WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Pushover Young Lord in a Romance Fantasy Won't Take It Anymore ◈
Chapter 51: Use Polite Language
──────
Hey guys, quick announcement before the chapter! We're hosting an original webnovel contest with a $1000 prize pool, a chance to publish your novel on WeTried, and lifetime free reading access for the top two winners!
There's also a participation prize of 500 coins for everyone participating.
If you've got a story sitting in a folder somewhere, or have been wanting to try writing one, we'd love to read it. You only need your first 10 chapters, and you have until 1st January 2027 to submit. New writers are welcome too!
Full details, rules, and how to enter here! https://wetriedtls.com/announcements/webnovel-contest
Feel free to send this to anyone you know who writes. Enjoy the chapter!
If you have any questions, please join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
──────
A week had passed since the notice was posted. Five thousand volunteers had already gathered.
If they extended the recruitment period, the estimate rose to ten thousand.
If numbers reached ten thousand, I planned to select only three hundred to five hundred people for the vanguard. That was the maximum I could reasonably control.
Naturally, I would lead the vanguard myself.
Some might call it madness for the commander-in-chief to serve as vanguard commander. In fact, that was exactly what I had heard.
“It’s madness, Young Lord. How can the commander-in-chief stand at the very front?”
Julian’s objection during the meeting had been perfectly reasonable.
Having the head of the command structure stand on the front line went against the basics of military strategy.
This expedition, though, had its own peculiar circumstances.
“Julian. The people gathered here aren’t regular soldiers. They won’t follow because they see their commander spit while giving orders. They’ll steel themselves when they see him bleed.”
They were as full of rebellious spirit as they were skilled. Orders from the rear would not be enough to control them.
I had to stand at the front for them to get swept up in the madness and follow me.
Besides, keeping the commander-in-chief in the rear would be a waste of fighting strength.
That did not mean I intended to spend every day swinging a sword.
During the first clash, when the most dangerous magical beast wave came rushing in, I would take the lead and raise their morale.
Once the situation stabilized, I would return to the center of the formation and command from there. That was the flexible plan I had in mind.
‘The problem is the brief gap while I’m at the front.’
Who could I entrust that gap to?
“Adjutant. While I open a path at the front, you’ll be fully responsible for maintaining and controlling the main force’s formation.”
“You’re delegating all command authority to me?”
“Is that too much of a burden?”
At my calm question, Lucia gave a faint smile and shook her head.
“Of course not. I’ll make sure the defensive line is never pushed back.”
In the first timeline, she had been the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces of Humanity.
The Academy did not teach military strategy, but Lucia had already read every strategy book there was.
As expected of the protagonist, she had been exceptional from the start.
“Ten-minute break!”
Appointment to the vanguard was solely my authority.
Even now, I was sorting through elite soldiers to select for it.
A mercenary wiped blood from the corner of their mouth and staggered off the field.
One by one, those fit to stand at the front were being filtered out through relay sparring matches.
‘There’s no one better than Bagot and the Tak-Tak brothers.’
Bagot, Bellutak, Buraltak, and Jenkinson.
Regardless of their wishes, all four had been added to the vanguard.
Fortunately, they all intended to volunteer for it anyway.
Since it was break time, I headed to the central tent to catch my breath.
As expected, someone had arrived before me.
“Hey. Holy Sword Keeper.”
Reddish-gold eyes that had been fixed on the floor turned toward me.
For four days, the Holy Sword Keeper had done nothing but sit around.
Still, whenever a knight with a promising ring appeared, the Holy Sword Keeper rushed over and told them to try holding the Holy Sword. She was not completely useless.
More like a nuisance.
“You have no intention of joining the expedition, do you? Because of that Commandment of yours.”
The Holy Sword Keeper nodded.
She could not use her power for personal purposes. It was both a personal Commandment and a prohibition.
“Since we’re on the subject, we don’t need an uninvited guest who can’t help us either.”
The Holy Sword Keeper could only use her power for the greater good.
What action here could possibly count as serving the greater good?
The Ashen Forest Expedition did not, for one.
Beating up those who refused the qualification test did count as serving the greater good.
That was how arbitrarily she defined it.
“To be blunt, you’ll follow us when we set out anyway, won’t you? You’ll just watch to see whether there’s anyone who could become the Holy Sword’s owner. Am I wrong?”
If the Holy Sword Keeper stubbornly tagged along on the expedition just to look for an owner, it would create an awkward atmosphere and make everyone uncomfortable.
It would be no different from interfering with the expedition.
The Holy Sword Keeper knew that too and could not offer a single rebuttal.
