I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel - Chapter 49

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

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

Chapter 49: Negotiation? (1)

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Tinky Winky had failed.

Uncle Aryn had failed too.

…Compared to Tinky Winky, Uncle Aryn seemed to fail every time.

Even if it had been a joke, he'd taken an Imperial Princess hostage and made threats, so he must've done his best.

The Empire had political reasons to be wary of the Pope coming as well.

And since the Academy was the Pope's destination, Uncle Aryn probably wanted to avoid it at all costs.

I'd even warned him that there was going to be a terrorist attack at the Academy.

If he'd still failed after all that, there was a good chance it was the clutches of romance fantasy at work.

“Bow your head.”

“That’s not fair!”

There was a very high chance Violet was the problem.

“It’s not fair! A tyrannical boss should respect the presumption of innocence!”

Violet cried out miserably with her head bowed.

“That doesn't exist here.”

Unfortunately, this world had no presumption of innocence.

It was instead full of nobles who presumed everyone guilty.

“Damn fantasy world!”

Violet shouted at that.

“And you know running away after failing a mission means summary execution, right?”

This bastard had failed the mission and run away.

“Wait, for that?”

It was understandable that she found it ridiculous, but this was a world where nobles made trouble out of pretexts like that.

“You're a noble too.”

“I’m only a noble in name. Daisy’s family and mine are basically on the level of village heads, you know? I don't need to know about that filthy noble world!”

She wasn't wrong.

There was a reason people said rural nobles could be poorer than commoners living in the royal capital.

“But Daisy is surrounded by people at the very top of that filthy noble world.”

“They’re not her boyfriends, so shouldn’t it be fine?”

“Want to die?”

Seeing Violet act like she was saying, Go ahead and gut me, it didn't look like there was any way to use her to stop the Pope.

That aside.

“You seem to be mistaken, but I'm also close to the top of that noble world.”

I had no interest in central politics, but my family was a count's house with enough pedigree to be considered well-established in the kingdom's history.

And I was a highly skilled royal retainer.

The downside was that I was so closely tied to the royal family that it was hard to quit.

On the other hand, if I wanted to, I could even request a private audience with the queen. I was perfectly positioned to take someone down.

“Wow. A perfect romance-fantasy male lead candidate with both talent and a powerful background...!”

Violet immediately tried to get under my skin, but that was fine.

If she threw a jab, I'd just throw an uppercut.

“Excellent. I hereby assign you the honorable mission of personally shadowing the Pope during the Founding Festival.”

“Please spare me!”

It was already too late.

If we couldn't stop the Pope, Violet would have to cling to the Pope and die together.

“There are going to be lots of incidents during this founding event!”

She appealed to me as Tinky Winky rather than Violet, but it was no use.

“I told you, I'll handle all of that.”

The Founding Festival scenario Tinky Winky had told me about could affect many countries.

That was why the Shadows of each country, who didn't trust Uncle Aryn, were all getting ready to work.

“So you need to take on the biggest role.”

“W-What is it?”

“Removing a variable. The Pope wasn't supposed to come in the first place, right?”

The Pope had supposedly been confined to the Holy Kingdom at this point in the original story, so the Pope was definitely a major variable.

“N-No!”

This was the time for Tinky Winky, the Empire-trained agent our kingdom could proudly boast of, to shine even while throwing her weight around in the Empire.

“What if an agent gets dragged off to become a Cardinal?!”

“An agent serving as a Cardinal in the Holy Kingdom, the hardest place to infiltrate? That's a jackpot.”

At that point, even the Commander, who had no money, would take from his own salary to give her a raise.

“So do your best.”

“Please spare me!”

Agents weren't meant to be saved by someone else.

They survived on their own.

It was time Tinky Winky learned that.

Tinky Winky, Holy Kingdom handler.

Assignment complete.

* * *

No, fuck.

Please save me.

“Which crazy bastard schedules an academy exchange festival on the Empire's Founding Day?”

-Our princess did.

So it wasn't a crazy bastard. It was a crazy bitch.

Those siblings were both fucking insane.

“Please stop it, Student Council President.”

-I can't. I'm only the figurehead president.

That was what Senior Lucia, who had become the student council president of the Leon Royal Academy with overwhelming support, said.

According to the Commander, the students supporting her seemed to genuinely support Senior Lucia herself, rather than because Princess Hestia was backing her.

-It’s too late...

She didn't seem aware of any of that.

This probably wasn't in the original story either.

The original Princess Hestia had put down her sword and lived as an ordinary princess.

This snowball had started because of me, something I couldn't even blame Violet and Daisy, the roots of all evil, for.

Which meant I had to solve it.

“We'll send out Ellen and the Little Sword Emperor.”

-Leave Prince Ellen out of this... We can't win against him!

Senior Lucia cried out at the lineup I proposed, but this was the best choice.

“It'll be an honorable death. If we lose to those Imperial bastards, it'll hurt the kingdom's pride. But if Prince Ellen, Leon royalty, beats everyone down, then Leon wins in the end.”

-Do you think we'll lose?

“Hmm, a little?”

The Sword Emperor's influence was even greater than I had expected.

Because the Sword Emperor had started at the bottom, he'd already experienced every concern the students had.

That was why his lessons could be tailored to everyone, from students with relatively weak skills to those at the top.

That wasn't all.

The Swordsmanship Department freshmen had all enrolled after hearing the rumor that the Sword Emperor would become a professor.

They weren't people who had come to the Academy's Swordsmanship Department just to learn swordsmanship as a formality.

They had overcome fierce competition to enroll specifically to learn from the Sword Emperor. Naturally, they were filled with a desire for the sword.

