WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 31: The Magic Tower (1)
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Three days.
The Empire had gained a great deal during the banquet.
First and foremost.
“Everyone knows the Empire is declining.”
“...”
“But even so, did they really have to speak ill of the Empire out loud inside their carriages?”
I learned exactly what the leaders of each nation thought of the Empire.
In truth, I had suspected as much since the Sendra Kingdom incident.
Normally, before I stepped in myself, those who wanted to stay on good terms with the Empire should have come forward on their own.
‘Yet they all just watched until I acted.’
They had done nothing until the Crown Prince himself made a move.
From then on, I made active use of Silphiner, Arveda, and Lumynix.
Spirit Drone, Magic Drone, and Mystery Drone.
The three drones spread throughout the Imperial Palace and monitored everything concerning the various nations.
Good Spirit Affinity? What about magic?
Good Magic Affinity? Then what about Mystery?
No one could perfectly master all three.
None of the leaders from any nation could evade the Empire’s surveillance. Through it, I heard a great deal, and my plans for the future became much clearer.
‘It’ll be faster to conquer them all.’
Why had the Empire never waged wars of conquest?
Despite possessing such overwhelming strength.
Had they been afraid of their soldiers being ground down in war?
There was no need for that.
I had no intention of going to war.
‘There’s no need to lead an army just to take one head.’
I had five living nuclear weapons. Why would I lead soldiers anywhere?
All I had to do was what I had done when I cleaned up the North.
Using all five would surely raise the possibility of destruction again.
One at minimum, two at most, should be enough.
‘And I got plenty of information from Mirne.’
The information I had obtained concerned the legend of the dragon.
It was obviously related to Arveda’s True Name.
I had even heard the location connected to that legend in detail.
‘And after digging a little deeper, I learned about the curse too.’
That was as far as I got.
I had not had enough time to hear anything more, but that alone was sufficient.
“It would be best to concentrate intelligence agents around Mirne.”
From now on, they could investigate on their own.
If all information concerning fated opportunities was gathered in the Macelin Kingdom, I only needed to focus on thoroughly exploiting the Macelin Kingdom.
“Will it truly be all right to ignore the other kingdoms?”
“They’ll disappear anyway, so there’s no point.”
“I shall obey.”
As for the remaining kingdoms, I only needed to erase them from the map.
They seemed to be talking about forming an alliance and attacking the North or the eastern region, but I had already secured enough justification.
I hoped they would get their necks nice and clean and wait.
“I want an eternal Empire.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
At my words, the knights and nobles widened their eyes as though deeply moved and bowed.
‘Because if the Empire falls, I die.’
No one knew my true thoughts.
A person dies if the Empire falls.
Muttering inwardly, I asked,
“How is the matter I mentioned before progressing?”
“Ah, you mean the education system. It is proceeding quickly. The Academy as well...”
“Good. If you need anything, report it immediately. I will provide support.”
“Thank you.”
I checked the Empire Status Window to see whether the Empire was running properly.
Nothing had changed much.
The treasury was still inadequate, and military strength was still at its worst.
Yet one thing had changed. An upward-pointing arrow now appeared beside military strength and corruption.
That was an extremely positive sign.
As I went through the Empire’s internal affairs one by one, I brought up the subject that had been bothering me most.
“By the way, does a Mage Tower exist within the Empire?”
Even when I checked the Empire Status Window, there had been no mention of a Mage Tower.
‘I didn’t know about it, and even the nobles never brought it up.’
As though it were a setting that had suddenly dropped from the sky, the Mage Tower revealed its existence alongside the words, “It exists within the Empire.”
The strange thing was that it could not be found.
There had been talk that it was in the eastern region, yet when I last visited the eastern region, I had not seen anything resembling a tower, much less a Mage Tower.
“That... certainly exists.”
The Chancellor answered my question.
“That?”
“Yes, I mean, the Mage Tower is... in the skies above the Empire.”
“It floats in the sky?”
“Nominally, they protect the Empire from above and provide the Empire with mages.”
“...They provide us with mages?”
Something with such pure and good intentions existed in the Empire? Then how had I not known about it until now?
As several questions rose in my mind, the Chancellor continued.
“Yes. In return, the Empire provides them with enormous research funding.”
“But how could I not know? I never even received a report.”
A brief exchange followed.
“That is...”
The Chancellor clearly seemed reluctant to answer.
What answer could possibly make the Chancellor so hesitant?
“The reason is that they are above Imperial law.”
The Grand General, Arkham Velos, answered instead.
“They take money under the pretense of support, yet the mages they provide are extremely few. Your Highness, even with the Imperial Guard Knights, do you not find it strange that not a single Great Mage resides in the Imperial Palace?”
“Hahahaha!”
The moment I heard that answer, I could not hold back my laughter.
I was laughing because the Empire was so impressive.
How had it not fallen already?
Even in this situation, it could keep pretending to be an Empire for around five years?
There were insane mages floating above the Empire in stealth, extorting money while claiming to be above Imperial law.
‘Now I understand why the treasury showed no signs of improving.’
