#1316 Junior’s Adventure – The Demon Prince’s Sudden Change 

“Listen, primogeniture is absolute in principle, but it’s not absolutely absolute. There are situations where the right of succession passes to a younger sibling. You understand that much, don’t you, Goetia?” 
“But of course. That’s exactly why I’ve been so desperate.” 

Belphgamilia is wearing a rare serious expression. 
Even Prince Goetia, pressured by that intensity, ends up looking serious. 

“If succession goes to the eldest child but can still shift to the younger ones, it’s because the eldest simply doesn’t have the ability to rule. No matter how well primogeniture prevents succession disputes, it’s meaningless if the country collapses because of the ruler.” 
“Naturally! That’s precisely why I’ve never missed a single day of training!” 
“You always set the bar too high for yourself. But there are fools out there who think they’ve cleared a much lower bar, who believe they can become king without any real training. Those kinds of idiots destroy nations. They can’t be allowed to rule.” 

When something like that happens, the ministers sit down for endless discussions, strip the first prince of his succession rights, and appoint the second or third prince as a substitute. 
It might also happen for health reasons, or because of sudden death. 

If the firstborn always inherited without fail, there’d be no reason to have more children. 
It’s a cruel way to put it... but the younger siblings are essentially spares. 

“Goetia, I think you already have the ability needed to inherit Zedan’s position. That alone is more than enough for a successor. No matter how far Princess Marine surpasses you in talent, she’s still the second child. Under the rules of primogeniture, she doesn’t stand a chance in a million.” 

But… 

“If you lose sight of yourself, the story changes.” 
“?!” 

The sharpness of that line makes the demon prince shrink back. 

“If you keep fixating on Princess Marine the way you are, your father’s trust may eventually drift away from you. No matter how capable you are, someone who doubts and fears others isn’t fit to be king.” 

I learned this in Sensei’s class. 
There have been plenty of kings in history who feared talented vassals, treated them unfairly, or even tried to kill them. 
The results were always disastrous. 
Sometimes the talented vassal rebels and kills the king. 
And even if a loyal one dies without resisting, losing someone competent leaves a hole, one that an enemy nation often exploits to destroy the kingdom. 

No matter how gifted a king is, one person’s talent has limits. 
That’s why many people work together to support the ruler. That’s how groups and nations function. 
What holds those people together is trust. 
For a king, trust might matter more than personal ability. 

“If you can’t even trust your own sister, Zedan will naturally feel uneasy. For now, it’s probably just a mild concern. But if that concern reaches its limit, he’ll remove you for the sake of the Demon Kingdom. He’s a king who can make that call.” 
“...” 

Prince Goetia’s face tenses like he just bit into something bitter. He stays silent for a long, heavy half-minute before letting out a sigh full of mixed feelings. 

“…I wasn’t fighting Marine. I was fighting the weakness in my own heart.” 
“As expected of a prince. You understand things quickly once they’re pointed out.” 
“Please don’t flatter me. When you compliment me, it feels like I’m being scolded.” 

Belphgamilia managed to persuade him. That’s good, right? 
It looks like the demon prince finally has a route toward becoming a proper Demon King who won’t be swayed by his own paranoia. 
Case closed. 

“…Well, I can understand why Goetia is so desperate, though.” 

Whoa, Belphgamilia walks over to me. 
Prince Goetia is too distracted by the Sage’s 360° head turn trick to notice. 

“After all, he’s seen an example of someone who became king through sheer ability right up close. No wonder he feels pressured.” 

Someone who became king by ability? 

“His father, Zedan, the current Demon King. He dragged his incompetent father off the throne and became Demon King by his own power.” 

According to Belphgamilia, the previous Demon King before Zedan was useless, obsessed with pleasure, and neglected the country. 

“He was really useless.” 

He says it twice for some reason. 
To make matters worse, the Demon Kingdom was at war with the Human Kingdom at the time, and the war costs alone were enormous. Add the king’s extravagant spending and the kingdom was headed toward bankruptcy. 

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, one of the Demon King’s many sons—Zedan—took action. 

He launched a coup, seized the throne, forced the previous Demon King to retire, and sat on the vacant seat himself. 

“The previous Demon King had many consorts. Zedan’s mother was among the lowest-ranked, and Zedan himself was a child born quite late. Under primogeniture, he never should’ve become king. He was just another minor prince.” 

But he became king anyway. 
Because exceptions exist. There are exceptions to every rule. 

Apparently, the eldest son was as much of a pleasure-seeker as his father. 

If he inherited the throne, nothing would’ve changed. So they forced him into seclusion alongside his father. 

“After that, Zedan personally led the armies, won a war that lasted hundreds of years, and earned the title ‘greatest Demon King in history.’ For a successor, that’s a ridiculously high standard to live up to.” 

