WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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

Chapter 17: The First Gift (3)

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To be honest.

'Watching a guy bawl his eyes out is deeply unpleasant.'

The first thing I saw when the viewpoint changed was Kailen bawling his eyes out.

It filled me with a disgust beyond words.

'But is bawling part of his story?'

Kailen could no longer use Mana.

In a fantasy world, being unable to use Mana was practically a death sentence.

You could say it was a matter of life and death.

Of course, there might be some special method I didn't know about.

Still, it wouldn't have been strange if everything was over for him now.

'As for his story... after I destroyed his Mana Core, did he start holding a grudge against me? A revenge story?'

That was funny too.

Who was he going to take revenge on?

He had lived as though the Empire's property were his own, selling off every asset he could.

The Eastern Alliance nobles had committed corruption until their people were suffering from malnutrition.

That had never bothered him, but now that it had happened to him, he was thinking about revenge?

That would make him a different kind of lunatic.

As countless possibilities ran through my mind...

"Sniff... Hic... Sniff..."

Kailen, in his altered story, finally pushed himself up after crying for a while.

He was in a room decorated in a style I'd never seen before.

No matter how I looked at it, it didn't seem to be part of the Velos Empire.

'Then, Macelin?'

The moment that thought crossed my mind, as if to confirm the answer...

"Grand Duke Kailen!"

Mirne, the Crown Princess of the Macelin Kingdom, rushed into the room.

"...Haha, I'm not a Grand Duke anymore, and I'm no longer Your Highness either... You can just call me Kailen."

"N-No... How did this happen? What in the world happened to you?"

"I lost everything... and came here. The Empire sent me here. I wanted to come too."

Kailen must have been in considerable shock, because he couldn't even speak properly while looking at Mirne.

His sentences were choppy, and his face looked as though something inside him had broken.

Still, he was clearly a romance fantasy male lead. Even in that state, he seemed to be trying to stay handsome.

It probably wasn't intentional, but the whole scene felt focused on poor, abandoned me.

"You lost everything? Now that I think about it... Grand Duke, I can't feel any Mana from you at all...?"

"...I paid the price for selling out my country. His Highness the Crown Prince... punished me."

"You sold out your country? What are you talking about? When did you ever do something like that? I've never seen you act that way..."

"Mirne, hearing you say that warms my heart."

As that incredibly unpleasant conversation continued, Mirne shed a tear and threw her arms around Kailen.

'So this is what's going to happen from now on?'

Kailen was unconscious in reality.

Once he woke up and I sent him to Macelin, this was what would happen?

Thinking about it, my disgust was replaced by interest.

'Mirne, how will you treat the East Grand Duke now that he's lost everything?'

Just as that question came to mind...

"Grand Duke, I'll do my utmost to help you recover your strength."

"Haha, of course you will. You should."

"Macelin can't help you right now because of various circumstances... but once the Academy is completed, I'm sure we'll find a way to help you."

Mirne and Kailen kept talking.

Watching them, I let out a hollow laugh.

"Ha."

When she had shed tears, I had wondered whether she truly liked Kailen, and whether he might be the main male lead.

Yet Mirne's expression as she embraced Kailen was quite a sight.

"She's crying, but I can't feel an ounce of sincerity. Is she worried about the future? Because things are so different from the original?"

The current situation was honestly hilarious.

The protagonist of I'm Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things was supposed to be a twenty-first-century modern person.

On top of that, she had read the original novel and transmigrated into it.

'So it's a novel character who thinks she's from modern times versus me, someone who really transmigrated from the modern world.'

In that sense, this situation was very much in my favor.

Mirne was probably extremely anxious because the story wasn't progressing as it had in the original.

I had only read the early parts anyway, and after that, I could just do whatever I wanted.

From my perspective, preventing the Empire's destruction and surviving came first.

'Besides... saving the world is secondary in a romance fantasy. The main point is ending up with the male lead.'

And it was even a reverse harem.

Mirne was basically playing a dating sim aimed at women.

'Still, an Academy...'

Was there something special about building one?

Like in Civilization, where constructing something like a monument gave you bonus stats.

Even while I considered what to do next...

Mirne and Kailen kept holding each other.

I was starting to wonder if they would stay glued together all day when...

Pat. Pat.

Mirne lightly patted Kailen's back, then stood up.

"Then I'll be going now."

"Oh, you're leaving?"

"Yes, I have a lot to do... For now, Grand Duke, you should focus on recovering."

"If there's anything I can do, I'll do it."

"Hehe, but for now, please focus on recovering!"

With that...

[ You have reviewed Kailen Marin's altered story. ]

[ Kailen Marin's primary keywords have changed. ]

[ #GentleMan #CompetentMan #SlyMan > #IncompetentMan #GrowthMan #MelancholicMan #WoundedMan ]

[ Kailen's future will change in various ways depending on Mirne's choices. ]

"...What is this?"

I stared blankly at the system messages filling my vision.

What were MelancholicMan and WoundedMan supposed to mean?

I understood the rest, but those two made no sense at all.

Anyway.

[ Story review has ended. ]

With that final message, I returned to reality.

It had caught me off guard, but I had gained something huge.

'For one thing, I really like that he has the IncompetentMan keyword now.'

