The Crown Prince In Hiding

“Heh… What is this place?”

Dan and Nora had stumbled upon a vast stretch of sticky, humid marshland.

It was the Swamplands.

The surrounding vegetation towered high above them, thick vines hanging lazily from the trees. Both of them tilted their heads back to take in the massive canopy. Nora wrinkled her nose, raising a hand to block the smell of swamp gas that wafted up from the mud.

Dan unfolded the map in his hand.

“Looks like this place is called Blackpool.”

Blackpool—marked on the Anfield map as a vast, muddy bog, known for being home to a number of dangerous creatures.

“Best not to walk through here.”

“…Mr. Fury.”

“Hm?”

Nora suddenly raised a finger to her lips and gestured silently to the far side of the swamp.

Dan followed her line of sight…

There it was. A giant albino alligator, over five meters long, lying flat in the muck.

“…Oh boy.”

For someone who’d gone toe-to-toe with dragons the size of buildings, this thing was nothing more than a rice field rat. But size-wise, among its kind, it was the biggest anyone had likely ever seen.

“Mr. Fury… I think this is its territory.”

“Then let’s not bother it.”

“You’re not going to kill it?”

Nora looked at him.

“I could do it for you.”

“It’d probably eat you alive before—oh… right. You did take down a saber-tooth tiger. Okay… I forgot you’re not a normal princess.”

“If we kill it, we could sell the hide for a really good price. I heard crocodile leather goes for a lot. If it’s in 90% condition, we could get up to 100,000 credits.”

“That’s… a lot of money. But let’s not disturb nature’s beauty.”

“Alright. If you say so.”

Dan closed his notebook after sketching the massive beast and marked the location of Blackpool on the map.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

Crack.

“Hm?”

Dan’s boot snapped something hidden under the mud with a sharp crack.

It didn’t seem to startle the gator, but when he lifted his foot—

Something odd was stuck to his shoe, peeking out of the sludge.

“…What’s this…”

Dan raised his other foot.

Snap! Snap!

More cracks. Driven by curiosity, he reached down into the mud and pulled something out.

A military helmet.

The design resembled one from World War I.

“…Is this a soldier’s helmet?”

He examined it. It was broken and corroded, but even with the torn insignia, he could still make it out.

“It’s from Mathema…”

Suddenly, Nora leaned in beside him.

“This kind of helmet probably dates back over a hundred years, Mr. Fury.”

She said softly.

“Remember? I mentioned the war that took place in Anfield. This must be what I meant.”

“Wait… So this wreck’s been sitting here for a century and no one’s cleaned it up?”

“I think letting nature handle it was the cheapest option, Mr. Fury.”

It was very possible that the remains of that war had long been absorbed into the soil they’d been walking on all day.

“…Don’t tell me this whole swamp is littered with stuff like this.”

“Absolutely, Mr. Fury. And the mud actually preserves it better than open air would.”

Dan stared at the helmet in his hand, wiping the mud off slowly.

“I’m taking this home.”

“Why would you take that wreckage, Mr. Fury?”

“I like collecting things.”

“I didn’t know you had hobbies, Mr. Fury.”

“You know so little about me, child.”

Their exploration ended there. Fury had finished mapping and marking escape routes for emergencies.

When he looked back up at the sky—

The galaxy shimmered, white stars glittering in the night like scattered jewels.

They made their way back through the tall grass to the forest cabin, warm orange firelight licking at their skin as they approached.

At the campfire out front, Zeedee was roasting freshwater fish.

“My lord! What’s that you brought back?!”

“Found it in Blackpool.”

“You went that far?!”

“I had Nora guarding me. Nothing to worry about.”

Zeedee shot a subtle glare at Nora.

Dan went to rinse the helmet in the river, scrubbing off the muck.

Of course, even after cleaning, it still looked like a ruin. It had spent over a century buried in untouched mud. The emblem was chipped away. There was no beauty left—just historical value, which Fury appreciated.

