WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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

Chapter 18: Yeah, Thanks for Letting Me Know

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The atmosphere in the Empire had been grim lately.

In truth, anyone could see that without even looking into it.

The heads of Eastern Alliance nobles hung at the entrances to their estates.

The East Grand Duke was preparing to be driven out from the Empire with his Mana Core shattered.

Even the nobles who had spent their days laughing and chatting in the imperial center now walked around with their heads bowed as though they were dead.

If they made one mistake, their knees would be cut off at once.

How could they possibly walk around with their heads held high?

"I can't live like this! How are we any different from death row prisoners waiting quietly to die?!"

The noble who said that died not long after.

It was discovered that they had been siphoning money from the Imperial treasury.

"We must all join forces! Are we supposed to die this meaninglessly? Shouldn't we at least resist?!"

The noble who said that died as well.

They had been taking bribes from the eastern region and making it difficult for the center to receive information from the eastern region.

"I can barely breathe. Is it right that we have to attend every State Council Meeting thinking we might die?"

The noble who had just said that survived.

They had pursued personal gain, but they hadn't betrayed the country.

And they had done their best at their job.

"Hm?"

What? You could survive even if you pursued personal gain?

Once that realization struck them, the atmosphere among the central nobles changed completely.

They had thought the Crown Prince gave them no room to breathe, pressing them relentlessly while demanding absolute integrity.

As it turned out, His Highness the Crown Prince was remarkably flexible.

"If you do all your work and enjoy yourselves afterward, who's going to say anything?"

Of course, there was an enormous amount of work to do.

Most recently, the Crown Prince had decreed that every imperial citizen must be able to read and write.

The moment the nobles heard it, they felt their status was under threat.

A world where everyone learned to read and write?

How easily could that overturn the existing balance of power?

His Highness had even said he planned to actively foster talented people.

He also intended to bring the Nonhuman Races living in hiding into the open.

And he declared that he would establish an Academy and employ anyone capable, regardless of status.

'...Isn't this dangerous?'

'No matter how flexible he may be, he's the kind of person who purges nobles during meetings.'

'Will there even be a place for us later? No matter how hard we work, in the end...'

'I'm not saying we should dream of rebellion, but still... this clearly looks dangerous.'

Naturally, those already in power couldn't help feeling uneasy.

New blood entering the system was extremely dangerous from their perspective.

That concern was quickly resolved, though.

"Ha ha, His Highness the Crown Prince recently praised my efforts and gave me an exceptionally expensive bottle of liquor."

"...His Highness gives rewards too?"

"I was quite surprised myself. He gave me liquor as a gift, and even sent a letter apologizing that he was too busy with state affairs to give it to me personally."

The atmosphere flipped the moment the Crown Prince began sending gifts to nobles who had been working hard.

The superior they had thought was only frightening and suffocating actually recognized their hard work and even gave them gifts because of it?

What better reward could there be?

What was more, this led to something else.

"Are there still people who haven't received the liquor His Highness gave us?"

"Ahem. Those who haven't must need to work harder, or perhaps there's something suspicious about them."

They began forming groups among themselves.

Those who had received liquor from the Crown Prince and those who had not.

The ones who received it worked even harder to receive more gifts.

Those who hadn't cut back on sleep, determined to receive one no matter what.

It was even treated as a kind of mark.

"Those of us who received this liquor can be considered clearly different from those who'll come later, wouldn't you say?"

"Isn't that obvious? Ha ha ha."

"Only those who did wrong are punished, so I don't know why we were so afraid in the first place."

"Exactly! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

Ah, so His Highness the Crown Prince recognized their efforts!

It was a miracle that made a superior who had once seemed terrifying feel approachable.

It wasn't because the central nobles couldn't afford to buy expensive liquor.

A gift from someone with overwhelming power had far more influence than anyone could imagine.

That influence even spread to the salons, where the ladies who had received the gifts held their heads high enough to reach the sky.

"Ah, sadly, there's a liquor we've been completely taken with lately."

"Oh my... Isn't that the liquor His Highness the Crown Prince recently bestowed...?"

"Yes. Once you taste it, well... it's hard to escape that refined flavor, I suppose. My husband brought it, and I wanted everyone to experience it."

The sense of superiority that came from being the first to taste the liquor bestowed by the Crown Prince.

That alone was enough to determine one's status in a salon.

Of course.

"Huh."

The Crown Prince had never imagined that simply giving away liquor would create such a snowball effect.

Everyone just seemed too tense at every State Council Meeting.

He'd handed out a bottle each so they would come in a more relaxed mood, but he had never expected it to affect the central nobles this much.

'I can make good use of this later.'

Just as that thought crossed his mind,

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Oh, Chancellor."

"The people Your Highness had been waiting for... those dispatched to the Macelin Kingdom have returned."

"All of them?"

The Chancellor brought the Crown Prince welcome news.

But then,

"All those dispatched from the center have returned. Those from the eastern region are on their way, but there has been no word from the North."

"...No word from the North?"

That came with an interesting detail.

+++++

"Those dispatched from the center have suffered greatly, so receive them with proper courtesy."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Also, ensure they recall and report everything they saw and heard while living in the Macelin Kingdom."

"I will carry out your command."

The talented people sent from the center to provide free assistance had returned.

I first ordered that they be allowed to rest, since they would be exhausted from the journey.

At the same time, I told them to submit every piece of information they had gathered in Macelin.

'The ones dispatched from the eastern region will bring back gifts in return for our aid.'

For a moment, I thought about the people who would return next.

