the bedroom.

　From there, I head to the grand dining room.

"Well, Lucas-sama is quite a big deal."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Normally, at that age, children start talking about how embarrassed they are or they start playing tricks on other people like us. However, he never does, and he always seems to be at ease. I guess that's the dignity of a ruler."

　With the chat of the maids in the background, I head to the dining room.

――――――――――――

Name: Lucas Ararat

Title: 13th prince of Ararat Empire

Gender: male

Level: 1/∞

HP: F

MP: F

Water: E+S

Fire: F

Strength: F

Wind: F

Stamina: F+F

Earth: F

Intelligence: F

Light: F

Spirit: F

Darkness: F

Speed: ​​F

Dexterity: F+F

Luck: F+F

――――――――――――

　As I walked, I put the status out at the corner of my vision.

　I've learned one thing in the several doubts on the status, in the six years since my reincarnation.

　That's that the "+" amount depends on the number of subordinates of me–the 13th Prince, Lucas Ararat's followers.

　I don't know specifically what kind of calculation it is, but every time the number of my subordinates / follower increases or decreases, the amount behind the "+" changes.

　And this isn't visible to people, apparently it's just me.

　There are still dozens of maids in the mansion, and there is a slight increase in basic abilities.

　If I get more subordinates, I'll be stronger myself, but the prince – the prince is a prince and there are many strings attached to him.

　There's nothing I can do now that I'm six years old, I'll have to wait a few more years.

　Once I'm able to move – I've been thinking a lot about it, and it's going to take me a while.

　In the meantime, I went to the main dining room and ate my breakfast, served by another young maid.

"Master,"

　About the same time I finished eating, a maid arrived.

　Not a maid to take care of me, but a good-looking, receptionist maid.

"His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and the 4th Prince have arrived."

"What?　Where are they now?"

"We are leading them to the living room. The Crown Prince says, 'You can come in after you've had your fill.'"

"Lead the way."

It would be rude to be late, even if the Crown Prince himself said so.

　I stood up quickly and let the maids show me to the living room.

　When I entered the living room, I saw two men there.

　Albert Ararat, the Second Prince and the Crown Prince.

　Henry Ararat, the fourth prince.

　Both of them are Lucas own brother, but as you can see from the order of being the 13th prince, the older two are already middle-aged – the crown prince is a first-generation man with gray hair above his ears.

　I bowed to my two older brothers, who one could say are fathers, in a formal manner.

"Good morning, brothers."

"Oh, there you are."

"No need to get all formal, sit down."

"Thank you."

　I sat down in the lower seat.

　Of course, Crown Prince Albert was sitting on the top seat.

　Even though he is my own older brother, he is the Crown Prince.

　He's also in charge of some of the political affairs, a sort of half emperor.

　I used the manners I've learned over the past six years to pay my respects from my subjects.

"Hmmm, but Lucas is so polite and clever."

　The Crown Prince Albert said admiringly.

"The 11th and 12th, and the 14th and 15th. Those kids are close to Lucas age, and are still kids themselves."

"Thank you, brother."

"That's very impressive wisdom for a child your age. Perhaps you' ll be a great chancellor one day."

"I will try to be so."

"You can be. Hey, Henry."

"Yeah."

　The fourth prince, Henry, nodded quietly and then looked at me.

　He's a little younger than Albert, but his eyes are calm, and sometimes he looks older than he is if you just look at him there.

"I understand Lucas. You' re one of the wisest of the brothers."

　He sounded profound, but I knew better than to go into it.

" Well nothing compared to big brothers, Speaking of which, what brings you here today?"

"Oh, yes, that's right. I had a present for you Lucas."

　Albert clapped his hands with a pang as he said this.

　Then one of the servants came in from outside the room, carrying a box.

　Somehow, he looked pale and shivered, rattling.

"Open it."

　In a tone of voice accustomed to ordering people around, Albert ordered the servant.

　The servant opened the box with an even more paper-like complexion.

　Inside the box was a single swing of a sword.

"What is this?"

"I told you.　It's a gift for you."

"Huh…"

"Well, try holding it."

　I don't know what the truth is.

　I looked at Henry, but he nodded quietly.

　Encouraged by that, I picked up that sword, which was adult-sized.

　It was slightly heavy, and the tip of the scabbard fell to the ground with a thud.

　But that's normal weight, though.

　Apparently, just because a six year old can't carry it, doesn't mean it's heavy or anything.

　But I notice something here.

　When I held the sword, the color of the servant's face, which was paper-like until a moment ago, began to gradually return.

　What could this mean?　I thought.

"Ho, I'm impressed."

　Albert sounded sincerely impressed.

"What do you mean?"

"The name of that sword is Leviathan."

"Levia ...than?."

"It's also known as the Magic Katana of Water. It's said to be the highest level among the magic swords, and about 120 people died before they could handle it for the first time."

"What!?"

　I was so surprised that I almost let go of the katana without a second thought.

　The reason I didn't do so was because the awareness that it was the Crown Prince's gift was still in the corner of my mind, so I could just barely keep my grip on it.

"You don't need to worry about it."

　Henry saw that I was flustered and said in a gentle tone.

" The moment you cannot carry it, you are cursed to death as soon as you possess it."

"Exactly, Lucas has the skill water SS, right? It's a Demon Sword that even the S guys would handle with their lives cut short, but I was wondering what would happen with the water SS."

"Huh…"

　That is the reason for it, you fucking crown prince – oops, that's not good.

　I had to stop myself from thinking these swear words in my mind because I'm afraid I'll say them out loud one day.

"Hey Lucas, are you sure you can hold that normally?"

"Yeah, well. It's heavy."

"Wow, that's impressive. No,it would be better to say that it was something to behold."

　I was praised for my water SS with the Demon Katana, but it left me with a bit of an unexplainable feeling.