The Trap of Righteousness
Elaine Huxley was strangely proactive.
(1) The Righteousness trait sounds impressive at first glance. It seems like the kind of personality a hero ought to have, doesn't it? But reality was different. In King's Crown, if a randomly generated hero actually possessed the Righteousness trait, that NPC was bound to die within a few years at most. If unlucky, they wouldn't even last a few months.
Righteousness was far more passive than it appeared. Not only did its bearer have to live righteously themselves, but they were also obligated to correct any unrighteous acts committed by others. If they lacked the strength or justification to act, their inaction itself became unrighteous. And in the world of King's Crown, everyone without the Righteousness trait lived their lives committing such unrighteous deeds without a second thought.
I had once explained the Crown Prince and the Emperor. When the Emperor learned his son's secret, every action I predicted he would take—was any of it righteous? No. All of it was unrighteous. But that was the world of King's Crown. Most family heads operated with that mindset. In other words, Righteousness forced its owner into constant conflict with the majority of noble houses. How could anyone maintain a proper social life when every waking moment piled on stress?
"Haa..."
Digging through Leon's memories confirmed my suspicions. Such incidents had been all too common. How on earth had this kid survived this long? Normally, anyone in his position would have hit 200 stress, gone mad, or died from accumulated resentment long ago...
When I probed deeper, the answer appeared: Diligence. Whenever stress built up, Leon would instinctively train his swordsmanship, triggering the beneficial effects tied to the Diligence trait to lower it. Without that trait, he would have met the short life I had predicted.
That explained it. When I checked the detailed information on his Magnus Vision Swordsmanship trait, the rank was listed as A. For an eighteen-year-old to reach A-rank swordsmanship proficiency meant he had trained like a madman. Thanks to that, Leon had earned excellent grades in the Swordsmanship Department and was known as a promising student with a bright future.
But... his future was unlikely to unfold as his classmates and professors expected. Because he had no idea that his father, Count Yuri Magnus, was a bishop of the Demon King worship cult. The implication was simple. Leon was nothing more than a disposable pawn to the head of the family, Yuri Magnus. With high probability, he would soon become a sacrifice in a ritual to summon the Demon King—much like how Elaine would be betrayed by Crown Prince Alec.
All dark magic worked that way: the greater the value of the offering, the greater the reward. And in King's Crown, few offerings surpassed the direct bloodline of a family head in value. Hmph. Who said I'd let that happen?
I was different from Leon. Righteousness? It was nothing but a dogshit penalty to me. Why should I live righteously in a ruined world like King's Crown? I would devour Yuri Magnus instead and seize the count's house for myself.
With that resolve, I opened the door and headed toward the nobles' exclusive training ground.
-----
The path to the training ground was quiet. Even though I had left later than Leon's usual routine, it was still this empty... He really lived with pathological diligence. I could roughly understand why. Earlier, when I glanced at the status window, his stress had been at 13. He must have encountered something stressful yesterday, and even training until he fell asleep hadn't brought it down to zero. So he had woken early to finish relieving it. And he had repeated that hamster-wheel lifestyle every single day.
For now, I would have to continue that pattern. I needed to find a better way to manage stress soon. Since the current version of King's Crown I was possessing was 1.8.6—the one with the Armageddon DLC featuring the invasion of the Twelve Demon Kings—I should still be able to prepare countermeasures for stress.
While lost in thought, I arrived at the nobles' training ground. As expected of a facility used by nobles, the interior was grand and luxurious at first glance. Surprisingly, someone was already there. From inside the entrance came the distinctive lively yet weighty sound of wooden swords clashing against training dummies.
Who could it be at this hour, when the sky was still dark?
"..!!!"
I froze mid-step as I entered, my body stiffening in shock.
