Although I am now a prince, but in order to survive...BL

Chapter 20

Jay was tossing and turning in his sleep. He was having a far from good dream, so it's not surprising that the noise outside immediately woke him up. Not going to sleep anymore, he changed his clothes and went outside.- How well we flew. – The first thing he saw was the wind spirit, who, of course, could not tolerate a boring trip and, using magic, very quickly delivered everyone to the house.Only this time not only the horse was scared, but also the passenger, that is, the butler was shaking noticeably. He didn't even realize what had happened when suddenly everything rose into the air and flew. Oh, his poor heart. Isn't it customary to warn about such things?! He's already an old man, and even with a bad back! He is completely unprepared for such surprises...!- How nice to see you. Are you meeting me? It's unnecessary, but since you're out... where's my breakfast, lunch and dinner? I wouldn't mind eating everything at once. – Smoothly lowering the cart with the horse down, the wind spirit flew to Jay. That one noticed right away and was very happy ready for his meal and completely unaware that Jay was not going to feed him in the near future.- Breakfast, lunch and dinner? Okay, let's talk about it. – Jay, whose head was now tangled in nightmares, and his mood was not very good because of the raid of mice, squeezed the spirit in his hand and headed for the half-empty vegetable garden. – Look here. See?- What exactly? – The wind spirit, not yet aware of the impending disaster, tried to get out of the grip.- There's nothing here. Can't you see that? Empty your... land! And who is to blame for this? He began to shake the spirit, pointing to the ground. – Why should I bear a loss because of your problems? At least you know how difficult it was for me to plant this plot! Are you spirits... you don't understand anything at all. The only thing that interests you is fun. Do you think I don't want to sit and do nothing for at least one day either? He gripped the spirit tightly in his hand. "I really want to kill you!" But fortunately for you, I will not do this, since you still have to return the loss to me. I'll give you a chance to fix it yourself and I won't interfere. – Seeing that the spirit in his hands began to turn blue, he loosened his grip and, going to the place where he hid the "evidence" surrounded by a bunch of mice, threw the bug straight to them. – Take it and fly to the magic tower and don't come back without money. – He said this, he did not wait for the spirit to come to his senses and demand from him, either an apology or an explanation. Without looking back, he went to the butler.- What was that? What the hell...! – The wind spirit, once free, simply could not contain his indignation.Had he really just been accused of something? Ha! Is he to blame for something?! He didn't do anything at all! He actually just got back.- Yes, I... yes, I'll do it now! – He got out of the pile of mice and looked down, what familiar fragments of stone he saw. Didn't they belong to his brother? Is it because of him that he was treated so unfairly? – Well, he is! I always knew he liked to do nasty things. Tc... it's unfair of course that I suffered because of him. But to fly to the tower and deal with him... What else! Why should I follow this little man's orders? If I want to, I'll fly away. Big deal! As if I couldn't find a better place to live. Yes, there is plenty of food in the forest now, and there is a place to sleep... there is a place to sleep everywhere. – He snorted and flew into the forest.Jay, if he found out about this, he would surely arrange a feast for the whole world. Well, or he definitely danced for joy. Unfortunately, he didn't care whether the wind spirit listened to him or wanted to find a new home for himself. He found out the news from the butler, whether there were any rumors about the murder in the city or something related to it. As it soon turned out, the city was living an ordinary life, no terrible accidents happened at night."Are you sure?" Jay asked the old man with complete doubt. He did not believe that anyone, even from the same knights, would be able to keep silent about the murder of the king's brother. There is always a talkative person in any company.- Nothing. Everything was quiet when I left, even the patrols are not visible.- So it really is. Not good. – He said the last to himself. – But well, thanks for that, too. Since you have already arrived, then go and have a snack while there is time. Then I'm afraid he won't be here until the evening. "After sending the old man away, Jay didn't stay alone for long.