Chapter 49: Negotiation? (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49: Negotiation? (1)
Boradori failed.
Uncle Aeryun failed too.
…Though compared to the former, the latter seemed to fail every single time.
Even if it started as a joke, he had gone as far as taking a princess hostage to make his threats, so he must have done his best.
In the first place, the Pope’s arrival was a political burden for the Empire as well.
Since the destination was the Academy, Uncle Aeryun likely wanted to avoid it at all costs.
He had even given them a heads-up that a terrorist attack was planned for the Academy.
If he still failed despite all that, there was a high probability that the "RoFan Curse" was at work.
"Head on the floor."
"This is unfair!"
And there was a very high probability that Violet was the problem.
"I’m telling you, it’s unfair! An abusive boss should at least respect the presumption of innocence!" Violet shouted with a tearful face while her forehead was pressed against the ground.
"We don't have that here."
Unfortunately, the presumption of innocence did not exist in this world.
Instead, it was a world overflowing with the nobles' "presumption of guilt."
"Damn this fantasy world!" Violet screamed at the truth.
"And you know that deserting after a failed mission results in summary execution, right?"
This brat had failed her mission and then run away.
"Wait, just for that?!"
It was absurd, but the world of nobles was a place where people used any tiny pretext to make a scene.
"You're a noble too."
"A noble in name only! My family and Daisy’s are basically just village elder status, okay? I don't need to know anything about that filthy high-society noble world!"
She had a point.
There was a reason people said a rural noble was poorer than a commoner living in the royal capital.
"But Daisy is surrounded by the very pinnacles of that filthy noble world, isn't she?"
"Well, they aren't her boyfriends yet, so isn't it fine?"
"You want to die?"
Seeing her act so shamelessly, it seemed there was no way to use Violet to stop the Pope.
That aside.
"You're misunderstanding something. I’m also someone who ranks pretty close to the pinnacle of that noble world."
I just wasn't interested in central politics. My family was a Count's household that was considered quite prestigious in the Kingdom's history.
And I was high-level manpower tasked with assisting the royal family.
The downside was that I was so closely tied to the royals that it was hard to resign.
The upside, however, was that I could have a private audience with the Queen upon request. If I truly desired it, I possessed the optimized influence to ruin anyone I wanted.
"Wow. A perfect RoFan male lead candidate with talent and a powerful background...!"
Violet immediately tried to needle me, but it was fine.
If she threw a jab, I just had to counter with an uppercut.
"Fine. I shall bestow upon you the honorable mission of personally marking the Pope during the Founding Festival."
"Please spare me!"
It was too late.
If the Pope couldn't be stopped, she would have to go down with him.
"There are so many accidents scheduled to happen during this Founding Festival!"
She appealed to me as Boradori rather than Violet, but it was no use.
"I told you, I'll take care of all that."
The Founding Festival scenario I heard from Boradori was an event that could affect various nations.
Because of that, the shadows of each country—who didn't trust Uncle Aeryun—were all preparing to get to work.
"So, you must take on the most important role."
"Wh-what is it?"
"Variable removal. You said the Pope wasn't originally supposed to come, right?"
Since the Pope was supposedly confined within the Holy Kingdom during this period in the original story, he was definitely a variable.
"N-no!"
So, this was the time for Boradori—the pride of our Kingdom and an Empire-made agent who wouldn't look out of place running wild in the Empire—to shine.
"What if an agent gets dragged off to become a Cardinal?!"
"An agent serving as a Cardinal in the Holy Kingdom, the hardest place to infiltrate? That sounds like a total win."
If she pulled that off, even our penniless Captain would probably take a cut from his own salary to give her a raise.
"So, do your best."
"Please spare me!"
An agent isn't someone others save.
They are someone who survives on their own.
It was time for Boradori to learn that.
Holy Kingdom Representative: Boradori.
Assignment complete.
*
No, seriously.
Someone save me.
"What kind of lunatic schedules an Academy Exchange Event on the Empire's Founding Day?"
—Our Princess did.
So it wasn't a madman, but a madwoman.
Good grief, the siblings were a real piece of work.
"Please stop this, Student Council President."
—I'm just a figurehead president, so I can't.
Those were the words of Senior Lucia, who had ended up as the Student Council President of the Leon Royal Academy with overwhelming support.
According to the Captain, the students who supported her didn't do so because of Princess Hestia's backing, but because they genuinely supported Lucia herself.
—It's already too late...
She seemed completely unaware of that fact, though.
This was likely another thing that hadn't happened in the original work.
In the original, Princess Hestia was said to have abandoned the sword and lived as an ordinary princess.
This was a snowball caused by me, one that I couldn't even blame on the root of all evil, Violet and Daisy.
So, in times like this, I had to be the one to solve it.
"We will be sending out Ellen and the Minor Sword Emperor."
—Leave Prince Ellen out of this... We won't be able to win!
Lucia shrieked in protest at the lineup I proposed, but this was the best choice.
"It's an honorable death. If we lose to those Empire bastards for no reason, the Kingdom loses face. But if Prince Ellen, royalty of Leon, crushes everyone, then in the end, it's Leon's victory."
—You think we're going to lose?
"Hmm, maybe a little?"
The effect of the Sword Emperor was greater than I thought.
Since he had started from the very bottom, he had already experienced everything the students were struggling with.
Because of that, the teachings of the Sword Emperor could be tailored to everyone, from students with relatively lower skills to the top-tier ones.
Not only that.
Basically, all the freshmen in the Swordsmanship Department were people who had come after hearing rumors that the Sword Emperor would be a professor.
They weren't people who came to the Academy's Swordsmanship Department just to learn the sword formally.
They were students who had passed through immense competition to be taught by the Sword Emperor, so they were fundamentally filled with a passion for the blade.
