《The Final Monster》


 The Zeroth Lie: I am not a Monster

    Monster. What is the definition of a monster? A creature of nightmares? Or is it something more sinister?


    This was the question that plagued me ever since her passing. A heavy iron scent penetrated my nostrils, making me crinkle my nose in discomfort. Looking down at my hands, I noticed they were covered in blood. She smiled as she lay dying, noticing my sudden discomfort. Was she happy that I had finally started to question myself?


    Ever since that day, I¡¯d started to watch my family closely, judging their actions. I was especially harsh in my assessment towards my ¡®Father¡¯, a man who used his family as a set of personal assassins who did his bidding. Mind you, we were all orphans kidnapped by him. My siblings followed him without question, trying to drown each other just to get his attention.


    Slowly but surely, I started questioning everyone.


    I remember that sort of desperation. I lied, cheated, and stole just to impress him, like a dog wagging his tail to his master after a game of catch. Was I really that brainwashed? I am not that kind of monster; I refuse to be.


    I was sick and tired of that kind of life. Everyday it was the same thing. ¡°Please, my son, release this man from his sins; please, my daughter, protect our family from his desire to separate us,¡± my father would politely and affectionately ask us to murder people in a way that felt justified. His words were like sweet poisonous honey to everyone. We all wanted his approval. Including me.


    When I lost the girl very dear to me, I ran up to him in tears, my knees shaking as my legs collapsed under their own weight, he looked at me like he had a cockroach on his dinner plate.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    I tried to tell him about her demise, but as I cried out in front of him, he tiredly sighed as though he simply couldn¡¯t be bothered with me.


    That moment was when the scales really fell from my eyes. This man didn¡¯t care about me, much less any of my other siblings. So I decided to escape.


    I smuggled a ride out to Alaska the first chance I got. Even though I hated the cold white snow, Alaska had significant meaning to me.


    It was her resting place.


    Probably not a smart idea, all things considered. It was very predictable for me to go there, but a part of me couldn¡¯t resist going back. I needed to say goodbye to her.


    As my boots marked the snow, two of my siblings surrounded me. I had just gotten out of a small hotel building when they pulled out their knives. No guns? I pondered. They wanted to make this quiet.


    ¡°Hello Fyodor,¡± my hand waved at my older ¡®brother¡¯ nonchalantly, before locking my gaze with Sonia, my younger ¡®sister¡¯, ¡°Been a while, Sonia.¡±


    I looked calm and collected on the surface, but deep down I was sweating buckets. I knew they¡¯d find me, but I didn¡¯t think it would be this soon.


    ¡°Nothing personal, just Father¡¯s orders,¡± Fyodor said, twirling his knife.


    ¡°What? Are you kidding me?¡± Sonia glared at our elder brother, ¡°This woman had the gall to abandon us. I¡¯m making this personal!¡±


    Seeing as I was stuck in the worst possible situation, I bolted straight out of there. Taking on both of them at the same time was guaranteed death for me.


    I didn¡¯t make it far before I felt a stinging pain in my ankle. Intense heat swelled from my foot to my leg, making me collapse. Fyodor¡¯s knife breached through the armor underneath my clothes. His strength was always so damn terrifying.


    Immediately afterwards, I yanked out the knife lodged in my ankle, catching a glimpse of my flesh mend itself back together as I jumped back up and flung the knife back at Fyodor.


    Sonia snarled and charged at me. Instinctively, I grabbed a pile of snow under my feet and threw it straight at her eyes, blinding her.


    A crowd started to gather, taking pictures with their visors. Taking this opportunity, I swam into the sea of people, using them to lose my pursuers.


    My siblings were right on my tail, even with all the distracting bodies swarming around me. I saw a glimpse of a shining metal at the corner of my eye.


    Then, a deafening sound breached my ears; a searing pain ate at my sides. My vision turned red.


    I found myself in a forest, running from my pursuers and bleeding to death. My lungs burned as my throat choked on air. What I didn¡¯t know at the time, was that while I was able to escape my siblings, I¡¯d find myself at a much more dire situation...in a whole other world far different from my own.

 The First Lie: The Final Monsters Name

    God I hated the color white.


    I hated it with a passion. It didn¡¯t help that I was surrounded by snow for a thousand miles in this godforsaken forest. My eyesight was dyed a deep red from the blood in my eyes. My lungs heaved, pushing my broken body beyond its limits. My regeneration was hampered from the bullet too deep in my side.


    I felt the frozen air clog up my metal suit that peered out of my torn-up coat. I looked down at my side, where a gaping hole stood in my armor. I could see frozen blood clog up my bare skin. The ice started to seep its way into my sensors, messing up my temperature regulator.


    My drooping eyelids threatened to put me to sleep in this blizzard. I felt tired, hungry, and I think I started developing frostbite from my exposed side.


    I held a pistol on my right palm. Checking its ammo, I noticed I only had six bullets left in the chamber. Tch, I clicked my tongue in frustration.


    I was stranded, low on ammo, and was bleeding from my side. Shit, I berated myself, Why the hell did I come here again? I said, regret apparent for running to the Alaskan forest the moment I took off my gas mask, nearly suffocating; I instantly felt the burning cold seep into the cuts of my face. ¡°Agh!¡± That was a stupid decision.


    The pain jolted my consciousness awake; I was half grateful for that. If I had fallen asleep here, my siblings would¡¯ve found me, or worse, I would¡¯ve gone to an early grave. My feet stumbled through the snow like an infant just barely learning how to walk. I couldn¡¯t focus my energy on walking.


    My skin started to feel prickly as if I were hovering my hand over a red hot flame.


    To think my siblings had chased me all the way to Alaska. Apparently my father didn¡¯t appreciate my departure and sent them all to kill me. Should I have felt honored he poured all this attention into killing me? Hell no.


    I heard explosions in the background. Looking up, I saw clouds of smoke rising up. That must¡¯ve meant my siblings were close by. There were going to blow up everything in an attempt to flush me out. I didn¡¯t have very long until they find me.


    My visibility was pretty much in the trash as the snowstorm swarmed my surroundings. Snow fell on my head and shoulders at a rapid rate, turning me into a walking snowwoman.


    A short while ago I felt desperate to survive, but now I felt exhausted. If it wasn¡¯t for the pain I would¡¯ve fallen asleep then died from hypothermia.


    I was hanging on by a thread.


    Haahhhh... I really don¡¯t want to die, I thought. But...I don¡¯t think I can get out of here¡­ Resigned, I sat on my knees, and as they slowly sank in the snow like quicksand, I shut my eyes.


    Aghhh, a strange smell, possibly perfume, overwhelmed my senses. The snow that once paralyzed my sense of touch was now gone. I felt a sense of incongruity as everything around me changed. I was no longer surrounded by white death, but by an expansive red carpet.


    My body shivered, even as I was gone from the cold. Hypothermia must¡¯ve set in before I noticed it. I just didn¡¯t notice it. Was I suffering from frostbite? Frostnip?


    I pushed with all of my strength just to look up at a crowd staring at me. They all seemed to wear gaudy dresses and suits. What the hell? My jaw dropped, then I laughed sardonically, or tried to, but only a pained chuckle wormed its way out of my throat as I continued shivering.


    From the middle of the crowd sat someone who wore some gaudy dress-like suit, with a crown on his head. Next to him were two twin girls ¨C I presumed daughters of his. They wore some kind of fancy and puffy royal clothing with crowns of their owns.


    They looked like princesses.


    Farther down the right, I noticed a girl wearing robes and a pointy hat, standing next to the King. Was she a queen? No, she looked more like a subject of the king than his wife.


    I looked down at my data pad attached to my left arm, wondering if my sensors would work if I smacked it a few times. Nope, the data pad didn¡¯t work. I hoped the voice command AI still worked.


    At least I still had my knife, gun, and mask. I held the mask and noticed particles of ice seeped through the lenses. The glass was cracked.


    Then, I heard a few ¨C no ¨C dozen voices overlapping each other.


    They were speaking in a strange tongue; it was foreign, almost alien. I tapped the earpiece on my left ear. ¡°Athens¡­activate the language modulator.¡± Hopefully the AI was still functional enough to translate languages.


    Then, almost in real-time, their voices became understandable through the AI speaking into my ear. ¡°Decoding and translating language,¡± I heard Athens say.


    ¡°A woman?¡±


    ¡°I thought summoned heroes were supposed to be males¡­¡±


    ¡°What is the king supposed to do? He only has princesses.¡±


    ¡°Look, she has a dagger at her waist. She¡¯s probably an assassin or knight.¡±


    ¡°A female hero? I don¡¯t know how to feel about that.¡±


    Am I hallucinating from the cold? Did I get summoned to another world? Am I in the afterlife?


    I had no clue.


    ¡°Oooh! The hero¡¯s a girl!¡± One of the princesses squealed.


    ¡°Maybe we should have Duke Renold¡¯s son marry her?¡± Her twin said offhandedly. She looked bored out of her mind.


    Are they trying to sell me? I startled. None of them seemed to realize I was freezing.


    ¡°The way she¡¯s twitching is starting to scare me. She¡¯s creepy, isn¡¯t she?¡± Some haughty woman snarled at me.


    ¡°I-isn¡¯t she shivering? She¡¯s shivering! She¡¯s sick! We need to help her!¡± Another person cried out. At least he had better judgement.


    Suddenly, the seemingly-most important man in the room stood up, staff in hand. ¡°Knights! Bring her to a healer! Now!¡± His voice echoed through the throne room.


    Knights? Haaaah....this is so clich¨¦¡­


    A bunch of rough-looking men in medieval armor surrounded me. A handsome looking old man with silver hair, the captain ¨C I think? ¨C raised me up and ran with an ounce of his strength. He was taking me to the infirmary. With a powerful kick, he flung open two metal doors. A frightened hyah! reverberated through the room. I turned my eyes towards this ¡®healer¡¯ and noticed it was a woman in her late twenties.


    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you not to-¡± Her words died as she looked at me shivering. Immediately, she signaled to place me on a bed.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I was probably a decade younger than her as I noticed her small wrinkles on her cheeks. Her long red hair jump as she quickly dashed towards me as the knight placed me on a small bed as gently as possible.


    ¡°I need to remove her clothes, leave the room,¡± the doctor-esque healer commanded the knight with a harsh voice. He bowed and left the room. From the corner of my eye, I saw several knights had followed him.


    The captain shut the door behind him and left.


    I felt the doctor¡¯s hands fiddle with my armor. She had no idea how to remove them, looking confused and frustrated as she constantly tried to peel off the armor. They were locked by what was left of my Athens AI system.


    ¡°System¡­disengage...¡± I muttered. Immediately, my suit opened up, which startled the doctor, but she quickly recollected herself and removed all the metal platings, then had a much easier time removing the black foam clothing. Many pieces of it were frozen, though.


    In my birthday suit, considering practically all of my clothing were either frozen or wet, she immediately wrapped me in these warm blankets. ¡°Hold still, do not move,¡± she said as she started preparing some kind of drink. I couldn¡¯t tell its color nor its odour, but as she brought it to my lips, I felt it was warm ¨C not too hot, but definitely not cold.


    I started feeling much better, all things considered. ¡°F-ood¡­¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± She handed me two bananas and I gulped them down with fervor. I was still hungry, but my stomach wasn¡¯t feeling as terrible as before.


    I started to feel really sleepy as the warmth from the drink and blankets really started to settle in.


    I guess I should go to slee-


    SMACK.


    I felt a massive sting at my cheek. Startled, I looked up at the doctor; her palm was red. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I need you to stay awake. Otherwise you can die.¡±


    ¡°Oh....right....¡±


    After what felt like a whole day of intense treatment, the doctor let me leave the infirmary care. Every time I was about to fall asleep, she would use less-than-peaceful methods to keep me awake. She had guts; I liked her.


    I was still confused and irritated throughout the whole process, though.


    I guess I wasn¡¯t too good of an assessor when it came to my own health, but what did I know; doctors know best.


    After my hypothermia was ¡®cured¡¯ and I was safe, the doctor called a knight that was stationed outside the room ¨C I said a knight, but it was the captain.


    I held the blanket against my skin as I observed him.


    ¡°Captain Albert,¡± the doctor curtsied. Albert, huh, I thought. She continued, ¡°Call the maids to bring her some nightwear ¨C preferably warm.¡±


    ¡°On it, Doctor Hawthorne.¡±


    He left, and after a few minutes, another knock was heard on the door; the doctor opened it, and three maids entered the infirmary with some boxes. I peeked inside the wooden boxes they carried and I noticed some fancy nightwear. At least they weren¡¯t the risqu¨¦ kind ¨C they looked more like pajamas, really.


    One of them carried some medieval underwear, a loose-fitting shirt, and a weird tie-in undergarment.


    ¡°Excuse us for our rudeness, Lady Hero,¡± the tallest maid of the three said. She looked more like an Amazon woman than a maid, especially with her tanned skin and scars; she looked horribly misplaced in that outfit. Still, she wasn¡¯t bad-looking. Her dark skin and the white maid outfit clashed pretty well.


