1
Chapter 1
A pleasant southern afternoon with the sun shining warmly.
Lying on the royal palace terrace, sipping a chilled tropical fruit juice, I thought to myself:
'Now this is living.'
In my previous life, I was an office worker in South Korea, plagued by daily overtime.
I worked a week of consecutive all-nighters before a project deadline and died of overwork right in front of my monitor.
I feel like a few details were skipped, but that's just how it happened.
What matters is the present.
When I opened my eyes, I had been reincarnated into the romance fantasy novel I read just before dying.
It was a typical romance fantasy world where arrogant types—Crown Princes or Northern Grand Dukes—teamed up with the heroine and caused trouble wherever they went.
The character I became was Ian, the 3rd Prince of the Espada Kingdom in the south of the continent.
The Espada Kingdom.
A territory about twice the size of the Korean peninsula, occupying the southern reaches of the Lorencia Continent.
Through its year-round ice-free ports, it held complete control over the southern maritime trade routes.
Furthermore, it was a blessed land with an abundance of mineral resources buried deep within its massive mountain ranges.
As a result, it was an incredibly wealthy nation that dominated the continent's trade and finance.
Because of that wealth, the country was treated as a total pushover in the original story, but...
Anyway, my position was the 3rd Prince, far removed from any claim to the throne.
In the original work, I was an extra who existed in name only.
Since I have a good relationship with my family, I plan to just coast through life in luxury.
"Hehehe..."
A life of a rich idler, spending my days on nothing but hobbies!
Every modern person's dream!
I shall spend the rest of my life enjoying this peaceful, perfect existence...!
"Master."
"Hmm?"
It was at that moment a voice broke through my thoughts of a brilliant future.
I turned my head to see a silver-haired maid looking down at me with an expressionless face.
My personal maid, Elisha.
According to the original story, she was destined to become the Grand Witch who would obstruct the protagonists.
'Unless I had picked up the starving little girl from the back alleys during her childhood, that is.'
Now, she simply serves as a competent maid managing my schedule and finances.
She's also quite beautiful.
She was my favorite character in the original.
"I apologize for disturbing your rest, but this is no time to be lying around idly."
"Why? Is Father calling for me?"
Instead of answering, Elisha thrust the silver tray she was carrying toward me.
On it lay three scrolls, so ornate they were practically blinding.
"What is this? Business investment proposals?"
Right after reincarnating, I simply couldn't stand the horrific hygiene and uncomfortable living conditions of this damn medieval romance fantasy novel.
So, once I got a bit older, I roughly cobbled together some modern conveniences for my own use—like flush toilets and spring mattresses—but they ended up being sold across the continent through our kingdom's Merchant Guild and became a massive hit.
Thanks to that, I'd recently been buried under a mountain of business investment proposals and exclusive contract offers.
"No. I believe you need to read these."
"Huh? No?"
"Yes. These are official state letters sent to the kingdom simultaneously by three males in heat. I'll prepare some cold water in advance, as your blood pressure is likely to spike."
...I can guess who they are.
There are only three people in this world who could make Elisha speak with such palpable emotion.
Not long ago, I attended a large-scale social party in the Empire with Elisha as my partner.
Back then, those arrogant romance fantasy male leads gave Elisha, who was standing beside me, some very sleazy looks.
I barely managed to stop a furious Elisha from casting curses on all three of them right then and there.
And now, they've all sent me state letters at the same time?
With a dubious expression, I first picked up the largest and most glittering scroll from the Imperial House on the tray.
[Crown Prince of the Empire]
"The annual tribute from your small nation isn't even enough to cover a Young Lady's tea party expenses. Triple the tribute immediately."
"...?"
It seemed to be written in complete nonsense, so I put it down and picked up the scroll made of paper from a tree that only grows in the North.
[Northern Grand Duke]
"She mentioned wanting to see the warm southern seas. I'll be using your kingdom's annex as a vacation home, so clear it out."
"..."
Don't tell me the next one is the same?
[Naval Admiral]
"For the sake of a lovely Young Lady, I shall increase the canal tolls tenfold starting today. Do you have any objections?"
"...Those pieces of shit."
"Here is your water."
As I vented my rage with curses, Elisha appeared and handed me a glass of water with ice cubes floating in it.
Gulp, gulp—
"Sigh..."
To put it in Elisha's words, for three males in heat to spout this kind of nonsense simultaneously as if they'd coordinated is a clear provocation.
Triple tribute, handing over the kingdom's annex, and ten times the tolls.
Are they insane?
If I accepted all those demands, let alone my retirement funds, the entire economy of the Espada Kingdom would be shaken.
