Chapter 105 - The Princess

'Damn, what happened?'

Rynold woke up back in his cage with a somewhat confused expression. The last thing he remembered was standing in the middle of the arena. So how did he end up back in his cell?

Truthfully, Rynold could distinctly remember what had happened.

He was struck in the neck by a dart that had knocked him out. However, questions were raised in his mind as to why the guards decided to do such a thing. It felt somewhat unnecessary and overkill.

'Maybe I showed too much of my skill, heh.'

Rynold let out a low scoff as he sat up and leaned against the concrete wall. It was understandable to come to that conclusion. After all, it wasn't a common sight to see a person cut open a ghoul of that caliber like cutting through paper.

Regardless, Rynold was back in his cage now. He was obviously still treated like an animal, but there was no point in trying to uncover that train of thought.

He let out a slight sigh as he looked up in the gaps on the walls near the ceiling. The light that was cast through the gaps made the room even more depressing. But, looking up once in a while offered Rynold some deeper perspective.

'So, what do I do now? Keep waiting? I mean, there's nothing else to do.'

Suddenly, the door lifted open as if someone had answered his prayers. Rynold looked to whoever was standing there, only to gaze upon a girl he was unfamiliar with.

"Who exactly are you?" the girl asked, uninhibited.

Rynold lowered his head and kept his eyes on the ground. "Wouldn't you like to know," he answered mockingly.

The girl, who Rynold thought had an air of royalty around her, clicked her tongue at his response.

"I am the Princess of this kingdom. Whenever I ask a question, I expect an answer that is worthy of my time. Therefore, I ask again: who are you? And you better not give me a half-hearted answer, peasant!"

Chuckling, Rynold raised his head and looked at the "Princess" that was looking down on him. "You're a lot like Leo. I guess your parents did an amazing job raising both of you, huh?"

The girl was obviously offended by Rynold's still uncaring and cold response. He successfully struck a nerve in the most direct way possible. For the lack of better judgment, though, the Princess charged straight into the cage, much to the guards' surprise.

However, before she could scold Rynold straight to his face, he raised his hand to signal for the girl to stop.

"Alright, 'Princess.' Before you start going all bananas on me, you should actually ask Leo first. I'm not telling you a single thing that would satisfy you. If anything, I'd piss you off a lot more than you are right now. It's actually surprisingly easy to insult the royals in this place with just words."

The Princess, in utter silence, was taken aback by how accurate Rynold's judgment was, especially with how vulgar he had worded it. However, she didn't come here to get insulted by a creature that was beneath her in every way possible. So, she continued.

"I have already asked my older brother who you are. Unfortunately, peasant, he had given me unsatisfactory answers that have stoked my interest. Whoever you are, my brother is careful enough not to say anything about you. I was surprised to see that my own brother was acting this way to protect someone other than himself."

Rynold scoffed at the Princess's response and simply was unimpressed by how Leo played it. He was completely sure that Leo did that to cover his own ass. If Leo managed to jeopardize the mission by revealing too much, Rynold would be the first to beat him to the ground.

"Whatever your older brother said, he said it so that he could protect himself. He hasn't changed a single bit. He's only gotten a lot more cunning," Rynold denied what the Princess had concluded.

"Anyway," Rynold continued, "Whatever it is you want answers to, I'm sure as hell not going to give it. Also, your guards are stupid enough to leave you unprotected like this."

He slowly stood up and stared daggers at the young Princess. It was enough to intimidate the girl and force her to step back. Only then did the guards realized that they had royally messed up.

They stormed the room with spears drawn and point at Rynold. It was a fast response given their complete lack of judgment in letting a person of royalty come in alone and unarmed.

The Princess took another step back on reflex. It was as if she had willingly come into the lion's den as the man that stood in front of her was unfathomable.

However, contrary to her expectations, Rynold sat back down on the ground.

"So, again, 'Princess,' whatever answers you're trying to find, they aren't here. All I can tell you is what your parents already know. I am Leo's champion. Nothing more, nothing less."

Clicking her tongue in disappointment once more, the Princess turned around and left with the two guards. She was obviously pissed at Rynold for giving her a hard time, but also, her curiosity seemed to spike after the interaction.

'I'm surprised that she didn't scold the two idiots on the spot,' Rynold thought to himself as he saw the door close behind the Princess.

Rynold thought that maybe he had made an enemy. No. With the way how the Princess acted, he'd definitely made another enemy out of her.

'Well, whoever must've agreed to be her champion must be a bigger idiot than the two guards over there,' Rynold sighed and leaned back on the wall once more.

Looking at the same ceiling of the same cage, Rynold let his mind wander.

Back in his room, Leo walked back and forth, deep in thought.

'Man, what the hell do I do?' his thoughts were filled with unanswered questions. 'I can't keep letting Rynold fight in the tournament and expect him to win. Well, he could win without a problem, but what the hell was with his warnings?'

Leo recalled the series of events that had happened the day before. To him, Leo didn't see much of what his parents had planned for the tournament. All he knew was whoever's champion won, they'd be next in line for the throne.

'Honestly, it's not the first time that they did something like this. Mom and Dad always had a mind of their own. Well, that mind was always drunk,. But, whatever whims they thought of, the subjects followed.'

He sat down on his desk chair and started tapping his index finger on the table. It was a habit that he had developed whenever he was nervous.

Truth be told, Leo was whacking his head for the past couple of hours trying to understand what Rynold had meant. The guy never really put his words into any context, and Leo had a hard time making sense of it.

'Damn it!'

Leo slammed his fist onto the table, making a dent that was unmistakable from the naked eye. He had grown frustrated of thinking about it and, at the same time, broke a desk with relative ease.

His current priority was to think of a plan that would overtake his parents and seize the throne. With a complete guarantee, if he might add.

Unfortunately, though, he was effectively on his own since Rynold didn't want to help out with thinking things through.

Leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms, Leo thought that the only thing he could do right now was to wait and see how things would turn out. Being proactive might only put Rynold in harm's way.

'Damn, if only Rynold was the one actually coming up with the damn plan. He should know that I'm not good at all this planning nonsense. Best I could do to help is to cut through people.'

Leo let out a deep sigh. He was truly frustrated in playing a game where he couldn't even see how to win. It bothered him that the circumstances let the only person he could turn to be locked in a cage with the other monsters.

'Maybe I should go visit him again.'

Standing up and walking towards the door, Leo decided to seek Rynold for advice once more. After all, he should've been bored by now stuck in that same cage while doing absolutely nothing.

As Leo opened the door to go visit Rynold, someone stood in his way. With her hand raised up, it was clear that she was about to knock on the door if Leo hadn't opened it.

"Little sister? What are you doing here?" Leo asked the young girl who was standing just outside of his room.

The Princess stared dead in Leo's eyes as she crossed her hands across her chest.

"You're champion is completely out of line! I will have him executed for how he treated me!"