- Are you worried about how many members are left in the family? – His neighbor approached him, who once again disappeared somewhere unknown."I do not know why you hate the royal family so much. And, in principle, I'm not interested in it. But even if their blood is flowing in my veins now, it's not worth adding me to this family. Because it's their family idyll... it makes me sick. He grimaced when he thought about the fate of the original owner.How could he consider people a family who threw away their child immediately after birth? Yes, even if they showed a little humanity and provided him with a house and servants before sending him away and forever, the fact remains. They simply got rid of him in such an easy way, not daring to take blood on their hands. Speaking of the latter... if you think about it like that and his father really wanted to kill him, then why didn't he do it when the original owner was born? And then, wasn't it possible to do it?There was something wrong. Did the king really want to kill him? Suddenly, the chain that Jay had originally built began to crumble. His opponent... was he wrong?!No, it's too early to judge. There are still too many facts unknown. It is better to start collecting information before deciding something. Otherwise, if you go this way, you can repeat your past mistakes. And then it will be another sad memory. Or is it still good? Various memories flashed through Jay's mind and his eyes filled with nostalgia.Parents.Friends.Boring classes at the university.Favorite composition of chemical formulas.Speaking of the latter... shouldn't he continue this occupation in this world? As it turned out, a very good potion came out from under his hands. But wouldn't he then have to create many chemical elements from scratch? After all, you can't buy anything like that in this world. Even the same ancient alchemy does not exist here. And even if many elements exist in nature, again, it can take not only a lot of time, but also money to find them.- What a pity that it is absolutely impossible now. – Jay eventually abandoned this idea, since he had nothing of the above at the moment: no extra time; no money. – Well, shall we make a deal? – Having finished thinking, Jay returned to the seemingly forgotten conversation with his neighbor.- And what exactly do you want to offer? – It was with these words that they began to discuss their future cooperation. There is no point in revealing the details of this conversation, since it was too boring, and only the future could show whether they managed to finish, or whether they actually just brushed each other off in this way. But what can be said for sure right now is that Jay was puzzled after the deal was made.His neighbor... looks like he has a far from simple relationship with the royal family. This is the most blood feud. I wonder who exactly from his family caused such anger: one of his parents or relatives on another line? I wish I could find out somehow. Perhaps then his idea of these family members would not be so vague.- Maybe I should visit the Count? – Jay scratched his chin thoughtfully and, glancing at the unloaded cart, decided to go on a visit.Such matters can be left to the butler. Since he doesn't like to sit still, then let him do various little things.- And-and-and-and... - When Jay headed for the house, the stupid horse made itself felt."The butler will come back and free you. I don't have time now, I want to get back before dark.- And-and-and-and...- He'll feed you later.The horse ran up and grabbed Jay by the sweater.- Don't tell me you can't wait because of stress. The horse said nothing, still holding Jay's clothes in his teeth. Only her look became pitiful. – Oh, my God... okay, I'll get some food now. The horse unclenched its teeth, but did not take its eyes off him. – Here's your portion. – Soon Jay brought her two apples, one of which he ate right in front of the horse. And the second... - Remember, if I said that someone else will feed you, then it will be so. – He threw it to the animal and went to wash and have lunch, completely ignoring the disgruntled neighing coming from behind him.Soon he was walking along the familiar road to the Count. The path, as always, was safe. Since the "house" was closed, Jay has never met the robbers. Which couldn't be said not to please him. Such a situation is very magical scrolls cherished. And here, perhaps, let's not remember the day when Jay had to lose some of them. Yes, the enemy hiding in the shadows, although he allowed him to leave alive, but still forced him to suffer a loss. But sooner or later he will get his own back. You just need to be patient and not rush anywhere. Step by step slowly go to your goal. With speed... it looks like he will have to move at the speed of a snail.- So the Count is not at home. When will it be? Jay looked at the earl's butler, almost showing disappointment on his face. His information...! Why did the Count decide to be absent at this time?- He went to a neighboring town. He should be back in half a month.