---Astatine's POV---

 

"Come on now, work with me already!"

 

Seriously, this anti-magic thing is so hard. How did that psychopath manage to use it so effectively as if it's in his nature? I wiped off the rough black powder off of my fingers then put down the pouch Max gave me inside my drawer then plop down on my bed and embrace my soft pink pillow. Ugh, do I seriously have to seek out the help of his little sister if I want to have a chance to use whatever magic he used to defeat the crustaceans?

 

No way, I absolutely won't stoop so low as to seek out help from a girl on friendly terms with my adversary. Besides, I'm 42 for god's sake!

 

I mean, I'm 14 right now, but in my previous life back on Earth, I was the shining star in a SWAT team… I think. My memories are all so unclear and jumbled up that I don't even remember my real name. The only thing which I have not a single shadow of a doubt about is my final moments. It was supposed to be a normal busy day of busting a criminal group in an abandoned factory building, yet these… people, if you can even call them that, were all madmen. Although none of them had guns, they still lunged at us holding knives and bats without any hesitation or fear for their lives. Non-lethal takedowns weren't an option. I don't remember exactly how many bastards I've incapacitated, but the last person I shot was their leader, who was the craziest of them all.

 

Then the world suddenly went dark, and I was washed over by excruciating pain like none other. It was so bad; I would've rather been shot ten times then get boiled alive than feel this pain; pain of death. I have no idea what actually killed me, though this is something I don't care about anymore, or rather, I don't want to think about it in the first place. No reason to reminisce about bad memories of a previous life when I already have my hands full with this one.

 

I thought I hit the jackpot by being born into a royal family and that I could live a carefree life in luxury. I was so naïve. This world has a discriminatory system putting those with high magical potential on a pedestal while treating manaphobes as subhuman. I remember vividly the day I turned 4 years of age. The court mage who's been showing me the basics of magic did a test on me which gave me a negative result. The conversation which followed between my father and mother went like this-

 

"Another failure… Honey, should we send her away as well?"

 

"... No, this is the third one already, and I am sick of dooming my own children. We will keep Astatine as the official fourth princess while hiding her status as a manaphobe from the public."

 

-And so, I was spared from a second death purely because whatever conscience left in my father's dead soul prevented my untimely demise. The fate of a child like me would be a life of constant bullying while being looked down upon by anyone who knows the secret. Nevertheless, I was not a normal child.

 

I excelled in non-magical combat, it didn't matter whether I held a bow or a sword. This talent proved helpful in preventing my siblings from getting any funny ideas, mainly by breaking a couple of ribs of anyone who dared to mention my Soul Depth score. This, however, was just a temporary solution that only worked as long as my physical prowess trumped their spells, which wasn't long. Therefore, I turned to look for other ways to survive including trying to make guns, which failed horribly due to the specialized equipment necessary, plus bullets had questionable effectiveness against magic shields as proven by the dwarven kingdom.

 

Out of reasonable options, I chose to rely on others to fight for me instead. Naturally, this was an act of desperation as no one in their right mind would choose to follow the fourth princess whose parents don't care about.

 

My struggle to find reliable support continued fruitlessly until I was around 6. At that time, a celebration took place in the castle for the oh so lucky daughter of Duke Magnus who won the magic lottery of life. My father wanted me to stay put and don't talk to anyone, which was frankly ridiculous, and I ended up arguing with him long enough that we got late for the party. I also got to do whatever I wanted so he got nothing but embarrassment from being in my way.

 

I say that, yet I still had no clue on how to get any of the nobles filling the hall to pay attention to me and I mindlessly wandered around with no purpose until I found myself in a balcony far away from the throne room. I was at my lowest point in my life at that point with no other option other than to accept my unfair fate.

 

Yes, accept that this whole world is an unreasonable mess full of shameless selfish pigs who'll abandon innocent children at the drop of a hat just for some stupid number… Until she came-

 

"Do you yearn to change it? Follow me to obtain the key for opening a new path. A path fraught with a plethora of obstacles manufactured by those who wish to repress you into oblivion, yet there shall also be miraculous opportunities with which you can control your fate."

 

-A pink-haired fairy descended from the heavens and threw me a lifeline. I didn't question her, nor did I answer her. She walked into the dark hallways while I followed behind silently, admiring her exquisite beauty that sinks my heart in relief. I kept following and following until I found myself in front of a door to a small storeroom, no fairy in sight.

 

From the other side of the door, I heard a nefarious deal between the half-brothers of the Phoenix family, and I couldn't help but smile. This is exactly what I needed. Even if he's a manaphobe and a child, having a link with a member of a ducal family will make a great foundation on which I could expand my influence and protect myself from getting stomped on by others.

 

Then I thought, why stop there? These bastards deserve to be thrown in a cage and left to rot for their meaningless bloodshed. I'll build up a force strong enough to take over this barbaric country and make it so everyone is born equal without prejudice based upon magic potential. The first thing I had to do is turn the Phoenix kid into my puppet and work from there.

 

I made a huge miscalculation. The manaphobic child, Max, was completely unpredictable, bordering insane. I sent one of my maids who I trust to keep an eye on Max while I took advantage of my connection with him as bait for recruitment purposes and all the news I've received was shock after shock. Founding a knight order can only be seen as good, but what the hell was he thinking, bringing a bunch of orphans as soldiers? Moreover, none of them had any talent with magic! I might be in a battle against prejudice, but the prowess of mages is indisputable, thus making them a requirement for a competent army.

