WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
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◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 25: The Grand Banquet (1)
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The Empire’s original policy was to kill foreign spy units on sight.
There was no taking them prisoner for negotiations or knowingly turning a blind eye to their activities.
The first principle was simple. Once discovered, kill them without question.
Recently, though, that policy had changed.
More precisely, there were fewer people available to uncover foreign spy units.
“I hear the Empire has begun cutting away its own flesh.”
“It’s only natural that they’d be short on manpower during that process. There are bound to be gaps.”
“If we want to observe the Empire’s movements, now is the time.”
It was one of the few chances to dance on a giant’s shoulders.
Everyone dispatched spy units so they wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
Even in such a short time, they were able to obtain valuable information.
“The East Grand Duke and the North Grand Duke are dead?”
“There are even those who say it’ll be difficult to maintain the northern front lines.”
“Then the Empire has clearly grown weaker.”
“They cut away too much flesh. Even if it had to be done, it’s a serious wound.”
The Empire had weakened!
That concise but shocking news spread everywhere.
Experts judged that the Empire would need roughly five years to recover.
Even that was considered the minimum, possible only if several miracles occurred at once.
“How long has it been since the Empire looked this weak?”
“Will we no longer have to worry about the Empire’s reaction?”
“But who caused such a huge incident? Did the Crown Prince do it all himself?”
“This information seems heavily distorted. There’s no way the Crown Prince could have done something like this alone.”
“I can’t believe that weakling has changed...”
“The spy units are gathering every scrap of information they can, so some confusion is inevitable.”
The Empire, which normally possessed absurd military power, was suffering now?
It was because information like that had spread that they said,
“Evangelism... Faith shines brightest in difficult times.”
The Romper Holy Kingdom even brought up evangelism while preparing to pay compensation for the damage.
They still trembled at the Empire’s past glory, yet were deciding how to respond after seeing its current weakness.
Even so, the Empire was still the Empire.
Knowing its immense power, they couldn’t do anything about it right away.
“The Empire growing weaker doesn’t mean we’ve grown stronger.”
“Still, if we greatly increase our national strength from now on, we may stand shoulder to shoulder with the Empire.”
“The analysis says it’ll take them five years to recover...”
“Why not secretly support the barbarians of the North? Through that...”
If the Empire’s recovery would take time, there were many schemes they could devise in the meantime.
The kingdoms that knew the Empire had weakened began considering various methods.
Then, at just that moment,
“W-Why are you wearing a sword...?”
“Even if you’re dissatisfied, I hope you’ll endure it.”
An armed imperial envoy arrived.
It was to remind them that a beast remained a beast until the moment it died.
Imperial envoys wearing swords appeared, skipping every procedure.
With relaxed expressions, they conveyed the Empire’s will to every nation.
“Several auspicious events have recently coincided in the Empire, so we will hold a banquet to celebrate them...”
The kings of each nation could only be bewildered upon hearing the message.
Their spy units had clearly reported that the Empire had carried out a bloody purge.
Yet they called it an auspicious event, then demanded everyone attend a banquet to celebrate it.
It was a conclusion no reasonable person could possibly reach.
“...Hah.”
Should they go or not?
They didn’t want to go.
The Empire had weakened, so did they really need to?
If they obediently said yes simply because they had been summoned, how were they any different from vassal states?
In the past, they would have prepared to leave immediately without even entertaining such thoughts.
Since the Empire was holding a banquet, they would have even brought heaps of gifts to offer their congratulations.
But now?
“The Crown Prince’s sudden change in behavior troubles me.”
“Would the kindhearted Crown Prince really be offended if we refused?”
“The Crown Prince caused the purge. He personally led it. He has changed. We need to recognize that.”
“It’ll be temporary. Perhaps he’s holding this banquet because he wants to cover up what happened.”
It was unclear.
Their bodies told them to go, but their minds cried that it was time to stop deferring to the Empire’s will.
How long could the Empire remain the Empire? No empire lasted forever.
If so, perhaps...
“Could this incident mark the beginning of the Empire’s collapse?”
Could the Empire rapidly begin walking the path to ruin from this moment onward?
“It’s possible. But... if it doesn’t collapse, how far will an Empire that has cut away its rotten flesh rise...?”
The opposite possibility also troubled them.
