Its been two weeks since the last chapter right?
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The princess's face froze in a wide smile as she saw the princess draped on Ilan's arm, and as Ilan saw her his eyes widened in shock with a tinge of fear.
Tensely, she greeted him. "Hello Ilan"
I noted with pleasure that Ilan couldn't even manage to stutter a reply. Was the princess not supposed to come here? That seemed to fit the pieces together in my mind. An arrangement with Ilan who makes another arrangement with another princess, the princess supposed to wait patiently in her own kingdom but can't wait and instead wants to join Ilan. She can't tell her own father or he refused, so she hires a mercenary to take her there while acting low-key. Intending to surprise her prince, she sees him with another woman.
I could barely hide my smile, this was far far more entertaining than I had dreamed. A predictable drama come to life in front of me. Those weeks of travel almost seemed worth it. Almost.
My quest just got harder.
The princess draped over Ilan's arm squealed in delight "Lily!" It sounded like they knew each other, and while her greeting sounded fake it didn't seem she knew of the situation.
"Ilan" my princess spoke, ignoring the other princess. "What's the meaning of this?"
Ilan's mouth opened and closed, no words coming out as he frantically tried to think. He couldn't pretend things were normal, how could he? The princess on his arm could hear him and would soon know everything. He couldn't afford to upset two princesses at the same time.
"Do we need to talk inside" my princess spoke sweetly.
Ilan nodded frantically "Yes" he croaked, "That would be good"
The tension in the air was thick, only a few knew of what had conspired and the daggers in the eyes of the mercenary were enough to make me shiver. Just how involved was the mercenary with the princess?
We sat in a room, the prince with the princess Rinnan and the three of us on the other side of the table. He weakly offered tea, but my princess politely turned him down with a sweet smile and cold eyes.
His princess understood that my princess was very upset with Ilan, she didn't seem to like my princess's presence either. I suspected it wouldn't be long until she came to her own conclusions about the entire affair which would be pretty accurate.
As to what was happening, I loved the drama unfolding far too much to bring attention to my presence. My grin was becoming unbearable to hide, but to expose my amusement would be to asking for death.
Sitting at the table, the prince refused to start the conversation as his breathing grew agitated, knowing nothing good was in store. My princess just sat there, glaring at him before finally starting the conversation.
"Rinnan, how involved are you with him?" she smiled warmly, her eyes betraying that lie.
The princess looked agitatedly at Ilan who refused to meet her gaze, then spoke hesitantly "I'm his fiancee"
No one could miss the way my princess flinched, her sudden intake of air and the way she froze.
With a wavering voice, my princess spoke to Ilan "Would you like to clear any confusion?"
The situation didn't seem as funny as it did before, I had misjudged the extent of her feelings and could see she was really hurt by this.
Ilan didn't meet her eyes, instead talking to the table "Can we speak later about this alone" he spoke quietly, defeat in his voice.
My princess stiffly nodded, seeming like she was going to cry.
We left the small mansion, the mercenary gently tugging her back to the carriage as she climbed in stiffly. She really looked as if she wanted to cry. I felt sorry for her, I knew she wanted to see Ilan, but to encounter this..
The mercenary directed the carriage driver to move towards a respectable inn, his voice soothingly talking to the princess as we walked. I didn't interfere, she was on the verge of tears.
Stopping at a inn, the mercenary finished things with the driver as the princess quietly stood next to me defeated. I wanted to give her a hug, but it would be out of line. Quietly we moved inside the inn, the atmosphere about us heavy and depressed. The mercenary spoke to the innkeeper who looked at our appearance and took the hint, quiet in his actions as he organised the rooms.
I could hear her crying in the other room, the mercenary's voice soothing her as I lay back on my bed. There was nothing I could do, magic the furthest thing on my mind at the time. Staring at the ceiling, I wondered what I was going to do. My quest had become downright impossible.
Later that evening a messenger arrived, however the princess was in no condition to talk and the mercenary was inside the room soothing her. With no one else to handle the messenger, I talked to him. He informed me that the prince offers a sincere apology in light of recent events, and that the amount owed her will be refunded at her request. I dismissed him, later when things were quieter I can pass the message on.
The princess ate her meal in her room as the mercenary and I ate downstairs. As we ate, I told him about the messenger and he sighed.
"We'll probably take that offer"
There wasn't anything more that needed to be said.
The mercenary slept in the bed opposite to mine, and I could hear the princess restlessly stirring in her room all night before I fell asleep. The next morning she came downstairs with sunken eyes. She didn't sleep well.
After sleeping, she seemed to be in better spirits than yesterday. But her behavior was quiet and her expressions were dulled, the mercenary told her of the prince's offer and she nodded dully. Her eyes seemingly glazed.
