WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 13: A Walk in the East (3)

──────

The Verda Marquisate.

A crossroads connecting the imperial center and the eastern region, as well as a strategic stronghold.

Any personnel the Empire dispatched to the eastern region had no choice but to pass through this city.

That meant the Verda Marquisate should have had ample supplies for its soldiers by default.

'But the ones holding wooden spears have sunken cheeks.'

The soldiers before me looked anything but well supplied.

Judging by their wooden spears and wooden armor, they didn't look like city soldiers at all.

They looked more like farmers conscripted from some rural village.

There was a massive gap between what the documents said and what I was seeing.

'The imperial family wasn't doing its job properly to begin with, so why would the people beneath them do theirs?'

The imperial family was too busy neglecting their duties and giving things away to the neighboring country.

Would the nobles beneath them work diligently, then?

They must have thought no one would keep an eye on them.

'Did they skim off the weapons meant for the soldiers, along with the metal needed to make them, and profit from it?'

It was such an obvious embezzlement scheme that there was no need to investigate.

The Imperial Palace, the very heart of the Empire, wasn't functioning properly.

If they falsified documents and submitted them, who would notice? No one would come to inspect them.

Getting started was the hard part, but once they realized they wouldn't get caught?

From then on, they could sleep soundly and gorge themselves on the Empire as they pleased.

"Looking at this, I'd say they've been doing it for at least two years."

"That is correct, Your Highness."

"That was proper formal speech this time."

"This lady is working hard to adapt, Your Highness."

"...."

I really had no idea what Arveda was.

I didn't know much about the Executioners' settings, either.

'But it feels like I'll have a chance to find out soon enough.'

Later, I should ask if I could just call her Blackie.

Muttering to myself, I slowly walked into the Verda Marquisate with Arveda.

Normally, when outsiders tried to enter a territory, the guards would at least pretend to check their identities.

"Hey! You two! It's a fine day, so why are you hiding your faces like that? Well, that's your business! Put some money in the can and go on in!"

"...."

It seemed they hadn't checked anyone's identity in quite some time.

A soldier poked only their face out from their post and confidently demanded a toll.

The walls clearly needed repairs, and the people beneath them wore wooden armor.

In the middle of it all sat a can that looked as though someone had made an effort to maintain it.

"I hear the knights' training got canceled again."

"Really? I was hoping to see the knights' faces. What a shame."

"What would you even see them for?"

"Huh? What do you mean? You remember the bet we made last time, whether they'd gained more weight this time or not."

"Ah, that! Wasn't that already settled? We both bet that they'd gained weight, so we agreed to call it off."

"Right, right. That's true."

Clink.

"Oh, a copper? Heh, you're pretty well built and look like you've got a story, but... maybe you don't have money because of that. Fine, you've paid."

"Why are you suddenly checking such a small amount? You'll never make a living here like that."

"Right, right. Go on through, go on through."

Listening to the guards talk, I passed through the city gate with Arveda.

The state of the territory that greeted us the moment we entered could only be described as miserable.

"Ha."

This was a place connecting the Empire and the eastern region, yet malnourished children wandered its streets.

At the very least, I had thought they would fulfill their basic obligations.

'And that talk about the knights, too.'

How could a knight gain weight?

And they weren't just any knights.

They were knights stationed at a strategic stronghold connecting the imperial center and the eastern region.

The knights who should have been the first to respond if anything happened in the center or the eastern region had not only gained weight, but had also become the subject of wagers among the soldiers guarding the gate?

"...Arveda."

Just how rotten was this place for the scent of bloodshed blowing from the Imperial Palace not to reach this far?

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I had intended to travel incognito and look into various things, but there's no need for that anymore."

"...."

I could smell the foul stench of maggots piercing my nose.

A horrendous odor that even the scent of bloodshed from the Imperial Palace couldn't hide.

Despite the steady cleaning we had done at the Imperial Palace, I finally understood why the Empire Status Window's corruption had not changed from 'Worst.'

"Inform the marquis's estate that I have arrived."

"Am I only to inform them, Your Highness?"

"Kill everyone except those without sin."

"Please tell this lady how to distinguish them."

At Arveda's question, my vision widened, and I examined the faces of the starving people one by one.

According to the reports, the Verda Marquisate had stopped sending tribute at some point.

The reason given was, 'For the territory's prosperity, happiness, and welfare.'

Naturally, the Crown Prince had permitted it. Trusting those words, he had not kept watch over them.

The result of that trust stood before me now.

"Those who have nothing to eat and are only barely alive, with no strength left. They are the ones without sin."

+++++

"I am so overwhelmed by my lord's extraordinary insight that I don't know where to put myself!"

"Haha, you're busy gilding my face again today."

"You truly are covering your face in gold."

"More accurately, I'm wearing it. It's a new gold mask I had made. What do you think?"

"You are truly the sun that illuminates this nation!"

"Mm. You really do have a good eye."

Marquis Verda had been in a very good mood lately.

It felt as though all the guilt he once carried had vanished.

He had once foolishly worried over whether it was all right to spend the nation's money so freely.

