WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 46: Lumynix (1)
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It was hardly a place one could call a prison.
Mirne was locked in a room that felt like an old inn.
There were no iron bars, nor was there any pressure from guards.
‘That doesn’t mean I can let my guard down.’
She knew all too well that the lack of such things meant she had to be even more alert.
When they treated her kindly, she had to behave herself in return.
‘...When the Dark Mages appear, the Demon King will soon follow.’
But the Demon King’s descent was still far in the future.
The Academy had to come first.
The characters of I'm Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things needed to gather at the Academy in earnest.
Of course, given the current situation, a few characters had unexpectedly been removed from the picture.
Still, perhaps the system was trying to preserve the flow of the novel somehow.
[ The story must remain fixed. ]
Ever since the Saint died, that message had been making its presence known in the corner of her vision.
‘I know it’s better for things to stay fixed, but what am I supposed to do?’
This was supposed to be the point when the Empire began to weaken.
Yet the very first step had already gone wrong, so she had no idea what to do.
She had even heard that an Academy was being built in the Empire.
Would that mean there would be two Academies in this world?
‘The Macelin Academy and the Velos Academy... Isn’t it obvious which one everyone will choose?’
Would it be better to halt the Academy’s construction now and attend the Imperial Academy once it was complete?
But the Empire had to fall.
‘Ah, what am I supposed to do?!’
As her thoughts grew tangled, Mirne opened the window to let in some fresh air.
“It’s been a long time, Crown Princess Mirne.”
Outside the window.
“T-Theo?”
Theo was floating in midair as he spoke to Mirne.
“Yes, it is Theo. Have you been well?”
“Y-Yeah... But what brings you here? You haven’t really been answering my messages lately.”
Had he found some kind of new clue?
Was this what the system meant when it said the story would remain fixed?
As Mirne’s thoughts spun in every direction, Theo calmly said what he had come to say.
“Yes, I came here because I wanted to tell you this directly.”
“I do not think I can stay in contact with you any longer, Crown Princess Mirne. His Highness clearly does not approve.”
It was a development Mirne had never considered.
“W-What?”
“Of course, I will not take back the Communication Artifact I gave you or break it. I was quite lonely while conducting research by myself, and speaking with you comforted me greatly.”
“...Theo, what are you talking about?”
“I am ending our contact. It cannot be helped. Why did you fall out of His Highness’s favor?”
Theo straightened his clothes and brushed off his shoulders.
“From now on, I intend to remain at His Highness’s side as his closest aide. I do not want an old connection to hold me back from the very start.”
“You came all the way here just to tell me that? You’re really cutting off contact with me?”
“Yes. I was taught that it is polite to handle matters like this face-to-face, so I came to see you one last time.”
With that, he bowed to Mirne.
“...I-I see?”
“Yes. There is no reason for us to speak any further... I will be going now. I enjoyed the time we spent together.”
The moment he finished those last words, Theo vanished as if he had never been there.
Mirne stared blankly at the place where he had disappeared.
“D-Did I just get dumped? I didn’t even confess?”
[ Theo Zain is no longer a target that can be captured. ]
“What?!”
She was confronted with a message she never could have imagined.
Had Theo really gone completely over to the Crown Prince’s side?
‘...What is this? No, then what am I supposed to do later... How am I meant to handle this?’
Shock after shock hit her.
All of Mirne’s plans began to twist into a complicated mess.
+++++
Dark Mages would soon begin operating within the Empire.
The locations not properly marked on the map were Dark Mage hideouts.
Their objective had not been made clear, but there was no need to wonder about it.
“The moment you find them, kill them all. It would be good if you can interrogate them, but your safety is the most important thing.”
The moment I finished speaking, I could feel the knights’ fighting spirit surge.
“Yes Sir!!!”
The knights dropped to their knees, their eyes fiercely displaying their resolve to kill the Dark Mages.
Watching them, I smiled in satisfaction.
“Ha, good. You are the Empire’s swords and pillars.”
“...!”
“Go, my knights. Show those ignorant fools that the Empire’s blades have not rusted.”
“We will obey your command!”
Leaving behind only the bare minimum of personnel, the Imperial Palace’s knights departed to hunt the Dark Mages.
The staffs were no exception.
Every staff capable of using combat magic at a certain level was assigned to a knight’s side.
Together with the staffs, the knights would actively seek out and kill the Dark Mages.
‘The staffs have left to notify each territory of this... The lords will move soon enough.’
I did not even consider the possibility that the lords would refuse.
They all knew perfectly well what happened to those who did, so there was no need to emphasize it.
‘The northern region is what worries me most.’
The eastern region was recovering at an incredible pace, to be honest.
But the northern region had to maintain the front line while keeping an eye on the Dark Mages as well.
There were bound to be far too many variables.
It would be different if everyone got along.
Still, they were not in a position where they could easily mix, so I understood. That did not stop me from worrying.
‘Of course, I know they’ll manage... Still, I should visit as soon as possible.’
I could gather them all in one place, have them hunt Magic Beasts together to build camaraderie, then give them each a warm bowl of pork-and-rice soup to warm themselves up.
As I thought that, I recalled the work I had been dealing with just before.