My quest was falling apart right in front of me.
As I chewed my food, I thought to myself and considered my options. I came up with a plan, sort of. But I needed more information at this point.
Our breakfast eaten, I spoke to the two "I'll be out today" and the mercenary nodded distractedly. As opposed to the past, he had no interest in my activities.
Walking around the city, it was large and there were plenty of interesting sights to see. But I didn't look at them, I had a goal I wanted to accomplish. Asking people questions, I found the information I wanted and received directions to a building.
Less than a hour later, I stood outside a large building near the center of the city, inside two nobles sat on padded chairs playing a game of chess. The atmosphere was quiet and refined, the people draped in riches and showing their flair.
You have entered Noble's Court
My gaze was drawn to a stern man wearing trim clothing, he sat at a small table with documents lying in front of him. He was who I wanted to talk to.
Oliver lv. 11 War Adviser
As I moved through the building, the people moved out of my way. I may not be dressed like them, in clothes of riches and clean finery. But my expression brooked no tolerance and if anyone looked as if they would step in my way, I glared at them with death in my eyes. I was mostly bluffing.
A servant tried to interfere as I moved around, he complained of my attire not being clean and that I'm improperly dressed for the location. But quietly with menace in my voice I spoke in a low voice "Jorden, are you sure about this?" and as his expressions displayed shock I stepped past and moved towards Oliver.
Oliver looked up at me as I stood in front of him, his expression showing disinterest as he eyed me over.
"Can I help you?" he inquired boredly.
"I'd like to hear information about the tournament" I spoke in a respectful tone, I didn't dare try to intimidate him as I had the others.
"Talk to my assistant over there" he nodded at another man. He obviously wasn't going to spend time with me, but that was fine.
Walking to his assistant, I repeated my request. The assistant looked over towards Oliver then nodded. "Very well"
I walked out the building with a wealth of information, the assistant had been most eager to answer my questions. Some of my questions obviously made him uncomfortable, but each time he looked as if he was going to ask me to leave I coldly smiled "I'm not done yet" and his mouth closed.
The tournament was indeed a battle of armies, but the rules were not dictated towards a fair and equal battle. The rules were there to control the battle.
If the commander surrendered, the battle was lost. If the soldiers were wiped out, then the battle was lost. There was a fee to enter the battle, and despite my lack of knowledge on the currencies of this world it was clearly expensive.
A large amount of money to enter, another large amount for the commander, than more gold for every man in the army. Each man killed was to forfeit the money paid for that man, and winning a battle you would receive the money paid for the living commander and soldiers.
If a soldier or commander is killed when they have surrendered, you both forfeit the money from defeating them and must pay again their worth. If the money paid cannot be given to the commander, then the money is paid to the kingdom.
I pressed him, and he definitely looked disturbed at my constant questions about the penalties of killing. But he faithfully answered my questions, explaining in as much detail as I wanted. A limit of two thousand soldiers, but each soldier killed demanded the commander pay for another solider to be permitted to fight to remain at full strength.
One commander, two thousand soldiers. The largest army one can bring into the fight. Machinery was permitted as was damaging the land, however one cannot touch the land you will fight on until the fight begins.
The first battle was in a weeks time, entry would close in the next few days.
I returned to the inn afterwards, eating lunch before exploring the city. When it began to grow dark I returned to the inn and we ate in the inn's dining room. The princess looked to be in much better spirits than before. As we finished off our food, I cleared my throat.
"We can still enter the tournament"
The mercenary looked at me sharply, his eyes searching mine as a flicker of interest showed on his face. "What do you mean" he asked. The princess also looked interested, though her face still showed dejection.
"Using the money from the prince, we can enter the tournament ourselves" I explained.
The mercenary shook his head, "We don't have a army, the money will not stretch towards that and the fees for entering"
I grinned, "That's not true. I'm a army"
He looked at me disdainfully, "You are nothing like a army". But I smiled gleefully "Yes I am"
The princess leaned back against her chair and sighed, she clearly didn't have hope in me. The mercenary looked at me with scorn in his eyes, thinking I was trying to be a hero.
Rolling my eyes, I said "Meet upstairs"
The mercenary grunted as they reluctantly followed me, the princess had a curious expression on her face with her misery temporarily forgotten. Standing in a semi-circle, we gathered in the princess's room.
"Take out your sword" I instructed the mercenary.
