“Dobar dan, gdje idete?” The wagon driver kindly asked us.

“(Psst, what did he say?)”

“(No clue, probably something along the lines of ‘Where to?’)”

Yep, we still barely knew anything about Cardinic. Although after a while of living here we could accurately surmise that ‘Dobar dan’ is a common greeting amongst Cardinians. They’re a kind and charitable bunch after all, so whenever you heard that it almost always means they’re willing to accommodate you. That being said, they do change said greeting according to the time of day. Say for example, ‘Dobro jutro’ in the morning, and ‘Dobro veče’ in the evening, so I guess ‘Dobar dan’ means ‘Good day’ or something like that. Even still, we had no idea what he was saying in the latter part of his sentence.

“U-Uh… Centralis.”

“Nema problema!”

E-Eh? Did I misunderstand?! I heard ‘problem’ in his reply! Ugh, the last thing I want to do is accidentally offend someone. W-Whoa!? The wagon’s taking off! O-Oi, where’re you taking us?! I demand an explanation…!!!

“Oh good, looks like he understood us.” Marina said calmly.

“What’s so good about this!? Didn’t you hear what he said?!”

“…” Marina blinked at me, “He said ‘No problem’, right?”

…Ah, I thought as I timidly sat back down with an embarrassed expression.

“Come on, calm down there, once we make it to Centralis, we’re apparently home free!” She said, “Although I don’t really get the correlation between the two.”

“It’s probably because of the Gryses.” I commented, “The Prince of the Royal Family is a dear acquaintance of mine, so he’ll probably help us out in that regard.”

At this, Marina completely changed her tune from one of confusion to that of absolute excitement and surprise. It was actually kind of cute how much her eyes started shining the moment she learnt this new side of me.

“Ehh?!? You’re friends with a Grys?!”

“W-Well, calling Adam a friend feels kind of awkward due to the difference in our social standing. I mean, I’m just an adventurer (and technically a gang leader), while he’s the Prince of the Royal Family. Having him call me his friend makes it feel way too familiar.”

“Who cares about that!” She shut me up, “More importantly, how’d you, a lowly adventurer and certified idiot, manage to get the attention of the Prince?”

Uhh, rude much?! Geez, I’ll have you know I built countless restaurants in my heyday, not to mention kickstarted a gang and made it sit at the top of the Great Hiana underworld. That’s like comparing a dragon and a lizard, come on!

“I’m pretty sure I told you this once before, no? It was back during the Neo Urbana raid, I even used him as a meatshield to evade any attacks that came my way.”

“Wuh-!” Anna did a double take before bursting out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, “Phahahahahah! A meatshield?! You sure he’s not gonna kill us the moment we meet up with him?”

Wait… you’re right. It might be okay for Marina to meet up with him, since they don’t know each other, but since Adam and I are acquaintances, he’d immediately recognize that I’m Lune Grimheart (not Sol). This means there’s a high chance he’ll have to report us to the ITA, in which case we’re as good as gone!

“Right, about that…” I whispered to Marina, ”I think I’m gonna stay at the inn, just in case. If we get caught then we’ll be labeled deserters, and that’ll compromise the entire mission.”

“Lune?”

“Shh!! Didn’t we change our names? What was the point of that if you’re just gonna call me Lune?!”

“Oh, right. Then Sol, ugh, I really can’t get used to calling you that. It feels dishonest…”

“Who cares about that, I’m fine with calling you Mariabelle, despite how stupid it sounds.”

“You blockhead!” She hit me on the head, “Can’t I at least call you Lune when we’re alone?”

Her brown eyes peered deeply into my own, staring up with an earnestness that can hardly be portrayed by words. In short, she’s giving me the puppy dog eyes she’s so goddamned well-known for. God, I can’t say no to that…

“F-Fine,” I said while averting my gaze from hers, “Just make sure no one’s around…”

She giggled to herself, as if to signal that she’s yet again won. God, it reminds me of back when we played chess, in a way. She was always one step ahead of me, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

“That’s because I do.” She immediately replied.

“W-What? I-I didn’t even say anything!”

“Humu, I know~”

Okay, now I’m officially scared of her. That intuition was way too sharp just now to be considered ‘her reading me’.

“M-Marina?”

“Oh look,” she opened the wagon door, “we’re here.”

“Eh? O-Oh…”

“And Sol?”

“Yeah?” I listened to her next words very intently.

“My name’s Mariabelle, remember? Use Marina only when we’re alone~”

“R-Right (ugh, her phrasing…)”

***

“Good day!” Mariabelle said with a steadfast expression, “I would like to talk to Prince Adam!”