“So let’s make a deal. After we set out, I won’t interfere with whatever you do to whoever you want. In return, you follow my command.”
“I have a Commandment.”
“Yes, I know. That’s what I’m saying.”
There was a shield propped up in one corner of the tent. I picked it up and handed it to the Holy Sword Keeper.
“You won’t have to use a sword there. Just be a meat shield.”
“……”
“What? You can at least hold a shield and block magical beasts, can’t you? If it looks like the expedition is going to fail, you can run off by yourself.”
Every Commandment had a loophole.
Just as the Holy Sword’s purity Commandment prohibited only sexual relations.
The Holy Sword Keeper’s restriction on using force also had an obvious gap.
She could not attack, but she could still serve as a shield.
“Fine.”
The Holy Sword Keeper reluctantly nodded.
“Good. Later, I’ll send you the people selected for the shield unit. Before that, I’ll give you a shield technique manual, so study it.”
With that, I had brought the Holy Sword Keeper over to my side. All that remained were the elven tribe and my elder sister Selena.
We held the stronger position with the former, so I was not worried about that.
Selena was the real headache.
“Young Lord! Young Lord!”
A servant threw open the tent flap and rushed in, panting. Their face was drenched in sweat, as though the matter was extremely urgent.
“What’s with the fuss?”
“B-breaking news! Please, look at this!”
The servant’s arms were full of morning newspapers.
With trembling hands, the servant held out the bundle.
I skimmed only the front-page headlines.
[Emergency Statement from the Imperial Geographical Society! A preemptive strike on the Ashen Forest could become the spark for a monster wave...]
[The Imperial Capital’s Leading Demonologists Strongly Condemn Cardenos’s Reckless Expedition!]
[Alliance of Intellectuals Submits a Joint Petition Calling for the Expedition to Be Postponed...]
The Empire’s most prominent intellectuals had risen up to condemn the expedition.
I carefully checked the articles’ dates and publication times.
“They released them all at once.”
Scholars with high opinions of themselves and strong convictions had all spoken up.
At exactly the same time, as if they had planned it.
“They didn’t do this voluntarily. Someone paid them off and coordinated their statements. It’s obviously Rosenthal’s work.”
“H-House Rosenthal?”
Rosenthal had encouraged respected scholars to submit a petition in opposition.
I let out a hollow laugh and folded the newspapers into a crumpled mess.
“Then how should we respond? Won’t His Highness the Crown Prince stop them even if we do nothing?”
That was a reasonable thought. The Imperial Family had funded the military expenses, after all.
Rosenthal surely knew about the crown prince’s declaration. They had moved the scholars despite knowing that.
They probably understood it.
The Imperial Family’s military funding was not wholehearted support. It was nominal support that could be withdrawn at any time.
The crown prince was surely agonizing over it at that very moment.
‘In the end, he’ll pretend he has no choice and side with the scholars.’
If experts opposed the expedition so strongly, even the crown prince would have no choice but to be afraid.
That was what Rosenthal had been aiming for.
The crown prince would see Rosenthal’s actions as insolent, but what could he do?
If they claimed they were siding with scholars for the good of the Empire, what could he say?
“What do we do now?”
“The Imperial Family hasn’t released an official statement yet, correct?”
“No, they haven’t, but...”
Rosenthal and the Imperial Family had not coordinated this in advance.
Thanks to that, a path had opened before me.
Zenon was an empty shell who lived and died by appearances. He was indecisive as well.
That indecisiveness would be a great help to us.
“No matter how large or small it is, the Imperial Family funded our military expenses. That alone gives us the moral high ground.”
* * *
The next morning, in the crown prince’s office.
Crown Prince Zenon clicked his tongue as he looked down at the daily paper on his table.
[Emergency Statement from the Imperial Geographical Society! A preemptive strike on the Ashen Forest could become the spark for a monster wave...]
“Rosenthal arranged this rather well.”
Zenon had funded Astin’s military expenses to build him up, then send him to his death.
Rosenthal’s intervention, however, had changed the course of things.
After the scholars raised their united voices, Zenon spent a day observing public reaction.
It was largely baseless agitation, but the citizens of the Empire respected intellectuals’ authority.
Public reaction unfolded exactly as Zenon had expected.
That day, protesters had gathered in the imperial capital’s central square.
Cardenos had been blinded by ambition and cared nothing for the Empire’s safety! They shouted such slogans.
The scholars’ agitation would begin in the imperial capital and spread throughout the Empire.
Given current public sentiment, withdrawing support was the wiser choice.
