Chapter 12

"Aaaaah....I haven't been home in weeks." A black haired man with with side burns sighed under his breath, slumping into his seat with eyes focused on the ceiling.

He grimaced, when he gazed at the sky light which once captivated him when he recently became a task force officer. Probably, he was regretting paying too much mind to the revolutionary sermons, centered around being the light that drove out darkness.

If he perceived that he would have to spend his life away behind a desk, classifying files and making weekly reports, he might have well have joined a mage academy. Instead of paying the high tuition fee to join the task force training camp.

"Don't let the boss catch you slacking off, he's been on his toes ever since that young prodigy stopped by town." A flat tone from his left side reprimanded, the middle aged man leaned his head to the side, glancing to his partner.

He had a seasoned face and less hair on his head, no, he had started to go bald because due to fatigue and stress. Just so some hotheads could run amok the town, firing at whomever they deemed treat.

"Here." The older man passed him a white pearl, "ugh." He moaned and straightened his back, taking the 'damned' thing.

"And so? What's so special about that guy anyway? Isn't that what they call all the young captains?" He implored, balancing the pearl on his palm, activating it.

"But there aren't any captains like him, word around the office, is that the king himself gave him the title. Though I'm not sure how true that is."

"Heh? Must be nice." He clamored with no enthusiasm in his voice, his passive gaze fell on the holographic image projected by the pearl.

After taking a close look at the picture of a tall young man in his twenties, hanging a sword on his waist belt. And skimming through the activities he had done, he shook his head and tapped twice on the image.

A bright golden seal appeared on the image, and underneath the poster was a bounty, which numbered up to a hundred and fifty thousand gemstones. He then tossed the pearl into a round see through container, which had other same pearls inside.

At the back of his mind, he grumbled, 'having copies of these made and distributing them to the public is gonna be a hassle.'

"I wonder what could have dragged such a man, from the comfort of the higher region to such an ordinary town in the middle ground." He abruptly asserted, scratching the side of his face.

Passing him another pearl, the older man brought his head closer and whispered, "I hear he's despised by most of the higher ups and was sent to the lowest region as a punishment sentence!"

"Eh?!!!" His younger co-worker blurted in an animated tone, taking the pearl from his hands.

"That so?" He swiftly put in.

"I heard our sergeant talking about it yesterday, he was just stopping by at our station to drop off some confidential reports. After that, he's said to be stationed at the boonies for six months!" The older man sneered and tipped his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"And we all know that once officers are deployed to the lowest ground, the rate at which they're reinstated is equivalent to minus zero. Did they want to get rid of him that bad? What could the kid have done?" He inquired, placing a golden seal on a wolf beast woman, her bounty numbering to two hundred thousand gemstones.

"Didn't you hear?" The older man retorted with bewildered eyes, turning to face him completely. Surprised that his partner hadn't caught whiff of the hottest topic on everyone's lips.

"What?"

"The bastard was given the task of guarding the crown prince to a royal summit, and guess what he did?" Just by the overly excited look on this salary earner's face, it was clear as day, he needed an outlet in his life.

"In front of so many distinguished figures, the captain raised his hand and actually punched his highness the crown prince! Sending him flying across the room!"

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"So, what's the crown prince like? Everyone seems to be talking about him, is he a hero?" Leo casually asked, titling his head to his right at Leia, who had on the same charm around her neck.

The one that masked her beast woman like characteristics.

Leo pulled his black hood over his head, his attention fell to how different the streets of this town was, than his city in his past life. The people traded with gemstones of various colour, and the use of mana wasn't uncommon.

"He isn't." Leatrix replied sharply, the spite in her voice was awfully hard to miss.

Kael was in front of them, at a food vendor that was selling... charcoal?

"But from what everyone is saying, he sounds like a pretty decent guy. Besides, wasn't he engaged to your sister?" The question casually slipped out of Leo's mouth, that he had no time to take it back.

Leia froze in her steps, 'this idiot.' she swore in her head, Leatrix sighed and continued walking forward, completely ignoring the two.

"Oi. Don't get any ideas, just because I ran my mouth a little doesn't give you the right to question her about it. Do you even know anything about the royal family?" Her irritated voice melted into an indifferent tone towards the latter end of her question.

Leo shook his head, "but the stone is meant to merge with him, right? So I'm going to have to eventually meet him soon." He replied.

"That's if the Royal family doesn't find a way to rip it out of you first." She mumbled loud enough to be heard.

"But still, what's his deal? The crown prince I mean." Leo mindlessly asked, pulling his hood down, and then crossing his hands behind his head. He looked to his sides, there were women in two's and three's gushing over him.

"Well let's see, at the age of four, he had already mastered casting spells without saying the incantation. At fourteen he was able to conjure up enough rain to save the entire higher region from facing a drought. He's also, a reincarnation of one of the five legendary swordsmen." She said, listing his achievements off the bat.

The last bit gripped Leo's attention the most, "legendary swordsmen? Is he okay with having his existence dictated to him? Wouldn't he want to find the meaning of his own life? Who would be happy leading someone else's life?" His question threw Leia off for a second.

The carefree smile on her face contorted into full blown shock, to cover up her swift change in expression, she ruffled his hair, and smiled.

"You're really an odd one." She exclaimed before picking up the pace to the stall Leatrix and Kael were busy bargaining.

Leo sighed, rearranging his hair, "reincarnation huh?" His left hand instinctively trailed to his stone cold chest, no matter how many times he tried to make sense of it, the fact still hadn't sunk in.

The fact that he was already dead.