Moreover, this is a diplomatic discourtesy that goes far beyond crossing the line.
The Espada Kingdom might be small in landmass, but it's the center of finance and trade that holds the continent's purse strings—and they send this kind of notice just to humor one woman?
'Ah, right, this was a romance fantasy.'
Once I remember it's a romance fantasy, it all makes sense.
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity and asked Elisha.
"Elisha."
"Yes, Master."
"How much liquid cash can our Merchant Guild mobilize right now?"
To that question, Elisha answered without hesitation.
"An amount enough to tear down and rebuild the Imperial Palace about twice."
"Is that so?"
I'd better go see my father.
I stood up, returning the scrolls to the tray.
"Get my outdoor clothes ready. I need to visit Father."
"His Majesty has already read the letters and has collapsed from the shock."
"...Then I'll go to my brother."
"Yes, I will prepare them."
I hastily threw on the clothes Elisha brought and headed to my eldest brother's office.
@@@
"Brother, I'm here."
"I... Ian... You've come..."
My brother, Rowen Espada.
Normally, he was the picture of a perfect future king, with smoothly combed hair and an intellectual aura...
'He's dying.'
Right now, however, he looked like a dried-up squid sprawled across his office desk.
His once neat hair was a mess as if he'd been tearing at it, and dark circles hung heavily under his sunken eyes, reaching down to his chin.
'He looks like a total wreck.'
"Brother... are you losing more hair?"
"What...! That can't be...! I can't lose any more...!"
"Just kidding."
"Sigh..."
Now he looks a bit better.
A moment ago, he looked like he was on the verge of death, but he seems a bit more relaxed now.
I really am such a kind younger brother.
Jokes aside.
"Brother, did you see those letters?"
"Yes. The same ones landed on my desk as well."
My brother let out a deep sigh and looked up.
The ministers, who had been clutching their heads in the corner of the office, sobbed in agreement.
"Ian, what do you think? Setting the annex aside, if we increase the tribute and pay more canal tolls, our kingdom will eventually wither away. But to refuse them... sigh..."
Despair was etched into his voice.
"No matter how much money we have, there is no way to withstand their military might. The Espada Kingdom, without even a single Archmage, has no power to resist..."
He was right.
While the Espada Kingdom was rich in resources, it was severely lacking in human resources compared to other nations.
It was a complete deadlock.
If they marched into the kingdom with their knights, our regular army would be swept away like fallen leaves.
I have a prospective Grand Witch, but... that's strictly a backup plan.
It can't be helped.
This is where my modern knowledge as a researcher for a defense company comes in handy.
I grinned and signaled to Elisha, who was standing behind me.
"Ugh..."
She placed a heavy stack of documents on my brother's desk.
Damn, this is heavy.
How did Elisha even carry this?
"Brother, how long are you going to let those bastards treat us like pushovers?"
"Ian? What on earth are you talking about?"
"Those demands. Let's just ignore all of them."
At those words, everyone in the office froze.
My brother bolted upright with a look of shock.
"Are you insane?! What if a declaration of war arrives immediately!"
"Then we'll just do it. War."
My brother clutched the back of his neck at how casually I spoke of war.
The ministers turned pale with shock and shouted urgently.
"Your Highness! War?! Do you know how many Sword Masters the Empire and the Duchy have! Not to mention the Archmages! Our kingdom only has one single Sword Master!"
"He's right! While our kingdom has plenty of supplies, we are severely outmatched in terms of military power!"
The eldest Chancellor stepped forward and yelled desperately.
"It is true, Your Highness! This is a fight we simply cannot win! Please refrain from such remarks, even as a joke...!"
"If we can't stab them with spears and swords, we'll just shoot them until they're full of holes."
Ignoring the whining ministers, I untied the string binding the documents.
The papers spilled across the desk, revealing numerous blueprints.
After being born as a prince.
I had many hobbies, but the one I spent the most time on was reinterpreting and creating modern weapons in this other world.
These were the results of mobilizing all the knowledge from my previous life as a defense researcher...!
I struggled quite a bit because some materials had different properties despite having the same names.
And so, I completed the Mana Bombs and the Magic Muskets that utilized gunpowder and mana stones.
With these, I might not beat a Sword Master, but I could certainly take down most knights.
And that's with a regular person pulling the trigger.
My brother looked down at the blueprints with a blank expression.
"What... what is this, Ian? I can't make heads or tails of any of this."
"Simply put, these are things that allow us to crush Aura and magic with money and resources."
The people of this world rely on mana.
Also, they believe war is all about the romantic one-on-one duels of knights.
It's time to bring some tension to this lax romance fantasy world.
It's war...!