Chapter 2

The funeral was interrupted.

I was taken to a room farther inside and surrounded by people before I could even figure out what was going on.

There were only three monks wearing white robes, the beautiful red-haired woman in mourning clothes, and the ridiculously handsome black-haired knight who kept directing an uncomfortably intense gaze at me.

But every single one of them had an overwhelming presence.

“Who the hell are you people? Where is this place?”

When I asked while sitting in a chair, the beautiful woman in mourning clothes staggered as if she’d been shocked.

“Y-Your Highness… Could it be that you… don’t remember me?”

“Not just you. I don’t remember any of you. More importantly, who the hell am I?”

They were acting like they knew me, but I didn’t even understand what the hell was happening.

The handsome knight standing by the doorway frowned.

“…It’s been three days since your death, so perhaps your memories have become unclear. You may have suffered serious damage to your head…”

“…That’s why his… personality is also…”

Shut up. My personality had always been like this.

After crying for a while, the beautiful woman in mourning clothes lifted her eyes, which were red and swollen from tears.

“…First of all, you are His Highness Yuri, the First Prince of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Huh? …Hahaha… Haaah?!”

The Holy Kingdom?

What the hell was that? What country was it? Somewhere in Europe?

—And who the hell was I supposed to be?

Yuri was Yuri, sure, but a prince?

This was way too elaborate for a prank.

I didn’t know anyone who could pull off something on this scale.

—All right, all right. So this was that popular thing called reincarnation in another world.

I’d heard about it.

One of the new guys at the club had told me it was popular lately.

You died and were reborn in another world—like inside a game or something.

The new guy had said it was like a dream.

What kind of dream was he having?

If this was a dream, then wake me the fuck up already.

I kept up with a little bit of everything that was popular, including subculture stuff.

It gave me things to talk about with customers.

…But seriously, I was the one who got reincarnated into another world?

Well, otherwise, there was no way I could communicate with these people who clearly weren’t Japanese.

I couldn’t believe it, but I’d just have to accept it for now.

The name of this guy and my host name must’ve been the same, so my soul had probably entered his body after I died.

How random.

This world. And God.

“So, who the hell are you people?”

The beautiful woman in mourning clothes briefly held her breath before gathering the skirt of her black dress with both hands and bowing her head.

“I am Amalie of House Elstarge, Your Highness’s fiancée.”

“M-My fiancée?!”

So she was my woman?

This seemingly pure and innocent beauty?

She was beautiful, sure, but there was something kind of scary about her.

Did that mean I was guaranteed to marry her?

Didn’t I have a say in this?

Well, she was beautiful, but still.

When it came to love, that was one thing. But when it came to a marriage partner, looks weren’t the most important thing.

Since I’d reincarnated into another world and was a prince, shouldn’t I have plenty of options?

I mean, a prince could have multiple wives, right?

I could probably build a harem.

Then I turned toward the knight who’d been staring at me so brazenly.

“…And you?”

“—I am Clive, your personal royal guard.”

The handsome knight answered with an expression so emotionless it was almost frightening.

What the hell was this guy’s problem?

Did he hate me? The original Yuri, I mean.

A personal royal guard, huh?

Was he something like an attendant?

Or maybe a bodyguard, like a club’s bouncer.

Could’ve been a security guard or something.

I didn’t really know, but it was probably something like that.

“Then tell me my ‘character settings.’ Why I died, my stats, special abilities, and all that.”

There had to be something, right?

Some kind of special ability.

Even if I got some useless skill, it would probably turn out to be ridiculously powerful in the end, wouldn’t it?

“…As the First Prince of the Holy Kingdom, you were scheduled to govern this city, Selephia.”

The one who answered was the beautiful woman in mourning clothes—Amalie.

“For the succession struggle, each prince and princess was required to develop their respective cities. Your Highness, Yuri, intended to establish Selephia as a city of culture and divinity, built around faith and the arts… However…”

She was talking about some plan that was giving me a headache just listening to it…

Amalie faltered.

She bit her lip, clasped her trembling hands together in front of her as if praying, and continued.

“…Someone poisoned you…”

“—Poisoned?”

“Her Holiness the Saint did everything she could with her divine arts, but she couldn’t save you… You passed away just like that…”

—A Saint? Divine arts?

“According to custom, you were laid to rest for three days. Today, your first funeral ceremony was held…”

…Three days?

“And now, a miracle has occurred…!”

—Stop it. Don’t look at me like that. Don’t look at me with those sparkling eyes full of tears.

I’m not your Prince Yuri.