The mercenary looked at me with disdain as he realized my plan "You are not invincible". Looking at him with narrowed eyes, I could see he wasn't going to budge easily and sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll do something else then"
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I had taken to picking up stones from the roads as we travelled, using two of my slots to build up a collection. Small stones in one slot, larger stones in another. 198 stones, the maximum I could carry in two slots. Taking out a fist sized stone, I held it and cast a Gravity Cloak on the stone.
The mass was turned up to the maximum as the gravity was turned down to the minimum, the stone held in my palm as it slowly pressed down. It was extremely heavy, even with gravity turned down to the lowest I could. But with my strength I could easily hold it up, even though I wouldn't be able to throw it.
Taking my hand away from the large stone, it slowly started to drift down to the floor. "Catch it" I told him. He looked at me for a second, then reluctantly placed his hands under the stone to pick it up. His grunt and strained arms told me everything, even as the stone still fell.
In this world, everyone I *Examine*'d had human levels of strength, even the people with high levels had stats that bordered on normal. The one man I saw with 18 STR, his AGI had been lowered to 8 as a consequence. In this world, their levels were judged on their skills which made up for their lack of stats.
Grunting and heaving at the stone, he tried in vain to prevent the stone from falling to the floor, and yet.. It still sunk lower and lower through the air until he released the stone sweating from the exertion. He looked on in wonder as the stone touched the wooden floor, then crunched and started to sink through. I released the spell at that stage and picked it up.
A deep impact was created in the floor, cracks lining the floorboards. The room was placed on ground level, else I wouldn't have allowed the spell to progress this far. I had picked this example to demonstrate the staggering power I controlled.
"Take out your sword" I instructed, the princess now looked very interested. Her face delightfully brightening up from the dejection she had been displaying. The mercenary considered, then reluctantly drew his sword.
Taking out the tent canvas, I placed it beneath me as I drew the sleeves on my arm upward. The princess and mercenary began to grow sick as they realized what I had planned. Looking at them, I said "Don't worry. Attack my arm" as I held my bare arm over the canvas.
The mercenary hesitated as he looked into my eyes, then instead of the swing I had demanded he nicked me with the blade. He had to use more force than he planned, my END prevented the blade from penetrating. As his sword pricked me and I felt a twinge of pain, a tiny amount of blood welled up.
HP -1
Less than a second later, my HP was back at full. I wiped away the blood with a thumb and they looked at my unblemished skin with a small expression of shock.
"Attack my arm" I instructed.
The mercenary still looked very reluctant, then placed his sword back down. "You've proved your point. What are you trying to get at" he exasperatedly said. His expression clearly saying he wasn't going to attack me. Not I minded, I hadn't been looking forwards to the pain.
As I packed the tent canvas away, I repeated my earlier statement. "I'm an army".
The mercenary looked semi-thoughtful as the princess considered my words, then they realized what I was trying to get at.
"No. No way in hell" the mercenary spoke, his face scowling at me. "She's not going to be part of a fight"
We argued with the mercenary trying to shut me down until at last the princess spoke thoughtfully "Well, it could work". The mercenary ceased arguing with me for a second, then began arguing with her.
"Come on" I pleaded, "The second you think her life is in danger, you surrender".
She had to be on the battlefield, the rules were clear on that. The ruler of the kingdom is the commander of the army. The mercenary continued to protest, but the combined efforts of the princess and I eventually wore him down.
Then he addressed another issue. "You may win the first two fights, but can you defend us if they ignore you?" and I smiled, "I've already thought of that" as I explained my idea.
When they heard my plan, they were disgusted with it. The princess begged for me to reconsider. But after confronting them and asking for a better plan they gain in. The mercenary could only admit that it was the best plan they had.
He wanted me to show my claims of being physically strong which I demonstrated by holding the heavy stone. He didn't quite believe I wasn't using magic for this, but he couldn't find another way to test it at that point of time.
I felt glad that they knew not what a real fight was, the true horror of the plan I proposed. If they knew what it was like, they would be saying no. But I was banking that they were naive, that by the time they realize what I have done, they have invested too heavily.
We hashed out the details in the rest of the night, and our sleep was restless. The excitement was high. We gathered the next morning with the princess dressed in fine clothes with our first stop being the prince's mansion.
The guards at the courtyard recognised us and sent a messenger in, however the prince didn't come out. Communicating through the messenger, he soon walked out with a bag of gold. Two guards escorting the messenger as we stood outside the gate.
"The debt has been repaid" the messenger spoke politely as I took the gold. The second the bag was in my hands, I dropped it as the bag collapsed empty on the ground.
We didn't say anything and just left, the guards and messenger gaping at the disappearance of the money. The princess and mercenary had been informed of this earlier, and they gleefully approved. A display of power, a step in the plan and disdain in our actions.
