He waved his hand and answered for the manager, who was covered in green, "Who else could it be? It's that guy from the military. Apparently, he just graduated from military school, and some lunatic wanted to make things difficult for him, so he assigned him the task of reorganizing Miles Star."
"This kind of thing would drive anyone crazy, but I didn't expect him to actually fix it and even make such a..." Camin wanted to say disgusting, but then he remembered that their boss had just praised it as interesting.
He wanted to flatter him, but he couldn't bring himself to say something so insincere, so he just glossed over the rest of his statement.
But his explanation was futile; Levi didn't understand at all, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Which one? It's that one again, and him again? Does saying that person's name make your tongue ache?"
Kamin: "..."
Honestly, they really can bite their tongues.
Those in their line of work really don't want to mention someone's name unless absolutely necessary. They're always afraid that if they call out the name, the person will be summoned.
He remained silent for a long while, then broke down: "It's the current head of the military. Boss, have you forgotten? That time we hauled our goods around the border and got chased like crazy!"
At this point, Levy's eyebrows twitched, indicating that he vaguely remembered it.
On their way to transport goods, they encountered the Black Spider Pirates. He suddenly realized that the starship no longer carried the Black Spider flag, so he stopped them and robbed them.
Of course, this snatching involved more than just the flag.
The coordinates at the time were near the border, but not yet within the First Legion's garrison area. However, the commotion was quite significant; just as they were about to leave after looting the Black Spider, a black mecha-type aircraft gave chase.
That was indeed the most troublesome pursuit Levy had ever encountered. The starship jumped three times and changed its appearance and flag several times, but it still couldn't shake off the people behind it.
In the end, the aircraft was still parked on their ship with great fanfare.
Seeing that the surrounding air routes were about to be blocked, Levi came up with a shameless idea: he lured a pirate crew to draw their fire.
However, the outcome was somewhat unexpected for Levy. The pirate crew that had been lured in turned out to be involved in human trafficking. When pushed to the limit, they simply dumped the "goods" they had captured from the Empire outside the border, right where the Star Beasts were based.
Later, Levy watched the aircraft change its target and chased after it without hesitation towards the border.
For a long time, Levy's most profound impression of that raid was the dark shadow that sped past as the black aircraft crossed the border.
“It’s him.” Levy twirled the pages of the faux book in his hand, then smiled. “I didn’t expect him to come out alive.”
"Yeah, right!" Kamin couldn't help but slap his thigh. "Damn it, that kind of spacecraft, with that cumbersome hull hanging behind it, actually escaped from the Star Beast's lair... Is it even human...?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Levy again: "Captain, I thought you knew him. Didn't you say you also went to the military academy? Then you're alumni, although he should be a few years ahead of you."
At this point, Camin paused, realizing that Levi's becoming the Crown Prince of the Empire wasn't entirely unexpected. They all knew that Levi had spent his early years at the Empire's First Military Academy, where those who entered were generally groomed to be pillars of the Empire.
When it was their turn to be captain, something went wrong and they ended up raising a space pirate leader.
This brought something up in Levy's mind. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Oh, is he the one whose surname is Chu or Qin?"
Camin: "...Your memory is terrible, anyway, it's just those two words."
Levy smiled but didn't say anything more.
The time he spent confined by the cabinet left him with little impression. He also had no recollection of that man, whose surname was either Qin or Chu.
I only remember that once he was giving a speech on stage, and I was sitting in the last row, dozing off. When I woke up, I glanced at the stage unintentionally. I didn't see his face clearly, but I vaguely remembered that he was an uninteresting person who looked like a personification of school rules.
Old John was brought over by the manager, and Levy stopped thinking about whether it was Chu Qin or Qin Chu.
"Uncle, you're living a comfortable life!" Kamin greeted him as soon as he saw him arrive.
Old John laughed heartily, his purplish-red bulbous nose becoming even more prominent. He patted Cumming on the shoulder: "I remember you. Last time you came to pick up goods, you still owed me fifty liters."
Caming felt a little embarrassed, but then he thought, if the person sitting behind him had to pay, who knows how much he would owe.
The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then Cumming handed the black robe that Levy had brought over to old John: "Uncle, do you remember which batch this was from? It would be even better if you could remember who took it."
Old John was a little puzzled by the question, but when he saw the "tip" that Camin handed him, he didn't ask anything. He borrowed the light from the box and shone it on a corner of his black robe, where a very small number appeared.
After staring at the number for a while, old John suddenly looked up at Cumming.
Caming was puzzled by the look and was about to ask again when Old John spoke up: "Are you kidding me? This is the same batch of goods I gave you last time."
-
After searching high and low, I finally found it on my own head.
This result is truly both laughable and absurd.
At first, Cumming thought Old John was teasing him, but after asking a few more questions, he learned that the robe was one of the last few in the collection and couldn't be sold, so it was just casually given to Cumming. Therefore, there was absolutely no mistake.
"Captain, are you looking for one of our own people?" On the way to the interstellar dock, Kamin pulled at his robes, looking left and right, and finally came to this conclusion.
He turned his head curiously to ask Levy for confirmation, only to find that their captain had actually taken the e-book back and was now flipping through it with great interest.
The images in this e-book are animated, ensuring that viewers can clearly see the symptoms of those diseases.
Levy was clearly flipping to the image page, and Cumming glanced at it quickly and felt scared, thinking to himself that he must get a physical examination once he felt better.
His driver also saw the popular science book in the rearview mirror, his face turning green then purple and then green again, finally settling into a worried expression, clearly sharing the same thought as Kamin.
Only Levy slowly finished reading the book before turning to look out the window, pondering the question Cumming had raised.
