Chapter 4

When you worked as a host, you sometimes found yourself in some pretty dangerous situations.

So I knew when things were going south. And right now, things were looking bad.

I was unarmed. I didn’t have so much as a weapon on me.

Meanwhile, my opponent had a sword, armor, and muscles. And he was a knight, meaning he was probably a professional fighter.

There was no way I could beat him in a fistfight, either.

In situations like this, the important thing was not to provoke the other person.

I forced a goofy smile and shrugged.

“…Who am I? I told you, I’m Yuri. Though I guess I’ve got amnesia or something.”

“No.”

He shot me down flatly, as if he’d just sliced me apart with his sword.

What the hell? His whole demeanor was completely different from before. Or was this his real personality?

“You are an impostor. Don’t think you can fool the eyes of someone who has been at His Highness’s side since he was a child.”

What the hell, was this guy his childhood friend or something?

I had no idea what a royal guard was supposed to do, but if they were anything like bodyguards, then yeah, I guess they’d stick close to their charge all the time.

—Dude, those eyes are terrifying.

“—There was not even a trace of someone like you in His Highness’s personality.”

Shit. This guy was naturally fucking intense.

I kind of wanted to mess with him a little, but one wrong move and he’d cut me to pieces.

He’d figured it out. He knew I wasn’t the real Prince Yuri.

But there was no way I could admit it.

“I was dead for three whole days. Of course the stuff inside me was gonna rot.”

I paused for a moment.

Then I spat out my next words.

“—So what if there’s a demon inside this body? What are you gonna do about it? Kill me? Are you gonna kill the person who’s alive right now just to protect that pristine image of Prince Yuri in your memories?”

The contents might have changed, but this body definitely belonged to Prince Yuri. Probably. Almost certainly. Hell if I knew.

I figured people reacted differently when someone precious to them died.

I had no idea how people in this world viewed death, either.

But listen.

If someone precious to you came back to life, talked to you, and smiled at you again…

Even if the person inside had changed, could you really bring yourself to kill them a second time?

Even if the person inside was an alien, if you caught glimpses of the original in their little gestures and facial expressions, it’d be pretty damn hard to kill them.

Well, I’d kill an alien, personally.

But even then, I’d need to be certain first. I’d need to know that this was someone else wearing the same face. A monster. An enemy of humanity. Something that had to be killed before it killed me.

That’s why this guy probably couldn’t bring himself to cut me down, either, even if he could threaten me.

Especially when it came to his precious Prince Yuri.

Because he had to be regretting something.

And if he’d been by Yuri’s side all this time, even more so.

He’d stayed close and protected him all those years, only for Yuri to end up murdered.

Somewhere deep down, he must have been thinking, I don’t care what happens, as long as he’s alive.

“Your goal is for Prince Yuri to inherit the throne, right?”

“…………”

“Then you’ve got no choice but to support me. Or are you fine with losing without even putting up a fight? Are you really going to hand victory to the person who killed Yuri? Ah, unless you’re the spy who killed Yuri yours—”

At that moment, he pointed his sword at me in earnest.

Holy shit—don’t point a blade at another person like that…

…He wasn’t seriously planning to kill me, was he…?

“I’m serious about winning. If you’re going to aim for something, you might as well aim to be number one, right?”

“…………”

“Things probably won’t go the way you all want them to, with your pretty little ideals and all… But just watch. Let’s see how far we can go.”

“…………”

Clive remained silent, sheathed his sword, and left the room.

—The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

“…Haaaaaahhhhh…”

Finally alone, I let out a massive sigh. My heart was pounding like crazy. I was drenched in a cold sweat, and my back hurt like hell.

That guy was dangerous. He was the type who worshipped the former Prince Yuri. And he was seriously devoted, too.

I’d better avoid provoking him too much. As the old saying went, a wise man stayed away from danger.

—But that guy was a royal guard, wasn’t he…?

After sleeping like a log, I woke up in the evening to find a strategy meeting underway around a round table in a spacious room.

There sure were a lot of people here. So these were Team Yuri, huh?

I tossed the prepared urban development plans onto the table.

“This is fucking boring.”

That was all I had to say.