We then walked to the Noble's Court where the princess demanded a meeting with the War Adviser and reluctantly was given one.
She sat at the table on the chair across from Oliver who looked at her with some interest. She was pretty enough to attract interest, and her poise said that she was a noble. The princess didn't drag things out, instead politely saying "I have come to register in the tournament"
Oliver's eyebrows rose, but he didn't say anything as he straightened the papers in front of him. Sorting through the papers in front of him, he took out a document and asked "Representing?" as he scanned through the list on it.
"Princess Lily and two warriors"
His brows furrowed, "Your army size?"
"Two warriors" she repeated. Oliver coughed, "I'm not sure I'm hearing you correctly. You are saying that your entire army consists of two people and you?"
To her credit, Lily didn't crack a smile. "Yes"
She sounded very sure in her statement, and Oliver could see that she meant it. "Princess of which kingdom?" he inquired.
"We have the funds" she ignored his question. "We are entering the tournament"
Oliver shook his head, "This is most irregular" he complained but Lily broke in. "This is well within the rules".
"Yes but-" Oliver spoke but the princess broke back in "Are you refusing me entry?"
Oliver stuttered, at loss for words until he found his voice. "Do you have the fees?"
"Yes"
"Entry is 600 gold, commander is 400 gold and soldiers are 10 gold each" he spoke, quickly adding it together. He finished with "The fee for entry is a 1020 gold"
Lily smiled at him "Where do we pay?". Oliver pulled over his assistant and spoke into his ear, nodding the assistant pulled away as Oliver started to get up from his chair.
"Follow me" Oliver spoke, he sounded reluctant to entertain this madness but still followed procedure.
Walking through the building, the four of us attracted interested stares as people realized that we seemed to be entering the tournament. The simplicity of our clothes grew gossip as we moved through the building. Standing before a door, Oliver unlocked it and gestured us in.
He moved behind his desk and sat down, mounds of papers on one side of his desk. "My assistant will return shortly" he spoke with a sigh. "Are you able to pay the fees in the next three days?" he inquired.
Lily nodded, "We have the money on us now". Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. He thought us insane. None of us wore baggy clothing or anything that seemed similar to a purse.
The assistant walked through the door, another short man following behind him. He had glasses on and looked bookish, and as he saw us he blinked in surprise.
Tulip lv. 2 Treasurer
Oliver spoke politely and firmly "This is a treasurer of the kingdom. The funds if you may?"
Lily looked pointedly at me, and I then spoke. "Is there a container we can use?". I regretted leaving the bag behind at the prince's house.
The treasurer's hands fumbled in his pockets as he took out a small canvas bag and handed it to me. Thanking him, I barely waited a second before handing it back as he blinked in confusion. No one could fail to notice that the bag was now full to bursting.
Oliver looked surprised and shocked as he glanced at the bag then back to me. The treasurer placed the bag on the table and before our eyes began to count it. He looked again at me in confusion having counted all 1020 gold as Oliver spoke tensely "What was that"
"Magic" I stated, not being obligated to answer to Oliver. There are no rules to what weapons could be used on the battlefield. The rule was anything that is on the battlefield and have been moved onto the battlefield in the hour given to prepare. Nothing forbidding usage of types of weaponry.
Oliver still looked out of sorts as he filled in the papers, finally instructing us "The first battle will begin in four days. You will fight on the fifth day"
He stared after us as we left, confusion evident in his face. The mercenary looked pleased at the impression we had made and Lily had a small bounce in her step. As we left the building, I spoke quietly to the other two. "And so it starts".
I regretted saying that immediately, it wasn't as cool as I thought it would be.
But Lily smiled and quietly repeated those words, "So it starts" she murmured.
We spent the next few days preparing, I discarded the tent inside my inventory to fill with more large stones that were fist sized. I purchased a long wooden pole reinforced with iron with a spearhead of iron as the princess was fitted with a complete set of iron armor. She complained that she couldn't move around, but that wasn't the idea of it.
I was also fitted in leather armor with iron shielding covering my legs, chest and forearms with an iron cap for a helmet on my head. By hunkering up, I should prove a tough target to hit with arrows. The mercenary dressed similarly, but purchased himself a shield to use.
The rest of the time we had free, I constantly used Gravity Cloak on my body to the extent I could barely walk, it made it extremely painful and exhausting to move. But the small increases in STR and END slowly made up for it. The balancing act I was forced to maintain also slowly increased my AGI.
Funny enough, when my stamina was exhausted I could still increase my END. But by doing that I would very slowly lose my HP and no other stats would increase. Better to release the spell and wait until it recovered.
And then the first battle began. Not our battle however, that happens tomorrow.