The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More - Chapter 34

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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

Chapter 34: The Magic Tower (4)

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Theo Zain was a typical mage, born and raised in the Mage Tower.

The only difference between him and other mages was his absurd talent.

From the moment he was born, a magic circle had already taken root in his heart. He learned magic before he even learned language.

A peerless genius who flew around with levitation magic before he could walk.

He possessed the ridiculous talent to use magic through the surrounding Mana even when his own reserves were low.

Perhaps because of that talent, Theo had developed an incredibly sharp sense for reading the room.

Once he became able to control the Mana around him, he naturally came to understand its flow as well.

That was why, when the Mage Tower was first attacked...

"...!"

Everything, from Theo's instincts to the Mana around him, warned him never to go outside.

It was the first time in his life he had felt such overwhelming killing intent.

There was nothing Theo could do in the face of it.

All he could do was crouch in the farthest corner after casting a spell to conceal his presence.

For Theo, who had never experienced even a small quarrel, a battle where people killed and were killed was a distant, terrifying thing.

An unknown terror he could not even consider confronting.

Once that thought occurred to him, Theo hugged his knees and buried his face between them.

'What in the world is out there?'

All he could hear was the laughter of confident mages.

That only made Theo sink deeper into fear.

Judging by the sounds alone, this should have been a situation where the mages held an overwhelming advantage.

Then why were his instincts and the Mana warning him never to go outside?

That question was quickly answered.

Slash!

The Veil of Concealment, which he had been certain no one but the Mage Tower Master could see through, was torn apart.

And he clearly saw the eyes of the person revealed beyond it.

'T-The Crown Prince...!'

Mages operated according to a highly contradictory logic, both rational and subjective.

Mage Tower Master Archibald had acted on a rational deduction colored by subjective conviction, believing everyone in the Mage Tower could defeat the Crown Prince.

And he had lost.

Theo, on the other hand...

"Begin the staff-making operation."

"Yes! Yes, Your Highness! Of course! I will dismantle these bastards at once, leave them capable of only minimal vital functions, and turn them into Biological Staffs."

Through a rational deduction influenced by an extremely subjective opinion, Theo decided he must never oppose the Crown Prince.

Mirne? Of course he liked her.

But liking her would not keep him alive.

The Crown Prince was furious with the mages right now.

They had siphoned off the imperial treasury and even cast Cognition-Blocking Magic.

Then they had rebelled. It would have been stranger if he had not been angry.

So Theo needed to keep his head down.

Until when?

'Until His Highness the Crown Prince forgives the mages... I have to live with my head down.'

Theo did not waste time wondering whether this anger would ever end.

He only needed to look at what was in front of him. There might not even be a tomorrow.

The power of Sol Velos, which had devoured magic.

Theo did not even know how it worked.

Was it magic in the first place? Even if he had learned it from a dragon, how could magic of that level be possible?

He did not know.

The unknown was fear.

Fear was an essential emotion for humans to survive.

That was why Theo found the fear he felt now terrifying, yet incredibly welcome at the same time.

Just look at those who had once been his colleagues, sprawled all around him.

"Uuugh... Uuuaaaah..."

"S-Save... save me..."

"F-Forgive... please, please... my life... I'll do my best, a s-slave..."

The price paid by those who had forgotten fear and fought back was agonizing.

The Mage Tower Master was no different.

An independent magical system separate from dragon magic? Magic humans could use, created solely for humans?

The optimal magic circles created through countless studies? Research achievements worthy of being called discoveries of the century?

None of it mattered.

The Mage Tower's appearance, which had resembled the Ivory Tower of Knowledge just an hour ago, was gone.

The haven of mages who conducted research with the sky beneath their feet no longer existed.

From now on, this place belonged to the Empire.

Tremble, tremble.

As reality slowly sank in...

"...There's no need to turn them into Biological Staffs. Just place Restrictions on their heads. The severity of the Restrictions will depend on the gravity of their crimes, and those who truly knew nothing will be given the chance to live as imperial citizens."

As though he had no intention of doing anything quite so cruel, the Crown Prince said it would be enough if their heads exploded when they refused to obey.

That was an incredibly positive sign for Theo.

'Ah! His Highness the Crown Prince is a very humane person!'

At least when he eventually fell out of the Crown Prince's favor and died, he would be able to meet his end instead of living in torment forever.

"Theo, assist at Arveda's side. Obey everything she says without question."

"Y-Yes!"

And he would be able to assist with magic beside a dragon, said to stand at the pinnacle of magic?

This was an incredible opportunity.

"I'll do my absolute best! I will become a mage, no! A staff who works hard so as not to offend His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Haha, depending on how you perform, I'll use you as my first staff."

"It is truly, truly, truly an honor!!!"

Theo was sincere.

Only days, no, minutes ago, the people who had been laughing and chatting with him, the seniors already walking the path he was supposed to follow, were all dying around him.

Yet he had suffered no harm whatsoever.

All he had to do was obey, and he could serve at the Crown Prince's side as Staff No. 1.

Could there be any greater fortune?

At that moment, Theo had an epiphany.

'Ah! I'm incredibly lucky!'

I'll never rebel!

+++++

Honestly, I had expected him to resist blindly at first.

The Second Imperial Prince had done it, the East Grand Duke had done it, and so had the North Grand Duke.

But what was this?

"May I ask what I should call you?"

