I don’t know what I was expecting. A fight? A short battle that was exciting in the least bit? Even some threats?

Yeah. Those really got my blood pumping. Anything, please.

Needless to say, I really needed to stop expecting much from the human race. Once again, my expectations went lower than they already were. And that was already pretty low. But dragons held grudges, huge ones. At this point, my grudge outweighed my low expectations.

I just wanted him dead.

Damon. The prick that sent Jamie to the woods interrupted my day off and made keeping a low profile more troublesome — that person. Not to mention, I had to throw away that ripped shirt. He was the most pathetic creature that I ever laid eyes on.

Hunting down this human turned out to be less dramatic than I thought it would be. I sat in front of the fireplace, using a spare cloth that I found in one of the rooms to wipe off the blood on my boots.

The place wasn’t the best kept. It was littered with bottles of the same mind-numbing poison that I would find in human encampments. Alcohol, is that what it was called?

Even the front door had been unlocked, strange considering the back alley needed to get to the house. Let’s just say that it wasn’t a safe-looking area. A locked door should have been the least that you’d do.

Apparently not.

When I arrived inside, the fool had passed out on the floor surrounded by a pile of bottles. It seemed fitting that it was this type of human that would send another to their certain death. Not like the demonic race could say much. But I was allowed to say this much at least.

Still, I doubted that he had been smart enough to consider what would have happened if Jamie had come back alive.

On the contrary, where coming to kill this human appeared wasteful, as it looked like he would have drunk himself to death anyway. I was here. So, my job might as well have been making death more certain.

I didn’t bring any weapons, nor did I need to.

Dragon claws were capable of slicing through steel, and rock, and could cut right through the bone. It was also helpful for cooking events for my former troop if that mattered. Which meant, it had been light work to lightly lift the transmutation magic to expose a long, black claw.

And I cut that fucker into cubes! True nostalgia, really. My only regret is that he never woke up to experience it, but I was crunched on time. Plus, it wasn’t as if I was here because of emotional reasons, it was more on matters that humans couldn’t understand.

They weren’t the brightest creatures.

In fact, all humans were dumb ants. Everything revolved around the fact that he had touched something that belonged to me.

Now, the drunkard served a greater purpose. That purpose was warming the shitty house that he once lived in.

A little surprising to me.

Considering he was an estate employee; I assumed the house would have been decent. Who was I to infer though? I had no concept of human money in the first place. Was he poor or did he just make poor life decisions?

All things taken into account, both were a possibility. Broken wooden floors, leaking ceilings, and dirtied clothes were everywhere. A torn blanket in the corner of the room and a bucket. That was all. It was rubbish, a trash hole.

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Coming from an exiled prince that slept on the floor of the forest for a hundred years - I feel like it held some weight to it.

The only selling point of the house was the fireplace that I was generous enough to store him in. Though, I doubted humans had the same ideals of being generous.

Really doubted it.

I sighed, wiping off the last of the blood that had stuck to the bottom of the boots, and threw the crimson rag into the fire.

The fire would go out by itself. I stood up, stepping to the side to avoid the large blood puddle. Being in the house for too long would only prove to become a headache. If the scene were discovered, which I was sure it would be once someone came to investigate the rotting pieces of flesh in the fireplace; then my association with this place was better kept short.

The potion master wouldn’t report the missing employee. After my heavy suggestions, he knew better than to do that. Besides, that bizarre, old man didn’t bat an eye giving me the address.

I had time before the estate would worry about it if they even bothered to care. Well, even if they did - this body wasn’t real anyway. There were no tracks to be left with my magic sealed.

I walked to the door, making sure to jam the door close with some extra force while closing it behind me. A precaution. Of course, this had been impulsive, but I had my standards. This would make it harder to open, seeing as the lock had been broken when I came in. Acting like I didn’t just chop up the human inside, I strolled out of the alleyway and into the crowded streets of the afternoon rush.

I was unbothered by the pushing of strangers, who attempted to get to their destination faster. Some used flight magic, similar to the small town, flying above the stampede below.

However, it wasn’t much faster and not worth the hassle. Lines of flight users swerved around the air, narrowly avoiding others.

