4 Chapter 4 - Encounter

The moment I said yes, the blue light coming from the circle enveloped my whole body. I heard Mom said something but I wasn't able to catch what she said because in just a blink of an eye we, since I'm with Felix, were transported to a different place.

My eyes widened in excitement.

Here am I! In a wide grassland and on the horizon, I could see a number of mountains which has a very different view compared to when I was in Dragonia where all I could see are the vast accumulation of clouds. This is it! I am finally here. In the vast world below.

I immediately turned to Felix only to see him unaffected while arranging our bags. Our luggage consisted of the following: two small bags, a sword (which is mine), and his set of knives. He also looked like a human now. His stark black hair covered one of his eyes, and he's expressionless. Except for the horns, he still looked the same. It was the same for me. My appearance was the same when I was still a dragonian, except for the horns.

"According to what Her Highness Storm had said, there should be a human who will welcome us across that forest. Shall we go, hime?" He pointed towards a forest on our right side where I could see a tip of a skyscraper on the horizon. Only the tip, huh? So, we're pretty far from the Metropolis, I see. I was wishing I could go and explore it the moment I stepped in these lands, but as usual, circumstances do not always allow you to do what you want.

But one thing caught my attention – when did my mother told us about the human? Wait, why would even a human welcome a monster in this time? I thought humans despised monsters, so why?

Well, my questions would be answered later that day.

"Umu." I happily nodded.

We started heading inside the forest. It was so darn quiet, though it's not uncomfortable. I've gotten used to Felix. As long as I feel excited, his feelings don't matter. Well, he seems to be alwaaays unaffected anyway. But still, I don't even know how long we will travel inside the forest. It's starting to get boring so I started a conversation.

"Say, Felix, why did you travel here with me?" I asked without any reason in particular. He stopped dead on his tracks so I also did. He looked straight ahead for about 2 seconds, then looked at me for 3 seconds, looked straight ahead as if he was deciding what to do and uttered the following words:

"It's because you always get yourself into trouble, hime. And as your servant, I should always save you during those times. Thus, I deemed it necessary for me to go along with your selfish wishes."

I pursed my lips. What the heck is with that answer?!

"Ha-ha-ha. Trouble? Always? Selfish… wishes?" I exasperatedly refuted. This guy… Had he forgotten that I was his princess? Why is he being so rude to me?! Besides, I'm not ALWAYS getting myself in trouble. Well, it's only like, 12 times a year? One time every month? But that's not 'always'! It's not!

Besides, the major troubles aren't even that many. I mean, burning the maids' hair while I was trying on an experiment of dying them with tint wasn't a major trouble at all. Opening the Depths of Despair which plunged the whole island of Dragonia into hell wasn't intentional! It was an accident! I slipped and because of my super strength, the 7th tier magic circle that served as its lock broke. And then the issue of destroying the throne room… well, I was practicing my magic, since I am not a genius – I really needed practice – when it comes to magic, and the supposedly small fireball turned into a very large rock covered in flames with a temperature of 10,000 degree Celsius. I panicked… and the result turned out veeeeeery… bad.

It's not always. Again. Not always.

"Are you not satisfied with my answer, hime?" He looked at me. He probably noticed me pouting while frowning, while glaring.

This guy…

"Of course!" Why would you think I'd be satisfied with that response, idiot!

"…"

"Fel, you do know that your response was inaccurate and rude, right?~"

"My response was accurate, hime, and I am fully aware that it's rude…"

"What?! –"

"… A I thought, you were unaware that those actions brought trouble not only to His and Her Highness but to the whole Dragonia, weren't you?"

"Well… It's… not… It's not trouble!"

He sighed like he actually gave up.

"This is why I chose to be frank with you, HIME-SAMA." He gave emphasis when he addressed my position.

Hey, what's that supposed to mean?! I mean… I looked at him.

"Seriously? Did Mom and Dad think so too?"

"Yes."

"…"

We looked at each other as if we're figuring out what's going on to each other's minds. Well, I gave up after a few seconds. I can't understand this guy. As I thought, the Felix before was waaaay better than the Felix now.

Aside from the fact that the Felix before was easy to bully, he's also easy to understand and read. I can talk to him with sense, and he's conscious to the feelings of other feeling.

Very opposite to the guy I'm with. He's become someone very hard to deal with!

I sighed.

"Ah, whatever, I give up with you!" I said while scratching my head. "Anyway, now that I'm here in the human world, I'd do my best to get out of trouble."

"… That's questionable…"

"Hey, you – when we return to Dragonia, I'd tell Dad that in our stay here you were constantly rude to me!" We continued walking.

He smirked. "Hime, to think that you'd run to His Highness when you're cornered like this. Then, I'd probably relay to His Highness that you were constantly in trouble and thus needed supervision while we're here."

"What's with that?! I haven't even gotten into trouble yet. Besides, I'm telling you, I won't get into one!"