There had been a crazed money-devouring monster floating in the sky, one that did not even need to be entered into the books.
The Mage Tower devoured as much of the Empire’s money as it could, then claimed it was “supporting” the Empire with mages.
Instinctively, I felt there had to be a male lead in the Mage Tower who supported Mirne.
Even the artifact the Second Imperial Prince used to communicate seemed impossible to acquire by ordinary means.
What if someone was mass-producing them?
‘He’s dating a foreign princess, and instead of his own people paying for it... the ones above Imperial law... Ha.’
I did not even want to think about it any further.
The Mage Tower absolutely had to be dealt with.
At the same time, another question arose.
“But does it make any sense that I didn’t know until now? The Empire has such a long history. How could we be unaware of the Mage Tower? Was there no interaction with them?”
How could the Mage Tower remain unknown while I was working to restore the Empire?
“Well... recent events have unfolded very quickly, and through it all, the Mage Tower remained extremely quiet.”
“So... they stayed quiet while we were cleaning up?”
Did such nonsense actually work? Or was the story structured to make it work?
The latter was more likely.
In terms of the setting, the Empire had to fall.
There must have been several devices in place to ensure the Empire’s destruction.
‘Was ruining two Grand Dukes and one Second Imperial Prince not enough, so they placed a silent parasite overhead too?’
Only then did I understand why there were so few mages in the North.
No, why there were so few mages across the Empire that it felt unnatural.
The Empire’s mages were essentially outsourced contractors.
Of course, not everyone was like that, but most magical work had been outsourced.
That was why almost every knight I encountered was a Swordmaster, while mages were so rare that I would be lucky to find one after searching every corner.
‘And I only learned this because another kingdom was badmouthing the Empire.’
If I had not learned about it now, I might never have found out.
Or I would have discovered it only after the Mage Tower drained the Imperial treasury dry.
The likely scenario was simple.
Once the Imperial treasury was truly emptied, the Mage Tower would stop receiving money and move straight to the Macelin Kingdom.
“Do you know the Mage Tower’s location?”
“...We do not know that either.”
“Why did the Empire make such a contract with the Mage Tower? It is obviously a loss.”
“It has been in place for a long time... In truth, His Majesty the Emperor personally managed this matter.”
As I considered that possibility and continued the conversation, the information concerning the Emperor I had wanted most finally came up.
“Did His Majesty leave behind any final words when he departed?”
“...I apologize, Your Highness.”
There was no information to be gained.
‘The Mage Tower was originally managed by the Emperor, but did it end up in limbo when he suddenly disappeared?’
That still did not mean the Chancellor could immediately bring up matters concerning the Mage Tower to me.
The Emperor had not been gone long. In that situation, raising the subject of the Mage Tower could imply that the Emperor would never return and that they recognized me as Emperor.
That would have been quite difficult for the Chancellor.
‘Did the Chancellor think that, with the Crown Prince already swinging his sword around, one mistake could cost the Chancellor their head?’
Several hypotheses tangled my thoughts again.
Still, my immediate priority did not change.
“We need to let the Mage Tower know that the Empire has changed.”
The Mage Tower Master would surely not come if summoned.
There was no choice but to go in person.
+++++
Doo-doong.
A lofty tower, suspended in the sky by high-level and unique magic.
The Mage Tower Master stood leisurely atop the tower and looked down below.
“When you look down from somewhere this high, everyone looks like ants.”
The Empire.
No matter how great people claimed it was, that only applied on the ground.
The sky was the mages’ domain.
The knights could only stare helplessly up at the mages.
“Still, the Empire’s support is no longer what it used to be.”
Was it time to find a new nest?
Things had been good when they could peacefully devour the Empire’s money and spend their days doing research.
Now, following his son’s wishes, he might have no choice but to go to the Macelin Kingdom.
He had heard it was a poor place.
Would they not have to provide free support at first if they wanted to live comfortably in such a place?
“Hmm... I don’t particularly want to do that. Tsk.”
The Mage Tower Master frowned, looking as though he truly did not want to work.
Then, at that moment.
“Hmm?”
From directly ahead, he noticed something rapidly flying toward him.
“...Huh?”
That was impossible.
No one knew the Mage Tower’s location.
It even had a Unique Barrier that allowed people to pass straight through it if they did not recognize its existence.
Yet someone had recognized this place and was flying toward it?
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
It was impossible, so the Mage Tower Master assumed whatever was coming from the front would simply pass through the tower.
But then.
Click.
The chilling sound of a sword being drawn pierced his ears.
At the same time.
“Huh?”
He saw massive flames.
The Mage Tower Master knew exactly what those flames were.
Sol Velos.
That power.
“W-Wait!”
Boom!
It struck the Mage Tower.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince! This lady has carried out her mission perfectly!”
“Arveda, you did well. Thanks to you, finding the Mage Tower was easy.”
“This lady wishes to receive praise from Your Highness the Crown Prince later!”
“Of course I will.”
The conversation heard afterward was only a bonus.
Footnotes:
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