I release a long sigh and rub my eyes. Everything seems to go wrong for me. I thought being reincarnated into a fantasy world would be amazing. Add the fact that I'm a prince—shouldn't that make my new life easier? Wrong.
All I wanted was to enjoy this life as a lazy prince. My old life was nothing but suffering: a family that hated me, a girlfriend who betrayed me, bosses who piled on unreasonable demands. Stack it all together, and you stop being a person and start becoming a zombie.
So when I opened my eyes in this world, I thought things would finally change. I was wrong.
As the sixth child out of ten, I should've been in the perfect position. Especially when your father is the king of a relatively big kingdom. Enough wealth and status to live comfortably, but without the crushing expectations of the elder siblings. Sadly, reality is a cruel mistress.
Those snakes of siblings decided they didn't want me as competition. Even though I already showed them that I don't want to get involved in their Succession Cold War. Sadly, it is not enough for them, and they decide to take care of it. Their solution? Exile.
Well—not officially exile. They made me a Saint Candidate.
What's that? It is when a kingdom offers one of its royalty to be appointed as a Saint.
A Saint is the most important position in the Church of the Goddess of Light, the biggest church in the entire continent, and one of the powerhouses in the world.
If you are chosen, you become a Saint—an exalted figure with more authority than even the Pope. Sounds impressive, right? If you're chosen, sure. If not? You've just thrown away everything.
Saints aren't appointed by council vote or noble decree. They're chosen. When Goddess Alira selects her Saint, the skies open, light rains down, and her voice echoes across the world, declaring her Champion.
From that moment, no one dares defy you. Priests who so much as think of manipulating a Saint often end up struck by divine smite. In this world, Gods are real and not some abstract things like in my previous life. Goddess Alira is real, and she is… a little possessive.
But here's the problem: the last Saint was chosen over two hundred years ago. There are hundreds, or even a thousand, candidates trying to curry favor from Goddess Alira, but nothing earns her favor to this day, and I know it will not happen anytime soon.
And here's the second problem: to be a Saint Candidate, you must renounce all worldly ties—your name, your status, your throne. With Father's approval and half the council behind them, my siblings stripped me of my title and cast me aside under the guise of divine duty—a neat little trick to remove a rival. It is used by people who don't want their siblings to get the throne.
So I left the capital for a small town called Grandel.
After a ten-hour carriage ride, I arrived in Grandel town just after the sun went down. After getting off the carriage, I follow the others to the local inn and release a sigh.
Another sigh escapes me as I push through the inn's door. The common room buzzes with laughter, clinking mugs, and chatter. At the counter stands a young woman about my age, smiling brightly. She greets me as I approach.
"One room, please."
"Of course, sir! It will cost you fifty copper coins per night for room only, and seventy copper if you want dinner and breakfast with that room."
"I'll take the latter."
"Perfect! What is your name?"
"Leaonhart Valerius."
Of course, my family requires me to discard my name, so I had to create a new one. I decided on this name. The young woman writes the name in the guest book and says, "Perfect! Please pay for your room, and I'll give you the key."
I take fifty copper coins from my pouch and lay them on the counter.
This world has a universal currency: platinum, gold, silver, and copper. One platinum equals one hundred gold, one gold equals one hundred silver, and one silver equals one hundred copper.
The woman accepts the coins happily and sets a key in front of me. "Your room is on the second floor, number forty-five. If you don't know your number, match it to the symbol on the small wooden plaque dangling from the key. Please don't pull that out."
Right. A lot of people in this world cannot read. The other thing I see is that she does not know me, and even her father doesn't know me. It is something I am grateful for. At least I can go incognito from now on.
"Don't worry. I can read and count."
"Truly? And you're as young as me!" she exclaims.
"He must be willing to learn, Ana. Unlike you." A man emerges from the kitchen with a tray of soup.
"I am not that bad, Dad!" She shakes her head and looks at me. "Anyway! Do you want to eat here or in your room? I can bring your food in half an hour or so."
"Can you take the food to my room?"
"Okay! Please put the plate and cutlery in front of the door when you are done. I'll pick it up before going to bed."
"I understand."
She nods, returns to her father, and resumes their bickering. I chuckle and leave them to it. Education is not that expensive, at least in this kingdom. There are many schools in the big cities, usually costing ten silver coins a month. It's still a lot, but it won't make farmers unable to eat for months.
When given the choice between saving that money to buy cattle and a carriage or spending it on a child's schooling so they can learn to read and use basic arithmetic, most people choose the former.
I shake my head and go to my room. It's simple: a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. I lock the door, put my clothes away, fling myself onto the bed, and exhale.
I turn and stare at the ceiling. What should I do now? I have a few paths. First: the Adventurer's Guild. As in many fantasy worlds, there are Adventurer Guilds across the realm.
They handle the monsters that roam the land. Yes, there are monsters. They range from slimes you can defeat with a good stab to their visible core to massive abominations made of flesh and rot.
Soldiers still exist and handle city security, but adventurers are hired to protect villages beyond city influence.
Second: the church. They'd know I'm a candidate and would be willing to take me in. If I attained saintly status, they'd bring me under their wing and leverage the influence I'd gain. It would be hard work, and I'd start at the bottom of the ranks, with little income unless I reached full priesthood. At least I'd have a place to sleep and food to eat.
Third: buy a piece of land and become a farmer. I have enough money to buy land in the frontier, but reaching that area takes a month by regular carriage, or an expensive wyvern service that gets you there in an hour.
Or I could combine two options: be an adventurer while traveling to the frontier to buy land from the local noble. I might not be the best at martial combat, but I'm not bad. I still attend martial lessons, you know?
According to my teacher, I'm best with polearms, and I admit a spear feels most natural.
Yes. Let's do that. This town has a blacksmith; I can buy a decent spear there tomorrow. I'll need to work hard to achieve my dream of a slow life. I don't mind working now and then. However, before I can do anything, something is happening.
I blink for a second when I see a massive book appear above me.
*Thunk*
"Ouch!" I sit up and rub my nose. I look down to find a heavy book in my lap. I pick it up; it vanishes into my body.
"What?!" I try to push it away in case it's a curse, but it's futile—light collapses into darkness, and then a blue screen appears before me.
|Congratulations on binding the Celestial Grimoire!|
What?
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Hey! If you want to support me, you can go to my P@treon! ([email protected]/abis1dua). Don't worry. You will be charged the day you become a member instead of each 1st month.
There are at least five chapters ready for you to read.
At the moment, I post 3 times a week. However, I will add one post per week for each $20 income in my P@treon.