Even before the Sword Emperor's teachings, learning and growing on their own had been the norm for them.

As a result, even the lowest-ranking Swordsmanship Department student would be considered quite skilled compared to the average swordsman their age.

-You went to the Empire... and got corrupted!

Senior Lucia glared at me with betrayal in her eyes, but we couldn't run from reality.

Didn't novels always have that kind of development?

A famous house or kingdom known for its swordsmanship or magic would strut before the protagonist, only to get beaten to a pulp.

It was unfortunate from the perspective of a Leon citizen, but this world's protagonist was from the Empire.

And the Empire was where they mainly operated.

…Come to think of it, that wasn't unfortunate at all.

It was better to live peacefully, even if the Empire surpassed us, than for my hometown to become a complete mess just because the protagonist was running around.

Besides, the kingdom was already behind the Empire in every field except the sword.

And even in the Empire, Prince Ellen held the position of strongest, so the Leon Kingdom had nothing to lose.

“It's all for the kingdom.”

-That's what every traitor says.

“Want me to betray you for real?”

-You're finally betraying the kingdom!

“No, I'd only be betraying you, Senior Lucia.”

-That sounds real. When you say things like that, it's genuinely scary, so stop.

“You don't think it could be real?”

“...”

Senior Lucia fell silent at that one sentence, and the conversation proceeded very smoothly afterward.

Leon Kingdom representatives, Prince Ellen and Senior Lucia.

Assignment complete.

* * *

Tinky Winky would handle the Pope.

If Prince Ellen handled the Leon Kingdom delegation and Princess Hestia, who would come for the Academy Exchange Program...

What should I handle?

“Let's plan a date route.”

Of course, I had to handle the romance-fantasy heroine.

Fuck.

“Why are you telling us that?”

Daisy was far too formidable for me to handle alone, so I'd sought help from others.

Uncle Aryn wasn't even one of the “black-haired beasts” of the proverb, yet he was the one forgetting favors and answering me so brusquely.

“Then the date route will become Prince Essid's route.”

“There isn't a place in the Imperial capital that I don't know. I’ll plan the perfect date route for you.”

At that one sentence, Uncle Aryn immediately spread out an Academy map and began planning my date.

“Should I help too?”

The Flame-Slinger stepped forward first, perhaps worried about receiving the same threat.

“You should plan your own date.”

“Huh?”

“Did you not hear what I said? I need to keep Daisy with me. Prince Ellen will be with the people from our kingdom who come for the Academy Exchange Program. Prince Essid and Gerard, who are from the Empire, will be busy with the event. Violet will be with the Holy Kingdom delegation. And the Little Sword Emperor will obviously be following the Sword Emperor around.”

“R-Right?”

“Then what will your prince be doing?”

“H-He'll be alone?”

“Anyone can see that this is your chance, you idiot.”

“A-Are you a genius?!”

So there would come a day when a swordsman got called a genius by magic-slingers.

“I don't expect you to confess. You can at least go on a date during the event, right?”

“Y-Yes, yes, yes!”

This was worrying. I'd need to assign Senior Lorellia, the expert, to this too.

I didn't know whether she'd ever gone on a date with Prince Essid...

But she'd at least been engaged.

She was the person in our alliance who had come closest to marriage, so she was an expert either way.

Of course, the greatest expert was handling my side.

“Uncle Aryn, make it perfect, just like when you proposed to your wife!”

“Right, just trust me... No, I told you, I'm not married yet!”

No one believed his desperate denial.

Using his experience, know-how, and even the power of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, Uncle Aryn completed a perfect date plan and route in a single day.

“Hmm.”

I studied the perfect map, with every route marked out.

“We absolutely can't go to these places.”

I felt a little sorry for Uncle Aryn, but I could identify all the danger zones.

A perfect date plan?

That could never happen for Daisy and me.

And in a romance-fantasy world, troublesome things were bound to happen in places like these.

For example, we might run into Senior Lucia, Princess Hestia, and the Leon Kingdom group at this café famous for its desserts.

At the festival performance venue, we'd probably encounter Imperial figures like Prince Essid or Gerard.

The worst possibility would be meeting the Pope and the Holy Kingdom delegation.

So I eliminated every area Uncle Aryn had planned, all the way through Plan D.

Once I did that...

“There's barely anywhere left to go.”

Eighty percent of the Academy had become off-limits.

“This is ridiculous.”

Why did an Academy have so many places for dates?

It claimed to be a place of learning, but it was really a place for romance.

“Well, that's why it's a romance fantasy.”

After all, the people at the very top of this supposed place of learning were idiots obsessed with romance.

Did the people beneath them see that and think, Ah, you can grow stronger while dating too!?

“This place is near a famous confession spot, so we'll go this way even if it's farther. This place feels a little dangerous, but it has to feel like a date, so we'll take the risk.”

If the date didn't feel enough like a date, Daisy might use that as an excuse to deny that I'd used my date pass.

I prepared routes through areas where there would probably be at least a few witnesses, preserving a reasonable excuse.

“If I hand her off here...”

Then I could dump her on the next head of a merchant house, the male lead of this scenario.

It was a perfect plan.

I didn't intend to preserve the original story at all costs, but this time, there was more to gain than to lose.

Romance-fantasy heroine dumping officer, romance-fantasy male lead Hedrick Ilias.

Assignment pending.

It would be nice if things went exactly like this.

“But that won't happen, will it?”

This damned romance-fantasy world had already lost my trust.

All I could do was wait for the Empire's Founding Festival, hoping at least half of this plan would succeed.