Chapter 56: 16

Volume 1: Chapter 016: Ulysses- Life is Difficult as a Child Prodigy (Part 1)

My name is Ulysses Claudio les Ruskia, fifth prince of Ruskia.

In my previous life, I was known as Yuri Shizuka.

I was also known as the White Sage of the East in the old Maydea.

 

Right now, I might be the fifth prince but I am third in line for the throne. That’s because aside from the First Prince, all other princes between me and the throne have all died.

I really cannot stand this situation where 13-year-old me has to battle against my royal brothers to take the throne.

 

 

“Your Highness Prince Ulysses, have you awakened?”

“… Ah, yes. I’m up.”

Mornings at the Royal Palace of the Capital City of Miradreed start very early. This is expected since it is located at the very centre of the Southern Continent.

By the time I’m up, I could already see the city bustling with life from the glass window. Bastion is an elderly manservant who had been taking care of me ever since I was a child. [3] His hair is all grey but he’s still quite busy and sprightly for his age. Once I have woken up, he would bring me a cup of herbal tea as part of my morning routine.

“I can always drink Bastion’s herbal tea with peace of mind. Really, my dinner was poisoned again yesterday. These people never learn, do they?”

“… No, it is our fault for missing the poison that only activates after a time lag in the container. It was something that not even the poison tester could notice.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I have a sensitive tongue. I don’t want you guys to die carelessly. Also, aside from the time lag thing, it’s not like the poison was anything special. As expected of Miradreed, the City of Poison.”

I slowly sipped the herbal tea [1] as I pondered over my life until now.

That’s right, people have been trying to kill me ever since I was a child.

My food is poisoned pretty much on a daily basis. [2] It is as though poison is a special spice in this country. Antidotes and counterpoisons are being made all the time [1] and there are always newer and more interesting poisons appearing on the horizon.

However, since I can access my magic at a young age, I can just cast Detoxify the moment I swallow any poison. [3] I wonder what the perpetrators thought when they watch me taking poison without hesitation and live to tell the tale.

I have countless near-death stories.

 

For example, when I was around 4 years old. [1] I think that was when the succession battle began. Anyway, that was when Bastion and my people became even more guarded.

However, I was still very carefree since I have complete access to my magic and was fully absorbed in researching the present-day Maydea’s plants and insects. An assassin appeared from behind and threw a blade at me. I casually raised my picture book and blocked the blade.

“Too bad!”

Those were my words at 4-year-old towards my would be assassin. [1] I looked in the direction where the blade came from and smiled cheerfully, saying, “Do try your best next time.’ [1] As far as I know, that particular assassin never targeted me again.

 

[1] One of the more memorable ones was when I was 7 years old.

 

 

I was having a meal with my father, the King, as well as some of my fellow prince brothers. It was rare for us to gather like this.

[1] I was not interested in making nice with any of them. All I ask for was for my fellow brothers to be quiet so that I can properly enjoy this rare feast but, no, nearly every one of them saw this as an opportunity to battle for the throne. [1] The first exciting thing that happened there was Third Prince suddenly keeling over from a poisoned drink.

 

Everyone present that day was terribly confused, [1] or was acting confused. The other princes all snatched their hands back and stared at their drinks with suspicion.

However, I did not hesitate to drink from my cup. [1] Oh my, it really was poisoned. My father, the soldiers and the aides around were all staring at me with shock.

I was 7 years old at that time but was already familiar with the taste of many different types of poison. I was, am, one of those rare people who remained alive until now despite having ingested this much poison.

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It could be said that the history of the Kingdom of Ruskia can be tracked with the advancement of poison art. Anyway, one reliable way of identifying poison is through taste but that’s only something that could be done with the aid of magic. As soon as my body recognises a new poison, it would immediately analyze and detoxify it accordingly and add it to my increasingly large catalogue of poison data.

[1] Recently, the poison art had been seeing some fascinating advancements. The combination of magic and poison for example, where run-of-the-mill poison like arsenic could be made to target a person by name, making it so that only the person targeted by the magic would suffer the poison’s harmful substance. Just like a curse. This is actually pretty brilliant and renders poison tasters useless.

 

[1] While the people around me were busy panicking or being dumbfounded, [2] I secretly activated my magic to analyze the poison in my body. As expected, this is a poison that has been combined with curse-type magic that targets everyone aside from the First Prince and the king. This alone is very telling.

 

The weak and timid Third Prince died instantly.

Such a shame, if I had a little more time I could have cast healing magic on him. The poison art in this country is really quite frightening.

I hardly involved myself in the succession struggle. Even if all my brothers are enemies aiming to kill me, I still felt that it’s painful for blood brothers to commit fratricide.

Speaking of which, from that dinner party onwards, some started calling me a prodigy while others called me a monster for not dying from lethal poisons. [1] Especially when they finally caught on to how much poison had been used on me.

 

As much as possible, I tried to hide the fact that I could use magic. I could use magic internally without having to [1] do any flashy moves. I could also compress the magic inside me to the point that not even the Imperial Magicians could detect anything magic related to my person. So long as a Name Fate Witch does not appear in front of me, my secret could never be leaked out.

Therefore, the people of the royal palace had no idea what power was keeping me alive all this while and soon, more and more people began to take an interest in me. This was not a development that the other factions enjoyed.

My former existence could be described with the words ‘Formidable White Mage’.

Yet, it is this ‘Formidable’ part that makes life troublesome.

 

It was so formidable and overwhelming that no one really knows or understands who I am.

 

Of course, it’s great to be a White Mage.

White Magic is a gentle yet persistent power that is easy to use and thanks to it, I managed to stay alive on the battlefield I was born into.

 

The scent of the herbal tea stirs up something in my chest. I wonder why?

Back on earth, I barely have enough magical power to access White Magic but even so, I don’t have this feeling of dissatisfaction.

I was happy living without special powers as an ordinary person who just spends time with his friends.

In other words, even with overwhelming power, having no one at the same level that truly understands me makes this power meaningless.

At least, that’s what I think.

 

 

[Gumihou: lol, these chuunis. Although they actually do have the power to back up their attitudes.]

 

[1] Filling in the ‘Unspoken’. Often, when it comes to Japanese novels, the translation might be a bit lacking since the author deliberately chooses to use fewer words and let the reader fill in the blanks through a preset cultural understanding.

 

If the missing info looks too sparse, Gumi will fill in some of the blanks. This is not to imply that the writer’s craft is lacking, but we do have a cultural gap. Gumi will try to fill in these gaps unobtrusively.

[2] Adjust paragraphs, for aesthetic purposes. Also, considering the style of writing, the author would inevitably repeat information. Gumi will at least adjust the delivery of the information so that it’s not verbatim to what had appeared before.

 

[3] Connect short paragraphs to make one reasonable paragraph

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