10 A Talk with the Princess

The strangest thing happened; James shut the hell up. All it took was for Lily to introduce herself. Like it was a conditioned reflex, the boy hit his knees and bowed while saying something along the lines of, 'My Lady'. I wanted to flick him again, but I supposed he was probably using the proper courtesy for royalty.

I knew better than to assume kings and queens were different from ordinary people. In my past life, most modern 'kings' were called by a more appropriate term: dictators. Most of the sensible countries were run by a Parliament or Congress, of sorts.

Still, I couldn't let this knowledge influence my actions too much. Common sense in this world was drastically different from common sense in my previous one. I supposed that, by refusing to bow, the nobility here could even potentially ask for your execution, but I didn't *really* need to be afraid of that sort of thing. I was far too valuable of an asset for them to try something like that on me. Not to mention the resources needed to actually take my head were far beyond what this "Kingdom" could produce. I could afford a little rudeness, now and then.

The fourth princess didn't seem to mind that I didn't bow to her, either. Though, even if she asked, I wouldn't do it. I had some pride. I was thankful for the Princess's nonchalant nature. I hadn't expected her to be this amicable, but perhaps she was just afraid of me. Well, beggars couldn't be choosers.

The three of us decided to leave the tied up traitor in the possession of the Princess's second guard. The guard took the two horses he and his partner had rode on ahead of us, to the next town. There was a small holding cell there where they could interrogate the puppy abductor. I think the guard was willing to leave the Princess's side because I was there. He personally witnessed my skills in action, after all. People had a tendency to trust someone that saved their life.

James opted to drive the carriage since the last driver fled. I wasn't feeling particularly motivated to go collect the old driver, so I decided not to. This left just me and the Princess inside the carriage.

The Princess pulled off her cloak and I was able to get a good look at her for the first time since we met. Her hair was golden in color and tied down low for horseback riding. She had a weary, travel-fatigued, and freckled face with an angled nose that curled up just a tiny bit. Her eyes had bags underneath them, showing the signs of sleeplessness. Rosy rounded cheeks framed her mouth. She looked to be healthy, but she did carry a touch of weight, and her body looked like it was in the latter half of puberty. If I had to guess, I'd put her at 16 years old.

She was wearing a green flax shirt with a high cut that ran snug to her neck. The shoulders bulbed out but the sleeves were lithe and bodytight; they ran down to the cuffs which draped down from her wrists a few inches. Her legs were covered by a grainy-blue, parted riding-skirt. Her leather riding boots clicked on the floor of the carriage each time they touched down, but they also jingled because of the metal clasps that latched over her shins.

I wouldn't have called her pretty. She had a charm to her, for sure, but her youth was drained by her tired blue eyes.

"Whew, okay. I guess I'll break the ice. I've heard about you from Jack's letter, but I really didn't expect anything like this," said the princess as she adjusted her clothes a bit and shifted around in her seat. "My name is Lily Grphyn Gransus, I am the fourth princess of the Gransus Kingdom. It's nice to meet you."

She held out her hand to me. It wasn't a dainty 'Take my hand and kiss it' kind of thing, either. The fourth princess was offering me a handshake. I grinned a bit as I accepted it.

I said, "Nice to meet you. I'm a demon named Calliope."

"Calliope, how many skills can you use?" asked the princess when we finished the handshake.

"Why do you ask?"

I replied to her question with another question. I wasn't sure if I should actually tell her the truth or not.

"Well, I told you earlier that I am a skill user as well. My skill is called [Analysis] and it can only be used when I'm in physical contact with an object or person. I'm sorry to tell you, but I used it on you just now… It didn't work. My skill could even see through the level 55 Knight Captain who has two different skills, but it didn't work on you."

Ah. I messed up. I supposed I should have asked RED what her skill was, earlier. It wasn't like I planned on hiding my strength or skills, but it was nice to avoid others knowing all of my talents. I wanted to avoid anything troublesome, after all. 'RED, what's a good number to say in order to fool her.'

[Solution: The princess witnessed you using at least three skills when fighting the Devil Hounds. She is also aware of your skill Mana Bomb that destroyed Jack Evergreen's home. This guide recommends telling her a number above 5.]

I see. How many skills do I have in total, RED?

[Solution: Including the skills the user recently developed, the user is currently in possession of 21 activatable skills. This number does not include the user's racial skills or other benefits.]

Wow. I had more skills now than I did on my main account from SHO. This was *above* top tier. Even in the world of Saga Heroes Online, this character would be at the very peak.

"I can use 7 skills," I said, arbitrarily deciding on one-third of my total as a good number. The Princess's right eye twitched after hearing the number.

"I had been expecting something ridiculous, but isn't this too much? Just who are you, Calliope?" she said.

I wished I knew the answer to that myself.

I replied, "I'm just a demon who was abandoned by her family."

She didn't seem completely sold on my answer, but she decided to drop the subject there. I knew I could probably tell her the truth, but I doubted she'd believe it. This was one of those cases where fact was truly stranger than fiction.

After a long pause, the Princess's curiosity seemed to get the better of her.

"Calliope, from what I've seen you're already more than a match for the top knight in our Kingdom," she said "What possible reason could you have to accept Jack's proposal to go to the Academy?"

"I suppose there are a few reasons< I replied. "At first it was just to repay Jack for accidentally destroying his home, but now I'm starting to think that your Academy might actually be good for me. If I'm being completely honest, my own power scares the shit out of me. I'm terrified that I might hurt (or possibly do something worse) to someone I care about."

I didn't know why, but I answered her honestly. I think she could tell based on my tone of voice alone. Lily seemed like a terribly smart girl. I couldn't read her thoughts at all. She'd probably just wanted to use me like any other noble. Still, I didn't really care if she did. I was kind of winging things at the moment, anyways.

I always repaid my favors, and—if this Academy could teach me to control my strength—then I would use every fiber of my being to aid it and its students.