Volume 3 - CH 3.1

Act 3-3.1: Notice of Competition For The Throne

We’ve been staying in the royal capital for a month now.

First, regarding the training that I mentioned before.

As a martial artist, Zack easily cleared the minimum requirements to receive my training. It was time to introduce a new concept to raise his strength to a whole new level. Thus, I taught Zack my reinforcement attribute-less magic.

Reinforcement attribute-less magic in this world could only be invoked after a long, mind-boggling chant, and its effect was meh. It was also infamous. So I thought Zack would show some reluctance upon hearing this, but unexpectedly, he wholeheartedly agreed.

Although it took me a really long time to come up with this reinforcement technique, which could be called a revolution in attribute-less magic, it was quite simple once one realized the logic behind it.

And just as I expected, Zack managed to invoke the magic without chanting in just three weeks.

However, he still failed once every two or three times, and the magic he invoked was only the altered version that shielded his entire body with mana. In short, he had finally reached the entrance of the development of attribute-less reinforcement magic.

Nevertheless, even if the elevation in his abilities was not that much, Zack was elated at that improvement.

And then, there was another surprise.

It came from none other than the silver-haired kemonomimi girl, Myu.

After seeing Zack’s training, Myu had asked me to train her too. Her explosive growth had stunned me. Her growth wasn’t just at the level of a genius; it was a whole new level of growth even higher than that. You could say it seemed like this magic was exclusively tailored for her tribe. Maybe this magic is more suited for the beastfolk tribe than for the humans.

However, such abilities were useless without the fundamental martial arts. Thus, I taught Myu the basics of martial arts, bit-by-bit every day.

And when I felt that life in the royal capital was fulfilling in this way, Rose called me and asked me to come to the royal palace.

「Wait for a while in this place.」

A high-handed young official told me so. When I sat on the sofa and waited for a while, the same guy entered the room again.

「It’s time for the audience. Honestly speaking, the throne room isn’t a place for a fake without noble blood like you to enter. Make sure that you don’t forget your place.」

Originally, my house had an honorary knight peerage. So this young man didn’t regard me as a noble. He was even indirectly telling me to not get self-conceited.

「Kaykay!」

I stood up and stretched as I gave that half-hearted reply.

Although his eyebrows twitched upon hearing my reply, the youth left the room without saying anything.

Yup, he must be pissed off right now. Well, not that I care about what that youngling feels.

The surroundings, the ceiling, wall, pillars, and stairs were made from beautiful white marble. A red carpet lay on the stairs. At the end of the ascending stairs was a giant gate.

「How foolish!」

Just how much wealth had they used to create this spectacle? The wealth they took from the countries that they conquered was definitely far from enough to build all this. The majority of the budget must have come from taxes. In short, this spectacle was the very symbol of this kingdom’s overexploitation of its citizens.

These royal families and the bigshots would never be satisfied no matter how much they dressed up this place. The funds for this useless spending could be used to fulfil many other things. Rose was right. This kingdom has already rotten from its roots.

Even though the gatekeepers on both sides of the gate glared at me upon hearing my remark, they still opened the gate for me.

So this might be what that youngster called the throne room. I was sure that even the price of one ornament hung along a wall in this room was enough to give a normal person a heart attack.

And then, I saw the people inside the extremely spacious room standing in two lines facing each other.

On my left side were the officials who looked like the cabinet ministers donned in gorgeous clothes. On the right were knights in pure white armor. And then, in the middle of them, sitting on the throne as if he owned this entire world was a blonde man with a regal air around him. In front of the throne were the figures of a young man and two girls wrapped in dresses.

The girl in a pure white dress was Rose, which meant that the other two blonds were Rose’s brother and sister. The two men beside them might be their royal guards.

I stood by Rose’s side, basking in the hostile gazes of both the officials and the knights.

It seems both of us were abandoned by them. Well, I guess I should stop acting like a foolish clown.

「ON YOUR POSITION!」

The person standing right beside the king, who seemed like the bigshot amongst the ministers, shouted that command. Everyone in the room placed their right hand on their ch*st and bowed to the king.

Naturally, I just gave him a slight nod as a form of courtesy between adults since I wasn’t even his vassal, to begin with.

The king surveyed the room with a brazen smile on his face.

「The reason I gathered all of you today in this room is that I’ve something to announce. It’s about the selection method of the next ruler of this kingdom.」

So this exaggerated atmosphere is really because of the competition for the throne, eh.

Since he said it was the method to select the next ruler, this meant he would explain the rules for the competition for the throne.

And it was just as I thought. If the method was well-known, the people in this place wouldn’t show those surprised expressions.

「Well then, I shall explain the rules of this competition. And although I say rules, it isn’t that complicated.

I’ll give each of Rosemary, Gilbert, and Louise a territory to govern.

The basis for the evaluation will be the development of the territory under them. In addition, they would be judged on a scale of 1-10, including their contribution to the Amelia kingdom.

