Much to the annoyance of the other royal siblings, Dilah'ec chose to follow Melis'ar and his retinue into the alien world called Earth.

Being a firstborn of the legendary Archduke Calian'ci, she used the argument of neutrality and unwillingness to meddle with the complicated political situation as her explanation, but her real reason was far different. It was something only she and her father were aware of.

Being born with an unprecedented talent for weaving Fate and with the most powerful Fate-searer in the kingdom as her Father, she was able to not only get trained to the peak of her potential but also successfully hide most of it from everyone—including the royal family.

Her father previously planned for her to join His Highness Iranas'al and use the unique opportunity to advance her Fate attribute to a D-grade and then try to manipulate the events behind the scenes, opening an opportunity for a bid on C-grade.

The problem, however, came when she was attempting to divine the best path for her success. She began noticing minuscule adjustments to everyone around her—including herself. At first, she ignored it, believing the signs insignificant and simple work of free will, but as the day of invasion grew near, the changes began painting an alarming picture.

She tended to be a very single-minded person and when there was a mystery to unwrap, she would put everything else on hold and obsessively creep over every clue and hint until it all fell apart, revealing the satisfying resolution at its core.

Here, she carefully weaved through the threads, observing how the tapestry changed with each small adjustment until the picture turned almost clear.

Everything from the unexpected monopoly on the whole territory, the number of slots, and even the places the royal heirs chose had been influenced by a hand so powerful yet skillful it boggled her mortal mind. There was only one last piece of the puzzle missing, but try as she might, she just couldn't figure that one out.

Explaining the situation to her father, they decided to make a daring gamble and meddle with the prepared Fate. Despite the uncertainty, it all revolved around Melis'ar. Someone set the entire situation up and was playing with their lives as if they were mere chess pieces. Even if she felt powerless, she would be damned if she didn't at least join the main character of the play.

The royal bastard was not a fool and her unexpected support made him very suspicious, but at the end of the day, there was not much he could do. She only gave him the prepared explanation and otherwise ignored the whole thing until the hour of departure.

"Are you ready, my little spider?" Jokingly asked her father, using the nickname she hated despite how fitting it was.

"Yes, just a last weaving, and I am off," Dilah'ec replied with brows frowning in concentration.

He knew not to interrupt her when she was deep in the tapestry, and five minutes later she was almost finished.

Just one last glance at the murky picture and I can leave.

It was easier to grasp what she threaded before, and by now she knew most of the complicated weave by memory. Today, however, she noticed a small change that finally cleared everything before her.

Jerking out of the trance, she gasped in horror as the last piece clicked into place.

"What happened?" her father moved to her in a blur, faster than her E-grade perception was able to perceive, and grasped her in his arms. "Is everything alright?"

"T-the final p-piece… It was us," she stammered in distress, having trouble comprehending the scope of the working that everyone was trapped in. "I… I was meant to join Melis'ar's retinue from the beginning."

A knock at their door made both of them flinch. Luckily it was only the head butler. "Is the young mistress prepared?" he asked. "His Highness is gathering everyone for the final briefing."

"Give us five minutes," her father commanded in a voice that brooked no argument.

After calming down, she hugged her father, lifted her sharp chin, and strode out. She would either return as a legend or die trying.

Their briefing was simple yet intriguing. Esentionaly, they were allowed to use violence only as their last resort. Their first objective was to secure the zone and a close second was to do their utmost to establish contact with the native species. Melis'ar hoped to ally with the human shelters near him to balance the unfavorable situation of his competition with the youngest prince for the same city.

Their arrival on the alien planet turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

In a mild climate, Dilah'ec smiled after the exit from the large archway. Maybe a little bit dry to my taste, but decent overall, she nodded, taking the pristinely clean plaza in with her amber eyes.

The System did its job, clearing out the rubble of the previous shelter, leaving behind only a red pillar on a flat ground that was surrounded by a three-meter-tall wall.

