WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Romance Fantasy’s Pushover Crown Prince Is No More ◈
Chapter 86: Mermaid (4)
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Merfolk were by no means a weak race.
They made no preparations whatsoever for anything the prophecy deemed harmless.
With the leeway that gave them, they continued developing their kingdom. It could not compare to the Empire, but it possessed enough power to destroy a kingdom on its own.
The Merfolk kingdom of Corallia also possessed a hidden secret weapon.
Leviathan, a monster capable of swallowing the sea.
Its entire body was covered in scales like shields or armor. It commanded the waves and turned the sea into a disaster zone.
The Kingdom of Corallia had kept the monster sealed for a long time, deciding to break the seal only if the kingdom ever faced a desperate crisis.
It possessed the power to turn the entire sea into a realm of death.
Ordinarily, they would have kept it carefully sealed and maintained it.
"...But with the prophecy, we don't need to stay prepared all the time, do we?"
"I looked through it, and the Prophecy Book doesn't mention any major danger. Do we really have to keep managing Leviathan?"
"What a pain."
Once the Merfolk learned from the Prophecy Book that no major danger was coming, they gradually began to see Leviathan as a nuisance.
It was a damn hassle to manage, and they had no use for it.
Naturally, the Merfolk came to regard Leviathan as a ticking bomb lodged within their kingdom.
Then, for the first and last time, a usurpation took place in Corallia.
The collateral branch rose up after deciding there was no need to manage Leviathan so diligently.
The result was the Corallia of today.
The downfall of the family that had managed Leviathan for generations.
Still, they could not simply abandon Leviathan altogether.
Just as the Merfolk were wondering what to do with it...
"Was that when the Great Prophet appeared?"
"Yes, that is correct."
The Great Prophet appeared and formed a Covenant with Leviathan's family.
From Corallia's perspective, the thorn in its side known as Leviathan was being taken by the Empire, so they welcomed it with open arms.
That was why they knew nothing about the Covenant.
Why would they care when someone was taking away a family that had already been cast aside?
The Talassa family had even more reason to feel that way.
They could not possibly have liked the family they had usurped remaining in the kingdom.
So the Deepheart family left for the Empire as though they had been driven out.
"But why did you drive them out? Shouldn't you have treated them well and kept Leviathan close instead?"
"It had been far too long since Leviathan's power was last used. We did not know when it would ever be needed..."
"So you drove the family that sealed Leviathan in their bodies out to the Empire?"
"...That is correct."
A hollow laugh escaped me at Talassa's words.
I felt like I had seen a comic with a situation like this before.
'They found managing it annoying, so they neglected the very people they should have valued most.'
They had even carried out a usurpation based solely on the Prophecy Book?
I couldn't believe everyone except the Deepheart family had accepted it.
'So they really don't know anything about the Covenant.'
From what I heard, it was no different from the entire kingdom ostracizing the family.
There was no way the Deepheart family would tell the other Merfolk about the Covenant under those circumstances.
"Didn't you think Nerissa, whom you drove out, would take revenge on you one day? She carries such a dangerous monster inside her. Why didn't you treat her well?"
"...Because the Prophecy Book did not say anything about that."
"Ah, I see."
The moment I saw Talassa's expression, which showed that the matter had never been considered that deeply, I quickly reached a conclusion.
'There's nothing to gain from talking any further.'
There were plenty of ways to benefit the Empire by placing the Merfolk kingdom beneath my feet.
But it seemed difficult to get any help regarding the Covenant.
The fact that they had let things reach this point based on a single Prophecy Book said it all.
"Then where did you drive the Deepheart family out to? You couldn't have driven out every last one of them."
When I asked where the Deepheart family was...
"They are... in the western sea."
They were in the west, where the Macelin Kingdom was located.
By now, this much did not even surprise me.
If anything, it felt natural.
'In the end, I'll have to speak with Nerissa again.'
This was all there was to find in the Merfolk kingdom.
"We're returning."
As I prepared to head back to the Empire, I checked the 100% chance of the Empire's destruction displayed on the Empire Status Window.
'The chance of destruction has always dropped sharply and risen sharply, but suddenly hitting 100% is still excessive.'
Before, I had thought the System attached to me, like Mirne's System, might have some kind of authority.
But seeing the chance of destruction suddenly shoot up to 100%, I wondered if that was not the case.
It was a System, but perhaps it was something merely pretending to be one.
