WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 35: A Staff’s Life
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For some reason, people had believed since ancient times that the Empire’s mages were noble.
When he first appeared in the territory.
“M-Mage...!”
Everyone was shocked. The moment they saw someone who so obviously looked like a mage, they dropped to the ground and prostrated themselves.
But then.
“I’m not a mage. There aren’t many mages in the Empire. Please raise your heads.”
The man who said he was not a mage helped them up with a complicated expression.
“...From now on, whenever you have difficulties, starting with farm work, I’ll always help you. Please feel free to ask.”
After saying something they could not understand, he dragged his heavy feet into the lord’s estate.
At first, the people had no idea what the mage was talking about.
He would help them with farming and other conveniences? A mage?
Mages, who were even fewer in number than knights, would suddenly do chores?
It was beyond anything common sense could explain.
So at first, they could not even imagine asking the mage for help.
About a week passed like that.
“Is this the Baralm Territory?”
“Huh? Y-Yes, it is.”
A boy wearing an armband suddenly appeared in the territory.
He appeared as if he had fallen from the sky. Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a noble, and he acted like one too.
He had a certain dignity that commoners did not possess.
Anyway, despite there not being a speck of dust on his armband.
“Perhaps because it’s such a dusty day, ahem.”
He patted the armband embroidered with the number 1 in gold thread.
“I received a report that Staff No. 782 has had a usage rate of 0% for the past week. Did a staff arrive here a week ago?”
“E-Excuse me?”
He began talking about strange things.
Staff No. 782? Usage rate? Delivered?
As everyone merely tilted their heads at the string of incomprehensible words, the boy muttered quietly to himself.
“This is the problem. If you’re a staff, you should actively fulfill your duties as one. Promote yourself and all that... Can you just sit around because no one comes looking for you? The staff in the neighboring territory is already flying through the sky and watering crops... If you show such poor work ethic by comparison, do you have any idea how ashamed I’ll be when I face His Highness the Crown Prince as Staff No. 1...”
Then he looked at the people gathered around him.
“Ah, I’ve identified the problem. Could you tell me where the lord’s estate is?”
He asked for the estate’s location with a bright smile.
“It’s, it’s over there.”
Though confused by how things were somehow moving along on their own, the residents pointed toward the estate.
“You live in the best place and do nothing, yet your usage rate has been 0% for a whole week. That means the rest of us, who fulfill our duties as staffs except on weekends, suffer because of you. How can you not understand that!”
Swish.
The moment he learned the location, the boy vanished.
It could only be explained as magic.
Some residents, who knew nothing about magic, were so startled that they collapsed onto the ground.
“So the mages Grandfather talked about really did exist.”
They had been told mages were so rare in the Empire that they might never see one before they died.
Who would have thought they would get this chance?
“I think we’ve been incredibly lucky lately.”
Where the mage had vanished.
“Right. Taxes suddenly dropped so much, and thanks to that... we don’t have to make the children farm anymore. We can let them learn how to read.”
“Mm, I’ve been learning too lately. They say reading and writing should be fundamental... It’s a wonderful idea.”
The residents were very positive about the changes taking place in the Empire.
Taxes had dropped drastically, giving them room to breathe.
On top of that, support for education had become widespread.
It was too late for them, but they held hope that their children might live different lives.
Then, amid those hopes.
Boom!
A huge explosion rang out from the lord’s estate.
“Staff No. 782! Proclaim your duty loudly in the center of the village!”
“T-Theo... Why are you doing this? Hm? Let’s not do this. Can’t we just quietly research like before? H-How am I supposed to use magic just to water crops... D-Do you really think that makes sense?”
When they came to their senses, the mage who had arrived a week ago and the boy who had just arrived were talking in the village center.
“There is no Theo here. What stands before you now is His Highness the Crown Prince’s Staff No. 1.”
“...Do you think this makes any sense?! Throwing away everything we’ve lived for! Throwing it all away... Just to live like that, making fire when they tell us to make fire, spraying water when they tell us to spray water... Is that how we’re supposed to live?”
The boy’s attitude was utterly high-handed.
In contrast, the mage who had arrived a week earlier kept lowering himself.
“Two cumulative warnings have been issued during this conversation. If you receive one more warning, I’ll activate the Restriction and blow your head off immediately, no matter the reason. If you don’t like it, just die. There are plenty of staffs besides you.”
At the boy’s final words.
“...People of the Baralm Territory! I am not a mage! I am a staff who exists for your convenience! If you have any difficulties from now on, I will solve everything with my magic! My magic is free! Though weekend work will be handled depending on the situation...!”
