The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 378 Tyrant (5) - Rewrite "The Crown Princess has disappeared again?" Golden Cloud Knights' waiting hall. The knight captain's office. Derek Vagraupf glared at his subordinate irritably. "Didn't I tell you to keep a close watch?" "Well, she's been quiet as a mouse for about a week, so they say they let their guard down." "Tch. Slacking off as usual. Who was on duty that day? This calls for a firm punishment... Hm." Derek's words came to a stop. Because he saw the object his subordinate had quietly held out before him. A 'weapon' so finely crafted, with its smooth silver sheen harmonizing with the black of the wood, that one might almost mistake it for a work of art. "It's a firearm smuggled in from Cardian. He said it's an apology for the trouble he caused you, Captain." "Hmm." Derek turned the gun over in his grip as if testing the feel of it in his hand, then soon curled the corners of his mouth up in satisfaction. The prevailing opinion was that firearms meant little to a 5th rank capable of materializing mana, but put another way, that also meant they were a plenty useful weapon against anyone below that rank — which was why they were popular among the Empire's nobility. Especially one as elegantly finished as this, it was practically a luxury item. By all rights, those who represented a nation's military might ought to have been wary of smuggling in enemy weapons like this and filling the enemy nation's coffers in the process, but neither Derek nor his subordinate gave it so much as a thought. Derek said, tucking the firearm into his coat. "People can make mistakes, after all, so I'll generously let it go this time. Speaking of which, where did the Crown Princess go?" "It seems to be the Dowager Empress's palace." "Tch, is there honey smeared on the place or something? I told her not to crawl in there, and she still won't listen. Her own siblings died acting up like that too." "But is there really a need to block her from going to the Dowager Empress's palace like that? They're a group with no political power anyway, aren't they?" At his subordinate's question, Derek answered simply. "Right. Honestly, whether she goes to the Dowager Empress's palace or not, nothing dangerous is likely to come of it." "Then...?" "Well, isn't it just bothersome? If she starts thinking she can go around taking the initiative on this and that." Going to the Dowager Empress's detached palace itself wasn't dangerous. Derek said that the very notion of her thinking she could take initiative and do something on her own was the troublesome part. "Hey, what kind of knight order is the Golden Cloud Knights?" "The Empire's second knight order." "Right. Whether it's a Crown Prince or a Crown Princess, the Golden Cloud Knights serve this nation's 'next Emperor.' But tell me — is there any real chance the current Crown Princess will actually become Emperor? Hm?" His subordinate shook his head. No matter how optimistically one looked at the situation, there was no way the current Emperor, Mihail, would pass the throne to his elder brother's child when he had perfectly healthy children of his own. "In other words, our real liege to serve is one of His Majesty's children residing in the other palaces. As for the Crown Princess's role, it's nothing more than warming the seat until she clears off — whether to the afterlife, some marriage His Majesty arranges for her, or whatever else." So until that appointed day arrived, all she had to do was just keep breathing. Listlessly. Thinking she could do nothing at all. If she needlessly tried to take the initiative on something, she'd inevitably draw attention, and if some incident broke out in the process, the Golden Cloud Knights themselves might end up suffering for it too. Couldn't she just handle things well without causing any incident? Whether or not the Crown Princess accomplished something, it wouldn't help their advancement at all anyway, so what was the point? "But wouldn't it be a bit dangerous if the Crown Princess went to His Majesty and started crying and making a scene?" "Hm. Well. If we say we tried to keep her from associating with the Dowager Empress's palace, His Majesty would likely be pleased rather than displeased, but if it still bothers you, there's another way. Do patrols." "Sir?" "I mean deliberately flashing your weapons and clanking your armor as you loiter around the Dowager Empress's palace. There's no shortage of ways to intimidate someone without it ever becoming an official problem. Make them feel like, if they keep associating with the Crown Princess like this, either they or that idiot child of hers might lose their heads." The Crown Princess wants to associate with the Dowager Empress's palace? Then all they had to do was make the Dowager Empress's side drive the Crown Princess away. It amounted to a single knight order browbeating the Dowager Empress into producing the outcome they wanted, but they didn't see this as a problem at all. She was a Dowager Empress with no power anyway, wasn't she. If you're weak, you ought to have had the sense to act accordingly on your own. "Understood. I'll see to it right away." After his subordinate had left. Derek looked over the Republic-made firearm