"What are you doing here!?"

 

How did Princess Astatine get here? There should be all kinds of high-rank monsters literally sleeping on the main roads towards the capital. This is why I'm clearly perplexed on how a silver-haired girl found her way here with absolutely zero protection.

 

"Doesn't it get boring? Every time I decide to check on you, the first emotion you display is shock. Putting that aside, I am quite pleased by your display of power, as expected of my vassal…. By the way, I don't recommend consuming this creature's flesh since it is corrupted with demonic mana."

 

"Huh! Oh, thanks for the heads up. Bye!"

 

I put down the crab meat and began walking in the opposite direction, only to have my belt get yanked back.

 

"Hey, watch it! My pants might fall off if you do that."

 

"How dare you lash out against me when you disrespectfully attempt to run away. I will not punish you for it, but you will have to do a task for- Hey! I order you to stop right now."

 

Ugh, this girl is too much trouble for me. I already have my hands full trying to rebuild the region with not a single second to spare for a pampered kid. Tsk, she's trying to stop me again.

 

*Click*

 

"...Eh? W-Wait, threatening royalty is a death sentence. Put your weapon down right in this instance!"

 

"Princess Astatine, I think you are misunderstanding something. The only reason I have even considered bowing down to you was because you are royalty, but guess what? The king is gone, and the capital is in chaos with no one taking leadership, meaning that any value you had as a princess has now gone 'poof'. That being said, I hope you have a happy life from now on without treating others like toys."

 

I put down my gun and walk away. It was obviously not loaded since I never planned to harm a little girl, but this much should scare her off for now.

 

"H-Hold it! Eeek! Just hear me out for a minute… please!"

 

"Ugh, stop crying and spit it out already before I run out of patience."

 

She's too stubborn. I already made up my mind to leave her, no matter what she offers. I'm sick of being used like a fiddle by a child who acts so haughtily when she can only push her weight around due to her status.

 

"M-my father, the king, didn't actually die. That was just a diversion from the real reason he disappeared. My father actually… turned into a demon… I saw it with my own eyes…"

 

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Even if that's true, what does it have to do with me?"

 

"My elder brothers and sisters saw this as a chance to take over the throne and made their own factions to fight for it. The biggest two factions are that of the first prince, Bismuth, and the second princess, Cerium who each have support from the ducal families of Fenrir and Solaris respectively. I also made my own faction, and you have to choose a side, or you'll end up losing everything to the winning faction."

 

Wow, so much drama happened over at the royal capital and I was none the wiser. I know Fenrir's territory is to the East and is being led by a douchebag, while Solaris is far South of here and the eldest daughter, Celestia, is engaged to Mark. Maybe things have changed since they are in different factions. Oh well!

 

"I see. From what you said, there should be other royalty vying for the throne. Maybe I can send a messenger to the second prince asking to join him?"

 

"No! You can't do that! Please, I'll do anything short of killing myself, join me!"

 

"Tough luck, princess. You have nothing to give me which the other royal members couldn't provide. In fact, joining you would put me in a disadvantage."

 

"Please reconsider, I beg of you! Ah, that's right! You hate magic, correct? If I become the queen, I will ban magic and execute all mages!"

 

"Woah, easy there. You actually believe I'll fall for such a dumb lie? I bet you used magic to come here in the first place, so I don't think you are able to keep that promise unless you execute yourself."

 

Astatine gritted her teeth with her head drooped while tears fell on the ground. I don't like doing this, but this girl should learn when to give up. I'd rather work alone than become the underling of someone who uses magic. Oh, would you look at that, she's glaring right into my eyes. Is she going to hurl insults at me now that she realized this is a complete waste of time?

 

"I am a damn manaphobe just like you, ok? You stupid moron! A traitor who even backstabs his own family at the drop of a hat! I must've gone mad to even consider you as an ally- !?!?"

 

I take a knee and kiss Astatine's right hand.

 

"Oh, my dazzling princess whose beauty is unmatched by all elves and with a demeanor which puts even the wisest of men to shame, I shall be your sword and shield in this battle against demons and clowns alike."

 

Why didn't Astatine say she was a manaphobe from the beginning? If I knew that sooner, I would've so much more to help her out. Heck I would've even assassinated the king myself to make her the queen if she ever so desired. I looked up to see Astatine's beet red face as she seemed to wonder what to say.

 

"Y-Y-You can't just do something like that all of a sudden! And what's up with the complete turnaround from being an imbecile to a licking dog. Let go of my hand already!"

 

"Forgive me for saying this, but your tone has changed as well. I don't mind, though, princess."

 

"You just aimed a gun at me and then question my change of attitude!?"

 

"Gun? You know what this is?"

 

"Ah, right… You aren't the only one who looked into dwarven weapons. You're just lucky to get your hands on this piece!"

 

"If you say so. Now since you are a real comrade, I'd like to show you how to use anti-magic."

 

"So that's what you call the weird ability you have related to your… fingers?"

 

"It's not an ability! It's a great weapon which renders all magic useless. You saw my fight with the giant crab, right? I'll teach you how to do that as well."

 

"No you won't!"

 

Who's that! An armored man jumped out of a bush and rushed towards me. I was about to shoot him when Astatine stood in front of me.

 

"Randor! I ordered you to stay put until I call out to you."