 

His reckless decisions had reflected badly on me as people questioned the power I hold over my vassal who may or may not be sick in the head. I obviously refuted any negative allegations and made a bluff that the knight order was strong enough to take on a high-rank monster. Lying was the only thing I could do to preserve the progress I made to build connections. My opposition only got louder over time as Max made his troops only fight insignificant monsters. The pressure kept rising until a day came when I heard that Max and his sister were visiting the royal capital.

 

I couldn't keep up the bluff anymore. My eldest sister Cerium, a snake in human skin, gave an ultimatum; either order Max to slay a high-rank monster, or admit that everything I claimed up to that point was false. I obviously didn't choose the second option, and ignoring her would basically act as a confession, so I had to hand the short stick to Max while hoping for the best. I tasked him to take down a high skeletal mage since it's the weakest high-rank monster I could find based upon the adventurer's guild recommendation.

 

Yup, it was supposed to be an impossible mission for some kid who can't use magic. So how did he not only bring one, but a total of THREE high skeletal mage crystals!? I was planning to secretly buy a crystal off the black market and pretend he got it. I even wanted to reprimand him for making a scene at the adventurer's guild. Apparently, all the sleepless nights I had meant nothing at all… Then I remembered, the fairy said I will find miraculous opportunities in my path. Was this what she meant? Certainly, bringing back three crystals of high-rank monsters would reverse my current predicament completely. Ahhh, thank you, dear fairy.

 

Having my self-confidence return, I decided to go out and scout for new talented adventurers who I can get over to my side. I usually kept my eye out for anyone who seemed strong while being unable to fit in with the other adventurers. I essentially wanted to take advantage of those who are easy to exploit. I quickly spotted a man who kept shouting about dragon lord this and dragon lord that. He might've been a little eccentric, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

At least he was hot.

 

I approached the blond man and tried to figure out what troubled him, which he quickly blurted out in frustration. Apparently, he wanted to become an adventurer and take the special test in the capital to prove his strength but was rejected because all the info he wanted to give out was 'Dragon Lord'. I had a connection with a guild receptionist, so I quickly offered him help as long as he works for me, which he immediately agreed to without thinking about the consequences.

 

After getting a new henchman, I quickly increased my influence through providing escort services for merchants. One thing led to another and I had essentially taken full control of the brown rice trade. At that point, I had a reliable source of income and my own trade company. Then, out of nowhere, Max decided to launch a crusade against golden rice. I don't know what possessed him to do that, but I suppose this was also one of the miraculous opportunities the fairy told me about.

 

I sent out a large caravan of brown rice for Max to advertise and hoped he's mentally stable enough to not call the rice demon food or something. Oh yeah, around that time, my father turned into a demon, so my entire plan of slowly building up power has gone down the drain. Just when things were about to cool down after suppressing him, both my eldest brother, Bismuth, and Cerium decided that the throne was theirs and pushed the city into further chaos. Ok, I might've also contributed to the problem by doing the same thing, but I at least didn't send assassins to kill my family.

 

A month after the demon invasion started, people began to adapt to the new norm and communication with the rest of the country was fully established. Shortly after, Bismuth and Cerium both claimed to have the support of the eastern and southern regions respectively, which means that they managed to convince the dukes of these areas to become part of their factions. This meant that I had to also do the same if I wanted to stay in the race for the throne.

 

I wanted to have Alice, Max's sister, to act as the representative of the Phoenix family and swear allegiance to me, only to find out that she became friends with the heiress of the Solaris family, which is working under Cerium. I couldn't contact Duke Franklin Lionheart of the western region since… apparently demons have taken over it and razed it to the ground. Duke Magnus has also disappeared, but the region is still under control. I had no other option but to go North personally and hope I can use Max to get the Phoenix family in my faction.

 

I brought my best knight with me and ventured out towards Fort Erosion where most of the region's population resides. On my way over there, Randor and I decided to camp next to a river. While I was sleeping in a tent, I heard Randor scream and prepared for combat, only to find out he was pinched by a crab. I recognized it as a saltwater species, so finding it in a river is abnormal. Randor wanted to eat the crab, but I stopped his stupidity and let it go before investigating where the crab came from.

 

This was how I found Max on his way to a bandit camp. My first thought was that he had finally gone mad and was going to join crab bandits, then I saw it all, the secret to his strength was revealed in front of my eyes as he used unconventional tactics to fight the bandits. He even defeated a giant crab, which definitely had been demonified, using an actual gun. I cringed a little seeing his shooting technique, though it seemed to be effective since he actually won with the odds stacked against him.

 

As always, I thought of this as one of the fairy's miracles and happily went to speak with my vassal, only to realize his temperament had completely flipped over. The boy who stood in front of me wasn't the same as the clueless pushover I've dealt with before. Instead, my own threats backfired on me as he aimed his pistol right between my eyes. I didn't think he had it in him to shoot me judging from his posture, but nothing was guaranteed from a madman.

 

I realized there was a chance I'd die again. That thought alone completely pushed me over the edge as I remembered the pain that engulfed me back then. I panicked as my attempt to calm him down only fueled his anger towards magic. The pressure of staring death in the face caused me to break down and lash out against him. If he was going to kill me anyway, then nothing I say should've mattered.

 

Then that crazy bastard acted as if I just told him he won the lottery and swore his allegiance to me. He even did the cliché hand kissing thing! I couldn't handle staying around him anymore and got away as soon as possible...

 

Gah! Alright, I'll go talk to Alice about this anti-magic thing before I lose my mind trying to figure it out. I just have to show her this black powder, right?