“Phah! And who do you think you are, commoner girl?” The guard said without a hint of holding back, “Someone like you wanting to talk to his Highness?! The mere idea makes me laugh uncontrollably! Alright, alright, I’ll amuse you for a bit, seeing as I’ve nothing better to do. What, pray tell, would be the reason for you seeking an audience with his Highness?”

Man, this dope talks too much, Marina thought, but decided to just keep the comment to herself and instead said, “I was instructed to specifically talk to Prince Adam. The reason for this is cumbersome to explain, so I would really appreciate if the talk was to be held just between the two of us.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Ah, I see what you’re getting at.” The guard chuckled while raising one eyebrow, “Access denied! If it was that simple to have a one-on-one talk with a member of the Royal Family, then the assassins would be having a field day!”

“E-Eh, I guess you’re right about that…” Marina couldn’t refute the guard’s logic, “But even still, could you at least call him up to talk over here? He’ll surely understand if I just told him what I had to tell him.”

“Absolutely not-!”

Just then, a young man with a childish face appeared behind the very guard who denied Marina’s request wholeheartedly, asking what all the fuss was about.

“Well well, to what do I owe the pleasure of stumbling across such a beauty during my regular walk around the castle?” Adam said while giving Marina a standard greeting (a peck on the back of the hand).

“Yo,” she returned the gest in a rather poor way, “You’re Adam, right? I need to talk to you about something.”

“A-Ah, y-yo to you too, Milady…?” Adam was off put by her strangely casual way of addressing him, “In any case, isn’t it basic courtesy to at least tell me your name before asking anything of me, Milady?”

“Sure, I’m Mariabelle Pandora. I got stranded on Cardina and need money to get out.”

“That’s a rather blunt way of putting it, Miss Pandora, but we Gryses are nothing if not a charitable bunch.” He said, “That being said, I can’t just give you the money.”

“M-Milord?” The guard turned to face his superior, “What are you talking about? We give out money to people all the time-”

“Did I give you permission to speak, guard?”

“N-No, Milord, sorry, Milord…”

Heh, these guys are a riot, Marina thought. I can definitely see this Adam guy being used as a meatshield now, he talks big, but at the end of the day he’s nothing more than a pushover!

“So what do I need to do?” Marina asked, choosing her words carefully.

“Become a maid in our Castle!” Adam surprised everyone with his suggestion.

“Milord?!”

“Yeah, what he said!” Marina agreed with the bewildered guard.

“The pay is good, you can probably make it back within a couple of months of working here, and we offer benefits such as free food (provided you, the maid, makes it) as well as a room specially made for you (and the other maids working here).”

“Well, I’m gonna have to talk to Lu-err, Sol about that, so I’ll get back to you on that.”

“Sol?” Adam’s brow furrowed, “And who might that be?”

“He… also got stranded with me. He sadly couldn’t make it here with me today, but I’m sure you’ll meet him someday soon.”

“Ah, I see…” Adam thought for a moment, “Then it might take a while before you can make enough money for the both of you to make it home. I was mistaken in thinking you were here alone, so that’s why I offered you this job. Do you two have a place to stay?”

“Yeah, but without money, not for long.”

“Then I suggest he finds a stable income as well. Like I said, the pay here is enough for you to go home alone, but together, you’ll need a lot more money.”

“I see. Well then, I’ll discuss what we’ve just talked about with him, then I’ll come back tomorrow and give you the final decision. Thank you for everything!”

“No problem, Lady Pandora.”

“Oh please!” She turned around, “Isn’t that way too formal? Just Mariabelle is fine!”

At these words, the Prince’s chest could almost be heard knocking at his ribcage with every beat. No doubt, this transient beauty of the young maiden would surely leave a lasting impact in his mind. There was no other way to put it, Prince Adam was in love.

***

“Alright!” Lune sat himself down at the table in his room, “Time to put this brain of mine to good use! Now that Marina’s not here, there’s nothing to distract me from trying my hand at making something to upgrade Fireball!”

So you see, right now Marina’s at the Grys Royal Castle negotiating with Adam about somehow giving us a small loan. I instructed her not to under any circumstances give out my name, but something tells me I shouldn’t be getting my hopes up.

Certainly, giving out my name to Adam would probably make it easier for him to give us the money, but then we’d have to deal with the ITA after we got back home. I really don’t want to have to do that, so I’d much rather Adam didn’t know about me.

But then how do you know that Adam’ll just give us the money? I hear you ask, and that’s simple to answer as well! You see, the Grys Royal Family are known for helping out lost travelers get back home by giving them the money required without any strings attached. It’s certainly an easy to exploit way of doing things, but it’s been proven successful for centuries by now, as most if not all adventurers would be reasonable and pay back the money in some form of way eventually. That being said, if you asked for too much, or wronged the Gryses in any way, then I’ve heard stories that they actually issue a bounty on you, so they’re not complete pushovers.

