WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More
Chapter 70: War of Conquest (4)
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“What the hell were they thinking, doing something that insane in front of Imperial Knights...!!!”
The moment Mirne heard what had happened in the Kanda Kingdom, she flew into a rage.
Every Imperial Knight was a Swordmaster.
Of course, there were naturally some who were not.
It was an absurd concept. The minimum requirement to be granted a knight’s rank was becoming a Swordmaster?
Yet it was somewhat true.
More precisely...
‘All the knights inside the Imperial Palace are Swordmasters.’
The minimum requirement for knights stationed beside the imperial family was to be a Swordmaster.
Those who did not meet that standard were deemed unqualified to enter the Imperial Palace.
Despite being knights, they did not call themselves knights. Instead, they traveled the Empire and trained to become true knights.
It really was a completely insane country.
Of course, that madness was likely why it possessed military might beyond explanation.
To other nations, it was no different from a disaster.
‘But why would they use the Marin Cultivation Method in front of people like that?!’
She understood why they had done it.
It was the Empire’s power, the power of waves, so they must have thought they could stand against the Empire with it.
But that was absolutely not the case. If it were, the East Grand Duke would have been the Imperial Crown Prince. Why would he still be the East Grand Duke?
“Everyone must disarm... and do as the Imperial Knights tell them.”
Mirne calmly assessed the situation.
“H-how can Your Highness make such a decision so easily?! What they want is our surrender... How can you so easily tell us to surrender...!”
“Because the situation is difficult! That’s why I intend to take the easy path. Can you bear it? The Empire’s wrath?!”
Even if Imperial Knights roamed the center of the royal palace while armed, Macelin could do nothing.
Did the nobles fail to realize that? No, if she was being honest, they probably did.
They simply could not bring themselves to bow so easily because of their pride, even though they understood.
‘They don’t have a sword in front of their own eyes, so they’re protecting their pride first...!’
Rather than argue with the opposing nobles, Mirne chose to focus on the current situation.
“All knights capable of moving are to disarm and go to where the Imperial Knights are. Go there and comply with their demands. This is not a request, but an order.”
Everyone seemed unaware of how serious this was.
Was it because it had been so long since the Empire had truly spilled blood?
Or was it because the Macelin Kingdom’s recent growth had been so explosive?
Mirne believed the latter was the cause.
From basic income to overall living standards, the Macelin Kingdom had recently changed beyond comparison.
Had its sudden rise caused this?
Their pride seemed to have risen far too high.
That was why the knights must have believed they could defeat the Imperial Knights and unleashed their Aura.
“You must bow your heads. Right now.”
If they fought the Imperial Knights currently in the kingdom, they could win, of course.
That was likely why the nobles’ pride had not yet bent. They believed they would not lose.
No matter how many Swordmasters there were, this was still the Macelin Kingdom.
Through its growth and the opportunities it had received, the Macelin Kingdom had kept several hidden trump cards.
If it mobilized all of them, it could kill every Imperial Knight.
But...
“Pride means nothing. Avoiding bloodshed is what matters most.”
If they did that, they would lose over fifty percent of the kingdom’s military strength.
It was fifty percent in name, but effectively annihilation.
And it would not just be the troops that disappeared. Various losses would occur in the process of killing the Imperial Knights.
Proceeding with that over nothing but pride was simply madness.
“Make arrangements for Kailen Marin as well... to meet the Imperial Knights alongside the knights of the Macelin Kingdom.”
“But, Your Highness, Crown Princess, if we do that, His Highness Kailen Marin may come to distrust us...”
“Is this really the time to worry about distrust? Besides, our relationship is not so fragile that it’ll break over this. It’ll be fine.”
It was true that they had helped Kailen Marin recover.
It was also true that he needed to keep using the cultivation method in order to recover.
Of course, they had deliberately allowed those nearby to see him using the cultivation method during that process.
Still, that could be dismissed as part of the natural recovery process.
If they disarmed cleanly and insisted on their innocence now, there would surely be no problem.
Of course...
“...How many knights on our side have learned the Marin Cultivation Method?”
“His Highness Kailen Marin has not yet fully recovered... so there are not many. It is estimated to be around ten.”
Sacrifices were unavoidable.
It was regrettable that they had to lose the lives of ten knights raised through blood and sweat, but those who could live had to live.
They could not lose half the kingdom’s forces just to save ten.
Mirne believed her decision was not wrong.
And that day, the knights of the Macelin Kingdom...
“There were only a handful who learned it, but there certainly were some. You dared covet what belongs to the Empire. You deserve to die.”
“Argh...!”
...had to watch comrades they had laughed and talked with only recently lose their heads without being able to do anything.
“His Highness Kailen Marin.”
Kailen Marin faced the Imperial Knights for the first time in a very long while.
Ordinarily, they did not need to speak formally to Kailen Marin, whose rank had been stripped away.
But because so many Macelin Kingdom knights were watching, the Imperial Knights had no choice but to speak respectfully.
