The Princess's Challenge
No one could have predicted this.
Who in their right mind would have expected the princess—who had casually announced she was only heading to the imperial palace for a few days—to return looking like that?
The cause was obvious. It all traced back to Andreus’s story three days earlier. The very next day after hearing it, she had gone straight back to the palace.
I turned my head and silently glared at Andreus. He seemed to feel the sting; without a word he averted his gaze, looking anywhere but at me.
In the end, as the saying goes, the thirsty dig the well. It fell to me—the one full of questions about that appearance—to ask.
“Um, Princess? First of all… could you tell me what on earth that outfit is supposed to be?”
“……Saintess, how much do you know about the First Emperor?”
I nearly snapped back asking what that had to do with anything, but the princess’s expression was dead serious. This was no joke or nonsense.
I had a hunch that whatever she was about to say would answer my question, so I replied.
“He was the one who forged humanity’s first unified nation.”
“Is that all you know?”
“Of course not. I also know that through a contract with the Goddess he enhanced the detection ability he already possessed, and arranged for that power—to sense demons invading imperial territory—to be eternally inherited by his descendants.”
It was material that appeared in the empire’s history books and one of the world-building details mentioned in the game as well. A setting that underscored the imperial family’s importance. There was no way I wouldn’t know it.
At my answer the princess nodded and continued.
“Yes, that was all I knew as well. But didn’t you ever find it strange? Why the First Emperor possessed a detection ability in the first place.”
“He was probably a superhuman with special powers, wasn’t he? Unifying an entire nation isn’t something an ordinary person can achieve.”
“……This is a secret that must never be spoken to anyone else. I trust you will keep it, Saintess.”
I nodded silently, promising to guard the secret. The princess stepped closer and whispered into my ear.
“In truth… the First Emperor was a righteous thief.”
“……What?”
I almost blurted out that it was pure nonsense. Only my superhuman self-control kept the words from escaping. I needed to soften my reaction somehow.
“Uh, Princess? I’m not sure I understand what you mean by that…”
“At first I couldn’t believe it either. But after seeing the records the imperial family keeps under the strictest seal, I had no choice.”
The princess’s claim went roughly like this:
While carrying out righteous-thief activities in a corrupt kingdom, the First Emperor had despaired at the way the various nations refused to unite even after the demons appeared. In the midst of that he met the First Saintess and conceived a great purpose. Borrowing the Church’s power to launder his identity, he overthrew the corrupt kingdom, founded the empire, and proclaimed himself emperor.
“……Uh, right. I see?”
Of course I didn’t believe a word of it. How was anyone supposed to accept that without evidence?
Undeterred by my lukewarm response, the princess pressed on.
“And when he formed the contract with the Goddess, he abandoned nearly every ability that had allowed him to act as a righteous thief. In exchange he strengthened and passed down the detection ability so that humanity could be forewarned of any demonic invasion of imperial territory.”
She placed a hand over her chest.
“These… are the pieces of equipment the First Emperor used during his days as a righteous thief.”
Pride and deep emotion shone on her face as she spoke.
…Has the princess been completely taken in? This feels like one of those “Santa Claus is real” kinds of lies.
She continued without pause.
“When I learned that, I finally understood. Why my physical enhancement focuses so heavily on speed. A thief’s life depends on agility, doesn’t it? The First Emperor’s blood flows in my veins—of course it would influence me.”
And so the princess had decided to become a righteous thief. That was the long and short of it.
…Did no one in the entire imperial palace try to stop her? Or were they simply unable to? Is the imperial family even okay? Or is this just a severe case of middle-school syndrome?
Middle-school syndrome. A perfectly plausible hypothesis.
Whether she noticed my grave expression or not, the princess declared boldly:
“Anyway, since you seem to understand, I’ll say it again. Saintess—I challenge you to a spar!!”
The Bombardment Fairy reports that she is laughing so hard her stomach is starting to hurt.
Whether she understood her master’s complicated feelings or not, the Bombardment Fairy was clearly having the time of her life.
