Chapter Twelve: His Highness’s Grace

Because the journey was long and they were carrying far too many things, Xia Mingyu and Berg did not return to the village until dusk.

The sky was like a gradually changing oil painting, orange-gold blending with violet as the clouds took on a dark-golden hue. A faint veil of gold draped itself over the earth, creating a scene of extraordinary beauty.

“The noble and benevolent Prince Xia Mingyu, moved by the poverty of our village, has graciously bestowed fifteen silver sols and fifty copper sols!”

The moment they returned, Berg clutched the money pouch and eagerly stood beneath the old oak tree in the center of the village, shouting at the top of his voice.

Though deeply embarrassed, Xia Mingyu did not stop him.

After all, the coins needed an origin. They could hardly claim that he and Berg had joined forces to rob them...

Upon hearing Berg’s announcement, the villagers spread the news from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. One after another, they emerged from their crude houses of thatch and logs. Before long, the open ground before the old oak was packed with people.

Robert, the village chief, trembled as he made his way through the crowd. He bent both knees before Xia Mingyu and prostrated himself deeply. Then, spreading his calloused hands, he choked out:

“Your Highness, your generosity shines like the sun in the heavens. Every soul in our village will forever remember your kindness. May the gods bless you, and may you return to your kingdom soon!”

Heaven alone knew how much Robert had suffered these past few days over the agricultural taxes. If he were forced to watch his villagers reduced to slaves and sold away, he would sooner dash his head against this old oak and die.

“Your Highness, it is your turn.”

Seeing this, Berg hurriedly handed the money pouch in his arms to Xia Mingyu. After all, he had no right to scatter the coins himself.

Xia Mingyu accepted the pouch and poured every coin inside into Robert’s outstretched hands in one motion.

The coins came surging out in such abundance that a single pair of large hands could not contain them. Their silvery gleam stirred the emotions of all the villagers around them.

“Your Highness, you are the kindest person I have ever met. From this day onward, whenever you wish to eat red fruit, I will gladly offer you as much as you desire.”

Simp prostrated himself on the ground, tears streaming endlessly from his eyes like springs.

This was the happiest day of his life—happier even than yesterday, when His Highness had praised his red fruit as delicious.

“Your Highness, you are our savior!”

“Your Highness, I used to think that if my child were sentenced to slavery, I would kill him beforehand so he would not have to suffer for the rest of his life. Thank you for allowing my son and me to keep living!”

“Mother, you wanted to kill me?!”

...

Choked and tearful words of gratitude continued without end. After a while, a little boy ignored his parents’ shouts and squeezed through the crowd. He came to Xia Mingyu’s side and asked innocently:

“Your Highness, could you give me one copper sol so I can buy black bread?”

The surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

Xia Mingyu chuckled and nodded. Taking two copper sols from his pocket, he gently pressed them into the boy’s palm.

“Take them and buy some black bread. Don’t eat until you’re too full,” Xia Mingyu said softly, patting the boy on the head.

Clutching the coins, the boy ran back in delight, only to be dragged aside by his parents and beaten by both of them at once. The surrounding villagers tacitly formed a screen around the family so that the boy’s wails would not spoil His Highness’s mood.

As Xia Mingyu looked at the villagers before him—people moved to tears and bowing in worship by nothing more than a few coins—he felt both deeply moved and suddenly seized by an ominous premonition.

According to Anliya, the lord of Black Wolf Territory was a benevolent noble, and the taxes in his domain were already among the lowest in the entire Sosia Kingdom.

Yet even so, the villagers of Fruit Basket Village still had no ability whatsoever to withstand an unexpected disaster. Their children could not even eat the cheapest black bread, and every year they faced the danger of being sold into slavery.

Then... what kind of lives were the people of the kingdom’s other territories living?

At that thought, the smile slowly faded from Xia Mingyu’s face. His expression grew solemn as he sank into contemplation.

At the same time, the long string of white words above his head—“Heir to the Kingdom of 1.4 Billion Citizens”—flashed with a strange greenish light.

......

Several days later, in Howling Wolf Forest.

Sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of leaves, scattering a mottled kaleidoscope of light and shadow across the ground.

A plump gray-brown hare crouched quietly in a patch of emerald grass. Its soft pink ears twitched faintly as it warily listened to the movements around it.

Its three-petaled mouth chewed rapidly on the grass, while its whiskers trembled slightly, making it appear both focused and alert.

Swish!

Suddenly, an arrow flew in from the distance. Its trajectory was crooked and wavering, while the feathers at its tail rocked back and forth in midair, tracing an irregular arc.

At last, the arrow struck the earth with a whoosh, landing more than five meters away from the hare and sending a few blades of grass and specks of dust flying.

Startled, the hare’s ears sprang straight upward. The next instant, it leapt high like a released spring and shot toward the undergrowth like an arrow loosed from a bow. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the dense forest, leaving only the crooked arrow standing forlornly in the ground.

At that moment, two figures emerged from the bushes nearby. They were Xia Mingyu and Berg.

“Your Highness, forgive my frankness, but you truly do not possess much talent as a hunter.”

Berg walked over and effortlessly pulled the arrow from the ground. Looking at Xia Mingyu, who was still fiddling with his bow, he offered a wry smile.

He had already put it as gently as possible. In truth, he suspected that even some village boy who enjoyed throwing stones would be better suited to becoming a hunter than His Highness.

“All right.”

Xia Mingyu sighed and gave up on continuing to tamper with the bow in his hands.

After learning that the class blessings in this world could grant all sorts of wondrous abilities—and that the merchant had most likely relied on such an ability to withstand the full force of Berg’s arrow—he had developed a tremendous interest in them.

After all, there was no person from Earth who would not want to possess supernatural powers of that kind.

And to obtain a class blessing, the first thing one had to do was choose a profession.

Everyone in the village was a farmer. Only Berg was a hunter.

According to Berg, the ability granted by the hunter class was called Gaze. As long as he calmed his mind and focused his eyes, he could see farther and across a wider field. Whether in combat or flight, this ability was unquestionably far more practical than the farming skill granted by the farmer class.

Naturally, Xia Mingyu wanted to become a hunter. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Berg tried to teach him, Xia Mingyu remained as hopelessly ignorant as the stubborn stone atop Flower-Fruit Mountain before it had awakened.

“Your Highness, even if you possess some talent along the hunter’s path, I still would not recommend that you take up the hunter class. For someone as noble as you, bloodthirsty hunting would only sully your glory. There must be another profession better suited to you.”

Berg thought for a moment before offering his sincere advice.

“Besides, my father told me that a status blessing comes from birth, whereas a class blessing is a summary of a person’s life up to that point.”

“Given your age, Your Highness, your profession should theoretically have been determined long ago. Perhaps all you need is the right opportunity...”