    Immediately, they got to work. The short black-haired maid with rimmed glasses and a freckled face shoved me in those medieval undergarments while the other two practically slid the paja-err, nightwear on me. The Amazon maid slid the pants while the shortest of the three ¨C a blonde woman with green eyes, raised my hands in order to place the shirt on me.


    Them having pajamas similar to my planet¡¯s own felt odd, but if my hypothesis is correct, then if there were otherworld ¡®heroes¡¯ like me, they could have influenced this kingdom¡¯s culture.


    ¡°Let¡¯s escort you to your room, Lady Hero,¡± the amazon maid said, ¡°His Majesty wishes to have an audience with you tomorrow morning after you have recuperated.¡±


    I¡¯ve only muttered like five words since coming here and they¡¯re all talk about heroes and kings. Give me a break, will you?


    Exhausted, I observed my new room. The king-sized bed was filled with frills and was proficiently made. There was a mirror placed on a large wooden drawer painted black; there was no small amounts of jewelry on top. To add to that, there were several medieval make-up products. Hah, I thought, I¡¯m not going to use them. The walls were high-quality stone, and the windows were massive; the curtains over them were a beautiful blue. The room was quite extravagant, to say the least.


    I noticed my gas mask and armor placed neatly on a chair next to the drawer. My knife and gun were missing, unfortunately. Were the maids holding onto my weapons? I¡¯m sure they¡¯re studying my gun, I thought, It''d be funny if someone shoots themselves in the foot.


    Though the addition of a mirror, make-up, and jewelry must have been added in a hurry because they just found out the hero isn¡¯t a man. I really wish they¡¯d put effort in more important things, like explaining what the fuck I¡¯m doing here, I sighed.


    I shook my head, saying ¡°whatever¡± as I jumped headfirst into the bed. I didn¡¯t care much about appearances, and I won¡¯t any time soon.


    Wrapping myself around the dark red blankets, my eyes focused on the ceiling. I drifted off to sleep.


    At the time I probably should¡¯ve done some intelligence gathering like spying on the King, but I was too tired. Hahh¡­I¡¯ll figure out my next move tomorrow.


    I had a terrible dream that night; if there¡¯s one thing I hate about sleeping is the constant reminders. Every time I dream, she appears: my regret in human form.


    Several hours later¡­


    Gasp! I woke up with dried tears in the crust of my eyes. I struggled for air. Ugh¡­I had a nightmare. Wiping the crust off my eyes drowsily, I noticed I was still in the Hero¡¯s personal chambers, well, my chambers. My right ear hurt from sleeping with the translating earpiece on.


    It was hard to focus my eyes due to the drowsiness and dried tears. ¡°I should wash my face,¡± I muttered to myself.


    After calling the Amazon maid, she escorted me to the washroom; I noticed it had a sink with a blue gem attached to the top of the faucet. There were sparkles inside the blue gem like the electricity of a battery. I turned to Claire,¡°Hey Amazon mai-¡°


    ¡°Claire.¡± She interrupted me.


    Teasingly, I decided to say it again, ¡°Amazo-¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s Claire.¡±


    Whoops, dangerous territory, I thought, ¡°Claire, any mouth products to clean teeth in the morning?¡± Please say yes, please say ye-


    In the cabinet next to me, she fiddled through and took out a bottle of what looked like blue toothpaste and a brand new toothbrush. Seeing these two products in a fantasy world made me confused. Maybe this world¡¯s technology is advanced through magic rather than science? Many of these products seem to be magical counterparts of stuff over at my world.


    ¡°Thanks, Amazon mai-¡°


    ¡°Claire!¡±


    ¡°Th-thanks Claire,¡± I grimaced. I felt that if I forgot her name again, she¡¯d definitely smack me with a metal basin.


    After I left the washroom with Claire behind me, the other two maids from yesterday along with several new ones surrounded me. I noticed some had pointy ears, others had animal ears, and one even had scales. Truly, a fantasy world, I thought. I nearly snickered, desperate to keep my poker face at just how hilariously outrageous my situation was.


    ¡°Lady Hero, please excuse our discourtesy,¡± they literally dragged me back to my room where I noticed several different clothes ¨C ranging from knightly to noblewoman style, neatly laid on my bed. They must¡¯ve been in my room while I was in the washroom.


    I had a bad feeling about this when a black-haired elven maid smiled at me. Shit. Never had I been stripped that fast before. These women had skills.


    After what felt like a dozen outfit changes, they finally stuck me in what looked like a ceremonial knight dress designed not for women, but for men. My physique was more manly than ladylike, considering I was more muscular than curvy and had countless scars.


    When they had stripped me, all the maids ¨C excluding Claire, gasped. For what seemed like forever, they stared at my stomach and back. Many of them grimaced, others shot gazed of sympathy over the countless scars and burns my body has accumulated over the years.


    Claire was the only one who shot me a look of acknowledgement and pride. This woman is a warrior clich¨¦ through and through, isn¡¯t she?


    The raven-haired maid with glasses (from earlier) placed her hands together in a prayer-like fashion, ¡°I, Lilia Schwartz, humbly wish you victory.¡±


    So her name was Lilia.


    I decided to ignore the fact that she practically sending me off to war without my consent. ¡°And your name?¡± I pointed towards the blonde green-eyed woman from yesterday. She nearly flinched from being singled out.


    ¡°Alicia Gerald,¡± she curtsied, ¡°Pleased to have made your acquaintance.¡±


    I nodded in acknowledgement. I was going to ask the other maids ¨C especially the scaly one and the black-haired elven maid, their names, but decided against it. I didn¡¯t really have the time for that as I was literally standing buck-naked.


    Some of them looked a little disappointed since I didn¡¯t ask for their names when I said, ¡°It¡¯s getting breezy here.¡±


    They got the message as they resumed toying with me as their dress-up doll until they stuck me with said-ceremonial knight dress.


    The black pants were a snug fit, and the belt carried a very beautiful silver sword with a red handle. I could tell it was only ceremonial, though.


    Crimson buttons ran down from both sides of my black suit, with golden pads on both of my shoulders. The maids also trimmed my hair a bit. It didn¡¯t take too long since it was already short enough.


    The collar was way too tight though. I sorely wished I was wearing my old suit from before I got here, but that thing was broken and battered badly. Would I even be able to fix it?


    I felt dizzy after the maids basically prettied me up, but they basically dragged me up afterwards and escorted me to the throne room. Sighhhh.....My lack of enthusiasm was chastised by Claire.


    She¡¯s already started getting chummy with me. Could I use this?


    After a few minutes, the maids opened two large doors, and the blinding light of the throne room entered my pupils. They quickly dragged me to the front of the king, and they all knelt in his audience, their gazes plastered on the red carpet below them.


    Alicia glanced at me, giving me puppy dog eyes, begging me to kneel.


    No. I shook my head, I¡¯m not kneeling.


    The king gazed at me, assessing my worth. He seemed amused that I didn¡¯t kneel like the quivering maids did. I kept my poker face on. I hated politicians and knew I had to keep my guard up around them. ¡°Greetings, Lady Hero from another world. I am King Narci¡¯Hya the fourth, and these two,¡± two princesses emerged from behind his arms, ¡°Are my daughters, Princess Narci¡¯Zinnia and Narci¡¯Amaryllis.¡±


    Twins ¨C exact copies of each other, had reddish-flame hair and somewhat pointy features. Their hazel eyes contrasted with their hair, making them even more breath-taking.


    The one on the left ¨C Zinnia, had a meeker personality, as she shied away from my direct eye contact by hiding behind her father¡¯s arm. Amaryllis, though, was definitely snobby as she had an aura of ¡®stuck-up royalty¡¯. It definitely seemed like she wanted me as an asset.


    One thing they did share in common -apart from appearances ¨C was that they were both eyeing me up. I suppose they wanted to know my abilities.


    Another thing I noticed is that their names didn¡¯t follow the same conventional naming pattern anyone else here had.


    I didn¡¯t see the robed woman anywhere.


    ¡°You have many questions, O¡¯Lady Hero of Ours, and I shall explain.¡± There were nobles below the king, and as they glimpsed at me angrily, one almost shouted before the king waved his hand so regally, essentially shutting him up. ¡°Our kingdom, the great Dahlia Kingdom, currently suffers attacks from two sides: the Empire of Thorn, and the Ghost Forest. We require the strength of an otherworlder to push them back and regain the peace the Dahlia Kingdom has worked to hard to protect.¡±


    Typical. They want to use me as a soldier.


    ¡°Those barbaric draconians and parasitic majin dare threaten our lovely kingdom¡¯s peace! We implore you to lend us your aid, O¡¯Lady Hero of Ours.¡± He gave me a very vague look, almost poker-faced, but a slight upward curve of his lips told me that whatever he was going to say next was filled with malicious intent. ¡°May we know your name, O¡¯Lady Hero of Ours?¡±


    There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my gut. My stomach churned just by looking at the slight half-smirk the King gave me. A glint in his eyes rang warning sirens in my ears. Something told me I shouldn¡¯t answer his question.


    My instincts screamed not to trust him.


    My mouth moved as smoothly as possible. ¡°Allyson Parker.¡±


    I lied. Everywhere I went, I spewed lies left and right.


    And what I said to the King...That was my very first lie in another world.


    Spoiler: Spoiler<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">

 The Second Lie: Cant Say that I Have

    As the name escaped my lips, the King smiled even further; he couldn¡¯t suppress his glee. Something about me saying my name made him extremely happy while it sent shivers down my spine. His daughters looked at me; one with pity, the other with a weird shine in her eyes.


    King Hya whispered something to a subordinate behind him. The nobles looked at me as some sort of object. The Princess, Zinnia ¨C I think ¨C gave me an excited look; that surprised me, but I kept quiet. I am fairly good at self-control, if I say so myself.


    ¡°Lady Parker, is that right?¡± My right eye twitched as he uttered my alias.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, with a doll smile plastered on my face.


    King Hya shuffled his legs as if contemplating something. He studied my face and muttered something under his breath. I tilted my head, confused as I didn¡¯t hear him. He simply shrugged off my confused look as he continued, ¡°Everyone in the Dahlia Kingdom, including the summoned champion, can use a spell called [Aura] which allows us to see your magic through a manifestation, the spell formed by the Goddess Athena. Every living being has an invisible magical aura detectable or visible through spells or tools. Now, show me your magical aura.¡±


    I swear this is getting more and more clich¨¦ by the second! I screamed internally. So I drew closer to him, trying to read his expressions as he beckoned me towards him. My feet dragged through the red carpet as he appeared to get larger and larger, until I was in front of his throne.


    As I was close to him, I said, ¡°[Aura.]¡±


    ¡­.


    A few seconds had passed.


    ¡°Try it again?¡± The King said, confused. The twin princesses looked at each other; I could see the question marks on their heads.


    ¡°[Aura.]¡±


    Nothing came out.


    ¡°Hm¡­.¡± His eyes furrowed, ¡°You there,¡± He called out to a random noble, ¡°Show her your magical aura.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± A male noble, dressed in white garbs, scurried behind me. I turned to him and noticed a slight glare beneath his eyes. ¡°[Aura].¡±


    The king turned to me and pointed at thin air, ¡°Do you see it now? That¡¯s how you use [Aura].¡± I just looked at the two, confused and miffed as though they were trying to teach me how to walk, but I was too idiotic to learn. He looked at me, expecting me to say ¡®Yes¡¯ as if it were obvious.


    I shook my head slowly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t see it.¡±


    King Hya groaned, clearly annoyed and muttered,¡°...The Sage and I are going to have to talk about this¡­.¡± He snapped his fingers and one of his personal maids instantly jumped up and ran to his side, revealing a small transparent crystal ball from her bottom maid pocket.


    Are these maids ready for everything?


    ¡°Here, hold this. This mana jewel shall show both your element and amount of mana once you touch it.¡±


    Without kneeling, I grasped the crystal. It stayed transparent. ¡°It¡¯s not changing color.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow, confused. Everyone else looked at me like some kind of freak. Princesses Zinnia and Amaryllis had funny faces plastered on their pretty little annoyingly cute faces; fitting for bratty royalty. Though that might just be my bias talking.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible¡­it can¡¯t detect your mana? Or you don¡¯t have mana in the first place? All living things should have mana¡­All the previous incarnations of the hero had an outstanding amount of mana¡­what is this blasphemy¡­Is this woman an undead?...did we...fail?¡±


    And there it was. They all looked at me as if I was some sort of failed weapons experiment. I knew those gazes, those glares of contempt.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    At first they were looks of envy, but now, their eyes were saying, ¡®What a waste of space¡¯.


    I hated it; it made me feel sick. I incurred their displeasure, but what angered me was that they had the audacity to try to throw me away after dragging me here against my will.


    Chalk it up to my anger management issues, I don¡¯t care.


    The King held his chin in contemplation. He looked at me, then looked at the Knight Captain. ¡°Albert.¡±


    King Hya shooed both the maid and the noble as Albert made his way to him. ¡°Test Lady Allyson. I shall head to the barracks with you soon, I want to have a good grasp of her strength.¡±


    ¡°Your grace,¡± He bowed respectfully. ¡°Come,¡± Albert turned to me, ¡°We¡¯ll go to the barracks where I will train you.¡±


    Train, he says. Sure, buddy. Why not. I snarled sarcastically. Well, I kept a poker face throughout the entire ordeal though.