 

"Your majesty, please open your eyes! How could I remain silent and watch this bastard show such disrespect!"

 

"I shall not hear any excuses! Head back to the campsite and wait until my return. Prepare for punishment."

 

You are telling me this man was right there the entire time? Actually, it makes much more sense for a princess to at least have a guard protecting her while travelling through dangerous lands. I don't like him, though, even if his brown beard is truly magnificent.

 

"I'm sorry for this unexpected interruption. I truly appreciate your offer to teach me, nevertheless, I don't have time now, unfortunately. I have other duties to fulfill back in the city of Lawrencium, so I will sadly have to reject your offer."

 

"I see… Oh, hold on a moment! My sister, Alice, should be in the royal capital right now, so you can learn from her instead. Here, this small pouch has null dust, which will show her that you are my friend… Why the sad face?"

 

"You see… your sister is truly amazing… Nonetheless, she…"

 

No… It can't be….

 

"She's dead!?"

 

"Huh? Oh no, I didn't mean that! Alice is so amazing, even high-rank monsters are nothing but ants in front of her power. The problem is she's friends with Celestia Solaris, who's part of Cerium's faction."

 

"What!?"

 

How can my pure little sister have a friendship with an evil witch who tried to make fun of me before? Celestia must've manipulated her using cursed magic to do something like this.

 

"My princess, I beg of you to make haste and save my sister from being corrupted by Celestia. Take the null dust and show it to her- No, if she is under a spell, you must spray the powder on her head to break the evil magic. Damn magic! I'll eliminate it all one day!"

 

"Uhh, I will be leaving now. Uh! I almost forgot; I came here to tell you to announce that you support me as the worthy heir to the throne."

 

"Ok, Ok. Just go!"

 

I only relaxed after Astatine left my field of vision then started to make my way back to Fort Erosion, but then a thought hit me, maybe I can find something valuable in the bandit's den? With this reason, I decided to take a look at what kind of 'town' crab-crazed people would build.

 

The place was a lot more developed than I'd expected, even better than the farmhouses I made. Were there talented carpenters within the bandit group? It's completely ridiculous for someone who has a job with such high demand to leave the safety of Fort Erosion for crab worshippers. I stared at the giant dead crab next to a tree stump and wondered. Shouldn't the crab have disappeared by now and turned into a crystal? Unless...

 

Monsters fade away when they perish, yet the crab is still here with no signs of vanishing. The only logical conclusion is that the crab isn't actually a monster and, instead, was a normal creature which was gigantified using magic. Demonic mana, to be more specific. Yes, no one said normal creatures couldn't be turned into demonic forms which aren't actually monsters in origin.

 

Speaking of which, dragons are also classified as non-monster creatures, which means that, according to my theory, they can also be turned into a demonic form. I truly hope not to meet such an adversary, at least not until I get a couple tons of null dust beforehand.

 

Hmm? I see a shiny object sticking out of the Crablord's body. Let's take a look… a silver pendant with an engraving on it. Wait, isn't that the Fenrir's emblem!? This man has actually a relation to those damned pests led by a selfish bastard. I didn't actually believe Mark is scummy enough to even send men pretending to be bandits and sabotage me.

 

There are still some holes in this conclusion, however. I mean, if Mark sent someone to form a band of bandits, then where does the giant crab come into view? Moreover, if the man is on an undercover operation, wouldn't wearing a shiny silver pendant showing his affiliation be rather contradictory for his goal? I feel like there's more to this than meets the eye.

 

Oh well, it's starting to get dark, and I probably won't be able to solve anything right now. Let's go back to Fort Erosion then think about it from there. I'm sure I'll find out more if I continue clearing out bandit outposts, so I better leave before the putrid stench destroys my nose.

 

And so, I traced back my steps before making a short stop at the river where I dropped Mister crab and wondering what fate awaits the creature. I camped inside of a nearby cave where I almost peed my pants when I woke up to the sound of a snoring bear who apparently slept in a dark corner. Then, after sneaking away from that predicament and making sure my lower half was dry, I made my way back to the familiar path leading back to Fort Erosion.

 

As expected, my arrival wasn't met with any applause or celebration and I, instead, was assaulted by pebbles thrown by little kids. I, however, smiled at this wonderful greeting since not a single attack contained the slightest bit of magi-

 

"FIREBALL!"

 

"Gah!?"

 

A cloaked man shot out a ball of fire towards my direction and I quickly tried to defend myself by nullifying the spell, only to realize that I've already exhausted my supply of null dust and gave the rest to Astatine. I literally only have some leather armor to protect myself from a large burning sphere heading directly to my head. I closed my eyes and hoped my handsome face wouldn't get disfigured too much.

 

*Ping*

 

"AAARRRRGGHHH!"

 

Huh? Why is the cloaked man screaming in agony?

 

I opened my eyes to witness the unbelievable sight of the clown's cloak burning as he ran in circles desperately trying to put himself out. Did the fireball think that I'm too handsome to hit and decided to turn around?

 

"Captain! What happened here!? I'll protect you!"

 

"Leona, I don't need protection right now. Instead, how about you stop the burning man wallowing in pain and arrest him?

 

"Yes Captain!"

 

Let's hope he doesn't burn to a crisp so I can interrogate him. Maybe I can get an insight on what's going on out there from him.