And so, the walk had been quite lively. Not because we were enjoying but because we are constantly bickering. But for some reason, I kind of like that atmosphere. The way he's treating me was not a way of treating a princess but I don't mind. When I was in Dragonia, all of the people respected me that they would eventually forgive me if I did wrong or cause trouble. Nobody wanted to talk to me in casual conversation, nobody even dared to argue with me.

Only Felix.

"Hime, I have one question to ask you. Is that okay?"

"Umu." I said. "Why are you suddenly being serious?"

It was a nice atmosphere…

"Why are you so obsessed with humans?"

…that changed into a pressuring one when Felix asked me that particular question.

"Eh? Huh? W-why'd you ask?"

Why did he suddenly ask that question? Wait, more importantly, why am I getting nervous? No, no, no… there's something wrong with that question because I don't exactly know how to answer that!

"I've been with you since we were kids so I know about your obsession, hime."

Oy, oy. To call it obsession. That's just not right! I'm not obsessed with them! I just simply wanted to meet the hero, and that girl… I mean, that's just normal for me who still had the ego of my previous life intact! This is a fantasy world for me in the past! Of course, I'd be excited to meet one!

"Even when you chose that* place as your own secret base… it was for the purpose of observing the humans below, right? And to think that you found it when you were still 2 years old. I've come to understand that you are very smart, hime, and that you probably learn about the humans in the royal library or had learned through the maids… but what's so good with those human trash? You almost died because of them, still why are you so fascinated with them? Why obsess over them?"

(A/N: that* - the area on the edge of the floating island. The one Hell smashed that caused her to fall from the floating island.)

Felix stopped walking while I continued to walk.

"W-well…"

Hey, that's a lot of questions! I thought you only wanted to ask one?! I wanted to shout. In the very first place, those questions are really hard to answer! Should I tell him the truth? I mean, I am not obsessed with humans. I'm more obsessed of this world because this world is amazing!

How can I answer him if the truth is something I cannot simply tell anybody? That I was a reincarnated person and had kept my previous personality?

What happened with the quote: Truth will set you free?

Well, flash news, it won't! In this world, the truth that I carry won't set me free. It will probably be the reason why I'm going to die.

Then, I started to imagine Siramines' face if he ever finds out about my truth.

I mentally gulped.

Okay, let's start devising some appropriate reason. Or, I can simply refute what he said, right? But that would be too suspicious. Now that I think about it, if I am observing myself, I'd probably think the same thing. Damn it! I shouldn't have been too showy of my intelligence and should've acted as if I were a normal kid! I should've started showing interest in human when I was at the age of being able to read and comprehend story books!

Tss. What a miscalculation!

And another miscalculation: I was too deep in thought that I wasn't able to hear a small warning from Felix. A small monotonous 'Hime, there's a trap in that direction'. The next thing I knew, I was already hanging from a tree while inside a net. A trap.

Felix walked to my direction clapping his hands.

"Woah, hime. Not even an hour passed since you said you're not going to be in trouble but look at you…"

I could feel the blood on my face.

"You – YOU SHOULD'VE WARNED ME!"

Felix stopped clapping, "I did, hime. You just didn't listen. Besides, with your <Omnipotence>, you should've seen through it."

I couldn't refute. I was too relaxed that I didn't even bother activating my perception magic which was a totally reckless move! Even Mom told me to always activate it as a countermeasure for surprise attacks! Since its aura (mana) cost is very little to affect my reserves, it will not pose a problem even if I activated it overnight. Besides, aura can be replenished by absorbing them from beings that have aura or taking a few hours rest.

So, whenever a person exhaust too much aura, he just need to sleep or absorb the aura of any living things. Trees, animals… even human beings.

That's why it's also important to control the circulation of one's aura in his body. If it's not controlled, it will leak out slowly. It does not actually pose any problem for some people but for those who were magic casters, it will easily rank one on the most important things to remember. Because losing aura, means losing the energy needed to cast magic.

Beings that do not use magic won't even feel the effect that much. Just a little bit of exhaustion which can also be regained by sleeping.

Remembering my mother's reminder, I activated my magic <Omnipotence> which lets me have a clear picture of my surroundings in a spherical area with a diameter of 20 kilometers. Thus, I can perfectly see everything that happens 10 kilometers away in every direction. 20 kilometers is my maximum, but I can also reduce it into a smaller space. It also has the effect of seeing the maximum aura of people. Reading their skills are also included. Basically, Omnipotence, is a very overpowered perception magic.

The moment I activated it, I saw a party of five people, four guys and one woman. They were snickering while walking towards our direction. They seem to be the one that set up the trap I was caught into.

Wah. In every world, there are always those types of people, ne?