- Thank you, then I'll come back next month. – Jay said goodbye and headed back to the house, not knowing what to think. The man left too suddenly. And all this right after he offered to unite against the king. – Maybe he found another suitable person for this case? – Jay shrugged and threw the question away. After all, he wasn't interested in politics much. And even now there was something more interesting than this question. Much more interesting.On the way back, Jay accidentally bumped into the one he least wanted to see. Yes, the very spirit of the wind that flew away to live in the forest. He was fighting with a bear over a raspberry bush. Perhaps Jay would have walked past, pretending as if he hadn't seen anything. But how could he miss such a good chance not only to enjoy the show, but also to laugh at this spirit?- This is my bush. I'm going to call like the wind and you'll fly away from here. – The wind spirit was circling near the raspberry bush, angrily looking at the bear. What kind of bad luck? No sooner had he started dinner than this one came out from somewhere!- R-r-r... - the bear snorted at him and plucked some red and ripe berries with his huge bear paw. Then he threw them into his mouth.- What do you mean, the berries will also fly away?! Do you think I don't know how to control the force of the wind? I'm a wind spirit or what do you think! Well, you wait... now you're going to regret everything! – The wind spirit began to summon the wind. The bear completely ignored him, still eating berries.- Ha..Haa... - Jay couldn't take it anymore and laughed out loud. Oh, what a good picture, so pleasantly warming his soul. – Ha...! – It was simply impossible to keep from joy.The wind spirit, who had already half-summoned his element, of course, heard Jay's mockery and for a second the thought even flashed through his head that this boy and the bear should be carried away from here. But soon he thought about his empty stomach and resolutely threw away his pride and all resentments, flew straight to Jay. Food! Wonderful food is waiting for him! What a fool it was to fly away from this house."From the look on your face, you must have some good news. Did you manage to collect the money for the spoiled harvest? - When Jay saw the spirit rushing towards him, he took a serious look and asked about what was bothering him.- And? – the spirit abruptly slowed down the flight speed and made a stupid look. – What are you talking about? Didn't I just fly into the woods to take a walk? What is the collection of money? I honestly don't know who would dare to do such evil and summon mice.- The spirit of the earth told me everything. – Jay didn't want to watch someone's stupid behavior, so he immediately said it directly."Oh, him! All this is a vile lie. Absolutely not true. He's just jealous of me, so he lied. There was such a shout that Jay even thought for a second that he was talking to a person. But he blinked, there was still only the wind spirit in front of him. Apparently, it still seemed.- Why should he be jealous of you? You moved to the forest and you can't even get food for yourself. Stop talking nonsense and don't show up in front of me without money. – Jay waved his hand, driving the wind spirit away and headed down the path.- Why can't I? I really can. There is simply no open area here. Do you know how difficult it is to create wind when there are trees everywhere?- On the contrary, he was in no hurry to fly away and began to fully defend his ego, which was damaged. – Yes, it's like sitting in a bank and starting a hurricane, trying not to hurt yourself with it. I'm actually a genius among spirits. How...- Shh... - Jay saw an obstacle ahead, stopped and told the spirit to be silent.- Are you trying to shut me up now? Seriously? And I'll take it and ... - With these words, the spirit cast a glance at the track, intending to create a wind there, and finally saw Jay's problem. A very big problem.In front of them, just a few steps away, stood a wolf. His fur was in shreds, through which bare pieces of skin peeked through. The eyes are red, as if bloodshot. And saliva dripped from his mouth, something like foam.- It's a sick animal. Where did he come from here? There is no disaster in this country yet.- Can you be quieter? – Seeing that the spirit, even after meeting with such a beast, does not want to be silent, Jay through his teeth asked him to re-sew his mouth. It was impossible to attract the wolf's attention until he remembered what kind of fire magic scroll he needed at the moment.Third or first? Maybe the second one at all? Heck! It was necessary to put them in advance just in different pockets and that's it. There would be no hassle like now. "Basically, I have a few seconds before he throws himself at me. Okay, I hope that's enough and he won't have time to bite me." Jay ignored the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead and quickly put his hand in his pants pocket. Taking out the scrolls from there, completely ignoring the danger, he began to look through them one by one.- What are you standing for? He's running. Do you want to die? No, I'm not involved in this. – The spirit watched the wolf running towards them for several long seconds, couldn't stand it, and was about to fly away from here somewhere far away.While this beast is busy with the boy, he will just have time to hide somewhere. Until his illness passed on to him. And she can, because for spirits this thing is very contagious and can be transmitted through simple air. Because the one who created the disaster expressed a special hatred for their race. Did he then want to destroy them all in this way? It is quite possible, but the spirit himself has never thought about it. And even now he was clearly not up to it.