Indeed… just imagining succeeding someone like that is enough to crush you. 
…Not that I can talk. 
My dad’s just as ridiculously great! 

“Goetia must’ve heard his father’s legend over and over. A Demon King who rose from an unfavorable birth through pure ability. A straightforward kid like him would naturally want to emulate that.” 

Which explains Prince Goetia’s extreme fixation on ability... 
If your role model is someone like that, of course you’d try to follow in their footsteps. 

“Then that feeling collided with the irregularity that is Princess Marine, and things spiraled out of control. That’s pretty much the whole story. Sorry for dragging you into it, Junior.” 

Belphgamilia apologizes in an absurdly casual tone. 
He seems to feel guilty… I think? 

“…Junior, I owe you an apology as well.” 

Prince Goetia appears beside us. Who knows how long he’s been listening. 

“My petty anxieties and vanity caused me to trouble you greatly. It was disgraceful behavior for a prince.” 
“No, no, don’t worry about it...!” 
“I must. If I were Demon King and you were the Farm King, and I troubled another nation’s ruler because of my personal issues, it would be a diplomatic incident. I am deeply ashamed.” 

He’s such a sincere, earnest guy that I can’t bring myself to dislike him. 

Though I have a sinking feeling I may have just gained a very troublesome friend. 
I can already imagine him dragging me into all sorts of future problems. 

“To have forged this bond of friendship with you is one of the few good outcomes today. Junior! From here on, I ask for your friendship!” 

See? I knew this was coming! 
I really don’t want to take on any more trouble than necessary, but he’s still a prince of an entire nation! 
I can’t just flat-out say no to his face!!! 

“He’s got the same smell as Mamoru and Lord Lucife Focale.” 

Now Belphgamilia’s saying weird things too?! 

“Now then, Prince Goetia. Since you’ve sorted out your feelings, do you still intend to bring this washed-up hermit back into service?” 
“No… you got dragged into my ambition and I caused you all sorts of trouble. And if I think about it carefully, overturning my father’s decision to let you retire would create more problems than it solves. You’re clearly here for your own reasons.” 
“I am deeply grateful for Your Highness’s consideration.” 

Belphgamilia bows deeply, though… does he really have some grand “reason” for being here? 
Isn’t the real reason just that he wants to slack off? 

“From now on, I’ll trust myself and keep training so I can follow in Father’s footsteps. As for Marine… saying I won’t worry about her at all would be a lie, but I’m done treating her like an enemy. A country can’t thrive if siblings are at each other’s throats. We each have things we need to do.” 

It looks like he finally woke up to reality. 
Maybe now we can wrap this up, call it settled, and... 

“Prince Goetia, since you’ve come all the way to such a remote place, are you truly fine leaving with nothing to show for it?” 
“Huh? But it’s not like I can just look around and expect ‘results’ to appear. Knowing when to give up is important. Besides, realizing my own shortcomings is enough of an achievement, isn’t it?” 
“No, no. This is Mt. Eternity, one of the world’s greatest sacred sites. If you’re looking for achievements, they’re everywhere.” 
“Ooh… is that so…?!” 

What is Belphgamilia planning, trying to stall him like this? 
I want to get down the mountain already. 
If we don’t leave soon, we won’t make it before sunset. 
Mountains require planning ahead! 

“For example... how about receiving direct training from me, Belphgamilia?” 
“What?!” 

That's surprising. 
Belphgamilia willingly taking on the hassle? What happened to him? 

“Oh, Junior, you’re misunderstanding. I’m a bona fide, universally acknowledged slacker. Which is exactly why I will endure any amount of trouble if it means I can slack off later.” 

A contradiction. 
Though my dad says stuff like that too... 

“If I let him leave now, he’ll just show up again later with another crisis and interrupt my peaceful sleep. That's why I’m going to forge him into a flawless future demon king who will never need my help again.” 
“Heyyy, you called?” 

Huh? Who now? 
Wait, Mr. Golden Bat? Why’d he come all the way to the summit? 

“I called him,” Belphgamilia says. “He’s good at training people, so I figured he could help. Imagine it, training from Belphgamilia, former Heavenly One, and Golden Bat, an S-rank adventurer. That’s quite a resume booster for a future demon king.” 
“Ohh, so this is the prince. I thought he looked promising when I saw him at the training grounds. If I end up becoming the mentor of the next Demon King, I’ll be miles ahead of Silver Wolf!” 

These two are definitely not the gentle type. 
This is going to be pure hell for Prince Goetia, isn’t it? 

“Oh! To receive instruction from both of you is an incredible honor! This will bring me so much closer to becoming a true demon king!” 

Well, as long as it keeps him from dragging me into any more messes, then please train him thoroughly.