Chapter 7: Unique Ability

A few days later, in the late afternoon, I cast off the gaudy ceremonial robes of an imperial prince, pulled on the plain clothes of a commoner, and stepped out of the palace. Seria stayed glued ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to my side, disguised in an equally modest dress.

The air around her has definitely changed.

Maybe it was all those nights of training. When it was just the two of us, her face was nothing like the ice doll she used to be. Even behind that deadpan expression, a strange sensuality had begun to show, and something softer with it.

We wandered the market's busiest streets, buying the street food commoners ate.

"This seafood skewer is imported from the Principality of Aquarius."

"Hoh. Is that so?"

"And the low-grade elixirs sold at that stall over there came across from the Great Forest of Alfheim."

Seria pressed close and explained it all in a soft, careful voice. Alfheim — a closed nation within the great forest, home to elves who worshipped the World Tree and the woods themselves.

"I heard an interesting rumor."

"Which rumor would that be?"

"They say the elf princess of Alfheim got curious about the human realm and has been wandering around disguised by a mana stone."

I tossed it out with a wicked little smile.

"What do you think, Seria? Should I go looking for an elf princess's face myself?"

The moment the words left my mouth, Seria's steps stopped dead.

Pinch.

"Ow."

Without a word, she gave my side a light pinch. So this was the head maid who once had no emotions at all, openly showing her jealousy — and looking ridiculously cute doing it. I couldn't hold it in. Laughter burst out of me, and I left a brief kiss on her cheek.

"I'm joking. When we get back to the Detached Palace tonight, I'll train you properly on the bed. Look forward to it."

"…Yes. I will wait, quiet and well-behaved, Master."

Seria flushed and offered a shy smile.

Our sweet date was just ripening into something warmer when the air changed.

Shff.

All at once, the market street emptied as if the crowd had been a lie. A sickening killing intent seeped up out of the alley's shadows.

"Your Highness, please step back."

The shyness in Seria's eyes froze over in an instant. She drew a cold dagger from her clothes without a moment's hesitation.

"Just as the rumors said. Quick on the uptake. The Emperor's hunting dog."

From both ends of the alley, assassins in black masks poured out by the dozens. At their head stood a massive man armored head to toe in ominous obsidian plate — guild-master class, by the look of him, the sort who ruled the back alleys at the top of an elite assassination guild.

"His Highness Prince Kyle put up a particularly enormous fee. Bring him the Sixth Prince's head, he said. And your corpse, woman."

The mana rolling off the giant was nothing ordinary. A-rank at the least — perhaps an S-rank on Seria's own level.

"You dare soil His Highness's name with that filthy mouth."

Seria kicked off the ground and unleashed her S-rank Unique Ability.

The acceleration was overwhelming, as if the world itself had stopped. Her opponent, however, did not so much as flinch. He deployed his own ability.

"A contest of speed won't work on me!"

A crushing gravity field unfolded around the assassin, and space itself warped. Seria's body, which had been rushing in like light, slowed as if she had sunk into a swamp.

"Kill the Sixth Prince while we have the opening!!"

That split-second gap was all they needed. Three assassins hidden at my back hurled poison-smeared daggers at me as one.

"…Your Highness!!"

Seeing the blades pour toward me, Seria's eyes blew wide, nearly tearing with shock. She thrashed to drag herself out of the swamp, but an ability user of equal rank had her feet bound fast. In her vision, the daggers flying for my throat hung etched in slow motion.

The only master she served. The man who had held her. The thought that he might die because of her own powerlessness slammed into her soul as pure terror and despair.

That was the moment.

Flash—!!

Deep in the valley of her chest, near her heart, the pink Imprint carved into her blazed with a blinding light. The desperation of nearly losing her master, and a loyalty that had gone past reason — together they dragged the true power of my ability out to its absolute limit.

KRAAAAAANG—!!

Explosive mana burst from Seria's body like a typhoon and shattered the man's S-rank Gravity Swamp as if it were a pane of glass.

"Wh-what?!"

The giant reeled back in shock, but the evolved Seria's speed had already discarded the laws of physics entirely.

Shhhk—!

The three daggers flying for me crumbled to dust in midair. And in the next instant—

"Gyaaaaaah!"

