The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

The gazes of the Izel Expedition Team members focused on me.

The relaxed members quickly regained their posture like those recognized as the main force of the expedition team and were wary of me and my companions who suddenly appeared.

They were too capable and experienced to not know that in a ruins like this, fellow humans were scarier than traps or monsters.

“Ahem! Who are you?”

The middle-aged man with graying seaweed-like hair sitting next to the woman with short brown hair and noticeable freckles asked me.

Is that man the leader of the exploration team under the Izel Expedition Team?

“I’m ‘Ian’, leading the Earth Denomination’s 2nd Exploration Team.”

“Is that so? I’m Delevhem, the deputy leader of the Izel Expedition Team. I’m in charge of this exploration team.”

When I presented the Earth Denomination’s permit, the middle-aged man with seaweed hair also took out the Izel Expedition Team’s permit and introduced himself.

At the mention of being affiliated with the Earth Denomination, the deputy leader and the expedition members slightly relaxed their tension.

“My apologies. Although the Labyrinth of Constellations requires less vigilance against other exploration teams or excavation teams unlike other ruins, there are also fools who do stupid things.”

It wasn’t difficult to guess who those fools doing stupid things were.

Our scoundrels, the Twilight Company.

Or those who entered the Labyrinth of Constellations with permits borrowed from the Twilight Company.

“I understand. Although they don’t engage in dangerous acts due to the thick secrecy and risk of retaliation, there are times when they buzz around like flies.”

It was common for people to strike the back of the head and bury them in the sparsely populated ruins.

But what kind of ordinary organization could insert people into the Labyrinth of Constellations?

If they got caught even a little, it wouldn’t end at the level of life-threatening danger, so those who entered the ruins never crossed the line.

However, that didn’t mean they didn’t cause trouble.

There were quite a few cases of sneakily following behind and using the path that had become safe, or approaching and extracting hard-earned exploration information.

In a ruin like this, information was money.

“Thanks for understanding. But…”

Delevhem trailed off, looking at the dolls disguised as wounded soldiers standing behind me.

It was only natural for him to be sparing with his words, as it was clear at a glance that there were more than 20 but far from 40 people.

I said with a bitter expression,

“Ruins, especially those heavily imbued with mythology, are dangerous, and unexpected things are bound to happen.”

At my words, the members of the Izel Expedition Team became solemn.

“Oh my. I’ve been talking too much about myself. This is Mr. El, leading the Sea Denomination’s 2nd Exploration Team.”

When I presented Abassael and introduced him, Delevhem looked back and forth between me and Abassael in surprise.

“Don’t tell me…”

His eyes widened, as if he thought the 1st Exploration Teams of the two churches had been annihilated.

I waved my hand and denied his speculation.

“Ah, no. Our exploration team and the Sea Denomination’s exploration team moved separately due to our respective circumstances. The 1st Exploration Teams… will be safe.”

As I smiled unconfidently while slightly shaking my pupils, Delevhem tried to comfort me, not knowing what to do.

“They will definitely be safe!”

“Thank you…”

I weakly trailed off my words and then smiled, pretending to gather my energy.

Oh my, how can such an old man be so naive?

“Still, thanks to the blessings of the bountiful earth, fortunately, we were able to meet brothers from the Sea Denomination who could lean on each other. However, the reason we were able to meet was because we were in the same area as our exploration team. But it was unfortunate that the brothers from the Sea Denomination were in the same situation as us.”

“I see…”

“Originally, we should have withdrawn, but I believe it’s all God’s will that our exploration team and the Sea Denomination’s exploration team met and joined forces.”

At my words, Delevhem nodded.

“Then are you planning to move to the next area? If it’s the entrance, it might be fine, but wouldn’t the depths be dangerous?”

“We’re just fulfilling our duty. Although we unexpectedly lost comrades and got slightly injured, we are confident in our abilities.”

Although the Corona Borealis area was considered a passage to the depths, the concepts of entrance and depths were all boundaries set by people.

Even the Corona Borealis area where we are now belonged to the depths 80 years ago.

In about a dozen years, the Corona Borealis area would be considered the end of the entrance.

As I made the sign of the cross with a pious expression, Delevhem was slightly conflicted.

At that moment, the brown-haired, freckled woman intervened.

“Excuse me! You said you know how to enter the inside, right? How do you enter?”

Delevhem was about to scold her for suddenly intervening, but as if he became curious himself, he looked at me.

“Come to think of it, you said you know how to enter. Is that true?”

The members of the Izel Expedition Team also perked up their ears and showed interest in me.

“Yes, that’s right. I recently discovered a record related to this royal tomb.”

“A record! In which area was it discovered?”

“Ah, it wasn’t discovered inside the labyrinth, but outside. As you know, this labyrinth embodies actual events, right?”

At my words, Delevhem became excited as if he hadn’t thought of it.

“It’s from the early to middle period of the Mythical Era, and you’re saying a record was discovered outside! If you interpreted how to open the door, the record must be intact enough to be decipherable, right? Ha, could I take a look at it?”

“Calm down. It’s unlikely to carry such an ancient record, right?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I made a mistake. When I’m curious about something, I can’t hold back… Please understand it as an occupational disease.”

At his apology, I smiled brightly and said,

“And that record is owned by a place my acquaintance belongs to, so even if I take it out, it would be difficult to show you.”