    As I followed him out of the throne room, with the maids following close behind, I heard a sickeningly sweet voice speak, ¡°Father¡­can I go watch? I¡¯d definitely love to see Lady Hero in action!¡±


    ¡°Very well, Zinnia,¡± Narci¡¯Hya heartedly laughed, ¡°I¡¯ll let you scratch your curiosity, but stay close to me.¡±


    ¡°Seriously, sister?¡± Who I presumed was Amaryllis voiced, ¡°Why do you enjoy watching these barbaric acts?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I think it¡¯s honorable to watch two warriors fight each other. We can learn from the-¡°


    ¡°We don¡¯t even know if this Lady Hero is even capable of fighting Captain Albert! Did you forget she has absolutely no magic?! She¡¯s a freak who doesn¡¯t even have a spec of magi-¡°


    Hm¡­I¡¯ll manipulate this Princess Zinnia to the best of my ability, then.


    I turned my attention away from them as I walked behind Albert. I noticed he had his hand on his sheathed sword the whole time. He was ready to strike me down at any time, it seemed. When it comes to that, he¡¯ll die, I nodded to no one in particular.


    My eyes scanned the interior of the castle closer than before. I noticed violet drapery over some of the windows. I took a peek outside before Albert caught on that I was lagging behind him. It was an eerily gray morning. The clouds blocked whatever sunlight tried to seep through.


    ¡°What gloomy weather,¡± slipped out of my mouth.


    Albert suddenly noticed I was far behind him. He stopped and waited for me. The Captain was quite the gentleman, wasn¡¯t he?


    He studied what I was looking at and noticed I was peered at the sky through the window. ¡°The weather is entering the cold season.¡±


    ¡°Oh? I can see that,¡± I responded, not all that interested in what he just said.


    A heavy sigh escaped his throat as he urged me to the barracks. Honestly¡­I didn¡¯t care at all that he was annoyed at having to escort me; it was his job.


    The captain ushered me forward.


    We finally arrived at the barracks with a mentally exhausted Albert. I supposed it was because I stalled him a lot. He looked annoyed when I kept straying away from him. The maids giggled at watching the source of Albert¡¯s frustration, a.k.a. me.


    What can I say? I enjoyed the scenery. It was so¡­medieval. Well¡­it was medieval. Sort of. More like magically advanced rather than scientifically.


    The barracks were a wide-open room with tons of knights training against wooden dummies. They held wooden swords. Sweat poured out of their palms, with their hair visibly tangled with all the sweat. The stench of the room was near-unbearable.


    It was at that moment I learned I was going to miss air filtering; not only was this place hot, but it also stunk. It took everything I had not to pinch my nose in disgust; I had to bite my lip.


    Welp, I thought, Should I hide my abilities, or go all-out?


    ¡°Are you Lady Hero?¡± A man scurried towards me. He must¡¯ve been a knight-in-training because he looked quite young. Maybe in his early twenties? Possibly younger. He gave me a bright smile. A little closer and I¡¯d think you¡¯d be flirting with me, knight.


    ¡°Indeed I am, but I¡¯ll let you call me Parker.¡± My tone was very arrogant.


    ¡°A-ah, yes, Lady Parker.¡± His smile stiffened a little, but overall maintained his graciousness. He probably didn¡¯t expect my cheeky tone. Well, sorry for not being your stereotypical ¡®hero¡¯, kiddo.


    Recollecting himself, the younger knight said, ¡°My name¡¯s Gerald Stein. I¡¯m a big fan of the hero legends! To think you¡¯re the first female hero! I¡¯m finally experiencing something historical!¡±


    ¡°Well, nice to meet you too, Mr. Stein,¡± My bemused tone set him off again. He started to sweat buckets. I simply tilted my head, feigning ignorance as I smiled thinly at him.


    The other knights started to walk over to us when Captain Albert exclaimed to the others, including wimpy Stein, ¡°Clean the area! His Majesty and his daughter Princess Zinnia are going to watch a match between Lady Parker and I!¡±


    They all stood stiff for a moment, but quickly collected their bearings as they started carrying mops and buckets to clean the smooth marvel floor from the excess sweat.


    I heard some shuffling behind me and noticed the maids preparing some high-end chairs. I completely forgot those girls existed. Whoopsie.


    After about a good hour or two of barrack cleaning and kingly throne-preparing, Hya and his overeager daughter Zinnia appeared. They sat on those two fancy-looking throne chairs with a couple of servants (butlers, to be precise) and a dozen royal guards. Amaryllis was mysteriously absent. Neither were Amaryllis or the Sage present.


    Lilia scurried over to me and brought me a fancy-looking cup with a transparent liquid in it, almost like water. I placed my nose over it. Smells like wine, I thought as I drank it. Tasted like white wine. It was good quality, but I only had a sip. I returned the wine cup to Lilia, who frowned a bit at how little I drank. I¡¯m not the drinker type.


    The two royals and Albert had the same drink given to them by Claire, Alicia, and the other two maids ¨C the scaly maid and the black-haired elven maid whose names I didn¡¯t know. Well, the scaly maid brought food to them ¨C mainly a large bowl of fruit with a bunch of grapes, apple slices, and other condiments in it.


    After Hya and Zinnia got comfortable, the King asked (more like demanded) the Captain and I to begin the duel. Two knights ¨C one of them Gerald, brought two wooden swords. Albert grabbed the unknown knight¡¯s sword while I took Gerald¡¯s; he seemed a bit happy I took his sword.


    ¡°Veena,¡± Albert addressed the scaly maid. Oh, her name¡¯s Veena. ¡°You will announce the start of the match.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir Albert.¡± She bowed respectfully towards him. Huh, he can command these maids freely.


    Albert took a ferocious stance with the sword. He looked extremely focused as a strange blue light encompassed the sword. Magic? I thought to myself, Interesting.


    Although I couldn¡¯t use magic, I wasn¡¯t the least bit intimidated.


    Honestly, the longest blade I¡¯m comfortable with were daggers¨C an assassin¡¯s tool. This will be a good experience, I smiled.


    I held up the sword to match Albert¡¯s. However, I was keenly aware at how Claire, Zinnia, and Gerald were looking at me with sparkling eyes.


    To focus, I looked straight into Albert¡¯s eyes. He looked at me like a predator would to a quarry, but I returned the same glare. He seemed a little surprised.


    Before starting the match, Albert asked me a question. ¡°Are you experienced in swordsmanship, Lady Parker?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say that I have,¡± I smiled. I held up the sword closer to him, and slowly closed my eyes. I waited for the match to start.


    ¡°Reeaaaady!¡± Veena¡¯s voice reached my ears, ¡°Start!¡±


    It¡¯s time to command respect.

 The Third Lie: Id Like To Know What I Can Do, Too

    Blue aura surrounded the Captain. Albert charged at me; I felt the wind push me. My short hair flew backwards, almost like an ostrich. His speed caused a whirlwind in the room. For a moment, my eyes widened in surprise. He noticed and gave me a slightly proud smirk.


    I sidestepped, just narrowly dodged his attack, then gave his back a slight push to knock him off-balance. The moment we made contact, though, I heard a breaking sound. It was like glass shattering into a million pieces.


    When he regained his balance, he looked at me strangely. The light-blue aura disappeared and the raging whirlwind just¡­vanished.


    I noticed everyone slack-jawed when my eyes wandered around the room. Zinnia looked astonished and giggly, as if she just found her idol. The King rested his chin on his hand as he looked over me, contemplating something.


    Taking this opportunity, I smacked the still-surprised Albert with the wooden sword on the head. That shocked him out of his stupor, but when he came back, the match was over. He dropped the sword and sighed in defeat.


    ¡°My¡­win?¡± I shrugged awkwardly. My lips formed into a cramped smile.


    I looked down at my right palm as I opened and closed it repeatedly. Something definitely shattered when my hand brushed Albert¡¯s back, but I didn¡¯t know what.


    ¡°W-wow¡­¡± Zinnia gazed at me with upturned eyes. It weirded me out a bit. ¡°Allyson definitely has the makings of a hero!¡± She ran up to me, grabbed both my hands, and shook them intensely. Zinnia was really eager to watch me, it seemed.


    It felt pretty ticklish having a teenager look up to me like Zinnia did. I felt she was way too easy-going and na?ve compared to her haughty twin sister or her obviously manipulative pops.


    Zinnia taught me ¡®birds of a feather flock together¡¯ isn¡¯t always true.


    Were they raised differently? I thought to myself as I lightly bit the joint of my finger. I caught myself, slowly irritated I couldn¡¯t get rid of my anxious biting habits.


    I looked up at the sparkling princess, my hand subconsciously stroked her braided dirty-blonde hair. I formed a sweet smile at her; she seemed genuinely happy at my reaction. Good.


    ¡°Thank you, Princess Zinnia,¡± I told her, ¡°I was nervous during this fight. I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d be able to impress you.¡± My voice contained an emphasis on you. I wanted to make Zinnia believe we were going to be close. Manipulating a princess didn¡¯t sound too bad in the long run.


    I thought to myself, Ah, this person probably didn¡¯t have many friends. Since I was a foreign person, Zinnia probably wanted to take this opportunity to make friends.


    When I first talked to Zinnia, I had noticed the nobles more interested in her sister¡¯s reaction of me; none of the were looking at Zinnia.


    Was it because of throne succession? That was probably it. I was in deep thought when Zinnia pulled my arm; she was being a bit pouty.


    ¡°Geez, you weren¡¯t paying attention,¡± She bit her lip in mild frustration. For me to not have heard it, I really must¡¯ve been day-dreaming.


    I wonder if I could use her to get out of this castle. They¡¯re most likely going to want to control me, I thought to myself. Before my ¡®summoning¡¯, my life was mostly just following orders from white coat bigwigs. Clearly, I was nothing more than a weapon to them. I wanted something different now.


    I had a chance to really be free.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t quite hear you, Princess Zinnia,¡± I said, giggling as I saw her frown a little more.


    She pouted like a squirrel, but quickly collected her bearings, ¡°I was wondering if you wanted to attend a tea party with me.¡±


    A tea party? That really didn¡¯t suit me. My hands folded back my sleeves to see the countless knife scars underneath. I made sure not to let the princess see my arms, though.


    If I can compare this world to the fantasy fiction novels back on Earth, then tea parties are typically to meddle with noble society. People were probably going to try to butter me up there.


    While I didn¡¯t want to bother with that, I couldn¡¯t deny the usefulness of expanding my contacts, especially since I just arrived to this world about a day ago.


    I should go¡­but¡­why am I feeling so uneasy? I looked down to where my scars were, then glanced at Zinnia¡¯s face, devoid of scars.


    This¡­is a complicated feeling.


    Pushing myself, I asked her, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re fine with me attending one of your tea parties? I am a soldier, definitely not a noble.¡± It came out as a half-plea to not invite me.


    She placed both palms together and gave me a bright smile, ¡°Of course! You¡¯re the summoned hero! People will love to see you!¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I see¡­So it¡¯s basically just a Hero exhibition¡­I sighed internally. My shoulders drooped a little. I shouldn¡¯t have expected anything more than that. They want to prop me up like a statue.


    Why am I suddenly feeling disappointed?


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a nice change of pace,¡± I said, without breaking my smile, ¡°When is it?¡±


    ¡°A week from today! I¡¯ll have Father send you the invitation tonight!¡± She scurried to her father¡¯s side and whispered something in his ear.


    I nodded with a ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it¡± smile.


    Though firstly, I needed to learn the language of this world. The only reason I was able to speak with them is because of the AI ear-to-voice earpiece that pretty much translates everything they say to me and vice versa. However, it was at low battery; fifty-nine percent to be exact. Not to mention the Athens AI was damaged; it was only a matter of time before Athens deteriorated completely.


    I needed to fix Athens, my suit, and find another power source if I wanted to salvage what I brought to this world.


    Unfortunately, there didn¡¯t seem to be much use of electricity in this place. While there were lights, the maids told me everything in the castle was powered by mana crystals, which meant the only other power source I could use for my suit was magic, but seeing that I couldn¡¯t use it, it might be awhile before I could boot up my suit again. I should see if I could somehow rewire my suit to feed on these ¡®mana crystals¡¯.


    Should I request some books? I could benefit from learning to read and write too.


    But I really did NOT want to be in the King¡¯s debt. At least more than I already am.


    Screw it, I just won¡¯t pay him back, I decided shamelessly.


    Call me irresponsible but I hardly ever paid anyone back. My siblings considered me the ¡®swindler¡¯ of the group. In my opinion, I¡¯m just an opportunist. Yes, it¡¯s all in the opportunity.


    That¡¯s my motto.


    Well, my siblings weren''t wrong about me being a swindler, I thought to myself.


    ¡°Lady Hero,¡± The king pulled me back to earth, ¡°It seems you have been bestowed a unique ability by the Goddess. We will have to research your ability further.¡±


    Not even a congratulations, My gaze was as cold as ice for a moment as I gazed at the King, And they want to know everything I can do. I don¡¯t think so.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to know what I can do, too.¡± I ¡®agreed¡¯ with him, and he seemed satisfied since a small smile crept over his normally stoic face.


