The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 175 Crown Prince Alondre (10) - Late Summer Night's Dream (Part 1) Balduer von Lairenol was a knight of the Eizern Empire. Moreover, he was not just a simple knight, but someone with such outstanding skill and achievements that he was called a hero of the Empire. He had already served three Emperors, his accumulated merits were recorded as an epic poem, and young knights respected him and made him their goal. [Sir Balduer. I shall appoint you as an advisor to the Golden Cloud Knights and the Crown Prince's sword instructor.] Therefore, when the current Emperor entrusted him with a new duty, what Balduer felt was a trace of bitterness. 'This will be my last position.' It wasn't particularly that the Emperor had oppressed him or relegated him to a sinecure. Being the tutor of the imperial heir was one of the most honorable positions an imperial knight could hold. In a situation where those wanting that position were countless, specifically selecting Balduer for this role was closer to a reward the Emperor gave to a subject who had devoted long service. A consideration saying that since he had worked hard all this time, he should rest comfortably and leisurely in his later years before departing. However, while he understood this fact with his head, he couldn't help but feel stifled in his heart. 'I'm still an active veteran in my prime! Why are they trying to make me into a back-room old man on the verge of retirement!' In fact, royalty don't properly learn swordsmanship. More precisely, they don't need to. After all, even if royalty learn swordsmanship to the bone, how often would they have occasion to use it? When royalty move, it's basic that guards always move with them, and even if the royal himself is stronger than the guards, he shouldn't step forward first while pushing aside the guards. That would be putting the cart before the horse. A sport for mental and physical discipline. That was exactly the extent of the value of swordsmanship that royalty learned. Among them, there were those who admired the heroic tales of ancient heroes or simply had an aptitude for it and delved into swordsmanship day and night, but the problem was that what Balduer had to teach was the Crown Prince. For the Crown Prince, who would already be at his limit just acquiring knowledge and skills related to running the nation, delving deeply into swordsmanship was simply physically impossible. Though he had complaints, the loyal old knight dared not reveal them. He only made a bitter vow to do his best within his capabilities. "Hmm? Eh? Oh ho, this is physical enhancement. Indeed, mana is truly a mysterious power." "Sword aura. Objects imbued with mana achieve results that surpass ordinary performance, truly remarkable." "How did I do it? Hmm, I just kept doing it and it worked out. Isn't this all because you taught me so well, Master?" To state the result first, all of Balduer's resolve and regrets were completely useless. Because the Crown Prince was a monster among monsters who achieved overwhelming accomplishments even with just the amount of time others invested in learning as a cultural pursuit. 'If it's this person!' He might be able to reach the same realm as the legendary founder. No, he will reach it! The position of Transcendence (7th Rank), which even Balduer himself had only reached the wall of but could not ultimately overcome! The old knight who received 300 times the fortune of having a disciple in his later years went mad with excitement, and began stirring up all departments saying he had to somehow increase the Crown Prince's sword training hours. The juniors who had to live on edge every time because their great senior of their grandfather's generation was watching them with fierce eyes were happy thinking they could finally live a bit comfortably, but had to stand at attention again before they could even rest their backs on the warm ondol floor. "Swordsmanship? Swoooordsmanship? Has this swordsman gone mad? How dare you thrust such metal scraps at a talent who will rewrite the history of magic!! His Highness should learn more magic!!" "No, that's not right! His Highness has the qualities of a great writer! Whether sword or magic, they're just worldly force, but literature lasts thousands of years!" "Ho-honestly, I think acting is His Highness's calling. Hiding one's true feelings and creating various faces is also a virtue of a ruler...." If the other professors who heard rumors about Balduer hadn't restrained him, and if each of them hadn't been big shots that even Balduer couldn't easily ignore (it naturally became that way since they picked the best from each field), Balduer might have ultimately achieved his wish. Just thinking about that incident made Balduer grit his teeth even now after several years had passed, but when he looked at the scene before his eyes, that anger too melted away like snow. '...Your fundamentals have become even more refined.' Slowly but surely. The Crown Prince's sword continued to move without hesitating or breaking its motion for even a single moment. At first glance it might seem like he was just repeating certain movements as if dancing, but Balduer could tell. Even the same downward strike contained different force. The pressure applied to the toes, the degree of twisting in the waist, the angle of the wrist - everything was different. And no mana whatsoever was involved. It was a process of purely changing how the body was used, refining and optimizing technique. 'Originally, the faster a genius rises to high levels, the easier it is to neglect the fundamentals. Increasing sword aura output is more obvious and noticeable than fixing one movement or one bad habit. But His Highness doesn't even make such mistakes!' The old knight, intoxicated with emotion, approached the Crown Prince who had finished training and offered generous words of praise. "Magnificent, Your Highness. I'd like to show this to the young ones in the knight order." To Balduer's words, the Crown Prince replied with a bitter smile. "You praise me too much. I'm just belatedly correcting mistakes I've been making all along." "There are countless people in the world who don't even know they've made mistakes. Just realizing it yourself is remarkable." "Hmm, it's nothing remarkable. I just suddenly became interested in pure human strength that doesn't use mana." "I should follow your example as well." Amid the warm and friendly conversation, Balduer thought. '...I've been observing carefully for the past few months, but I still don't sense any problems with His Highness. Was it just my imagination when I briefly felt His Highness's presence seemed disturbed during the last inspection? Indeed, when you're away from actual combat, your senses must rust.' Rather than advanced techniques like cutting through space, looking back at fundamentals wouldn't be bad either, Balduer quietly resolved. And the Crown Prince also thought to himself. 'Hmm, the suspicions from the Gritz incident seem to be finally clearing.' If Isaac 'disappears' while all eyes are focused on him like now, it would cause quite an uproar, so he'd need to wait some time until public opinion quiets down, but after that he should be able to create a new clone again. Looking forward to what role he would play this time, the Crown Prince fell asleep in a good mood that day. *** You opened your eyes to the sensation of warm sunlight piercing your eyes. "...Hmm?" Not the soft bedding you usually woke up on, but the feel of something harder and lighter. The official name is sunlounger. A reclining chair often used in places like beaches was asserting its presence behind your back. "Why are you just sitting there in a daze?" At the voice you suddenly heard, you turned your gaze. And your eyes widened. "...Blanca?" Sky-blue hair and sky-blue eyes. She, whom you had met during your time acting as an adventurer, was there. ...And for some reason, wearing a swimsuit no less. "What is that outfit?" Perhaps because you were too surprised, you unconsciously asked in the tone of your adventurer days rather than as the Crown Prince. But this too was unavoidable. The woman named Blanca you knew was fundamentally calm, rational, and yet somehow reminiscent of a precarious blade. But the swimsuit she was wearing now was something far from adult-like no matter how you looked at it. The combination of her slightly shadowed dark circles and the competitive swimsuit couldn't be more unbalanced. "I just wore what the staff recommended." Somehow like making an excuse, Blanca said while slightly averting her eyes. "...Is it strange after all?" "Hmm, no. It's fine." You quickly shook your head to deny her words. Saying 'Yes, it's strange' here was not something Bern would do. "Then that's a relief." Smiling slightly as if relieved, Blanca took out a drink from the ice box under a nearby parasol and handed it to you. You took it blankly, and drank the beverage to wake up your mind that was still hazy like fog. The sweet yet cool taste reminiscent of tropical fruits stimulated your mouth, but your head remained somewhat dull and your memory vague. You reflexively tried to solve this, but then noticed Blanca's gaze looking at you with strangely wistful eyes and stopped. Well, thinking that sometimes this kind of thing isn't bad either. The late summer night's dream began.