#56 The Crown Prince Alondre (4) – Proper effort is required for a good hobby.

『Tame』

1. Adjective – Having a calm and neat disposition or attitude.

2. Adjective – Having a neat and refined appearance.

3. Adjective – Having a meticulous and attentive way of working.

[[[4. A word that has no connection with the Crown Prince. This will be on the exam.]]]

Lucidra’s mind.

An image flashed – a dictionary imbued with demonic power, its cover sprouting an arm twisted grotesquely, as if stubbornly highlighting a specific part of its pages.

‘What is this, some kind of illusion spell?’

While Lucidra was escaping into her own head, the Crown Prince, with a perfectly serious face, started spouting utter bullshit.

“The life of the adventurer Bern was magnificent. To subjugate monsters that would become the seeds of a great disaster, to shatter the plots of a wicked lich, that journey was truly the epitome of what I dreamed an adventurer should be.”

“The life of the servant Cedric wasn’t bad either. Always being served, and then serving someone else, was quite a different experience. Brewing tea to my liking, cleaning in the way I envisioned, and even serving a somewhat lacking and inexperienced master was enjoyable.”

“However, perhaps this is a sad part of my nature, but when I belong to a specific organization, I tend to be bound by its rules. In that sense, the previous two were too well-behaved and acted too conventionally, I think.”

Lucidra gaped like a goldfish.

So many things she should say, wanted to say, bubbled inside, but none of them could be formed into words.

It felt like this was what a great mage’s silencing spell must be like.

But she, too, was once a notorious great demon.

Lucidra resisted the Crown Prince’s powerful magic, and with difficulty, opened her mouth.

“So, next you’re going to destroy the world?”

“Hmm? Oh, you’re wicked just like a demon. How could I commit such an act as a hobby?”

“What are you babbling about, you inherently evil human being!?”

“If you think of me that way, then I must be that way in your mind. I recognize the freedom of thought, so I won’t stop you from thinking that.”

“#(^)^&^#@^@#!?!!”

With the great demon’s scream, born of ripping at her hair, serving as background music, the Crown Prince quietly lifted his cup and savored the aroma of his tea.

Tea sweetened and cooled to Claudia’s liking wasn’t bad, but the kind so hot it burned your tongue was more to his taste.

“Anyway, in that vein, my next incarnation will be a lone wolf who doesn’t belong to any specific organization. I’ll maintain the principle of ‘good,’ but the specific methods will be whatever comes to mind at the time, a delightful criminal! Hmm, it sounds really fun. Sometimes, putting aside the words restraint and self-control and going wild is good for stress relief.”

Lucidra, staring at the Crown Prince, who nodded in satisfaction just at the thought, slowly let her shoulders slump.

“…Okay, since I’m not the one getting hurt, whatever. If a crazy b*stard like him cuts loose the remaining reins and starts rampaging, it’ll be fun to watch the kids suffering from it.”

“Watching? I doubt you’ll have the leisure for that, though?”

“What?”

Toward the questioning Lucidra, the Crown Prince said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“You lost, the bet.”

“……”

Lucidra’s eyes rolled.

The corners of her eyes sharply curved upward, and her face transformed into a seductively smiling expression.

It was a sublime smile that could set the hearts of many men ablaze.

“Hehehe, good, I know without you saying it. Now, I’ll give you the ultimate pleasure. First, take off those stuffy clothes-”

“From now on, you will create the foundation for the fabrication of my new identity.”

As if taking care of a Great Demon, the Crown Prince lightly stated his business.

Lucidra’s lips trembled as his plan to carelessly use up the wager’s cost in a suggestive atmosphere fell apart.

“A, a foundation for identity fabrication, what’s that?”

“Adventurers aren’t particularly concerned with a person’s background anyway, so you could jump into the industry with nothing. Servants of noble families, too, can get in relatively easily without a big background because the situation is so unique. But, we can’t expect such luck every time, can we?”

There are various occupations in the world, but the number of jobs that can be done purely on ‘ability’ is quite limited.

Who you were born to, where you grew up and how.

Without such a profile, there are not a few industries where it’s difficult to even set foot in the door.

“So you will have to make that foundation for me.”

“Wa, wait a minute! You’re a Crown Prince!! If you need a plausible identity, you can just have your subordinates make one for you! Why are you making *me* do it!”

This is the Empire, the strongest nation on the continent, no less.

If he put his mind to it, creating a suitable identity in another country wouldn’t be difficult.

Why is he making her work when there’s an easy and simple method?

The Crown Prince brushed aside Lucidra’s protest with ease.

“Well, if I use my power as the Crown Prince like that, my hobby will be exposed to others, wouldn’t it?”

“You’ve already blabbed about it to the others, why act so secretive now!?”

“I only told Blanca that it was ‘Clone Magic and the real body is separate,’ and in Claudia’s case, I didn’t reveal it, she figured it out herself. It’s distinctly different.”

In addition, Blanca didn’t believe it was a clone in the first place, and Claudia didn’t know it was a clone either, but that wasn’t important.

“More than anything, a hobby while being watched by family and acquaintances is a nightmare. In the worst case, I was even prepared to consume a few clones just for ‘laying the groundwork’… Well, I’m very glad you offered the wager.”

A demon is inherently an existence that tempts humans with the promise of ‘granting wishes’ and leads them to corruption.

In other words, there aren’t many workers in the world as versatile as a demon.

And if that’s a demon bearing the title of ‘Great Demon,’ you could call them a top-quality worker.

