Clatter, clatter~
On the main street of the Royal Capital of Lugunica, Al dragged a prison cart behind Priscilla as they moved along.
People on both sides of the street kept turning to look, pointing and whispering among themselves.
"By the way, where did you even get this cart from?"
Grin sat cross-legged in the rattling prison cart, propping his chin on one hand, his face full of resignation.
"Oh, this thing?"
Al knocked on the solid frame of the cart and said, "Borrowed it from the Capital Guards. Wouldn't have known if I didn't ask, but turns out you're actually wanted, brother?"
"Huh? Me?"
Grin pointed at himself, stunned.
"Yeah," Al said, sounding just as surprised. "That's what the guards told me. Don't tell me you didn't know."
Grin nodded. "I just found out. What, telling fairy tales is illegal now?"
Al burst out laughing. "Haha, not exactly. Your charges are lacking identification and causing panic among children. They've even got a name for you. Child agitator. Or maybe child intimidator."
Grin rolled his eyes.
"That's ridiculous. Any kid who gets scared by fairy tales wasn't going to amount to much anyway."
"Brother, there's no talking your way out of that one. Your stories really are too dark. Queens trying to eat people, princes kissing corpses, stuff like that. Of course kids would get scared."
That was what Al had learned after asking the patrolling guards about Grin.
Grin was not from the Royal Capital. In fact, he most likely was not even a citizen of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica. It was as if he had simply appeared out of nowhere.
That only made Al more certain that Grin had come from the same world buried in his own memories.
Meeting him here gave him the strange feeling of running into an old acquaintance in a foreign land.
More importantly, Al felt that if Grin really was a traveler like him, then he likely possessed some unusual ability of his own. Bringing him back might prove useful to the Princess.
And because he had no identification, Grin had spent most of his time lurking around the slums, a place packed with every kind of riffraff and danger.
Thinking back on his own ten years as a sword slave, Al found himself feeling that this brother of his had not had an easy life either.
"Hey, Al."
Walking at the very front, Priscilla raised a book titled Dark Fairy Tales and held it out toward Al.
"Do you recognize this script?"
Al took the fairy tale book, flipped through it, then shook his head.
"I can make out one or two characters at best, but I can't understand any of it. You think it might be something like a Witch Cult gospel?"
"Hey, hey! Watch your mouth! Keep talking nonsense like that and I'll sue you for slander, you hear me? Slander!"
Grin grabbed the iron bars with both hands and shouted at Al from inside the cart.
"You two illiterate idiots can't even recognize Simplified Chinese? Give it back!"
As he spoke, Grin reached out with his right hand and grabbed at the air.
With a soft poof, the pitch-black fairy tale book in Al's hand scattered into stardust, then flickered and reappeared in Grin's grasp.
Al stared.
"Whoa. Brother, you can even call the book back? That's a pretty convenient trick."
"That's nothing. Let me show you something better."
Grin curled his lip in disdain and snapped his fingers.
Sure enough, the fairy tale book turned into stardust again and vanished without a trace.
Priscilla blinked those exquisite eyes, then gave a light, almost perfunctory round of applause.
"Other than this clownish sleight of hand, can you do anything else remotely interesting, commoner?"
The moment he heard that, Grin pressed himself against the bars and leaned forward as far as he could.
"I can. Princess, I really can. If you let me go, I can even run away."
"Hahaha. Mortal, your foolish little act is rather amusing."
Priscilla smiled with polished grace.
The world truly did revolve around her. Even in the stiff and orderly Royal Capital, she could still run into someone this entertaining.
Boom. Boom.
A string of dull impacts rolled over from the distance.
Priscilla lifted her gaze.
"Someone is using magic in the North Street district."
Al asked, "Want me to go check it out?"
Priscilla waved a hand, dismissing the idea at once.
"What are you suggesting? That I drag this filthy prison cart myself?"
Al laughed awkwardly.
"Right. Good point. Then let's head back to the mansion first."
Grin let out a long sigh.
Judging by the commotion, that blonde girl Felt's plan to steal the insignia must have already begun.
He had arrived in this world two months ago. Because he had no identification, the guards were constantly on his heels.
While spending his days hiding and running, he had come across a certain blonde girl named Felt.
Later, through Felt's introduction, he began doing odd jobs under Old Man Rom, scraping together just enough pocket money to survive.
Now, after finally unlocking a cheat-like ability of his own, he was somehow on his way to jail instead.
Life really was unpredictable.
As the prison cart jolted forward, a heavy gloom settled over Grin's heart.
"Sigh~ Iron doors, iron windows, iron chains~ Clutching the iron window, I gaze outside~ Life beyond is so beautiful~ When will I ever return to my home…"
He had just rolled onto his side in the prison cart and started lamenting the cruelty of fate when a tiny girl's voice slipped into his ear.
"Hey, what's with that ghostly wailing? How'd you even get caught? You're hopeless."
Grin lowered his eyes calmly and finally spotted the blonde, red-eyed girl clinging to the back of the cart.
The lifeless look on his face vanished on the spot.
In a voice low enough that only someone close could hear, he said, "Save me. Save me."
Felt grinned and raised five fingers.
Five silver coins?
You little black-hearted brat.
"…Deal."
Grin forced the words out through clenched teeth.
Felt must have already gone through his wallet in secret. Otherwise, there was no way she could know exactly how much money he had on him.
"Hehe, profit again!"
Felt laughed happily, then pulled out a long, thin wire and slipped it into the keyhole of the prison cart, wiggling it around.
Click. Click.
The lock sprang open.
"Brother, are you trying something?"
The prison cart abruptly came to a stop. Hearing the strange sound, Al turned around and looked toward Grin.
"Run!"
Felt cried out, then leapt away like a nimble little rabbit and bolted.
"I'm off, brother! Shamak!"
Grin finished the incantation for Yin Magic.
In an instant, a mass of pitch-black mist burst out from around him and spread in all directions, swallowing up the area in the blink of an eye.
Inside the darkness, Grin shoved the prison cart door open and retreated in the same direction Felt had fled.
But under the daylight, Priscilla remained untouched by Shamak.
The black mist hissed and melted away like steam before it could even approach her, leaving a clean circle around her feet.
She simply watched Grin escape, smiling the whole time, with no sign of wanting to chase him.
"Cough, cough… Princess, want me to go drag him back?"
Al fanned at the air in front of him with both hands, trying to clear away the lingering black fog.
"No need. So long as I desire it, the world itself will deliver that squid back to me."
…
Elsewhere, Grin and Felt fled into a narrow alley.
"Huff… huff… I'm dead tired. I can't run anymore."
Grin dropped down against the wall.
"Don't stop, Grin! You're not the only one being chased right now!"
Felt sounded genuinely anxious, urging him back to his feet.
Grin looked at her helplessly.
"Don't tell me you already pulled it off."
Felt reached into her chest and pulled out an amber-colored insignia.
Golden lines traced the shape of a dragon with its wings spread wide, and in the center sat a blood-red gem glowing faintly.
This was proof of eligibility for the throne.
At present, there were only four of them in the entire kingdom.
Its value hardly needed explaining.
"Wow. The owner must be going insane."
Grin fell silent for a moment.
"Impressive, right? Hahaha! But first things first, we need to shake off the little tail behind us."
Felt laughed without a care in the world.
Once she handed the insignia over to her employer, she would receive five holy gold coins.
That would be enough money for her to move out of the slums.
As long as she could lose the person following her, this whole operation would be a complete success.
Then Felt tilted her little head to one side, as though a brilliant idea had just struck her.
The moment he saw that, Grin felt a chill crawl over him.
Without a word, he quietly scooted farther away.