WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 62: World Tree (2)
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Arveda’s daily routine was remarkably simple.
Upon waking, she heartily ate the meal the servants had prepared.
“Mmm! It’s wonderful again today. Absolutely delicious! The meat is seasoned especially well!”
“Thank you.”
“Keep making it like this from now on!”
“...Then should we continue preparing meals exactly like His Highness the Imperial Crown Prince’s?”
“Shh! Shh! Quiet! This is top secret. Never let this information leak out.”
“...!!! I’ll remember that. I absolutely will!”
After generously praising the chef, she lay down for a short nap while she digested her meal.
When she woke, she stretched her arms high over her head.
Then, after showering and tidying herself up...
“Your Highnessssss!”
Thump, thump.
She entered the Imperial Palace and looked for Bellon.
If Bellon was nowhere to be seen...
‘His Highness must be busy.’
Rather than searching all over the Imperial Palace, she headed straight for Bellon’s sleeping quarters.
Roll, roll.
She took out the doll she had brought with her and tossed it onto the bed.
Then she jumped in after it and claimed Bellon’s bed for herself.
Her life as a lonely Executioner had ended with a walk with Bellon.
That was why Arveda felt such a special affection for Bellon.
“Ah.”
After rolling around in bed for roughly ten minutes, Arveda finally realized Bellon was not currently in the Empire.
Normally, she would have noticed something like that right away.
Perhaps because she had slept so deeply, she had only now remembered that important fact.
“Aaaah! I wanted to go too.”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Arveda kicked at the air as she voiced her disappointment.
She had wanted to come along.
‘What’s wrong with being strong? Being strong is good! I could protect His Highness too!’
Tin Can’s rejection, saying she could not come because she was too strong, had thoroughly crushed Arveda’s spirits.
“Though His Highness isn’t really someone who needs protecting.”
Bellon was strong.
Absurdly strong. Honestly, he had even been terrifying at first.
She had never seen anyone so strong before.
‘No, a person? He can’t even be classified as a person. He’s just... just purely the strongest on the continent, isn’t he?’
When the Covenant had been established and the Dragon family came to visit, Arveda had sensed just how tense they were.
The pressure that a single slip of the tongue could wipe out the entire Dragon race.
The Dragons had barely endured that pressure as they continued speaking with Bellon.
‘Of course, His Highness the Imperial Crown Prince didn’t care about any of that.’
It was always the weak who had to tread carefully around the strong.
The Dragons had likely been unable to relax even on their way home.
Honestly, that was why she understood Tin Can’s decision this time.
“Even if Tin Can used every method available, it would be difficult to completely conceal His Highness’s power.”
Only the Imperial Crown Prince and Pavan were going to the forest where the Elves lived.
The Imperial Crown Prince’s power was simply too immense.
The moment anyone else joined them, they would inevitably be discovered.
Even the Empire’s military forces were particularly poor at concealing their strength.
She knew it could not be helped that she had been excluded from this World Tree relocation operation.
Still, the sadness of being unable to go with them did not fade easily.
“At least I gave them a spirited send-off last night!”
“Please let nothing happen,” Arveda muttered briefly before springing out of bed.
She had finished all the most important parts of starting her day.
“Theo!”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go! We’ll beat up Dark Mages and help with all sorts of work!”
“I’m ready! Let’s go at once!”
It was time to get to work in earnest.
+++++
Disguised through magic, Mystery, and the wisdom of the Giant, we arrived in the western part of the continent.
Small and large kingdoms were packed tightly together throughout the western part of the continent.
Pavan and I had arrived in Verdantia Kingdom, the kingdom closest to the Western Great Forest.
The moment we arrived...
“We need to blend in with everyone else as much as possible from now on.”
“So we can’t use our strength?”
“Yes. We can’t travel at high speed anymore.”
“Is that so?”
Pavan said we now had to refrain from moving at the speed that had brought us from the center of the continent to the west in a single day.
“Elves are extremely sensitive. If they sense even the slightest thing that could threaten their lives, they will never reveal themselves.”
“Even while we’re concealing our power like this? We only moved quickly.”
“They’ll think we could kill them at that speed. In general... Elves assume the other party may be capable of killing them.”
“Couldn’t we do that once we get near the Great Forest? What’s the point of controlling our speed now?”
I fired off one question after another.
“Elves specialize in detecting anomalies. Signs that differ from normal... In other words, if something that should not ordinarily happen suddenly occurs within their detection range, they become extremely wary.”
“So speed is one of the things they’re wary of? Wait... We’re not even close to the Great Forest yet. We’ve only just entered the kingdom. The Elves’ detection range reaches this far?”
