I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Life after returning to the kingdom wasn’t much different from before entering the academy.
The only difference was that I had received contact from home after a long time.
I had thought they’d given up on me halfway since joining the company.
But it seemed it was just considerate not to bother me, a kid who had gotten a job.
"You’ve improved a lot."

So I tried to report my survival to the family after a long time, but was caught by the bored commander and ended up a negligent child.
This guy officially belonged to the royal guard and had almost nothing to do.
The royal guard only has work when the king moves or is in danger.
In militaristic Leon, the king is only in danger when the kingdom is collapsing or when Daisy visits us.
Now that I think about it, that romance fantasy heroine is terrifying.
No matter what, I had to prepare a ban on Daisy entering the kingdom.
"I’ve been living hard."
I had wielded my sword with full power after a long time and felt my growth properly.
Prince Ellen ends things honorably if he sees no chance to win.
The Sword Master keeps trying to beat me harder if there’s any chance of my growth, so I have to regulate carefully.
Thanks to that, my proficiency with the defeated sword has improved quite a bit.
Now even the Sword Master falls for my tricks seven out of ten times.

"...Really even now?"
"Would you think otherwise?"
The commander gave me a suspicious look at that, but this place was the only spot where instructors including me could give their all.
Although I aimed to be a working man rather than a swordsman, if I couldn’t relieve stress this way sometimes, burnout was inevitable.
"Well, if you were going easy, you should’ve really beaten Prince Ellen."
"I did win the final exam."
"Don’t win by exams—beat him one-on-one."

Though he said that, a bonus was scheduled to be given.
"You did well. I haven’t said it, but it seems Prince Ellen was pretty frustrated."
From what I heard, after returning to the kingdom and being thoroughly scolded by the queen, he {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} started asking the king or commander for duels.

"Take it easy. It’s tough for me to hold back against Prince Ellen too."
He sounded like a Sword Master making irresponsible remarks.
But the fact that he was sincere was horrifying.
"Want me to give you more elixirs?"
"They don’t work anymore."

Though more elixirs are better, there’s a human limit.
If taken incorrectly, the body’s balance breaks, or the magic power in the elixirs can’t be absorbed and is expelled.
"Hurry, move to the next stage."
"That’s easier said than done."
If that were true, I’d have already become a Sword Master.

"Prince Ellen might make it, though."
"I quit."
Though joking, after hearing from Boradol about Prince Ellen’s top scores, it didn’t sound like a joke.
He even said Ellen seemed to be growing faster because of me.
He was a monster even in the original, but apparently that wasn’t his peak.
I really wanted to quit.
"Commander, when will this end?"

At that moment, Senior Lucia peeked her head in.
We both looked at each other in surprise, and that alone was an answer.
"Why did you come?"
"Why are you here?"
Neither of us knew, so we had no choice but to ask her directly.
Senior Lucia sighed deeply and pointed at me.
"It’s a welcome-back-from-business trip party prepared by the seniors."

Apparently, everyone but me was free.
"Thanks for your hard work."
"This is just the beginning."
Senior Kavilahn, in charge of the second prince, handed me a glass.
Usually, Senior Daniel, who handles the crown prince, leads such gatherings, but he was touring the country with the crown prince, so Senior Kavilahn, next in line, took charge of my welcome party.
As I accepted and sipped the drink, someone pushed Kavilahn aside and stuck their face forward.

"How’s the empire?"
Senior Rain, who oversees the first princess and Hestia’s older sister, appeared.
TMI: Being Hestia’s older sister must be tough, but unfortunately, their personalities were polar opposites, so the only one suffering among the princesses’ instructors was Senior Lucia.
"It’s ridiculously big."

As an instructor, I already knew from previous inspections of the kingdom’s academy.
Leon’s royal academy was no joke compared to other countries, but the empire was the empire.
"How big?"
"More than five times the royal academy."
"...Really?"
She looked doubtful, but I just nodded.
Honestly, it couldn’t be smaller than that, only bigger.

"That’s really something."
"So what? They still got terrorized because they couldn’t manage it."
Senior Meles, instructor to the third prince, muttered sourly.
He seemed very stressed too, but fortunately, the third prince wasn’t interested in swords, so he wasn’t suffering like me or Senior Lucia.
"That’s true."

Knowing the breaches would continue, I had no choice but to respond sourly.
"I heard about it too. You fought and defeated Silence?"
"Oh, right. That’s why I came."
"How did you win?"
Starting with Senior Kavilahn, each senior asked me a question.
Silence must have been quite famous.

"Ah, well..."
Just as I was about to explain the amazing deeds of the late, Senior Lucia cut me off sharply as she walked through the group like the Red Sea opening, her eyes blazing.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Whyyyy?"

Her cold voice made the others clear their throats and leave.
Though the space was small, and they all cowered in corners.
"...Since when did the power shift?"
Unlike the knights, instructors had a freer atmosphere, but since it was somewhat like a knightly order, I remembered there was hierarchy.
In the time I hadn’t seen, Senior Lucia seemed to have taken charge of disciplining the others.

