Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: The Lion is Always Tested #02
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I want to talk a little about Richard Ermengarde.
The Crown Prince of the Empire, the greatest shield protecting humanity in this world right now. In the original novel, until he was ultimately killed by the Demon King's Army's schemes, he was called humanity's future—the strongest prodigy, outshining even Kaiyen Silversword, who was acknowledged as a hero.
He was a direct disciple of the Three Sword Saints, hailed as the empire's greatest swordsman of his generation, and at just twenty-one years old last year, he was already recognized as equal to them—one of the top candidates for the strongest.
On top of that, in magic, he was the personal disciple of the great archmage Gaunav, who single-handedly erased the curse of the Lich Harmon disaster ten years ago, and he was a brilliant genius on the verge of reaching the 7th Circle, the benchmark for archmages.
Not only that, he achieved astonishing feats in every field that caught his interest, and right before his death, he was trying to evolve the empire's administrative system to the next level—a genius among geniuses.
Because of that insane talent, throughout the story, I kept wondering if he was the author's self-insert. He was a Mary Sue character, the only one ever called Kaiyen's rival.
Of course, he was described as devastatingly handsome on Kaiyen's level, with a great personality too—the only flaw mentioned was his bad habit of testing people whenever he got interested in them...
'And this is supposed to be flawless?'
That handsome silver-haired man, laden with all those grandiose titles, was now glaring at me like I was the enemy who killed his parents.
"P-Please, take a seat, Arthin Ludwig."
"Y-Yes, understood, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
His refined tone contrasted sharply with his gritted teeth—his voice seethed with rage, as if he were searching for a reason not to kill me right there.
"Before we get into the main topic... Arthin Ludwig... Would it be alright to call you Arthin-kun?"
...He was a bit different from the Crown Prince I remembered from the 4th regression.
Back in the 4th round, when I first went to greet him around the time of the 2nd-year midterms, he had been more casually friendly. He'd even said something like, "Hey, Arthin-kun~?" with that sly grin.
But the man before me now... felt distant from the one in my memories.
"Ah, yes. Call me whatever's comfortable..."
Ahem. Despite being overwhelmed by that murderous glare, I couldn't let myself be dragged along in this meeting with the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince Richard's core trait was that he was a man driven purely by curiosity.
No matter how polite, strong, or talented someone was, if they couldn't pique his interest, he wouldn't fully open his heart to them.
In the original story, he'd taken an interest in Kaiyen, who helped people through extreme self-sacrifice. And in the previous regression, I...
'When he asked about my goal and I said killing the Demon King, he eventually approved.'
Either way, the key point was this: in a meeting with this Crown Prince, I absolutely couldn't come across as someone to be looked down on or boring.
"How should I address Your Highness the Crown Prince?"
"Hm...? Ah, I see. Since I'm calling you Arthin-kun casually, feel free to do the same."
"Casually? How could I possibly address Your Highness the Crown Prince so..."
After I politely refused once, the Crown Prince finally regained enough composure to hide his anger outwardly. He smiled and waved his hand.
"No need to worry. No one will reprimand you, so call me however you like."
At this point, the form of address Richard probably wanted was something like "Richard" or "Senior." But I couldn't let him underestimate me. It was time to show off the manly charm of Arthin.
"Then, may I call you Big Brother?"
Crack!
The glass window behind Crown Prince Richard shattered completely, right on the verge of total collapse.
"Th-That might be a bit too informal, don't you think? We're barely meeting for the first time, after all, Arthin-kun?"
"How about brother-in-law?"
Bang!!!
Whoa, damn. The desk Richard slammed split clean in half and collapsed.
"...Let's go with 'Senior.' That seems appropriate."
Richard's mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren't laughing at all. It clearly etched my existence into his mind. Who in their right mind would come to ask the Crown Prince for his sister's hand in marriage and call him "brother-in-law"?
"Understood. Richard-senior."
