Prince’s Battle to Concede the Throne - Chapter 15: The First Prince - Iifu

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Translator: Redeyes

Editor: Asada and Kenny Stryker

Proofreader: JadeCloud

“I beg for your cooperation, Gettenwo! I can’t find anything good about my foolish siblings!” ~ Sugen

It was no longer a legend that the siblings went to appeal to the Emperor. By the time they leave the audience room, no one exchanged a word. With a sense of hostility, I returned to my ‘garden’.

A ‘garden’ was a section inside the imperial court which was assigned to an official heir. In my case, I owned the ‘Fourth Garden.’ Inside this place, there was a detached house where I lived and a dojo for myself.

Now, I was prostrating in front of Gettenwo in the living room of a separated mansion.

Fortunately, I have provided lodging in the Fourth Garden as a temporary room for Gettenwo. Under the guise of taking her back to the ‘Garden,’ I had successfully brought back Gettenwo.

“Wait. I don’t have a plan to cooperate with any of you.” ~ Gettenwo

“Don’t say that. If you cooperate, I will remove the bell that prevented you from escaping the lodging.” ~ Sugen

“So, that’s why you can sense me every time I tried to escape……” ~ Gettenwo

When Gettenwo escaped, the installed bells at the bedside of the four siblings would sound an alarm. Each time they would go out and work hard to capture her.

Gettenwo let out a long sigh. Then, she turned to me as if she had given up.

“If we work together, will you turn a blind eye when I escape?” ~ Gettenwo

“Even if you are completely removed as the Emperor candidate, you will still have to show my face regularly. Aside from this time, you can do whatever you like in the castle. Even if you want to sleep in a decent inn, the lodging will always be empty.” ~ Sugen

“Well … If that was the condition, I wouldn’t mind cooperating. So stop prostrating. It’s weird.” ~ Gettenwo

Is that true? I opened my eyes wide.

To find out the good things about my elder siblings was like finding a needle in an impregnable fortress.

When I got up, Gettenwo walked to the table chair as if she had relieved her stress, and drank the freshly brewed tea. Then, she exhaled the steam.

“For example… that’s right. While doing it, you might find that they have surprising courage. ” ~ Gettenwo

“I see. Do it when it’s time to do it, huh? Who are you talking about?” ~ Sugen

“Hmmm… I’m talking about you.” ~ Gettenwo

Gettenwo lifted her little finger as she tilted the cup.

After a few seconds of silence, I shook my head with a smile.

“That… Gettenwo. I have too many strong points, so I cannot boast about finding such things. It’s like finding a rock on the road site and making a noise as if finding precious jewelry. It’s like making a joke.” ~ Gettenwo

“For now, other than this matter, I could not find anything.” ~ Gettenwo

Putting aside Gettenwo’s joke, I have to move on to a full-scale investigation. I pulled a blank paper roll out of the storeroom and prepared the ink and brush.

After finishing the greeting speech with a funny story, I want to move on to analyzing my other siblings properly.

“First is Brother Fu. What’s good about him?” ~ Sugen

“He looks strong.” ~ Gettenwo

“Certainly we can say that. Sister Ryausha?” ~ Sugen

“She looks strong.” ~ Gettenwo

“That is true. How about Brother Ran?” ~ Sugen

“He looks strong.” ~ Gettenwo

Strong…

After I wrote the word on the paper three times in a row, I threw the brush out of the window.

“It doesn’t make any sense if everyone is the same. Something more…… uh! Give me one of that guy’s unique traits!” ~ Sugen

“Oh well! Such a thing, a younger brother like you should know the best! I’ve only seen them for the last few days. Do you think I could point out such things?” ~ Gettenwo

“Well, look. Because you are the youngest sister, you will receive more affection.” ~ Sugen

“I can only remember being played as a scapegoat.” ~ Gettenwo

That was troublesome. I was hoping to get Gettenwo’s insight as a chivalrous thief. But, as expected, it was difficult to find the strengths of my siblings with ordinary eyesight.

“If that were the case, I will have no other choice but to visit the enemy personally……” ~ Sugen

“Oh, In that case, I have served my purpose here. I’m going out of the castle. Farewell――” ~ Gettenwo

I grabbed on Gettenwo’s neck, to prevent her from escaping.

“I need your objective opinion. It’s too easy to approve you to leave after saying, ‘strong’ three times.” ~ Sugen

“It was not easy. You don’t have the right to keep holding me here. Please remember that. Someday I will catch you off your guards.” ~ Gettenwo

Just like that, I dropped Gettenwo like a dangling cat, and turned my feet and head to the “First Garden” where Iifu lived.

