WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 83: Mermaid (1)
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The Imperial Garrison had been deployed across various kingdoms under the pretext that frequent wars had lately threatened to plunge the continent into chaos.
"...Just temporarily?"
"Yes, temporarily."
"How can you call it temporary when we don't know when it will end?"
"Is the Empire obligated to tell you when it will end?"
Entire Imperial knight orders, made up solely of Swordmasters, had been stationed throughout the various kingdoms.
There was not a single kingdom that welcomed them with open arms.
From their perspective, if the knight orders put their minds to it, wiping out a kingdom would be no issue at all.
Still, no one could openly voice their dissatisfaction with the Empire.
With things as they were, the most excited group was the Empire's intelligence unit, the Empire's Eye.
"I don't even remember the last time we were able to examine another country's information this comfortably."
"With this one request for cooperation in providing information for the Imperial Garrison's deployment, we'll be able to uncover nearly every secret they have."
"Just because they're weak kingdoms doesn't mean they have nothing to teach us. This seems like technology we should introduce in the Empire."
The Imperial Knights naturally needed to learn about each country as they were stationed there.
Now, without any negotiations at all, that information could be extracted unilaterally.
The Empire's Eye could openly gather every country's secrets in one place and examine them without hesitation.
As a result,
[ The Empire is gaining a broad understanding of the continent's knowledge. ]
[ The Empire's Eye can now distinguish high-quality materials even more effectively. ]
[ The general standards of knowledge and education within the Empire are expected to rise. ]
"I didn't expect effects like these."
The Empire had naturally gained another opportunity to advance.
It would be nice if things kept sailing along without incident.
"So you did see Merfolk?"
"Yes. I encountered them a few times, but... even then, it was hard to tell whether they were truly Merfolk."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
I had come to the eastern region with Kailen Marin.
'Does Mirne know a technique that can restore a destroyed mana core? He's recovered quite a bit.'
When the Black Mane Knights handed Kailen over, he was in far better condition than I had expected from someone who should have been a wreck.
His personality had also changed considerably.
Before, he had been like a carefree monkey who knew nothing and only wanted to eat and play.
Now, he had some of the composure Bedin showed while being educated by the Grand General.
More accurately, perhaps his manners had simply been drilled into him.
'Then again, it would be a problem if they still hadn't been.'
Kailen Marin's current position was extremely ambiguous.
All his titles had been stripped from him, and he had left for the Macelin Kingdom as though he had been driven out.
Strictly speaking, his status was lower than that of a commoner.
Yet it was obvious he would not be treated well in the Macelin Kingdom if that happened, so I had sent him there with only the shell of his former title as East Grand Duke.
That did not mean Kailen could use that title to throw his weight around either.
He truly occupied a position that was neither here nor there.
I had wondered whether I should remind him of that when he returned to the Empire.
"I'll guide you directly to where I saw the Merfolk."
"You're handling things more quickly now."
It was very convenient that I did not have to worry at all about how to deal with this completely changed version of him.
He didn't lose sight of his current circumstances and bring up wanting to see the current East Grand Duke or visit his old estate.
He only silently focused on guiding us to where the Merfolk were.
'And despite all that, he's still hung up on Mirne. Really...'
As I thought about various things, the ship we were on continued speeding ahead.
It was an Imperial fast ship that Kailen Marin had originally intended to give to the Macelin Kingdom.
I could roughly imagine what would have happened if it had been taken from us.
'He was going to give away a ship that can move this quickly and even has a Magitech engine, just like that.'
Even as those thoughts crossed my mind, my gaze remained on the sea.
"Once the Empire is peaceful, traveling around like this wouldn't be bad."
It was something I said without thinking.
At that,
"Your Highness, this lady... thought so too! Unghee!"
Arveda, who had been quietly watching me from behind, reacted.
As if she had been waiting for me to say it, Arveda slipped closer to my side.
"Once everything is settled, a trip around the world doesn't sound bad either!"
"Yes, I suppose not."
She confidently offered her opinion, then subtly leaned her head toward me.
I knew exactly what that meant.
Pat, pat.
I stroked Arveda's head.
Some time later, Kailen Marin spoke.
"Here. This is where I first found the Merfolk."
