WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 79: Imperial Garrison (5)
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The second sword meant to kill a god, Sword No. 2, cut straight across Mirne’s back.
From her right shoulder blade to her left hip.
There had been no killing intent behind the slash, so its power was greatly diminished.
Even so, it was enough to inflict significant damage.
“Mirne, I let it slide because there was no solid proof that you met with the representative warrior of our northern peoples, but this is too much.”
It was bad enough that the Crown Princess of a mere kingdom had intruded into land the Empire had declared off-limits to everyone.
She had even made contact with the Great Forest’s most important figure without permission, in a place known for the strictest security.
This was no longer a matter that could be resolved with words alone.
“This is practically a crime worthy of death. A crime that could bring death upon both you and your kingdom.”
She could not claim that she had entered without knowing.
There were already records showing that she had contacted the Verdantia Kingdom and learned information related to the Great Forest.
“Entering Imperial territory without permission is no different from declaring war.”
Even if Mirne survived this, the consequences would remain.
She had entered Imperial land at will, tried to win over its leaders, and attempted to steal the World Tree, which was treated as an Imperial national treasure.
This could never be taken lightly.
“Cough... Urgh... H-how... is Your Highness... here?”
“The Great Forest belongs to the Empire now. Is it strange for me to be in my own land?”
As I answered Mirne’s flustered question, I swung my sword.
Slash!
Without killing intent, I could still injure her.
Following that rule, I was about to inflict enough damage to fully subdue Mirne when...
Thud!
My sword was blocked by a wall of black, hardened earth.
“Even if you made a contract...”
I could sense the Earth Spirit contracted with Mirne dwelling within the wall itself.
I had swung lightly, but for a mere Spirit to block my sword...
The advantage granted by the World Tree truly was remarkable.
But...
“...I heard that inflicting enough damage to break the contract would do the trick.”
I was only holding back against Mirne. There was no need to control my strength against a Spirit.
Whoosh.
My sword, instantly wreathed in flames, cut down the Earth Spirit.
One slash.
A red line remained in the air, proudly displaying its presence.
That red line turned the wall of earth into ashes.
Kiiiiek!
Having suffered damage far beyond what it could endure, the Earth Spirit immediately tried to return to the Spirit Realm.
My Spirits did not miss that moment and seized it.
“Your master is still writhing from her wounds. Do you think she has time to look after a Spirit?”
I left the Spirits to settle matters among themselves.
Then I fixed my gaze on Mirne, who was healing the wound on her back.
“Any last excuses? What the hell were you thinking, coming here and saying something like that?”
A Demon Race invasion. The destruction of the continent.
Mirne had clearly said those things to persuade Ailoren.
Then she said they could gradually resolve everything afterward and prevent the destruction.
It seemed the destruction of every land other than the Macelin Kingdom was already set in stone.
What kind of original story did Mirne know?
Just as I waited for her answer with that thought in mind...
“...Even when I played the game through countless routes and challenges, I never saw anything like this. Even when I installed various mods and enjoyed all kinds of stories... the Imperial Crown Prince was never this much of a presence.”
Mirne suddenly looked at me and began pouring out words.
“This situation makes no sense either. The Imperial Crown Prince has never appeared at the World Tree.”
She was not trying to calmly persuade me.
It was closer to a complete breakdown.
Did she feel that everything had suddenly become tangled?
Mirne wildly tousled her hair as she continued.
“So there’s only one conclusion that makes this situation understandable. You’re a transmigrator too, Imperial Crown Prince.”
Naturally, no one besides me could hear Mirne’s words.
I had taken that measure because I thought she might use strange words to brainwash those around her.
Looking at it now, soundproofing the area had been the right call.
“Right? You’re a transmigrator too, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”
“Mirne, do you think your crimes will disappear if you suddenly start spewing nonsense? If you pretend to be insane?”
Slash!
I swung my sword again.
This time, it did not cut her.
Not putting killing intent into an attack was far more difficult than it sounded.
It had been easy at first, but seeing Mirne’s expression as she spoke filled me with an indescribable irritation.
“...It doesn’t matter whether you’re a transmigrator or not. But... at the very least, you shouldn’t have interfered with me. Do you think you’d be any different? Do you think you could save the entire continent? Isn’t it enough for just the people around you to live well? You should have been in my position! I shouldn’t have had to do anything. Everyone should’ve just liked me... But then you suddenly get in my way like this... Do you know how angry that makes me?”
Even as Mirne continued speaking, I compressed Divine Power and flames at the tip of my sword.
There was no point in talking to her any longer.
‘Time will turn back again anyway.’
There was no way for Mirne to survive this situation.
As I had mentioned earlier, even if she escaped alive, the Macelin Kingdom would be destroyed.
There was only one way to prevent that.
Turn back time as before and make this entire situation as though it had never happened.
Perhaps Mirne knew that as well. Maybe that was why she was recklessly blurting things out.
‘She didn’t remember the rewind at first, so how could she remember it the second time?’
A protagonist was someone who constantly grew.
Perhaps she had obtained an ability related to Save & Load.
In any case...
