WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 65: World Tree (5)
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- I no longer remember how many regressions there have been.
- In truth, the number of regressions was not what mattered.
- What mattered was how much information I gained during those regressions.
- Amid all that, the World Tree is a truly unusual being. It remembers the regressions.
- Though it cannot remember the details.
- It retains vivid impressions rather than detailed memories.
- The preparations are complete.
- If I can just meet the World Tree, I will be able to recruit it immediately without any complications.
- If I can meet it, that is.
The Imperial Crown Prince’s memories continued to surface.
This had never happened before. How much must he have hated it for this to happen?
‘Even after countless regressions, he probably never got used to whipping a tree.’
Fortunately, there would be no need to do that anymore.
He said the preparations were complete, so if it came to it, I could simply have Gardener No. 1 do it later.
The question was whether the position of Gardener No. 1 could be filled.
Before that, there was something else I needed to resolve first.
“How do you know Mirne’s name?”
Why did a male lead who had never even met Mirne know who she was?
I was very curious about that.
“...How could I not hear about her when the rumors are everywhere? It’s ridiculous to say someone in the western part of the continent doesn’t know Mirne.”
Ailoren answered as if it were obvious.
Smack!
“You’re speaking far too curtly while talking to His Highness.”
Apparently displeased with that answer, Pavan harshly struck Ailoren’s lower jaw as soon as he finished speaking.
“...You said your names were Dorarn and Hegail? Do you know about Mirne?”
“N-No... I don’t.”
“I don’t know either.”
While Ailoren was still dazed from the blow, I asked the nearby Elves whether they knew Mirne.
But...
“What about the High Elves?”
“W-We don’t know either...”
I learned that no one but Ailoren knew anything about Mirne.
Finding the situation strange, Ailoren raised his head.
“...Wait, none of you know Mirne? How can you not know her? We hear news about her sometimes.”
He looked at the surrounding Elves as though they were strange.
“What are you talking about, Ailoren...? Who among us would be interested in news about humans?”
“N-No... What? That can’t be right. There was a High Elf who sometimes told me news, and sometimes I just heard things.”
“Who would be interested in inferior sp... no, humans? Who among us would, aside from you?!”
The conversation that followed was deeply shocking.
Ailoren looked around with wide eyes, like someone who had just woken from hypnosis.
The other Elves also stared at him as if his words were absurd.
“...I was the only one who knew? No, there were definitely Elves who told me what was happening in the western kingdoms...”
“Since when did we care about what happened in human kingdoms? There’s no reason for us to care!”
“....”
Ailoren’s expression stiffened as his eyes darted around.
“Where... where are they? There should be someone. The Elf who told me...”
It seemed Ailoren was looking for the Elf who had told him who Mirne was.
His hollow gaze was so genuine that it could not possibly have been an act.
“W-Wait... I really won’t run away, so please let me go for a moment. I definitely... definitely know. I met them!”
Pavan looked at me after hearing Ailoren’s words.
I nodded, allowing Ailoren to get up.
The instant Pavan released the pressure, Ailoren sprang to his feet.
Ailoren moved toward the World Tree like someone possessed.
“Was I... was I the only one who saw them? That can’t be right. You saw them too, didn’t you? World Tree!”
Was I watching an Elf break down in real time?
‘Do the people judged to be male leads keep hearing stories about Mirne, whether they realize it or not?’
Watching him, a chilling possibility came to mind.
If this was true, the Northern Great Warrior could not be considered safe either.
‘Among a race that considers humans inferior... rumors about a human woman that only he can hear.’
Was that how they built a sense of familiarity with Mirne without realizing it?
It made sense that they would inevitably come to like her.
All they ever heard from those around them were good things about her.
And they were made unable to find that strange.
At this point, it was enough to call it suggestion or hypnosis.
‘Was that the secret behind the male leads constantly showering her with things?’
That thought lasted only a moment.
“...There really wasn’t anyone? No one ever told me about Mirne?!”
Ailoren grabbed his head and began slamming it into the ground.
“Then these memories... Who was I... who was I talking to?!”
At the same time...
Ssssss.
Pink smoke began to seep from Ailoren’s body.
[ High Elf Ailoren is attempting to deviate from the narrative just before meeting Mirne. ]
[ The System is moving to stop this. ]
[ The likelihood of a replacement is extremely high. ]
“...Hah.”
A System message immediately explained the current situation.
So because he was trying to break free from the hypnosis, it was planting suggestions to stop him from doing so?
In fact...
“...No, but... I definitely heard it... I definitely heard it, so isn’t that enough? There’s no problem with hearing it anyway. The World Tree... to the Macelin Kingdom...”
“What are you talking about?! Why would you give the World Tree to the Macelin Kingdom?!”
