I felt refreshed after leaving the Aishi Hotel, and I made sure to get a massive head start on Lucina Metron. I didn’t want her to realize we were heading to the same destination, after all. I started thinking to myself that the current direction things were going in was alright after all, but that line of thought came to an abrupt end.
What the hell am I even doing? First I come into Ethia without a clue on what my new life should entail, and still I have no goals of my own. Everything thus far has been myself doing things because someone else said so. The only thing that wasn’t… forget that, I don’t want my only act of agency to be occasionally going to Aishi for sex. Judgment, what are veritable career paths in Ethia?
“What sort of job do you want, Master?” The AI asked, and for a moment my mind went blank. What do I want? I’m asking you because I don’t know what I want.
“Then I have a suggestion for you, Master. Follow Princess Reya’s guidance until you figure out what you do want.”
It stopped to let me think, but I mentally willed Judgment to continue. “Think of it this way, Master. You are already under the princess’ employ, and under the contract between you two, you are designated to serve as her Duskblade for only the next two weeks, regardless of whether or not you win the duel against Gazix.”
Oh yeah… I should probably know who that is. Judgment, give me all the data you have on Gazix.
“At your command, Master. It would behoove you to enter Judgment subspace to read and view all the fine details.”
Fine. I sighed. Just set the time dilation so that I won’t even lose a fraction of a second in the real world.
“With pleasure, Master.”
Now entering Judgment subspace. Proceed with caution, time dilation appears to be set to a dangerous level. Prolonged exposure could lead to insanity, depression, suicidal thoughts, or even death. Will you still proceed?
I smirked at the messages before accepting the prompt. To be honest, I’m not sure that I’m not afflicted by three fourths of those already.
The world flickered and the alleyway faded into nothing before being transformed into a bright chrome room. Several images and videos flooded my vision, each one showing a skinny child murdering tens, maybe hundreds of people.
“So he’s a murderer?”
“Not just any murderer, master.” I looked behind me and saw a new form that Judgment was using. It was in the shape of a woman, and suspiciously close in proportion to Lucina’s figure from last night. She had chrome skin, black hair, and was wearing a black latex suit. A blindfold covered the upper half of her face, while a ball gag occupied it’s lower half. An armbinder and legbinder were clasped onto her limbs, and suspended her from the ceiling in a hogtie.
I sighed, and looked Judgment’s form up and down. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean, Master? I’m merely showing my fealty to you by showing you a form that brings you the most confidence.” Is Judgment stat-tracking my life? How do you even quantify confidence.
“It’s quite simple, Master. The basic formula-”
“Not now, Judgment. What did I say about listening to my inner monologue? Just give me information on Gazix.”
“As you command, Master. Gazix is the name of a currently 17-year-old child from the Luong Empire. His mother was a concubine of former emperor Jjinu, and his succession rights from the throne were withdrawn from an early age. He joined his country’s military at age 13, and spent three years decimating opponents in duels, and mock wars.”
“Ok, so a child soldier with a tragic background.” I said. “Got it. Any other useful information on this boy, such as motives, primary weapons, or tactics?”
The bound figure of Judgment cocked its head as it spoke. “Gazix’s only wish was the freedom of his mother. To that end, he committed a crime on behalf of the Luong Empire in exchange for his mother’s release. They did so, and she lives free to this day. He, however, having been caught during his successful assasination mission, rots in Metron Continental Prison to this day. His main weapon was a Yaiba brand bastard sword that’s engineered to only power on for his fingerprints. That’s locked away in a storage box at the prison, but I have a feeling it will make a reappearance for your duel.”
A cruel grin spread on my face. “I see. This is going to be easier than I thought. I already have a plan. Hell, I didn’t even need this fancy suit.”
“That face suits you very well, Master. Disconnecting from-”
“Wait, Judgment. Have you ran tests on the training theory I proposed?”
The hogtied figure nodded its head and several graphs popped into existence in front of me. “They are 99% assured not to result in negative outcomes.”
“And the other 1%?” I asked, failing to hide the sarcasm in my voice.
“They could lead to insanity, depression, suicidal thoughts, or even death.”