"...Hm. Since His Highness the Crown Prince has assigned you as my assistant, call this lady Master."

"Yes! Master!"

He obeyed too well.

Even his reactions were over-the-top.

I could roughly understand why.

The people he had been laughing and chatting with until recently had all been roasted alive and were on the verge of death.

He must have concluded that letting his mind slip a little was healthier than remaining completely sane.

It was wisdom worthy of a mage.

"Is he your son?"

"...H-He is a child who fell from the sky. He was blessed..."

"He just appeared? As a baby?"

"Y-Yes..."

Was that why the atmosphere had shifted so quickly?

If they had truly been family, blood ties should have at least made him angry.

I had wondered why he immediately kept his head down instead of losing his mind like the current East Grand Duke.

I did not know what the circumstances were, but Theo clearly seemed like an unusual existence even within the Mage Tower.

'Is that only natural because he's a male lead? Being special is only to be expected.'

But...

"T-Theo... Why, why are you doing this... We were close."

"...How can a staff that hasn't even been assigned a number... speak like a person...?"

It seemed that his specialness had been invested in a slightly crazy direction.

He obeyed too well. He was far too eager to act like a lackey.

'Still, he won't do anything strange behind my back, so does it matter?'

Even if he did, it would not matter.

Arveda had personally embedded the strongest Restriction directly into Theo's head.

The moment he started entertaining strange thoughts, he would die.

'There's no need to talk to Theo right now. We're heading to the imperial palace anyway.'

This was not the time to concern myself with Theo.

"Archibald, you were hostile to the Empire... Don't tell me you planned to drain everything from the Empire, then go to Macelin?"

It was time to have a proper conversation with Archibald, the Mage Tower's chief administrator.

Arveda had restored him to exactly the point where he could speak.

Archibald stared at me before slowly opening his mouth.

"Y-Yes... That is correct."

"Why? Why Macelin of all places after draining the imperial treasury? Because Theo has a woman he likes there?"

Unlike the Second Imperial Prince and the two Grand Dukes, the Mage Tower Master had not blindly supported the Macelin Kingdom.

The mages were wearing expensive-looking accessories.

Even Theo did not seem to be as passionately in love as the other male protagonists.

'Would he relocate over that level of affection? That makes no sense.'

After draining the imperial treasury, they should have chosen somewhere with at least some money, even if it was not as wealthy as the Empire.

But they planned to go to Macelin? A place they would have to support no matter what? It was extremely strange.

That was why I asked.

"That is part of it, but..."

"But?"

"The fundamental reason is that we felt the land of the Macelin Kingdom was good."

"The land is good?"

His answer only raised more questions.

"Magic requires meticulous calculations as its foundation, but it also requires strong intuition."

"So you're saying you were simply drawn to Macelin without any basis?"

"Yes. I had an intuition that we would surely benefit if we went there."

"Not just you, but everyone?"

"Yes."

Was the entire continent under some sort of hypnosis that made them like the Macelin Kingdom?

Thinking about it, though, it was not all that strange.

The protagonist was there, and the title of the novel said they would be given so much they would be full.

This much was necessary for the setting to make sense.

'So the belief that they need to support the Macelin Kingdom has been planted deep in their subconscious.'

After roughly sorting out my thoughts, I said, "I look forward to your devotion as a staff of the Empire from now on."

"...Thank you so much for sparing my life."

I ordered Archibald to gather the mages who had not yet come here.

"You will live as staffs rather than humans. If you dislike that, say so now. I will allow you to die as humans."

"...."

Perhaps because they took my words seriously, the mages accepted their fates with humility.

'There are quite a lot of them, though.'

The mages who had had their Restrictions placed began placing Restrictions on those who had not yet received them.

As that process repeated and they began gathering before me one by one, I realized their number easily exceeded a thousand.

Even if I simply divided them into thirds and sent them to the North, the central region, and the eastern region, there would be enough.

'Come to think of it, hadn't they said the northern front lines and the eastern region both needed a lot of manpower recently?'

I recalled the conversation between some of the bastards at the banquet, who had said they were plotting something in the eastern region.

Dealing with piracy would inevitably require manpower.

It looked far too difficult to make the eastern region, which had only just begun to resemble a functioning society, handle that work.

"Perfect."

"...?"

"Archibald."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I'll make you my Magic Drone No. 1."

"W-What does that mean...?"

I had found the perfect talent to handle this matter.

"You will serve as cleaners who tidy up the Empire for the time being."

Not only that, I could leave the Empire's worsening public safety to these staffs as well.

I had heard that intelligence units from foreign nations had been creeping in.

"Mages who have had their Restrictions placed, descend to the ground at once and live as staffs."

It was time to make full use of unpaid slaves who would roam around on their own as long as they were fed.

"Come on! Don't just stand there reading the room! If you think I'm talking about you, hurry up and get down there! Do His Highness the Crown Prince's words mean nothing to you!"

"...."

Theo's lackey behavior was an added bonus.

Once everything had been sorted out and I was about to head to the imperial palace as well...

[ Genius Mage Theo has joined you. ]

[ Fate changes. ]

[ The magical standards of the Macelin Kingdom decline significantly. ]

A very welcome message greeted me.

Finally.

For the first time.

'Ha.'

I had screwed over the Macelin Kingdom directly.

Just obtaining one obedient staff allowed me to screw them over this badly?