Louise, the youngest amongst the three of you will be an adult in four years, so anyone who gets the highest grade at the end of the fourth year will become the next ruler. What do you think? It’s simple and easy to understand, right?」

The king was grinning while saying those words. This fella is definitely enjoying this situation.

This king was the one who had captured and conquered many other minor tribes or beast kingdoms while using the hero to keep the demon race in check, after all. I feel bad for Arnold, but this king fellow gets my certification as an extremely greedy fellow.

「Your Majesty, who are you going to appoint as the one to judge the development?」

A blonde, handsome young man whose long hair combed upward came forward and asked that question. This must be the one called Gilbert. I needed only a glance to know that he had one or two fu*ked-up habits.

「Since the judge must be impartial, I appoint the prime minister.」

At that declaration, all eyes focused on the giant, beardy, black-haired man who stood right beside the throne.

「T-That’s―」

The handsome blondie with the long hair seemingly wanted to protest the decision, but…

「Do you have any complaints about me?」

The icy gaze from the giant black-haired man, whose eyes look like a massive chunk of black ice, shut the prince down.

「N-No, I’m not…」

The handsome blondie averted his gaze like a loser. Louise seemed to be dissatisfied with that decision too and seemingly wanted to say something, but she could only grit her teeth since there was nothing wrong with that decision.

Even someone as ignorant of the political situation and with zero interest in it as me had at least heard about this giant, black-haired man. He was the man who had raised the military power of the Amelia kingdom to one of the best in the world within a short period, the prime minister of the Amelia kingdom―Johannes Roosevelt. In my opinion, this man is an exception in various ways. Although he has more bearing and air than the arrogant king who sits on the throne, he is way too bizarre.

Anyhow, Rose heaved a sigh as she patted her ch*st upon hearing that the prime minister would act as the judge. Thus, I realized that this personage was at least impartial.

「Now then, let’s start the introduction of each participants’ royal guard.」

A grey-haired, priest-like man stepped forward and unfolded the scroll in his hands.

「First, starting from the royal guard of the second princess, Her Highness Louise. An active S-rank hunter who is also rumored to be the strongest hunter― Isaac Gijidoor-dono!」

A cheer rose when a slender, gray-haired man with slit eyes who stood beside the second princess placed his right hand on his ch*st.

Isaac Gijidoor, he’s definitely the strongest hunter. To think that the domineering blondie called the second princess managed to convince the strongest hunter into becoming her royal guard! Well, that’s but another proof of her competency.

「The royal guard of the first prince, His Highness Gilbert, is a visitor from another world, the great sage of the current hero party―Satoru Mizoguchi-dono!」

Another cheer that was no less than the one before erupted in the room when a black-haired youth who seemed about seventeen or eighteen years old raised his right hand. As expected of the current member of the hero party. Quite popular, aren’t ya!

Rose was right. The hero wasn’t available as a royal guard. Nevertheless, this didn’t change the fact that Gilbert had gained support from an otherworlder who had come from the same place as the hero. This meant that the hero was taking his side too.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t feel the sign of a strong man from that black-haired youth, unlike what I felt from Arnold and Isaac. Rather, this problem had kept appearing after I cleared that dungeon for the weakest.

As a result of having to experience a thrilling survival life in that easy dungeon for tens of thousands of years, I developed an innate sense to differentiate the strength of the monsters in that dungeon. But, I have no confidence when it comes to measuring the strength of a human or a being summoned by a human. I mean, I never had the experience of crossing swords with a human back then. The one in my image training didn’t count since it didn’t seem to be reliable.

「And lastly, the royal guard of the first princess, Her Highness Rosemary, is the king of incompetents who bears the title of 【The Most Incompetent in This World】! Truly the weakest royal guard!」

Unlike how it was with the others, my introduction was followed by a jeer. Nevertheless, this priest, isn’t he a little bit too passionate about introducing me? Are you putting a lot of effort into making others sneer at me? Well, I don’t think you need to put that much effort to do that though.

「The weakest, eh?」

The king scornfully laughed as he looked at me.

To be honest, I wanted to know why this man wanted to retire as a king at such a young age? I mean, he seems to still have many years to live.

Anyhow, he was nothing more than a slightly rude youngster after all. Although I didn’t care about his attitude before, I really think that he should fix his attitude a little bit.

「Thank you very much for the introduction. Unfortunately, unlike you people who have too much time to spare, I’m a busy man. So, finish this farce immediately.」

Silence descended upon the room after my remark. Then, the next moment, an enraged voice reverberated in the throne room.

Rose, who stood by my side, heaved a sigh as she placed her right palm on her face. Hey, stop that “I give up on this guy” attitude. Even I would be hurt by that, you know.

「WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE THAT YOU CAN ACT SO RUDE IN FRONT OF HIS MAJESTY!!!」

A giant man stepped forward.

「WHAT ARE THOSE IMPERIAL GUARDS DOING!!?」

The middle-aged priest who introduced us and the royal guards were screaming hysterically with flushed red faces.

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Character Design: Rosemary… Status… Heroine(LMAO)