still left in his hand once more. "Heh." A pleased laugh slipped out of his mouth on its own. Honestly speaking, from Derek's position, this wasn't some tremendously hard-to-obtain item. If he put in a bit of legwork, he could get his hands on one without much difficulty. What mattered was that he hadn't obtained it by desperately seeking it out himself — those around him simply offered it up on their own. A position, a role, where those around him watched his moods, where even this nation's imperial family could be swayed by a single word or order of his, and none of it was ever treated as a problem. In a word: power. "What a fine world this is." Derek thought back on the past. The period when the previous Emperor had just ascended the throne, and as the former generation of Golden Cloud Knights who had followed him were promoted to the Royal Guard, a new Golden Cloud Knights had to be recruited. Derek, too, had been able to get a spot as one of the lowest-ranking knights. He'd been happy. He believed he'd stepped onto a solid path to success. But the knight order life he'd expected turned out to be far from happiness. Derek, too, had been talented enough to be called a genius back in his hometown, but that sort of thing didn't even register in the knight order. Everyone there had grown up hearing much the same thing about themselves. Endless competition. Endless training. Endless restraint. Fail to keep up one's own training and one fell behind in an instant, while wielding power or indulging in luxury was treated as a flaw. Derek, who had risen without much effort to begin with thanks to his talent and his family's backing, soon fell behind in an environment where people with talent equal or superior to his own also struggled desperately hard, and far from any brilliant rise to success, he was forced to live hidden in the shadows. That changed, thanks to the Emperor's sudden death. The newly enthroned Emperor cast out the Royal Guard who had been with his elder brother since his days as Crown Prince and filled it with his own people instead, and once the convention that the Royal Guard was drawn from former Golden Cloud Knights was broken, the current Golden Cloud Knights were shaken as well. And the Empire rapidly transformed into an environment where people like Derek found it easy to thrive. A world where sharing a drink and building rapport at a drinking party mattered more than ever swinging a sword on the training grounds. A world where promotion depended not on skill or accomplishment, but on how well one had greased palms with bribes and how skillfully one had latched onto the right connections. Those who were stronger than Derek, more diligent than Derek, more upright than Derek, fell behind or were cast out one by one. For they were fools who failed to realize that when the water upstream was muddy, trying to stay clear on your own would only earn you hatred. But Derek was wise, and so, with the skill of a mere low-to-mid 4th rank — worse than even a rank-and-file member — he was still able to rise to the position of captain. Well, it wasn't that big a problem. The average skill of the Golden Cloud Knights was dropping with each passing day anyway. (E/N: It kind of sounds like a big problem xD) Derek curled his lips into a bitter smile, recalling Baldur, the 6th-rank knight who had once offered knight captain Derek some advice — or rather, nonsense — warning that at this rate the Golden Cloud Knights would turn into a band of common men, and who had been driven out for it. "Idiot. Why on earth would raw strength matter for the Golden Cloud Knights, who operate only within the imperial palace to begin with? Politics matters far more." Was someone going to assassinate a member of the imperial family right in the heart of the Empire? Or would the knight order of the Empire's successor ever actually have to march onto a battlefield and swing a blade themselves? The Empire was vast anyway, and there were plenty of people. No matter how much people talked up the threat from Cardian, they themselves weren't the ones who'd actually be fighting them anyway. That was the job of those beneath them. "Since I've finally gotten my hands on one, I suppose I should try out a test shot." Paying no mind to the fact that it was still working hours, Derek left the captain's office empty in pursuit of some entertainment. The fact that he'd just given the order to intimidate the Dowager Empress had already long since slipped from his mind. *** "Hm, that took quite a while to find you. You really were hard to track down." That evening. Derek, returning to his own office, widened his eyes at the sight of an unfamiliar young man brazenly occupying his chair. "Who the hell are you. Do you have any idea where you—" "Failing grade. When someone you don't recognize is sitting calmly in your own territory, you should draw your sword first and try to subdue or kill them before anything else. In the time it takes to spout threats like that, you'd die easily three times over." "—What?" A sense of wrongness. A chill of dread. The young man's strength, as far as Derek's spiritual sense could tell, was clearly unimpressive. His body wasn't sickly looking in any particular way, but it wasn't a trained body either, and