WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More
Chapter 69: War of Conquest (3)
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Telling Arveda her name and purifying Lumynix’s curse.
Just hearing those two tasks gave me a rough idea of what I needed to do.
I needed to find the name and a way to purify the curse.
I did not know exactly how to do either, but I could at least think of where to start.
Pavan’s case, though, was extremely vague.
‘How am I supposed to restore someone’s memories?’
If it was something like amnesia, would I need psychological treatment? I had no idea.
After all, Pavan had lost memories, not some specific object.
I could not even figure out how to take the first step.
‘Still, it is fortunate that the World Tree remembers the regressions and even has Pavan’s memories.’
There was definitely a reason the World Tree had received a Villainess judgment.
It was trying to give me, rather than Mirne, clues that could resolve the Executioners’ Covenants.
From the System’s perspective, that was more than enough to define it as evil.
Anyway.
‘This is a chance to read both Pavan’s memories and the Imperial Crown Prince’s memories.’
I had no intention of missing the special event the World Tree had prepared, so I continued ignoring its messages, which were making my eyes hurt in every possible way.
[ The World Tree asks you to boldly cut off its roots. ]
[ The World Tree begs to see your sword again after so long. ]
[ The World Tree.... ]
“...”
Slice.
I cleanly cut off one of the World Tree’s roots that had risen above the ground.
When it said it had marked the root containing the memories, I thought I would have to dig underground to find it.
Instead, the World Tree brought the root right in front of me, making things incredibly easy.
“Consume it... Does that mean I just tear it off and eat it?”
At the end of the root was a piece small enough to fit in my palm.
It looked a little like ginseng.
Maybe because it was a root from the World Tree, but it practically radiated spiritual energy just by looking at it.
I had deliberately cut off only a small piece, but no additional message appeared, so this seemed to be enough.
‘This will not be easy.’
I held my breath for a moment.
Then I shoved the root straight into my mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
Rather than feeling like a hard tree root, its texture was somewhere between bellflower root and yam.
It chewed easily, yet had a strangely crisp bite to it.
It felt like a root that had been prepared to be eaten from the start.
‘I do not feel any memories coming in. Do I need to keep chewing?’
I had definitely done as instructed.
Still, since nothing happened that could be described as reading memories, I kept chewing the root until I could swallow it.
Gulp.
The moment it finally passed down my throat.
Flash!
My vision went dark.
+++++
“...What is this?”
When my vision brightened again, the first thing I saw was the Imperial Crown Prince lying on a bed as though he were dead.
I was looking at myself? Was this some kind of out-of-body perspective?
As I looked down at my own body with that thought in mind...
“Hah.”
A laugh escaped me.
“Why is this actually real?”
Because it really was an out-of-body experience.
My translucent body floated through the air like a ghost.
I could move around freely, but I could not exert any physical force.
It felt like watching a game’s story from a third-person perspective.
This was probably how reading memories was represented.
As I floated there as a ghost, quietly looking down at the Imperial Crown Prince...
“...If you ever eat the World Tree’s root, will the memories begin from this point?”
The Imperial Crown Prince muttered with his eyes closed, then slowly sat up.
“I do not know which regression you are in as you read these memories. I hope it is not too different from this one.”
He got up, changed clothes with practiced ease, and slowly headed outside.
“Forty-three. That was the regression in which I reached the World Tree. Only after another eighty-three regressions did I obtain information about Pavan’s Covenant and leave it in these roots.”
A total of one hundred and twenty-six times.
The Imperial Crown Prince calmly continued his monologue, explaining that he had focused solely on the World Tree throughout those regressions.
“Regression is not perfect. It would have been nice if I could retain all my memories every time, but that is impossible. With every regression, the most important information disappears from my memory.”
The Imperial Crown Prince speaking now was the complete opposite of the pushover I had read about in the novel.
That Imperial Crown Prince had always been described as smiling, as someone who seemed far too kind.
‘Same face, completely different person.’
There was no expression on his face, and he looked hollow.
Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes, and anyone could tell he was exhausted.
The novel had portrayed a peaceful, cheerful slice-of-life story.
Yet the Imperial Crown Prince in the World Tree root’s memories belonged in a bleak, harrowing story.
“Every time important information disappears, it takes too much time to find it again. For the time being, rather than focusing on gathering information, I plan to focus on building strength.”
Perhaps because he was fully aware that this scene was being recorded, the Imperial Crown Prince continued as if he were speaking directly to someone.
“I asked Gilbat to make a sword. The God-Slaying Sword... It has not been completed yet, but with this sword, I should be able to tear Romper apart and kill it. More accurately, I should say it can contain Divine Power.”
The God-Slaying Sword.
The sword I was using now.