Seriously, this was the kind of urban development plan designed to win praise from respectable people. It might have been fine for a bedroom community, but there was no way I’d win the race for the throne with this.

—Well, with the power of divine arts and my silver tongue, I could probably turn Yuri into some kind of cult leader and build a massive religious city.

“What do the rival cities look like?”

At my question, Amalie raised her head.

“His Highness Prince Leonis, the Second Prince, intends to build a military city. It will be located east of the royal capital, at a strategic point facing both the sea and a major road. Apparently, he has named it ‘Leonidas, the Military City.’ Her Highness Princess Mireille, the Third Royal Child, intends to build a city devoted to magical research and scholarship. It will be located south of the royal capital and is to be called ‘Mire, the City of Learning.’”

Oh, so they were giving their cities names similar to their own. Easy enough to remember, I guess.

Still, my Seven Trees was by far the coolest name.

“So, what are the conditions for winning this so-called race for the throne?”

“Yes. Three years from now, five judges will select the city they believe is most worthy of its ruler becoming king. The judges will be His Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen, the Holy Maiden, the Chancellor, and the High Priest. Their evaluation criteria have not been disclosed.”

“Huh. So each of them will probably pick the city they like best. Well, in the end, all that matters is making the place as lively as possible. That means our plans aren’t changing. The whole damn city is going to be an entertainment district.”

Amalie began trembling.

…She reminded me of a hamster I used to have.

“…How exactly do you intend to win the succession battle with an entertainment district…?”

“Who knows?”

How the hell should I know? I couldn’t read the judges’ minds.

“Anyway, we’ll attract money and people. And once the people come, the place will get lively.”

Money moves. People move. Hearts move.

“Besides, no matter how respectable a city is, shady places will spring up somewhere. The only difference is whether you treat them as a necessary evil, try to eliminate them, or accept them as they are.”

Trying to clean everything up and pretend the unsavory stuff never existed was exactly the kind of thing those squeaky-clean elites would come up with.

But who knew what kind of shady shit those same elites got up to in their own homes or behind closed doors?

So I’d build a place where all of it could be accepted.

A place where scumbags like me could live happily.

If God thought it was immoral, then I’d get God drunk, too.

There was some old folktale like that, wasn’t there? The one where someone got a monster drunk and defeated it while it was passed out. I liked stories like that.

In high spirits, I picked up a pen and drew a circle in the middle of the city map.

“First, we’ll plop my castle right in the middle. A huuuge one.”

The main attraction had to be big, after all. A symbol. A landmark. Maybe I’d even put up a statue of myself someday.

“Here, we’ll put cabaret clubs for men. Host clubs over here, and a theater around this area. The venues should be huge.”

I drew circles all over the map at random. This was fun. It was like playing a game.

“This area will be for cheap hotels, and this one for luxury hotels. Put the residential neighborhoods farther back. We’ll also build consultation centers and hospitals here and there, so leave some land open for them. And good public safety is nonnegotiable. I want a police box on practically every street.”

“Consultation centers? Hospitals? Police boxes?”

Amalie blinked her big eyes in bewilderment.

“Huh? Of course we need those. Once alcohol gets involved, trouble is bound to happen. People need somewhere they can run to right away, as well as places where they can seek advice whenever they need it. Hospitals, consultation centers, personal safety—we’ll provide all of it for free here in Seven Trees.”

“…I-I had never considered building facilities like those…”

“Then I’ll leave that to you, Amalie. Make somewhere a girl can feel safe when she comes running in because she’s scared. Girls are delicate, after all.”

“Y-you want me to…? Y-yes! I’ll do it!”

I’d just dumped an annoying responsibility on her, yet for some reason, she sounded happy to accept it.

I didn’t get women. She’d been calling my plans indecent just a little while ago.

Was she just easy to win over, or did she already have a high opinion of the former Prince Yuri?

I turned to Clive.

It wasn’t as if I’d forgotten that little sword incident, but there was no way I could get anywhere without figuring out how to make use of him.

“—Clive, you’re a knight, so you’re good at protecting people, right? You’re in charge of figuring out how to maintain public order and designing the security system. Discuss it thoroughly with your subordinates.”

“…Understood.”