As discussions over whether to attend the banquet continued,
“No, why has everything... Why did this suddenly happen?”
Mirne of the Macelin Kingdom was in deep shock.
Nothing like this had appeared in the story she had read.
Come to think of it, things had already become strange when Silphiner was taken from her.
Why had the Crown Prince suddenly become so proactive?
Had there been a mistake in the buildup?
‘It was shocking enough that the East Grand Duke came to our kingdom with his cultivation crippled.’
Barely any time had passed since that happened, and now the North Grand Duke had died.
“What male lead dies this suddenly, especially the North Grand Duke?”
The North Grand Duke was a symbol of martial strength, someone who could even contend for the title of strongest in the world.
Yet such a person had suddenly died around the middle of the novel.
The Academy hadn’t even been established yet.
Starting with the Academy arc, something like college life would unfold in earnest.
A reverse harem with several male leads would begin, and the real threats would emerge from then on.
None of that had even started, yet a character was already being replaced?
This was too strange.
“The Crown Prince has changed. And he’s changed far too strangely.”
The Empire no longer showered the Macelin Kingdom with gifts.
No, it no longer showered her with gifts.
Instead, it was trying to strip things from them, and under the current circumstances, they had no choice but to be stripped bare.
The evidence that the North had rebelled was especially clear.
And the talented people of the North who had rebelled were currently dispatched to the Macelin Kingdom.
It was impossible to erase the suspicion that the Macelin Kingdom had also joined the North’s rebellion.
To dispel it, they had no choice but to bow their heads completely.
In that sense, refusing the Empire’s invitation to the banquet was impossible.
No, she thought it was a good opportunity.
‘I need to find out how the Crown Prince has changed.’
Did the Crown Prince know how dangerous what he was doing was?
If the story began getting tangled like this, how did he intend to deal with the consequences later?
At the very least, he couldn’t cause trouble until she contracted with the Spirit King.
‘This is dizzying. Far too dizzying...’
Still, seducing the Crown Prince was impossible.
[ The Crown Prince is a target that cannot be captured. ]
“Tch.”
The Crown Prince had never been a target she could capture in the first place.
“Among the targets I can capture, the Northern Great Warrior suddenly...”
Mirne deeply regretted that the Crown Prince was not one of her capture targets.
If he had been judged a capture target, she would have been able to roughly learn what he liked, what kind of conversations he enjoyed, and other such details.
‘There’s no choice but to meet him myself.’
Besides, even without that reason, going was the right thing to do in order to clear the suspicion that they had sympathized with the rebellion.
With an enormous quantity of gifts carefully packed in tow.
Thus, Mirne and countless other kingdoms made their positions on the Empire’s banquet clear.
“Everyone will attend. How wonderful.”
Upon hearing their answer, the Crown Prince smiled broadly.
++++++
Anyone could tell that the Empire was in serious turmoil.
Even the Empire Status Window showed that everything except administration and corruption was at rock bottom.
No one could really dispute the assessment that it had lost its former prestige.
‘But that doesn’t mean we can show them that we’re wounded.’
Instead, I needed to show that the Empire was more secure than before.
At the same time, the imperial citizens needed some form of entertainment to ease their anxiety.
“I should hold a Martial Arts Tournament. There are plenty of vacant Swordmaster positions as well... I can select troops to send to the North...”
It would give the imperial citizens something to watch.
Promise wealth and glory to those who participated, then use them to fill the vacancies in the North.
‘In the end, everything costs money if I want to do this or that.’
Holding a grand banquet immediately also cost money.
If the North and eastern region had spent just a little less buying those damn fidget spinners from the Macelin Kingdom.
‘It would be nice if we also had some addictive product to distribute around the neighboring countries.’
That concern lasted only a moment.
“I hear a large gap has opened at the northern front lines, the northerners are trembling with anxiety, and the North’s momentum has weakened considerably.”
“Yes, that is correct. Still, this too is only temporary...”
“At times like this, those at the top should step forward.”
While preparations for the banquet were underway, I decided to lend the North some support.
On the surface, my reason was that I wanted to witness the northerners’ suffering with my own eyes.
My true intention was different.
‘Now that Magic Beasts and barbarians have been added to the equation, I need to know exactly what level they’re at.’
I needed an accurate measure of their strength.
Footnotes:
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