---
The guards treated me as if I were invisible, and just like that I walked into the main hallway of the castle. Redleaf Palace certainly didn’t pull any punches when it came to flaunting its beauty. As opposed to the monochrome walls leading to the throne room, the foyer was a shimmering mess of rainbows, and scratchy textures along the walls. The ceiling rained down green light, and the floor tiles were all chrome. Four separate pod elevators were present, with a fifth right to the left of the entryway. There was a guard there with a gun, and a uniform like the ones I had seen Bruce’s subordinates wearing.
I walked up to him and saluted, which he reciprocated in kind. “Good evening… I guess morning now. I am Joshua Cole, Princess Reya’s Duskblade. Can you tell me which one of the chutes takes me to the Princess?”
The guard stared at me before simply whistling. “Wow, I’ve got to admit that you look way more capable than she made you seem. She’s currently in the training facility underground. Please take the chute behind me, Duskblade Cole.” He stepped aside and the glass doors opened.
Not wanting to miss a beat, I ordered my resident AI. Take me down to the Princess, Judgment. On the double.
“As you wish, Master.” I soon came to regret my choice in words as the chute was falling so fast that I was beginning to feel weightless. “Prepare for impact.” Judgment’s voice sent a shiver down my spine and I pressed a button on the SMART suit’s collar.
Concussive countermeasures initiated.
With a deep boom, the elevator hit it’s base, kicking up a cloud of dust and causing me to feel a tingling sensation in my whole body. I stood up and heard a voice from outside the elevator.
“What in the Starlord’s shriveled nads was that!?” I recognized the voice as belonging to Reich Gannon, the instructor Reya tried to gift me last night.
When the dust cleared, I saw Bruce with two gauntlets, paused in a wide swing towards Princess Reya, who had two bracers on her arms, each with a shield extending from her hands to her shoulders. The end of the shield at her hands ended in a curved blade.
“Joshua! I was wondering when you’d return.” Even the brightest smile she could produce couldn’t hide Reya’s displeasure with me.
“Hello to you as well, Princess. Bruce. Mr. Gannon.” Noting each one of them in turn, I pointed back toward the currently diabled elevator. “Is there any way to get back up without that?”
Bruce stared dumbfounded and Reya face-palmed. Meanwhile, Reich Gannon laughed behind them. “He’s definitely a keeper, Princess.”
Reya’s face lit up and made a throat-cutting gesture to the aging man. “Fortunately,” Reya said, turning around to face me, “there’s an emergency pod on the other wall. Unfortunately, I’ll have to explain to my father that you broke the normal one.”
I shrugged. “Totally not my problem. All damages related to Dawnblades and Duskblades are billed to whom they are contracted.”
A vein appeared on the princess’ head but she said nothing, instead, turning to face Bruce. “How did I ever think that he was a good person?”
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“I am,” I interrupted, “a good person. I just happen to be a good person to only those I care about. Just like you, and just like every other human living under the sun. However, unlike you, or most others, if I don’t give a rats ass about something, I’m not going to stand there and speak to the contrary.”
“Admirable.” Bruce sighed and put his hands in pockets. “But a poor choice for someone having just been introduced to Ethian politics.”
That’s what he thinks, anyway. I smirked but said nothing, and Bruce opened his mouth to speak. Before he could though, he was cut off by Reich.
“Ah, politics ain’t important.” I was taken aback by his sudden change in speaking style, and Reya tapped her foot impatiently.
“Why did you wait ten years to reveal your accent to me, and you opened up to him in less than a day!” Reich shrugged at the accusation.
“Forgive me for being so blunt, Princess.” His speaking style immediately swapping back, “But unlike the you from years ago, he’s worthy of my trust. To have me in such a vulnerable situation and spare me, I can only concede that he is a fantastic person.”
“Ugh you make no sense.”
“I don’t have to, Princess.”
Clearly frustrated, Reya stomped her feet and shouted at me. “Get in here Joshua! I need to see your power firsthand. Spar against Bruce, and don’t pull whatever shit you had Judgment do earlier. I want to see you move.”
“If I must.” I said, walking forward towards the man. After my first step I paused. Judgment, initiate subspace and activate time dilation to our discussed measures.
“As you command, Master.” The room faded as I dove into subspace once more, and once more I found myself in the familiar chrome room. Looking around, I couldn’t see Judgment anywhere, but as soon as I focused my vision on one point, it appeared out of nowhere.
