The Crown Prince Most Suited for the Guillotine – Ranked #1 by the Border Defense Army
Discharge Countdown: D-1278.
Sure, the original novel was mostly about romance, but I had wrung every last drop of useful information from it.
Thanks to the black magic artifact, my memories of the original story were crystal clear. It might have helped that I had lost my memories of my past life, leaving plenty of empty storage space in my brain.
So I had used those memories to prevent disasters—like stopping Patty and Matty from literally setting a fire, instead making sure their muscles burned instead. Or keeping Dalin from getting trapped in a cave during a subjugation mission... by just slamming her head into the ground instead.
Of course, I only saved them because their screw-ups would have affected me, but I had to admit—I was one hell of a responsible senior. Amazing. Go, Salvia!
‘Good, no major incidents lately.’
Around this time in the original novel, the Adolph Empire’s new emperor was supposed to ascend to the throne. The old emperor had died of old age, and the crown prince was inheriting the throne.
Yes. That crown prince. The XX XX who had visited our unit before.
‘That XX XX is becoming emperor? Goddamn it...’
Thinking about all the suffering he had caused me made me want to personally remove his head from his body, but regardless, this event meant all of the Border Defense Army’s weapons would be replaced with new ones.
Not to mention, the empire would also send special supplies—including snacks.
I remembered it clearly because that was the scene where Aquila had watched Dalin eat sweets and mistakenly superimposed her with “Salvia.”
"The audacity. How dare you superimpose me on someone else? XX, I’m pissed."
"Salvia, what now?"
"Ah, Ishina-nim. I was just imagining how disgusting it would feel if someone compared me to another person."
"Salvia... Please stop getting angry over things that haven’t even happened."
Anyway, separate from that XX XX becoming emperor, at least I’d get to eat some damn snacks. In this hellhole, food was one of the very few joys in life.
"Salvia... Instead of wasting time on that, can you head to the company commander’s office? It’s about the upcoming company training."
"Ah, yessir."
Following Ishina’s orders, I headed to the headquarters building where the company commander was.
As I walked, I started thinking again—how could I break the contract magic binding the Arkons?
Hmmm. I really wanted to avoid going where April was if I could help it.
Did I have to kill a black magician? No, the original black magician who created the contract magic had to be long dead. It had been hundreds of years—there was no way even a black magician could live forever.
Lost in thought, I reached the company commander’s office and knocked before entering.
"Ah, from Alpha Platoon? Since you’re headed back, deliver these documents to your platoon leader."
"Yes, sir."
The company commander started rummaging through his desk to find the documents.
"This one’s new... Hold on...."
As he searched, a few papers slipped off his desk. I quickly picked them up and handed them back to him.
"Here you go."
"Ah, thanks..."
He took them absentmindedly—then froze as he read the top document.
"This is..."
The paper he was holding contained details about the upcoming coronation of the new emperor.
"Ah, right. The coronation is soon."
He muttered as if he had just remembered, flipping to the next page.
It contained orders regarding the replacement of military equipment and the maintenance of various facilities. His expression brightened.
"It seems the new Emperor has a strong interest in national defense. Good. That’s how a country prospers."
Yeah. He was so interested in national defense that he had even personally visited the Border Defense Army before.
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I couldn’t keep my face from twisting at the memory, and the company commander, seemingly remembering his own suffering, coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
"Well, at least they’re sending us snacks. That’s good news for the unit."
But then—
"...Huh?"
"...HUH?!"
The company commander’s shocked voice overlapped with mine.
"A-Are you serious...?"
His voice trembled as he read the paper in front of him.
"Eeeeh~? No way...!"
I ended up using the exact same tone as some dumb anime character from my past life.
A soldier and his commander, united in disbelief. What a beautiful sight.
But this was truly—
"W-why us...?"
Because written on the document was the following:
—In honor of the new Emperor’s ascension, he will be traveling across the empire. Soldiers will prepare and maintain the roads along his path and stand guard as he passes.
"Th-this..."
XX. XX. XX. XX.
The company commander continued muttering in denial, while I silently unleashed a storm of curses in my mind.
