The Birth of The Prince and The Raven

Part 1

Crown Prince Siegfried was known as a noble and kind person. The Nawsekal Kingdom was not a large or powerful one, but the Crown Prince was still well known and respected throughout the continent for his heroic deeds.

The Nawsekal Kingdom also boasted neutrality in most international issues, shying away from large wars or territory disputes in order to maintain that delicate peace that had been obtained for the citizens.

It really wasn't a bad place to live, all things considered.

Kim Rok Soo stared down at the map in front of him thoughtfully, tapping the table as he considered his options. There was no feasible way he was going to stay in the Roan Kingdom after all.

For starters, the entire place was about to go batshit after war broke out across the continent and Kim Rok Soo as an aberrant existence had absolutely no means to protect himself from the chaos to come.

Let the heroes handle that, he needed to find a place to retreat to. Perhaps he would have had a different mindset if he didn't know the broad plot of this particular story but knowing that some seriously powerful individuals were going to munchkin their way to victory left Kim Rok Soo with very little interest in being anywhere near that chaos.

Rok Soo tapped the table again with a frown.

The only real issue with the Nawsekal Kingdom was that Rok Soo didn't have any real intel on the place. What he could glean from books in the library was limited to what the Roan Kingdom knew and more importantly, the amount he'd been able to teach himself to read.

There was indeed a very large possibility that there was some hidden twist about the quiet and neutral kingdom that hadn't yet been mentioned in volume five of [The Birth of a Hero].

"What are you looking at, nya?"

Rok Soo turned his attention to the messy head of red hair that was looking up at him curiously and ruffled it mindlessly. "Nothing." He lied, closing the map and shoving it into his pocket.

Living in the slums wasn't so bad. Kim Rok Soo hadn't had anything when he suddenly appeared in the Henituse territory of the Roan Kingdom a few months ago. He couldn't even understand the language. So it was a given that a skilless nobody like him would wind up in the slums with barely enough to survive.

Hong pouted up at him and turned to his sister. "Noona! Rok Soo Hyung is hiding things again!"

On looked up from her corner in the small hut the trio called home and eyed Rok Soo suspiciously. "You're not going to do anything dangerous again, are you?" There was something unpleasantly threatening about nine year olds words and Rok Soo felt a chill go down his spine.

'Vicious kid.' he thought with a headshake. "No, I'm just thinking about the future."

Both On and Hong gave him dark looks that seemed to say that if he was thinking about the future then it was surely going to become dangerous.

They had absolutely no faith in him at all. He rolled his eyes and ignored their judgmental stares.

The pair of them were another reason that he needed to find a way to avoid the war. On and Hong had been his only support these past couple months, a pair of starving children who took pity on him and helped him adjust to his new situation.

He'd need to get them somewhere safe before shit really hit the fan. During wars it was always weak and defenseless entities like these two children who were the first casualties.

Although, to be fair, the two cat tribe children could easily kill him if they put their minds to it. But that was only because Rok Soo was so weak compared to the crazy munchkin types that were about to take over the continent.

Kim Rok Soo was well aware of his own limitations. It hadn't even been that long since he was forced to make that stupid deal with that stupid God of Death so he wouldn't have to watch the people he cared about die because he was too weak and inexperienced to protect them.

But that was a whole other story.

"Hey, what do you two know about the Nawsekal Kingdom?" He asked, figuring asking a native to this world would probably be a better idea than continuing to contemplate it on his own.

"Isn't that place weak, nya?" Hong asked, looking to his noona for confirmation.

On's critical stare searched Rok Soo's expression to find a reason for the seemingly random question before she answered. "I know that's where the Raven Tribe is." She said finally, frowning at the thought.

Cats and crows did not get along.

"The Raven Tribe?" Rok Soo asked, curious about the two differing reactions.

On shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know much about them because they're secretive." The irony of a cat tribe member calling another tribe secretive was not lost on Rok Soo. "But I've never heard anything good about them."

Hong piped in. "I heard they sneak in at night and peck out your eyes!"

On nodded sagely as though her brother had added something truly valuable to the conversation.

Rok Soo didn't like the sound of it.

Although he was sure he hadn't read anything about any beast tribes involved with the Nawsekal Kingdom, it was possible that it was information kept amongst beast people.

"Maybe not there then..." Rok Soo said with a sigh. He knew that the place seemed a bit too good to be true.

On caught onto his words and asked. "You wanted to go there?"

Rok Soo shrugged with a helpless smile. He didn't want to needlessly worry children about stories of war to come so he kept that information to himself. "Anywhere but here sounded pretty good."

On frowned. She liked it here. It wasn't the best place and the drunks were a pain to deal with but ever since Kim Rok Soo had come, it had felt like home. Neither her or her brother were persecuted here and when the drunks got rowdy, Rok Soo got rowdy right back to protect them.

She didn't want him to leave them.

As if voicing her concerns, Hong spoke up tearfully. "You're leaving us?"

Rok Soo looked at the pair in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? You two are coming with me."

On let out a scoffing laugh before settling down. Yes, this was why they'd grown so attached to the strange man so quickly. He acted like it was entirely natural to be at their side.

Like their existences were valid.

Hong cheered and jumped on Rok Soo to give him a hug, much to the man's chagrin.

None of them could have anticipated how much things would change.