“I must warn you again, Master. Condensing your time dilation from 1 year to 1 real world second is extremely dangerous, and I must advise against it.”
I shook my head at the hanging figure. “I wish I didn’t have to go to such measures either, but I have neither the stamina nor knowledge about actual combat and how to wield the weapons I have. It’s time for a training session.”
I turned my back on Judgment, and shouted, “Judgment, summon two training bots. One based off of Reich, and the other from Gazix.”
“As you command, Master.” Judgment parroted its earlier response and two women with Judgment’s appearance winked into existence, one shorter than the other.
I sighed. “Couldn’t you give them their normal appearances?”
“With all due respect, Master, I believe this training will be more effective.”
“Alright! Let’s beginnnnnnnnnnnnnn?”
No sooner had I spoken those words than my head was rolling on the floor. Well that went to shit pretty quickly. There was definitely some pain, but nothing so far had felt worse than the despair I had in the cell.
My decapitated head started laughing. I knew I’d do that. Mom always did say I internalized my negative emotions too much. Oh well. “Judgment.” My head spoke. Man, was it disconcerting to be staring up at your own, decapitated body. “Reconstruct me please. And actually wait until I finish the last syllable this time to move the training dummies.
“As you command, Master.” My body shuddered and I was whole once more. “Let’s begin!” I dodged the first strike by Gazix’s smaller dummy, but the one modeled after Reich split my skull in half this time. Fuck me. This next year of my life is gonna be hell.
---
Joshua had stopped walking and shuddered, causing Reya to tilt her head. “Are you alright, Joshua?” Her Duskblade looked up, and his gaze sent a shudder down her spine.
What the hell changed in that one second? Reya gasped, and covered her mouth. Looking around, she could see the others had noticed a change in Joshua’s demeanor as well. Bruce was beginning to sweat and Reich had a smile from ear to ear.
The Duskblade finally reached the training circle, and stepped opposite of Bruce. His fingers hovered above the sonic blades that Hideki Labs had produced for him, and he glanced over to Reya.
“A countdown if you don’t mind, Princess.” His voice sent another tremor down her spine. How could he sound so different from their exchange only moments before? Did he have a mental switch to get ready for combat or something?
Without any way to know, Reya raised her hand and brought it back down abruptly. “Start!”
Dust from the imported dirt floor swirled, and Bruce had streaked towards Joshua. It was a simple punch, but the trick lay in its speed and its power. Bruce was looking to end it in one strike. Reya was simply surprised that anything could spook the old guard that badly, but as soon as she saw Joshua move, she understood why.
His body twisted back and, using the momentum from the movement, he swung his sonic blades at Bruce’s extended arm. The whole thing happened so fast that Bruce couldn’t react in time, and closed his eyes so as to not see his own arm get lopped off.
However, something curious happened. Joshua’s blades stopped an inch into Bruce’s arm, letting him off with only a pair of cuts. Air escaped Bruce’s lungs as he crumpled to the floor, and Reya felt her own heart sink. The only thing that felt normal was the somewhat crazed laughter of Reich.
“Joshua, are you ok?” Joshua didn’t say anything, and instead, a visible shiver worked its way up his spine. He took a deep breath, and then slumped to one knee, dropping both his blades in the process.
“Ugh… re-upload was rougher than I thought.”
Reya’s mind went blank. The only location people used the word re-upload from was… She ran in front of Joshua and knelt down beside him. “How long were you in there?”
Her Duskblade stared at her in the eyes and whispered, “I don’t know. Give or take a year.” He finally passed out, leaning gently into her arms. Reya’s eyes widened as she shouted to the two other men in the room.
“Reich Sensei, make yourself useful and take Joshua to his room upstairs! It’s the one across from mine. Bruce, get yourself to the royal physician and have your arm looked at! I don’t want any necrosis caused by Hideki nanites.”
Both gave her a, “Yes, your highness!” Reya allowed them to use the emergency elevator in front of her. After all, she had business with her father. Once the pod came back to the room, she took it only to the lobby floor before exiting.
Upon seeing her, several guards ran up. “Are you alright, Princess? We heard a loud thud and a quake that reverberated through the entire castle.”
Reya sighed and massaged her temples. Of course everyone in the castle would hear it, it was 4 o’clock in the morning. “I’m fine, just a minor setback is all. I take it that my parents are in the throne room?”
