WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 85: Mermaid (3)
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The Imperial Crown Prince was strong.
That was a fact known not only throughout the Empire, but across the entire continent.
Ask anyone, and they would answer the same way, as though it were obvious.
Yet if asked exactly how strong he was, everyone would give a different answer.
Some said he could split the sky, while others claimed he could cleave the sea.
Some said he could erase mountains, while others said he could split the continent itself.
Still others claimed he possessed enough force to destroy the continent, or that he had even killed a god.
Perhaps it was because no one who had experienced his strength firsthand had emerged unscathed.
Most people could not clearly grasp the upper limit of the Imperial Crown Prince’s power.
The knights stationed in the Imperial Palace were no different.
They had no doubt that he was an untouchable, noble, and powerful being.
Still, arguments over exactly how powerful he was never ceased.
“Could His Highness really split the sea?”
“But if he actually could... wouldn’t that be ridiculous? How could a person split the sea?”
“...I think he could. It’s just that there’s never been a reason for him to.”
“That’s true, but if the opportunity ever arose, I’d like to see it.”
One who split the sea.
It would be a marvel, a miracle.
The knights wished for the Imperial Crown Prince to create such a sight, one so magnificent that even calling him a god would not be enough.
Perhaps that wish had truly reached him.
“....”
At that very moment.
“...What is that?”
A white line came into the view of the knights waiting at a port in the Empire’s eastern region, preparing for the aftermath.
It was an utterly alien line.
It looked as though someone had drawn a long, thick streak of white paint across empty space.
“The Little Sun is preparing to write a legend.”
The sharp-eyed knight commanders immediately understood what was happening.
“Do not close your eyes from this moment onward. His Highness the Imperial Crown Prince will show us knights the ideal we must strive toward.”
“Yes!”
At the knight commander’s words, the knights waiting at the port opened their eyes wide and filled them with Mana.
Rumble.
The white line moved.
The line stretching high through the sky slowly descended toward the sea.
“...Divine punishment.”
A punishment dealt by the Empire, the heaven above the heavens.
No one could endure beneath it.
Rumble!
The moment the white line touched the surface of the sea.
Shhhhaaaak!
The sea split apart as though blood had been sprayed.
+++++
“Sea Slash.”
The pure white flames stretching high into the sky followed the blade and struck the sea.
“I’m sorry! Your Highness the Imperial Crown Prince! I’m sorry!”
Having realized the severity of the situation, Talassa hurriedly apologized, but my answer was the same as before.
“Did I not tell you there was no need to apologize?”
There was no need for any apology.
I had no reason to listen, nor did I wish to.
The Merfolk wished for the Empire’s destruction.
The Empire dreamed of Great Eternity.
If our paths differed, there was no need for either side to concern itself with the other.
The sea split apart beneath heat compressed to its absolute limit and destructive physical force, exposing its depths.
As if the divided waters hated one another, they desperately pulled away from the boundary I had created.
The farther the white line descended beneath the sea, the deeper the chasm became.
And at its end.
“So you hid away in a place like that, quietly wishing for the Empire’s destruction?”
I could see the Merfolk kingdom.
I could hear its screams.
The sea that had embraced them vanished in an instant.
Below, Merfolk panicked amid the disaster.
“Tell me everything. Why do the Merfolk wish for the Empire’s destruction? What is this Prophecy Book?”
With the sun at my back, I enlarged White Night resting on Talassa’s palm.
I suspended White Night before the sun behind me.
The Merfolk could not see the sun, yet ironically, it was all they would be able to see.
“Your Highness! Please calm yourself! I beg you! Please, let go of your anger!”
“That is not the answer I want.”
Had Talassa still not come to their senses?
I slowly lowered White Night into the chasm at the center of the sea.
“I understand that if the Covenant cannot be upheld, the Empire will perish! If we are destroyed here... the Empire will also be in danger!”
“Are you threatening me?”
The instant I finished speaking, Theo sought permission with a look, then moved at once.
“You fool. Do you not know how many chances His Highness has already given you?”
Without hesitation, Theo snapped his fingers and tore off half of Talassa’s fin.
It was not a cut, but a separation caused by Telekinesis Magic.
“Craaaaaagh!”
“At this very moment, His Highness’s White Night is falling upon the Merfolk kingdom. Do you wish to turn them all into cooked meat? Choose your words carefully, and give only the answers His Highness wants.”
At Theo’s words, Talassa abruptly swallowed their scream and watched my reaction.
At last, the right kind of fear showed in their trembling eyes.
“...Everything. I’ll give you everything. Please, just spare our lives....”
Complete submission.
Talassa curled up and begged me to save their people.
I had no intention of wiping out the Executioner’s race, so I nodded and withdrew my power.
“You handle the aftermath.”
As soon as I finished speaking, an enormous amount of water rushed toward the Merfolk kingdom to fill the empty space in the sea.
Waves flowing in from every direction crashed into one another, forming a tsunami of monstrous size.
It was large enough to easily swallow an entire kingdom.
Still, the Merfolk were not Merfolk for nothing. They quickly began to calm the tsunami.
Merfolk appeared all around it and began to sing.
Their chorus stopped the tsunami as if by magic, even reducing its size.
“They are Merfolk, after all. They are capable in matters like this.”
Thud.