    Seriously, I always thought he was creepy. The king had a handsome face with blonde hair that reached down to his shoulders; but even with the best features he still made me feel very, very uncomfortable.


    After that, I was pretty much on autopilot. I went to dinner, which was pretty much in an obnoxiously fancy dinner hall, along with the King and his daughters. Something I took notice of ,was the lack of a Queen.


    I wanted to ask, but that would be insensitive of me.


    ¡°So, what happened to the Queen?¡± I asked, shamelessly. Hah, if you thought I wasn¡¯t going to ask, you thought wrong!


    An awkward silence settled in. I looked down on the venison meat before me, then cut it with the silver knife in my right hand without minding the sour mood.


    With a heavy sigh, the King said, ¡°She was assassinated by one of the Majin. It possessed her most trusted maid and killed her in her sleep.¡±


    ¡°Majin can do that?¡± I asked the King. I was suddenly very on-guard for these new species.


    He nodded, ¡°Yes, everyone in the castle has a protective enchantment against Majin possession, though. And we also have a barrier around the castle, so you don¡¯t have to worry about them.¡±


    ¡°The Majin are spiritual in nature?¡± I asked, eyebrows raised.


    ¡°Yes,¡± The King stated almost dismissively.


    My curiosity piqued at this new race. I wanted to learn more about them, ¡°If so¡­how could they make a country?¡±


    The princess I hadn¡¯t talked to much, Amaryllis, interrupted, ¡°By possessing others. They¡¯re literally spiritual parasites.¡± Her tone was venomous, much unlike Zinnia. It amazed me that these two princesses were twins. ¡°From a distance the country looks harmonious, since it has all kinds of species. What you should know, is that all the humans, elves, demihumans, and other species are all possessed by Majin¡­¡± She clicked her tongue, ¡°It¡¯s utterly sickening.¡±


    I heard a small sob. Instinctively, I turned to Zinnia and noticed a few droplets fall from her eyes and onto the table. She was crying silently.


    ¡°Zinnia¡¯s personal maid was the one who was possessed,¡± Amaryllis informed me, ¡°In the end, we couldn¡¯t exorcise the Majin, so we had to execute her. Not only did we lose our mother at age twelve, but we also lost one of our most trusted maids. Someone who was completely innocent.¡±


    A small choke caught my attention as I heard Zinnia mutter, ¡°H-her name was Angelica¡­she¡­was a catkin. I loved her very much¡­¡±


    I punctured my fork into the venison in front of me. As I chewed, I muttered, ¡°I see.¡± That was all I really could say after an exposition like that. So many raw emotions laid out on the table, I couldn¡¯t help but feel rather troubled. I wanted to ask more, but after the King¡¯s glare, I had to keep quiet.


    Still, after hearing the Royals¡¯ story, I grew interested in the Majin more and more. I wanted to meet one badly. How could they exist as spirits? If they exist, is there an afterlife for me? How did they possess people? Could they possess any living creature? What about animals? Plants? Insects?


    I had soooo many questions.


    The dinner ended quiet melancholically. The princesses had grim faces while the King was in an obviously foul mood.


    Zinnia, in particular, had her makeup ruined because of her crying. Her makeup was especially ruined around the eyes, giving her eyelids a particular black shade to them. The princess¡¯ normally beautiful features now appeared grossly exaggerated.


    I left back to my chambers, where the maids I met followed me.


    Claire, who was especially ecstatic to see me, said, ¡°Your abilities are truly mysterious! To shatter Captain Albert¡¯s mana shield like that!¡±


    So that¡¯s what it¡¯s called? I thought to myself. I was tired, so I simply said, ¡°Thank you,¡± and smiled.


    The other maids basically turned me into their dress-up doll. I didn¡¯t see the point if I was just going to wear pajamas, but the maids wouldn¡¯t have it. Lilia was weirdly into forcing me into this frilly flower-patterned pink nightgown. I swear her eyes were bloodshot!


    Though something else was bothering me more than Lilia. The black-haired elven maid shot me a jaundice glance. She also moved¡­somewhat differently. Unlike the girl from a few hours ago, she slouched  just a little.


    The way she helped remove my clothes was also much clumsier than before. I raised my eyebrows subconsciously at her.


    The maids turned off the mana lights and left. I then decided to catch some sleep.


    I covered myself with that heavy crimson blanket sprayed over my queen-size bed.


    A few hours passed but I couldn¡¯t sleep. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right; I couldn¡¯t afford to sleep.


    The lock on my door started to rattle, as if someone was fiddling with the keyhole. Then, Click! the sounds abruptly stopped.


    With a slight creak, the door to my room opened. I laid still as I calmed my breaths. The footsteps were light in nature. Was it one of the maids?


    The footsteps stopped right at my bed. I hurriedly opened my eyes and saw a knife glistened by the moonlight that escaped from the window.


    Instinctively, I rolled to the side, dodging the knife, and grabbed the perpetrator¡¯s arm. I hurled the assassin with full strength over the bed. With both hands on her wrists, I figured out the perpetrator¡¯s identity.


    It was the black-haired elven maid.

 The Fourth Lie: Deal

    ¡°Pray tell, maid,¡± My right hand squeezed her neck while slowly crushing her knife-holding wrist with my left, ¡°Why did you try to stab me just now?¡± Using my weight against her, I pushed her against the bed forcefully, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m not merciful.¡±


    She glared at me and slackened her jaw. I could¡¯ve sworn she unhinged several bones and muscles in her mouth; I got a clear view of the innards of her throat and noticed white mist forming before it shot out of her mouth and hit my chest like a rock.


    ¡°Egh!¡± I flinched as the ball of mist bounced off me.


    For a moment, it floated in the air like an abandoned puppy before violently possessing the maid again. The teary-eyed maid tried to escape, but I held her down, too interested in the phenomenon. It looked like I met an actual Majin in the flesh...or should I say in the mist?


    The elven maid¡¯s body twitched like she was having a seizure; it only lasted a few seconds before she settled down. She jumped up and headbutted me but she recoiled in pain while I barely reacted. ¡°Gah!¡± She snarled.


    ¡°Huh, so you can feel your host¡¯s pain,¡± I said curiously. Since my father was a scientist, I suppose I inherited his curiosity, as twisted as it may be.


    Grunting, she muttered, ¡°Cur non ego sapientia habito in vobis?¡±


    Realizing I didn¡¯t have the AI interpreter on me, I headbuted the possessed maid¡¯s head, temporarily stunning it so I could grab the earpiece from a desk next to the bed. Immediately after attaching the earpiece, Athens went to work to interpret the Majin¡¯s words. The Majin started to recollect itself from the headbutt I gave her.


    ¡°Doth the lady speaketh,¡± I raised my arms happily, knowing Athens still worked. In that instant she swung the knife at me, but my palm blocked it. I bit down the pain as I saw a glint of silver peeking out of the back of my hand covered in blood.


    Without hesitating, I tore out the knife and flung it to the floor. I showed my hand to the Majin-possessed elf, and her eyes grew like headlights. My hand was completely healed; there was only a whisper of a scar left.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t detected a whiff of magic,¡± The Majin said through the elf, ¡°What are you?¡±


    I laughed, ¡°I should be asking you that question,¡± My fingers tapped her head lightly, ¡°The answer to this question is rather obvious, but I just gotta make sure, are you a Majin?¡± She nodded slowly, confirming my suspicions.


    ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s your...no, what¡¯s your host¡¯s name?¡± I asked. There were two reasons why I asked this question. The first reason was so I would refer to the majin as the host¡¯s name so that no one would grow suspicious of the majin¡¯s influence; the other reason was a craftier reason: to figure out if majin inherit the memories of those they are possessing.


    ¡°Dana,¡± She said, ¡°Her name is Dana.¡±


    ¡°I see. And your majin name?¡±


    She-it, whatever, stared at me for a good moment. The Majin seemed very hesitant as it furrowed its stolen brows. ¡°Bodhi. My name is Bodhi.¡±


    ¡°Bodhi, huh?¡± I repeated. What a weird name, I thought. ¡°So, Bodhi, how about we team up?¡±


    Its eyes widened, then frowned as if I just insulted it, ¡°You want me to team up with humans? Don¡¯t insult me-¡±


    ¡°No no,¡± I shook my head, ¡°Not humans, just you and me. Truth be told, I am not feeling very patriotic towards this so-called ¡®Dahlia Kingdom¡¯. I want out, and I doubt they¡¯d let me just walk out of here.¡±


    ¡°So you want freedom,¡± The possessed elf raised an eyebrow, ¡°But what can you give our kind? You cannot be a host.¡±


    I chuckled, amused by this little Majin¡¯s smallmindedness, ¡°I can work for you. Trade a permanent jail sentence for a temporary one. What do you say?¡±


    The Majin locked eyes with me; for a moment, I could see the swirls of mist in the elf¡¯s eyes, before the host turned away. After a long sigh, the Majin relaxed its small shoulders, ¡°If you can lower the barrier this castle has, the Majin can invade this place. We were just barely able to cast a tiny hole through it, only big enough for me to go through. Then it closed,¡± Its hand raised to my cheek to caress it, ¡°Find a way to lower the barrier, and I¡¯ll talk with the Archmajins.¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Yes! A tiny smile crept up my face, ¡°You have a deal.¡±


    So we developed a plan after that. Bodhi told me that the royals tend to have the keys to the barrier. In order for the barrier to go down, we¡¯d have to have one of the royals get us the ¡®keys¡¯ to turn down the barrier.


    In short, I¡¯d have to get the Majin to possess either the king or one of the two princesses. Problem is, they are protected by a powerful protection spell casted by none other than the Dahlia Sage himself. It would¡¯ve been easier if the Sage was in the castle; we¡¯d at least have a physical shot at interrogating the Sage, but he apparently went somewhere called the ¡®Red Zone¡¯.


    I¡¯d have to somehow trick one of the princesses into lowering their protection spells; the king is too shrewd, Amaryllis was too haughty, but Zinnia was the perfect target. Zinnia admired me because she admired heroes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you Zinnia as your host. When I get her to lower her barrier, take her.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure.¡±


    Our conversation ended after that. As Bodhi got up and left the room, I watched the door close behind the possessed elf.


    My eyes closed. I tried to relax and sleep, but my brain was dancing with plans and conspiracies. Deciding it was enough, I jumped off the massive bed to get some exercise in.


    I looked out the window and thought, I wonder what the king and his daughters are talking about right now.


    Now how to spy on them¡­?


    A part of me considered using an invisibility cloak from my suit, but when I tried to activate it, it would flicker on-and-off as it flickered with electrical sparks.


    When I put down the invisibility cloak by the desk, I resumed my staring contest with the window, ¡°Screw it,¡± my voice leaked slight discontent. I grabbed two plasma knives in the pocket of my suit, walked towards the window, removed the blinds, and climbed out. Using the plasma knife¡¯s special properties, I turned it on and easily stabbed through the castle. Then with my other hand, I placed the second knife farther to the right.


    Like that, I climbed the castle walls albeit with some difficulty. It was chilly outside, and my feet kept slipping off the walls. When I saw a window, my body reacted on instinct and automatically ducked below it.


    The first window I passed by had a dozen knights comparing muscles with each other. Geh, the sweat permeated my nostrils, making everything reek for a good ten minutes. It didn¡¯t help that the outside air dragged the smell outside. My facial muscles cramped into a scowl.


    I scaled the walls faster to put the incident out of my mind.


    There were a few magical searchlights from the patrol guards on the roof. Carefully and skillfully avoiding them by twisting my body into an S-shape, I finally arrived to a certain window I¡¯ve had my eyes on.


    ¡°....hasn¡¯t worked?!¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s impossible! We have everything from her!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Your Majesty, Princess, but the ritual has proven unsuccessful.¡±


    I heard a female stranger, the King, and from her haughty tone of voice, Amaryllis. They were talking about some kind of magic ritual. But what?


    I shut my eyes and focused my hearing; I needed to eavesdrop.


    ¡°I gave you her blood, a piece of her hair, and her name. What more do you need?!¡± The King was outraged, ¡°You are the Royal Sage! It shouldn¡¯t be this difficult to bind a naive otherworlder!¡±


    Bind me? My hands subconsciously tightened their grip on the knives.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is the divine ritual¡¯s fault, Father,¡± Amaryllis intervened; I heard the Royal sigh relief, ¡°I trust her judgement. It must be a problem with the ingredients.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that-¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father. I believe our little otherworlder lied to us about her name.¡±


    Squealing, the Sage started, ¡°Yes! So that was the problem, her name!¡±


    They all stood quiet for a moment, before the King raised his voice, ¡°How do you propose we figure out her name, then? I doubt any magic below divine could force her to spit out her true name.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s simple, Father,¡± Amaryllis¡¯s voice oozed with confidence. I could totally imagine her swaying her hips confidently, ¡°Zinnia and our Lady Hero are awfully close. If we can use Zinnia to lower her guard, maybe, just maybe, the otherworlder will give up her name.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­.¡± I wondered whether or not the King was scratching his chin, ¡°Do you really think Zinnia would allow this sort of tactic?¡± He said sarcastically.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have to know. She is quite naive, Father.¡±


    The Sage was suspiciously quiet throughout that whole ordeal.