his mana was at a pathetic level. Even judged generously, he was at most 2nd rank. If Derek merely felt like it, he could cut off that head on the spot. And yet, what on earth was this strangely unpleasant atmosphere about? Derek raised his voice, trying to call for the subordinates waiting in the knight order's hall. Shhk —And his neck was severed. "Gack!?" Derek reflexively grabbed at his own neck with both hands. And then he soon realized that his neck was still perfectly attached. "Those who've been punched again and again flinch without meaning to whenever a fist comes near their face. Someone who's been burned fears fire, and someone who's been trapped in a tight space fears confined places." Leaving Derek's bewilderment and shock behind him, the young man calmly went on with what he was saying. "You'll end up the same way. Ah, well, it's only killing intent, so it's nothing too impressive." What kind of insane talk is this — Derek tried to open his mouth to say. Shhk And the very next moment, a sword plunged into his eyeball. "Aaaaaargh!!" Derek clutched at his own eye. But there was no wound. Yet the pain had unmistakably been there. 'What is this, right now — what in the world is this!!' Derek had unmistakably felt the sensation of a longsword stabbing into his eye and boring into the inside of his skull. Yet in reality, he hadn't suffered any wound at all. Hallucination. Illusion magic. A mental attack. Such words came to his mind. "You bastard, where do you get off using sorcery on me!!" Derek, enraged, tried to draw his sword. Shhk "Hiik!?" And he realized that everything below his wrist had already been severed. No. His wrist was fine. He wasn't hurt. This was nothing but illusion magic. Shhk All he had to do was ignore the pain. Just endure it a little longer. Shhk That man hadn't even moved from his spot this whole time. There was no particular sign of mana from him either. One strike, and it would be over. Shhk It's an easy thing. Far too easy a thing. So— Shhk "Guh, gwaaahhh...! Hngh......!!" Derek collapsed where he stood. Sitting there, he bawled his eyes out, dignity be damned. It hurts. It hurts so much. Every time he tried to attack the man before him, some part of his body was cut, stabbed, shredded into pieces. Yet his body was unharmed. Which meant the sensation stayed alive the whole time. Shhk Derek tried to call for help. He felt the sensation of the skin on his neck being sliced away, thin layer after thin layer. Shhk Derek tried to beg. He tried to ask why this was happening, to say he'd do whatever was wanted of him. The kneecap he'd meant to kneel on was minced into tiny pieces. Shhk Derek tried to flee. For every inch he backed away from the young man, his body was sliced into cube-shaped pieces. Shhk Derek tried to pass out. A fountain of blood, born of his major arteries being sliced through, poured over his face like water from a dipper. Why are you doing this to me, of all people. What do you want. You have to tell me or how am I supposed to know. I'll give you money, honor, anything — just spare me. It hurts so much, please stop. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I don't even know what I did wrong but I apologize. Spare me. Stop it. You think you'll get away with this, you bastard. I'll have my revenge. No, no, I won't do anything like revenge. So stop. Mom. Save me. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. My hand is gone. My eye is rolling on the floor. I can't see my own insides. I was wrong. God, I was wrong. Please save me. I said save me, you dogs!! You incompetent bastards!! I'm begging to be saved, so save me from that devil!! Ah, no. I'm sorry for getting angry. So please, just finish it now. Someone, anyone, help me. I'm sorry for being born. I won't be born again. I don't want this. I don't want to be cut anymore. What should I do? What do I have to do? What do I have to do to make this end? Kill me. Please. Just kill me already. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for trying to die without permission. Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Shhk Anger was cut away. Resentment was cut away. Greed was cut away. The desire for revenge was cut away. Calculation was cut away. The survival instinct was cut away. And Derek finally arrived at the answer. I will obey your command. Everything else was unnecessary. That alone was the one choice that didn't hurt. If the choices available to a human being named Derek numbered in the hundreds of millions, then all one had to do was cut away every single one of those hundreds of millions until nothing remained but loyalty. Because a mouse trapped in a single-path maze, with every fork blocked off, has no choice but to go forward. Derek thought, having finally become happy. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. I will obey your command. *** "Hmm. Killing intent alone really does take too long after all. And it tends to dull one's judgment too. Not a method worth using often, but for a quick fix in a pinch, it's not bad." "Brother. Brother." "What is it?" "If there's something I've done wrong, please tell me ahead of time. So I can make a quick escape from this mortal world." "Hahaha. What an amusing joke." "Ahaha. It's not a joke though?"