Wooden fences were set up between the “gardens.” It was considered rude and unforgivable to cross over without their permission.

Well, but that was not my concern.

I jumped over the fence with one leap and invaded the First Garden lightly. The difference between my garden and this one is the tasteless landscape. The Fourth Garden was well-maintained with trees and ponds. But here, there were just rocks scattered.

Sometimes, when you thought there was a tree there, you would only find the broken trunk instead.

“Why are the trees in this garden broken…?” ~ Gettenwo

“Because Iifu often hit the trees to train. Thanks to that, there is almost no greenery in this garden.” ~ Sugen

The man’s taste is also strange.

The house where he lives had a good structure but was not showy. The house gave the impression as if it was a dojo.

“Hey, Gettenwo. Iifu is probably in there, go and take a look.” ~ Gettenwo

“I refuse. What if he was naked?” ~ Gettenwo

“Don’t worry. Iifu does not take his clothes off at home. He only does that in public.” ~ Sugen

“He should do the opposite!” ~ Gettenwo

Since Gettenwo refused to peek alone, I had no other choice but to approach the mansion together with her. As expected, Gettenwo was top-notch at erasing her presence. Usually, Iifu would have noticed me with his sixth sense, but now I was not worried at all.

While lying face-down, I approached the mansion’s window to listen to the sound from the inside ――

“…I can hear him snoring.” ~ Gettenwo

Gettenwo had an indescribable expression. While I was desperate to search for their strength, could it be that the enemy had abandoned the battle?

As I moved along the wall to where the snoring could be heard, he arrived at the bedroom window. When I peeked in, Iifu was seen sound asleep with the futon wrapped up to his neck.

“Shameless…… I think that is his advantage. See here.” ~ Gettenwo

“No. He’s simply stupid.” ~ Sugen

I asserted. Perhaps, even if he tried to search for it, Iifu could not find the other brothers’ strong point, and therefore decided to take an early nap.

“What should we do? Even if you want to investigate his advantage, if the person did not move, you can’t find out his strong point. Are you planning to look around the house?” ~ Gettenwo

“No. If we investigate into it, there is a possibility that we will cause his shortcomings to be exposed. Never mind that. Let’s take advantage of this vulnerable situation and forcibly create Iifu’s strong point.” ~ Sugen

“Create?” ~ Gettenwo

I nodded.

“As you can see, Iifu had a fierce look. Charm is something unrelated to a straight-faced person like him――I guess this is how it might seem like. What if a straight-faced like him had a hobby of loving animals, for instance? This element of surprise will give a good impression, right? A ruler needs not only strength but kindness.” ~ Sugen

“No, well, you might have a point…… But it would be impossible. Do you see any dogs and cats in this garden?” ~ Gettenwo

“It’s fine if we just bring them in. While he is sleeping, I will catch a stray dog in the area and throw through the window. If a dog, hungry for sleep attacked him, he would lose his mind. This is the chance to call a servant and witness the play. With this, we have established the fact.” ~ Sugen

Kick.

The next moment I knew that my ass was kicked, my head broke through the window sill, and I fell into the bedroom.

“Oh, sorry. That way of thinking was too awful that I mistook you for a beast.” ~ Gettenwo

“You betrayer, Gettenwo!” ~ Sugen

I shouted, but then I sensed an ominous sign, swaying and standing up behind me.

I forgot to turn off my presence because we have carelessly made a fuss, we can no longer slip through Iifu’s alertness.

“I see. It’s an enemy inspection. I have experienced this hardship. To my stupid little brothers who have no manners, I have no choice but to discipline you……” Iifu

As I turned around, Iifu was carrying a large sword on his shoulder with a vicious smile on his face. He was even wearing a chain armor. It seemed like he was preparing for a night attack even when he slept.

Gettenwo has detected the crisis and has already disappeared from the window and escaped. Even though she was was our sister, she was a big coward.

“Hey! You’re cannot die until you die!” Iifu

Iifu slashed without hesitating.

He goes against his barehanded brother while he was armed with weapons and armor. No matter how you look at him, he is the scum of society. There was not one thing you can speak well about him.

While deserting under enemy fire in disgrace and escaping through the window, I was disappointed in my elder brother.

There was only one thing, speaking of his strength, I was barely convinced――Surprisingly, while sleeping, he was wearing clothes properly.

Translator and Editor Notes:

Happy New Year!!

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