    Well, I heard enough. Apparently they had some sort of divine ritual that would make me their puppet, a sort of ultimate killing machine without a will.


    I don¡¯t think so, I smiled.


    Deciding I heard enough, I continued scaling the walls in an attempt to find Zinnia. I wanted to know what kind of person she was behind the whole ¡®superfan¡¯ attitude she shows me.


    When I was escorted through the castle by Captain Albert, I decided to memorize the layout of the place. Surprisingly, it came in handy now. I accurately deduced Zinnia¡¯s room from a couple of drapes that brushed my face; they held the flower insignia the princesses had.


    That, and it was also fairly easy to spot because not many windows had a balcony below it. When I flipped over and landed on the balcony, I noticed the lights were off. Was she not in her room?


    I pushed through the drapes. Thankfully, the slide window was open, giving me easy access to the room.


    My eyes wandered over a large queen-sized bed with a sole silhouette resting peacefully on it. On a closer look, she was hugging a large body pillow, nibbling on it. Eugh.


    Doubt wiggled its way into my head. Was she really that naive and childish? Am I paranoid?


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I spotted you,¡± an eerily familiar female voice snaked its way into my ears. Immediately turning to assess the threat, I brought out my plasma knives, only to notice a girl barely in her twenties, draped with long blackish purple robes and a large pointed hat, standing a few feet behind me. She had a sad smile on her face as she waved hi.


    I was about to charge when she raised her hands up peacefully, ¡°Wow! Not here to fight. I want to make a deal with you.¡±


    ¡°Deal?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I think you, me, and that little misty parasite friend of ours can be a great team.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows. How did she know about Bodhi?


    Seemingly reading my mind, she said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a coincidence the Majin entered here. I let it worm through the barrier.¡±


    ¡°If you had that much influence over the barrier, why not let all the Majin enter?¡±


    She shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m not in control of the barrier. I was only able to manipulate it for a short time. The true magic power-houses of this castle are the royals, obviously. I have no innate talent. I¡¯m just smart, is all.¡± The Sage shrugged.


    ¡°So what do you want, exactly?¡± I said, keeping my guard up as I raised a knife to her throat.


    Seemingly unperturbed by my threatening attitude, she continued, ¡°I want revenge on the Narci family for what they¡¯ve done.¡±


    Monologue time?

 The Fifth Lie: That Thing Cant Find You Here

    The Sage looked over the sleeping Zinnia who was lightly snoring as she hugged a large pillow. Like a baby, the princess bit the pillow. I saw a trail of drool wetting the fabric. ¡°Nomnom...I love¡­.choco¡­¡± She mumbled in her sleep.


    ¡°We should move somewhere a bit more¡­quiet,¡± The Sage grimaced.


    Good, because she looked really ridiculous trying to monologue something about revenge next to a drooling princess, I thought. It took everything I had not to snicker.


    She extended her right hand like an escorting knight. My eyes glazed it over for a few quiet moments before grabbing it. The sage raised her other hand and snapped her fingers.


    ...Nothing happened. Confused, she snapped again. And again. And Again. She tried snapping her fingers for a good ten times while holding on to my hand. Like a curious child, she let go of my hand and snapped her fingers. The Sage disappeared into a puff of smoke.


    Then, in another puff of smoke, she reappeared right before me. Her eyebrows arched in confusion and wonder as she poked my cheek, ¡°You...are interesting, aren¡¯t you?¡± She smiled.


    I didn¡¯t like her tone which bordered on obsessive, but I quickly ignored it, ¡°I¡¯m flattered.¡±


    ¡°I am very serious. When you first disrupted Captain Albert¡¯s enhancement spell, I thought you had disruption magic. But with both the mind ritual failing completely and my teleportation spell not working, I think instead you are completely immune to magic. Should I call it... anti-magic?¡± She flapped her gums like a scholar on a sugar rush, ¡°If you had disruption magic, there¡¯d still be traces of magic. However, when your anti-magic comes into contact with magic there¡¯s absolutely nothing there anymore.¡±


    Then, she put a pondering finger on her chin and tilted her head. ¡°But...if that was the case...why did the summoning ritual work on you? If you really did have anti-magic, you wouldn¡¯t have come here at all¡­¡± A wicked smile spread through her, ¡°This...is so interesting!¡±


    The Sage nearly screamed before shutting herself up, embarrassed at almost waking up the Princess. ¡°Ahem,¡± I could see her ears going full crimson, ¡°Since I can¡¯t teleport you, how about you follow me? I may look like a bumbling airhead, but I assure you I know this place better than any royal idiot.¡±


    I gazed at her, measuring the worth and risk of following a person like her. I didn¡¯t know her very well, but she was able to determine that I was spying on her, the King, and Princess Amaryllis. If I didn¡¯t follow her, she¡¯d certainly blow my cover to the King. If I did follow her, there¡¯d be a risk of walking into a trap.


    Feeling lost at what to do, I gazed at the Sage for a little too long. She extended her hand to me with a calculated smile. Sighing, I shook her hand and she escorted me out of the room quietly.


    She stretched her arms out as she walked in front of me. Each guard we encountered would be put in a stupor state with a flick of her finger. If she had this much control over magic, I wondered why she even needed me. ¡°If you have this much magic, why do you need me?¡±


    The robed girl laughed but didn¡¯t stop walking forward. Slightly turning her head to me, she answered my question, ¡°Don¡¯t let the royal family¡¯s appearance fool you. They have the blood of the hero Dahlia running through their veins.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± I assume that means they¡¯re incredibly strong or something?


    She chuckled at my dull reaction.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to my quarters before the King and that other princess find us. My magic would be too diluted to affect them properly.¡±


    After escorting me to her headquarters, I noticed a lot of flasks and containers. Each of them contained vastly different things, such as pure electrical energy, a ball of darkness, an inborn creature that looked lizard in nature, and a bunch of other things.


    Her massive room, which was much bigger than mine, was more laboratory than room, and was insanely messy, like a pigsty. My mouth bent downwards in displeasure. The Sage used magic and locked the door behind me. Oddly enough, while it shut with massive force, it barely made a peep.


    ¡°Sorry for the mess, y¡¯know what they say about those genius types! Always messy!¡± She said proudly, putting her hands on her hips with a satisfied grin. Her body language seemed much more hyper around me the longer she spoke to me.


    ¡°Enough,¡± I said impatiently, ¡°Let¡¯s hear more about your ¡®deal¡¯.¡±


    She gasped and waved her hands around in a mock-up attempt to look scared, ¡°Oooh! Scary!¡± The Sage cracked a laugh, ¡°First, let me introduce myself. My name is Neyla. I have both human and elven blood in me, but the elven blood is very faint, so unfortunately, no pointy ears.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I rolled my eyes. She¡¯s heard my name before, so I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d really need to hear it again, but, deciding to be polite, I responded, ¡°Allyson Parker.¡±


    Neyla sighed, ¡°Ah, yes yes, your alias. ¡®Allyson Parker¡¯. Does that mean anything to you, or is that just a random name you came up with to deceive the dear old King?¡±


    A faint growl rose from my stomach as I glared at the Sage, ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter, does it?¡±


    She clapped her hands, seemingly unperturbed by my hostility, ¡°I just want to get to know you better!¡± As if in a trance, she started to gaze over me, from head to toe, ¡°It¡¯s strange how magic has absolutely no effect on you. I considered it to be a blessing from the Goddess Athena, but if it was, I¡¯d be able to feel the divinity leaking off of you. So I came up with anti-magic. However!¡± Neyla raised a finger up.


    I raised my eyebrows at her. At this point, I was just done with her theatrics. Her personality seemed so different when she was near the King too¡­.


    ¡°If I¡¯m correct about the anti-magic, why did the summoning ritual work on you? Did you gain anti-magic when you arrived here? Or were you born with it? Also¡­¡±


    She drew in closer to me, a little too close. Her breath tickled my nose. I winced a little and the action didn¡¯t go unnoticed to the part-elf. ¡°I was certain I targeted a male champion. For you to be summoned¡­¡± I felt a hand on my left breast. The moment her hand cupped my breast and pushed it upward; my lips bent downward, and a massive scowl plastered itself on my face. Seeing my expression, she immediately pulled back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that again.¡±


    ¡°Uh...sorry, sweetie. Haha¡­¡± She laughed nervously, ¡°Whenever I see someone interesting, I just have to study them from head to toe!¡±


    ¡°Can we just get back to business, please?¡± I furrowed my eyebrows even further from the term ¡®sweetie¡¯.


    Neyla rolled her eyes, reluctant to get back to the topic at hand. She took a few steps back from me, scratching her hair with a look of dissatisfaction. ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, I want revenge on the Narci royal blood.¡±


    ¡°What do I get in return if I help you? I want more than just an express ticket out of here, Neyla.¡±


    She chuckled, ¡°Not even going to ask why I want revenge on the dear old King and his two sweeties?¡± I shook my head slowly without taking my eyes off her. Neyla noticed and expressed a slight bitter smile. ¡°Sigh¡­..fine. Have it your way.¡±


    Neyla fiddled through some cabinets on the far right of her aqua-colored laboratory. A slight smile appeared as she found what she was looking for. Revealing a large book, she pushed it to me, ¡°I¡¯ll teach you how to read the common tongue. While it seems you can speak the language,  I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t have the skill to read.¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°I¡¯m only able to talk to you because of this earpiece, so reading is a whole different story,¡± I pointed at the gadget attached to my ear. ¡°However, I want a little more than just being able to read and getting a ride out of here.¡±


    Neyla smiled, but it didn¡¯t quite reach her eyes. With a condescending tone, she quietly replied, ¡°Then I¡¯ll make you a fire hex. It¡¯s essentially explosion magic on the second to lowest tier of power.¡±


    ¡°How would this hex even work if I can¡¯t use magic?¡±


    The sorry excuse for a Sage twirled, ¡°Simple, I implant the hex in a gem and then place it into a bracelet covered in protective metal so that you don¡¯t touch the gem accidentally. Then I¡¯ll use word magic so that you can activate the hex whenever you want. Just say the magic word and poof!¡±


    An understanding reached my eyes, ¡°So that¡¯s how most of the castle appliances work. What are the downsides?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you accidentally touch the gem, the hex will blow up, and it has a limited amount of mana.¡±


    I tilted my head, contemplating. ¡°Alright, deal. So I just have to get Zinnia to lower her own defenses, have Bodhi possess her, and then force Zinnia to lower the barrier.¡±


    ¡°Aaaaaand,¡± Neyla¡¯s smile grew bigger, ¡°I want you to kill anyone who tries to escape. I can¡¯t have royals leave, after all. It¡¯ll be a coup d''etat. The throne will be mine!¡± I narrowed my eyes at her. She turned away and whistled awkwardly, ¡°Hey now, you asked for more, so why can¡¯t I?!¡±


    Sigh, ¡°Fine. So, any advice on how to get Zinnia to willingly remove her mental protection? Being a role model is a first for me.¡±


    ¡°Well since you can¡¯t exactly reach into her brain to take it out...there is a way for her to remove it subconsciously.¡±


    ¡°And that is?¡±


    That creepy grin just got creepier, ¡°You flirt with her.¡±


    A dumb sound left my throat. ¡°Huh?¡±


    Not a moment sooner did Neyla start cracking with laughter. She started to holler with a massive grin on her face and tears in her ears as she rolled on the floor like a pill bug. This is the Sage? I thought to myself.


    ¡°Little Zinnia is a lesbian, dear. You fit her type to a T.¡±


    I swear my poker face skill gained a good ten levels after meeting Neyla today.


    I felt my lips twitch up in anger. Neyla was a person I had a tough time dealing with.


    After that whole fiasco with the Sage, I left her headquarters and went back to my room. Surprisingly enough the guards were still suffering from that stupor spell Neyla casted on them.


    It was late into the night when I finally plopped down into my bed. My body tossed and turned restlessly; a part of me couldn¡¯t get used to how soft this bed was. Normally I¡¯d sleep in metal surfaces or torn-up wood, rather than something as luxurious as this.


    I contemplated what Neyla said to me about Zinnia. Apparently I had to seduce the princess to get her to lower her mental shielding. Problem was, I was never taught how to seduce people. Every time missions like these popped up, I¡¯d let Sonia handle it.


    Sonia wasn¡¯t here though, and even if she was, the daddy¡¯s girl would probably kill me first, ask questions later.


    I wondered if I could watch some records of Sonia in my AI¡¯s database, but most of  the Athens memory was damaged, so I doubted it. With a sigh, I removed my earpiece and closed my eyes.


    Sleep didn¡¯t come easily that night, and when it did, I found myself stranded in muck.


    My feet sludged through gallons of mud as I tried to reach the light in the shape of a person. She smiled at me as she stood on top of a boulder that stood its ground against the blackish brown muck I pushed through. I fought against the current, just barely making progress to the girl.


    So close so close so close. Just a little more...I pushed my hand just a little more to reach her leg. She stood still as a statue, her smile never faltering.


    Just a few more centimeters and I¡¯d reach her.


    Clatter clatter clatter clatter.


