Fake Saint of the Year
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
I was late to upload the chapter.
This SS is the follow-up to the imprisonment incident.
AF26 – Fool’s Apocalypse – Prince
Self-preservation, adoration, anxiety, fear, betrayal…… the Elrise’s imprisonment incident, which was a web of various motives, ended up in a relatively favorable outcome, if one just looked at the result.
All of the kings and nobles from various nations who had been complicit were pardoned by Elrise’s mercy, and no major repercussions arose from her imprisonment.
There was the crisis of the raid of the royal capital, but once that was over…… although it was a hindsight based opinion, it could be said that imprisoning Elrise incited the all-out attacks from demons, allowing humans to wipe them out all at once.
If that incident hadn’t happened, the demons wouldn’t have banded together to attack like that, and would still be lurking in various places, posing a threat to the people.
However, just because the result was good, it didn’t mean all was well.
That incident left scars, to varying degrees, on the hearts of those involved.
The wounds of the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the defense of the royal capital would never heal, and they would continue to bear a grudge against King Aiz for the rest of their lives.
Unable to bear the fear that Elrise would die in battle with the Witch and the anxiety that her master might become the next Witch, Leila betrayed her master and still felt guilty to this day.
The same could be said for the other knights who had joined in. Even though they had been persuaded by Aiz’s clever words that had made them uneasy, it was they themselves who had decided to betray her.
As nobles, they couldn’t defy the king. If they did, not only would it bring trouble to themselves, but also to their family. In the worst case scenario, their families would be wiped out and left homeless…… It was all just an excuse.
If they truly cared for their master, they should have cast aside all thoughts of profit and loss and sided with her regardless, something that Leila continued to regret.
But they were still better off in comparison. Behind the scenes of that incident, there were fools who were about to commit a far worse, hopeless act of betrayal, and they were disposed of without people knowing.
Their names were Prince Ukon, Prince Amino, and Prince Maca.
They were three foolish prince brothers who bore the blood of King Aiz.
Of all things, they were plotting to take advantage of the opportunity when Elrise’s security was lax and seize the Saint.
In the end, it ended in a failed attempt, and they were caught by Supple Ment before they could even get close to Elrise’s room, and after the incident, they were dealt with without question.
If it was compared to burglary, it was like they had planned to break into a luxurious mansion and got caught the moment they left their own house, something that was considered an attempt of an attempt. Elrise didn’t even know that they were planning to do such a thing in the first place.
However, a mortal sin was still a mortal sin. Attempting to lay hands on Elrise in the current state of the world would be the most foolish of foolish acts, and it wouldn’t be surprising if that alone would turn the whole of humanity into their enemies.
The punishment given to these three foolish people was banishment.
The youngest and timid Prince Maca, was merely goaded by his two elder brothers, and was therefore deemed to deserve some leniency, so he was given a relatively light sentence of six years’ work as a servant at the Saint’s Church.
If he could reflect properly on his actions, there would still be a chance for him to return to the royal family.
The reason why the sentence was so light was because King Aiz had no other heir and it was also taken into consideration that he was old and unable to have any more children.
Prince Maca himself could no longer inherit the throne. That was one thing that was absolutely unacceptable.
But if he was to return to royalty, marry, and have a child, said child could inherit the throne.
This was also an act of mercy that would normally be unthinkable, but the issue of succession in Bilberry Kingdom was so serious that an exception had to be made.
As for the remaining two…… Prince Ukon and Prince Amino. Unfortunately, there was no room for leniency for them.
They acted entirely on their own volition, and even their parent, Aiz, didn’t even bother to protect them.
Although they narrowly escaped the death penalty because they were members of royalty and the crime was an attempt that wasn’t actually committed, the sentence they received was essentially the same as a death sentence.
――It was lifelong forced labor in an underground facility.
They were expelled from the royal family, stripped of their status, and reduced to slavery. Such was their fate.
Moreover, unlike Prince Maca’s sentence, theirs had no time limit. They would remain slaves until they died. Needless to say, unlike Prince Maca, there was no chance for them to return to the royal family.
For the sake of momentary desire, the two foolish princes were cast into a hell from which they could never climb out again.
◇
100 meters underground……! Forced labor……!
In a cave where no sunlight penetrated…… the men work without any rest……!
Sand and dust flew…… its final destination was polluting the throat and lungs of the fools……!
The sanitary condition…… was the worst……! It was hell…… an overwhelming hell……!
Such a hopeless place was the workplace of the two former princes.
Their job was to dig holes and build underground tunnels.
They had no idea what the tunnel would be used for. One theory was that it would be used as a sewer for household waste.