"Kkhk!"

From the throats of the dozens of assassins packing the alley, fountains of red blood erupted all at once. It was an overwhelming slaughter, too fast even for a proper scream.

"Th-this is impossible…!"

Pale with terror, the giant threw his shield up, but Seria's dagger punched through the obsidian armor as if it were paper and ran his heart through.

Three seconds.

The highest assassination guild, hired by Brother Kyle at enormous cost, was annihilated before the evolved Seria's blade.

"Haa… haa…"

Standing in the middle of a pool of blood, Seria dragged in ragged breaths. She let the blood-soaked dagger fall and stared down at her own two hands with a dazed look, as if she herself could not believe the transcendent force she had just unleashed.

"Seria. Are you hurt anywhere?"

I strolled over, casually brushing the dust from my clothes, and Seria's head snapped toward me. Those eyes, once an ice doll's, were shaking more violently than I had ever seen.

"Your Highness… no. Master. Just now, this power — what in the world…"

"What's wrong?"

"My Unique Ability was clearly bound by Gravity Swamp. I could not have broken free. But the moment you were in danger, the ability evolved a full tier higher."

As if she could not believe it, she pressed a hand to the valley of her chest and caught her breath.

"Yeah? Good. Makes me feel secure."

"This is far beyond merely feeling secure!"

Seria's ice-blue eyes flashed like a fanatic's.

"This is Transcendent Evolution — something said to occur only when the blessings of the Twelve Goddesses of Heaven fuse together. It means your ability is no different from the authority of those twelve goddesses!"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Seria."

"If this power becomes known to the world, the balance of the entire continent will be overturned!"

"The girl who never had an expression is suddenly rolling her eyes back and raving. It's throwing me off a little, you know?"

At my rebuke, Seria finally cleared her throat and straightened her clothes. Even so, the blind faith toward me burning in her eyes had deepened dozens of times over.

"The nuisances have all been cleared away."

Trying to hide her reddened cheeks, she whispered, demure.

"I will be waiting… for the reward Master grants me tonight."

"Not really something you should be saying in front of the corpses…"

In the blood-soaked alley, Seria drew a red mana stone from her clothes and shot it into the air.

Bang—!

A red signal flare burst overhead, and before many minutes had passed, armed palace guards came pounding into the alley.

"Wh-what's going on! Hrk, these corpses…!"

"This is His Majesty the Emperor's Sixth Prince. Show the proper respect."

When Seria coldly announced who I was, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the guards went ashen and dropped to their knees before me. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brushed the dust from my clothes at my leisure and gave the order as if it were nothing.

"They're assassin-guild corpses. Clean them up yourselves. Good work."

Leaving the guards' stunned stares behind us, we strolled out of the alley. And far off, atop the roof of a high building, two women in deeply cowled robes had been watching the entire scene in breathless silence, with the moonlight at their backs. We never noticed them at all.

"…Did you see that, Sister?"

The smaller of the robed women spoke in a trembling voice.

"She was clearly fighting with an ability equal to that assassin's, and then a strange pattern appeared near her heart and her power exploded."

"Yes. I saw it clearly."

The taller woman nodded, grave.

"It was extremely similar to the known manifestation of the blessing of the Twelve Goddesses of Heaven. No — it may be something beyond even that. If we did not mishear the source of that miraculous power, then that man called the Sixth Prince…"

From within a hood, silver hair and a pointed ear caught the moonlight for an instant. They were the elf princess of Alfheim and her companion, runaways who had slipped out of their stifling forest into the human realm in secret.

"First, we begin a thorough investigation of this man called the Sixth Prince. He may be the Savior we have been searching for."

The two robed figures combed every information broker in the market's back alleys, gathering what they could on the imperial palace and the Sixth Prince. The answers that came back threw them into deep confusion.

"Prince Gun, the Sixth? Ah, that famous hollow prince? Couldn't draw a single reaction from the Tablet of Revelation at his coming-of-age. A perfect abilityless, isn't he?"

"I hear he's shut up in that abandoned Detached Palace these days, just breathing. Tsk, tsk. The imperial family's shame."

At the brokers' sneers, the two elves could not hide their shock.

