WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel ◈
Chapter 6: The World Is Wide, and There Are Many Masters (2)
──────
There was not much I had to do to prepare for studying abroad.
Since it was a royal study-abroad program, there was much to prepare, and I was essentially just along for the ride. The kingdom took care of everything.
All I had to do was find someone to manage my estate while I was gone, sign long-term contracts with the merchants leasing space in my shopping arcade, and tell those around me that I would be studying in the Empire.
“You’re finally leaving!”
I looked at the woman who seemed happiest about it and answered with all the disappointment I could muster.
“Senior Lucia. Aren’t you being a little too harsh on your junior?”
Unlike usual, her red eyes, the same color as her hair, sparkled brightly.
Her adorable junior was leaving for a distant land, yet she was this happy.
What a cruel senior.
“You’re the cruel one! Do you have any idea how wild Hestia gets whenever she loses to you?!”
Senior Lucia immediately looked like she was about to cry, but I only shook my head.
They said people cursed even the king where no one could hear them, but she spoke casually to a princess of the kingdom as naturally as breathing.
Of course, Princess Hestia had forced her to do it, but Lucia had become so used to it.
It was too late for her.
She would probably spend the rest of her life at Princess Hestia’s side.
“You should start carrying contracts around instead of resignation letters, like me.”
“Junior, what are you talking about...?”
“You know better than anyone that it’s already too late. If you can’t escape, you should at least get as much out of it as you can.”
“W-what are you talking about?! This year, I’ll definitely resign, snag a man, and get engaged!”
I could guarantee it.
That would be difficult.
Senior Lucia lacked neither family background, looks, nor ability.
No, she had all three in abundance.
And that was the problem.
Finding a decent man would be easy enough, but...
“First, he’d have to get past Princess Hestia.”
Princess Hestia was the sort of person who would draw her sword first to test a prospective friend of her younger sibling.
For Senior Lucia, her most treasured punching bag, no, friend, it would not be strange for her to charge in wielding a sword in each hand.
“Junior, what are you talking about...?”
“Don’t you know best?”
She knew it all. She was only running away despite knowing it.
She might understand her own future even better than I did. She simply refused to admit it.
“It’s easier once you give up.”
The Commander would never give up a top-class worker like Senior Lucia, but even if the Commander and the royal family did, Princess Hestia never would.
“Adam is right. Our role is to support the pillars of the royal family. Do not try to run from such an honorable duty.”
I turned toward the indifferent voice and saw a man grinding coffee beans.
He had blond hair and blue eyes, looked as though he had stepped out of a painting, and carried an air so aristocratic that he seemed noble with every breath.
He was Senior Daniel, the first of the current Instructors to be appointed and the instructor of the First Prince, who was all but certain to become the next king unless something unforeseen happened.
He was the oldest active Instructor and drew attention even in high society as the future king’s trusted retainer.
In other words, he was the leader among the instructors.
But...
“It might be honorable for you, Senior Daniel...!”
His opponent was Senior Lucia.
She had her resignation letters torn up three times a week by the Commander, who outclassed Senior Daniel in every way, then wrote three more for the following week.
“......”
Even Senior Daniel quietly averted his eyes before that determination.
“His Highness Prince Allen isn’t like Princess Hestia!”
Senior Lucia cried out, filled with all the sorrow in her heart.
And she was not wrong.
As befitted the kingdom of knights, Prince Allen had learned the sword from childhood and possessed enough talent that he was no pushover. Still, he had been designated the next king long ago.
Even in a kingdom of knights, unless it was ruled by barbarians, martial strength alone could not be all that mattered in ruling a nation.
As crown prince, Allen had learned various fields of study rather than the sword from an age younger than Prince Ellen was now. He had also taken part in politics indirectly and worked to hone his qualities as a king.
Naturally, that process forced him away from the sword, and Senior Daniel, his instructor, had naturally drifted away from it as well.
“Who wants coffee?”
“Me.”
“Me too. But don’t change the subject.”
Senior Lucia sniffled as she glared at him with tear-filled eyes, and Senior Daniel shut his mouth.
Prince Allen had put down the sword, and Senior Daniel had done the same.
Honestly, if they fought now, Senior Lucia would obviously win.
“You don’t even go to the training grounds.”
“I go sometimes. Sometimes.”
In truth, Senior Daniel was the most ideal Instructor of them all.
The sparring matches between Prince Allen and Senior Daniel had long since become like rich people playing golf in movies and dramas from my previous life.
They were, quite literally, matches meant to flatter the other party.
And that was originally the role of an Instructor.
Even while glancing at Senior Lucia’s tearful face, Senior Daniel spoke confidently.
“To be honest, I’m not the only one.”
That was true.
The instructors assigned to the other princes and princesses all had their own circumstances, but when you thought about it, their situations were closer to Senior Daniel’s than ours.
“You two are the strange ones. It’s not as if I’ve done anything wrong, is it?”
Every word was right.
Princess Hestia and Prince Ellen were the unusual cases. No matter how much this was a kingdom of knights, royalty did not spend more time at training grounds than in high society.
Princess Hestia just liked swords to an abnormal degree, while Prince Ellen was a monster to a bizarre extent.
The rest of the royals were all outstanding, but they were not people who lived and breathed the sword.
