WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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

Chapter 5: Cleaning Time (3)

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To be honest.

'I never expected the Imperial Guard Knights to take such an active role.'

It hadn't been my idea to enter the Round Table Conference Room with the knights.

I hadn't expected them to enter the noble residences at dawn and issue warnings, either.

'I never knew the phrase "inform them that they will be severely punished" carried this much weight.'

The Emperor was missing, and the Empress had chosen not to actively involve herself in running the state.

In this situation, the Crown Prince's authority was greater than I'd imagined.

Maybe it was because I'd lived in the twenty-first century before becoming the imperial Crown Prince in a romance fantasy world.

The sheer number of people who moved at my word, and the scale of their actions, had gone beyond anything I'd expected.

'So I'm ranked even higher than an army division commander.'

The kind of position where, if I said I didn't like that mountain, it could be gone the next day.

And the Crown Prince stood even higher than that.

Put more extremely, it was an instant-death cheat.

If I walked down the street and said, "You die," I was in a position where I could usually have a live execution carried out immediately.

Even so, I didn't think what was happening now was extreme.

The corruption was at its worst, and the people responsible for making it this bad were gathered here.

Trash who played around with the nation's money.

It was the perfect atmosphere to clean up that trash.

'Ah, but it was a little disappointing that I started with formal speech.'

I'd spoken down to them at our first meeting, then switched to formal speech in a situation like this.

'What if they think I'm nervous? I wasn't nervous.'

It'd be a problem if they looked down on me.

Next time, I should switch back to speaking down to them right away.

+++++

The Foreign Affairs Officer felt terrified enough to die.

'What the hell is this?'

The Foreign Affairs Officer stared blankly at the investment list they had stayed up all night preparing, now scattered across the round table.

'Was this why His Highness told me to prepare it?'

They had never imagined it.

They thought the Crown Prince only wanted to review the investment list again.

They had no idea the Crown Prince intended to find those responsible and punish them severely.

The Crown Prince's actions were so different from the usual image that the Foreign Affairs Officer was frozen in fear.

Their shoulders were drawn tight with tension. They were so stiff that even swallowing felt dangerous, and that alone showed how serious the situation was.

'...Did His Highness bring every Imperial Guard Knight? Maybe not all of them... Right, not all of them... But that's still a problem.'

The Imperial Guard Knights were tasked with protecting the imperial family at the closest possible distance.

Their skills were anything but lacking.

No, to put it plainly, every member of the Imperial Guard Knights had reached the master level.

Sword Masters, Bow Masters, Mages.

Each of them was an absurdly powerful fighter capable of directly increasing a nation's military strength.

And now, these people were standing silently behind them in full armor, watching the situation unfold?

What could be more frightening than that?

Even though the Foreign Affairs Officer hadn't committed any corruption, they felt as though their life were directly under threat.

'The knights behind us could release a little Aura and slice this castle apart like tofu.'

One such person stood behind every noble attending the round table meeting.

As if they intended to turn this place into a beheading site.

Their presence was unbearably terrifying.

Nothing like this had ever happened in a State Council Meeting before.

The atmosphere was so unfamiliar that the Foreign Affairs Officer could barely make their voice work.

Then matters grew even worse.

"Who managed the investment in the Macelin Kingdom?"

The Crown Prince spoke in a tone the Foreign Affairs Officer had never heard before, intensifying their fear.

The atmosphere had at least been manageable when the Crown Prince spoke gently while addressing them informally.

But now the Crown Prince wore a completely stern expression and used formal speech. It felt as though the Crown Prince intended to end everything today.

'And that end... will be the death of the nobles who committed corruption.'

The Foreign Affairs Officer barely turned their rusted neck to look beside them.

Normally, the Foreign Affairs Officer should have been involved in foreign investments.

For some reason, though, the Second Imperial Prince and his close associates had handled all investment-related matters.

Even the Foreign Affairs Officer had no idea how matters were proceeding and had received no reports.

The investments in the Macelin Kingdom, in particular, had been handled so secretly that they had only seen the relevant documents for the first time after the Crown Prince ordered them brought in.

"Not a word from any of you, not a word... I've already identified every corrupt act related to these investments. Do you think keeping your mouths shut will hide your crimes?"

The Crown Prince had gone back to speaking down to them.

The nobles decided the abrupt change in tone meant the Crown Prince's mercy had run out.

'Just once... His mercy ended after just one chance?'

'His Highness has never acted like this before. How furious must he be?'

'What did they even do to commit corruption...'

Just as the sound of the nobles' minds whirring began to fill the Round Table Conference Room, the Crown Prince casually tossed out the remark.

"Grand General, I didn't know the Round Table Conference Room had become a place for shifting eyes."

