WeTried Translations

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◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈

Chapter 12: A Walk in the East (2)

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What came out of the leeches from the eastern region's mouths was truly shocking.

They said they had not originally been dispatched to the Empire with the intention of latching on and sucking it dry.

But starting with the Second Imperial Prince and extending all the way to the East Grand Duke, they had looked down on the Crown Prince, who exercised the Emperor's authority in his stead. From briefings to written reports, they had begun handling everything carelessly.

Naturally, those beneath them followed suit.

Just like the Second Imperial Prince's close aides had.

They failed to properly fulfill the eastern region's obligation to send tribute to the Empire.

Then they pocketed part of that tribute.

The East Grand Duke could have put a stop to it if he had cared, but he did not see the importance of keeping things in order and had been too busy going out to have fun.

'The people at the top went out to play, and the ones below focused on lining their pockets.'

They had created the perfect cushy job, where they enjoyed rights without having to fulfill any obligations.

Money? They got it from both the Empire and the eastern region. If they needed more, they only had to use the Macelin Kingdom as an excuse and demand it.

Even so, it was impressive that the Empire Status Window listed the treasury as Average.

Just how powerful had this Empire been written to be for it to survive another five years in this state?

That thought only lasted a moment.

"How can those who are not citizens of the Empire be allowed to exist within the Imperial Palace?"

I spoke the words that decided the leeches from the eastern region's fate.

"My apologies. I will dispose of them at once."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I've committed a sin deserving death! Please spare our lives! Please spare our lives! Please! Please! Please!"

The knight's words and the leeches from the eastern region's pleas burst out at the same time.

Had they committed such acts without expecting this to happen?

No. They must have known.

They just never dreamed that the Crown Prince would react like this if they were caught.

Because until now, they would surely have been spared.

"Do you have children?"

"Y-Yes...! We do! We do! We all have sons! We will never commit such sins again! So please, spare our lives...!"

That was not going to happen.

"That's good, then. At least your families will not perish. Pray and pray in your hearts that your sons devote themselves to the Empire."

Once I finished speaking, the leeches from the eastern region were knocked unconscious at the knight's signal.

It was a very merciful punishment. They would be unconscious, forever freed from the agony of death.

They would not even know when they died. They would die cleanly, and their heads would be sent to their families.

The nobles in the provinces needed to know that the Empire had changed.

Wouldn't it be kind to deliver the news through their heads?

"Come to think of it, did I tell you to summon the Executioners?"

"Yes. I will follow your command immediately after dealing with these non-citizens of the Empire."

The knight stopped while dragging the leeches from the eastern region away like baggage.

'There's no need to bring a whole group of strategic weapons along for a walk.'

After giving it some thought, I decided there was no need to bring all the Executioners.

"Tell the Executioners to choose one person best suited to accompany me on a walk."

"Yes, Your Highness."

One would be enough.

+++++

The Executioners.

The Empire's strategic weapons.

Put simply in modern terms, they were nuclear weapons.

There were five of them in total.

They had not sworn loyalty to the Empire.

Yet whenever the Empire needed them, they moved. Those strange people were the Executioners.

Since they only acted when the Empire truly needed them.

"Ah, I'm bored."

They usually spent their time relaxing in their own living spaces.

Each Executioner had a palace of their own.

It was a luxury and privilege only possible in an Empire with land vast enough to seem endless and enough money to drive one mad.

Even with palaces of their own, they did little besides waste away each day.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has said that he wishes to take a walk with one of the Executioners."

"What?"

A piece of news that sent a rush of dopamine through them reached their ears.

It was a shame they would not be going to war, but they had a chance to take a one-on-one walk with the Crown Prince, who had supposedly changed completely recently?

The Executioners, who rarely left their palaces, gathered at the midpoint between them for the first time in a while.

"You heard what His Highness the Crown Prince said, right?"

"Not 'said.' 'His Highness spoke.' Use the proper honorifics."

"Ah! Who cares? I've already improved a lot just by adding 'Your Highness'!"

"...."

Five people had gathered.

Only two were talking.

The process of elimination happened naturally.

"The three of you haven't said a word. You don't look like you'd manage everyday life properly, never mind a walk. Why don't you sit this out? Do you seriously think a walk suits any of you?"

"Arveda, aren't you being too harsh?"

"No? I only stated the facts. And from this lady's point of view, a walk doesn't suit you either. You're over three meters tall. Does it make sense for you to walk beside the Crown Prince looking like that? Have you no shame?"

