The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Approaching us are three Albatro’s warships.

They are sailboats equipped with cannons that fire magic bullets. At present they are the latest model of warships. A close quarter battle is one thing but we won’t be able to do anything if we are engaged in a long-range one.

“As expected, they are not here to attack us huh.”

“If they do, it would start a war after all.”

“Thanks for escorting them. How are those two doing on the other ship?”

“They are still groggy Your Highness. If they are in a competition then you would need to call a referee to stop the match.”

After he escorted Leo to my ship, the middle-aged knight returned to my side. Only he knows that we switched places so it would be helpful having him with me.

“Well, since I’m substituting for him, am I considered disqualified?”

“It’s fine as long as they don’t find out isn’t it.”

He replied.

He is so flexible that I can’t imagine him working under Elna. Rather, I want him as my own subordinate.

“I see. Then I will have to play this thorough huh.”

“Allow me to accompany you.”

With that said, we head to receive the approaching Albatro ships.

————–

“Thank you for accepting our dialogue request. Ambassador-dono.”

(TLN: -dono mean sir, lord, formal way of addressing someone)

The person that came aboard our ship was a girl with pale brown hair. Her shoulder-length hair sways slightly in the wind.

Her age must be around 14 or 15. Her green colored eyes look into me with interest.

I never thought that I would be dealing with a younger person here, so I was a little surprised.

She must have realized that so she immediately bowed her head.

“Sorry for my rudeness. I’m Evangelina di Albatro. I’m the Princess of the Principality of Albatro. Please call me Eva.”

“Ah, Aneue, wait for me～……”

“The stupid one over there is my little brother, Julio di Albatro.”

The appearances of Julio and Eva are like two peas in a pod. It’s not that Eva looks masculine but it is Julio who looks feminine.

If they stand side by side, I would be convinced that they are sisters.

Eva is a beautiful girl but I can feel a strong will from her eyes. On the other hand, Julio seems timid and indecisive. If I’m asked which one is more woman-like then excuse my rudeness but it would be Julio.

To think that the prince and princess of Albatro are twins. Rather, what do they want by boarding our ship?

I bowed gracefully as Leo would in return while thinking that It’s good that I took the sick Leo’s place rather than letting him force himself to be here.

Before our departure, Albatro has been informed that Leo was dispatched as the ambassador plenipotentiary to Rondine.

Naturally, these two must know about that as well.

That’s why their reason for requesting this dialogue isn’t to stop us. If they want to stop us they can just bar our passage when we cross Albatro’s water after all. If Albatro deliberately allows our passage through their territory and then change their mind later they would lose the trust from other countries.

So, Eva and Julio must be here because of a different reason.

“I have heard a rumor about you, Prince Leonard. When a monster tsunami happened in the Empire, you gain the loyalty of the knights and led an assault on the monsters. As expected of a prince of the Empire, you possess both bravery and military talent.”

“That’s not true. It was all due to the knights’ strenuous effort. Moreover, if we are talking about military talent, both of you also possess them are you not? Your Highnesses weren’t dispatching the warships just to meet with me correct?”

Hearing that, Eva’s eyes turned a little sharper while Julio’s expression grew timid.

As expected, they have another reason to visit us.

Rather than an action against us, they are out here on a different objective and we were just passing by.

The question here is what kind of goal does this prince and princess set out to achieve. Judging from their behaviors it doesn’t seem that these two are proficient in battle.

Eva seems to have some knowledge about it but I can’t feel a shred of that from Julio. He is perhaps even worse than me in handling a sword. Why would you bring someone like him to a battle?

When I was thinking about probing them more about it, Eva raised her voice.

“You showed too much on your face! Stupid! Seriously…..”

“S, Sorry, Aneue…….”

“Haa….Your Highness Leonard. If you already understand that much then please allow me to get directly to the point. We would like you to change your course. We won’t stop you from going to Rondine but, please take a detour as much as you can.”

“Can you tell me the reason?”

“….I don’t want to say it if possible. We can’t trust you or the Empire after all.”

“I see.”

To be able to express her distrust toward the Empire so clearly, this girl has quite a firm character.

