WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel ◈
Chapter 70: Big and Beautiful (4)
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The difficult part of an infiltration mission was that you still had to keep up with everyday life while working.
After all, I was at the Academy as a student.
The Academy’s high-ranking officials mostly knew my role, so they gave me some leeway.
Even they said I absolutely had to attend class, though.
Apparently, they could not stop me from being held back for insufficient attendance days.
I did not care about graduating anyway, but if I got held back, Prince Ellen might say he could not leave me here alone and get held back too, extending my Academy life by another year.
That was why I made sure to attend every class.
Besides, unlike classes in my previous life, plenty of Academy classes were interesting.
So I had expected the classes on this study trip, which also served as the second semester’s overall evaluation, to be fairly enjoyable.
“Adam. Let’s go.”
“…Again?”
“Yeah. We can’t stop here.”
But once I actually attended the classes, I was just serving as a punching bag every day.
I was the royal family’s punching bag, backed by history and tradition.
But I had never been beaten this badly before.
It seemed Prince Ellen’s fighting spirit had been ignited after witnessing Daisy’s accomplishments firsthand, the kind that would make for an insane highlight video after her death, captioned, “What an incredible run the deceased had in life.”
Another romance-fantasy heroine?
My tears were blurring my vision.
“Adam. Me too.”
“…Can’t you see the poor corpse collapsed in front of you?”
I had been thoroughly beaten by Ellen and was lying on the ground, yet Asran came over and asked to be the next opponent.
Those romance-fantasy male leads really were stubborn bastards.
Even after seeing that, rather than being afraid, he probably wanted to become a man who could stand beside her.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to beat you if it isn’t now.”
“…”
Or was that not it?
Was this bastard just coming at me because he thought now was his chance to win?
“You’re dead.”
“Huh?”
No matter how tired I was, I was not about to lose to the L-L-L-L-L-L-Little Sword Emperor.
“…”
As I thought that and crossed blades with him, I began to feel a slight sense of danger after exchanging about three blows.
I had been giving the guy a boost in my own way.
But he was already at this level?
Was this the talent of a romance-fantasy male lead candidate? Even accounting for that, something felt strange, so I tested the waters.
“That’s unfair.”
At my muttered words, Asran frowned slightly and avoided my gaze.
“Grand... No, I received a little help from the Sword Emperor! Just a little. I was only doing what the other Swordsmanship Club students were doing…”
Then, even though I had not said anything, he eagerly explained himself and answered my question.
So the romance-fantasy male lead buff had been stacked with the Sword Emperor buff.
If it had gone to the Little Sword Emperor, I did not know when it would reach Prince Ellen.
“I’ve been waiting.”
“Yes?”
After all the classes ended, I was dragging my exhausted body back to the lodging when the Sword Emperor appeared before me.
“Let’s talk privately. It’s been a while.”
“I think today will be difficult…”
“Life is always difficult.”
“…”
With that sudden buff session arriving, I had no choice but to be dragged off like a cow headed for the slaughterhouse and get beaten again.
* * *
“Why does my stamina keep increasing?”
It was around the time one week had passed since we arrived in the Rias Territory.
I had spent almost the entire week as a punching bag, yet instead of my stamina running out, I felt even more energized.
“Places called Demon Realms are naturally rich in mana, so your stamina recovers quickly. Rias also has a lot of dungeons compared to other Demon Realms, and temporary dungeons often appear here, right? The mana emitted by their dungeon cores is considerable too, so people even say mana builds up just by breathing.”
That was Violet’s explanation. People like me, who had stored up a great deal of mana, could not help noticing it even more.
No wonder the Sword Emperor dragged the students away to train them without mercy even after class ended.
It was an educational method that made use of Rias’s characteristics.
“Still late telling us things, huh?”
“Excuse me? This is something they tell you as soon as you arrive in Rias.”
“I didn’t hear it.”
“We immediately went to the Dogfolk village. I heard it from a friend too.”
Violet scrunched up her face, then suddenly widened her eyes as though realizing something.
“Do you not have any friends?”
Gasp!
Gasp!
Violet was one thing, but why were you shocked too?
“Just eat.”
I shoved a chunk of meat into Bell’s mouth and let out a deep sigh.
“The Swordsmanship Department isn’t the sort of place where they’d tell us things like that.”
“Why not?”
I glanced toward Violet’s side.
Violet had been looking at Daisy, who was quietly eating breakfast. She blinked, then made an enlightened expression.
“Everyone’s been working hard lately.”
Whatever Daisy’s image might be, seeing a huge, majestic sword literally crush dungeons had no choice but to greatly influence the Swordsmanship Department students.
Nobody would think, “I want to become like that too...”
Still, it made them think that perhaps the peak of swordsmanship could make something like that possible.
Thanks to that, the Swordsmanship Department was following the Sword Emperor’s hellish training without a word of complaint.
“What about the Magic Department?”
“It’s a similar situation, but the feeling is a little different?”
From what I heard, rather than improving their abilities, they were using magic they had never been able to use before in actual combat.
“Even if you squeeze out every last bit of mana and pour it all out, most of it’s recovered when you wake up. It’s like, if you don’t fire it now, when will you?”
But apparently, they could not do that every time.
“This is important, so they’ll tell you again soon.”
“Ah, are you talking about the Night of Demonic Energy?”
“What? You knew about that?”