“You can’t save everyone, but you can become a savior. You must have thought that too, so think about it... Do you really think you can protect an entire continent this vast? No. You just... just have to protect our kingdom, and it’s fine if you protect other places... a little less, isn’t it? I’m the protagonist. A protagonist can be loved no matter what choice she makes. That’s why I did it... That’s what I plan to do... Imperial Crown Prince, so you should give up too. It’ll be destroyed anyway, so rather than supporting an Empire that’s going to fall, support our kingdom instead...”
I listened to Mirne for a while.
“You’re getting awfully casual for someone in your position.”
I gathered the fully compressed power at the tip of my sword.
Then I pointed it straight at Mirne’s neck.
Boom!
I had planned to extract information from her, but after listening to her whining, I changed my mind.
I had not laid a trap just to hear this kind of garbage.
I had also obtained most of the information I needed.
‘So that’s why she rejected the Imperial Crown Prince’s proposal.’
Because she thought everything would be destroyed anyway.
Because she had concluded that, as the protagonist, she could get away with this much.
“Aaaah!”
Mirne immediately screamed in pain as the Divine Power and flames blazed before her eyes.
‘It works.’
It had only been a test, but it seemed to have struck Mirne perfectly.
I had judged attacks without killing intent to be too weak.
So I wondered what would happen if I released my power while thinking of myself as the target.
Perhaps because the intent of the attack was focused on “me,” Mirne, who had been standing close by, suffered the damage as well.
A method of dealing damage through such a loophole.
It felt like exploiting a bug to get past an invincible boss.
‘It really is like a game.’
Ssssss.
The dust stirred up by the explosion of Divine Power and flames slowly settled.
Within the settling dust, Mirne’s ruined appearance was revealed.
It looked as though she had used a Water Spirit and magic to defend herself.
But my power, compressed to its limit, could not be blocked by something like that.
“...You’re ruining everything. Because of you.”
“Your arm is hanging loose, and your face barely resembles a human’s, yet you can still talk.”
“Do you know the faces of people living at the edge of the continent? People you know nothing about, people you have never even met... Do they really feel like people to you? People are dying even at this moment, so are you going to grieve for every one of them every moment? No, you won’t. Right? That’s why I don’t choose to save everyone. There’s no reason to. I can’t understand them. I can’t empathize with them!”
One more attack might kill her.
Just as I ignored Mirne again and tried to compress power at the tip of my sword...
Thoom.
The same thing I had felt in the garden of the Macelin Kingdom happened again.
The world stopped as if by magic.
Everything ceased moving, as though someone had pressed a pause button.
Then, above Mirne’s head, just as before...
[ The protagonist must not die. ]
The exact same message appeared.
Mirne’s System message.
When I first saw it, I had thought the System message itself might be the hidden mastermind.
[ The current flow does not match the original story. ]
[ However, we will first remove the fundamental cause of the protagonist’s current situation. ]
Mirne was simply a puppet controlled according to that System’s will.
But seeing it now, that was not the case.
‘The Imperial Crown Prince’s memories too.’
The Imperial Crown Prince had said that the System reflected Mirne’s subconscious.
Of course, I did not know how many regressions the Imperial Crown Prince had gone through when he said that.
He might have misjudged things based on a similar situation, or he might have said something different in later regressions.
Still...
“But if I think of you as Mirne too, it makes more sense.”
Based on my judgment so far, the System was Mirne as well.
Mirne wanted to bear only a suitable amount of responsibility as the sole protagonist while receiving abundant affection.
The System thoroughly planned the future to support Mirne.
Rather than seeing them as separate beings, I felt they needed to be recognized as one.
[ We will erase Mirne’s past actions of attempting to infiltrate the Great Forest. ]
[ We will revise the past. ]
I had not been able to judge properly the first time, but seeing it a second time gave me some confidence.
The atmosphere and energy given off by Mirne and the System were extremely similar.
“But you won’t be able to turn it all back however you please like last time.”
Creak.
My body, which until then had only been able to move its mouth, slowly began moving.
Earlier than last time, as though a rusted machine were creaking back into motion.
The hand holding my sword moved, and flames gradually gathered at its tip.
“I’ll drive it in at exactly the right moment.”
[ We deny the current situation. ]
Boom!
The moment the message denying the current situation appeared, I immediately released the flames.
If the damage was inflicted after the revised state took effect, it would not be undone. That was the attack I had aimed for.
Unfortunately, I could not confirm whether the attack had succeeded.
Because...
“Your Highness! Unghi! Arveda has arrived! This lady baked bread, but... Ahem, I don’t know how it tastes since it’s my first time making it... B-but I might be happy if you eat it...”
Time rewound.
Precisely to before entering the Great Forest.
To when I had been talking with Arveda and Rowena.
‘It is good that I can keep driving Mirne away like this, at least.’
Still, it would be disappointing if things continued this way.
That thought had barely crossed my mind when...
[ Through the effect of the title ‘Recorder,’ all your actions have been recorded. ]
[ Records of events that occurred in the future are retrieved. ]
[ You are contracted with the Earth Spirit ‘Nomt.’ ]
[ You have freed the World Tree and the Elf race from the System’s influence. ]
[ As a reward, a clue regarding the ‘Noble’ is granted. ]
“What?”
The effect of the unexpected title, Recorder, appeared as a message.
Wait. If this had been recorded...
“...Ha. Mirne will have a hard time for a while.”
Mirne, the wound on your back and the pain from taking that explosion directly across your entire body are going to hurt for a while.
Footnotes:
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