The robes were their own goods, and since they were already slow-moving, it was even less likely they would sell them recently. So, logically speaking, it did seem to be someone from their ship.
But……
Thinking of the black-robed man's cold demeanor and how he was ready to beat him up at the slightest provocation, Levi also thought of his subordinates who seemed to turn into quails whenever they saw him.
Levy ruthlessly crossed people out one by one.
They're nowhere near as cute; neither of them is particularly adorable.
Besides, it wasn't that he looked down on his subordinates. Even in terms of skill alone, none of them could compare to the man in black robes.
However, what Camin said reminded Levi of something: the man in the black robe was very familiar with his personality.
This little thing could clearly anticipate his reaction with ease, and wasn't even too surprised when he was stopped last time.
"Tsk." Levi curled his lips into a smile, lightly tapping his forehead with his fingers.
Thinking he had a clue, Camin quickly asked, "Have you figured out who it is?"
“Not one of our own, but…” Levy smiled in a very smug way, “probably some little guy who has a crush on me.”
Kamin: "..." What a huge face.
After paying the rent, as he drove his beautiful aircraft out of Miles Star Dock, Cumming felt a slight sense of regret.
If his older siblings knew that he had visited this planet so many times but had never once enjoyed the famous special services, he would definitely become the laughing stock of the family.
But when he thought about the e-book that Forbidden Fruit had distributed, Camin felt it was wonderful that he hadn't experienced it.
The spacecraft slowly left the atmosphere of Miles Star and entered the extraterrestrial shipping lane. Looking at the vast and boundless starry sky and the empty shipping lane in front of him, Kamin suddenly felt a surge of heroic ambition, like someone who had just boarded a pirate ship.
After the mastermind betrayed them, they first lay in a nutrient tank for several months. After luckily waking up, they stayed at home for a while. Such a life would be enough to suffocate any excellent space pirate.
After circling the spacecraft for a while, Kamin couldn't help but yell in the cockpit, "Captain, where are we going next? We can roam the entire universe now. How about we go check out some other ancient planets, or cross borders to visit some small alliances nearby? Oh right, we need to get our starship here first!"
He was envisioning his ideal life as a space pirate when he heard Levi lazily say from behind, "Back to the capital planet."
Kamin paused for a moment, then offered an explanation, excitedly saying, "That's right, there's nobody on the capital planet right now, it's a perfect time. It's just that if we commit a crime..."
Levy interrupted him: "Take me back to the Royal Palace."
Kamin was speechless, thinking that their captain might have been replaced.
Although he hadn't been with Levi for very long, everyone who knew him knew that this man was born to explore the stars and the sea. Not even the entire Roy Palace, let alone the whole empire, could contain him.
Like a wild and untamed animal, even if forcibly locked up, it has plenty of ways to break free from its cage and tear it apart.
Since Cumming boarded the pirate ship, he has never seen Levy stay in one place for more than a month.
Even on long-distance starships, he would occasionally pilot a small aircraft out and disappear silently into the sea of stars.
Sometimes, finding such a person is incredibly difficult.
But now...
Their boss has been at Roy Palace for several months now, hasn't he?
Kamin does have some brains.
In the palace of Roy, he observed the steward's attitude towards Levi. Although very respectful, it carried a sense of restraint. This indicated that Levi's status as the crown prince of the empire was not simple; rather than a privileged title, it was more like someone wanted to put a collar on him.
"Are you really going back?" Camin asked tentatively, receiving a casual affirmative answer.
Oh no, oh no, has it gone crazy from lying in the nutrient tank for too long?
Kamin was extremely worried.
It could have escaped so easily, so why is it putting that paper collar around its own neck? Anyone who didn't know better would think it was a big dog trying to please its owner.
The more Cumming thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed, and he began to seriously doubt Levy's identity.
Instead of changing course, he turned to Levi and asked, "Captain, you're not really going back to be some kind of imperial prince, are you?"
Levy smiled at him: "Not thinking straight? Want me to send you out and let you experience the feeling of a vacuum?"
Kaming quickly turned his head back, changed course, adjusted gears, and accelerated, all in one smooth motion.
Very well, judging from their tendency to kill at the slightest provocation, it's still their shameless captain.
Seeing the bright red aircraft slowly come to a stop in front of Roy Palace again, the old butler, who had been waiting for two days, breathed a sigh of relief once more.
That day, when Levi left, both he and the cabinet thought that the crown prince they had finally found had flown away again, which caused another upheaval in the already chaotic cabinet.
This morning, a cabinet meeting was convened with ministers who were just waking up.
Although he didn't know why the cabinet was so desperate to capture the somewhat frightening crown prince, nor did he understand why Levy, who could leave at will, was willing to return, the old butler was still very pleased to see his master return to the Royal Palace.
"Your Highness, you must be tired from your journey. Your favorite food has been prepared. Would you like to eat now or..."
Levi interrupted the butler: "What are the monitoring results for Lanny's mental fluctuations these past two days?"
"There's no difference compared to the past few days; we still haven't detected any additional mental waves," the butler replied after a moment's hesitation.
He suddenly had a strange guess: could it be that the prince returned on time because he wanted to find out about the man in black?
The housekeeper felt his guess was quite plausible.
After receiving his answer, Levi did not choose to wash up or eat first, but instead went to see Lanny again, using his gentle and seductive tone to coax the ignorant boy into lying on the machine once more.
Before leaving, Levy instructed the butler: "Don't let him out before dawn tomorrow."
As he spoke, he curled the corners of his lips into a slightly mischievous smile: "I'll be here on time tomorrow to play cat and mouse."
The butler then remembered that six days had passed since the man in black robes last told a story, and tomorrow would be the one-week deadline.
However, His Highness the Crown Prince's expectations were dashed the next day.