“Of course.”
I had heard it was the day when fanatics of the Evil Gods made their move.
Everyone, including Uncle Aryn, was waiting for that day.
“Then this is easy. Demonic energy is mixed in with the mana in the air that day, so avoid using magic if possible. And don’t absorb mana either.”
As she said that, Violet poked Daisy in the side.
Daisy flinched and looked at Violet.
“Got it?”
“O-Of course. It’s not like I’m an idiot!”
“…”
I was sorry to Daisy, who pouted and protested.
But she seemed like she needed to be a little more of an idiot.
* * *
The Night of Demonic Energy.
A day when demonic energy mixed into the air, something that did not happen in ordinary regions.
Wild animals that absorbed demonic energy could break free from their species’ limits and begin turning into monsters.
Species already classified as monsters gained greater strength and more violent tendencies than usual.
If ordinary people accidentally absorbed demonic energy, they could suffer anything from internal injuries to becoming incapacitated.
On the other hand, Dark Mages, like monsters, could wield greater power.
That was why humanity had sealed off regions where such anomalies occurred and designated them Demon Realms.
“Yet they built a territory in such a forbidden place.”
No matter how I thought about it, the Rias Territory really was insane.
“No, it’s well managed.”
“If it’s so well managed, how did Dark Mages infiltrate?”
“Urgh!”
No matter how I looked at it, this was clearly a place the author created to serve as the setting for Part Two.
Or maybe the author had not given the second son here much importance during the Academy arc.
Since his abilities were mediocre, perhaps they hastily created this setting to give him a buff.
Gerard, the Border Margrave’s second son.
He fell behind Prince Ellen and the Little Sword Emperor in swordsmanship.
He fell behind that magic-slinger prince in magic.
He fell behind Prince Essid in power.
He fell behind the future merchant guild master in wealth.
The reason a guy who was neither this nor that could play an active role in Part Two was not only because the Rias Territory was his home, but because he strongly inherited Rias blood and was unaffected by the Night of Demonic Energy.
Of course, even Gerard himself did not know that yet.
Tinky Winky, the spoiler of the future, said Gerard would learn that after Part Two began, so it was something he would learn at least four years from now.
“But is it all right to set the operation for the Night of Demonic Energy?”
The Night of Demonic Energy was dangerous enough for ordinary people that even a neither-this-nor-that friend could put on a spectacular performance.
The more you trained, the more you could endure it.
But you were only enduring it.
The enemy grew stronger while we grew weaker. It was the worst possible day, but...
“What else are we supposed to do? Those fanatic bastards only show up that day.”
They were followers of the Evil Gods, enemies who did not reveal themselves easily.
Unless we had bait to lure them in, we had to take the risk and wait on the Night of Demonic Energy.
“Don’t you have any?”
“You don’t?”
“I feel like you do.”
What were these bastards relying on to ask me for bait?
“There’s no such thing.”
“Be honest. I’ll understand.”
“Yeah. If you confess honestly, I’ll let you off with three days in the underground prison.”
“Honestly, even if you said, ‘I’m actually an apostle of the Evil Gods!’ right now, I’m confident I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“No…”
These bastards were openly treating me like a spy.
Honestly, I could understand the Flame-Slinger.
“Can I just leave?”
But what were Uncle Aryn and Taylor relying on to act like that?
“Sorry!”
“I was wrong!”
The house the arsonists were trying to enter was not ours. It was theirs.
The arsonists had already set fires several times, yet they still had not come to their senses.
“Are you confident you can handle the Night of Demonic Energy?”
“Do you really have a way?”
But rather than reassuring Uncle Aryn, my words made suspicion fill his eyes.
A guy who had just arrived in Rias claimed to know a method that even House Rias had failed to find. It was only natural to be suspicious.
“Who do you think I am?”
But who was I?
“The man who stole Prince Essid’s first love.”
“The man who stole Gerard’s first love.”
“Arwen’s... sniffle. First love…”
“…”
Uncle Aryn jokingly threw out the line, Taylor set it up, and just as the Flame-Slinger was about to spike it, the Flame-Slinger hammered in an own goal.
“No…”
Uncle Aryn looked wronged as WWE suddenly became UFC.
“That’s right.”
“Hm?”
I calmly admitted it.
“Saintess Daisy’s lover. And divine power has always been the natural enemy of demonic energy.”
It was not for nothing that the Rias Territory was one of the places in the Empire with the most believers in the Goddess.
To prepare for emergencies, numerous priests resided in Rias alongside the Holy Kingdom’s knight orders. The power of divine power in Rias had already been proven!
“D-Don’t tell me?”
Uncle Aryn was the first to understand what I meant, and he stared at me in shock.
“Yes, that’s right.”
To stop my annoying fake lover from whining.
And to earn points in advance so I could borrow a magic sword when it mattered!
On top of that, we could catch the Dark Mages and fanatics hiding in Rias, earning points with the Empire as well. To accomplish this perfect three-birds-with-one-stone plan!
“Operation name: Midnight Date.”
“Cough!”
Aside from one romantic novice suffering internal injuries, it was the most perfect plan imaginable.
Author's Note
I shook another illustration out of the illustrator today.
Everyone, bullying the author will not make them release chapters faster.
But if you pressure the illustrator, they will cough up illustrations.
So you should try hitting them too. Hit them, and illustrations come out.
Footnotes:
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