- I'm leaving.Jay, nervous, wanted to swat this talking moth very much. Isn't it obvious that he is busy with a very important matter right now? He can be silent for at least a second and not distract him.- That was the last one. – Jay hid the unnecessary scrolls and tore the remaining one in his hands, threw it at the wolf, which was already jumping straight towards him.It took only a second for the fire to flare up, and he disappeared in its bright crimson flame.- I managed it quite well, - Jay said to himself, looking directly at the remnants of the wolf falling from above on the path, in the form of ashes."You... why didn't you use the scroll before?" – The spirit, who was already halfway there, looked back out of curiosity and, seeing the appearance of the fire, came back. – I almost died here. He pretended to grab his heart.However, no one appreciated his game. After standing for a minute and listening to various sounds, Jay hurried home. As far as he knew, wolves usually roam in packs. It wouldn't be good if he ran into more of them. The last thing he wanted to spend all his magic scrolls on them. In the case of them, it is better to use something else. And no, these are not rabies vaccinations. Because Jay knew very well that there was nothing like that in this world. And if you catch such a disease, only death awaits you. In this situation, there was only one option, the destruction of everything contagious with the help of fire, until this infection no longer spread. And so, since the wind spirit decided to follow him, Jay asked about the words he had said earlier.- What did you mean when you said that there is no disaster here? Don't sick animals appear before the disaster begins? He remembered everything he had learned earlier and scratched the top of his head thoughtfully. Did he draw the wrong conclusion here, too?- Usually yes, but this time... it's too early. Only a couple of years ago, one of the neighboring countries experienced this. Because I found out that at least five more years must pass before the sick animals appear and everything starts.- Maybe you're just wrong or the one who told you this wasn't accurate. From what I managed to understand, when a disaster appears, the whole world is overwhelmed with grief: crop failure, bad weather, diseases. All of this suddenly appears immediately and everywhere. Most likely, no one notices it. The weather is gradually changing, there is a cold torrential rain for a week, and then the sun shines for a couple of days. Well, you never know, such a phenomenon happens every month. People are already used to it. Suddenly someone next to them coughed, then a couple of days later someone else coughed. Maybe he inhaled something poisonous, it will pass over time. The harvest this year is less than this year, apparently, it was poorly cared for, since it happened, the weather was the same. At first glance, it seems that all these are trifles, but then... I hope you understand. Jay looked up at the sky. The sun was no longer shining so brightly, foreshadowing the imminent onset of evening. Jay stopped talking and quickened his pace, he had to have time to explore the forest before dark.When he arrived home, he did not stay there for a long time. Having prepared several torches and doused them with a substance for better gorenje (and no, it wasn't alcohol, in this world they created a special thing for this, which smelled like a rotten egg and if you ignite something with it, it is unlikely to be able to go out in the near future. There were cases when the fire burned for three or four days), Jay put them in his backpack. Do not forget to leave one in your hand and light it to use it as a wick later. Then he asked the others not to wait for him today, and returned to the forest. Without taking the butler with him, although initially he had such an idea.The two of them would surely have coped faster. But thinking about his age... No, it's better for this old man to be engaged in rabbits than to run through the woods. And then they'll bite him, then they'll have to look for a new butler. And it's like he's already used to it.- But the spirit of the wind could go with me. – Jay turned around and shook his fist at the one who stayed at home.He did not have time to come, as he hid in the house and refused to explain anything. However, Jay didn't need any explanations to understand that someone was just that lazy. He has become so used to eating and sleeping in recent months that as a result he has forgotten how to get food for himself. But nothing, nothing, he will soon return and make him work, namely, fly and ask for money for the damage caused. In connection with the new situation, they are oh so needed. At least in order to build part of the wall, thereby improving its security. Who knew before that it was so dangerous to live near the forest. If there was such a thing, Jay first of all fenced his territory. But fortunately it's not too late to do it now.