“From the moment you two were granted the authority to defeat the royals at any time, you were set on a different path from the rest of us.”
The Doomed Sword.
As its name suggested, it was a sword style solely for losing. Yet ironically, Senior Lucia and I had been granted permission not to lose.
Of course, the reason we had been granted that permission was...
“You can’t beat them in the first place!”
It was only because their talent was so overwhelming that we could not compete unless we truly intended to win.
“Still, having that authority and not having it are different things.”
“That’s true.”
The timing of an instructor’s defeats was decided after the Commander and senior officials put their heads together in discussion.
Winning too often dulled the thrill of victory, so the royals had to win at proper intervals.
If their competitive spirit was stirred up the wrong way, they might set aside their royal duties and studies and cause a fuss about learning the sword like Princess Hestia.
Senior Lucia and I were different.
It did not matter if we won whenever we wanted.
Naturally, that was only possible because of a tangled set of circumstances and because neither of us could win merely because we wanted to. Still, that authority alone proved that we received different treatment from the other instructors.
Most importantly...
“And you get paid accordingly.”
As Senior Daniel said, Senior Lucia and I received overwhelming performance bonuses.
Even Senior Daniel, who was assigned to the crown prince, earned far less than we did.
When you added the various restorative elixirs and swordsmanship tutors, the benefits Senior Lucia and I received were practically on par with royalty.
“They should at least accept my resignation letters in exchange for that authority.”
I did not know about Senior Lucia, but I was satisfied, so I simply nodded.
Two estates in the capital.
Those words always warmed my heart.
“So, Adam, we have high expectations for you.”
“I’ll do my best, but don’t expect too much.”
There were still six months of academy life left before we studied abroad, but the news coming in was no joke.
Following reports that swordsmen from renowned swordsmanship families would enroll, there were also rumors that Dale royalty, our kingdom’s rivals, and famous mages from several Magic Towers planned to attend.
They were only rumors, so not all of them would necessarily enroll.
Still, if even half were true, it meant that most of the continent’s rising stars would gather at the Imperial Academy.
“Just trust Prince Ellen.”
As the genius prince’s punching bag, I had no confidence when it came to real geniuses.
“......”
“......”
Both seniors stared at me silently, looking as though they found my sincere answer ridiculous.
“What? Why?”
When their gazes made me frown, Senior Daniel handed me the coffee he had brewed himself.
“You’re a frog in a well if ever there was one.”
“He’s a little too big to be a frog.”
Senior Lucia muttered, her expression strangely twisted, perhaps because of the bitter coffee.
It was odd that they kept looking at me, but I dismissed it as my imagination and dropped about five sugar cubes into my coffee.
“Coffee should be enjoyed as it is...”
Senior Daniel grumbled, but I was the one drinking it.
Whether I put sugar or salt in it, what did it matter as long as I enjoyed it?
“Well, I won’t go around getting beaten up.”
I might not become the kingdom’s pride, but I had no intention of becoming its disgrace.
Aside from around fifteen people, including the Little Sword Emperor, I should be able to handle the rest.
Wouldn’t eleventh place in the academy’s swordsman rankings suit me perfectly?
“Think whatever you want.”
“Well, I thought I was weak before I entered the academy too.”
Senior Lucia spoke as if she had once gone through the same thing, but I never thought I was weak.
I simply was not underestimating the students entering the Imperial Academy this time.
“At the Royal Academy, we already knew our opponents.”
The Royal Academy of the Leon Kingdom gathered many skilled swordsmen, worthy of its title as the kingdom of knights.
Still, most students came from the Leon Kingdom.
At most, international students made up ten percent, and most were people the royal family had already identified and analyzed.
The Imperial Academy was different.
I could not expect support from the royal family or the Commander.
Unlike before, I would have to fight them using nothing but my own ability.
The world is wide, and there are many masters.
Of course, even in that vast world, I believed Prince Ellen would stand alone.
Yet famous rising stars of the continent, including Asran, the Little Sword Emperor, would be able to stand beside Prince Ellen.
As he met them, learned from them, and sometimes fought them, Prince Ellen would continue to grow.
That was the whole purpose of studying in the Empire.
“I only need to remain standing until then.”
I only needed to stay at Prince Ellen’s side until he met people like that.
So the path he walked would not be lonely.
So he would not walk alone and lose his way.
That was my role.
“Excellent.”
Senior Daniel nodded with satisfaction at those words.
“Look at you, acting so grand.”
Senior Lucia pouted and muttered.
At that warm moment, filled with the rich scent of coffee, I had no idea.
“......Huh?”
My head turned unnaturally, as if it would creak.
The shocked gazes around me were all fixed on me.
I lowered my gaze and looked down.
A gray-haired man with short hair lay collapsed on the ground.
The light had gone from his eyes, which had been brimming with fighting spirit only moments ago.
“......”
Quietly, I recalled his name.
Asran, the Little Sword Emperor.
Among the swordsmen who enrolled this year, he was at least as well-known as Prince Ellen.
And he was the opponent I had been casually matched with for a spar to celebrate our enrollment.
Casually.
I really had kept it light.
Then why...
“......Why?”
No, what the fuck.
Why are you lying on the street? It’s not like this is a bed.
I really did not know.
Author’s Note
This is a little late compared to Kivotos Live.
No, I never expected Steam to get a full dub while I was revising...
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
