WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

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◈ I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel ◈

Chapter 1: Became the Royal Family's Punching Bag (1)

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I often read web novels as a hobby.

I started with game fantasy, then moved on to modern fantasy and traditional fantasy. Eventually, I even got into martial arts stories.

More than ten years passed like that, and I ran out of things to read.

I sampled the occasional new release in search of something to my taste, then turned my attention to romance fantasy, commonly called rofan.

‘This is better than I expected.’

Contrary to my assumption that a guy had no business reading rofan, it was far more entertaining than I expected.

No, it went beyond being decent. It was genuinely fun.

I assumed stories with romance in the genre label would be nothing but dating, but there were far more that were not like that than I expected.

Of course, not every story was like that, and plenty did not suit my tastes. Still, was that not equally true for fantasy and martial arts novels?

Having run out of things to read in those genres, I fell into this new genre called rofan.

The problem was.

“Adam.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“How can I make her take an interest in me?”

“……”

Having lived through it myself, I learned that romance fantasy was not a particularly pleasant place to live.

* * *

One day, I opened my eyes and found myself in a fantasy world.

It was ridiculous.

So many people around me had constantly begged to be sent to another world.

Why send me, someone who had been living perfectly well in reality, to another world?!

…Despite thinking that, I adapted much more easily than expected.

Of course, that was thanks to the family I had been born into.

Until yesterday, I had been a job seeker getting pushed around from all sides. Here, I was the son of a count?

At least I no longer had to worry about employment.

Better yet, my family was wealthy enough to support me for the rest of my life even if I remained unemployed, so I could live comfortably.

“Adam, you have a talent for the sword.”

Still, was it not a waste for a man to be born only to loaf around?

Unlike my previous life, this family gave me every bit of support I could want. I thought it would not be bad to enjoy the kind of otherworldly life people dreamed of.

That was why, while receiving the family's elite education, I discovered I had an aptitude for the sword.

The instructors, former knights who had come to teach me, praised my talent as quite impressive. Since I also found swinging a sword rewarding, I thought becoming a knight was my calling.

Right. I heard the eldest son led the family while the younger siblings supported their elder brother through administration or martial strength. As Adam, the third son of House Smith, I would support my first and second brothers as a knight!

In novels, siblings caused all sorts of trouble trying to seize the family. What beautiful brotherly love this was!

“This child is a genius unseen in a thousand years!”

The touching scenario of my eldest brother shedding tears of joy and my second brother embracing me was shattered by an uninvited guest who appeared one day.

As it turned out, one of my instructors had once served in the Royal Guard. They had concealed that identity and taught as a hobby, but after discovering my talent, they reported me to their former workplace.

“M-Me?”

“That is correct.”

A knight from the Royal Guard looked at me like I was a treasure, then promptly kidnapped me to the king's residence.

A count might be a high-ranking noble, but defying the royal family would still get us wiped out.

That was why my parents and brothers all waved goodbye as they saw me off. It stung a little that none of them seemed the least bit sad, but what could I do?

“This child?”

“Yes. You see, this fellow is…”

At the palace, the knight who had brought me and another, higher-ranking knight began talking.

Then, without warning, they put a sword in my hand and challenged me to a match.

And then.

“Search the entire continent, and you would not find anyone with talent this suitable.”

I felt like I had done nothing but get beaten up, but the knight evaluating me called me a genius.

A genius without equal on the continent, no less.

Was this the reincarnator bonus I had only heard about? Would I live like a fantasy protagonist from now on?!

The words that followed, as if confirming my thoughts, were very good news.

“We happened to need someone to accompany the Fifth Prince.”

Taking classes together. What did that mean? It meant receiving the royal family's education, several levels above what I had normally been taught.

There could be no better arrangement for improving my skills.

More importantly, though, I would be taught alongside a prince.

We would learn together from childhood, naturally enter the academy together, and if I graduated safely, I could live the rest of my life as the prince's trusted retainer.

Of course, one mistake could cost not only my head but my entire family. Still, my family had been the ones to release me into the wild first!

I had been born a man and even come to another world! Was it not all right to aim for success as a prince's trusted retainer?

So I enthusiastically made my case and became a royal knight.

An instructor in the Royal Educational Knights.

Those who learned alongside royalty at close range, taught them when necessary, and protected them in times of danger.

That was meant to be my first post and my last.

And the first step toward that great achievement was.

“This is the Doomed Sword you must master from now on.”

“……?”

Learning how to lose.

* * *

Just one more game.

It was something people often said when playing games in my previous life.

Personally, I thought it was only possible because a strategy simulation game called Space War, followed by a MOBA called Legend of Legends, had taken over South Korea.

Just one more game.

Both games were exceptionally good at making that happen.

At the same time, both were exceptionally bad at letting you stop after just one game.

“This bastard’s cheesing me?!”

You declared you would play just one game, but then your opponent sent six space monsters charging in without producing a single worker, ending the game. Or you got hit by the so-called cheese rush, with infantry charging in behind space robots. Those games did not count.

The same went for when that cowardly alien race built the photon lasers meant for defense inside my base.

And that was not all.

“Come on, surrender. We can’t win this.”

“What? You’re surrendering again?”

Legend of Legends, a five-versus-five game, was even worse than a one-on-one strategy sim.

In a one-on-one game, no matter what happened, I was the one who got crushed. In a five-on-five game, there were four other people to blame, so there were endless excuses to make.