The Principality of Albatro is but a weak country when compared to the Empire. Their sea trading is thriving so if the Empire attacked them, other countries will also become their allies. However, if the Empire decided to do it, we have enough power to crush them.

Albatro must know that as well.

Even so, if she put it like that, it means that it is a problem that they would be troubled if it became known by us.

I look around a little.

Then.

“Change the course. We will take a detour to Rondine.”

“Y, Your Highness!? If we do that we will be several days later than the schedule!”

“I don’t mind. We have plenty of food and water to spare, and Rondine wouldn’t mind a little delay either.”

“But!”

“I already decided. Will that be good enough? Your Highness Eva.”

I let out a laugh inside my mind when I saw the dumbfounded look on  Eva’s face.

I see. So this is the reaction I can get when I act like Leo huh. Was Leo acting like this because he enjoyed seeing such an expression?

Eva’s reaction was very interesting.

“……as expected from someone who is actively participating in a succession war. You are a very broad-minded person. We are grateful for your wise decision, Your Highness Leonard.”

“Th, Thank you very much.”

“Now, please allow us to excuse ourselves.”

“Ex, excuse us.”

With their business over, Eva and Julio head back to their ship.

At the same time, we start preparing for our own departure. I want to stop acting as Leo as soon as I could but I can’t do anything suspicious because they will be keeping an eye on us to see if we really changed our course.

In the end, we departed with me still swapping places with Leo.

Well, that’s not the problem. If he stays in the room he won’t stand out and I don’t have to perform Leo’s work until we reach the shore either. The problem here is Albatro’s objective.

“What exactly do they want?”

“I’m wondering about that too.”

To the middle-aged knight’s question, I also tilted my head.

Honestly, I have no clue. They dispatched three warships with a princess and a prince on board. If they want to fight, the princess and the prince wouldn’t be necessary. And if they don’t want to fight, dispatching three warships would be an overkill.

If I considered that this might just be their force-oriented reconnaissance. If those two have some sort of reconnaissance oriented ability it would be convincing.

However, what are they scouting for?

This place is within the Principality of Albatro territory and I haven’t heard any news about any large scale pirate fleet either.

After I pondering about the earlier meeting for a while, the ship suddenly shook.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING!?”

“REPORTING! WE GOT CAUGHT UP IN A STORM!”

“What!?”

That’s crazy.

The weather was fine until just now, where would a storm suddenly came from.

With that in mind, I went up to the deck in a hurry.

On the deck, strong gales and high waves are assaulting the ships.

Moreover, when I look to the side, things are going into a troublesome direction.

“Captain! We are getting separate from Nii-san’s ship!”

“Please forgive me! We have our hands full just to keep our ship afloat! We can’t catch up to them!”

“Is there anything you can do!?”

“It’s impossible! This is not a natural storm! It suddenly appeared without any signs! This must definitely be a work of some kind of sea monster Your Highness!”

Hearing the captain’s scream, I remember what I said to Elna.

I told her about the Sea Dragon.

A story that often circulates about a Sea Dragon is that they can sink a ship by summoning a storm out of nowhere. That’s exactly the situation right now.

The attitude of Albatro also backs it up.

The princess and the prince brought three warships and told us to change our course.

Is it possible that the Principality of Albatro knew that a Sea Dragon was spotted near this location and came to investigate it?

If that’s the case then there’s no way that they couldn’t tell us about that. Albatro is a thriving maritime nation. However if words got out that there’s a Sea Dragon lurking in their sea, no country would set sail toward their country. It would be suicide if they do.

With that in mind, I immediately used detection magic. What I am looking into is the magnitude of the storm.

Once I knew how strong the wind is, I clicked my tongue.

This storm is huge and we are on the edge of it. In other words, the point of origin is not here.

Perhaps, the center is located in Albatro’s water.

Even worse, our ship is being swept into the center.

If it keeps going like this, at worst, we will have to fight the Sea Dragon in the middle of the sea.

Spare me from that.

“Captain! Get us out of this storm!”

“I’m doing it right now!”

Thus, I swapped places with Leo in a rampaging storm.