"Karak'gu and Dilah'ec, take your scouting parties and head out," commanded Melis'ar, leaving them to their assigned tasks and turning to the pillar to manage the construction of necessary buildings.

"Yes, your highness," she bowed and walked out.

It was an unlucky draw, being forced into conflict with the undying hordes for the integration, but she could also see the advantage. Those that survived the first week would be hardened warriors, capable of dealing with the ever-increasing threats, gaining not insignificant advantage against most of the invading parties.

After all, not everyone was as capable of dealing with the undead as the Radiant Crusade.

Letting her childhood friend, the faithful knight-protector Galan'il, lead the way, she and the two F-grade warriors assigned to her carved their path through the street.

The zombies posed no threat and were easily handled, but the pack of four Rothounds at the intersection made them pause.

"Be careful. They might be only common E-grade monsters, but Rothounds are strong and it takes a lot of damage to take one down," Galan'il advised.

Luckily, both he and her were capable combatants, and even with sealed cards they were able to overcome all four hounds without any injuries.

"We should focus on ash collection," she suggested after absorbing the latest kill.

All their cards were currently sealed to their uncommon variants, and the only way of returning them to their previous rarities was to pay a fourth of their market-value price. That, unfortunately, was only for the rares.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Cards that were previously epic had to be first turned into rare, but then she would be forced to wait until she got access to a Citadel. Only there would she be able to remove the second seal at an exorbitant price.

Hers, an Intangible Snip, was one of the only three legendary cards that her family obtained over the three thousand years of their rule and one of the only four known cards related to Fate in the whole kingdom.

Fully unsealing it was most likely not going to happen. Luckily for her, cards that had no uncommon variant couldn't be fully sealed, only severely weakened, so bringing a legendary card was a considerable risk, but also a small loophole to gain an advantage.

I've got a lot to do, she smiled, already planning how to reap as many benefits as she could get her greedy hands on.

Clearing the second street went without a hitch, but as they turned right, she noticed someone moving in the distance.

Galan'il immediately used his specialized identification and shared it with the entire group.

[Native human {E⋆}

Disposition: Curious, Cautious

Threat: Lethal]

Seeing the prompt made everyone freeze.

Lethal!? That must be some kind of a trick.

Trusting her companions to warn her in case of an attack, she closed her eyes and focused outward.

Nothing…

It was as if the man before them did not exist, but she wouldn't be stopped by some protective artifact.

Starting to weave threads of Fate forward, she began gently encompassing the street with a large net, until she located his protective shroud.

There!

Having the hardest part behind her, she began gently loosening his tight defense until she made a tiny hole through which she peeked inside.

"T-tarasil'ab protect us", she stammered after witnessing the horrifying sight.

That man had undoubtedly completed the perfect evolution and had to have overcapped his Fate attribute during E-grade, but worse yet, she glimpsed an echo of something terrible. Like an endless hunger devouring everything in its path.

Her focus became unsteady and she lightly brushed against him and was noticed and violently thrown out.

My lady, what do you suggest? Asked Galan'il through their mind link.

We must avoid conflict at all costs.

If he decides to attack, we will sacrifice ourselves to buy you enough time to escape, her knight-protector promised, making her wince and clutch her staff in with her shaky hands.

That was the worst opponent she could ever face. His shroud was beyond anything these natives should possess, and even then he could most likely tear her webs apart with brute force and squash her pitiful presence like a bug.

"W-we mean you no h-harm," she tried to say gracefully but got betrayed by her unsteady voice. "Would you be interested in a peaceful talk?"

Watching him tilt his head to the side like a predator looking at prey made her struggle to breathe.

He is going to…

"Hmm, sure. That sounds reasonable," he answered in almost a jovial tone, making her also confused. "Just sheath your weapons, you are making me nervous."

His club and shield vanished from his hands and he strolled toward them, closely followed by his sand elemental.