Still, I was starting to get the general picture.

First Prince of the Holy Kingdom? Given a city to govern? A succession struggle?

A city to be developed through faith and the arts?

What kind of stupid theme was that? Some ancient capital? Kyoto? Nara?

And then—poisoned to death.

What a pathetic way to go.

“Someone poisoned me? Come on, obviously one of your rivals did it. Hurry up, investigate and arrest the culprit.”

“…That is impossible.”

Clive spoke with a bitter expression.

Amalie nodded.

“The members of the royal family participating in the succession struggle swear before God that they will compete with integrity and honor. Therefore, even suspecting another member of the royal family would violate the rules.”

“Are you people right in the head?”

The retort I’d been making in my head slipped right out of my mouth.

“I was fucking poisoned to death, you know? And I’m not even allowed to suspect anyone? What kind of idiocy is that?”

“…But if we break that rule, we will be disqualified immediately.”

Amalie lowered her shoulders dejectedly.

Hold on a second.

She was acting all meek and dejected, but did that mean she still had no intention of withdrawing from the succession struggle?

Even though I—the original Yuri—had been murdered?

Were these people seriously planning to continue the succession struggle?

Without even looking for the person who’d poisoned me, were they still planning to make me—the original Yuri-sama—the king, now that I’d conveniently come back to life?

…Were they right in the head?

I’d love to ask that question as many times as possible, but apparently, this was just how things normally worked around here.

“…So, what are my special abilities?”

“Your Highness Yuri can use divine arts. You can heal and save people… Because of that power and your noble character, you are known as the Holy Prince of Light.”

“Huh.”

Healing, huh? So, not an offensive ability.

…Pretty boring.

Well, I wasn’t a fan of getting into fights anyway.

I could just have the strong guys do all the fighting while I stood in the back and threw out some healing spells. In a game, that’d be the easy position at the rear.

“So, what exactly am I supposed to do?”

Amalie’s eyes sparkled again.

“Nothing has changed, Your Highness! You must develop this city, Selephia, into a city of faith and the arts!”

“Nope.”

When I said it outright, Amalie looked like she was about to collapse.

“N-No…?”

“Yeah, no. What kind of boring plan is that? You think that’ll make the city prosper? No way, no way. A city that boring would make me die all over again.”

Did they seriously believe that was enough to make the city prosper?

Was there really a market for religious fanatics?

Well, considering I’d miraculously come back to life, I could probably become some kind of cult leader and rack up followers by the thousands.

They could turn the place into a city of faith and the arts after I died.

The me who was alive right now was a worldly man. I was made of greed, money, and pleasure.

Dying once wasn’t going to change who I was.

“Let’s see… We’ll turn the whole place into an entertainment district. Host clubs, cabaret clubs, shisha bars, show clubs… Heh, let’s build a city dedicated to every kind of desire! A place that draws in crowds of people!”

The room fell silent, but I didn’t care and kept going.

“We’ll even change the name! I’m aiming beyond Roppongi—let’s see… We’ll call it ‘Seven Trees’!!”

If this was another world, I was a prince, and this was my job, then that meant I could do whatever I wanted, right?

Then I’d do it.

I’d develop this city my way!

“An… entertainment district…?”

Amalie trembled like a little hamster as she spoke.

“Of course there’s something like that in this world, too. A nightlife district where all the sexy men and women gather. We’re going to build one right here.”

“H-H-H-HOW DEPRAVED!”

“Everyone loves depravity. Ah, no, maybe ‘everyone’ is an exaggeration. About 97 percent, I’d say.”

Actually, that was still too low. More than 99 percent of people were depraved, worldly creatures.

And that was exactly why there’d be demand.

Where there was demand, money moved. And where money moved, things prospered.

I could say that with absolute confidence.

“I refuse! Your Highness Yuri, you promised me that we would build a sacred city together!”

“How the hell should I know? Promises and the original plan are null and void after you die!”

Besides, I doubted the original Yuri-sama had genuinely wanted to build that kind of city from the bottom of his heart.

He’d probably come up with a grand-sounding plan just to get the people around him to praise him.

Faith? The arts?

Those were the kind of clean, noble-sounding words you’d find in a model answer—the sort everyone was expected to give.

…He must’ve been a goody-two-shoes prince, the kind who made everyone around him happy by being exactly the sort of person they wanted him to be.

What an idiot.

He’d been a prince, with the freedom to do whatever he wanted, and he’d wasted it.

He could’ve done something much more ridiculous.

Like surrounding himself with women and partying like a madman.