"Your height is also rather questionable. I heard you are barely one hundred and fifty centimeters tall."

"T-This lady...! This is because I like it this way...! Do you think I'm anything like you, you crazy tin can?!"

Thud. Thud.

The girl called Arveda repeatedly kicked the shins of the figure clad in steel armor over three meters tall.

She knew it would not hurt, but sometimes kicking was the only way to let out her anger.

"You have strange tastes. A small stature, twin tails, skin reminiscent of a dark elf... You even made parts of your body white. What exactly were you going for? What kind of tastes are those?"

"There is such a thing! There is! There's a profound world that an ignorant tin can like you could never understand! What do you know?! You know nothing about this lady's noble and deeply refined tastes!"

Thud. Thud. Thud.

As the sound of the tin can being kicked continued to ring out, the remaining three Executioners, who had silently watched the scene, turned away.

To be honest, they had also looked forward to walking with the Crown Prince.

But as Arveda said, either they lacked conversational skill or had special circumstances that made a walk unsuitable.

"Everyone's leaving on their own? Tin can, you get the message too, right?"

"Arveda, there is likely no one else your age who still throws tantrums like this. You aren't the only one curious about the Crown Prince's changed self...."

"So what?! So what?! So what?! Then what?! Are we settling this here?! We'll play rock-paper-scissors! This lady will definitely throw rock, so you have to throw scissors! If you don't, I swear...!"

"...You are impossible to reason with. Fine. I will give up as well. You go."

"Of course I will. This lady was going to go from the start! Then our conversation is over! I need to prepare to go out with the Crown Prince, so I'll be on my way!"

"...."

The one called a tin can watched Arveda happily head back into her palace.

Come to think of it, Arveda really was the best suited for a walk.

'Whether she will suit the changed Crown Prince is another question.'

May nothing happen, and may the walk end safely.

After offering that small prayer, the tin can returned to their palace.

In an instant, the Executioner who would accompany the Crown Prince on his walk had been chosen.

+++++

The part of the novel I had read never went into much detail about the Executioners.

Even when I searched through the original owner's memories, there was nothing.

It seemed the Empire had never properly used the Executioners before.

'Are they like absurdly overpowered cheat characters made solely to provide the Macelin Kingdom with its strongest support?'

What that meant was this.

"Your Highness! This lady is Arveda, the Executioner who will accompany Your Highness on your walk!"

When the small girl before me showed up claiming to be an Executioner, I could not tell whether it was real or some kind of joke.

But of course.

'There can't possibly be a retainer who would joke with me in this situation.'

It could not be a joke. One of the mysterious Executioners was a girl.

She did not seem like an ordinary girl. Even at a glance, she gave off an incredibly dangerous aura.

Putting aside her clumsy way of speaking, that was.

"I look forward to working with you. I am Bellon, the Crown Prince."

"Your grace is boundless!"

"...."

A girl who had been killing people until recently had suddenly appeared before me with such a foolish expression.

It felt like some of my tension had eased.

Then.

"Your Highness, are you certain you do not require any other guards? I understand that the journey to the eastern region is quite long...."

The Chancellor's words made the tension rise again.

More accurately, it was closer to work mode than tension.

"It's fine. More importantly, the eastern region is far away. Will the Empire be all right if I leave my post for that long?"

"We all understand Your Highness's intentions. Please do not worry."

The Chancellor said they understood my intentions and promised to keep cleaning up the imperial capital while I was gone.

I'd already made examples of offenders several times, so there should not be much to worry about.

'If the country had been functioning properly, I wouldn't have needed to take this walk to the eastern region in the first place.'

The eastern region was far away.

But I had to go in person because there were things I would never know by remaining inside the Imperial Palace.

Some things could only be understood by seeing and feeling them firsthand. I also needed to observe what the provincial nobles were doing along the way.

I had to get a real sense of the situation in the eastern region, so taking this walk myself was essential.

There were still a few things I needed to confirm before leaving.

"What about the Second Imperial Prince?"

"We will ensure that he cannot participate in state affairs under any circumstances. Even if he expresses an opinion, we will thoroughly ignore it."

"And the First Imperial Princess?"

"We will treat the First Imperial Princess much like the Second Imperial Prince. However, the First Imperial Princess has never directly involved herself in state affairs, so we are allowing a certain level of luxury, provided it does not go too far."