"I am curious about your friendly welcome," he said as he closed the distance. "From the announcement by the System, I expected something more…"

"Hostile?" She asked back.

"Mhm, hostile, or at least a little bit more arrogant? Aggressive?" He rambled, seemingly lost in thought. "Unless it is all a trick and you plan to lead me to your friends and kill me," he chuckled, making a chill crawl up her spine.

What should I do? She desperately thought as she tried a polite chuckle of her own. It came out strained even to her ears.

Let's go with brutal honesty, she eventually decided.

"We are not the only retinue to lay claim to this territory." She began with what she hoped was a confident tone. "The lord I followed here is being pressured to choose a side in a conflict of succession, but he wishes to remain neutral. His only choice to make it through this alive is to find powerful allies of his own." Finishing with bated breath, she carefully observed the few features she could make out beneath his dark-green mantle.

"Hmm, the lord you followed here, eh?" He asked, but before she could reply he continued speaking. "I see that your lord is not the only one who wishes to remain neutral."

Damn my nerves! Dilah'ec chided herself. Making mistakes like a little girl.

She was certain, the two warriors were going to repeat this conversation to Melis'ar word for word.

"Yes," she steeled herself, "I also wish to remain neutral. The problem is, the youngest of the royal princes has also taken shelter in this city, somewhere to the east," she gestured with her hand. "He cares not about your people, only to earn favor with his older siblings."

"I see," the mysterious man nodded. "I was planning to visit the other zones before leaving the city, so I might as well hear your lord out. Lead the way."

I mean, our orders were clear: find some natives and bring them to the shelter to gain more information. It's not my fault the first one we met is a Tarasil'ab touched progenitor.

Nodding, she turned to Galan'il and commanded, "Lead the way."

They passed through the cleared street in silence, only listening to their steps as they lightly tapped on the firm ground, but as they turned at the intersection, her lust for more Fate overcame her fear.

Slowing down, she let the three members of her party walk ahead while she waited for the mysterious man to catch up to her.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she heard his presence draw near, but she gritted her teeth and lifted her chin in defiance.

He passed her and kept following her group without any notion of slowing down.

"W-wait," she sped up, catching up, and synced her step with his in a sign of respect—an odd notion as he was more than head shorted.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dilah'ec asked.

"You already did."

"What? I… oh." She mumbled, lost in the unexpected response. She noticed he was trying and failing to hide his mirth at her confusion.

Now that she thought about it, it kind of made sense—his odd answer to her question—but even if the System was perfectly translating his native language, this was not something used in her culture.

However, even if her mind struggled to think clearly next to someone who could suddenly kill every single one of them, she realized where it would lead had she asked another question.

"Do you know where I can find a Zone guardian?"

"Hmm," she heard him mumble, once again getting lost in his thoughts. "Not there," he finally pointed behind them. "I killed the three over there and the one to the south was also missing." He moved his finger in the direction of the large structure on the hill seen in the distance. "If I were you, I'd try my luck out there, to the east. There is a river dividing the zones and maybe on one of the four bridges you might find one that is still alive."

Huh? He just answered like that? Doesn't he realize how precious this information is?

Feeling a need to repay him in kind, Dilah'ec responded with a bit of advice of her own.

"Thank you. If I may offer a suggestion, you might consider buying one of the status-concealing cards from Al'drul's emporium. Otherwise, everyone with a correct identification card can easily obtain information about your grade and if they have a more specialized one, even your full status."

"I see."

Watching him finally lose his step made her smile despite herself.

"That is a good tip, I appreciate it," he answered, looking up at her with his piercing green eyes.

They continued walking in silence to the main gate where she convinced Galan'il to take over the situation. After all, she had an important monster to kill before the other retinue got to it.

"One last thing," she said before going out on her own. "Let me introduce myself. I am Dilah'ec, firstborn of Archduke Calian'ci."

"John... John Miles."