"I'd like to think so." I said.
Pippa nodded, as if she were adding that to her mental notes. And even though she just cut my cheek, she used a cheery voice as if nothing happened. "So, Mr-Knight, what is your real name? If you don't mind my asking."
Okay, now it's time for manners.
I debated using a fake name, but looking at the princess beside me, who could easily find me with her power, I simply couldn't. And for some reason I didn't want to still, I ejected my class, needing to leave room for trickery. "Calvin…"
"Right, Calvin, what brings you two here? Drinks, a meal, information…" The princess nodded, as if to say, "That one!"
"Then I have what you want! But first, take a shower, ma'am. You're drenched in blood. You remember where it is, right? And don't worry about Mr. Calvin. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." She looked at me as a predator would look at prey.
The princess grimaced, exchanging looks between me and Pippa. But trudged up the stairs beside the reception desk.
Instantly, the room fell silent. And my throat turned dry. Pippa was weirdly quiet, her head turned downward, obscuring her eyes.
This is awkward… a friend of a friend, what should I talk about? The weather, maybe our favorite color… no, this isn't kindergarten. Unbeknownst to me, I was thrashing around in my confusion. But I was stopped when Pippa suddenly spoke.
Her voice dropped a few octaves. And I felt the presence of a skill, one I had read about in my research, needed for faking skills. [Knife's edge] It allows you to emit bloodlust equivalent to the number of people you've killed. It's a weak skill, one you need to kill hundreds of people to make effective.
But even standing this far away, it felt as if a dagger was drawn and sitting delicately on my neck. "W-what?"
"Shh… Valerie is showering, we don't want her to be interrupted do we?"
I nodded, mostly because words wouldn't come out.
"Good… who really are you, Calvin?"
What?
"I sense something in you, an unknown power. It's small, but it allows you to do things others can't… Valerie said you're a knight, but I feel the presence of multiple classes in you. Knight… Swordsman… Healer. That's impossible. Unless you're a demon."
I was sweating now, Couch Potato, it's an unknown skill. So I assumed it would merge the auras or just use the current class's one.
For a moment, I was going to confess everything. But a realization hit, and with it, a smirk.
'eloquence.'
"Isn't your view too narrow… a demon, now that's jumping to conclusions. Have you not conceived that I'm just insanely talented and earned multiple classes? I was a swordsman, trained my ass off and became a knight. And learnt basic healing magic along the way, perfect for a person who will go into battle… Going so far as to threaten someone without good evidence, ah… suddenly I want to complain to someone."
The sudden word barf clearly confused her, and she stumbled backwards… good, the pressures decreasing.
"B-but, nobody's ever had multiple classes, besides a few exceptions…"
"Then, I'm one of those exceptions."
Thank you 'eloquence.'
The pressure faded and her voice went back to normal seamlessly.
"Fine… I'll believe you're an exception. But if you hurt Valerie." She made me feel the pressure again, but only for a moment. "If you are a demon, I'll slice your head off and eat it, okay!"
I nodded fervently.
We both turned, as the princess walked down the stairs. All the Orc blood removed, fully clean you could clearly see the noble genes. Even walking down some rickety stairs, she exudes grace. "Were you guys talking?"
"Yes we were! We had a fun chat, didn't we, Calvin…"
"Yep, it was so fun, now why don't you get the info you need and let's leave princess."
The princess hurried now, looking like she completely forgot why we came here.
"Well if you're both ready, follow me." Pippa moved through the back doors, a doorframe without a door, but with cobwebs. And into a dimly lit room. A table set in the middle of the room, "Please sit."
Me and the princess sat. And she sat ahead of us. Slamming her hands on the table, her face became deadly serious. "I know exactly what you're here for, you want information on your brother's plans and location, correct?"
She nodded.
A strange plan, heading straight for the two people who tried to kill their own sister, I would've abandoned her right then and there. It's a suicide mission after all. But, a buzzing. Loud. Right here, an important plot event was going down. I was gonna be part of it and steal all the glory.
"Well, I only have info on one of your brothers." She grabbed a paper from inside her coat, a well summarized synopsis of everything one of her brothers had been up to, who they ordered to send the orcs, their battle plans, and their location.
Rocksharz Duchy, a quaint but bustling dungeon town. Apparently, the prince was currently relaxing there to cleanse the stress from the succession war, he must be so stressed.
I read about it as well in my studies. Apparently, the large crab monsters they hunt there are delicious. Those were the extent of my studies.
"That's all I got, but… what do you plan to do?"
"I plan to kill them. After all, you can't point a blade at somebody and expect them not to point one back."
Princess… killing someone, even if they sent Orcs after you, that's just too… reasonable! As long as I don't have to do it, I'll silently cheer you on while you do it yourself. If you're wronged by somebody, why can't you correct them?
Pippa and her stared at each other, and after about thirty seconds, she burst into laughter. "Well then, I wish you luck." Then she stopped, her smile reversing. "Don't think about it after it's done… okay?"