Didn’t something like this happen four years ago? Or was that just my imagination?
That XX XX, now officially Emperor, had never once not been a pain in my ass.
And more importantly—
WHY THE HELL DID DALIN FROM THE ORIGINAL NOVEL NEVER MENTION HOW MUCH THEY SUFFERED BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID EMPEROR?!
She only ever wrote about her romantic fluff with the male leads!
When I got back, I was definitely picking a fight with this world’s Dalin.
***
But we still had hope.
Sure, following the Emperor’s orders was important, but so was defending the border. If all of us left for the ceremony, even for a short time, the border would be left vulnerable to monsters. That meant someone had to stay behind.
"One of Alpha Platoon, Beta Platoon, or Gamma Platoon will remain behind."
At the company commander’s words, tension flared between the platoons.
The decision would be made with a high-stakes game of rock-paper-scissors between the platoon officers.
Which meant that for our platoon... Winter would be stepping up.
"Winter-nim, please...!"
The sergeants surrounding Winter looked at him with desperate eyes.
Hah. Since Winter was a male lead in the novel and good at everything, surely he could win a simple game of rock-paper-scissors, right?
Standing among them, I, too, gazed up at Winter with the same desperate look.
Our eyes met.
"Winter-nim... do you, perhaps, have a secret technique to win?"
I had absolute faith in Winter’s abilities. Especially after he had pulled me out of the Ghost Groom’s stomach.
He could read the presence of people and the tremors of the earth—surely he could read minds, too?
Winter turned his sharp gaze toward the two platoon officers preparing for the match.
"First, Beta Platoon’s Jack..."
Wow. As expected of Winter. He had a plan.
"Since he’s the type to always talk about what it means to be a real man, he’s likely to throw rock. In a single-decision match like this, he’ll instinctively go for rock. As for Gamma Platoon’s Maria, she doesn’t have a fixed pattern, but given the situation, I can calculate the most advantageous move."
Even Aquila, who usually disliked Winter, was now looking at him with unwavering trust.
"If Maria throws rock, I can win by throwing paper. If she throws scissors and I throw either rock or paper, the match will reset, giving me another chance. If she throws paper and I throw either scissors or paper, the same applies. So, logically, the best choice is paper."
"As expected of Winter-nim...!"
Once again, another As Expected of Winter moment unfolded.
The sergeants, eyes filled with genuine admiration, looked at him with utmost respect.
"Winter-nim! You must win!"
"We believe in you!"
"Winter-nim, we’re counting on you!"
And so, under the weight of everyone’s expectations, Winter played rock-paper-scissors.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Jack threw scissors.
Winter’s entire calculation crumbled, and Jack emerged victorious.
‘...Didn’t you say Jack only throws rock, you XX...?’
Winter, Male Lead Power -1,000 points.
***
In the end, our platoon had to prepare for the Emperor’s arrival.
We ironed our uniforms until they were stiff and sharp. We stayed up all night practicing the proper salute for when the Emperor passed by.
Today, I wasn’t carrying a rifle—I had a ceremonial sword strapped to my waist instead.
"If any of you screw up today, you die, you XX."
As we marched down the mountain, I growled at the recruits. They were visibly tense.
Today, everyone was on edge—the battalion commander, the company commander, the platoon leader, every single senior.
"Are we just supposed to clean up this area now?"
"Yeah."
We moved to the main road where the procession would pass and began clearing every pebble from the ground.
"Not a single ant is allowed to crawl through!"
"Are you kidding me?! We were ordered to clear every pebble! What do your eyes even see?!"
At least now, I was the one giving orders instead of being the one taking them. That was my one consolation.
"The leaves from that tree keep falling onto the road!"
"W-what should we do, then?"
"Chopping it down would look bad... but shaking all the leaves off would look just as bad."
"Salvia, what if we just pull the tree out completely?"
At Ishina’s gentle suggestion, my eyes sparkled with approval.
"As expected of Ishina-nim! That’s a brilliant idea! Hey, you guys, come pull this tree out and pack down the dirt!"
The recruits’ faces immediately darkened with despair.