"Abilityless?"

"Sister… this Sixth Prince is deceiving the entire world. He must be an ability user, hiding by pretending he has none!"

The elf princess's eyes glittered with fierce curiosity and blind awe.

"According to the information, that prince is currently seeking fiancée candidates to fill the seat of his lawful wife, isn't he? We will disguise ourselves perfectly as the daughters of a fallen noble house and infiltrate that Detached Palace. I am going to uncover the secret of that power."

Meanwhile, I hadn't the faintest idea that two little rats had firmly mistaken me for a transcendent and were already planning to walk in of their own accord.

"Haa. I took in too much of that blood-stink outside. I'm tired."

The moment we reached the Detached Palace and the parlor door shut, I threw myself down on the sofa.

"You have worked hard, Master."

Seria came to my side, and her face — so unlike the old ice doll — was strangely flushed. Whether it was the aftershock of her transcendent evolution or anticipation of the night's promised training, a sultry heat wrapped her body.

"Shall I… prepare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bath?"

She carefully slipped off my shoes and looked up at me, cheeks pink.

"Yeah. Prepare it."

"Understood."

Warm water filled the large tub in the room. I shrugged out of my outer clothes, threw on only a gown, and headed for the bath.

"The bath is ready, Master."

"Good. You strip and get in too."

"…Yes."

I sank into the tub first, and Seria, bare, stepped carefully into the water after me.

"Come here. Sit on me, like usual."

At my order she came through a splash of water and carefully settled herself on my lap. I stroked her white shoulders and the line of her chest, and spoke in a languid voice.

"Now. Tell me yourself what you've been trained in so far."

"…On the first day, you took my first time…"

"Mm. That's right. And after that?"

"The next day, you taught me how to serve you with my mouth… and yesterday, how to please you with my breasts…"

She flushed with shame and still recited it clearly, point by point. It was rather endearing. I stroked her most secret, most sensitive place and grinned.

"Good girl. Then shall we get you ready to use right now?"

"Aahn, haa…"

"Get into a position so I can hold you comfortably from behind."

Seria carefully turned in the water, showed me her back, and lay prone. I gripped her waist firmly and whispered low against her ear.

"Try lying."

"Yes…?"

"Say it. I, Seria, hate Master Gun."

For a woman who had come to worship me, it was the most horrific sentence imaginable. Seria's trembling lips parted.

"I, I, Seria… h-hate… Master Gun."

Flash—!

The Imprint in the valley of her chest blazed fiercely, and the penalty detonated.

"Kkh, haahn…! Aah!"

"Keep going. Say you don't want my hands on you."

"M-my body… haahn! Does not want, does not want Master's touch…!"

Flash—!!

The lie she had spoken herself became the trigger, and a maddening heat of arousal slammed up her spine.

"This is incredibly convenient."

"Hnnng! Hik, ah, aah!"

"Use the penalty like this, and you heat up all on your own. Even inside, you're soaked through. No need to prepare you at all."

At that vicious praise, Seria answered, shaking all over.

"Haa, haa… Master's ideas… truly, they are far too brilliant…"

"Right? Thanks to that, I'm sliding in nice and smooth."

"Haaaahn—! Kkh, ah, aah!"

The sound of water and the rough friction of flesh filled the bathroom.

"From now on, whenever I want it, lie so you get wet on your own. Understood?"

"Yes, hnn! Whenever… whenever Master wishes, ahn! I will lie, I will…!"

"Good girl."

"Today as well… please leave it deep inside… properly… please…"

Smack.

I gave her pleading backside a light slap with my palm and snickered.

"Keep this up and you'll actually snatch the seat of my lawful wife."

"Haahn! Now, I truly… nnh! I want to become Master's lawful wife…!"

"Sure. Bear my child, and I'll allow it."

"Today's training… hnn, was wonderful as well…"

The heated affair disguised as a bath came to an end. Seria's legs had given out completely, and she lay slumped in the tub, leaned against me. I stroked the silver hair of the woman who had buried her face in my chest and was panting in soft little breaths.

Staring blankly up at the ceiling, I muttered to myself.

…How did the story end up going like this?

In the pleasant fatigue washing over me, I quietly began to zone out.