We arrived at the place where Kailen Marin had seen them.
The moment we arrived, the ship was anchored through Mystery and magic.
"So do we just wait here?"
"More precisely, I dived down. I dived until I thought I had reached the deepest point, and that was when I met the Merfolk."
"So they appeared because you entered their territory."
"Yes."
What had the Mermaid Executioner been thinking when she lied about wanting the Empire destroyed?
To find out, I needed to meet the Merfolk.
So,
"If entering their territory made them appear, even a light threat should be enough to draw them out."
Fwoooosh!
I immediately called forth my power.
Why would I need to dive down to meet them?
I had the power to make them come to me.
People often called the Imperial Crown Prince the Empire's Little Sun.
It was naturally meant as a sign of respect, but I wondered if there might be another meaning hidden in it.
'Maybe I'm called the Little Sun because I can make something like a little sun.'
Rumble...
A mass of flames compressed to the limit burned white over the sea, ready to burst at any moment.
Its presence was overwhelming, as though it could fall beneath the surface at any second and blow a massive hole through the middle of the sea.
At first, it had been no bigger than my thumbnail.
Yet it was growing so quickly that I could see it expand in real time every time I blinked.
"...This is Sol Velos's power."
Kailen Marin muttered in a daze as he watched it.
I kept focusing on creating the little sun.
The more I used this power, the more skilled I felt at handling it.
The result stood before me now.
White Night.
If I blew away all the seawater in an instant, wouldn't the Merfolk come out on their own?
With that thought, I continued enlarging White Night.
"Arveda, Theo, Lumynix... prepare for the aftermath."
"Unghee!"
"Yes! I, Theo, won't let anything happen to this ship!"
"Understood."
The moment White Night grew as large as a huge boulder one might see in the mountains,
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Something repeatedly leaped out of the water.
"Wait! Wait! What the hell are you doing?!"
"You're not going to drop that, are you? You can't be serious, right?!"
"Huh? It's Kailen! Hey! We saved you back then, and you're going to repay our kindness with enmity?!"
They desperately began shouting to stop White Night from falling.
Seeing that, I slowly nodded while keeping White Night suspended in the air.
Like I said, there was no need to go meet them ourselves.
+++++
Merfolk.
A mysterious race that lived beneath the sea.
In the deep ocean, the Merfolk had continued their history within their own kingdom.
Merfolk generally lived longer than humans and reacted sensitively to changes across the continent.
That allowed them to remain largely hidden from humanity until now.
Of course, that did not mean they had completely cut off all ties with humans.
Starting with their first encounter with the Great Prophet, they had occasionally met humans and spoken with them.
Kailen Marin had been one of those people.
They clearly remembered saving that ridiculous human who had nearly died while fooling around.
"You're going to retaliate like this?! By telling them where we live?!"
This was the first time in their history they had faced such severe retaliation.
A few ungrateful people had tried to capture Merfolk and turn them into slaves before, but...
"What the hell is that thing floating above the surface?! It's scary!"
"Are you going to drop it?!"
Even when they searched through their history, there had never been someone so openly trying to strike their homeland.
"We saved you!"
"Get rid of that right now! Otherwise, we'll get angry too!"
The Merfolk pointed at Kailen Marin as they shouted.
Then they saw the person beside him, and their expressions stiffened.
"Isn't this insane?"
"He's impossibly handsome."
"There was never a Merfolk who looked like that."
"He's completely cold... Um, he's cold, but he looks really angry."
"His eyes are scary."
The atmosphere seemed ready to turn around based on looks alone.
In that situation, Imperial Crown Prince Bellon leisurely lowered his head and looked down at the Merfolk.
"Are you the Merfolk?"
"Y-yes..."
"Do you know a Mermaid called Nerissa Levi Deepheart?"
He got straight to the point.
The Merfolk's expressions changed again the moment they heard that name.
Only seconds earlier, they had been staring at Bellon's face with infatuated expressions.
The instant they heard Nerissa's name, their faces crumpled.
"Tell that bitch not to show her face until she destroys the Empire!"
They revealed their true feelings without holding back.
The Imperial Crown Prince smiled brightly at those words.
"That is a good answer."
Fall, White Night.
In the middle of the sea.
The sun fell.
Footnotes:
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