Anna and I stood behind Lydia while she sat at a large meeting table, joined by several higher-ranked members of the royal army stationed within the capital. Word of her grandiose return spread far and wide and it led to an uprising against Lord Hasting’s newly appointed commanders and generals. Hasting’s whole coup was based on the idea that King Folad, Lydia’s father, was a tyrant who shielded his daughter from being drafted into the armies sent out to vanquish the demon hordes. Now that Lydia had returned upon a flaming chariot, with a Hero at her side, the entire narrative shifted to her favor. No one had seen a Hero emerge in over 10 years—anywhere within the world—and my earlier demonstration was making the rounds.

They called me a Hero and a monster, often in the same sentence. In their words, I was a force of nature who could lay siege upon a city by himself. It was over-exaggerated, but I didn’t deny the rumors because they helped Lydia’s cause. The more imposing I became, the more the populace would rally behind the Princess and her Hero. It was why she demanded my presence in these stuffy meetings. Lord Cedric Hasting withdrew his troops into the royal castle after Lydia retook the city. The men and women at this table were the first to rally to her side and the most loyal. It was surprisingly bloodless. Most people were Classless, so the coup’s justification was weak to the general population. The only issues that truly affected them were the increase in demon attacks and the decrease in total wealth the nation had due to a lack of trade partners. However, not many peasants could or would make the connection between the quota and the demon attacks due to their illiteracy and the slow dispersal of information.

Only twelve days passed since the coup and as far as most people were concerned, King Folad was still alive. It would take months before Lord Hasting and the Separatists truly usurped power and could rename themselves kings and queens, or whatever title they wanted to bear.

“We should just starve Hasting and his cronies out of the castle.”

“Denied. I have been a Princess-in-Exile for too long,” Lydia immediately shot that option down with a slam of her fist.

It’s only been a week though.

The lords and ladies gathered at the table looked visibly shaken by Lydia’s anger. King Folad was a passive ruler, so they were unaccustomed to Lydia’s tyrannical disposition.

Dragons don’t negotiate if they don’t want to.

“Your Royal Highness, with all due respect,” came one older man. He wiped the sweat off his brow. The temperature rose with Lydia’s anger. “A siege upon the castle would take months. The Separatists have enough grains stocked to last through the season and it would expend many lives.”

“You need not worry. Ranger Levin shall deal with Lord Hasting.” Lydia waved dismissively at me. She warned me ahead of time she would have to treat me as a tool in order to project an aura of power and control, but I was still annoyed by how natural she made it seem.

But no one questioned what I was capable of. I wasn’t sure if it was because they were afraid of me or afraid of Lydia’s dragonfire. Her wings were still folded neatly behind her and the presence she exuded was physically painful. Just standing next to her was like standing in front of an open bonfire. How much Mana was she burning through to keep up that appearance?

So this is Charisma? I’m resistant to Fear and Charm, but not everyone else has that luxury. These guys are quaking in their boots.

“All you must do is maintain the rule of law within the capital. Surround the castle with troops and wait for my next order. You are all dismissed.”

Lydia stood and left. I followed Anna. She was far more accustomed to these sorts of events, so I just fell in step behind her. We made our way to the fanciest inn the city had to offer. Lydia was given the best room while Anna and I had a room next to hers. Anna was insistent we share a room and I was too tired to argue. I also didn’t mind a bit of skinship with her. We definitely tested the sturdiness of that bed.

We had our own little meeting in Lydia’s room while Anna slipped back into her old role as Lydia’s lady-in-waiting. It was my first time seeing her so refined, so I found myself stealing glances at her.

“You can wait until after your latest task, Levin,” Lydia rolled her eyes and sipped on her tea with a sigh of barely contained glee.

“You must have really hated camping out.”

“I despised every night, Levin. I almost burned you alive when you dragged me out of that inn last week.”

“Yeah, I remember,” it was my turn to roll my eyes.

“So, is this picture accurate?” I pointed at a hand-drawn portrait of Lord Cedric Hasting. He was every girl’s wet dream - at least by medieval standards. Rich. Young. Powerful. And he was Lydia’s ex-fiance. He had deep, black hair, piercing green eyes, and a strong, athletic frame. He was better built than most soldiers I knew.

“I can see why you were smitten.”

“He is a finely dressed rat.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“He had my father killed, Levin. This is personal and political. Yes, I am certain and hold no love for him in my heart.”

“Just to be clear, I am only doing this because it’s you. And I’m only doing this once.” A small bit of anger colored my tone.