    The sound of bones grinding and churning screamed in my ear.


    ¡°Huh?!¡± I jumped up from bed confused and perplexed. Sweat slid down from my forehead to my neck. My heart palpated when I tried taking deep breaths.


    My eyes subconsciously looked out the window. Through the blinds I noticed it was still dark outside. That meant I hadn¡¯t slept long. I felt a slight pang of a headache on the left side of my skull.


    I haven¡¯t had that dream in awhile...I thought to myself. Hahh¡­.Be calm...that thing can¡¯t find you here.


    Curling upwards like a cat, I jumped off the bed and lept towards the window. Opening the blinds, not a single piece of sunlight entered, consumed by the night. It was deadly quiet. Not even the wind blew.


    I opened the window, and as my right foot stepped into the balcony, I felt a strange gooey sensation on my boot.


    Looking downwards, I noticed a stain of black sludge and something white in the middle of it.


    A tooth.

 The Sixth Lie: When the Opportunity Arises

    I felt my stomach twist in knots when my foot stumbled upon the ooze. My body felt sick to its core, afraid of what I just found. It felt like my body was showing its belly to the tracks of an Alpha, like a submissive pup.


    No no no no, how the hell did it follow me all the way here?! I panicked, pacing around the room in deep thought, Or could it be another one? In the first place, how¡¯d it even find me? There¡¯s a barrier here!


    Don¡¯t tell me...if this creature is the same one from my world...then does that mean my siblings could worm their way into this world too? I screamed in my head and a migraine popped out; it felt like it was going to pull my veins apart, like an aneurysm.


    After seeing the ooze on the ground, I powerlessly fell back on the bed, but my eyelids plowed open from paranoia. I couldn¡¯t sleep after finding out I might be stalked by the creature I¡¯ve spent so long trying to kill back in my previous world.


    I can¡¯t accept that! I silently screamed, I ventured into a whole new world, and I still have to deal with my old problems?! Are you screwing with me?!


    I felt denial over what I found. My mind tried to rationalize what happened with excuses, but my heart knew the grim reality of the situation. I was not safe from my old world, not in the slightest.


    After going through so many possibilities in my head, I noticed rays of light started to peek out of the curtains. Squinting, I pushed myself up and rubbed my eyes. I hadn¡¯t slept very well, so I had some bags under my eyes. My body craved sleep and that put me in a sour mood.


    Just forget about it! Nothing I can do about it right now. ¡°Yeah...let¡¯s just focus on Zinnia.¡± I remembered Zinnia had invited me for a tea party. After all the nonsense about Neyla and Majins, I completely forgot about the princess¡¯s invitation.


    How do I bring that up without being too...overbearing? I pondered, Creating an opportunity for a get-together without being too obvious is difficult. I wasn¡¯t taught how to be social. I always hated dancing around with politicians. Really wished I took the time to learn from my siblings.


    With a few knocks on my door, I turned around and pulled the door ajar. Peeking out, I noticed the amazoness maid hold a chest. ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡± I asked, stifling a yawn.


    ¡°Your suit. You¡¯ve been invited by His Highness Narci¡¯Hya for a formal luxurious breakfast. His daughters, the Duke House, and a few lesser house nobles will attend the gathering. They all want to meet you!¡± She said, subconsciously flexing those tanned muscles of hers.


    I rolled my eyes as I pulled the door wide open. ¡°Come in,¡± I said with a thin smile on my face.


    Behind her, like shadows, were the group of maids from yesterday, including the possessed maid, Dana, aka Bodhi. She gave me a smile, but beyond the curvature of her lips, I saw a trail of mist behind her eyes.


    I nearly chuckled.


    The maids all started to rearrange my room. Bodhi fixed my bed while the other maids started to dust the room. The scaled maid was about to open the curtains. ¡°Wait,¡± I said, ¡°keep the curtains closed, my eyes are a bit sensitive right now.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, Lady Hero,¡± she bowed.


    I didn¡¯t want anyone to see the puddle of ooze on the balcony. I¡¯d have to figure out how to clean that later. Geh...I¡¯d have to touch that gross puddle.


    Or maybe I could just use a scrubber or something.


    I¡¯ll figure it out later, I decided, Or maybe I¡¯ll talk to Neyla. Yeah, let¡¯s do that.


    I might have to see her during breakfast, after all.


    Claire woke me from my stupor as I felt hands removing my pajamas. As she tore it from my bare skin, she noticed something off about it. Holding it to her nose, she made a slight grimace. ¡°It smells...like dust. Like you¡¯ve been outside.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Does it? Must¡¯ve left the curtains open.¡±


    With her eyes gazing fiercely into mine, I stood my ground and kept my expression stoic and true. If I broke my expression, she¡¯d see through it in an instant.


    For what felt like ages, only seconds had passed. Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Claire let out a relieved sigh, ¡°It¡¯s time to get ready, Lady Hero. She and a couple of the other maids, excluding Dana, started to fiddle with the suit, placing the pants on me first, before the shirt and then the coat.


    Considering my status as the ¡®Hero¡¯, I came to the conclusion that the King, Narci¡¯Hya, wanted to portray me as a masculine person rather than as a girl. I wondered if women were naturally looked down upon in this world like my previous one during the Dark Ages.


    After I went through the daily morning notions of clean-up and dress-up, I followed Claire (who acted as the head maid at the time) who led me to the same large room I last ate dinner in, with the other maids behind me, acting almost like shields.


    I tried wearing a smile, but it didn¡¯t quite reach my sleep-deprived eyes. Claire noticed my sad excuse of a grin and smiled grimly.


    Taking a look at the people gathered around the dining table, I noticed the two princesses first, who sat to the right and left of the King. On the other side were a few male nobles, along with Captain Albert, a female knight, and a family of three: a male noble, his wife, their son and daughter who both looked no older than fifteen.


    I instantly realized that group was the head of the Dukedom, at least, from what I¡¯ve heard from Claire earlier this morning.


    Zinnia beamed at me and waved. The next moment, she was admonished by her stuck-up sister for showing terrible table manners. I turned away without waving back and sat at the chair closest to the other exit. It was an old habit of mine, but that had me sit right next to the Duke¡¯s daughter.


    The girl looked over me curiously, especially at my wrist which had plenty of scars over it. As if a lightbulb lit her eyes, she whispered a little too loudly, ¡°She must be the hero!¡±


    Sigh, I scowled, I¡¯ll just focus on the eatery for now. I really didn¡¯t want to focus on the politics of this castle. Unfortunately, I was dragged along to a table full of nobles, royals, and knights. I wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    Wait, where is Neyla?


    I wanted to know, but asking would tip off the King that I had met the annoying brat of a Sage at some point in secret. I didn¡¯t want him to be privy to such information. My eyes wandered to his, and we shared a gaze.


    No, not of romance, but of calculative coldness.


    He didn¡¯t see me as a person but as a tool for his ambitions, while I saw him as an obstacle towards my freedom. We had no chance at bettering our acquaintanceship.


    The servants arrived with tons of food. It was like an army of servants carrying an overabundance of food. Considering the King didn¡¯t know my tastes, he must¡¯ve made this breakfast more of a buffet since the food was splayed out in a manner where you could just grab a plate and some utensils.


    ¡°I¡¯ve researched the culture of some otherworlders, and many of them seem to enjoy...this style of eatery,¡± searching for words, the King twirled his thumbs, ¡°I believe they call it a buffet. I had the servants incorporate that into today¡¯s breakfast.¡±


    Gazing through the ornaments of food, one thing caught my attention: sandwiches. They had guacamole, lettuce, turkey breast, tomato, and mayo. I felt my mouth water slightly as my hand grabbed the plate with the four sandwiches. The servant behind me then handed me a glass of orange juice.


    I haven¡¯t had an appetizing meal like this in a long time. Due to my line of work, I¡¯d always eat something fast and unfulfilling.


    ¡°A pleasure to be here, Your Majesty,¡± the duke slightly bowed in his seat towards Narci¡¯Hya. I heard the Duke¡¯s name somewhere...what was it?


    As if answering my question, the King responded with a slight smile on his face, ¡°It¡¯s been too long, Duke Renold. I see your twins have been growing up quite well.¡±


    Ah, they were twins? They don¡¯t look too alike, I thought to myself, Well, that¡¯s fraternal twins for you.


    My hand stealthily snagged a sandwich during their exchange. Everyone seemed keen on talking rather than eating, but I was hungry. Amaryllis gave me a quick glare, but I shrugged.


    I was hungry.


    Completely ignoring their exchange, I ate the sandwiches on the plate. They glanced at me several times like they wanted me to pitch into the conversation, but I was much too busy eating.


    My eyes wandered and took notice of each maid and servant throughout the room. There was one person missing from the group of escorts: Dana, aka Bodhi the Majin. Sneaky little rascal, I thought to myself, Even I didn¡¯t notice you left. Neither the Majin nor the Sage were here. I thought it was likely they were scheming at some hidden part of the castle. Though I was sure Neyla wanted to keep her existence a secret from the Majin. Maybe I was wrong.


    ¡°So, it¡¯s about time for your son to be engaged, no?¡± the King suddenly spoke up, breaking me from my thoughts, then addressed Duke Renold¡¯s son, ¡°Tell me, Connor, how would you like to be engaged with Allyson Parker, the hero over there?¡±


    The King nodded towards me. Garnering the Duke¡¯s son, Connor¡¯s, attention, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. ¡°Hell no.¡± Those words escaped my mouth so coldly that nearly everyone but the King flinched.


    Hya¡¯s eyes twisted into a demon¡¯s glare, but I laughed it off. ¡°Please, even puppies are scarier than you,¡± I mocked. Said puppies were bioweapons created to tear tanks apart, but he doesn¡¯t need to know that.


    I had thought he¡¯d fly into a rage, but instead, he composed himself, but I could tell he was furious. ¡°Tell me, Lady Hero, why are you so against marriage talks?¡±


    Deciding to humor him, I replied with a thin smile on my lips, ¡°First and foremost, I¡¯m a soldier. Popping out babies would be seriously detrimental to my health.¡±


    Zinnia nearly choked on her food from hearing my precise choice of words.


    Closing his eyes, the King calmed down. ¡°Very well. We¡¯ll continue this conversation at a later date.¡±


    So he still hasn¡¯t given up, has he? How annoying.


    ¡°Sure, when the opportunity arises.¡±


    One might say I was a little too aggressive against the King, but it¡¯s not as though he could do much to me considering my position as the hero. At least, he can¡¯t do anything at this given point in time. That, and I won¡¯t be staying long here in the first place.


    Whatever this king has planned for me will burn in flames. I¡¯ll make sure of that.


    I glanced at Zinnia who had a terribly pale complexion. She was sweating buckets and looked down on her lap. I bet she¡¯s never seen her father this angry before.


    Well, I probably screwed my chances with her.


    Manipulating her, that is.


    If the soft approach doesn¡¯t work, torture¡¯s always on the table.

 The Seventh Lie: Id Be Honored

    It might not come to that, honestly, though I wasn¡¯t above torturing a civilian. Or should I say royal in this case? I glanced at Zinnia for a moment before returning my gaze back to my sandwiches. I had to admit, the royal sandwich was delicious. Yes, sandwiches, the most important meal of the day.


    Shaking my head lightly to free myself of that food trance, I went through that rancid political breakfast scheme with only half a mind to respond to the King and his subjects. My mind was on another more important thing.


    Where was Neyla? She seemed trusted enough by the King that she¡¯d be able to attend this breakfast. Was she busy? Did she decline? Or was she not invited?


    She must¡¯ve been with Bodhi, that was for certain. Maybe I¡¯m thinking too much of it, I thought to myself as I bit into my sandwich, Though that doesn¡¯t get rid of this bad feeling I got rumbling in my gut.


    I still had a whole day to search for Neyla and Bodhi. Best not to be impatient, I figured.


    A part of me felt like I was rushing through the plan, even including an extremely risky plan of torturing a princess in her own castle. I thought that was reckless, even for me.


    Have I been getting restless? A sardonic grin warped my lips. Quite possibly, yes.


    Fyodor would¡¯ve told me to slow down and calmly think things through. He was always the genius of my rambunctious group of ¡®siblings¡¯. I should¡¯ve paid more attention to his lectures on manipulation tactics. I was only ever good at assassinations. I was never good at confrontations like my brother Sefyr, nor was I good at seduction like my sister Sonia, and much less a planner like Fyodor.


    In my own sick way, I missed my siblings, even though if I went to meet them again, they¡¯d most likely bury me six feet underground, for good measure.


    Not like I ever wanted to go back. None of them ever tried to avenge her. In my mind, I reaffirmed my goal. I will kill you for what you did to her, A-


    ¡°Lady Allyson!¡± A squeal pulled me out of my thoughts, ¡°What do you say we have a tea party at noon? My friends are going to be attending,¡± she smiled widely, albeit a bit too forcefully, ¡°It¡¯ll be great to have you there!¡±


    A part of me chuckled, seeing Zinnia nervously invite me. She clearly wanted to avoid her father¡¯s wrath, but she still invited me. That girl had courage.


    Oddly enough, Hya and Amaryllis were both silent, but I knew why. After all, this was a part of their plan. A poor one, but a plan nevertheless.