Seeing the leisure fade from Richard's demeanor, I hid a satisfied smile and continued the conversation.
*
After that, the talk proceeded monotonously. Before getting to the point, the Crown Prince asked a bunch of trivial questions.
Questions about the Ludwig Family, his knowledge of imperial history, matters related to the imperial family.
Well, truthfully, the hidden intent behind those questions was to indirectly mock the vast gap between me—a successor from some insignificant baron's family in a kingdom—and Agnes, the Empire's imperial princess.
"...You know more about the empire's history and the imperial family than I expected."
"Agnes taught me directly. I also studied on my own in advance."
At the mention of Agnes teaching me, Richard's eyebrow twitched. He seemed to judge that he couldn't nitpick my knowledge and changed the subject.
"By the way, I was quite surprised to hear that you like Agnes. As you know, the Rexton Wise incident and the matter with Rexton Wisen were pretty noisy."
I nodded at that. The duel with Sion had been blown up big-time because the Crown Prince thought it'd be amusing and encouraged the scale.
"As you know, in noble society, displays of force aren't viewed kindly. And a hot-tempered nature isn't ideal in romantic relationships either... As her big brother, I can't help but worry."
The Crown Prince's gaze demanded what excuse I'd make for the incidents he'd stirred up. It was a predictable question within expectations, so I answered calmly.
"In Rexton's case, as you know, that guy had been looking down on me for a long time, leveraging his family's prestige and tarnishing my honor. As a man and a noble, I believe I had every right to act for my honor."
"Even so, resolving it with force on the first day of enrollment isn't the best solution. And the Rexton Wisen incident happened inside the student council room? You could have left it to us to mediate."
I chuckled inwardly at that.
In this world, the one who'd been happiest when I beat up Rexton Wisen was the Crown Prince himself, right?
"I didn't want to treat a guy who insulted my lover as a 'whore' as an equal human being. I believe Agnes should never hear such degrading words."
"...Of course, I agree with you there. Wisen crossed the line."
"And if you already know Rexton was behind the Rose Pavilion incident, then you must understand what kind of person Rexton Wise is."
Richard quietly nodded, apparently having no retort. He wouldn't want to defend a guy who'd tried to summon a Demon King's Army executive just to nitpick me.
"And above all, the most important fact is that it's not me unilaterally liking Agnes—we love each other mutually, and we've even discussed matters after our engagement."
As I pressed forward suddenly, Crown Prince Richard's lip twitched, and he let out a small sigh.
"...Think about it from my position as her big brother, hearing that two people who've known each other for less than a month are suddenly getting engaged, Arthin-kun."
...Ah.
'No wonder his reaction is completely different from the previous regression...'
Thinking about it, Agnes and I had known each other for five years in the 3rd regression, plus three more in the 4th, and we'd been officially dating for two. But that was just our relationship.
From the Crown Prince's perspective, two people who'd claimed to be meeting for the first time at the duel were announcing an engagement after not even a month. Naturally, he might see me—a guy with no family inheritance—as some opportunist trying to climb the social ladder by landing a good woman.
'Still, the fact that he's meeting me like this means he doesn't see me as just some thug because of the power thief or Rose Pavilion incidents...'
Yeah, that explained the anger and killing intent, yet his calm continuation of the conversation.
"Even so, it's the truth. I'm not talking about engagement with Agnes on a mere whim of emotion. The reason I came here today is to greet you, her precious family, the Crown Prince, and to show you the man named Arthin."
In that case, there was only one thing I needed to do. Beyond mere formal acknowledgment, I had to prove to the Crown Prince the value of the man named Arthin Ludwig.
"Of course, judging by family alone, I might seem like a worthless nobody unfit for Agnes. But I've heard from her that you truly love Agnes, Your Highness. I don't think a man like you would deny her partner based solely on family status."
I spoke boldly and confidently, meeting Crown Prince Richard's eyes without flinching.