‘But the Imperial Crown Prince had been aiming for what came after that.’
Did that mean this memory came from before he needed the third sword?
Just how many regressions had he gone through?
Had he watched the Empire fall over and over throughout all those regressions?
If so, the fact that he could speak so calmly now made no sense.
It would not have been strange if he had gone mad long ago. I could only marvel at the Imperial Crown Prince’s mental strength.
“Still, I preserved one important memory this time.”
The Imperial Crown Prince moved to the park behind the Imperial Palace.
The place where the World Tree now stood.
The World Tree was there in exactly the same spot.
“Mirne is a transmigrator. She is under the protection of fate... no, perhaps the System. Either way, that thing protects her.”
The Imperial Crown Prince approached the World Tree and slowly drew his sword.
Shing.
The moment he drew it, the World Tree’s branches began to sway.
At first, I wondered if there was a breeze, but now that I knew the World Tree’s true nature, it looked completely different.
The World Tree was happy.
“The System is based on Mirne’s wishes. You could call it her subconscious. The System grants what she wants. Because of this one absurd thing, our Empire keeps falling.”
The God-Slaying Sword slowly entered the massive tree.
Like pressing a finger into soft down.
The trunk accepted the blade without resistance.
“What could the original story possibly be that makes her act like this? Mirne said that, at its end, she could do anything. A hero, a god... a life where she was worshipped... I do not understand what could be so important that she would do all this.”
Shk.
Once the Zweihander’s blade had entered precisely up to the ricasso, the Imperial Crown Prince slowly pulled it out.
A dark green liquid clung to the blade.
“Regression is not enough. I must use the same means as well. But I do not know how yet.”
He poured the dark green liquid into a bottle and drank it without hesitation.
Color immediately returned to his worn face.
“Do not trust Mirne. Of course, you probably will not... She is the first and the last. Things may change as the regressions continue, but for now, that is the case.”
As though he were simply venting, the Imperial Crown Prince sighed and continued.
“The Covenants must be resolved above all else. The Great Prophet left them behind... Who was he, to make preparations like these?”
Then, at last...
“I have gone on too long. I have two pieces of information. One is that Mirne is a transmigrator, and the other concerns Pavan’s Covenant.”
He began to speak of Pavan’s Covenant.
“Pavan is... a Giant who lost her memories. More precisely, she lost the memories of her entire race. Is that not funny, though? She lost the memories of the entire race, but Pavan is the only Giant there is.”
The Imperial Crown Prince laughed emptily, as though he could not believe it, and tapped the ground with the tip of his sword.
“Beneath the Empire, in some underground ruin, the Giants are sleeping. Waiting for the Covenant to break... so they can destroy the Empire.”
There were Giants underground?
‘This is insane.’
I swore the moment I heard that.
So there was a Mage Tower in the sky and Giants underground? Why was I’m Full Because Everyone Keeps Giving Me Things so determined to destroy the Empire?
While I was still reeling from the shock...
“Go underground. Beneath the Empire... The fastest way would be to plant the World Tree in the Empire and use it to identify the route, but I know that will not be easy. The process of taking the World Tree from Mirne is extremely complicated... So there is no choice but to search every corner beneath the Empire.”
The Imperial Crown Prince continued while looking straight at me.
He was surely speaking to empty air, but somehow, it felt as though our eyes were meeting.
His unwavering gaze met mine.
“I trust you. No... It would be more accurate to say that I trust myself.”
“Please take care of the Empire.”
With those final words.
Flash!
My vision went dark again.
++++++
The moment Bellon woke after reading the memories contained in the World Tree root, the Macelin Kingdom fell into chaos.
“Knights of the Macelin Kingdom, listen.”
Right in front of the royal palace’s main gate.
The Imperial Knights stood with grim killing intent, every one of them with their swords drawn.
“To prove that none of you have learned Kailen Marin’s Cultivation Method, you must all disarm yourselves immediately, come out, and offer your necks.”
They were the elite among elites.
The Empire’s true Knights stood in the heart of another kingdom, radiating flames.
“Offer your necks and show us your pulses. We will check them ourselves and make our judgment.”
No one could call it rude.
“If you refuse, that is fine as well. No, if you wish to refuse, say so now.”
The Imperial Knights seemed as though they desperately wanted the Macelin Kingdom to refuse.
“We will carve into this kingdom’s history just how harsh life is outside the Empire’s shadow.”
Their words carried that wish.
The power to arrive at a kingdom without warning and demand that it hand over its Knights.
Before the authority and military might that only the Empire possessed, all the Macelin Kingdom could do was...
“Disarm the Knights...”
“...Your Highness, Crown Princess?”
Submit.
Footnotes:
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