“Yes. I’m sorry. This is the best way to end this with the least amount of deaths.”

“I’m serious, Lydia. I’m your friend, not your personal hit-man.”

I glared at her for a few seconds then drained the tea out of my glass. I gave Anna a peck on the cheek, took the portrait, and left with my rifle slung over my shoulder.

I skulked through the city with ease thanks to Lydia’s directions, my Map, Survival, and Dexterity. The royal castle was built on the largest hill in the area and it overlooked the entire city. Once I identified a decent vantage point, I approached the castle walls and sprinted toward them as fast as I could. Despite their height, I quickly scaled the walls with my bare hands, using my Strength and Dexterity to brute force my ascent. No one detected me yet because I relied on both my magnified vision and my Map to pick the best place and time to climb up while out of sight.

The Map was absolutely game-breaking for infiltration missions, just as I anticipated. It even allowed me to detect living things through solid objects. I relied heavily on it to navigate around the walls and patrols until I came to a watchtower. There was a lone guard stationed there, so I tapped him on the shoulder and dispatched him with a single sucker punch as he turned around. I was honestly surprised. I tried to limit my Strength output, but I failed to account for Devotion. I dented the man’s metal helmet and if he weren’t wearing it, I might have accidentally shattered his skull.

I gathered the longbow and quiver of arrows the guard was using and slung them over my shoulder while also loading my rifle. I maximized my magnification and spotted Hasting overlooking the city from the king’s quarters, just like Lydia expected. There was always a chance this was body double, but Lydia was willing to run that risk. I only had five rounds left, so I hoped to whatever god was watching that this wouldn’t be a wasted shot.

By all accounts, Hasting was smart; he would have all sorts of Spells cast to preserve his life, but so far, my rifle had never failed to eliminate a target. Even his Barghests were slain in a single shot. Those monsters were almost 4th Level in terms of combat power, and he could summon them without end so long as he had Magic Crystals to activate his Skill, which made Hasting one of the most powerful individuals in Renalis. But I wasn’t going to face off against him in a conventional manner.

I needed to absolutely ensure a kill. I could have used a bow for a stealthier assassination attempt, but it did far less damage than my rifle. To maximize my accuracy, I activated Select Fire, chose semi-automatic, and pressed the trigger.

My rifle barked. It shattered the silence and sent the entire wall into a frenzy but I ignored all of it to confirm the kill. A multi-colored barrier materialized around Hasting, but it shattered like glass upon impact. The bullet continued onward and slammed into his right eye socket. I saw a large spray of blood then he fell backward onto the bedroom floor and out of my line of sight. He was about 550 meters away when I made the shot, so I couldn’t use my Map to check if he survived.

I didn’t bother climbing down and leaped off the watchtower, down toward the streets below. The cobblestones cracked and my Health dropped to 40, but that was within tolerance. I sprinted as fast as I could through the alleys and bought a room for myself at an inn closest to the opposite side of the city. I would meet with Lydia again in the morning, but I needed to make sure no one was following me back to her. Lydia assured me I was the only 5th Level in all of Renalis, but if Hasting was as competent as he looked, then he would have hired some capable help.

My suspicion was confirmed when someone broke into my room through the window. I answered their intrusion with three arrows; I already knew they were going to infiltrate as soon as they crossed into my Map’s detection range. Even at a glance, I knew my adversary was the most powerful and skilled opponent I’d met thus far. Like the bandit from last week, he blocked my arrows with a pair of shortswords, but I saw the whites of his eyes widen in fear and knew he couldn’t keep that up. He tried to close the distance but I held him back with nine more shots. He parried the first two volleys and relied on his Health to block the rest, but the eighth and ninth arrows drew blood.

He moved to retreat back out the window, so I nailed his foot to the floor as soon as he turned away. Even so, he ripped off the arrow and limped toward the window.

Jesus Christ, his Constitution must be fucking high!

I fired another set of three arrows, but the man was in no state to properly defend himself. He spun on his wounded foot, blocked two arrows, and took the third to the shoulder. The force of my shot impaled him against the wall next to the window. I fired one more arrow into his opposite shoulder to restrain him further, then drew one of my knives and cautiously approached.

I kicked away his fallen shortswords and began a pat-down for any suspicious items. After disarming the target of over a dozen various and exotic weapons, my eyebrow twitched. This person was female. I reached up to rip off my assailant's hood. Dark, steel-gray skin, purple eyes, and silver hair fell into view, but I mostly was drawn to her ears.

“An elf?"