Therefore, even before receiving the Sword Emperor's teachings, their default state was to learn and grow on their own.
As a result, even the lowest-ranked swordsmanship student could be considered a significant expert compared to the average swordsman of their age.
—You went to the Empire and... you've been tainted!
Lucia glared at me with eyes full of betrayal, but she couldn't run from reality.
Doesn't it happen often in novels?
A prestigious family or kingdom famous for swords or magic acts all high and mighty in front of the protagonist, only to get utterly crushed.
As a citizen of Leon, it was unfortunate, but the protagonist of this world was an Imperial citizen.
And the place where he mainly operated was the Empire.
…Come to think of it, it wasn't unfortunate at all.
Rather than my hometown turning into a mess just because the protagonist was wandering around.
It was better to live peacefully, even if we were pushed back by the Empire.
Thinking about it, Leon was already being outperformed by the Empire in every field except swordsmanship.
And since the strongest person in the Empire was Prince Ellen, the Leon Kingdom wasn't losing out on anything at all.
"It's all for the sake of the Kingdom."
—Traitors always say that.
"You want me to actually betray you for once?"
—Finally, the Kingdom!
"No, a betrayal that only applies to you, Senior Lucia."
—That sounds so real. It's actually scary when you say things like that, so stop it.
"You think it won't be real?"
"……"
At those words, Lucia shut her mouth, and the conversation proceeded very smoothly.
Leon Kingdom Representatives: Prince Ellen, Senior Lucia.
Assignment complete.
*
If Boradori handled the Pope.
And Prince Ellen handled the Leon Kingdom and Princess Hestia, who were coming for the exchange.
Then what should I handle?
"Let's plan a date course, shall we?"
Naturally, I had to handle the RoFan female lead.
Dammit.
"Why are you telling us that?"
Since she was an opponent too powerful for me to handle alone, I sought help from others.
But Uncle Aeryun, who wasn't even a black-haired protagonist, spoke back to me bluntly despite the favors I'd done him.
"Then the date course will become Prince Esid's movement route."
"There isn't a single area in the Imperial Capital I don't know. I'll plan the best date route for you."
With just one sentence, Uncle Aeryun acted as if he had never been blunt, spreading out a map of the Academy and starting to plan my date.
"Should I help too?"
There was also a certain Fire Spammer who stepped forward first, perhaps fearing she'd hear the same threat.
"You go plan your own date."
"Huh?"
"Didn't you hear? I have to keep Daisy with me. On top of that, Prince Ellen will be with our Kingdom's people who came for the exchange. Prince Esid and Gerard, being from the Empire, will be busy with the event proceedings. Violet will be at the Holy Kingdom. And the Minor Sword Emperor will definitely be following the Sword Emperor around."
"Th-that's true."
"Then what do you think your Prince will be doing?"
"He... he'll be alone?"
"Anyone can see this is the chance, you idiot."
"Are... are you a genius?!"
I've lived long enough to hear a sword-swinger being called a genius by Magic Spammers.
"I'm not even asking for a confession. You can at least go on a date during the festival, right?"
"Y-y-yes!"
I was uneasy. I should probably attach Senior Loreliya, an expert, to him.
I didn't know if she had ever gone on a date with Prince Esid.
But she was someone who had been engaged, after all.
Since she was the person closest to marriage among our allies, she was definitely an expert.
Of course, the top expert was my responsibility.
"Uncle Aeryun, make it perfect! Just like how you proposed to your wife!"
"Right, trust me... No, I told you I'm not married yet!"
While Uncle Aeryun made a desperate struggle that no one would believe, he used his experience, know-how, and even the power of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau to complete a perfect date plan and route in just one day.
"Hmm."
As I familiarized myself with that perfect map, which even included diagrams.
"I definitely shouldn't go to these places."
I felt a bit sorry for Uncle Aeryun, but I was able to check all the danger zones.
A perfect date plan?
That was something that could never happen for me and Daisy.
And considering the RoFan world, troublesome things were bound to happen in such places.
For example, a development where we'd run into the Leon Kingdom group, including Senior Lucia and Princess Hestia, at this cafe famous for desserts.
Or a development where we'd meet Imperial figures like Prince Esid or Gerard at the festival performance venue.
The worst would be meeting the Holy Kingdom group, including the Pope.
So, I excluded, and then excluded again, every single area Uncle Aeryun had planned up to Plan D.
When I did that.
"There's almost nowhere left to go."
Eighty percent of the Academy became a no-go zone.
"This is ridiculous."
Why are there so many date spots in one Academy?
It's supposed to be a place for learning, but it's actually a place for flirting.
"Well, I guess that's why it's a RoFan."
In the first place, the people at the very top of this place of learning were all blinded by romance.
Did the people below them see that and think, 'Ah, I can get strong while dating too!'?
"This place is close to the 'Confession Holy Ground,' so even if it's a bit far, let's go this way. This place feels a bit dangerous, but I have to give off a date vibe, so I'll just deal with it."
If it didn't feel like a date at all, she might use that as an excuse to not recognize the use of the date ticket.
So, to maintain a reasonable justification, I prepared areas where a decent number of witnesses would appear.
"And if I pass her off appropriately here..."
On top of that, I'd dump her onto the guy who was the main protagonist of this scenario, the future merchant guild master.
It was a perfect plan.
I didn't necessarily intend to stick to the original work, but this matter had more benefits than losses.
RoFan Female Lead Dumping Specialist: RoFan Male Lead, Hedrick Ilias.
Assignment pending.
I really hoped it would proceed like this, but.
"That probably won't happen, right?"
Since this damn RoFan world had already lost my trust.
With a heart praying for at least half-success, I had no choice but to wait for the Empire's Founding Festival.