Those eyes, so like Agnes's, held a curiosity about me that was slightly different from the previous regression—but unmistakably there.
"So, whatever it takes to earn your recognition, I'll do it."
That was as good as a sign of success for this meeting.
***
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After that, the conversation ended more smoothly than expected.
Was it because my reputation from beating up Wisen, the Rose Pavilion incident, and the power thief case had helped?
-"Alright, then at least prove you're a talent worthy of Agnes."
"Prove? How?"
"Simple. I hear you're receiving unparalleled favoritism from the professors with your talents lately? Prove that talent." -
The problem was that the task the Crown Prince assigned wasn't easy.
'Match his scores on this midterm...'
Did that mean he wouldn't hand over Agnes unless I was on his level? The only one in this world with talent befitting Richard, called a genius throughout the story, was Kaiyen.
'Unless he plans to let Agnes die a virgin, he's just testing me.'
In the previous regression, he hadn't given any weird task like that, so yeah—he wanted to see the skills of the guy who'd enchanted Agnes in just a month.
Anyway, for that reason, I'd been diligently attending all my classes lately, filling in the details at night and studying hard.
"Phew... Matching the Crown Prince's scores—how close can I get?"
"Big Brother's level? That's easy, isn't it? You've already secured top of the 1st years."
"It's not that simple. It's not just the highest score among this year's 1st years—he wants me to match or exceed the record-breaking scores he set."
Just to clarify, with twenty years of battle-honed knowledge, I'm confident I wouldn't lose to him at full strength.
During the Demon King's Castle backdoor in the 4th regression, I thought I'd reached a level equal to or above Kaiyen at his peak.
But theory exams are different from practical combat.
'There's still so much detail I don't know in written theory... At 1st-year level, I can probably fill the gaps somehow.'
Ugh. I groaned, savoring my cocoa to relieve the stress.
"Anyway, I'm planning to study late again tonight. You too, Shaomei—study hard and hit the passing line. Got it?"
I chuckled, then noticed Shaomei and Syrka staring at me intently as I enjoyed my snack while studying.
"...What? Why are you suddenly staring at me like that?"
"Big Brother, have you gained muscle and grown taller lately? You look ridiculously sexy now, you know?"
"Even with glasses, your manly look is so appetizing, isn't it?"
Appetizing? That didn't sound like something to describe a person with, but Syrka and Shaomei's eyes gleamed with desire, making it hard to respond.
"Big Brother, why don't you wear glasses all the time? You look so sexy and intellectual."
"No, these are just to reduce eye strain and prevent vision loss. Unnecessary for practical training..."
Suddenly, I realized Shaomei's burning gaze was a bit different from Syrka's.
'This girl's just trying to distract me from studying.'
As I sighed and was about to tell her to study, Syrka started fondling my chest.
"S-Syrka?"
"Is it because you've been taking elixirs lately? Your muscles are properly toned now... so firm and..."
Having groped women's breasts before but never had mine groped by a girl, it was a bewildering sensation.
"Let me see... Whoa, really! Your muscles are noticeably bigger than a week ago? Elixirs are way too OP, aren't they?"
"Girls, enough—time to study..."
"Snuuuuff... Master's scent..."
Oh no. Syrka's eyes were starting to turn heart-shaped. Was the succubus heat kicking in here of all places?
"W-Wait a sec..."
Sure enough, glancing at Shaomei, she wore that lewd, mature smile from when she'd pounced on me before and hooked her arm around mine.
I felt Shaomei's overwhelmingly presenceful breasts pressing against my arm.
"Big Brother, studying too much makes your brain stiff, you know? How about a little break?"
As I tried to say what the hell, Syrka hugged my other arm and planted a light kiss on my cheek.
"I used a ton of magic training Unicorn today... so Master needs to refill me fully... ♡"
Study... gotta... study... still... have to...
"J-Just once each?"
In the end, I couldn't resist the temptation and decided to grant the two vixens' request.