I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 248: Hatching Plans

XXXX Continent, Seraph Kingdom, inside the Ninth Prince’s pavilion.

“An explanation on the war for the throne, huh…” the Ninth Prince muttered as he placed his index finger and thumb under his chin. He then rubbed his chin with both fingers as he asked himself, “Where should I start?”

For a while, Vanadir pondered over Erea’s question. Eventually, after taking another sip of his tea, he went ahead and directly looked at Erea before answering, “If I were to sum it all up, the war for the throne is more or less a competition wherein only one team survives.”

“Only one team survives?” Erea could not help but repeat the Ninth Prince’s words, imagining such a situation in her head. Little by little, her complexion became pale as she could not help but ask him a while after, “Does that mean that…the people that participate in this war for the throne would ultimately die as well?”

Listening to her response, Vanadir’s eyes slightly widened in surprise, wondering as to how she got to that conclusion. After some time, he understood where Erea was coming from as he shook his head. He then told her, “Ah, not at all. I guess it was my fault for indirectly leading you to that conclusion with my words.”

“To be more exact, only one out of the twelve princes survive in this competition,” he added. Vanadir then continued, “As for the members of the teams, they’re given a lot of safety measures that would allow them to stay safe even if the prince they’ve allied with dies in the matches.”

Erea could not help but shiver while listening to the Ninth Prince’s response. She thought to herself, ‘Does a kingdom really have to resort to such measures to nominate who the next ruler would be?’

With this thought in mind, she then asked Vanadir, “Is there a reason as to why only one prince can only survive in the war for the throne?”

“Quite a lot more than you’d expect,” the Ninth Prince responded before continuing, “With the other princes dead, there would be no coups led by the other princes who are dissatisfied with the winning prince.”

He then added, “Second, some of the princes participating in the war for the throne harbor malicious intent towards the prize. By killing them, it would allow the kingdom to continue with its peaceful method of ruling.”

“I understand the first reason, but…” Erea muttered as she pondered over Vanadir’s words. Eventually, she continued, “What if the winner turns out to be a prince with malicious intent? What happens then?”

“Surprisingly, the king himself would be the one to make a move, killing that prince without hesitation,” Vanadir said without batting an eye, which made Erea slightly shiver inwardly. A few seconds later, the Ninth Prince smiled as he said, “Of course, I’m not like those princes.”

“I see.” Erea processed and organized all of the words said by Vanadir, eventually nodding in understanding.

All this time, Dane was looking at the two converse back and forth while he sipped on his tea. Noticing that the two have finished with their questions, he took the initiative to say to Vanadir, “Your Highness, I’ve obtained some great bits of news before coming here.”

“Oh?” In response, Vanadir raised his eyebrows before smiling. “As expected from my advisor. I knew I could count on you.”

“Anyways, what is it?” he then asked, to which Dane replied, “Before coming here, this student of mine here was trying to be poached by another prince’s team.”

“Is that so?” the Ninth Prince said, placing his index finger and thumb under his chin once more before rubbing. “Do you know which prince’s team it was?”

Dane nodded in response to the Ninth Prince’s question before saying, “Indeed I do, Your Highness. I shall not talk about the person that tried to poach my great student Erea here, but the prince behind this person is the Tenth Prince.”

“The Tenth Prince?” Expecting another prince to be mentioned, Vanadir could not help but stand up from his seat in disbelief. He was not expecting that sort of prince to make a move. Wondering if he had heard wrongly, he looked at Dane and asked for assurance, “By the Tenth Prince…you mean Sauro, right?”

“Indeed. Prince Sauro Altaris-Seraph,” Dane said as he nodded.

Sensing that his advisor did not lie to him, the Ninth Prince went ahead and sat down on his chair with an aura of slight defeat as he muttered, “To think that Sauro would come and join in the war for the throne as well. That scheming bastard would definitely make the road to victory harder. Is he aiming for the prize?”

“Uh…” All of a sudden, Erea went ahead and interrupted the conversation between the two of them as she asked Vanadir, “I apologize for interrupting your conversation with Teacher, Your Highness. I would like to ask though. Who’s Prince Sauro? Also, judging from your words, Your Highness, what kind of prize does the war for the throne have to make other princes join?”

Up to this moment, Erea thought that the princes of the Seraph Kingdom were forced to participate in the war for the throne since it had something to do with the future of the kingdom. But after listening to their conversation, it seemed that the princes joining in the war were mostly based on volunteering. Of course, she wondered as to how all of the princes with malicious intent would be killed off if they did not participate in the war, but it did not take long for her to conclude that the Seraph Kingdom had their own methods to do so.

Scratching his head for a bit, the Ninth Prince responded to Erea’s words, saying, “It’s fine if you interrupt us. Your teacher would be fine with that as well, no?”

In response, Dane nodded at his words. With that, Vanadir continued, “Anyways, let me ask you something. Do you know the 12 princes of the Seraph Kingdom?”

Erea shook her head as she let out a soft sigh. She then said to him, “I apologize for not knowing too much in this area. I’m not someone who likes to dabble in the world of politics…plus I always seclude myself within the Arcana Tower…”

“Hahaha.” Hearing her response filled with truths, Vanadir could not help but lightly giggle as he replied, “It’s fine. It’s fine. I just wanted to know if you have any background knowledge.”

“Anyways, the 12 princes of the Seraph Kingdom have only one purpose in life,” he said. “That purpose is to succeed the current king of the kingdom, King Zeldrion Seraph.”

“As you’ve heard from Dane, I’m the Ninth Prince of the Seraph Kingdom,” he continued. “As for Prince Sauro, he’s the Tenth Prince of the Seraph Kingdom.”