If it was Saint Elrise, she could create a tunnel like that using magic in just a few minutes.
But the fact they hadn’t requested her to do so, meant at the very least, it wasn’t a job that should be entrusted to the Saint.
As proof of this, everyone working in that place had a scar on their leg, without exception.
There was a man who had been a thief in the past, a man who had committed murder for food, a feudal lord who only thought of his own interests and let all his subjects starve to death…… and there were foolish princes who had their evil desires directed toward the Saint.
Here, everyone was equal in a sense. Everyone was equally at the bottom.
They were the lowest caste among humans. No, they weren’t even considered humans. They were lifelong slaves who would continue to work until they died.
Nobody would care even if they died. In fact, it would be better if they died.
They were supposed to be sentenced to death, but were thrown here instead with the idea that if they were going to die anyway, might as well make use of them in some way.
Therefore, those who worked here had no right to complain, and it didn’t matter if they were formerly nobles or royalty.
In a sense, there was only ultimate equality here.
“Everyone, wake up!”
A day in the cellar began at seven in the morning with the loud shout of a soldier on guard.
If they were unable to get up at this point, they would be kicked, and in severe cases, they would be hit with the sheath of their sword.
Ukon and Amino had been hit twenty times since they came here. They might have been hit several times more than that, but they hadn’t counted beyond twenty, so they weren’t sure.
The fools crawled out of their straw beds in dingy, barely cleaned rooms and put on smelly, dirty work clothes.
“Breakfast for thirty minutes! You are allowed to eat!”
They were given thirty minutes from the time they woke up until they started working.
However, this thirty minutes included time to prepare for work, so only about half of that time was actually available for eating.
If they hadn’t finished their food by this point, it would be taken from them, so everyone started eating as quickly as possible.
What was served was mainly tasteless barley porridge thickened with water and potatoes, but the potatoes in this cellar were all defective, discolored, and small.
However, Ukon had heard that this was still far better than before, as they were still provided with potatoes now.
After breakfast, they started working at 7:30. Everyone started digging holes in silence.
“It’s cruel…… it’s too cruel…… why do we…… we…… we…… have to do something like this……!”
“It’s hell…… it’s an overwhelming hell……!”
The two former princes desperately dug a hole while crying.
For the two of them who had been living a comfortable life as princes, the heavy labor here was simply tough.
Their whole body was sore that just moving them hurt, and they were out of breath. On top of that, the air was dirty and smelly.
The smell of sweat…… the smell of body odor that hadn’t been washed for days…… the smell of dirty work clothes…… the smell of filth that someone had dumped everywhere……!
In such poor condition …… they were doing labor…… labor……!
“Work…… get to work…… slaves……! Kokoko……!”
If they don’t move well…… the guards will whip them.
At noon, they were given another thirty minutes lunch break, after which they were made to work again.
They worked themselves to the point of exhaustion, and when they were finally released at nine in the evening, they were given thirty minutes for dinner and thirty minutes for a bath.
But said bath was just having water drawn from a nearby river roughly splashed on them.
Then they had an hour, the only free time of the day, until eleven at night.
“It’s over…… the day is finally over……!”
“But tomorrow, it will start again……”
Ukon and Amino collapsed to the floor and enjoyed their brief free time.
They just couldn’t bring themselves to get up.
They need to rest their body a little now before they start working again tomorrow.
“Hey guys. Why did you guys get thrown in here?”
As the two were about to rest, a man started talking to them in a familiar manner.
He was a bearded man with a villainous look.
He was missing several teeth and the remaining ones were blackened.
“Heheheh. Well, I’m sure you did something bad. You two got thrown into a place like this after all.”
“……What did you do?”
“Me? I did a little stealing and murder…… heheheh. I didn’t like the idea of all the nobles eating their fill. I often targeted carriages that went outside the castle walls.”
The man that acted familiar to them seemed like quite a bad guy.
But criminals like him weren’t rare. They were everywhere before Elrise appeared, and everyone was hungry.
“We plotted to ensnare Elrise-sama…… and that’s why we were brought here.”
“Fuh…… I guess it was a youthful mistake.”
If they spoke of it in the outside world, it would be a crime worth being beaten to death on the spot.
Even though it was just an attempt, it was still unforgivable.
But if it was here…… in a place where there were only sinners like them, they could be open about it.
They could heal their wounds by comforting each other. Because here there was equality that only existed at the bottom.
“Hey, nai wa. Do you guys want to destroy the world? That’s disgusting.” 1
The man that acted familiar with them looked genuinely annoyed and walked away from the two.
At the end, he didn’t forget to spit to express his disgust.