To disregard him here would have meant looking down on the Empire that still stood behind him.
“Even outside the Empire, Your Highness remains an imperial citizen. You must exercise greater caution in your conduct.”
“...My apologies. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”
“Please do. I hope this will be the last time we meet over something like this.”
After beheading ten knights of another nation, the Imperial Knights calmly sheathed their swords one after another.
No one could lift their heads during the process.
“Remember this. This matter ends here only because His Highness the Imperial Crown Prince ordered us to show the bare minimum of mercy.”
With those words, the Imperial Knights vanished from the Macelin Kingdom alongside Theo.
“...Imperial Crown Prince, just how far are you planning to interfere with me?”
Mirne was furious.
At that same moment, the Imperial Crown Prince...
“This is insane.”
...could not hide his shock as he explored beneath the Empire.
+++++
The Empire was a device meant to make the Macelin Kingdom shine.
And for the Macelin Kingdom’s sake, the Empire had to fall.
Yet the Empire was set up to be absurdly strong, so it would not collapse easily.
‘A country that needs to fall but cannot easily fall... That’s why they must have put in all sorts of mechanisms that would force it to collapse.’
To make that happen, the Empire had been fitted with various self-destruct mechanisms.
The most dangerous of them were, naturally, the Executioners’ Covenants.
Covenants capable of destroying the Empire if even one was broken.
Lumynix could turn the entire Empire into a death trap, while the Dragon legion behind Arveda would become enraged.
‘So I had vaguely assumed the other Executioners would have something similar.’
But there were Giants underground.
The only reason I could discover this so quickly was because the World Tree had been transplanted onto Velos Empire territory.
Otherwise, it would have taken ages just to find the underground area where the Giants were buried.
“There are limits. This is too much. There’s even a barrier at the entrance to the underground area.”
The ridiculous part was that, just like at the Mage Tower, there was a perception-reduction barrier in place.
“Does it make any sense that we would need to know the name of the underground place where the Giants sleep?”
We did not even know whether such an underground place existed.
Yet it had been designed so that we could only roughly guess its location after hearing its name.
How dumbfounded must the Imperial Crown Prince have been every time he watched the Empire fall like this?
“Your Highness! Now that this lady is here, you need not worry! Albedang! Has arrived!”
“Albedang?”
“I tried pronouncing Arveda cutely!”
“....”
With the World Tree’s power, we found the entrance to the underground area where the Giants slept with remarkable ease.
Its location was ridiculous too. The entrance was beneath the Imperial Palace.
Directly beneath the place where I had retrieved the sword before.
That was the entrance to where the Giants slept.
I had wondered why the sword had been embedded there, but there had been a reason.
‘Had I deliberately gotten into the habit of leaving my sword there? So that even if my other iterations did not know... they would have no choice but to stop by there unconsciously?’
Had I gone through so many regressions that I had formed even unconscious habits?
How many regressions would it take to start thinking that way?
Muttering to myself, I slowly went to where I had pulled the sword free before.
Then I asked Arveda to tear up the entire floor.
“...It is the Giants’ crest.”
As soon as the floor was removed, there really was a door beneath it. Pavan reacted the moment she saw the crest engraved on it.
“Seeing that they deliberately made the door small... I think it may have been done out of consideration for me. This door would be far too small for real Giants.”
“Real Giants? Pavan, aren’t you a real Giant too?”
“I am among the smallest of the Giants. Perhaps that is why... I may have inherited the Covenant. Because my petite size would make it relatively... easier for me to blend into human society.”
A three-meter-tall person was petite?
Then just how tall were Giants on average?
That thought lasted only a moment.
“Petite is a word for me! You stupid tin can! Don’t try to show off how petite you are in front of His Highness! He’s mine!”
“...I didn’t. And you still call me a tin can, Arveda.”
“Hehe! Of course I do.”
The Executioners started bickering among themselves.
Even then, Pavan calmly touched the door.
“I can open it. Shall we go in immediately?”
She looked at me and asked what I wanted to do.
“Of course we should.”
The underground place where the Giants slept, Hypogeum Gigantum.
The members entering it were me, Arveda, Pavan, and Lumynix.
One Imperial Crown Prince and three Executioners possessed enough power to destroy an entire kingdom.
It did not seem like there would be any problems with this group.
‘But how are we supposed to find memories in the underground place where Giants sleep... Do memories have physical forms?’
With that thought in mind, I told Pavan to open the door.
Creeeeak.
The door, far thicker than it appeared, slowly opened and kicked up a cloud of dust.
A door leading underground.
A door set into the floor.
The first thing that greeted me when it opened was a memory of the Imperial Crown Prince.
- I’ll kill you!
Tears of blood streamed down his face.
- I’ll kill you!
He held a sword wreathed in flames.
- You who will destroy the Empire!
He stood against Giants easily over ten meters tall.
- I swear I’ll kill you!
Footnotes:
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