In one corner of the training ground stood Elaine Huxley, calmly deflecting the attacks of magically animated training dummies with a practice wooden sword. She wore a black training uniform similar to mine, which clung tightly to her curvaceous figure—much like the leggings-style athletic wear popular on modern Earth. Her silken black hair was tied back in a single ponytail, fluttering in the air with each intense movement. It reminded me of the flowing sleeves of celestial maidens I had seen dancing in historical dramas on TV as a child.
Thump, thump—
I could feel my heart pounding wildly. Taking a slow breath, I walked toward her. Sensing my presence, Elaine calmly commanded the dummies charging at her.
"Stop."
The automatons immediately halted. Once she confirmed it, Elaine turned around, lightly holding the wooden sword in one hand.
The face that met mine was quite different from the image I had often seen in the game. The mature, sorrow-filled expression I remembered was now replaced by a youthful, vibrant one. Those eyes, which had always seemed to hold the melancholy of a crimson moon, now shone like the finest rubies, brimming with starlight and hope. Her lips, usually pressed tight to suppress sadness, curved softly into a smile directed at me.
"Hello, Leon. It's been a while."
"..Hello, Elaine."
I nearly let my voice tremble from the surge of emotion. Was my expression strange right now? I suppressed my anxiety and tried to appear as natural as possible. Fortunately, Leon had always been curt with everyone, so hiding my agitation was easy. I just had to keep my mouth shut and stay expressionless.
"You're later than usual today. Did something happen?"
"I must have overdone it yesterday. I had a headache, so I was a bit late."
"Are you sure you're okay? You don't have a fever, do you?"
She shook her head, looking relieved. From Leon's perspective, her reaction to meeting after so long seemed no different from usual. She had often joined him for morning training like this. It had been that way since their first year, so exchanging casual greetings felt natural. Thanks to Leon's curt personality, Elaine taking the lead in conversation was also the same as always.
Elaine was in the same year as Leon, a third-year in the Swordsmanship Department. They had been fierce rivals, competing for the top spot in their grade. The reason I used past tense was because Elaine's talent far surpassed Leon's, quickly creating an insurmountable gap between them. That was only natural. She possessed the overpowered innate traits Genius Brain and Heaven-sent Martial Talent.
According to Leon's memories, he had been jealous of her talent. Thankfully, his Righteousness trait and curt personality had prevented him from showing it outwardly. If he had ever revealed such an ugly side, both he and Elaine would have only ended up miserable.
Recalling that she had been absent from the academy for a while due to personal matters at the Huxley Duchy, I asked,
"Did everything go well with the matter at the Huxley Duchy?"
"...Huh? Ah... Yeah. It went well."
Her expression, which had been bright just moments ago, shifted for an instant into the melancholic look I knew from the game before quickly returning to its cheerful state. It had been only a fleeting moment, but seeing that expression again made my chest tighten. I instinctively understood.
This is related to Crown Prince Alec...
"Um... Since it's been a while, want to spar?"
Elaine blatantly changed the subject and suggested it. ...Fine. If she didn't want to talk, there was no need to press. I would respect her wishes.
"Sure."
With that, I picked up a wooden sword of the size Leon often used from a nearby rack and stood in the center of the training ground. Elaine waited on the opposite side until I was ready.
I exhaled and assumed the aggressive opening stance unique to Magnus Vision Swordsmanship, gripping the wooden sword with both hands and raising it slightly, ready to strike at any moment.
Seeing me like that, Elaine fell silent for a moment.
"...?"
What was that? For a split second, an unreadable emotion seemed to flicker in her sparkling eyes.
"Ah... Sorry. I was just remembering the old days for a moment."
After offering that excuse for her delay, she immediately took the defensive stance characteristic of Huxley Vision Swordsmanship—a solid middle guard capable of responding to any attack.
"You'd better be prepared. I got quite a bit stronger while I was at the duchy. You'll probably be surprised."
Elaine spoke with uncharacteristic boldness. So I responded in kind.
"Is that so? Same here. So watch yourself."
Because I wasn't Leon. I wouldn't swing my sword weakly, shackled by Righteousness like he was.