It would not be easy to push ahead with the expedition by launching a counterattack, and what if the expedition ended just as the scholars predicted?
Everyone would point fingers at Zenon then.
They would say he had ignored intellectuals, turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to their words, and endangered the Empire.
His dignity would suffer somewhat, but what other choice did he have?
‘It is a shame that I won’t be able to leave Astin to die.’
Zenon pulled a document toward himself from one side of the desk and picked up his pen.
The Imperial Family would completely nullify its support. Stop preparations for the expedition immediately.
It was a withdrawal statement accepting the scholars’ opinions.
‘This may not be so bad, either.’
Once he signed it, Astin would be branded a traitor who had stoked public fear.
Complete isolation and ruin. That would be satisfying in its own way.
He had just dipped the pen tip into ink and was about to put it to paper.
Bang!
“Y-Your Highness! Your Highness!”
The chief aide burst through the door. His face was pale.
“What is this commotion? How vulgar.”
“The Imperial Capital Gazette has released an extra edition! Public opinion across the entire imperial capital is turning around!”
Zenon frowned and snatched the extra edition from the trembling aide.
The moment he read the massive headline splashed across the front page, his expression froze.
[Arrogant Scholars Defy the Imperial Family’s Great Decision! Where Is Their Evidence?]
[Will the Self-Preservation of Intellectuals Trapped in Ivory Towers Dare Trample the Imperial Family’s Righteous Cause?]
Zenon’s eyes shook as though an earthquake had struck.
The alliance of intellectuals was defying the Imperial Family’s decision. The Imperial Family was rebuking them.
Only after seeing this did Crown Prince Zenon realize it.
Then who had done this? From where?
It did not take him long to figure it out.
“That rat Astin!”
Bang!
Zenon’s face flushed red with rage.
That Cardenos brat had used the Imperial Family’s military funding as a pretext.
“How dare he use my name to stir up public opinion!?”
It was infuriating beyond belief, but Zenon himself had funded the military expenses.
And military funding meant he had handed Astin all the justification Astin needed.
Even if Zenon tried to imprison Astin for insolence, he had no grounds to do so.
This article was not treason or impersonation. It consistently praised the crown prince’s decision.
That left Zenon with no excuse to reprimand Cardenos.
“You sly little rat...”
That brat had some nerve, and a clever head.
Zenon pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a long, heavy sigh.
What mattered was public opinion, the will of the people.
Would the citizens of the imperial capital support Cardenos and the Imperial Family, or the scholars...?
“We’ll have to observe public sentiment for a day.”
And the next day.
Zenon bitterly smacked his lips at the report brought by his chief aide.
“The citizens of the imperial capital are calling for petitions supporting the Imperial Family and Cardenos. At this rate, the intellectuals look ready to tuck their tails and run.”
“...I see.”
Zenon crumpled up the withdrawal statement and threw it away.
Public opinion had already tipped in this direction.
He hated feeling as though Astin had played him, but Zenon looked at it differently.
Astin was volunteering to die on the expedition himself.
I have no reason to be angry. Yes, that bastard will pay for his sins with suicide anyway.
...Even so, his anger would not fade at the thought of becoming that brat’s chess piece.
Bang!
“Bring in the spokesperson immediately. I will issue an official statement.”
Zenon took a breath and forcibly calmed his rage.
“Address the academic world. Tell them to shut their mouths if they do not want holes drilled through those stuffed heads of theirs!”
Ah.
Zenon pressed a hand to his aching forehead and added,
“...Phrase it more politely.”
* * *
―Imperial Family Statement: The Pen Cannot Break the Sword―
[The Imperial Family expresses deep regret at the self-preservation announced by the academic world.
Remember this. The history of the great Empire was not written by scholars’ pen tips. Never forget that its foundation was the blood and sweat of warriors who advanced without fear of death.
(Excerpt omitted)
The Ashen Forest Expedition of the grand ducal House Cardenos cannot be dismissed as mere territorial expansion.
It is a grand vision and noble decision to broaden the horizons of humanity’s survival.
To call this “the spark of calamity” is a treasonous act that seeks to break the Empire’s advancing spirit.
The Imperial Family will never overlook the arrogance of academics who stoke public fear with empty theories.
(Excerpt omitted)
We once again declare our full support for the Ashen Forest Expedition.
Empire, humanity, behold.
Human history has always overcome the impossible and bloomed into a brilliant dawn.
Watch the warriors gathered beneath the Banner of the Black Lion.
In that land of death abandoned even by the gods, humanity will once again demonstrate limitless potential.
―Imperial Capital Gazette Extra Edition―]
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried