Princess Yerina said that the road she was going to take would be a hard road, but in fact, both Aracelli and I had never once thought that this trip would be hard. The monsters which appeared along our way were all so weak that they could be easily dealt with simple firearms. And when a third-rate villain, namely bandits, comes stopping you out of nowhere, you can just beat them up to relieve some stress. Compared to the battlefield where I had to keep my eyes open all night long, this trip was nothing but a healing trip.
However, for Yerina, this trip wasn’t healing at all. After all, even though the monsters and the villains did not threaten their lives, the stress was getting to her since the place they were travelling right now was the other side of the empire which she had never known while living as a princess.
For her, this place was hell itself. She was experiencing first-hand the horrors which couldn’t be explained by common sense. It left her wondering just how in the world this huge empire was still standing even after 500 years.
‘It seems like the reason the empire is still standing is because of the Protagonist Correction.’ Protagonist Correction was a mysterious and unique power. It could make whatever the protagonist sees as ‘correct’ or ‘ideal’ into something where the laws of physics or common sense did not work at all.
Just like the protagonist from a few worlds prior whose skill was related to common sense, quite a number of the protagonists were using these common-sense-based abilities. Especially in the case of this world where all people and nobles trained their muscles and took everything with strength. Such a subtle change in the world made the hero, Ivan, stand out even more amongst the crowd with his ability to ‘have the best muscle training method in the world’.
However, in this case, the situation was very different from that hero protagonist from another world. At that time, the common sense of the world changed simply by instilling real common sense into the protagonist, but this world was moving with common sense that really exists. Even if the abnormal muscle love was not caused by the protagonist, it was a setting which their ancestors have changed from 500 years ago, so killing one main character would not completely remove this setting.
‘If the protagonist dies, probably the side effects of excessively trained one’s muscles will be exposed to the whole world… and the empire will be destroyed.’
But, if Yerina had proper common sense and became an Empress…
“Now, let’s return to the Imperial Palace.”
“I understand.”
Without any such side effects, the world would be restored to its original state.
* * *
Originally, the Empress of Primelia would invite all the scholars with the best knowledge and virtue into the castle. Wise men hiding in the forest were brought into the castle to teach, wise wizards and mathematicians were also invited to teach, but the current Primelia no longer invites such scholars. Those who were braver and had stronger muscles were those who qualified as scholars.
That’s why, to gain that common knowledge, Yerina had no choice but to use the old and rusty library located in the corner of the Imperial Palace. She didn’t even have anyone to attend her aside from Saeran, so on her very first day after returning to the castle, she had to spend all day mopping and dusting off cobwebs and organizing the books in the library. Even after doing that, since the library had been abandoned for a very long time, some books were unreadable.
“But it’s okay. With this much, I can study enough.” Yoo Seodam shook his head in admiration as he heard Yerina say so while opening the first page of a moldy book. Korean alphabets 500 years ago were those from the Joseon Dynasty. If you ask modern people to read the letters from 500 years ago, would they be able to read them? The answer is: it’s impossible. Unless they were a linguist, that feat was something unattainable. But, since Yerina was diligent and had read numerous books from old times and interpreted the alphabet one by one, she had become a linguist herself.
‘She’s really amazing.’ Yoo Seodam complimented her in his mind. From Yoo Seodam’s perspective, he who had given up his studies at an early age, this part of Yerina was even more admirable than the fact that she trained her muscles even when she knew she was not talented.
“…But what are you doing?” Yoo Seodam said as he moved his gaze towards Aracelli who was turning the page of a book with a twinkling eye.
“Yes? There are a lot of interesting strategy books here. The language system of another world is also interesting. It’s good to know a lot about things, right?”
“Is that so…”
Unlike ordinary people who memorize the knowledge they deemed as important, Aracelli, who had far transcended the human realm, ‘stores’ all the knowledge she had come across in her head. Therefore, she always had the thirst to know more, and because of that, she would always read any books she could find anywhere, anytime. Therefore, when she came into a library where the traditions and history of this world were sleeping, she couldn’t stand still.
“I’m going to accelerate time from now on…”
“I’ll be fine, Professor, please go on without me.”
“Uh-huh.”
Aracelli, who had always been with Yoo Seodam, for once refused to spend time with him after falling in love with the books, which came as quite a shock to him. At that moment, a feeling that his daughter who had always followed him had finally reached puberty and had turned cold assaulted Yoo Seodam. Although he did not have a daughter, at the moment, he was able to understand the heart of a father who had a daughter.
“Am I going alone?”
“Yes.”
“…am I really going alone?”
“Yes. I will be fine.”
Yoo Seodam, who was going to say that it was him who was not okay with it, finally began to fast forward the time after keeping the words from leaking out from his mouth.
The remaining time was one year.
The battle for the throne was just around the corner.
* * *
It was said that the peculiar system of succession battle originated from 500 years ago, when the muscle began to dominate the empire. At that time, the Crown Prince was weaker than the first princess and had a weaker willpower, therefore the Empress at that time was displeased with the fact that he was the one who would inherit the throne.
For that reason, from that day on, the names ‘Crown Princess’ and ‘Crown Prince’ were no longer used. All children of the empress were called princes and princesses equally. It was because no one dared to take over the position of the emperor without training their muscles.
“Your Majesty. All three princesses have gathered for the succession battle.”
“Is that so?”
The succession battle was nothing less than a national project and a national festival. Visitors from other countries were allowed to spectate. Even people who were not nobles could spectate it.
The city of ‘Ferrodel’s Dome’, was built exclusively for this event. It was a crowded city full of merchants who gathered for business all year round, and it was also a place for merchants to get an opportunity to somehow attach themselves to the nobles who had territories.