“But who cares about that!” I said with a glimmer in my eye, “Let’s go make myself an upgrade!”

First off, planning. You can’t just jump into making some form of tool or invention without first drawing out an extensive blueprint on a sheet of paper, can’t you? That’s why I need to make sure that the design is right no matter what, otherwise I’d be wasting my materials for naught!

“And those materials were hard to acquired too, I basically had to rummage through thousands of trashbins just to get this little bit of scrap.” I said as I looked over to my right, “I don’t think even Prylos could get this much trash in his room and justify the reason behind it. I need to act fast, otherwise Marina will come back and berate me for hoarding trash.”

Let’s see, I had read something about flame powered mechanisms before in a book I read back in Great Hiana, but who knows if it’s fact or fiction. The idea is to make some sort of miniature handheld cannon, with the firing system requiring me to use Spark to make it go boom. It shouldn’t be too simple, but it’ll definitely help out in a pinch, as it’ll essentially make me be able to shoot out power equivalent to Fireball while actually just using up enough energy for a Spark. In theory, it’s genius!

“Alright…” I drew and drew, “Oh, I should add this! And this should go here! Ah, can’t forget the wick! And the barrel should go at this angle! Wait, this looks sorta cool!”

Aaaaand… done! It’s perfect! But will it hold up once I actually make it? Well, only one way to find out…!

Taking out a spare piece of metal from the box of trash I had next to me, I began slaving away, assembling it slowly yet steadily. I’m gonna be using this in the heat of battle, I thought, and the last thing I’d want is for it to blow up in my face when I need it the most! And so, after a couple hours of wracking my brain over something that was probably most akin to an amateur’s display at best, I finished my first invention!

“I did it!” I yelled out as the front doors opened, making me quickly hide it under the blueprints.

“And what exactly is it that you did, darling?” Marina said, briskly planting herself down on her bed.

“I uhh-nothing! Nothing of importance, in any case. But that doesn’t matter, how’d it go with Adam?”

“Well, apparently he wants me to work as a maid in order to pay off all that money they’re lending us.”

“Eh? That’s dumb! Charitable bunch, my ass!”

“Hmm, I dunno. Sounds kinda fun, honestly!”

I was all but expecting her to agree with me on not wanting to be anyone’s slave or worker, but she was surprisingly enthusiastic about it. I mean, come on, she’ll poison the man if she ever makes him food, not to mention she’s a slob beyond slobs, and he wants her to keep the place tidy?

“You’re okay with working for him? I mean, I’d rather we go for another way.”

“Do you have a better idea?” She motioned for me to go to bed as well, “Or are you just feeling some jealousy about me being with another man?”

She really just said that, didn’t she?

“I really don’t know how to tell you this, but I’d literally sell you for a glass of fountain water.”

“That’s free though!”

Hehe, yeah. But seriously, she’s gonna work for the Gryses, eh? That’s actually kind of relieving in a way, since it means we get a good source of information from her spending time with them, all the while we’re hidden away from external affairs of the ITA and the likes. Add to that the fact that she gets paid? Buddy boy, you’ve got yourself a deal!

“Okay,” I laid on my bed, “I don’t mind you working, but then what will I do while you’re away?”

“Maybe sell that thingamajig you’ve been tinkering with in your room this entire day?”

“How’d you know about my Firestarter Pistol?!”

“Whoa, that’s a helluva name! Now I gotta see it for myself!”

This girl is scary! How does she seemingly always know what I’m thinking!? Maybe I was talking to myself too loud and she heard me? Gahh, that’s way too embarrassing! I’d rather die! Well, no matter, if she’s asking to see it, I’ll happily oblige.

“Here,” I handed it to her, “It’s like a mini-cannon. I light the fuse with Spark, which cocks it. After that it’s primed to fire something that’s, hypothetically at least, akin to the firepower of a Fireball.”

“Hmm, cool, cool…” Marina fiddled with it without listening to a word I said.

“Just be careful though, I’m pretty sure it’s primed right no-!”

*BANG*

A powerful bullet came flying out of the pistol with a trail of fire following it. Magnificent, ephemeral, heck I’d call it celestial if I knew what that word meant. Even still, it was terrifying. It made a horrible ear-piercing noise, and the flash from the muzzle almost blinded both of us.

“…” Marina stood in shock, “Coool…”

“Not cool!” I immediately went to reprimand her, “You dumbass! The landlord’s gonna make us pay for this hole in the wall now!”

“Not if I just…” She said, hanging a picture frame in place of where the bullet went.