These days, though, not doing it made one the fool, so he no longer had any worries.

The Empire was powerful, the imperial authority was strong, and so on.

Honestly, none of that mattered.

At first, it had frightened him greatly.

But what a surprise. Once he looked beneath the surface, it was all just for show.

No matter how strong something was, it meant nothing if it wasn't wielded.

He had received permission to reduce the tribute, and even received permission to stop sending it altogether.

'That means I can stop worrying about the center entirely.'

As long as he didn't indulge in absurdly grand ambitions, such as wanting to become Emperor, he could live beneath the Empire, laughing and enjoying himself for the rest of his life.

"Dad! Can I deal with the bastards who tried to run away?"

"More sword practice? Haha, sure. As much as you want."

Who needed to be the owner of a country?

As long as one could live like an owner, even in a small place, wasn't that enough?

The moment he received top-quality armor and weapons from the Empire, he melted them down into ingots.

Or he simply scraped off the imperial crest and sold them here and there as they were, making money without lifting a finger.

Since the Empire provided the goods on its own, it was pure profit.

The only work involved was turning the armor and weapons into money.

'At this point... should I just ask for money instead?'

Imperial regulation equipment sold for a high price, but he was starting to find even selling it bothersome.

If he received money from the start, he wouldn't have to deal with that inconvenience.

'Even I think that's an excellent idea.'

His wife would be able to indulge in even greater luxuries if he received money instead.

He had heard that various precious ornaments had recently appeared in the Macelin Kingdom.

He intended to buy them all up, even if he had to pay a premium.

As Marquis Verda happily imagined it all,

Tap.

"Hello?"

Someone suddenly landed lightly on the windowsill and spoke to him.

"W-Who are you?!"

"This lady? I cannot tell you that."

Even covered from head to toe in a robe, the figure was clearly small and appeared to be a girl.

Something protruded from the top of her head. It couldn't possibly be horns, so it was probably a hairstyle.

Looking only at that, he could have dismissed her as a madwoman.

'W-What are those eyes...?!'

The instant their eyes met, an immense pressure weighed down his entire body.

Her pupils were vertically slit, and her irises seemed to hold opals within them.

The longer he looked, the more it felt as if he would lose consciousness.

Then, at that very moment,

"How dare you try to die comfortably? Even this lady, as oblivious as she may be... knows that His Highness does not want you to die comfortably. No, everyone here... His Highness would want everyone except those without sin to die painfully."

The girl's calm words continued, and Marquis Verda suddenly came fully to his senses.

Then,

Crackkkkk.

"Kyaaaaaaagh!"

The pain of his limbs being torn apart suddenly struck his whole body.

The full-scale cleaning of the Verda Marquisate had begun.

+++++

"...."

At the same time as the sounds of pain echoing through the marquis's estate reached my ears, I saw servants leaving the manor with dazed expressions.

Those without sin.

Those who didn't have food to eat even today.

The people the marquis should have cared for.

Ding!

[ The rotten marquis's seeds have been completely uprooted. ]

[ The possibility of the Empire's destruction decreases by 0.5%. ]

[ Current possibility of the Empire's destruction: 72.5% ]

[ Status Summary: There is a very high possibility that the Empire will be destroyed within five years. ]

The messages confirmed that the cleaning had been carried out perfectly.

Removing one corrupt marquis lowered the possibility by only 0.5%.

There wasn't even a message saying that fate had changed or the worldline had shifted.

I could roughly guess why.

'Because there are too many things like this. Because it will never end.'

How many imperial nobles would disappear before I reached the eastern region?

'The Chancellor is going to have a hard time.'

Still, he was a marquis, so the sudden vacancy would have some effect.

We needed to contain that effect as quickly as possible so it didn't spread in a strange direction.

Kieeeek!

Pirande, the messenger bird I had brought along just in case, flew over as if it understood the situation.

"You have it rough too."

Kiek.

With a cry that seemed to say it was fine, Pirande took off again with a letter tied to its leg.

In just five hours of walking through the eastern region, I had cleanly removed a marquis.

Only five hours.

"Ha."

Still, it wasn't all depressing news.

You could say I had made an unexpected gain.

────!!!

An instinctive repulsion, a pressure that weighed down the soul, and terror enough to shatter the mind filled the marquisate.

I had wondered why her formal speech was so awkward, but after learning her true identity, it made perfect sense.

'Even if she's older than me... she's probably older by orders of magnitude. Why did she come to the Empire, and why is she even speaking formally to me?'

And once I learned what she was, I was dumbfounded again.

'The Second Imperial Prince tried to send an Executioner... no, Executioners like this to the Macelin Kingdom?'

I had stopped that, and there were five Executioners of this caliber, yet the country would still be destroyed within five years?

'What the hell is the Empire in I'm Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things?'

How could a country where a dragon could listen to the Crown Prince and go for a walk with him be destroyed within five years?

The more I learned, the more dizzying it became. At the same time, I became certain.

"The imperial male leads in I'm Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things... must have been created solely to destroy the Empire."

More than ever, I wanted to see the East Grand Duke.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried