Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 187

187

That path ahead is hell.

If asked what the hardest thing was during the voyage, Zion would pause and say it wasn’t seasickness, which everyone talks about, but the lack of ‘fresh fruit’ that was the most difficult.

It’s only natural that perishable food isn’t taken as voyage rations.

And fruits are bound to spoil during a voyage unless they’re dried or preserved in sugar.

Biting into an apple, Zion considered himself truly remarkable for not experiencing any seasickness.

‘I don’t know about this body, but I originally wasn’t prone to seasickness… Was this guy also not supposed to get seasick in the setting?’

He wasn’t sure, but what was certain was that Zion never got seasick during the voyage.

So much so that Hemon said, ‘I’ve never seen anyone from the land who doesn’t get seasick like you.’

Even the Griffin Knights and Griffins themselves couldn’t adapt to sea life and would rather be in the sky, so for Zion, who had to stay on the ship all day, it was a great relief not to get seasick.

*Wasak―.*

In that sense, the first thing Zion did upon returning was to eat fruit.

Leaning back slightly in his chair, with his feet up on the table, enjoying the sea breeze while savoring the fruit was truly, literally, the best.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Of course, the three women watching this scene—Lilith, Lucia, and Ria—didn’t look pleased. Their expressions were awful.

“I’m getting pissed off.”

“I’m getting angry.”

“I’ll kill him, nyaa.”

Lilith and Ria aside, even Lucia, who always exuded a gentle atmosphere, openly saying ‘I’m getting angry’ meant the situation was truly infuriating.

But Zion, who seemed to know the reason, was still eating apples with a very relaxed expression.

“Zion!”

Eventually, Lilith was the first to speak again.

“Yes, Lilith-nim?”

“Are you really… not angry?”

“Angry?”

“Yes!

We went to all the trouble of setting the table, but some random guy is about to sit down and eat it all up, and you’re not even protesting or getting angry!”

Zion looked at Lilith for a moment, then turned to Lucia standing next to her.

It was to ask if Lucia had similar thoughts.

“…I think Prince Erader went too far this time.

This is really not okay.

Father even heard the news and was about to beat the arrogant punk’s backside, but I barely stopped him.

Honestly, I wanted to just pretend to stop him and let him go.”

Zion felt a chill run down his spine at those words.

No matter how much he disliked Prince Erader, he was still a prince of Hispania, and the firstborn son of the current king.

Trying to harm such a man would not go unpunished, even for Lido.

“Ria.

Maybe you…”

He hoped that the free-spirited cat woman would be a little different.

But soon, Zion groaned and shook his head.

In response to Zion’s question, Ria immediately flashed her sharp claws with a *paching!* sound and said a short, impactful word.

“I’ll kill him, nyaa.”

If left unchecked, Ria really seemed like she would go find Prince Erader, who must be busy preparing for his departure, and draw musical notes on his face [scratch him up badly].

Fearing that the three women in front of him might do something, Zion quickly opened his mouth.

“Stop misunderstanding, everyone.

I’m fine.

Stop with the pointless thoughts and go back to your daily lives.

That is all.”

“…Don’t talk such nonsense!”

“This is really not okay, even if it’s a prince!”

“I’ll kill him!

I’ll kill him, nyaa!

I’ll kill him, nyaaaang!”

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you women!

The person involved is saying it’s okay, so why are you keep doing this!”

Zion shouted like that and recalled the incident from yesterday.

―

“The pirates have lost their strength, huh.

That’s very welcome news.”

Prince Erader said that, with a very slight smile on his lips.

A smile that he doesn’t show to other nobles, only to me, a smile that pisses people off.

From that, Zion gained the conviction that ‘Ah, this bastard is about to do something ridiculous again,’ and he made a vow to not show any reaction no matter what nonsense he spouted, and he kept making that vow.

Meanwhile, Prince Erader moved his steps and came right in front of Zion.

He had a very proud and pleased smile on his face and began to pat Zion on the shoulder.