The apartment had been on the other side of the kingdom. But at the speed that I was marching at, I shaved half the commute on my way here. On the way back? I wasn’t particularly in a rush to do anything. Nothing at all. It was time to take it slow as I had originally intended. Additionally, it was too late to venture out of the kingdom. By the time I’d get to the woods, it would be dark. Meaning that I would only have a few hours before I needed to head back. Besides, I had enough mana restored to last a while.

Better to relax in the kingdom.

The streets were busy. It was too loud and crowded to focus on a single conversation, so I picked up parts of useless blabber.

“Mom, mom!” A little kid whined, nearly knocking into my knees, and dragging a graying woman behind him.

“Then he slept with the maid!” A high-pitched voice gasped, followed by a small slap.

“That stew was still moving, I swear!” A man whined, somewhere in the distance.

“Get him!” A deep voice yelled, the hostile nature of the voice standing out from the other conversations.

Okay. Swell. Typical kingdom stuff, I suppose.

Correction. Supposed.

But what stood out to me was the approaching, bounding footsteps in my direction. I moved aside to let whoever was sprinting forward continue to run without crashing into me. Yells sounded, as the footsteps grew louder, soon ascending onto my location in the crowd.

I didn’t bother to look behind me. It wasn’t my problem. Plus, it was my day off. The well-being of the city was another division. All I did was protect a blonde bitch that was too weak to protect himself in an oversized hotel. Clingy too.

The commotion drew closer, as I waited for it to pass me. The running figure ran into my back, surprising me, as hands grabbed onto my shirt.

“Asta, help me.” A rushed voice pleaded, spinning around my halted figure to hide from whoever was chasing them. Asta? My fake name? Surely, they were mistaken.

I peered down to see the blonde locks of the crown prince, peeking through the same cloak from the fated day I got dragged around the kingdom. For fuck’s sake. I reached down, pushing off Crown Prince Edwin, shooing him away. No way. No, I refuse. I cannot deal with this. Enough already happened today.

“Absolutely not. It’s my day off.” I blankly replied, continuing to stroll forward in the crowd.

The agitated voice got closer, a bald head man peeking his head above the crowd, and his eyes landed on the cloaked prince.

“Come back here, you little shit!” He yelled, now pushing people straight to the side. Curses from them drowned in the chaos of the streets. I heard them though and I had a few of my own. A few dozen.

Arms wrapped around my legs, nearly tripping me over. I rolled my eyes, ready to kick the prince out of existence.

Oh. I was so over this.

The royal, clear blue eyes of the prince looked up, looking pitiful, “I messed up. I really messed up! It was an accident. I swear.”

Exquisite story. Now, I failed to see how this was my problem.

“Well, they don’t seem to think so,” I pointed back at the large men currently barreling through the crowd because of that little accident, “What did you even do?”

I paused, watching his mouth start to open to answer.

“Wait. Don’t answer that.” I waved it off, retracting the question, “It’s not my problem. I don’t want to know.”

His arms tightened, not willing to let go, “It’s really bad, Asta. I snuck out to escape some paperwork and went to dine at a restaurant. But I forgot my coin pouch! So, I was heading back to grab it when these people started chasing me.”

So, he stole. Alright. Great. Less of a problem that involved me.

“Didn’t I tell you not to tell me? Get this through your royal noggin,” I leaned down to meet the face of the crown prince, “I. Do. Not. Care.”

I scoffed, wiggling one of my boots out of his grasp, “Besides, don’t you have that mage escort with you? Let him handle that.”

Actually, that was more of a reason to get the hell out of here. I’ve already had one dragon accusation scare and I didn’t need a real one. Not today, at least.

He shook his head profusely, “No, that’s my father’s aide. Plus, I snuck out soooo…”

Mentally, I lowered my expectations more. So, the crown prince was wandering the street unguarded and alone. What the actual heck were human kingdoms anyway? Safety was a joke.

I shrugged, freeing my other leg and walking off, “Tough luck, my liege.”

Edwin groaned, muttering to himself in a panic before shooting forward. His hand gripped my shoulder, “Section One, Rule 12. Guards must prioritize the safety of the royal family at all times.”

I froze. The yelling men, now surrounding us in the crowd, beating their fists together, and seething in rage.

“Your friend won’t save you!” One charged, reaching to grab Edwin with a large hand.

Gasps were heard around us, as I flipped the man over my shoulder, his large body flopping to the ground. I sighed, clicking my tongue, as my boot rested on the top of the large human’s head.

“We’re not friends.”