Chapter 193 - A certain princess’ circ.u.mstances. (1/2)

After rescuing the noble lady and reuniting her with her knight Dax figured he was already too deeply involved with them and might as well hear out their full story before deciding if it was worth it to help them, or if killing them both was still the better option. Having returned to his inn room with the two visitors Dax allowed the lady to sit on his bed as him and Chad took some chairs.

”Okay then. Explain what the f.u.c.k that is going on and no lying please, the way I see it you're both dead within a week without my help.”

”You dare question my lady!”

”It's fine Chad.”

As her knight was boiling with anger, the so called princess calmed down her knight as she took a deep breath and started explaining.

”Thank you for saving me Dax. My name is Xi, I'm the first princess of the Ta'ia clan.-”

(Ta'ia? ICI run an archive search.)

(DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED, SYNCING RESULTS.)

While Xi explained her's and her knight's circ.u.mstances Dax ran over the archived intelligence he had spent over a year gathering.

”-I am currently travelling towards the imperial capital to ask for aid from a personal beneficiary.”

”Aid? What kind of aid could you possibly seek that would result in you being marked for death?”

”... My clan has been struck with a calamity. I can't say anything more than that.”

Falling silent as her face turned grim with the mention of a 'calamity' Xi refused to say anything more than that, stating that she couldn't just involve random strangers, even if Dax had saved her two times. Sending the knight and princess pair to rest in another room with the reasoning that he would need the night to contemplate coming to their aid, the qiton stretched before sitting down in an armchair.

(So the land of Ta'ia…. One of the homes of dragonkin, specifically a very powerful type of dragonkin. How the f.u.c.k did they get struck by a calamity so bad that their 1st princess is desperate enough to risk her own life to seek help?... Other than map data and general intelligence and map data….)

Tempted to break radio silence to get some information he could actually act on, Dax remembered he had a subject matter expert in different races right next to him.

”Sword, do you know anything about the dragonkin?”

(Oh?~ How rare of you to ask me a question Dax~ Have you perhaps gone mad?~✿)

Ignoring the cursed sword's annoying tone of voice for the moment Dax took a deep breath to calm down slightly.

”Why would I be mad? We entered a mutually beneficial agreement. I feed you souls-”

(And I help you with fighting~ As I have done and will continue doing~✿)

”Help me with fighting? Ha! ahahaha-”

(What's so funny!?)

As Dax started laughing uncontrollably the sword finally spoke like Dax imagined a cursed weapon would and completely dropped its cutesy tone.

”It seems like you have misunderstood our agreement, let me be perfectly clear: I have and will never need something like you to fight, I need your knowledge and mana manipulation. If you didn't have those things, you would just be a glorified throwing knife.”

Seeing the cursed sword's crimson aura flare in response to Dax's explanation, the qiton formed a smile as he continued.

”Please don't misunderstand my words. I still do very much respect you and we're still partners, I have no plans to change that agreement. I am a qiton, the very definition of a living weapon, but I am out of my element in a strange land. Please tell me what you know about the dragonkin race.”

(... Fine, but promise to never demean me like that again. I have a very short fuse.)

”Sure, partner~ I promise.”

-

With the first morning rays hitting Dax's face he realized he had spent all night thinking.

(Shit… So much for renting an expensive room, I didn't even get to sleep in the bed.)

Getting up from the armchair Dax stretched and went to open a window as he decided what to do.

While supporting the princess which had been marked for death was risky, it also came with multiple advantages. First was the possibility that she was targeted by the same faction which Dax was after, if he followed Xi there was a chance they might target her again and Dax would have a chance to learn more. The second major and perhaps most important factor was cover, while a lone mercenary wandering and looking for work was normal here out in the middle of nowhere, that might not be the case when he closed in on the imperial capital, but a mercenary escorting some noble lady was another story.

(F.u.c.k… I still don't like this…)

But the main issue with supporting Xi stemmed from what the sword had told Dax, according to it, dragonkin were extremely strong and blessed with an immense capacity for mana manipulation, falling somewhere between the level of greater demonkin and angels.

(Why the hell would be so pressed to seek help? Could it be some kind of plague?.... Guess I'll figure it out at some point.)