The GrowthMan keyword had been added to make up for it.

Still, it honestly seemed nearly impossible for Kailen to grow stronger in his current state.

The reason Kailen had been strong was because he had been the East Grand Duke of the Empire.

That overwhelming background had allowed him to take on the role of male lead in I'm Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things.

Now that it was gone, how much could he possibly grow?

Growing stronger in Macelin, which was already struggling as the Empire's support disappeared piece by piece?

'There's no way that will happen.'

The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that I needed to send Kailen to Macelin.

This incompetent bastard was bound to suck an already poor Macelin dry.

Sending him wouldn't even be difficult.

I had already arranged several free talent support missions, so all the routes were open.

'I just have to send him over with a label saying, "Donating the East Grand Duke."'

"Now that I think about it... quite a few nobles died in the eastern region, so they'll need plenty of replacements."

I hadn't killed every Eastern Alliance noble.

But imperial ministers were still running around and investigating corruption in real time.

At least half of the current number would die too.

"Mm."

An Academy really would be necessary to cultivate talent.

'Empire Status Window.'

First, I should see how much the Empire had changed.

[ Empire Status Window ]

Displays the Empire's current condition.

As this is the initial stage, the available information is limited.

Administration: Excellent

National Treasury: Average

Military Strength: Inadequate

Diplomacy: Worst

Corruption: Inadequate

*A major upheaval has occurred in the East.

A simple Eastern Report will be displayed temporarily as a result.

[ Simple Eastern Report ]

Every area has been run in the worst possible way, but signs of recent efforts to change are visible.

However, change is slow because there is an overwhelming shortage of talented people.

The changes are clearly positive, but they will take a long time.

"Hmm."

I already knew what the Eastern Report said.

Still...

"Corruption has improved by one level, but why did military strength fall by one? Did I kill too many knights?"

It was ridiculous.

I had killed every knight who was bloated with fat, committing corruption, and gnawing away at the Empire.

Yet they had still counted as military strength, so the Empire's rating had dropped to Inadequate.

'But is this based on the Empire at the height of its power?'

It couldn't be compared against other countries.

An Empire with a dragon among its Executioners, and five Executioners like that, couldn't possibly be rated Inadequate compared to average military strength.

'I don't know what the standard is... but at least I know it isn't based on comparisons with nearby countries.'

There seemed to be some sort of absolute standard.

Still, even with these changes, the possibility of the Empire's destruction hadn't changed.

There didn't seem to be any reason to worry about it yet.

"But as far as I know, there are Nonhuman Races in the Empire too."

What were they doing?

I would have to look into that side as well.

The first thing I had to do to cultivate talent was...

"Every imperial citizen must be able to read and write."

It would cost a tremendous amount of money to make that happen.

That wasn't a concern.

Why?

'The Eastern Alliance... those bastards have built up plenty of wealth.'

I had confiscated every cent from those who committed corruption.

Why would traitors trying to sell out their country have any right to private property?

The ones who had survived would spend the rest of their lives doing hard labor for the Empire.

'Literacy, an Academy, a walk through the North... Before that, I want to hunt for some talent too.'

As all sorts of tasks came to mind...

"I can finally send the first gift to the Macelin Kingdom."

I decided to finish the most urgent task first.

Mirne, I hope you like my lunchbox.

'I should send the gift, then hold another State Council Meeting right away.'

I hoped that only nobles whose knees were expected to remain intact would attend this time.

I didn't want to keep cutting off knees during State Council Meetings.

Of course.

'If I have to.'

If there was no other choice, I would do it.

+++++

"Mirne! The East Grand Duke is coming to Macelin to provide talent support!"

"What?! Really?! All of a sudden?!"

Mirne was startled the moment she heard the King's words.

'So quickly? Has he already fallen head over heels for me?'

Communication through the artifact hadn't been going well lately.

She had been worried because she had no idea what was happening.

'Are there really no variables I don't know about? Was everything just temporary?'

The news was so wonderful that she could have jumped for joy.

The East Grand Duke possessed extensive knowledge of the sea and the ability to explore it.

Using those abilities, he could discover countless Sea Ruins and obtain valuable artifacts.

He was like an underwater special forces unit.

And that was incredibly cool.

'Hehe.'

Mirne smiled to herself and wished Kailen would arrive quickly.

She had been uneasy because she knew nothing about how the Empire had been doing lately.

Now an Imperial Grand Duke was practically coming over to her side?

It was proof that the story was progressing even better than in the original.

'I thought building the Academy would take a long time, but with the East Grand Duke's abilities, it could go much faster.'

Once the Academy was built, the Macelin Kingdom would grow tremendously.

There had been a development where numerous talented people from the Empire would pay extra just to enroll.

'Mm-hm! If I work through everything step by step with Grand Duke Kailen, it'll be perfect.'

It was also an opportunity to get a look at the Marin Mana Cultivation Method.

Imagining all kinds of happy possibilities, Mirne waited for Kailen.

She was waiting for Kailen, the strongest man in naval warfare, who would make the Macelin Kingdom even stronger. She had never imagined waiting for him could be this enjoyable.

"Hehe."

The smile never left Mirne's face.

Footnotes:

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