There was no way that their plot would succeed, but what if it caused Elrise to be deeply hurt and come to the conclusion “this kind of world is not worth saving” and stopped?
“…………”
“…………”
From that day on, it might have been just their imagination, but the other prisoners began to treat them coldly. 2
◇
Although the underground labor facility was extremely poor, it wasn’t completely without reward.
A person’s mind would be worn down if they were only punished with a stick.
They would lose motivation and stop moving.
That was why they needed a bit of it…… the carrot……!
In this underground labor facility, workers were paid according to the number of days they worked.
Obviously, they weren’t paid with currency used in the outside world.
It was chips made from demon bones and could only be used underground. By spending them, they could receive various benefits.
A slightly more luxurious meal than usual…… sweet potatoes…… chilled liquor…… a day off…… and even the right to wash their body with clean water……!
In fact, if one could collect a certain number of chips, they could even become a site supervisor.
If one became a supervisor, they would be a little superior to the other criminals. They would be allowed to sleep a little more, eat a little better, have a little more free time, and most importantly, have less physical work to do.
Ukon and Amino also desperately saved up chips every day in order to obtain that right.
But something crept up to them…… it was the devil’s temptation……!
“Now, let’s get started tonight…… the fight for the chips……!”
“I’ll win…… today for sure……! I will win…… and by winning, I will get…… a little bit of freedom ……!”
“If I don’t win…… I can’t get back…… all the losses up until yesterday……!”
They were given only an hour of free time.
Using that time, several criminals form a circle, and their eyes shone with desire.
What was about to take place was a gamble with chips, which could be considered the life of the workers in this labor facility.
The only tool used was chips. The rules were simple. It was to predict whether the chips thrown landed in head or tails. That was it.
“I bet five!”
“S-Six!”
“……Eight!”
Participants began to compete by betting as many chips as possible.
“It has begun……”
As if drawn in by a sudden wave, Ukon headed toward the gambling venue.
Ukon currently had ten chips in his hand. He actually had thirty, but after gambling every day, that number had been reduced to that amount.
He carefully held the bag containing the few remaining chips and walked as if possessed.
“Borther, that’s not good. Let’s stop betting already. At this rate, you’ll just keep losing. It’s better to work hard and steadily……”
“……Ah~?”
Amino, who still had some sense of rationality, tried to stop his older brother, but Ukon glared at his weak-willed younger brother with bloodshot eyes.
“Idiot……! If I don’t win here…… I won’t be able to get it back……! If I stop here, it will all be a loss……! It will remain minus……!”
“But……”
“You fool……! Loser…… idiot…… coward……! Your thought…… of stopping just because it was stolen from you is no good……! You will stay a loser…… you’ll never be able to get back up…… for the rest of your life……! I will win…… win…… win and get it…… freedom……! I will definitely climb up……!”
Not listening to his brother’s advice, Ukon took part in the gamble.
If I win here, I would first stand above the criminals. Then I will completely dominate them, rise higher and higher, and definitely become royalty…… I will return to that glorious place.
That’s right, I am a prince…… A chosen one! I can’t afford to suffer like this just for trying to seduce a mere Saint.
Thinking like that, Ukon joined the gamble――
“Brother…… please…… lend me……! The chips……!”
“Screw you…… you incompetent…… like hell…… I’ll lend it to you! This is mine! My own chips……!”
――Just a few minutes later, Ukon had lost all his chips and was in debt.
He couldn’t help but cry to Amino, but even Amino had no obligation to give his precious chips to such an idiot.
He kicked his brother violently and then distanced himself contemptuously.
But a few days later, he would realize. The power of gambling in this environment without entertainment.
Before he knew it, he had gambled just like his brother, losing everything, and realized how foolish he had been.
It seemed the day when these brothers would rise up would never come……
Author Note:
Good evening everyone, author here.
I was late to upload, but today the third volume of the comic is on sale!
If you see it in a bookstore, please buy some.
Want early access to Cannon Fodder, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!
Wow, I did not expect this.
I think most don’t expect it
Heh.? It feels a bit distinct from the usual style of the novel. I prefer the slice-of-life aspects to this ‘torture porn’ (I know, I know, I’m exceedingly exaggerating).
Karma moment
More than seeing villains being miserable I would rather see Elrise having a good time
Well, author just wrote as they like, or just use their extra chapter stock among many of his unpublished ones
foolish princes got what they deserved
If i don’t use VPN i always get error’ 403, is there any way to alleviate this without VPN cause it making my internet slower
there seems to be none i too used a vpn
None that I know of. Part of reason I check comment even less since i can’t even open the chap thru Gmail’s WordPress notification