…Well, at least one of us is laughing. If I’d been a pure third-party observer I probably would have been cackling on the inside too.
Reality, however, only made me heave heavy internal sighs.
“……Is the imperial family going to have a problem with this?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Just in case, I already got permission.”
Thankfully she had been thorough on that front. As for the Church… since the imperial side was settled, I could always report first and clean up later without too much trouble.
“All right. I accept the sparring challenge.”
Look on the bright side. The princess’s expression has been so gloomy lately, yet right now she’s practically glowing with energy. If I handle this well, I might even be able to channel that liveliness straight into training.
While I was busy with that bit of mental gymnastics, the princess added one more condition.
“And how about this—whoever loses the spar has to grant the winner one request?”
“……Excuse me?”
“Don’t you think something needs to be on the line for both of us to go all out? Of course I’ll add the condition that the request has to stay within acceptable bounds.”
Strange. The fact that she was proposing such terms meant she saw at least a slim chance of beating me.
But until three or four days ago I had been training right alongside her. I had a pretty solid grasp of her skill level.
Sorry, Princess, but the possibility of me losing was effectively zero. She had to know that too.
What exactly had happened during those three blank days I knew nothing about? If only to find out, I would have to accept her challenge.
“Fine. I’ll take that condition as well.”
And once I win, the first thing I’m going to demand is that she drop this whole thief concept.
And so the spar was set. The princess and I faced each other across a considerable distance.
Her combat style would be hit-and-run, capitalizing on speed… right?
I had no intention of opening with bombardment. If she was willing to wager a request, she must have prepared some kind of trump card.
I planned to buy time and confirm that trump card with my own two eyes.
I adjusted my stance. At the same moment Andreus’s voice rang out.
“Then—begin.”
Without the slightest hesitation the princess hurled something hard against the ground. In an instant thick smoke flooded the area.
“Smoke?”
Trying to blind me? She must have prepared some way to keep her own vision clear inside this haze.
Not a bad strategy. Unfortunately for her, my Hunter’s Artificial Eye was not idle.
The Hunter’s Artificial Eye boosted accuracy. How? Through hit correction—and enhanced eyesight.
Yes, the smoke heavily obscured vision. But the strengthened eyesight could offset a good portion of that disadvantage.
“……Huh?”
Just as I thought that, a new anomaly struck.
My body felt heavy. Suddenly my usual condition was nowhere to be found. Why?
“It’s poison.”
In that instant my left arm rose on pure instinct into a guard. At the same moment the princess’s dagger kissed my arm.
I blocked the strike, yet I could not simply overpower and fling her away.
Her strength had risen above normal; mine had dropped below it.
I saw that she had pulled her mask up over her nose. That was probably her countermeasure against the poison.
Stay calm and respond. The moment I reached that conclusion and swung the Holy Relic in a counter, the fairy’s voice cut in.
The Bombardment Fairy shouts that it is dangerous!
The Bombardment Fairy warns that the Holy Shroud’s defense might be pierced!
……No way.
Without hesitation I pulled the bombardment trigger. The flash tore through the poison-laden air without the slightest loss of power, delivering its usual firepower.
And the princess dodged it—by a paper-thin margin, truly a hair’s breadth.
The toxic smoke gradually thinned. Her figure came into clear view.
“……That dagger has an armor-piercing enchantment, doesn’t it.”
“I didn’t expect you to notice so quickly. Yes, that’s right.”
She admitted it calmly. A dagger with armor-piercing capability.
I was beginning to think the princess’s story might not be a lie after all.
Weapons with true armor-piercing properties were almost nonexistent in Grand Fantasy.
Which meant every piece of gear she was currently wearing likely possessed considerable power.
Not just any thief character—an endgame-geared thief character.
And these were imperial items, the kind whose full details had never been revealed even in Grand Fantasy.
As if reading my thoughts, the princess spoke in a voice just loud enough for me to hear.
“I decided I would use any means necessary.”
Then she detonated another cloud of toxic smoke.
It looked like this was not going to end easily.