Battle Over Giving Up the Throne Chapter 10 - A True Piece of Trash or Not

“So you finally noticed only after Iifu spoke. You seemed to be getting a bit eager there.”
“Huh? What’s this. What do you mean? What happened? Wasn’t the red hooded man a bodyguard for the drug seller?”

Seeing how confused I was, Ryausha crossed her arms and sighed.

“If there was someone who could be deceived to the very end, it would be you, Sugen. Think a bit harder than you normally do. Wasn’t there something strange yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“When Gattenwo appealed father about the opium merchant. He insisted that the criminal was needed for the good of the nation—wouldn’t this country go straight to ruin if we overlooked opium sellers?”

Now that it was being mentioned, I do remember that all the times opium was in question, it would be strictly reviewed and controlled.

“Huh? Well, what about how the drug seller’s residence was destroyed…”
“While you were preparing, I went and destroyed it.”
“What about the red hooded man?”
“Weak. He fainted with the touch of my pinky.”

That was even more vicious than we were. The Emperor going out to punish criminals himself is not something one would normally think about.
And he said to not touch the residence just this morning. I guess it was because he had just came back from destroying it himself.

Well, there’s something more important than that.

“Then…What’s with the kidnapping? Weren’t you pleased with her? There’s no reason to kill her.”
“That was to see if you were truly pieces of trash or not.”

The Emperor looked at us siblings with a piercing gaze.

“Your recent actions have been on my mind. With the way things have been going, I’ve been seriously thinking about adoption.”
“Please please pretty please do exactly that!”
“No, I understand that is no longer necessary. Isn’t that right? You all.”

With the point of the Emperor’s finger, the Wind and Thunder Lord took off their bandanas.
One of the few people in this country that could match with Iifu and Sauran―the Field Marshal and the Court Tutor were there.

“We are opponents that could not be easily be defeated by you. No, we are enough to win against you. In all respects, putting your life on the line for the self-proclaimed Fifth Prince is something that one would normally think to be foolish.”
“Yes, I’m an idiot! That is why I do not think your Majesty is being appropriate!”
“Shut up.”

The Emperor hit me with a balled-up fist, and I tasted dirt. Without lifting a finger, I was prostrated on the ground.

“You are all idiots. However, a true piece of trash would choose to save their own hide rather than to save someone else. You did not run away from me―Though I don’t know about the three behind me.”

The Emperor turned to face my siblings behind him. They giggled.

“I thought something was wrong and had an inkling of suspicion. That’s why I helped your act by playing with your private army,” Ryausha said.
“Of course you’d do that. What about you two, Fu, Ran.”
Iifu spoke first, “I noticed when I started fighting. ‘Ain’t this the Field Marshal,’ were my exact thoughts.”
“It is the same with me.That is the reason I sent Sugen into your trap.”

“You cowards!” or so I wanted to say, but I was kinda tasting dirt right now.

“At any rate, you should have noticed that it was I at the beginning. Who else has such glorious muscles of steel. Also, you passed through the two ‘enemies’ too easily.”
“…About that.”
“Moreover, there’s how you didn’t immediately notice despite my bandana being torn off. I was saved by the fact that you were concentrating too much.”

I wanted to crawl out of here and run away, but I was pulled up by the nape of my neck.

“A true piece of trash would act differently. They’d calculate when they could run away, as soon as possible. Man, I’m relieved. It’s great that my new successor isn’t a piece of trash. Tricking you was worth it. Now, the Field Marshal and four other members of the Imperial Family are here. I believe we have enough people to conduct the coronation ceremony.”

Saying that, the Emperor took the crown from the area around his crotch. I did notice the large buldge,[note]owo what’s this[/note] but I didn’t think the nation’s symbol of authority was there.

“Wear it.”
“Nooo! I’ll be the one worn out if I do! Hey, my dearest siblings! Save me!”[note]The joke is 10x better in Japanese. “Wear it” can also be read as “Suffer” and Sugen replies, “I don’t want to wear it/suffer in both meanings of the word!”[/note]

Those pieces of trash simoutaneously turned away. The audacity. I will never forgive them. They’re a fellow sufferer in the road to become the Emperor.

“MmmmMMMm!”

When my eyes were starting to become cloudy with tears, Gattenwo tried to say something from under her gag. I’d completely forgotten about her.
The Emperor stopped trying to crown me and looked over to her.

“Oh, I forgot. For your assistance in helping the Imperial Succession, I offer my thanks. I will permit you to ask for something as an apology from me at a later date.”

The Emperor walked towards Gattenwo. I wanted to run away during that time, but I didn’t have any strength.
He used his fingers to slice through the rope binding Gattenwo. The Emperor was a monster that could mimic the sharpness of a sword with his bare hands.

And then.
Gattenwo, with the speed of a thunderbolt, grabbed the crown out of the Emperor’s hand.

Fast.

Her strength was lacking, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that her reaction speed had us siblings beat.
The Emperor stared into his empty hand, taking a moment to realize what had happened.

“B*tch! Give it back!”[note]Fun fact about Japanese. “Kisama” and “kimi” are both informal ways of saying “you,” with “kisama” basically being so informal that it means “b*stard” or “b*tch.” However, when one literally translates the kanji, it becomes “honored noble” and “noble” respectively. Take this with a grain of salt, but I’ve heard that the reason for this is that people used both sarcastically too much that it started meaning the opposite.[/note]

The Field Marshal and the Court Tutor’s expression changed, and they ran over. Faced with their assault, Gattenwo said,

“If that’s what you want!”

She threw the crown at the tunnel’s stone wall. The gold and jewels of the crown were fragile. It would certainly shatter if it hit the wall.

The Emperor, the Field Marshal, the Court Tutor, and my siblings—they were all looking at it.
In that time, my body suddenly started moving towards the exit. The next moment was full of agony.

“Owowowowowoww! Don’t drag me! My skin’ll be scraped off!”
“I can’t help it: you’re too heavy to be carried! Listen, I’m repaying by debt from helping me at the fire!”

Using the moment when they were all distracted, Gattenwo started running with me in tow. However, the diversion would only last a few seconds. The Emperor would soon catch up to us with me burdening her.

As I looked over my shoulder, I saw the Emperor grabbing the crown, saving it from its fate of being broken. He was glaring daggers at us.
And then, I spoke.

“Don’t follow me. You have to repay your debts.”

My eyes were smiling.