“Ah…”

“Of course, it’s close to confidential information, so I can’t even tell you which place owns it.”

“I-I see…”

Delevhem was disappointed but understood.

As someone who made a living out of exploration, he would know the importance of information better than anyone.

I casually said, looking at the gloomy expedition members,

“Actually, I can’t even tell you the information on how to open the royal tomb, but it’s not like there’s no way.”

They looked at me again with eyes full of anticipation.

“But I don’t know if Mr. Delevhem will allow it.”

“What do you mean? First! Let me hear it first and then I’ll judge.”

He was ready to accept it right away if the conditions I mentioned were met, without even verifying whether what I said was true or not.

“I don’t know which area the Izel Expedition Team is targeting, but even if it’s an overlapping path, why don’t we move together? As it happens, our exploration team is also curious about the inside and wants to enter it once.”

I wasn’t particularly curious about the contents of that royal tomb. I already knew.

At my suggestion that we could naturally obtain information if we became companions, Delevhem hesitated for a moment.

“Do you mean for us to be your escorts?”

He was quick-witted, befitting a high-ranking person in an organization.

At his question, I affirmed.

“We won’t just receive escorting for nothing… but yes.”

“Please wait a moment.”

When I gestured for them to have a comfortable conversation, he slightly bowed his head and briefly whispered with his colleagues.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he came back to me and accepted the proposal.

“We will accept your proposal.”

“Thank you. But you won’t regret it. I know quite a lot.”

So let’s do our best, Mr. Driver.

Who knows, you might generously get paid the substitute driver’s fee?

“That was impressive. I learned a lot.”

Jade admired my eloquence and reflected on the method I used to persuade the Izel Expedition Team.

“First, draw attention, soften their guard, and gain sympathy. Isn’t that essentially half-persuading them at this point?”

“Is that so? I told you, thanks to the leader’s reputation, they value their reputation because they benefit greatly from it.”

Not only for their reputation but also judging by the deputy leader’s expression, he seemed like a kind person who would just help like Izel.

Of course, even if he was a good person, as a manager of an organization, he would have an ulterior motive to gain a debt to the two Denominations.

If we were really affiliated with the Denominations, this would be quite a large debt.

If we were affiliated with the Denominations, that is.

When lending a debt, one should properly check if the debtor can pay it back properly.

Just like how there is no bank that lends money to people with bad credit.

Tsk tsk, you should have checked properly.

“And if you dangle something that would drive them crazy as bait, anyone would fall for it.”

Whether fishing for fish or people, the process is the same.

Spread the bait, create unrest, and then catch them in one go.

The important thing is what the bait is.

You need to know what the other party wants and desires to properly fish them.

At the conversation between Jade and me, Sophia chuckled and said,

“By the way, you really seemed like a faithful believer earlier. Were you an actor somewhere?”

“No, I’m not that good. You can do this much too, right?”

It seemed sufficient, seeing how she brazenly talked to me while still glaring at that old holy knight in front of the Sea Denomination’s cathedral.

“Oh my? Me, a priest with deep faith?”

Judging by her impish smile, she showed the inherent qualities of a fisherman.

“Yes, yes, of course you are. It seems the preparations are almost done.”

It seemed Abassael had finished preparing to open the door of the royal tomb located in the center of the Corona Borealis area as I had instructed.

There are mainly three ways to open the door of the royal tomb.

The first is to smash the main gate with overwhelming firepower. Of course, there is a side effect that the things inside will also be smashed together, but it can be opened anyway.

The second is to bring the key located in an unexplored area that is not even on the map at this point and open the door to enter.

As far as I know, the Wiesel family will discover it in a few years, and the Izel Expedition Team will find out that it is the key to the royal tomb.

The third is to perform a ritual for the king by following the prescribed procedure.

Although it’s called a ritual, it’s not about cutting off a pig’s head and bowing a few times.

It was one of the ancient magic ritual methods, and Abassael had obtained the necessary items as I had instructed on his way here.

On the altar in front of the royal tomb, a prayer was written in the ancient language of the early Mythical Era, and a young bloodwood tree brought from the Ursa Minor area was placed on top of it.

“Isn’t the bloodwood tree a talisman mainly used by the Life faction, one of the druids?”

At Jade’s question, I nodded.

This royal tomb was the burial place of a king who ruled a once-powerful druid kingdom.

“Leb-abi-song-litwip…”

While Abassael piled mana crystals containing the energy of the earth in front of the altar, placed five bundles of grass on top, and chanted an incomprehensible ancient language spell, the deputy leader of the Izel Expedition Team diligently wrote down the process.

“…Druidra!”

Rumble rumble-!

As soon as Abassael’s spell ended, the eyes of the statues surrounding the royal tomb glowed and raised their various weapons as if welcoming the visitors.

Then, the tightly closed door of the royal tomb opened wide.

“Now! Everyone, let’s go in!”

At my words, the advance scouting team of the Izel Expedition Team carefully set foot into the royal tomb, followed by the front row of the main force entering the royal tomb.

“Collect those.”

“Understood.”

I pointed to the bloodwood tree and the mana crystal imbued with druid mana on the altar, and Gilbert quickly swept them into his bag.

My companions and I also moved our feet into the eerie-feeling royal tomb.