    Finally, after what seemed like ages, the breakfast - more like political gathering - had ended. Since Zinnia invited me to a tea party suddenly today, the maids scrambled to get me out of the suit and into a dress.


    Before I left the eatery, I glanced at the King. I considered trying to bring up the subject about Neyla, by asking something along the lines of ¡®Who was that next to you in the throne room? May I meet her?¡¯ but then my sudden interest in the Sage might come out as suspicious. I had no real way to approach the subject.


    Claire gazed over me after she and a handful of maids forced a light blue dress on me. It had dark red flower embroidments on it and reached to the bottom of my knees. ¡°Perfect!¡± She smiled at me, content with how I looked.


    After that, they placed moderate amounts of make-up on my face, mostly to hide my scars. Apparently, Claire said I had ¡®natural beauty¡¯. No idea what standards that woman had but at least they didn¡¯t cake me with make-up.


    It was almost noon, so the maids ushered me out of my room and into the garden, where I noticed three noble ladies around Princess Narci¡¯Zinnia. She noticed me and smiled. With a wave of her hand, her eyes steered me to a chair. When I parked myself there, I felt a sudden comfort. The azure-blue chair was made of extremely soft material. To be frank, it was so comfortable I felt itchy and restless. I would normally sit or rest on extremely rough material, so something as soft as this chair was too different from my norm.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Lady Allyson!¡± She cried out joyfully, ¡°You look gorgeous!¡±


    I noticed the Duke¡¯s daughter next to her. What was her name, again?


    ¡°Princess Zinnia, Lady Renold, it¡¯s good to see you,¡± I bowed lightly, ¡°And a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ladies,¡± I referred to the other two nobles who I haven¡¯t met before.


    ¡°Call me Carmen,¡± Lady Renold responded.


    ¡°I am Marilyn Estovaz, second daughter of the Marquess Estovaz house,¡± the redhead stranger said. The girl next to her then stood up and started to sweat buckets.


    The last girl was practically a nervous wreck, just barely pushing out the words, ¡°I-I am D-Debrett Mozaine, only daughter of a Baron¡¯s family!¡± The brunette¡¯s hair was so short it didn¡¯t reach her shoulders. In a way, she appeared homely. She was a teenager in her later years, with freckles on her face.


    Ah, now I figured out why she was so nervous. Barons were practically bottom of the food chain, a step just barely above commoners.


    So, rain check: Zinnia the Princess, Carmen the Duke¡¯s daughter, Marilyn the Marquess¡¯ daughter, and Debrett, the Baron¡¯s daughter.


    It was an odd combination to be sure. One daughter from every class apart from commoner was here. What was Zinnia trying to do? She looked like the ditzy type, but I figured this group was made intentionally.


    I sneaked a glance at her while raising the teacup to my lips. ¡°So,¡± she said, ¡°Lady Allyson, I have to be honest, before your summoning, I thought every hero had to be male. The Dahlia Kingdom was so surprised when you appeared.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows, ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you see, in our culture, while there are female adventurers, those are rare,¡± Zinnia cupped her own cheek in thought, ¡°A female knight is even rarer. They are under constant scrutiny. That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why?¡± I tilted my head.


    She smiled, ¡°That¡¯s why I-no, we respect you. Although the way you stood up to Father was risky at best and downright suicidal at worst, you stood your ground, and even pushed back his authority. Even as a woman.¡±


    ¡°T-truth be told, I want to explore the world!¡± The baron girl, Debrett, squeaked out, ¡°but the qualifications to be an adventurer, especially as a baron girl, is practically impossible!¡±


    ¡°Your appearance gave more power to us ladies,¡± Lady Renold pumped.


    When I took a good look at all of them, I realized they all shared a distinct trait - an adventurous spirit. They all wanted to explore the world and experience it as a man would. Men, from my understanding, had a lot more authority here compared to women. But if that¡¯s true, why is the kingdom named after a woman? That doesn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°May I ask something, Princess? Why is this kingdom named after Dahlia? Why is it called the Dahlia Kingdom, if this kingdom has less rights towards women?¡±


    Nodding, she placed her hands over mine. I nearly flinched from the contact. A part of me was never really comfortable with physical contact. And yet Plan A is to seduce her. Who am I kidding?


    ¡°Dahlia¡¯s origins are wrapped in mystery, more so than this kingdom¡¯s own history,¡± she began a lecture, ¡°Some say she was born from an angel and an otherworlder. Others say she is an otherworlder. I think she was blessed by the Spirit herself. There¡¯s also a rumor that Dahlia was a man.¡±


    I nodded, confirming that I was paying attention.


    Zinnia smiled as she gently removed her hands from mine, ¡°Either way, Dahlia was said to have created a massive barrier across the Kingdom, shielding us from both the Draconians and the Majin. His or her blood is carried through the royals, which maintains the barrier.¡±


    Debrett had started to scribble something down on a notebook with a ton of fervor. It appeared she was the ¡®writer¡¯ type.


    Smiling, Zinnia continued, ¡°The closer to the castle, the stronger the barrier is. We¡¯re all thankful towards Dahlia for their spell.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t completely answer my question, though,¡± I called out, ¡°Why is it that the kingdom looks down upon women if Dahlia is such an important founder towards this country?¡±


    ¡°Because many people don¡¯t know the true identity to Dahlia. Many believe Dahlia is a man. I am willing to gamble that she is a woman.¡±


    She inched slightly closer to me, only blocked by a table in front of her. ¡°With your status as the summoned otherworlder, my father cannot touch you as easily as his other subjects. One might say you have near immunity.¡±


    ¡°Go on,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°If you gather enough influence from the nobles, especially the women who can essentially twist their husbands in their private life, you can be a force to be reckoned with.¡±


    Huh, my eyes widened as large as saucers, This princess is shrewder than I thought.


    ¡°Join us. Let¡¯s make a movement.¡±


    The princess held out her hand to me. On cue, the other noble ladies placed their hands on hers. Four pairs of eyes landed on me, eagerly waiting for my answer.


    I blinked, confused at the term of events. Then a slight smile crossed my face. ¡°I¡¯d be honored to, my princess.¡± I placed my right hand on top of everyone else¡¯s, and they all had squeals and smiles in response.


    So, a women¡¯s movement is underway, I pondered, I hadn¡¯t expected this so suddenly. Now that I think about it, there are no maids around me. Did Zinnia send them away? That was very smart of her. Can¡¯t afford to have others eavesdrop on what might very well be a conversation to spark civil unrest.


    It would be such a waste to have her become a puppet for the Majin. For Bodhi. That spirit isn¡¯t exactly the brightest of the group.


    I wonder if there¡¯s a way to use her without drying up all her usefulness in one go. Huh, that sounded vampiric in nature.


    Whatever Zinnia has planned, I can¡¯t wait to see it. I cannot wait to see how it¡¯ll end up. It¡¯s going to be a treat.

 The Eighth Lie: Who Knows, I dont

    So the Lady, Zinnia, wants me to be the catalyst for women¡¯s rights. Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever see a movement for women¡¯s rights considering my own world is far more advanced than this one. I¡¯m almost sad to have to end Zinnia¡¯s plans, but freedom comes first for me before all else.


    After that conversation, Zinnia asked me quite a lot of questions. The princess and her lackeys apparently wanted to get to know me. They knew I was a soldier of sorts, but they didn¡¯t know what kind. I suppose it was for the best they didn¡¯t know. Being a type of super-assassin wouldn¡¯t fit well with people, especially those with chivalric code of honor, like Captain Albert.


    I saw that spark in the Princess¡¯s eyes. They were brimming with curiosity and hope. I could tell that Zinnia wanted beyond these castle walls, to be beyond the pampering her father and his nobles give her. She wanted to be more than just her birthright.


    In my own way, I respected that. She wanted wings and saw an opportunity to fly through me. Deciding to indulge her, I told Zinnia and the other noble girls about my world. I told them about the internet. I told them about interstellar travel, and how medicine had jumped leaps and bounds.


    However, I didn¡¯t tell her anything about the darker parts of my world. There were monsters born from my people¡¯s science, nightmares and abominations I would rather run away from than confront. Fighting one of those creatures is borderline suicide.


    I simply poured flower after flower describing the type of world I lived in. While I explained all the benefits though, I felt Zinnia realized I avoided telling her any of the evils of the planet. She asked me, ¡°If it was such a beautiful world, why did you become a soldier?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, if it was a utopia, why was there an army in the first place?¡± Carmen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Even heaven has guards.¡±


    Afterwards, I talked about my siblings. I told them how my father looked after me and my nine other siblings. We were all in the ¡®military¡¯ business, as I explained it. ¡°Wow, your entire family are all warriors?¡± Debrett asked the obvious.


    I nodded, then added, ¡°My eldest sister is the strongest. If all of my siblings and I were to team up against her, we¡¯d all di-lose.¡± Nearly said died there. I didn¡¯t think these nobles would appreciate talking about death at a tea party.


    ¡°Is she really that skilled?¡± Zinnia cooed, interested in what I said.


    ¡°Well, something like that.¡± It was never a matter of skill. I always had this theory that Eldest Sister was an entirely different species of her own. Still do.


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± Morga-err Maria...no...Marilyn! Marilyn was the girl who addressed me just now. All these names were hard to remember. She was the daughter of the Marquiss, right?


    ¡°My siblings and I called her Eldest Sister.¡± Honestly, I didn¡¯t know Eldest Sister¡¯s name. She was more weapon than human, after all.


    I remembered when I first met her in the cell. She just sort of stood there smiling at me. I had this odd feeling that she didn¡¯t want me anywhere near her though. That feeling started to eat at my gut until I had to run out the room because of how queasy I felt. Never had I felt that sick before in my entire life.


    Something interrupted me from my musings and I almost glared at the source.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Excuse my rudeness but...I noticed you hadn¡¯t said anything about your mother. Is she...has she?¡± Zinnia stuttered. Ahhh, I knew why she was so hesitant in asking. It was because she lost her own mother.


    Now that I didn¡¯t really have an answer for. I shrugged and looked away from Zinnia¡¯s eyes, simply staring down at my teacup. My mother was either dead at a ditch somewhere or rolling in dough after selling me to Father. Who knows, I didn¡¯t.


    Taking my silence as her answer, Zinnia clanked her teacup against the table, deep in thought. Her pondering expression turned into a slight scowl for a second. What was she thinking about?


    ¡°You and I have some things in common,¡± Zinnia smiled sadly.


    ¡°Indeed we do.¡± I grit my teeth, feeling miffed for some odd reason.


    Zinnia really wanted to connect with me by saying all these nonsensical things. She desired my friendship and possibly something more, according to Neyla. If I stood back and analyzed the way she responded to me, I could probably tell she had a crush on me.


    In a way, I felt honored she¡¯d feel that way about me. Due to my line of work, I barely had any romantic experiences, apart from a certain her. She was my first everything, and reminiscing that now would only bring me pain. I couldn¡¯t afford to remember her, not now.


    I needed to be strong. Strong for survival. Cut everything else if it stood in my way.


    After that political talk about a feminist movement and a talk about my family, the conversation moved toward more mundane things, such as Debrett¡¯s fiancee. That was cute, really, but not important.


    I mostly tuned out of the conversation as I pondered far more important things, such as Neyla and Bodhi¡¯s location, why the sludge of a certain stalkerish monster found its way to the front of my balcony, and how I¡¯m going to get Zinnia to lower her mental spellguard. If I could have touched the spell directly like I did with Captain Albert¡¯s, I would have by now.


    I felt like I kept repeating myself.


    Once the tea party was over, I decided to search for either Neyla or Bodhi. I would¡¯ve asked for the maid Bodhi was possessing, but frankly, that¡¯d make the King think I favored Dana and probably try to win me over, at least partially by making her my specific caretaker.


    Seriously, the thought of that revolted me. There was no way I ¡®favored¡¯ any of these people.


    It seemed I was walking automatically as I was stuck musing to myself. My thinking was cut short when I felt a gush of wind startle me, similar to when I broke Captain Albert¡¯s spell, or when Bodhi tried possessing me.


    I found myself in front of a large elevator-esque door in a very secluded corridor. There were no doors apart from the large metallic one in front of me. The walls seemed very well-maintained, and appeared to be a type of steel. I raised my eyebrow.


    Seeing the only way out is forward, I placed my fingers in-between the tiny space of the doors, and used my super strength to pry it open. I squeezed through the larger space I made and shut the door behind me once again. I didn¡¯t want people to figure out I broke in, if there was anyone here.


    Checking out the new room, I found myself surrounded by several chemistry flasks and scribbles on the walls that looked like plain gibberish to me. I came to the conclusion that it must¡¯ve been this world¡¯s language. Still looked like gibberish though.


    On the board was a large map. Even though I was unable to read it, I noticed on the top was a single continent divided into three countries. If memory serves correctly, I was in the middle country, the Dahlia Kingdom. The King did say we were surrounded by Draconians and Majin. I doubt they shared the same country, so my theory must¡¯ve been correct.


    There was this one tiny little island on the bottom right that caught my attention though. It was singled out in a large red circle, with lots of scribbles around it. Oh how I wished I could read this. I never once thought I¡¯d struggle with illiteracy.