Even when I learned that the Empire might become the land of the Demon Race and moved the World Tree...
The Status Window had not reacted at all back then.
'Even if there's a difference between making a guess and recognizing future events through the Imperial Crown Prince's memories.'
There was a glaring gap in it.
It did provide various conveniences like a System.
Still, the sudden 100% chance of destruction gave me plenty to think about.
'Did the Imperial Crown Prince encounter the System during his regressions? He did his best in everything while repeating those regressions... so why did he give up on everything and act like a pushover in this round?'
As those complicated thoughts continued...
- Right. This round has failed too.
- But if I haven't regressed yet... does that mean there's still a chance?
The Imperial Crown Prince's memories suddenly rose to the surface.
Beneath the sky of an Empire that had fallen because it failed to uphold the Covenant.
Demonic Energy poured like rain onto land where no one could live.
Darkness lay beneath a sun that had been obscured at some point.
That darkness opened like a door, and countless members of the Demon Race poured out from within.
A one-sided invasion, the period marking the end of a dying Empire.
Watching it, the Imperial Crown Prince smiled.
- Come to think of it, that's right.
- I am the Empire itself. As long as I do not die, will the Empire not survive as well?
The Imperial Crown Prince drew his sword.
The sword still in his hand was Sword No. 2, the second sword made to kill a god.
- I will destroy the Demon Race alone.
The Imperial Crown Prince's memories ended with those words.
[ You have burned the Prophecy Book that controlled the Merfolk kingdom of Corallia from behind the scenes. ]
[ The Kingdom of Corallia will now return to its former state. ]
[ The crown of the past must return to the throne of the present. ]
A delayed System message appeared to commemorate the burning of the Prophecy Book.
"So in the end, I have to put the Deepheart family back on the throne."
This wasn't a major problem.
I could simply hang a White Night above the Merfolk kingdom and settle it peacefully through conversation.
'Once I return, I can check on Pavan and speak with Nerissa. That should do it.'
With that thought, I checked the Empire Status Window for the first time in a while.
[ Empire Status Window ]
Displays the Empire's current condition.
Administration: Excellent
Treasury: Wealthy (↑)
Military Strength: Strong (↑)
Diplomacy: Worst (↑)
Corruption: ???? ( - )
*If you wish to learn more, enter a keyword to receive a detailed explanation.
Unlike before, the Status Window had become extremely clean.
The eastern region, the north, the Mage Tower, and so on.
Perhaps things had stabilized considerably, because none of them were displayed separately anymore.
It had changed so that detailed information would only appear if I checked it.
'I assumed there wouldn't be anything unusual and only checked it casually.'
I already had a general understanding of the Empire's situation without needing to look at the Status Window.
I had checked it casually, but one unexpected display caught my eye.
'Why has corruption been replaced with four question marks?'
An ambiguous string of punctuation that did not clearly say whether it was good or bad.
I had no idea what it meant.
'Do I have to return to the Empire and tear it all apart again?'
What the hell was this?
Weren't they all working with good intentions now?
Even after one bloody purge. I couldn't believe the corruption value had become strange.
Then, the moment I had that doubt...
[ The hidden male lead, the 'Ruler of the Underworld,' appears. ]
[ He controls most of the underworld across the continent and boasts tremendous influence. ]
[ The Empire's corruption value fluctuates under the influence of the 'Ruler of the Underworld.' ]
[ He wishes to create and claim the darkness of the greatest nation. ]
System messages poured out in a rush.
There was no way that was true, but the speed of the messages almost seemed frantic.
'Huh.'
Looking at the situation, this seemed to have happened while Mirne was progressing the story.
Naturally, Mirne was the protagonist of this world, so she would grow and meet new people.
'It finally used its head.'
Had it given up on pressuring the Empire directly and decided to interfere with it through a hidden element instead?
If that happened, the Empire's public order would inevitably fall into chaos through the combination of the underworld and the Dark Mages.
The corruption indicated by the Status Window was not the corruption of its officials. It meant the Empire itself was truly in danger of rotting away.
"This might be for the best."
I sincerely thought so.
To be honest, the Empire had its dark side, and I had not touched it because I thought properly cleaning it up would be difficult.
If someone appeared to unite them like this, I would be truly grateful.
"To think he would tell me the cleaning isn't finished yet."
I could already picture the delighted smiles of the knights preparing to dance with their swords.
Footnotes:
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