Muttering to myself, I descended from the air and landed on the deck.
“You have worked hard.”
“You did well too, Theo.”
“...I am honored that Your Highness acknowledges my efforts!!!”
After replying to Theo perfunctorily, I looked down at Talassa, the one who had begged to be spared.
At my look asking how long they intended to remain like that, Talassa suddenly realized their mistake and hurried beneath the sea.
‘The Prophecy Book must be related to Mirne. Were the Merfolk themselves a race created for Mirne’s sake from the start?’
Watching Talassa, I fell into thought for a moment.
The Executioner who wished for the Empire’s destruction, and the Merfolk who believed the Empire would naturally be destroyed.
It was so blatant that it was almost laughable.
On top of that, if the original story had continued, Kailen Marin would have naturally sided with Mirne as well.
The East Grand Duke, who held firm control over the sea, and the Merfolk joining the Macelin Kingdom’s side?
Could there be a better setup for isolating the Empire?
‘If the Covenant is broken, will the Merfolk bring a massive tsunami down upon the Empire?’
A Dragon would rage, a Giant would trample the land, and the land itself would become a deathtrap.
If a tsunami struck the Empire on top of that, its destruction would be unavoidable.
Add the still-unrevealed Covenant of Gilbat the Dwarf to that.
Making the Empire’s land itself disappear would be no difficult feat.
‘No matter how endlessly strong the Imperial Crown Prince is, protecting the Empire’s entire territory would be impossible.’
But from another perspective, if things did not reach that level, the Empire would not fall.
That was what the Empire was, a nation that would never collapse unless absurd misfortune was stacked against it.
Splash!
“I brought it.”
As I was thinking that, Talassa surfaced and spoke urgently.
“For a Prophecy Book containing the Empire’s destruction, it looks rather ordinary.”
The book in Talassa’s hands looked like one that could be found anywhere.
It had a blank black cover and was about as thick as an encyclopedia.
The only unusual thing was that despite having spent a long time underwater, it showed no trace of it.
Thud.
I used Mana to take the Prophecy Book from Talassa’s hands.
The moment I opened it.
- It is unbelievable that a book containing the Empire’s destruction could exist.
- This book, which recorded both great and small events, harbored malice toward the Empire.
- The end of this book described how the Empire would fall.
- This is the worst.
The Imperial Crown Prince’s memories rose to the surface.
‘He used the expression “the worst”?’
As I continued recalling the memories rising to the surface, I immediately checked the book’s final pages.
Flip.
For some reason, the sound of the pages turning was unpleasant and grating.
It felt like hearing the wings of a fly stuck to sticky ointment spread over a scrape.
“Ha.”
On the final page I reached, the words written there were blatant.
[ The Empire shall surely perish. ]
They revealed their malice toward the Empire.
“It feels more like a declaration than a prophecy.”
It was as if it contained the will to destroy the Empire without fail.
Even if the contents unrelated to the Empire were prophecies, the parts concerning the Empire did not seem to be.
[ When the Empire perishes and the continent falls into danger, a woman shall appear and bring peace to all. ]
[ The Empire, which will become the Demon Realm, must be destroyed without fail. ]
[ We must prevent everything in the Empire from being tainted by Demonic Energy. ]
“No, it is not entirely a declaration either.”
Why had the Imperial Crown Prince said the Covenant was not the end?
The reason had just been revealed.
‘The Empire will transform into the Demon Realm.’
I also understood why Mirne had not accepted the people of the Empire.
She must not have wanted to let people who would become the Demon Race into her kingdom.
After all, the Empire was destined to become the Demon Realm.
‘After the Covenant comes a Demon Realm transformation.’
Right. The Empire was not the kind of nation that would fall without this level of absurdity.
The moment I thought that.
[ You have learned that the Empire will transform into the Demon Realm. ]
[ The possibility of the Empire’s destruction rises in advance. ]
[ Possibility of the Empire’s Destruction: 100% ]
[ The Empire will surely perish within five years. ]
The possibility of the Empire’s destruction, which had remained quiet for some time, shot up to an absurd number.
Of course, it reflected a possible future value in advance, but still, one hundred percent.
In the past, I would have been terribly anxious.
Now, it was simply laughable.
“Does a scrap of paper like this dare speak of the Empire’s end?”
Whoosh.
I burned the Prophecy Book.
“Y-Your Highness! The, the Prophecy Book! Without it, how will Corallia know what to do from now on...!”
The moment I burned it, Talassa sprang up from their kneeling position in horror.
I smiled as I watched Talassa.
“There is no need to worry.”
Honestly, I could not understand why Talassa was worried about that.
“From now on, the Empire will rule you. Do not be concerned.”
The Merfolk kingdom, Corallia, was destined to become an Imperial vassal.
“Now that I have confirmed the Prophecy Book’s contents, all that remains is the Covenant.”
Talassa had previously said they did not know much about the Covenant.
But after claiming they could not show me the Prophecy Book and then showing it anyway, I could not trust their claim to know nothing.
“When I mentioned Nerissa, you called her ‘that bitch.’ You seem to hate her deeply.”
“...Th-that is.”
“Just tell me everything. There is no need to think about where to begin. Speak freely.”
Unless Talassa wanted to watch their kingdom be destroyed, they should spill everything they knew.
Footnotes:
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