"Did you not hear His Highness the Crown Prince?"

The Grand General smoothly took over from the Crown Prince, letting their presence show.

The nobles might have grown powerful by eating fine food and inheriting their families' secret cultivation methods, but unlike them, the Grand General was the real deal, with extensive combat experience.

The nobles' darting eyes froze under that sharp pressure.

"Th-the... investment management... I understand that it was handled by the Second Imperial Prince and his close associates."

"You never answer when I ask nicely, but the moment I press you, the words start coming out. Don't make me feel as though I'm talking to animals."

After casually delivering words that sounded like a final warning, the Crown Prince asked,

"So who are his close associates?"

The Crown Prince swept a gaze across the round table, intending to identify those who had joined hands with that love-crazed lunatic to line their own pockets.

"Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince... Forgive my boldness, but I would like to state that there were no problems or corruption whatsoever in the investments."

"T-that's right. It was already determined that the personal gains made during the investment process were not problematic, and His Highness the Second Imperial Prince guaranteed it himself... Therefore, it would be difficult to call this corruption."

"The personal gains Your Highness mentioned served as a lubricant that allowed the investment process to proceed more smoothly. They also helped improve diplomatic relations with the Macelin Kingdom."

"Although the investment in the Macelin Kingdom may currently seem like pouring money into a bottomless pit, His Highness the Second Imperial Prince judged that it would lead to enormous national benefits in the long term."

"A-and... Your Highness the Crown Prince ultimately approved it, which brought us to the present stage. How, then, could there have been corruption for personal gain during that process? It would be correct to conclude that there were no problems at all."

Before the Crown Prince's gaze could even reach them, the frightened nobles began speaking over one another.

They talked at length, but it all came down to one conclusion.

'We're innocent. We only did what the Second Imperial Prince told us to, and you gave your approval in the end, too. So why is this a problem?'

The Second Imperial Prince's associates had known a day like this might come, and they had prepared their answers to some extent.

'Though I didn't expect it to happen like this.'

'He pressed us too hard at the start, so I couldn't think straight.'

'Still, it should be difficult for him to find fault with this.'

Trying to make an issue out of something that had been handled perfectly according to administrative procedures?

To the nobles who had managed the Macelin Kingdom investment, that was extremely difficult.

Questioning those procedures meant challenging laws that had already been established.

And it was absurd to settle something like that here.

Besides, if this became an issue, then the Second Imperial Prince, who had initially proposed the investment, would also bear responsibility for the crime.

Would the Crown Prince, famous for cherishing the Second Imperial Prince dearly, hold him responsible?

'Does that seem possible?'

'It's absolutely impossible.'

'He may have intended to scare us into confessing, but we won't yield that easily.'

'Why else wouldn't he summon the Second Imperial Prince here? He must be trying to handle this while protecting him as much as possible.'

'As long as we're under the Second Imperial Prince, the Crown Prince will never be able to punish us. The Crown Prince doesn't even have the right to punish us in the first place.'

There had been no problem with the administrative procedures, so it couldn't be called illegal.

Therefore, they had committed no crimes, and this meeting would pass without incident.

The Second Imperial Prince's associates, who were also the nobles in charge of managing the Macelin Kingdom investment, reached that conclusion among themselves.

In the process, they forgot one extremely important thing.

That important thing was this.

"You're trying to lecture me when I've said I will make this an issue."

The Crown Prince stood above the law.

+++++

Honestly, I was going to let them off if they offered a sincere apology.

Killing them seemed excessive. I had planned to confiscate the wealth they'd earned, work them without pay, and make them repay every last bit of the kickbacks they'd taken.

'Ha.'

But they were turning red in the face and loudly insisting they were innocent. It was too infuriating to forgive.

They even brought up the Second Imperial Prince and tried to use the original Crown Prince's personality to put themselves above me.

"You are unbelievably arrogant."

Did they think the Second Imperial Prince could be a safe shelter in this situation?

Apparently they did, because even as I continued speaking, the nobles responsible for managing the investments looked calm.

The eyes that had looked terrified enough to die earlier were nowhere to be seen.

Now they acted as though they were sitting comfortably at home and the matter had already been settled.

So.

"Grand General, bring the Second Imperial Prince here immediately. He used the investments in the Macelin Kingdom as a pretext to create an opportunity for personal gain."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Also, if he refuses or resists, I don't care if you knock him unconscious."

"Thank you."

I felt the need to show them directly.

To show them how thin and easily broken the rope they were clinging to really was.

"I have shown you mercy and tried repeatedly to give you an opportunity, yet..."

Some of those leaving this room today would.

"From the moment I leave this place."

Lose everything and disappear.

"You will no longer be nobles of the Velos Empire."

Footnotes:

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