That was right.

Just one more game.

That meant a game where neither side held an advantage, both teams were evenly matched, and I carried us to victory, sending my dopamine to its peak.

If it ended before reaching that point, it did not count as one game.

Even if it reached that point but ended in defeat, it did not count as one game either.

After an endless string of “last games,” the true final game would end up running far beyond the time originally set aside for gaming. Still, people willingly sacrificed their time in pursuit of that one real game.

That was why, with memories of my previous life, I could confidently answer the Commander before me.

“So, I spar with the Fifth Prince, trading attacks and defenses that create a suitable sense of danger. Then, just as we’re about to settle the match with our final blows, I lose by the narrowest margin possible, so that His Highness does not notice I let him win.”

“Excellent!”

As expected of a genius unseen in a thousand years.

The commander of the Royal Educational Knights clapped, marveling at my talent. I despaired at the talent they were talking about.

I had expected something impressive when they said I was talented! But all it meant was that I had decent skill, decent potential, and a fucking exceptional ability to read the room!

“All princes carry the king’s blood. There is education suited to princes of such blood.”

I remembered people making remarks like that in my previous life, causing uproar in the news over legendary abuse-of-power incidents. Unfortunately, it was not controversial here.

They really did have the king’s blood, and this really was education for princes.

It was abuse of power, sure, but they really were the ones with the power!

“People often say that one learns through defeat, and that is true. Yet our defeats and the defeats of those with the king’s blood are entirely different.”

That made sense.

There would be no idiot lacking the sense to defeat royalty in their own country, so if royalty suffered defeat, it meant they had lost to another nation.

On a small scale, it meant losing while studying abroad at another nation’s academy. On a larger scale, it meant losing to an enemy nation in war.

The former would be a national humiliation, while the latter would be an even greater humiliation and a sign that the country was about to fall.

That was why members of the royal family almost never studied abroad. Even when they did, the other country would consider diplomatic relations and adjust things accordingly.

“That is why we exist.”

Those who walked the path of kings could not be allowed to lose.

Yet if they were overprotected, they would never know their limits or understand the world.

There needed to be pacemakers who could push royalty to keep challenging their limits while always losing in the end.

“That is us!”

Punching bags under the guise of training.

Not just any punching bags, either. The ideal punching bags, made to create the situation that would satisfy the person hitting them most.

It sounded rather impressive when put that way.

“Commander.”

“Is there something you wish to ask?”

I was sorry to say this to the commander, who was so moved to have met a genius unseen in a thousand years, but honestly, I was not confident.

“To accomplish that, shouldn’t the Fifth Prince and I be at least evenly matched in skill?”

That was right. To make all of this happen, I needed to be at least equal to my opponent.

No, honestly, equal would not be enough. People were not machines. On a day when they were in peak condition, they could defeat someone stronger than themselves. On their worst day, they could lose even to someone far below them.

As a prince, His Highness might have ways to remain in top condition, but even in a fantasy world with magic and divine power, nobody could stay in peak condition forever.

So, to ensure we could have an even match even in an emergency, I needed to be stronger than my opponent.

Not just stronger, either. Much stronger! Strong enough to overwhelm him!

“Ha ha. Don’t worry so much.”

The Commander laughed and reassured me.

“We are the ones who lay the foundations of the kingdom. Do you think there would be no support for such people?”

The Doomed Sword had been created by a swordsman whose name remained in history, then refined through generations of the kingdom’s finest swordsmen.

And that was not all. Every year, instructors like me would receive enormous support so we could master the Doomed Sword perfectly.

Meals made by royal chefs using every kind of healthy ingredient offered to the palace as tribute.

Elixirs that increased magical power, specialists to manage our health, and professional instruction from former instructors whenever we wanted it.

All so we could become the royal family’s punching bags!

And not just any punching bags. They wanted us to become perfectly matched rivals, opponents who could be defeated by the narrowest margin after being pushed to their limits!

“That is the task you must fulfill.”

It was completely absurd.

Still, if I could do it, I would receive wealth, honor, and even a title.

Besides, had they not said I had talent recognized by the royal knights?

“I’ll do it!”

There was no reason to refuse. Facing royalty might be a bit burdensome, but with the benefits of a second life, why would I not be able to handle some kids?

“Good. From today onward, you are a proud royal knight.”

I had even gained the title of youngest royal knight in the kingdom’s history, leaving my name behind in history.

For the beginning of my second life, was this not pretty great?

“I’ll work hard to lose perfectly, in a manner worthy of a knight’s honor!”

“Excellent!”

The content of the conversation was a little strange, but this was a knight’s duty too.

A knight’s way was to fulfill their assigned responsibility for their liege.

Until I met the Fifth Prince who would become my liege, I practiced the Doomed Sword as a royal knight.

Two years later, I met the Fifth Prince, who would become my liege, in a staged chance encounter.

“Hello.”

“My name is Adam Smith.”

But I did not know then.

I had no idea that the Fifth Prince I would be assigned to was one of the secondary male leads in a romance fantasy novel.

Nor did I know that he was not just any royal, but a man who would one day become known as the greatest swordsman on the continent.

Without knowing that I would have to become the perfectly matched rival of the novel’s strongest swordsman, I cheerfully became the punching bag of the Fifth Prince, who would one day be known as the continent’s greatest swordsman.

Footnotes:

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