Looking at the dome whose roof stretched high into the sky, Empress Primel Primellia looked at the six people kneeling in front of her.
The first princess and the war hero.
The second princess and the hero.
The third princess and the woodcutter.
The Empress’ gaze was particularly directed towards the woodcutter, but no one noticed it as all the nobles just gossiped when they saw the Empress.
‘Your Majesty seems to have lost some muscle, doesn’t it?’
‘Recently, there have been rumors that she has been training her muscles less and less…’
‘Shh! It must be nonsense!’
‘But doesn’t she look like she’d lost a lot of muscle? She’s much thinner than last year.’
‘Hmm! Now, I think I can win against her with my strength…’
‘You cheeky!’
The whispers of the nobles could be heard in Yoo Seodam’s sensitive ears. He glanced up and looked at the Empress. And obviously, she had lost more muscle than the last time he met her two years ago.
‘Hmmm…’ However, he couldn’t think about it much longer.
“Now! From this moment on, no nobles nor peoples, knights nor soldiers can ever help the princesses! If the princess dies on the battlefield, the people need not feel sorry for them. It happened because the princess was weak!”
The crowd erupted in applause at the empress’s heavy cry.
‘It’s a mess.’ Yoo Seodam was confused for a second thinking whether this was the Olympics or the succession battle.
“I will start the first trial to test their fighting power, ‘breaking through the difficulties’ right now!”
When those words fell, all three princesses stood up and looked at their guardians. They have trusted and depended on their guardian all their life, but from now on they would not be able to receive any help.
Yoo Seodam looked at Yerina with new eyes. When he first met her, it was probably because she was a 14-year-old girl who couldn’t eat well, she was short and skinny. But the current Yerina had transformed splendidly. She was now over 170cm tall, and healthy muscle could be seen all over her body yet she still retained the curve a woman had. If she starts modeling for an advertisement on Earth, Yoo Seodam bet that she could easily rival Hellony.
“Have you studied well?”
“Of course.” She smiled brightly, revealing her white teeth. Seeing that smile, Yoo Seodam felt reassured. Glancing at her side, he saw the second princess, Kerina Friedelia, the heroine of the world, and the hero Ivan, speaking with a serious expression on their faces.
‘Pot. eavesdrop.’
-…So, the Dongtamatin Allied Powers have prepared a mighty magic. Can you win against it?
– Don’t worry, Princess. With this muscle! I can break anything! Let alone magic! The princess only needs to be concerned about the succession battle!
After hearing their exchange, Yoo Seodam guessed. Perhaps, in terms of the main story, the topic they just talked about would be the red-thread of [Part 2 of the story]. If the content of Part 1 was ‘Ivan, the hero who finally conquered the empire with one muscle, along with the second princess, Kerina!’, ‘Shock! A powerful magic attack?! However, a sufficiently trained muscle destroys magic!’ would be the content of the second part. After all, if from the beginning, the same content was repeated over and over again, people would inevitably get tired of it.
‘Perhaps, the end of this world was when hardened muscles destroy even a great magic and the empire unify the whole world?’
Yoo Seodam had never written a novel, but it was easy to predict what would happen next because he had encountered so many clichés.
‘The current empire had conquered 50% of this world. But to think it will be 100% conquest…’ It’s truly terrifying to even imagine that.
“Go and crush them all.” Yoo Seodam said towards Yerina.
“Fufu…. It is forbidden to duel with each other until one princess is eliminated.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
It was something Yerina had explained to him before, but well, Yoo Seodam didn’t really pay any attention to it. It was an offending act, however, for Yerina, she was okay with it. After all, she preferred the uncaring yet caring Yoo Seodam.
“Then I will come back with a win.”
Currently, Yerina has already gained 5 circles in magic. However, she still could not let her guard down as the body specifications of the other princesses were also at the top level of the A rank. Although Aracelli had bestowed her with a strategy to bring down a fighting warrior who believed in only one superpower, she couldn’t rely on it completely.
‘Fuhhh… this is the beginning.’
As the three princesses walked towards the dome of Ferrodel with heavy gait, everyone was silent.
Gulp-!!
Someone swallowed their saliva.
That was because it was a battle between two princesses with the greatest body specs of all time, unprecedented in 500 years of history of the empire.
The battle of the princesses who easily passed 7,000kg in 3 exercises before they turned 30, how fierce would it be?
The third princess, on the other hand, still looked sloppy and had little muscle, so she was merely an object of criticism.
“…Well, she’s indeed pretty.”
“Yeah…”
Or, that was how it should be.
However, the third princess, Yerina, who came back after 5 years, had turned into a very splendid figure. The timid youngest princess had disappeared, she was walking shoulder to shoulder with her two older sisters with her sharp, dignified steps. The confidence that flowed out of her eyes was enough to make the words of those who tried to criticize her swallow their words back.
However, amongst the countless pairs of eyes who looked at her, there was only one who could truly see her.
It was Empress Primel Primelia who knew the true identity of the spirit exuded by Yerina.
[Yerina Friedellia is one step away from awakening the skill ‘Emperor Spirit (SSS)’.]
Watching the spectacle, the system who had been silent throughout the journey felt befuddled. It was because the probability was slowly shifting.
Towards Yerina? No.
It was towards Yoo Seodam.
It was a very small amount, but it was clear that it was flowing in.
Yoo Seodam had used a lot of probability in order to exhaust it and he had never done anything that would make him the protagonist.
But why was it that the probability was still flowing towards Yoo Seodam?
Her stomach started to burn more and more due to this unanswered question.