Then he began experimenting with finding a better way to efficiently scoop sludge while using the least amount of strength. Again and again, in trial and error. As he did so, he gradually came to grasp the knack for it.
“......That’s well and good, but still doesn’t change the fact that this is back-breaking work.” He glared ahead in annoyance. There was still a lot left in his quota for the day.
(Is there no other method to get this done more efficiently and easily? Is there anything from what I had learned in the past that could be a hint? In the past...... the past......?!) He came to a start and abandoned his train of thought.
“Screw this! I’m tired. I deserve another break.” Sharlo threw his shovel away, then heavily lowered his butt onto the side of the road.
Shifting his mask away, he sucked in a whole lungful of air. Then the smell caused him to grimace.
“That bastard, saying unnecessary things......” Shouzou’s words seemed plastered over his mind and just won’t leave.
—Sometimes, it might benefit you to reflect on and remember the past.
What good would it do him to remember the past? Just now it might have been slightly helpful, but ultimately what’s the meaning in becoming better at cleaning ditches? Also, recalling the past did not mean that only things useful to him would come to mind. No, to the contrary—
Day in and day out, he had no time to play, and he was spending every waking moment on training and learning, with meals and sleep being the only brief moments of respite. Swordsmanship. Martial arts. Bow. Magic. After moving his body, then would come time to face a desk, where knowledge supposedly necessary for being a king was then pounded into his head. It was tough. He wanted to run away. He even thought that he didn’t want to be the king, not if it meant having to continue enduring this suffering. But if that was all there was to it, then perhaps he might have been able to barely hang on.
(The reason why I couldn’t endure it anymore was—) What showed up in his eyes was a faint, troubled smile. What flowed into his ears were voices colored with dejection and disappointment.
[You... can’t exactly be called talented, I’m afraid......]
[I won’t say that you are a slow learner per se, but if this is all you can manage......]
[How many days are you going to need for such basic level magic......]
He himself thought that he was actually doing quite well. But apparently that was far from enough to satisfy the expectations of those around him. No matter how hard he worked, his efforts were never acknowledged. He did not have even a single memory of being praised.
—Ani-ue is amazing.
Abruptly, a childish voice brushed by his ear.
(Which reminds me, it was only Lynfil alone who praised me to the sky for some unknown reason......) Even the most basic sword dance and the easiest magic must have looked like a marvel in the eyes of that significantly younger sister of his.
However, what was truly marvelous was that sister herself.
[Your Royal Highness is truly talented!]
[You have managed to not only recite this highly difficult poem verbatim, you have also grasped the intent of the writer himself!]
[You have mastered Fireball in only half a day?!]
The princess who had only been following her brother around attempted to copy whatever she saw, and the results shocked everyone. Surely she was what people actually call a “genius.”
Sharlo felt like everything that he had built up thus far was being denied and stripped of value. The biggest factor that clinched his decision to lock himself up in a room was, without any doubt, the existence of his younger sister.
(She... can surely fly however high she wants. That’s why someone like me should not succeed the throne......) Had it already been three years since they last met?
During that time, his weight had more than doubled, and his hair and skin had both lost their luster. If she saw him right now, surely even his younger sister would not be able to recognize him. Or so he thought, when—
“Ani...ue......?” He thought it another auditory hallucination. But that small voice stuck to the inside of his ear and refused to leave.
He slowly lifted his face in fear, and found a girl looking at him dumbfoundedly. She wore the clothing of an average village girl, and had her hood pulled forward as if to make her face less conspicuous. However, despite several years of growth, her face still bore great resemblance to what it had been three years ago.
There was no way he could mistake her. She was Lynfil, his younger sister.
Why? How? Why today, of all days? And why her, the person that he did not want seeing his current state the most? Why was she here? As his mind whirled in chaotic confusion—
“Is this person ‘Ani-ue’-sama~?”
“He doesn’t really fit the image of a prince, does he.”
On either side of his younger sister stood girls that he did not know. One appeared older than Lynfil, and had short hair that gave off a boyish impression. The other seemed about the same age as the younger sister in his own memories.
Sharlo’s disordered thoughts fell into place quickly, and he covered the bottom half of his face with his mask. He grabbed his shovel, stood upright, then said, “You must have the wrong person. I’m just an ordinary adventurer.”
His slightly cold response prompted Lynfil to look into his eyes, then shift her gaze toward the shovel, then gaze at the unlidded side ditch, then back to his face and eyes once again.
“Oh, I’d forgotten! Your good self is a fresh, new adventurer who proactively took on this long-suffering, dirty job not worth the pay of ditch cleaning that no one else wanted to take, an esteemed person who is contributing to the beautification of this town by protecting its sanitary condition!”
“That’s laying it on a bit thick, don’t you think......?”
Paying absolutely no mind to Sharlo’s retort, Lynfil widened her eyes all the way and shouted, “How admirable! To take the initiative to do the dirty work that no one else wants to do...... as expected of Ani-ue!”
“I said it just now, but I’m not your Ani-ue—”
“Ohhh, that’s right. But allow me to say it again. As expected of Ani-ue.” Lynfil’s eyes were sparkling like stars.
Unable to bear those eyes any longer, Sharlo turned his back.