“I, I haven’t fully recovered my power yet…”

“Do you need magic power? I’ll supply it myself. Consuming it with clones isn’t that much anyway.”

“I still don’t know the modern world well, so it might take some time to research and adapt….”

“I’m not so merciless as to tell you to finish the preparations tomorrow. I plan to manage without a foundation until the next ‘D’ anyway, and if your work is slower than I expect, I can wait until ‘E.’ If you still don’t produce results after that, I’ll consider it a breach of contract.”

“Hey, you. Is it okay to just let demons loose on the world like that? What if I lead the world to corruption and wreak havoc?”

“Hmm.”

To Lucidra’s last resistance, the Crown Prince momentarily covered his mouth with his hand before casually spitting out.

“Rest assured. As a friend who once enjoyed a shared hobby, I’ll ensure your departure is clean.”

It was a declaration made with no doubt that he was capable of it.

Even more sadly, Lucindra herself thought that this man was likely actually capable of it.

“…Just do it, damn it!! You heartless, bloodless Crown Prince b*stard!!”

Tears welled in Lucindra’s eyes.

The demon’s tear ducts had become quite weak lately.

*

After Lucindra, having secured the Crown Prince’s cooperation, departed the palace in tears.

The Crown Prince, in turn, fell into deep contemplation.

“Even if the doppelganger’s condition was poor, being exposed to Claudia, no, the Marquis’s Blood Fiend, can only be described as my own immaturity.”

He intended to create many more doppelgangers in the future, and some, like this one, would undoubtedly suffer from poor health due to excessive use.

If his true identity were exposed to his enemies every time that happened, nothing could be more frustrating.

“There’s no choice. I tried to avoid using it if possible due to the severe side effects.”

The Crown Prince sighed softly, then summoned his attendant.

“Bring the secretary.”

“Understood.”

The attendant bowed gracefully and withdrew, and a moment later, a middle-aged man in a neat suit appeared, looking utterly tense.

“You summoned me, Your Highness.”

“Yes, I apologize for summoning you so suddenly and without warning.”

“It is no problem at all. It is my duty to respond whenever Your Highness calls. However, has there been some issue with the documents submitted?”

“No, not that. I called you here because there’s a favor I need to ask.”

“A favor? Just give the order.”

“Then I order you to bring all the documents your department is currently processing.”

“…Excuse me?”

It was only natural, but the Crown Prince didn’t meticulously correct every word or double-check every number when he handled paperwork.

Most of the documents that ended up on the Crown Prince’s desk were awaiting final approval; they were essentially finished once he stamped them.

Of course, the nightmarish collaboration between a centralized power structure and a vast territory made even the act of ‘reading the contents and stamping’ them an immense chore, but the volume was still far less than the documents still being processed lower down.

Therefore, the secretary, knowing it was presumptuous, couldn’t help but ask, flustered.

“If, by chance, there are any specific documents you are interested in, please inform me of their contents. We will prioritize them and submit them to you first.”

“Just all of them… No, never mind. On second thought, it would be faster if I went myself.”

“Huh?!”

Leaving the secretary’s shock behind, the Crown Prince really did stride forward, barging into the office where the Gold Cloud Palace officials were diligently working.

The officials, who were battling mountains of paperwork while drinking the magical black liquid imported from a neighboring country like water, literally froze at the sudden appearance of the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince addressed them.

“Let me say this in advance, so there’s no misunderstanding. What I’m about to do is simply an action to secure time for my personal training for a while, and absolutely not to fault your work. Just consider it a random occurrence in life, and please take it lightly. Understood? If you understand, bring me the documents.”

In truth, the officials still didn’t understand what the Crown Prince was saying, or why he had barged in, but there wasn’t anyone bold enough to ignore the Crown Prince’s order to hand over the documents immediately.

They handed over the documents, trembling in case they were caught doing something wrong.

And then, their jaws dropped.

‘The mountain of documents… is melting away!’

‘No, that calculation has to be perfect, not even one wrong number, but he’s doing it in his head without a calculator… how is it right?’

‘A week’s worth of work is disappearing from the hands of the highest authority… Ah, I must be dreaming because I’ve been working too much overtime! I need to wake up!’

Shock, disbelief, escapism.

Amidst various gazes and silent screams, the Crown Prince finished all the work that dozens of officials had to do, and, in that state, handed the finalized documents to the secretary, saying,

“The bureaucratic world is such that if there’s no work, they’ll create work out of thin air to pass it on, so absolutely do not submit these documents to the Imperial Family all at once. Understand? Our Gold Cloud Palace processed the assigned work slowly over a week. Isn’t that right?”

Under the Crown Prince’s gaze, the Gold Cloud Palace officials hurriedly nodded.

“That’s right!!”

“There’s too much work, so we need to process it slowly!!”

“I’ll call home to say I’ll be working late again tonight!”

Satisfied with their enthusiastic answers, the Crown Prince smiled and left.

The remaining officials could only blink, at the situation where a week’s worth of work had suddenly vanished.

Of course, as is customary with paperwork, something else would come up, separate from the originally scheduled tasks, but compared to the work they originally had to process, that was like chewing gum.

For the first two days or so, they suffered from pointless anxiety, but after confirming that the Crown Prince was truly focused on his own training during document processing time, smiles like warm breezes spread across their faces.

Some of those with dark circles under their eyes were almost weeping.

“Ah…!”

He brought tears to the eyes of both the great demon and his subordinate officials alike, truly, the Crown Prince’s grace was as vast as the sea.