"What power shift? The seniors just briefly stepped aside."
It didn’t seem so, but I stayed silent fearing if I spoke more, I’d be punched or cry.
"Why did you call me?"
"Why? Do you have no conscience?! You overturned Princess Hestia the moment you came in!"

Look, she was ready to cry the moment I touched her.
The seniors who cowered in corners began sneaking toward the exit.
They’d called me only to ditch me.
"I’m innocent!"
But I was confident.
To Senior Lucia, I might have looked like the culprit.

"What?"
"Princess Hestia, who was waiting in the magic tower, started the fight. What was I supposed to do?"
I was the clear victim.
I had returned home after a long time, and the princess was waiting to fight me.
In this rank-is-might society, I had no choice but to fight Princess Hestia as if facing an NPC throwing a Pokémon battle at me.
"Still, you could have gone easier."

Remembering that, Senior Lucia’s anger slightly subsided.
The other seniors trying to escape cautiously moved back to the corner, so I teased a little.
"But even Princess Hestia needs to win sometimes. She always gets beaten by Prince Ellen and gets discouraged."
"Who’s going to cheer me up?"
Senior Lucia finally burst into tears, freezing the others in place.
Apparently, Princess Hestia took out her frustrations on Senior Lucia after being beaten by me.

"Why don’t you spar with the seniors?"
The frozen seniors glared at me with uneasy expressions.
Though doubtful, since everyone seemed free, maybe they could have some fun with Senior Lucia.
Just as I was about to poke a bit more at Senior Lucia with the feeling of “let’s all die together,”
— Biiiiiing!
"What’s that?"

Suddenly, a sound burst from my pocket, and everyone looked at me surprised.
"It’s an emergency contact alert."
"Sounds like a real emergency!"
They looked like they had a lot to say, but I felt I should check the contents first.
So I took out the communication orb from my pocket and...

— Help!
Hearing Violet—or Boradol’s—voice say just one phrase before cutting off,
"This probably isn’t serious?"
"...Definitely isn’t!"

I lightly ignored it.
#3 Kingdom correspondent, codename Boradol.
I never took the kingdom trip lightly.
Because the kingdom part was none other than the protagonist Daisy’s growth arc.

Though the core narrative wasn’t the protagonist’s in the way male-targeted fantasy novels are.
And even if there’s an awkward heroine part, it’s not like the hero dies of heartbreak.
But naturally, the protagonist’s narrative and growth are the core parts of a romance fantasy.
So I prepared myself well.
Not only mentally but also thoroughly.
I drew my salary in advance, scoured official and unofficial routes to gather necessary items.
I placed layers of restrictions so that I could use rituals I had gathered for about 20 seconds.
Only 20 seconds after months of preparation was heartbreaking, and knowing that if I didn’t use it this time it would be lost made me want to cry again.
But I thought preparing was better than carelessly dying.
So I gathered my soul and prepared.
Yet it wasn’t enough.
"Sis, are you okay?"

No, I wasn’t okay.
I barely swallowed the words that wanted to burst out of my throat.
"Mmm."
"..."
The pope nodded awkwardly at the vague answer.
I was staring at the pope, a small timid girl who flinched simply from being looked at.

Feeling sorry for her, I was about to say something, when—
"The pope has been kidnapped!"
I heard the shouts of paladins behind me.
Somehow, I had become the criminal who kidnapped the pope.

Of course, I hadn’t actually kidnapped her.
Rather, I had rescued the pope from being abused and gaslit by the cardinals.
This was actually in the original story’s scene.
...The only problem was that the timing was advanced by about two years.
Originally, through faction fights in the kingdom, the story involved gathering devout people one by one, rescuing the pope trapped in a secret room after the power struggle between the saint faction and the cardinals, and extracting the corrupt.
But Daisy, who had changed drastically in personality for some reason, beat up everyone one by one, eventually reaching the final boss of the kingdom arc.
In the process, I was able to secure the pope’s safety.

If you ask why I was given this role, surprisingly, it was because it was the easiest.
Daisy and the romance fantasy male leads were defeating corrupt clergy and reformists in the kingdom.
So the kingdom arc was advanced by two years, and I had also taken the pope two years early.
"Over there!"
"...!"
The problem was safely delivering the pope to Daisy.
There were more paladins tracking us than expected.

"Ugh!"
I threw the prepared items—smoke bombs, magical fire bottles, caltrops, and more.
While emptying the extra-dimensional pouch I received when joining the black company Leon, I caught a crystal orb.
"...."

The emergency communication orb to report incidents immediately.
I took a breath, held the orb, and prepared to contact in case of emergency...
"I’m here!"
"Let’s take a break!"
But when I heard the paladin’s voice behind me, I urgently shouted something and resumed running with the pope.

— Help me!
It was the only message I could leave.