“B-Because an emergency might happen... or the Great Forest might burn... if the Demon Race comes...”
Ailoren looked as though he were in terrible pain.
The description that he was having a fit suited him perfectly.
He rolled across the ground and grabbed anything nearby, wildly swinging it around.
It did not look possible for him to remain sane.
“Why would the Demon Race come?! Didn’t the Demon Race disappear in the first place?!”
“Mirne... Mirne said she could save everyone, didn’t... didn’t... she...?”
Pink energy continued to pour from Ailoren as he spoke.
The moment I decided there was no reason to keep watching and ordered Pavan to subdue him...
Bang!
“Urk!”
With a tremendous crash, Pavan’s body was hurled into the World Tree in an instant.
“...No, no... She can save everyone, all of them... I have to meet Mirne. She’ll definitely... definitely know the person who told me that.”
[ The System is attempting to force Ailoren to follow the original story’s progression. ]
[ The System may kill Ailoren if necessary. ]
[ Subdue him. ]
The messages followed immediately afterward.
As soon as I read them, I firmly secured my sheath to my sword.
“I used to have to kill them, but now I have to worry about keeping them alive too.”
Just as I was about to launch myself toward Ailoren...
- What exactly is the original story’s progression?
- ...As long as it continues, regression may be meaningless.
- Perhaps the first thing I must do is...
- Can I forsake the bonds of kinship?
- I can feel my mind crumbling.
- Perhaps the first thing I should have abandoned was my humanity.
- Endless regression is not a blessing, but a curse.
The Imperial Crown Prince’s memories surfaced again.
‘It’s a shame. I can’t dwell on this right now.’
Rather than think deeply, I closed in on Ailoren at once.
If I could not kill him, knocking him unconscious with a blow was likely the best option.
Whoosh.
I lowered my body and slipped into Ailoren’s guard.
Thud!
Then I drove my ulna into Ailoren’s jaw.
The impact was unmistakable.
It was strong enough to fracture his jawbone.
Normally, the shock would have rattled his brain and knocked him out immediately.
But...
“Mirne... I, I have to go to Mirne. Then everything will be resolved!”
“Your jaw is broken, yet your pronunciation is perfect.”
Ailoren continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
He did not even look at me, keeping his gaze fixed in the direction where the Macelin Kingdom presumably lay.
‘Killing him is absolutely out of the question.’
Ailoren was the only person who clearly knew how Mirne earned the favor of the male leads.
Even without the messages, I would have chosen a strategy focused on subduing him.
“World Tree! Restrain him!”
[ The Villainess moves to actively heed your words. ]
I had to use everything available to me.
‘But did Pavan lose consciousness after just one hit? Pavan?’
Could Ailoren knock an Executioner unconscious in a single blow?
‘I don’t think Ailoren is that strong. Was this the System’s doing?’
Many thoughts came to mind, but I had no time to spare for them.
“I have to go, I have to... to confirm that I have a friend, a friend who told me your story...”
“I have no idea why that means you need to go to Mirne.”
Whoosh, bang!
I spun and struck Ailoren’s solar plexus squarely with the ball of my foot.
Ailoren flew into the World Tree, and roots that had risen from the ground restrained him.
“Pavan! Wake up!”
Still, I could not relax over something like that.
Until the messages said the situation was over, letting my guard down was forbidden.
In fact...
Creak.
Despite his slender frame, Ailoren was tearing apart the World Tree’s roots.
He bit through them and thrashed wildly.
[ Ailoren must not meet Mirne now. ]
I knew that without being told.
As I muttered inwardly and considered whether I should turn him into a Turtle...
- I must find the World Tree Sapling.
- Find it, then burn the World Tree.
- The World Tree is an arrangement made for Mirne.
The Imperial Crown Prince’s memories played again.
“...I need to leave only the sapling?”
As I muttered that and drew my sword to look at the World Tree...
“...You’re Mirne’s enemy.”
Ailoren suddenly whipped his head around and looked at me.
He completely abandoned his efforts to tear apart the World Tree’s roots and go to the Macelin Kingdom.
With vicious eyes, he stared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
[ The Villainess asks you to save it. ]
“So that’s why you’re a Villainess.”
I understood at last.
Why the World Tree was a Villainess.
‘Because it wants only the sapling left? Because it wants to die?’
It was refusing the fate of falling into Mirne’s hands.
And that was no different from opposing Mirne.
- System... I must kill the System.
With the Imperial Crown Prince’s final words...
Whoosh!
I wrapped my sword in flames.
There was only one enemy.
“You’re trying to break free from Mirne on your own. Admirable.”
High Elf Ailoren, wrapped in pink smoke.
“I’ll use you as Gardener No. 1 without killing you.”
It was about time Theo got a successor.
Footnotes:
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