“That is correct. Those among them with exceptionally sharp senses stand guard twenty-four hours a day, watching for unusual signs.”
“Ha.”
So they were unbelievably cautious.
I nodded at Pavan’s explanation.
“Does this kingdom know? That the Elves are watching the entire kingdom like this?”
“They know, but what can they do about it? Elves are powerful by nature.”
“So the Elves are basically saying, ‘We’re strong, so we’ll keep watching you,’ as though that’s only natural?”
“Yes. To put it from the Elves’ perspective... It’s like saying, ‘We might die, so what’s wrong with watching a kingdom?’”
To put Pavan’s words simply...
‘They’re less Elves and more knife-ears.’
Elves had foul personalities and were sensitive on top of that, so we needed to approach them with extreme caution.
At first, I had considered charging straight into the Great Forest, securing the World Tree first, and talking afterward.
“If anything happens, they immediately flee with the World Tree and only their elite members to a completely random location, right?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
After hearing Pavan’s advice, I gave up on that plan before even trying it.
If they fled to a completely random location under the current circumstances, it was obvious where they would end up.
‘The moment the World Tree appears in the Macelin Kingdom, there’s a high chance it will never be uprooted from there.’
I could not do Mirne such a favor.
For now, seeing the World Tree itself was the highest priority.
“So they’re still watching us even now.”
“Yes. From the moment we entered the kingdom, the Elves have been monitoring us as outsiders.”
“But we can’t waste time here just because we don’t want to be suspected.”
Moving the World Tree and preventing the Empire from becoming the Demon Realm was extremely important.
That did not mean we could linger indefinitely in someone else’s kingdom.
For the moment, things were fine because Mirne was overwhelmed by confession attacks from various kingdoms.
Still, that situation was bound to be resolved eventually, so we could not say we had much time.
Pavan knew that as well.
“That is why only Your Highness and I came here. From now on, we will slip past the Elves’ sight and infiltrate the Great Forest.”
Without beating around the bush, Pavan got straight to the point.
Click.
Pavan opened the lid of the armor near her chest.
Then...
Whoosh.
She thrust a hand inside and pulled out two potions.
“What are these?”
“A medicine that will deceive the senses of the extremely sensitive Elves. The moment we spray it on our heads, we will vanish from the Elves’ sight. At the same time, illusions modeled after us will appear and deceive them.”
“Convenient.”
“I strained my memory as much as I could and made the most concentrated kind. Honestly, I wanted to make several more, but after making two... I forgot.”
“...”
As Pavan said that, she sprayed the potion over both my head and her own.
I felt the potion wet my hair as I stared at Pavan for a moment.
‘Was Pavan’s Covenant about recovering her memories?’
Why had the Giant lost her memories?
And what was the way to recover them?
‘Since Pavan remembers that Elves live in the Great Forest, perhaps the Giant is somehow connected to the World Tree?’
Maybe we could fulfill Pavan’s Covenant in the Great Forest this time.
With that hope in mind, Pavan gestured that the medicine was working properly.
Step, step.
Not as quickly as before, but still at a reasonably brisk pace, we headed straight toward the Great Forest.
“We’re deceiving their senses, but I believe this is the fastest we can go.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“If we move too quickly, the medicine’s effect weakens... I’m sorry there are so many restrictions.”
“It’s fine. This is more than enough.”
All right, then.
Let’s go see the World Tree.
++++++
Elves had to protect the World Tree.
There had once been a clear reason for it, but it had been forgotten.
Perhaps the reason no longer mattered.
“When you consider the World Tree’s benefits alone... I can’t help but think it must be protected.”
The Elf, Ailoren, adjusted his glasses and looked at the World Tree.
It was a massive tree.
It rose so high that its top could not be seen, and its shade alone was large enough to cover a small kingdom.
Yet, paradoxically, it was also a tree that most people could not see.
“Humans probably don’t know how remarkable the World Tree is.”
Muttering that, Ailoren placed a hand on one of the World Tree’s roots protruding from the ground.
“Those inferior races could never know that the entire Great Forest can be considered the World Tree.”
Trees gathered to create forests, and forests gathered to form the Great Forest, or so it was said.
In truth, its real nature was an environment artificially created by the World Tree, something that could change at any time according to the World Tree’s condition.
“But I am curious. I hear those inferior races have been fighting fiercely among themselves lately.”
Ailoren had grown curious about Macelin, a kingdom recently embroiled in fierce conflict.
And about the princess who could be called the justification for that war.
“...Mirne, was it?”
Ailoren spoke the princess’s name with a dark smile.
“It must be dealt with before meeting Mirne.”
“Understood.”
Ailoren was unaware that a Giant and the Imperial Crown Prince were slowly approaching the World Tree.
Footnotes:
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