“They said building the Magic Stone Train would be difficult, didn’t they?”
I had somehow managed to lay the railways through the Convenient Empire Status Window.
The problem was the train that had to run on those rails.
It could be made, but it would take a long time.
The artisans were all putting their heads together.
Naturally, a train was not something they could simply throw together.
There seemed to be a lot of variables involved.
‘In a fantasy cliché like this... I could ask a Dwarf.’
That thought naturally led me to the Executioners.
I seemed to recall that one of the Executioners was a Dwarf. I should put them to work right away.
Having reached that conclusion, I moved to take care of what I truly needed to do.
‘If the Dark Mages are running rampant, it will inevitably involve curses.’
Dark Mages were petty by nature.
They never died easily, and even if they truly died, they somehow found a way to return.
They even had a talent for making a mess of things in the process.
They were like mosquitoes that forced you awake at around 5:37 a.m.
They woke you at an hour when it was awkward to go back to sleep.
‘What if they have the power to strengthen curses that already exist?’
And what if the person they woke happened to be carrying a time bomb?
In a burst of rage, they might impulsively set it off inside their own house.
That was why I needed to remove that bomb beforehand.
“You are all here. Did I keep you waiting?”
“No, Your Highness. I’m fine.”
“...I am fine as well.”
The moment I arrived at the center of the Executioner Palace, where the Executioners stayed, Rowena and Lumynix greeted me.
Lumynix’s Covenant was to remove her curse.
At this point, the only person capable of doing that was the Saintess.
“What happens when the Covenant is fulfilled? Will our connection remain intact afterward?”
“Yes, it will. If only the Covenant... if only the Covenant is fulfilled.”
Lumynix stared at me, gripping her collar tightly.
She had been a Fairy who had been cursed into her current form.
If that was why she found it humiliating to be seen and called a Fairy, then I could simply think of it as a transformation she had undergone.
“Let’s begin immediately.”
There was no reason to delay.
I had received her assurance that she would not leave even after the Covenant was fulfilled.
The possibility of Lumynix going straight to Macelin after I purified her had completely vanished as well.
I immediately moved beside Rowena.
“Focus only on Purification. If anything happens, I will stop it, so there is no need to be afraid.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
I looked briefly at Rowena’s black hair.
Then I fixed my gaze on Lumynix.
“I will begin.”
Rowena stepped slightly closer to Lumynix.
Leaving about an arm’s length between them, she slowly extended both hands.
It was the posture of showing the other person her open palms.
Then, in that position,
“Purification.”
The Purification began at once.
That was when I realized just how ridiculously overpowered the title of Saintess was.
Before she became the Saintess, Rowena had not possessed even a shred of confidence.
Now, she began the Purification as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
‘I didn’t expect it to work immediately without any special ritual.’
I had expected something like a sacred ceremony.
Yet Rowena was performing a miracle with nothing more than her palms, as if to ask why any unnecessary procedure was needed.
Fwoooosh!
The moment the light of Divine Power poured from Rowena’s hands and enveloped Lumynix’s body,
“Kyahhhhhhhh!!!”
Lumynix screamed as though unbearable pain had overwhelmed her.
Sssssss.
Violet smoke slowly rose from her body.
At the same time, I watched her flesh begin to melt away.
Her body itself had been a curse from the start.
Perhaps the body created by the curse was disappearing in the course of the Purification.
Lumynix wrapped her arms tightly around herself and continued screaming.
‘The process is complicated, but is this actually a Covenant that can be resolved quite easily?’
I continued to observe the situation in preparation for anything unexpected.
‘So... the Executioners destroy the Empire, go to Mirne, receive one Purification, and that’s it?’
Could a Covenant that tormented the Empire really end this easily?
Of course, the process of making Rowena, rather than Mirne, into the Saintess had been difficult.
Still, this was currently the Covenant with the highest chance of causing the Empire’s destruction.
If one of those five could be resolved this easily, it was unquestionably worth it.
But perhaps that complacent thought was the problem.
[ A situation that greatly differs from the flow of the original story has occurred. ]
A message suddenly appeared.
[ Someone other than Saintess Mirne is attempting to purify the curse. ]
[ Lumynix’s curse begins to run rampant. ]
[ A limited version of what would occur if Executioner Lumynix’s Covenant is not fulfilled takes place. ]
[ The Fairy’s fury is unleashed upon you. ]
“Ha.”
As though it would never be that easy, Lumynix’s body immediately began growing larger and larger.
Her red eyes were filled with rage rather than pain.
Was this telling me that if I wanted to keep using her as an Imperial Executioner, I had to subdue her with strength?
‘Easy enough.’
I could handle it.
Just as I was thinking that,
- Once again? I cannot figure out what the problem is. Why does it always...
A memory of the Crown Prince suddenly surfaced in my mind.
The Crown Prince in that memory was looking at Lumynix.
But something about it was strangely different.
It was not a memory of the past.
‘...Could it be?’
Several possibilities flashed through my mind.
“Empire... How could you leave me cursed?”
Lumynix, now as large as about two shipping containers stood on end, looked down at me.
“You have not bitten your master yet, so I will heal you.”
I would personally help her get that anger under control.
Footnotes:
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