“His full name is Sauro Altaris-Seraph, his mother being someone who has high prestige in the Altaris clan,” Vanadir started to explain. “He’s well-known for making back-up plans for his back-up plans. In other words, he’s a pretty scheming guy. Not to mention, he’s also well-versed in the arts of swordsmanship.”

“Then again, all of the princes are,” Vanadir said before chuckling. He then looked at Erea and asked her, “Did that answer your first question?”

In response, Erea nodded. Seeing that she nodded, Vanadir nodded back before continuing, “As for the prize in the war for the throne…”

“Well, to be honest, this is the first time such an event has been held,” the Ninth Prince said after that. “Fortunately, the king did not hide anything from us, telling us the rewards of such an event.”

“Naturally, becoming the future ruler of the kingdom is part of the rewards, with the winning prince becoming a Crown Prince,” Vanadir said. He then took in a deep breath as his eyes glistened, remembering the other reward.

“The most important reward in this war for the throne is probably the only reward the other princes participating in this event yearn to obtain,” he said with a slightly excited expression.

“A Legendary-grade weapon,” Vanadir said without hesitation, making Erea and Dane’s eyes widen in response. This was the first time Dane had heard of it, while Erea could not even fathom the power a Legendary-grade weapon would have.

Seeing their reactions, Vanadir let out a laugh as he said, “That was my reaction as well when I first heard it from the king. Any other questions?”

Erea shook his head in response to his question. With that, Vanadir turned his head to look at Dane and ask, “Do you have any other news you want to tell me?”

With a nod, Dane let out a long sigh before telling him, “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Not only is the Tenth Prince participating in the war for the throne, but I’ve also heard that the Tenth Prince has become allies with the Third Prince,” he continued. 

Rather than stand up from the sheer shock, Vanadir blankly looked at the outside of the pavilion before taking in a long and deep breath. As he let out a sigh, he let out a wry chuckle before muttering, “At this point, I’m not even surprised. With the Third Prince and Tenth Prince working together, it’s almost guaranteed for them to win the war.”

Noticing that Erea was about to ask a question from the periphery of his vision, the Ninth Prince went ahead and deduced the possible question in her mind as he asked her, “Are you going to ask me the reason as to why I haven’t allied with other princes yet?”

Just as Erea was about to open her mouth to ask the question that came out of Vanadir’s mouth, she instantly closed it as she nodded slowly soon after. In response, Vanadir let out a sigh as he said, “Well, it’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that the other princes don’t believe that I have the capabilities to win the war.”

“Your Highness doesn’t have the capabilities?” Erea could not help but mutter, remembering what she saw before she entered the pavilion a while ago. From the aura the Ninth Prince was radiating while he was practicing with his blade, to Erea, she concluded that he already had the capabilities to do so. “You must be jesting, Your Highness. The power you showed before I entered the pavilion is already quite strong.”

At first, Vanadir was at a loss for words, wondering how such a person he had just met for the first time would be able to say that. Not long after, Vanadir let out a long laugh before softly sighing. He then looked at Erea before saying, “I guess you’re right. I’ve only ascended to a Rank 3 class just recently, so the news of me having ascended hasn’t spread that much yet. Once it does, some of the princes would probably ask me to ally with them.”

“Hmm…” Listening to Vanadir’s words, Erea pondered for a bit before asking, “Wouldn’t it be better if the news doesn’t spread until the very last moment, Your Highness?”

“Of course it is, but you know how it is. News like this can’t be kept secret for long,” Vanadir said, to which Dane let out a chuckle as he replied, “That’s only if you don’t have any connections with those that spread the news, Your Highness.”

“You’ve given me quite a great idea, Erea,” Dane said as he stood up, patting Erea on the head. Sipping a bit of tea from the cup he’s holding, he looked at the Ninth Prince and said, “Fortunately for you, Your Highness, I have quite a few connections with the main sources of news in this kingdom. As long as I bribe them with a bit of the money you’ve given me, they’ll make sure to keep the news of your ascension a secret.”

“As for the alliances…” Dane pondered for a bit before saying, “You should take the initiative to show your strength to the other princes, Your Highness. Of course, the Highness should only do it in secret, lest the other princes find out. Wouldn’t that shock the masses once they find out that you’re far stronger than they imagined when the war for the throne starts?”

Vanadir passively listened to Dane’s advice before pondering over it. After some time, he let out a long laugh as he said, “As expected from my advisor, you’re a genius.”

He then turned his head to look at Erea and said, “The same goes for you, Erea. If not for your quick thinking, Dane might not have such a thought like this.”

Being praised by the Ninth Prince himself, Erea scratched her head slightly as a light blush suffused from her face. In her mind, she thought to herself, ‘To think that the Ninth Prince actually knows my name…’

After talking a bit more regarding the new idea Dane had, Vanadir eventually looked at Erea and asked her, “Do you have any other questions you want to ask me?”

“Do I?” Erea asked herself in response, rummaging through her memories in the process. Eventually, she recalled what happened before they arrived at the pavilion. With that in mind, she went ahead and asked the Ninth Prince, “I do have one question.”

“Do tell,” Vanadir said in response. Erea then took in a deep breath as she pondered whether it was right or wrong to ask such a question. Eventually, she decided that it was better to find it out as she asked, “Before we arrived at your pavilion, Your Highness, no guards were escorting us along the way. Is there a reason for that?”

Hearing Erea’s question, Dane could not help but let out a light chuckle as he muttered, “I knew she was going to ask this question.”

As for Vanadir, he let out a light chuckle as well as he said, “Oh that? Quite a simple answer to your question, to be honest.”

“I guess Dane didn’t tell you the reason why along the way?” he asked, to which Erea nodded.

Looking at Dane for a bit with a smile, he then shifted his gaze back to Erea as he replied, “Well, I don’t blame your teacher for not telling you…”

“…since it involves the war for the throne, surprisingly.”