Originally, from the nobles’ point of view, if a direct descendant of the royal family did such a thing, they would be very moved and immediately kneel, but from Zion’s point of view, he could not hide his question of what the hell this bastard was thinking, so he only slightly bowed his head.

“If you’ve broken nine pirate ships and even succeeded in striking the pirates’ base, it must mean you’ve done a lot of work.

Isn’t that so?”

“…That is correct, Your Highness.”

“On top of that, you’ve been leading the adaptation training to operate the Griffin unit as you wish, so there must have been a considerable amount of fatigue accumulated there as well.

Isn’t that right?”

“…?”

*Is this bastard going to do it again?*

Zion sighed and looked at Prince Erader.

He wondered if he hadn’t learned his lesson yet after using it once, tasting a little sweetness, and then burning his tongue and palate so badly that the skin peeled off.

On top of that, it would be an act of pouring cold water on such a good atmosphere, but would he really do such a thing?

Zion wondered, but on the other hand, considering the situation, it was a point where he had to survive politically, even if he had to do such a thing.

“It would be too much for you, Hispania’s hero, to step forward again in such a tired state.”

“…”

“Everyone will know that you are the one who weakened the pirates and made them irrecoverable, and that you, Zion Claussen, are the one who has made the greatest contribution.

So I think it would be good to step back and rest at this point.”

So, to summarize, he was saying that he would take charge of the final finale.

He had already done a lot of great things, so he would step back at this point and Prince Erader himself would take the rest.

‘This bastard is really… I can’t bring myself to curse him.’

It wasn’t that he couldn’t curse him because he was speechless.

It was just that Prince Erader, who was currently in a politically difficult situation, had found a breakthrough with some ‘justification,’ so he understood to some extent and didn’t feel like cursing him.

As Prince Erader said, Zion had returned after achieving tremendous feats.

That was an undeniable fact for anyone in Hispania.

Even Prince Erader himself had just affirmed that Zion was the one who had made the greatest contribution.

For him, who was so eager to gain merit, it was like taking a step back.

But it wasn’t like he had admitted defeat and retreated completely.

The part about resting now because he must have worked hard to achieve that much merit was a bit ambiguous for Zion to refuse outright and say he couldn’t do that with a straight face.

Since the pirates were already weakened and would collapse with just a little touch, others could roughly agree that there was no need to send out someone who had worked hard and returned.

‘Giving rest to those who have returned after making great contributions to the kingdom.

And saying that he will take care of the cleanup, so rest assured.’

That’s right.

Prince Erader was aiming for the so-called ‘last hit’ [final blow].

Looking at the merits he had made in the south, Zion would definitely be ahead, but originally, people remember the later events better than the earlier ones, and the last events better than the later ones.

‘Isn’t it the same in games?

The guy who shits all over the place for 40 minutes eats up all the plates at the end!

And then says, “Ah, it was so hard carrying this game.” How is that any different?’

A will to concede the merit but to defend his presence by being talked about by people.

Prince Erader’s ultimate goal is to emphasize that if he becomes king, with the support of the south, the southern part of the kingdom will accept him without any resistance.

From that point of view, taking the last hit was the last big chunk of meat that Prince Erader, who had been deprived of all the substance by Zion, could take.

“Your Highness.

That part is…”

The nobles in the south immediately began to waver.

To be honest, it was obvious what Prince Erader was aiming for, but there was no clear justification to stop him.

If Prince Erader were to say something like, ‘No, it would be a great loss to the kingdom if Hispania’s hero is exhausted and sent back to the battlefield and gets hurt! Can you take responsibility for that!’ the nobles would have no choice but to become speechless.

‘That prince. He’s not a complete idiot after all.

He’s really good at using his brain in times like these.’

Zion admitted that Prince Erader had a petty but definitely clever side.

To other ordinary people, it might seem like childish wordplay, but originally, in the political arena, such trivial justifications are sharper than blades.

The prince of a country is worried about the health of a noble and acknowledges that he is already a winner recognized by everyone.

And he says that he will take care of the cleanup instead, so a noble cannot seriously say, ‘Don’t talk nonsense.’

