Chapter Chapter 30.2: Side Story 2 (1/2)
RATH Side Story 2
TL: Eevee
Side Story – A certain princess’s memories (2)
#3 Their story: a certain villain’s story
“Ha?”
After a moment of silence, the princess’s stupefied exclamation echoed through the room.
Although I didn’t hear what my duties were, about this kid princess herself at least, my senior Hirett told me about her immediately after we met yesterday.
To summarize a thirty minute explanation, she’s the First Imperial Princess of the empire and the greatest genius of the imperial family. And she’s an asshole. Plus she apparently had the favour of the emperor so she did pretty much whatever she wanted.
Rather than half-assing something to an opponent like that, it’s better to pretend I know nothing at all.
Alright then, let’s show her my uselessness here, and get fired. Then the organization can’t do anything about that either.
The princess that’s loved oh so much by the emperor told me to piss off home, what else can I do?
Of course I could get a salary cut because of that, but considering the alternative is living in the imperial palace where ten lives aren’t anywhere near enough to survive, it’s better to just take a pay cut and go back to the organization as an instructor.
“My name is Ast. I was born in the old Harken Kingdom as a farmer’s son, but I was forced to abandon my farm altogether due to war, when I came over to the empire and did odd jobs to survive, I found myself here. My age is 25, my hobby is reading. I have a special constitution that refused to allow me accumulate mana since the day I was born, so no matter how much I practice my swordplay my skills are always lacking, and I cannot use magic either.”
“What, you could explain it.”
“But was that explanation what Your Highness wanted?”
“…No.”
And why should it. Although I don’t know what she wants from me, I know her purpose.
She’s just trying to screw me over. Considering what the knight named Reia said earlier, this was probably how she made many of her servants quit.
“Since Your Highness ordered me to explain simply, I shall explain simply. Your Highness. Does a person’s essence lie in their physical body?”
“No.”
“Indeed, it does not. A person dies and leaves behind their body. But that is simply a corpse that soon rots away, it is not that person. In that case Sir Reia, what do you believe is the essence of a person.”
“Huh? M, me?”
The startled female knight stared at me with wide eyes. Very good. This is good prey.
“Yes.”
“Uh… Th, the soul?”
She struggled in that surprised state for a while before answering with a question.
She doesn’t seem like an imperial knight which supposedly needs both strength and intelligence.
She appears to be the princess’s bodyguard, so no doubt her martial skills will be very, very superior to make up for her intellectual shortfalls. Or maybe she’s beside the princess because she’s an idiot.
Ah, on the other hand, the princess could just be keeping her as a fun toy to play with.
“In that case, Sir Reia. If your soul was swapped with mine, and Sir Reia’s soul and mind were in this body, would you still be Sir Reia?”
“Mmm… is it? No, isn’t it? Mmm…”
“Don’t bully Reia. She’s not in charge of my education.”
“Your, Your Highness…”
The princess said to me as she looked at Sir Reia whimpering.
I think Sir Reia was actually quite moved by that.
“My head is far too good to be taught by an idiot.”
“Your Highness!”
Although I think that ended immediately.
“Your Highness. No matter whether that you think she may be an idiot, if a person by Your Highness’s side is deficient in knowledge that is not good.”
“It’s alright. There’s no one in the palace that doesn’t know that Reia’s an idiot. But her martial skills are excellent so it’s alright.”
“Wait, Your Highness! I’m not an…”
“No matter how splendid her martial arts may be, she should have the talent to identify what is good or bad for her mistress. If not then she would only be harmful to her owner.”
“It’s true, but it’s alright. I’m not so incompetent to be harmed simply because of Reia.”
“Isn’t Your Highness, and you both going way too far?! Especially you! It is the height of rudeness to say someone needs intelligence on their first meeting!”
I turned to Sir Reia who was shouting with a scarlet face.
Normally it wouldn’t be weird for her to draw her sword yelling “You dare show such disrespect? Pay the price with your head!” or such lines.
“Then Sir Reia. Could you please give me an answer to my previous question?”
“Urk! Th, that’s…”
“Reia, you don’t need to push yourself.”
“No, Your Highness! I can do this!”
Ohh! So she was the hot blooded loyal type after all!
After struggling hard for a bit Sir Reia said firmly as if she made up her mind.
“My answer, is no.”
“Why so?”
“No matter if my body and soul was in Sir Ast’s body, from other people’s perspective I would be Sir Ast, not myself.”
Well you could think that, you could think not.
Especially reincarnators, well, I’m included in this category as well, but after death, living in another body is quite a profound feeling.
If you were to classify this world into a genre, it would be fantasy in particular.
In a world where souls exist, I very curious as to what happened to the original soul of the body.
If I stole the original soul’s rightful place, then where did that soul go. Might it not inhabit some other medium and come back for revenge.
Of course these thoughts were only limited to when I was very young, when I had nothing to do.
Because normal commoners, in particular farmers had a hard enough time putting food on their plates, so they were busy farming.
Plus since when I was alive, the current trend of the fantasy genre was reincarnating in things other than humans, or reincarnating without any reincarnator bonuses, no, sometimes they were even debuffed as hell for a miserable life. In novels you had a spider or a slime, heck even a sword had a great time after they reincarnated!
At the very least it would’ve been great if I had a masked devil that would make my past life’s items from my explanations and sell them to let me pocket a royalty.(1)
Because in my past life and present, I had it hard because I was lacking talent.
“In that case, who is that person?”
“Eh?”
“Sir Reia’s memories and soul came into my body but that is not Sir Reia. Then is it me?”
“Uh, th… that’s not it either.”
“Then if I were to enter Sir Reia’s body then would that mean that that was not me either? In that case where did I go, and who is the one that came into my body?”
“Huh? Hm? That?”
Sir Reia who returned to her whimpering state was kind of cute.
To the point where you really wanted to bully her.
Really, teasing idiots has a satisfyingly fun feeling.
Since she’s the princess’s personal bodyguard she’d be of a relatively famous noble family’s daugther but she’s not arrogant, and she’s pure.
That’s the perfect type to bully. But since this place isn’t my actual workplace, more accurately quitting is in my best interests so I need to unfortunately give up on that.
“In one way, Sir Reia’s answer is correct. But in another, it is not. Everything is interpretable in many ways. Things are not divided into good and bad things from their existence. Good. Bad. Helpful. Hindrance. Splendid. Horrifying. Everything is up to one’s own interpretation. Your Highness will no doubt have already interpreted myself however you saw fit. And Your Highness will reinterpret what I have said just now with your own standards and viewpoints.
“In other words, don’t ask?”
Those eyes that pretended to be pure turned indifferent again.
Really, her bright eyes earlier really didn’t suit the princess. How would you put it, like a shonen manga was drawn with a shoujo artstyle?
It had an awkwardness like a hot blooded battle action manga where all of a sudden it wouldn’t have felt odd that the protag and the male rival would suddenly fall into a dangerous swamp beginning with B.
And it also seems like she’s slightly annoyed. Good.
Now just like this, I need to keep annoying her that I keep my head while getting fired!
“That was not my intention. I simply know myself. But, the me that Your Highness was questioning me about is something Your Highness would know, not me. And so, I wish for Your Highness to watch me, and evaluate me accordingly.
According to the formal manners I learned I bowed my head.
Now, what will be your next move! Unless it’s the gallows’ morning dew ending(2) I have the courage to accept it all! Even better if you fire me!