"Thank you, Pippa." The princess said before walking out.
I followed her.
Back in the slums, I was unhappy to welcome the dirty air into my lungs. "Princess, wasn't that farewell a little too brief for you two? Honestly, it was a little awkward sitting with her for a moment alone."
"Pippa's had a… rough life, I'm sure you could tell. And she hates it when you say goodbye, she said it makes her feel like she'll never see me again."
Oh…
The walk was quiet after that. Right up until we made it back to the center of the kingdom, just when the rotten stench left my nose. "So, what do we do next? Get some food, or stay at an inn. Ooh, I've always wanted to be an adventurer. Is there a guild nearby?"
We walked back to the main drawbridge, and the princess snickered. "You don't need to try to lighten my spirits. I am not sad, nor am I mad… scratch that, I am mad, but not at you."
That's good.
We quietly left the kingdom. Guess we got what we came for.We walked far enough into the plains so as not to disturb the tourists pouring in, and the princess grabbed the whistle from her neck.
In an instant, a red-scaled dragon dropped onto the grass. The air felt hotter around it, rippling the air like a barrier. Until the princess put a wind barrier between me, what handy magic. I'll have to trick someone to become a mage at some point.
Scarily, I wasn't surprised by the dragon anymore. Getting roped into a succession war, and with the least favorable candidate, now that I think about it, aren't I her only ally? Aren't I in a dangerous position… ignore it.
Phew…
Driving on a dragon is really fun.
Wow, look at that cool tower. That village looks fun… oh, cool, a cabin in the middle of the forest. And a person? Hm? They're flying? Hm? They're getting closer… They were floating slightly above us now, and slowly raised their palms. "Princess, get down!" A loud boom erupts beneath the dragon. Smoke rose from its sides. And we started to freefall.
I leapt towards the princess. And the dragon, falling much faster than us, leaves me with nothing to blunt the impact. While spinning midair, I caught a glimpse of the culprit. A sculpted wooden mask, black eyeholes, and a large enough gap for the mouth to see their smirking face.
-Crack!
The world came back, spinning like a top, an incessant ringing, different from [Did I miss anything?] My vision narrowed back, all while I lay on the ground, groaning. I took as little damage as possible by spamming [Simple Heal] on myself and the princess.
The dragon was smoking in the distance. I crawled there at some point just to confirm my suspicions and, yep. It was dead.
The princess was luckily unharmed. She was lying on top of me when I woke up, so I pushed her softly off me. Anyway… who was that guy? He easily took down a dragon with what looked like a fireball?
And he could fly.
I've never seen those robes or that mask. The princes likely wouldn't have someone like that under their belt either. They would've just sent them to kill the princess instead of some Orcs. They hadn't confirmed their kills either. If they knew anything about the princess, they assumed she had survived. She's that tough.
Breaking me out of my thinking was the princess, who had finally woken up. She groaned but woke up much faster than I did.
"Calvin, are you alright?!" The sentence started off sounding dazed, but when she looked at me, it turned to panic.
I crawled towards a tree, pushing off the ground to lean against it. "Yep, just need to." Grabbing my shoulder, I pop it back into place with a grotesque crack, place my palm on it and, [Simple Heal] That'll do it. I rotated my shoulder. It was a glue-like solution. Valerie didn't seem worried anymore.
"Urk, did you need to do that in front of me?"
Hm, what's wrong with this?
Despite finding nothing weird, I decided to apologize. "Sorry.
She shook her head and sat up. "Do you know where we are?"
I was a village bumpkin a day ago. I haven't seen a real map yet. But I knew where to go, thanks to [Did I Miss Anything?] "No, but I have a feeling, if you'd just tru-"
She didn't even let me finish before interjecting. "I trust you."
Seriously, what if I were a villain?
"Thanks… then we need to go that way." I pointed in a direction I didn't even know, but thanks to my skill, I just knew it was right.
We walked through the dark forest for a while before setting up camp. Weirdly, it was extremely quiet. Not a single monster or animal had popped up the whole time, making the trip smooth, but something felt off. We felt it.
Several presences, subtle. It didn't feel dangerous like Pippa, but it was watching. I did an experiment on our walk, our several, but the one that worked was, after punching a tree, an action that deeply confused the princess. When I felt the presence become closer and more deadly. I smirked.
Gotcha!
That night, I waited for Valerie to fall asleep. And immediately sprang up. The presence, which grew weak as we slept, suddenly sprang back up along with me, and as I walked, it seemed to prod me with a 'where are you going?' kind of way, or that's what they're thinking.
Walking up to a tree, I observe it, "Ooh, a tall one!" I knelt and grabbed a random stick. Tossing it in the air, with every toss bringing with it a fluctuating energy from the presences. Suddenly I stop, reel my arm backwards, my other hand holding the bottom.
[Simple Slice!]
Releasing my arm, I go to chop the tree with the mana-infused stick. Even a crappy sword skill can cut down such a tree… come on and stop me.
Just as expected, I felt a hand grab mine, completely stopping my swing.