Seeing the guard nod, Reya thanked the man and walked briskly towards the aforementioned throne room. Upon arriving and opening the large doors, she was greeted by not just her parents, King and Queen Metron, but also her older sisters, and younger brothers. On the left side of the carpet leading towards the throne stood Venus Light Metron, Lucina Dew Metron, and Gina Earth Metron. On the right, Raiden Lightning Metron, Kuro Darkness Metron, and Brice Steel Metron.
Queen Cindy Burst Metron clapped her hands, and all seven children knelt. King Roger Metron III coughed lightly and started to speak. “Thank you all for making time to attend this morning. Let the monthly Succession Rank Meeting begin.” Everyone stood, and Reya looked first to her left, then her right. No one looked her way, save for Brice, who was scowling at her. She shook her head, knowing that he only hated her because she was close to overtaking him in the rankings.
“Currently sitting in first, is Raiden. Your subjugation of the spies at the southern border was magnificent.”
The grey haired Raiden bowed, “Thank you father, your praise is wasted on someone like me.” Reya wanted to vomit, hearing all the bullshit spewn from his mouth, but opted not to make a scene.
“In second place, we have Lucina. This is due to all the time and effort spent establishing friendly relations with the Luong Empire paying off. Our import taxes are at the lowest they’ve ever been in Kingdom history!”
Even Reya found this impressive, and with her other siblings, they all clapped together. “Thank you father. I believe the path for this kingdom to strive on is through peaceful means, not ones of war.” She glanced at Raiden as she spoke, and his brow twitched.
“Admirable.” The king said. “Third is Venus. While I do recognize your upscaling of the pleasure district is bringing in a large amount of revenue, I do wish you’d be more tasteful in your business ventures.”
The slim, blonde woman smiled and bowed. “Thanks, but I believe we’ve already had this discussion before, right dad?”
King Metron grunted and sat up in his throne. “Tied for fourth is Gina and Kuro. Your collaboration on the construction of the new wing of Metron Continental University will do wonders for our youth, and this country’s future.”
Gina’s long, green hair swayed as she giggled, “Thanks father, but it was truly Kuro’s idea, I just put in the resources.
Kuro parted his short, black hair over his eyes. “Nonsense, I was just the voice of reason. And like every voice, it needs someone to hear it to truly matter.”
“Very eloquent.” The king nodded in satisfaction. “In sixth is Brice. Seeing as your previous investment blew up in your face, do try to be a little more careful about who you strike a deal with.”
Reya stood up straight as this advice struck a nerve quite close to home. Brice clicked his tongue. “I’ll be more careful in the future, dad.”
The king eyed his son but said nothing, opting to continue his original speech instead. “Lastly, Reya-”
“Yes, yes. She’s last, like she always is. Why don’t you go ride on your new Duskblade. I hear from the palace maidens that he’s quite the looker. Can we go now father? I have a prior appointment I wouldn’t like to miss out on.” The voice came from Reya’s youngest brother, Brice, who shot her a look of disgust.
Reya started laughing uncontrollably, causing her siblings to eye her with worry. How contrive! Why had she shown such a short fuse in these meetings before. Why did she even want to do well in this farce of a competition anyway?
Her laughter faded and she looked at her father in the eyes. She had managed to recruit a man insane and dedicated enough to dive into subspace at an accelerated rate, and even manage to take a princess hostage!
There was something strangely liberating about having your choices taken from you, but Reya understood deep down that she never really had any agency for Joshua to steal in the first place. She had been operating inside the system named, “Royal Obligation,” for the better part of her life.
But she also understood that she wanted to win this competition. Not to make her country better, and certainly not a petty reason like revenge. No, she wanted to prove her own worth to herself. They could all laugh at her for now, but soon she would be climbing the ranks with a powerful tool by her side.
“Yes, I am last this month.” Reya spoke. “Yes, I am last again.” Her parent’s eyes grew wide, although Reya didn’t understand why. “But soon enough I will crush you all underfoot.”
Her siblings turned to stare at her in disbelief, not knowing where this unmatched confidence had come from. ‘Oh! I see now.’ Reya had a sudden moment of clarity. ‘They never knew the real me in the first place, huh?’
“I swear it on the name of Reya Rust Metron. Daughter of the Metron monarchy and soon to be heir apparent to the throne.”