Even though both were born with silver spoons in their mouths, one had a spoon with a vibranium frame [strong and valuable], and the other only had a gold frame.

If they collided head-on, Zion would be at a disadvantage in nine out of ten cases.

‘Okay.

That’s the best and most reasonable way for you to come out.

I acknowledge it!

It’s a bit forced, but there’s no problem in terms of justification, so I have to acknowledge it!’

Zion thought that this was a sincere enough tackle to pretend to be caught.

Of course, he had no intention of really falling.

“…I was actually going to ask Your Highness for a favor anyway.”

“Hmm?”

“The truth is, I haven’t been feeling well during the voyage.

I was thinking of entrusting the cleanup to someone else and taking a rest, but I can’t express how reassuring it is that Your Highness is stepping in.”

Hemon looked at Zion as if to say, ‘Excuse me? You clearly didn’t get seasick and sailed just fine,’ but Zion deliberately avoided looking in that direction.

He was sure that Hemon would keep his mouth shut in the current situation and come to Zion later to ask the reason.

In contrast to Hemon, Prince Erader smiled broadly, his face full of smiles.

He was worried about what to do if Zion refused with something like, ‘I think it would be better for me to finish it,’ but he was so easily accepting it that it was nothing short of the best picture for him.

Of course, jumping at it right away in this situation would only make him a third-rate character.

And as Zion had said, Prince Erader was not a complete third-rate character, even if he wasn’t a first-rate one.

“Hmm hmm.

But now that I’ve heard the answer from Zion himself, it’s a bit of a shame.

You overturned the situation that had become a bit unfavorable due to the mistakes of others, but you have to step back because you’re not feeling well.”

He showed concern for Zion’s worries and sincerely worried about the part where he couldn’t achieve the final merit, while at the same time trying to gloss over the previous defeat by saying that it was due to the mistakes of everyone else.

It was a shameless act that deserved Zion’s praise of ‘Damn, he’s amazing!’ and a thumbs up.

And originally, in such political and power struggles, you had to have hundreds of iron plates on your face [be incredibly thick-skinned] to survive the muddy fight with all your limbs intact.

“What can I do?

My body won’t cooperate.

And originally, in this world, ‘if you’re greedy, you’ll get hurt badly,’ so I think it’s better to step back.”

Zion fired off a meaningful remark aimed directly at him, though Prince Erader wouldn’t know it.

That man seems to think that the pirates are dying out, so he can just go and tear off a handful of flesh and grill it deliciously, but if he really thinks that way, Zion wanted to say that he shouldn’t let his guard down.

‘Originally, all creatures resist most desperately right before they die.

There’s no need to jump into hell for no reason.

And by now, that straw bastard [unreliable person] at the port will be excitedly gathering information and passing it on to the pirates.

They’ll know roughly about the griffins and try to defend themselves at least a little.’

A griffin is by no means a steel object like an airplane.

It is a living creature made of flesh, bone, and blood, and it screams in pain when it hurts.

Even a blind arrow can cause a fatal wound if you’re unlucky and fall to the ground.

If the enemy is trying to defend with a sharp momentum, Zion had no reason to crawl into that mess.

‘Go ahead.

Go and see for yourself whether what you’re trying to hit is the last hit or the gate to hell.’

And in addition to that, Zion had one more thing to say to Prince Erader.

It seemed that that man was only thinking of separating Zion himself, but unfortunately, there were several things that would automatically fall off if he fell off here.

“Prince Erader.”

“Hmm?

What is it, Zion Claussen?”

Towards Prince Erader, who was fully operating the happiness circuit with the thought of taking the last hit.

Zion smiled the brightest smile he could muster and opened his mouth.

“I have something to tell you for a moment.”

Having said that, Zion approached him and whispered something in a soft tone, just as the prince had done before.

“…Wh-what did you say?”

And Prince Erader, upon hearing those words, wore an expression of embarrassment several times greater than that of the nobles just now.

―――――――Author’s Notes―――――――

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