Those from the eastern region should be getting ready to leave soon.

And if the North had any sense, they should already be preparing on their own.

'I personally told them all to come, yet there's still no word from the North.'

I didn't know whether they were fiercely loyal to the North Grand Duke or whether only lunatics had been sent there.

Either way, the fact that they seemed more inclined to move at the North Grand Duke's word than mine was incredibly insolent.

There was no way they hadn't received the news.

The imperial citizens right beside them were already moving.

It would be ridiculous if they didn't know.

'What if they really don't know? What if they're somewhere truly remote?'

Even then, it was insolent.

When something happened to Mirne, they hurriedly sent messenger pigeons.

But when it was time to pull their people out, they just stayed silent?

If they wanted to maintain that silent and stoic image, they shouldn't have sent messenger pigeons in the first place.

"They simply haven't kept up with the Empire's rapidly changing situation."

The Empire had been changing rapidly lately.

Yet they were sitting back with their arms folded.

'The North's job was to stop the Magic Beasts coming down from the north, right?'

Magic Beasts, or Monsters.

It meant the same thing either way.

Some took the form of animals, while others had shapes I'd never seen before.

No one knew why so many of them lived in the North or why they crossed into it. It felt as though things had simply been set that way from the beginning.

If it weren't for us, the Magic Beasts would destroy the Empire, starting with the North!

Was that why they threw their weight around with the mindset that they could take as hard a line as they wanted?

That question made me ask what they knew about the North during the State Council Meeting.

"Your Highness, the North is isolated."

"What?"

I heard something shocking.

"Long ago, the North Grand Duke said that information couldn't be allowed to leave the North if it was to be defended more firmly... Since then, the North has kept communication with the Empire to a minimum."

"Did I permit that?"

"The North Grand Duke was so stubborn that I recall Your Highness had no choice but to overlook it."

The North was cut off from the center.

'What the hell does that mean?'

How could there be such a disconnect within the same Empire?

According to the reports I had received, the center had been steadily supporting the North.

So the North accepted that support and simply remained silent?

And they didn't send us any of the resources produced there or the byproducts obtained from hunting Magic Beasts?

'How is this Empire even holding together? What kind of structure is this?'

Countless complicated thoughts ran through my head.

Still, I continued the meeting.

There were many problems to solve besides the North.

"I would like the Academy completed quickly. The talented people from the center have returned at just the right time."

"May I ask what scale Your Highness has in mind?"

"It must be unmatched anywhere else. Our Empire's Academy must be the finest on the continent."

Even as I handled the agenda items one by one, a single thought kept growing in my mind.

'A Walk in the North.'

North Grand Duke, we'll be seeing each other soon.

+++++

News of the Crown Prince's walk through the North immediately reached the Executioners.

Once again, the Executioners gathered in the center after staying in their respective palaces.

"Okay! I can go again this time, right?"

"...Even so, is it right for you to go again when you went the first time too, Arveda?"

"Hey, Tin Can. What's your problem? Want to settle this? Shall we go somewhere without people around?"

"How does that arrogant attitude get corrected whenever you're before His Highness the Crown Prince?"

"I know how to keep up appearances too, you know?"

The second meeting to decide who would accompany him began at once.

"But why do you three always show up when you're not even going to say anything?"

Arveda turned her gaze toward the three who remained silent.

Since the one called Tin Can clearly seemed determined to go this time, Arveda intended to eliminate the other competitors.

At that moment, the largest among the silent three spoke.

"Does Velos remember the Covenant?"

It was somewhat unrelated to the current subject.

Yet the other two, who had remained silent until then, reacted to those words.

"Do the descendants of Velos remember the Covenant they made with us?"

"It is not yet time. But the time will come."

Cryptic words.

Still, no one there objected.

"...I intend to confirm it on this occasion. That is why I will go."

"Ha! I'm the one going!"

"Among the Executioners, I am the one least bound by the Covenant."

"...."

At Tin Can's words, Arveda pressed her lips shut.

Her eyes showed that she had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Seeing that look, Tin Can nodded and headed toward the Imperial Palace rather than their own palace.

At last, it was time to see the Crown Prince, the person everyone had been talking about lately.

+++++

I decided to bring one Executioner with me on this walk through the North as well.

What I needed to do was similar to last time.

Execute every noble showing signs of treasonous activity.

And find out what the North Grand Duke was doing at the same time.

'It's a shame the North Grand Duke doesn't have low Spirit Affinity like the East Grand Duke.'

If the North Grand Duke couldn't even see spirits at all, I would have dispatched Silphiner.

But the northern environment itself was extremely dangerous for spirits.

And since the North Grand Duke was supposedly sensitive about that sort of thing, I needed to see it with my own eyes.

"I look forward to working with you. I'm Bellon."

"My name is Pavan. It is an honor to accompany you."

An androgynous voice and a height that looked close to three meters.

Fully armed from head to toe, with a huge mace, greatsword, and spear on their back.

They looked like a weapon of war in human form.

It would be hard to move around discreetly like this.

'Isn't that unsuitable for a walk?'

That thought barely had time to settle before Pavan answered as though they had read my mind.

"To others, I will appear to be an ordinary young girl. Do not worry."

"All right."

Well, that settled it.

The very moment I set off for the North without another concern,

[The Villainess Ring reacts.]

[A villainess exists in the North.]

[A fated encounter awaits.]

The Villainess Ring, which hadn't reacted once since I received it, finally began pouring out messages as though it had something to show me.

[A villainess lies ahead.]

Yeah, thanks for letting me know.

Footnotes:

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