I looked at Felix. Did he notice it too? No, if it's Felix, he probably knows already. He's a careful one and even though our personality differs greatly and we always argue, he has done his job well for the past years. Besides, he also has the perception magic <Vibration> and he's clearly not as clumsy as I am, so, he probably had activated it since the beginning.

I looked at him.

"Hey, Fel. Get me out of here. They're coming."

Felix smiled. The kind of smile where you can never tell what the person was thinking, though it's probably something sinister.

"No, hime. You really look good in there that I want to draw you in a piece of paper and make it an heirloom."

I … was speechless. What the heck is he saying?!

As I was left speechless, the culprits started to appear from the woods.

"Besides, you don't have to stain your hands over these human trashes. Please stay there and enjoy the show."

He said it like that and walked towards the culprits. The humans stood in formation. They were holding weapons for hunting. I wanted to ask what they were hunting, but based on the trap and their reactions… were they hunting fellow humans? I laughed dry. Why do I remember my past officemates right now?

"Oh! It's a jackpot Guru-chi. That girl has an awesome sword. Looks like a unique item." The woman said – she was talking about the word on my hips.

A small bloated man nodded while stroking his long beard.

"Surrender your belongings and we'll leave you unscathed! If you won't, then we'll have no choice but to kill you." – he said. I think he's the boss of this party.

Haah. I've seen many situations like this in anime, and mostly the guys that acted all high and mighty like this are small fries. Via <Omnipotence> I could clearly see their aura, and it's not that much. I can't sense any magic suppressor. So, these guys are really small fries, huh?

And even if they're not, they won't be a match for Felix. Normal humans versus a dragonian? There's clearly a difference. Even though we've became human, we can still use our skills and magic except dragon transformation, so there's nothing to worry about unless a very strong guy appears. But, in this situation, I can't help feeling sorry for the five of them.

Felix is not just an ordinary bodyguard. He is my bodyguard. Dad personally trained him, that's why he won't lose. Not an opponent of this level.

"Speaking of which, that girl looks delicious. Boss, can I have her after?"

Wait. Did I hear it right? He wants to have me?! I almost puke.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in guys. Specially, ones like you!" Besides, I'm also a guy, you know! Though I'm slowly turning into a bishoujo, which I can't seem to stop.

"Hoho. Feisty. Let's see how'd you react if I to touch those pretty legs of yo—"

A knife, like a vacuum, was sent flying and was stuck on the tree behind that ugly guy. On his face appeared a very long scratch, fresh blood started to flow.

"I was planning on at least letting you finish your conversation because hime was interested in human trash like you, but you just stepped on a landmine." The smile, in a flash, became a serious expression. Uh-oh. Felix was emitting an aura that could kill. I wanted to stop him but I was cut off when he approached the ugly guy who had a scratch on his face. The five people started being wary of him.

"I don't really care whatever you do to your fellow humans, but if you insult hime any further, I don't have a choice but to really kill you."

Felix kicked the guy that was sent flying and brought a tree down because of the impact.

"Sulen!" The other guy exclaimed.

"You talk too much for someone so weak." Felix waved his hand, an invitation for the party to attack him.

"Gr, let's go! Kill the guy!" Their boss, Guru, shouted that initiated the start of a one-sided brawl.

Felix easily evaded their attacks and sent them flying one-by-one, except for the woman whom he chopped the neck hitting a vital point causing her to lose consciousness. It did not even reach 20 seconds. Complete annihilation, though no one really died.

He freed me from the net and together we tied the party by a rope which we found on one of their bags. To be tied by your own rope, how would that feel I wonder. I mentally laughed dryly.

"Why didn't you let me fight?" I muttered bitterly. Not like they're worth a fight, but I also want to test my skills too.

"I've said it, right? You don't have to stain your hands over some human trash. Besides, I'm here as your guard. I'll always protect you whatever trouble you get yourself into."

"But I can fight too! You don't have to that! I'm strong."

"I am very well aware of your strength, hime. But… this is my duty."

Somehow, I don't like how that sounds. He is my friend after all.

"Ara? What happened here?" We both moved into a defensive form when a middle-aged woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She doesn't look dangerous, but the fact that she was able to appear without my Omnipotence sensing nor seeing her, is something we cannot overlook. Looking at Felix, it seems she was able to completely avoid Vibration as well.

"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" I asked, ready for anything that will happen.

"Hm. To think that I'd found a party of five beaten over by two people… Well, as expected. I've come over here because I sensed a dreadful aura. Which was probably from one of you. To think I'd be able to see both of you personally, I'm ecstatic!"

"Excuse me, but you didn't answer my first question." I said in a stern voice.

"Ara! How rude of me." She smiled sweetly and then she curtsied in front of me. "I am Shellcy Freia, the owner of this land. Uhm… you can say I'm the Queen of this small country. Welcome to the human world, Dragonian Princess, Hell Hazard Catastropheia. From today onwards, I will be your acting mother while you are staying here on land."