    I tore the map from the board and rolled it in one of my pockets. As I ventured deeper into the room, I noticed an exit door. Pushing the door open, I saw another corridor. Unlike the last one, it had several doors around it. Testing my luck, I decided to test out the closest left one. It clearly had some kind of security padlock on it, but I pried it open.


    I felt that same gush of wind pushed at me when I entered the room. There were several test tubes near me, all holding human silhouettes. Males, females, and animalistic creatures were all in these¡­things.


    A revolting feeling started to churn my stomach. This room had a distinct hospital smell to it. One that made me sick to my stomach. My feet started to wobble, and I had to hold myself steady against a test tube. It took all of my willpower not to stare at them.


    Hardly steady on my feet, I made way towards a computer-looking device, one that I believed to be a control system.


    But that wasn¡¯t what caught my attention. Near it was a notebook from a school supply company from my world.


    Opening it, I realized there were several papers not attached in it, all having this world¡¯s language side-by-side to the Russian alphabet of my world.


    Undoubtedly, Neyla must¡¯ve been trying to decipher the Russian language, but that¡¯s not what irked me. Throwing the comparison papers to the ground, I focused solely on the notebook in front of me.


    The realization had my pupils dilating like dumbells. I couldn¡¯t believe it. My teeth started to gnash against each other. My heart pounded like a hammer in my chest. Cold sweat dripped down from my neck to my spine.


    Then a malicious smile dipped in poison twisted my normally neutral face.


    Allyson.

 The Ninth Lie: Rats in the Vents

    FIND YOU FIND YOU FIND YOU I WILL. WILL I FIND YOU NOW FIND YOU LATER FIND YOU NO, FIND YOU NOW. NOW NOW NOW. HOST NOW. EAT YOU NOW. BRING YOU TO PARENT NOW. TAKE BACK WHAT STOLEN FROM PARENT NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW.


    CAN SMELL YOU. SHALL BECOME YOU. SHALL TEAR YOU APART. TAKE WHAT BELONGS TO PARENT BACK NOW.


    MUST HAVE YOU NOW.


    CAN SMELL THAT BLASPHEMY IN SISTER. SHALL REMOVE SISTER FROM YOU. TEAR YOU, THE BLIGHT APART.


    SHALL HAVE YOU NOW.


    ----


    Oh yes.


    This is fantastic.


    I caaaaan¡¯t wait to see you again, Allyson.


    My smile was so wide it threatened to dislocate my jaw like some demonic clown. Dark murky feelings like sludge from the sewers poisoned my heart, but I quickly shook the haze from my head and looked down at the notebook.


    I need to read it, I thought to myself as I stared at the burgundy cover. My hands shook and a drop of cold sweat dropped down from my neck to my chest. That damning smile was still plastered on my face.


    Slowly opening it, I gazed at the first few letters of the first page of the notebook. No, that wasn¡¯t accurate. I noticed that it had several pages torn out of the notebook because of paper waste in the spine, so the actual first page was long gone.


    Starting from what was left of the notebook, I decided to read the author¡¯s work.


    -CORE Project was deemed too dangerous by the government. I found that a waste. I knew the CORE children were not being used to their full potential, bound by certain limiters in their bodies that kept them in their human forms.


    I do not know how this ¡®Father¡¯ person managed to place these limiters, but I had tried to figure it out.


    One of my first and possibly worst theories was the belief that a CORE child could break through their DNA limiters via intense physical and emotional distress.


    Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t see any change in [REDACTED]¡¯s appearance or behavior, apart from now having a target on my back. If I had known it wouldn¡¯t work, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have done it.


    Alas, science is all about making mistakes. Now I know emotion has nothing to do with the limitations the ¡®Father¡¯ placed on the CORE children.


    I just need more time to figure this out. I can¡¯t get to ¡®Father¡¯ himself, but since I have a CORE child chasing me, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to capture it. Maybe a different specimen could provide different results.


    If I can capture the CORE child chasing me-


    I heard several footsteps coming from the hallways. They were fast and panicked, telling me that the people out in the hallway knew someone, that being me, had trespassed here. Quite frankly, I didn¡¯t want to stick around and find out what they¡¯d do if they found me here.


    So I did what any average person would¡¯ve done. I started searching for a place to run to. The only exit was the entrance door. There were eight test tubes and several tables.


    For a moment I considered hiding underneath the tables, but I mentally slapped myself for thinking that.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Wait, a drop of nervous sweat trickled from my chin to my neck as I counted the test tubes. There were eight in total, but one was empty.


    At that moment, I really took in the submerged victims in the tubes. There were three male humans, two female humans, a cat lady covered in some kind of whitish-gray mist that swam within the water, and a strange-looking woman covered in blackish-red scales that appeared not unlike armor. She oozed power.


    My eyes stayed glued to the figure. I deduced she was a draconian, as the scales were different from the lizard maid I met back when I first arrived here. Rather than being completely covered in scales, she appeared to have spots of unblemished pale human skin on her face, arms, midriff, cleavage, and hips down to her thighs. The rest of her body was covered in the black scales that expanded and contracted from her slow breathing. It looked almost like living armor. Her muscles that popped out from her human skin looked chiseled.


    She had two large pointy dark crimson horns protruding directly from both sides of her temple. They didn¡¯t have a demon-like quality to them, though. It was more dragon in nature. They were arched in a C-shape a few inches away from her face.


    The draconian woman was beautiful, but something about her made me shiver. Something instinctual told me I¡¯d never want to fight her.


    Even so, I was drawn to her menacing beauty.


    Focus! I need to hide! I tore my eyes from her, and put my mind on overdrive. The people running down the hallways were looking for an intruder. Looking for me. I needed a place to hide.


    Should I hide within the tubes? I could pull my hair in there. That¡¯d lower the chances of me being recognized. But then how would I activate the system to turn on the tube¡¯s waters so that I¡¯d camouflage with the rest of the experimental subjects? How would I even wake up if it works? And...would I be able to handle being in it?


    I considered using Athens to hack into the system mainframe and hide in plain sight within one of the test tubes, but that¡¯d be way too risky. For one, they might  recognize me within the tube. A second reason would be that they might figure out someone hacked their computer system. I didn¡¯t know how advanced their mainframes were, and personally, I didn¡¯t really have time to figure it out.


    Thirdly, a part of my heart rejected the notion of entering the tube. Even though I could smother most emotions, entering that abomination of a glass cylinder was something I felt nauseous just thinking about.


    I looked up and noticed a vent. Eureka! I screamed mentally.


    Shuffling the dropped papers back, I held the notebook in between my teeth.


    Propelling myself into the air, I grappled the vent shaft and pulled it out with sheer strength, dropping back down onto the steel floor. Holding the torn out shaft with my left hand, I jumped again and latched into the hole with my right hand, pulling myself into it.


    This broken shaft was something I had to take with me into the vent, so to make more space within these tiny confines, I bent the metal inward, and flung it deeper into the ventilation shafts.


    A part of me hoped they didn¡¯t realize the notebook went missing, but I also figured that tiny little detail wouldn¡¯t matter since they were rushing in here.


    Suddenly, the doors opened, revealing several black-robed figures as the guards. They scourged the area, with two very familiar-looking figures within that cesspool of black.


    ¡°Neyla and Bodhi¡­¡± I whispered. I shouldn¡¯t stay here, I thought to myself, Neyla knew I was last time. Can¡¯t afford to be caught here.


    I crawled through the vents quickly and quietly as possible, cutting corners through the rooms. Each time there was an incline within the vents, I thought to myself, Am I climbing floors?


    This notebook...where did Neyla get it? She shouldn¡¯t have it. Could it be that the one I¡¯ve been searching for was here this entire time?


    The quarry that¡¯s been eluding me for so long....is she here, in this world?


    I needed time to read this notebook, all of it.


    I won¡¯t compromise. She is mine. Nothing, not even gods will keep me from her. I will tear her piece by piece, skin her centimeter by centimeter, just to prove a point.


    No one takes what belongs to me.


    No one.


    My clothes and hair got ruffled through my little escapade in the vents. Strands of my growing hair started to sting my eyes, so I blew them away. I started picking up my speed through the tiny airways because of my impatient desire to read the entirety of this notebook.


    Sweat started to drip from my neck and face. My mouth started to feel parched as thirst constricted my throat. I plucked the collar of my stuffy knight uniform, hoping to cool off even just a little.


    My skin became unbearably sensitive from dehydration and I felt every bit of sweat drop from my forehead. Mentally, I started to feel a daze come over me. I started to slip in the vents due to my own sweat, making it too slippery to crawl and climb.


    I hadn¡¯t banked on the fact that ventilation shafts could get so muggy.


    I grew desperate and quickly found a vent exit. With pure fervor, I kicked it open and plopped down into a room. Gazing at the notebook, I noticed it was drenched in my own sweat.


    Then, I heard a gasp. Immediately, I turned to my right, and noticed someone I was well-acquainted with, in a room I¡¯ve been in before.


    A half-dressed redhead widened her eyes in disbelief, as the maid who was dressing her fell on her back from the fright I gave her.


    Because the maid fell with her hands still on the redhead¡¯s loosely-placed dress, the girl¡¯s clothing was pulled down with ease, nearly revealing her two generous assets, before she instinctively covered them with her left arm. Her stomach was soft, without any muscle, but she wasn¡¯t at all fat either. I noticed she had a bit of an outie belly button. Not that that¡¯s important or anything...


    ¡°W-what are you doing here, Lady Allyson?!¡±


    I did the only thing I could do at that moment. I gazed up at the half-naked startled princess and said with a deadpan expression, ¡°I was exterminating rats in the vents. I used to be an exterminator in my previous world before I became a soldier.¡±


    As if a volcano erupted in her face, coloring her expression a fierce scarlet, she shouted, ¡°Who would believe that?!¡±


    My last thoughts before a pillow hit me straight in the face, were, Ah, she¡¯s not as gullible as I thought.

 Extra: The Truth 1 [Hah.]

    Weeks before the Hero Summoning


    You know, I realized, with you here listening to my story, that a part of you had already started to make assumptions about me. With what incomplete information I gave you, and from what you¡¯ve heard from dear ol¡¯ Daddy, you started to fill in the blanks with your own dull imagination.


    How much of what I told you is your own assumption, and how much of what I said is really true?


    I¡¯ll admit, I added a few lies here and there, y¡¯know? Most of it was to protect myself.


    But I assure you, what I say here is pure honest truth.


    [Hah.]


    You don¡¯t know me. Don¡¯t even pretend to.


    I bet you had it all figured out. The moment I wore this name, you grew cocky because you thought you solved me. The reason I have this name, what person I¡¯m obsessed with based off of this name, these were all just simple questions to you. Like the good little psychiatrist you are.


    You were so close, so close to the truth, but alas, you missed one very important question. Off by a centimeter of a mark.


    Why am I obsessed?


    You asked the ¡°what¡±, but you didn¡¯t ask the ¡°why¡±.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Oh quit whimpering. You knew what you were getting yourself into.


    ...Oh, oh, you didn¡¯t. Wow, you surround yourself with deceivers...and yet you still thought you¡¯d be able to beat me?


    I pity you. I am the queen of treachery and deceit.


    Quit struggling. Trust me, if the binds come off, you¡¯d be even worse off than what you are now. If you¡¯d just stop crying, you¡¯d be able to hear the boiling underneath your feet.


    You know, when she was taken from me, I felt like something stabbed me in the heart. It was the first time I ever felt anything as...painful as that. The torture, the burns, the whiplashes from dear old Pop had nothing compared to when I lost her.


    The moment I lost her, I went to Father. To my brothers and sisters. To You. I went to my family to rely on them, on you.


    And what do I get? A spitting. Bruises. A beating.


    It¡¯s funny how Father had the audacity to try and kill me when I threatened to leave.


    Huh? About big sis? That¡¯s just rude. You shouldn¡¯t blame me for things I didn¡¯t do. Besides...


    I assure you her death didn¡¯t influence Father¡¯s decision to try and kill me. Why do I think that? Oh c¡¯mon! He¡¯s a kidnapper. A child-beater. A mad scientist with a hard-on fetish for torturing people. You really think he¡¯d be grief-stricken over losing one of his ¡®children¡¯?


    You¡¯re an idiot if you think otherwise.


    Where am I going with this? I honestly have no clue. A part of me, I suppose, just wants you to understand.


    Or maybe the more nihilistic part of me gave up and is just having a soliloquy with an audience of three. I dunno.


    In the words of our dearest youngest sister, ¡°Noooo fuuuuuukiiiiin clue!¡± I don¡¯t have much of a hidden agenda in telling you this. [Hah.]


    Oh please, don¡¯t look at me with pity in your eyes.


    Seeing that look on your face is kinda...gross.


    RUSTLE


    Hm? Ahh, the cavalry has arrived to save you. How¡¯d they even-oh, you have a tracker on you. Of course, you let yourself get trapped. Very smart.


    They won¡¯t be able to get in here for at least a few minutes though, so I¡¯m not too worried. Though I really should get going.


    Thanks for listening to me, little sis. But,


    Clink


    I must bid your friend adieu.


    BANG


    [Hah.]