- At least, if no new infected appear later, nothing should threaten me. – Jay stopped near the pile of ashes that remained after killing the wolf, and, looking in the direction from which he came, soon headed straight there.At first, nothing seemed strange to Jay when he followed the trail. Somewhere the wind was playing with the leaves, somewhere birds were singing, even once he heard a deer call. The usual sounds of the forest, they can always be heard while you are on its territory. But when all this began to sound, without quieting down for a second, Jay understood why he felt strange. Weren't the birds singing in fright? Wasn't that the death cry of a deer? And the wind... didn't it blow so that it sent chills down his back?"Why does it seem to me that there is a trap here?" Jay stopped and began to look around carefully. On the left side, someone else's red eyes blinked like lanterns. Two red embers appeared on the right side, looking directly at him. From behind, it was exactly the same. Only there was still a clear path ahead. However... not anymore. Jay saw a shadow flicker there and two more blood-red eyes stared at him, swallowed nervously. Although he was right in his assumption, he was not happy about it. The situation was clearly not in his favor. He had as many as four opponents: an owl, a wolf, a deer, a hare. And all of them, it should be noted, were clearly different from the first rabid animal Jay met. These, no matter how strange it was with their illness, were able to somehow act as a group. "So it's quite possible their brains are not completely clouded yet. We'll have to be more careful." Jay took the rest of the torches out of his backpack and, wrapping his free hand around them, headed for the nearest beast.As if he expected this, he immediately rushed at him. Jay waited for him to approach and, throwing a torch at him, ran away to the side. A second one followed. Due to the fact that the deer was big, Jay had to spend two torches on it. With the wolf, everything was simple, he, as in the case of the previous one, set that one on fire in a jump. But with the owl... in order not to let it fly away and thereby spread the fire, I had to knock it out with a found stick. And, perhaps, it is superfluous to mention here that for this Jay had to chase a bird for the most part and almost set himself on fire.- Damn....! He put out his sleeve and looked at the burning beasts. They were already dead and now lay immobilized on the ground, allowing the fire to consume their bodies. Without admitting guilt at all that when Jay set them on fire, they, running, created small areas of fire. – Well, after all, it's not a magic scroll that could destroy all the evidence in a second and not create problems. – Jay looked irritably at the burning grass and dry branches, and reluctantly went to extinguish the fire with the help of earth. Fortunately, there was a lot of that here, and in order to use it, it was only necessary to get rid of the grass from the surface and sprinkle it on the fire.Although sand or the same water would normally be ideal in such a situation, but I'm afraid that while Jay would have gotten something out of it, there was nothing left of the forest a long time ago. One is only ashes."Is that all?" – After a long time, Jay put out the last fire and looked around, wanting to make sure that nothing was burning anywhere else. At the same time, he looked like a man who had survived a real fire. His face was black with smoke, and his clothes smelled as if they had been smoked for about a week. Greasy hair stuck out in all directions, and his hands... looked as if they had never known soap. That was still a sight. Well, at least he completely eliminated the fire.After standing for a while and taking a break, Jay collected the burning torches in a pile, and somehow got rid of the rags soaked in the substance, tied them around the only one that he decided to leave, continued his journey. For the presence of infection, he has not yet checked the entire forest. But maybe he shouldn't have done it. After all, then he definitely wouldn't be so upset if he found out from someone else's mouth that he lost free labor.Having already moved a long distance from the place of the fire, Jay saw the magic symbol of the triangle ahead, a dead fox was lying a little away from him, and his neighbor was sitting next to him, bitten in the hand. Hmm, I wonder if it's too late for him to turn around and leave now, deleting this episode from his memory? Just take and pretend that he does not know that people will have to be hired to build the future of the same chicken coop and thereby spend money. Not even earned yet, by the way!!- No! I can't afford it. Are you kidding me?! Jay knelt down, and his face was filled with grief.