It was about how the Second Imperial Prince and the First Imperial Princess would be treated.

"Good. That's exactly it. From now on, there is no need to heed the commands of any member of the imperial family other than me."

"I will keep it in mind."

The Chancellor's firm answer put my mind at ease.

Was there a chance they would secretly pull some bullshit behind my back while I was gone? Honestly, I could assume there wasn't.

The Grand General was watching the Second Imperial Prince closely.

And in the original story, the First Imperial Princess had only ever been there to act spoiled around the Crown Prince.

"It won't take long."

"May Your Highness remain in perfect health, achieve all you desire, and return safely to the Imperial Palace."

"That farewell is excessive. It's only a walk."

That was the end of my conversation with the Chancellor.

I gestured to the girl before me, no, to Arveda, and started walking.

'This little girl turns into a nuclear weapon when unleashed on a battlefield.'

What kind of power was she hiding?

With that thought in mind, I walked out of the Imperial Palace in silence for a while.

Just as we crossed its gates.

"Your Highness! Even if we are only taking a walk, it seems our identities must not be discovered. Is this lady correct?"

As if she had been waiting for the moment, Arveda opened her mouth.

"...That's right."

What did she want to say by bringing that up?

I had a rough idea, though.

"Then! What if this lady and Your Highness create a fictional relationship?"

"For example?"

"This lady wants Your Highness to take the role of a father or older brother, so I would like to call you Father or Brother."

"...So you want us to pretend to be siblings. But our skin and hair colors are far too different for that, aren't they?"

"We will be step-siblings. Our sperm and eggs are completely different, but our parents met as if by fate, remarried, and made us step-siblings. That will be our setting."

I never imagined she would come up with such a detailed cover story.

But I had been thinking this for a while now. What was with that way of speaking? How awkward was she with formal speech?

"The setting itself is quite appealing, but unfortunately, we won't need a cover like that."

"W-Why not...?"

"We will not be heading to the eastern region at an ordinary pace."

It was unfortunate that I could not meet her expectations.

But the walk I had in mind was not a leisurely trip to the eastern region by carriage or on foot.

We would head to the center of the eastern region at full speed, with minimal rest.

We would make brief stops if we passed through major territories, so I could observe how they were run.

But considering travel time alone, it would not take more than a day.

Given the Crown Prince's body's absurd physical capabilities, I could practically be considered a human high-speed train.

In fact, the map I had brought only marked a few rest stops.

There would be a problem if the actual condition of the territories differed from the reports I had received at those stops.

But if nothing went wrong, we would arrive at Marinapolis, the capital of the eastern region, in the blink of an eye.

"This lady still... if there is a chance, even the slightest chance, I truly wish to call Your Highness Father or Brother...."

"...All right. If such a situation arises, use the cover story you suggested and call me Brother."

Father was a little much.

"Upon reconsideration, this lady believes 'Elder Brother' would better convey the feeling of step-siblings. I beg you to reconsider."

Arveda said this and gave an awkward bow.

Now that I looked at her, she had twin tails. No, why did she have twin tails?

Many thoughts surfaced, then vanished again.

Honestly, what was the point of dwelling on it?

"Putting that aside, the first place we will arrive at is the Verda Marquisate."

"The Verda Marquisate, Your Highness?"

"...Yes. It is like a crossroads connecting the eastern region and the Empire, a strategic stronghold... and, I suppose, a place to pause."

Arveda pretended to listen to me while staring at the ants crawling across the ground.

'Right. The Empire's nuclear weapon should have this sort of oddball side too.'

To be honest, this attitude of hers was not a problem at all during our walk.

What mattered was how well the nobles' territories we stopped at along the way were functioning.

'At least let only the imperial capital be rotten. There is no way the entire Empire is rotten, right?'

The nobles in important positions should still have their heads on straight.

"Let's go."

"Yes!"

With that thought, we began our walk.

+++++

About five hours into our walk.

"Ah."

The moment I arrived at the Verda Marquisate, I let out a sigh.

A strategic stronghold should usually have soldiers in excellent condition.

'When I received the reports... didn't they say even the regular soldiers wore good armor from head to toe?'

Then why were the soldiers before me dressed in rags and holding flimsy wooden spears?

How had the Empire lasted another five years in this state?

'Well done, Empire. Those pillars are really sturdy.'

It seemed this walk through the eastern region would bring a great deal of bloodshed.

Footnotes:

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