He brought it inside, placed it carefully on top of the wardrobe, adjusted its position until he was satisfied.

He stepped back out—Nora and Zeedee sat by the fire.

“Shouldn’t you be heading home by now, girl?”

“Nobody controls my schedule anymore, Zeedee.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean? You’re gonna hang around here all day? Don’t you have anything else to do?!”

“Can’t I stay?”

“Ugh! You’re so annoying!”

Tonight, the starlight was brighter than usual. It was a moonless night, allowing the stars to shine unimpeded.

Nora looked up.

She stared long enough for Dan to follow her gaze.

“Wow, the sky’s really something tonight.” , the boy said.

“Isn’t it, Mr. Fury?”

“Nothing more relaxing than grilled fish under the stars.”

“Oh, come on, your majesty—this is nothing compared to our homeland.”

“I don’t think it’s that much less beautiful than Diablo, Freya.”

“Hmph.”

Freya looked up briefly… then Dan noticed it again.

That odd rectangular device in her hand. She lifted it, pointed it at the sky, clicked something, then tucked it away again.

“Can you see the sky like this in Diablo?” Nora asked.

“Almost every day.”

“Tell us about Diablo, Mr. Fury. What’s it really like?”

Nora had finished skewering her fish, now gazing at him with curious intensity.

“Hmm… (munch) where do I even start…”

He thought for a moment.

“Diablo’s forests are definitely cleaner than here.”

“What kind of forests? Like those dry, dead ones in the books?”

“What books?”

“You know… the ones that describe demon lands—dark, barren wastelands.”

“Oh, those illustrations.”

He paused.

“Well… they’re not wrong.”

“Huh?”

Nora tilted her head.

“So those books weren’t slandering you guys?”

“I wouldn’t say they were wrong… but what you’re seeing is our dry season.”

“Dry season? Then what’s it like normally?”

“Forests. Like this, but warmer. I don’t really know how to describe it—since it’s normal to me. If anyone could answer you better, it’d be Casca. But I think our home’s very rich. Those books don’t lie—they just don’t tell the whole story.”

Freya: Achoo!

“Do the Diablo people build buildings?”

“Nope. Casca said where I lived was more like a nest than a building. So yeah—I guess we live in nests.”

“Do you farm? What’s the food like? Is it abundant?”

“Definitely more than Snowhaven. We don’t just live off salmon and lamb.”

“No need to throw shade, Mr. Fury.”

“I’ve eaten so much salmon, I’m ready to swim upstream and spawn. Two weeks of that…”

“You eat your food raw, don’t you?”

“Eh… kind of.”

He crossed his arms, glanced at Freya, then looked back.

“What you saw—Freya devouring that wild deer like a savage—that’s basically how we Diablo eat. But it’s not like we’re that barbaric.”

Freya: “Your Majesty!!!”

“We don’t raise livestock. Only the palace keeps animals. Usually, if we’re hungry—we hunt.”

“No wonder you seemed so confused by the concept of food preservation.”

“Exactly, Your Highness.”

“So when you’re hungry, you hunt. Diablo must be rich in resources—food must be everywhere?”

“Guess so? It’s not hard for us to catch things. Humans have to work a lot harder for it.”

“…You’ve got a point.”

From what Nora had seen, Diablo’s “hunt when hungry” philosophy must feel as routine as brushing your teeth in the morning. What kind of animal could stand up to someone like Fury?

“But it’s a tricky comparison.”

He spoke quickly, seeing her reaching for her notebook again.

“Because you humans all eat beef and pork, right? But for us—some can’t eat meat, some only eat fruit.”

Nora paused.

“…You’re right. Some animals are herbivores, some are carnivores…”

“Pretty wild, huh?”

“So what about you, Mr. Fury… Are you a meat-eater or a plant-eater?”

“I can eat you, Your Highness.”

“!?”