The mage, who had been lying flat on the ground, sprang up and began pouring out words.
No, he tried to, but the boy beside him cut in with a serious expression.
“No, no.”
“H-Huh?”
“Your usage rate has been 0% for a week. Does it make sense for you to have weekends off? That benefit is only given to diligent staffs.”
“T-Then when will I get weekends off...?”
“When the Staff Satisfaction Survey Spell is used, you need to sincerely receive a five-star rating.”
“Isn’t that done once every six months?”
“Staff No. 782, I already told you. If you don’t want to do it, just die. Is that difficult? Shall I trigger the Restriction for you?”
“....”
Staff No. 782’s face rapidly fell after hearing those words.
Then, after receiving a document from the boy, he read it aloud so every resident could hear.
“I, Staff No. 782, swear to devote myself and submit for the endless convenience of the Baralm Territory and the infinite glory of the Velos Empire!!!”
“Louder! Is that all the voice you have? Staff No. 264 from the neighboring territory read a copy of the document personally written by His Highness the Crown Prince and even shed tears! Can you be this lacking in loyalty?!”
“...Sob... Uwaaaah...!”
Staff No. 782 cried as well.
Did those tears contain fear of death, or grief for his own life?
His life had changed drastically.
Yet he was still alive, and that was a good thing.
Feeling those complicated emotions, Staff No. 782 declared to the residents that he was not a mage, but a staff.
“Haha, I’ve completely instilled the proper mindset in another staff.”
The boy, who had watched it all with satisfaction, patted his armband again.
“No more nonsense. This is your final warning.”
He stared at Staff No. 782 with an extremely serious expression.
“You’ll really die. A lot have already died. About fifty?”
After casually saying something so chilling, he vanished from the spot.
Where the boy had disappeared.
“Does anyone need magic...?”
Staff No. 782 began advertising his magic in order to survive.
++++++
[ The mages are spreading positive influence throughout the Empire at an astonishing pace! ]
[ The Empire’s level of magic is rising tremendously. ]
[ The likelihood of children blessed by Mana being born within the Empire rises significantly. ]
“...Theo is working incredibly hard.”
“Your Highness, this lady has never seen a mage with that much passion.”
Theo had declared himself Staff No. 1 and was making 21st-century on-site service calls.
Honestly, when he first said he would do it, I wondered whether there was any need.
But after putting him to work, the efficiency was unbelievable.
The fact that he could travel across the entire Empire alone through Teleportation was truly incredible.
Even Arveda had been extremely surprised, saying his Mana core was absurdly vast.
“Perhaps in terms of how much Mana he can hold, he is comparable to a Dragon Heart.”
“Ha, right... He’s a male lead, after all.”
Magical talent great enough for a human to stand beside a dragon.
This was the level required for a male lead written as a genius mage.
Anyway, as I received those pleasant messages saying the Empire’s level of magic was rapidly improving.
[ The Empire is growing healthier. ]
[ An incredible achievement! ]
[ You have been awarded 2 Convenient Empire Status Window Points! ]
‘Oh.’
A smile naturally formed on my lips as I gained Convenient Empire Status Window Points.
‘I should start by laying railways across the Empire.’
I remembered there being a Tech Tree like that.
If I laid railways with one point and invested the other into the Academy, it would be a good way to prepare for both the present and the future.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, we have arrived.”
“Good work.”
At Arveda’s words that we had reached our destination, I stroked her hair and slowly drew my sword.
The Empire’s North and eastern region.
One had to maintain the front lines, while the other had to protect the coast.
Those regions had been entrusted to Grand Dukes to manage as a form of outsourced administration.
The Empire’s west and south had no Grand Dukes, since there was no particular need for them.
Still, the lack of a Grand Duke did not mean there was no one who fancied themselves the leader.
Just because there was no tiger did not mean there were no wolves on the mountain.
There were always people who wanted to stand above everyone else.
And in that sense, the Empire’s south.
For the sole reason that it was close to the Romper Holy Kingdom.
“Why is there a symbol of the Holy Kingdom within the Empire... and a golden statue at that, sitting so openly in the south?”
It had openly taken on a form similar to the Holy Kingdom.
In other words, the Empire’s south was now…
“Driving me crazy.”
A second base in the Romper Holy Kingdom’s front yard.
So.
Slash!
I cut down the golden statue first.
Thud!
The faith business in someone else’s country was over.
Footnotes:
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