Whether it be on Earth or my kingdom, I'd grown accustomed to mornings filled with a sense of peace and tranquility.
Everything was quiet and calm, with nothing to hurt me.
I used to enjoy taking deep breaths as I looked through the window, taking in the world. It was a soothing ritual to start the day.
Now that I had begun living inside the Kingdom, there was this mystery and wonder that filled the air.
While it was a breath of fresh air at first, I had grown to miss Earth. Especially when my safe haven was invaded by a hostile force that, even though I knew would come, gave me no chance to resist.
She brought me breakfast, served with a death stare that sharply contradicted the kindness of her actions.
Licia: "So, what happened yesterday?"
I took one bite of it, blissfully falling for her trap as she commenced her attack.
Miwen: "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
I set up the fiercest barrier I could. A logic with no holes in it whatsoever.
Licia: "Let me refresh your memory then... yesterday instead of talking to Claire like I told you to, you ended up giving her a day off, does it ring you any bells?"
Honestly? An entire church's.
I tried looking at Licia seriously, but neither of us could hold our chuckles in. We turned away from each other for a second before resuming our talk.
Miwen: "Do you want one too?"
I laid my own trap.
Licia: "That's not-"
She stopped for a second, surprised by the offer.
I didn't waste this opening.
Miwen: "But you'll have to do something for me."
This way, I could solve two problems at the same time, without actually putting in any effort.
It was the best for everyone, especially me.
Licia: "So Claire gets one even though she did something bad, while I need to work for mine?"
While Licia and I fought a fierce battle, Claire stayed silent, biting on her toast while watching us with the corner of her eye.
She was acting like it was none of her business when it was all about her, so I decided to throw her into the fire as well, as a little payback for putting me in this situation in the first place.
Miwen: "Quite, but Claire had a good argument that ended up convincing me yesterday. Right?"
Claire's eyes widened as I nudged her on the shoulder.
Since I was the one who brought up the idea of giving her days off, she obviously had no arguments.
Still, I wanted to see how well she'd do when put on the spot.
It certainly had nothing to do with my thinking that Licia was a bit scary to face alone.
Miwen: "The fate of your day off rests on this battle, so do your best."
I whispered encouraging words into her ears, shifting my attention back to the breakfast before us.
Claire "Huh!?"
Her eyes drifted from me to Licia, but when Claire saw the dark smile on her face, she lowered her head, facing the table.
Licia: "So, what did you say to him?"
She spoke with her usual soft voice, tapping her shoulder with her finger.
Claire "Uhh... I told him that... you know? That we were worried! Since we can't really help that much.... And uh..."
Even though she needed to gauge Licia's reaction, she could only keep eye contact for a second, if that.
Claire "...I told him that the only reason I lost track was that I calmed down by binge-watching the movies... So... He gave me a day off?"
Her nervousness ended up helping her case as she pulled the same "pity me" maneuver on Licia.
It was even more effective on her, since they shared common ground in worrying about me.
Licia: "...Well, I guess everyone deserves to rest sometimes, and I guess this much is fine, but... Just make sure not to slip when we need you. After all, I'm also counting on you!"
The pressure of that "I'm counting on you" was palpable.
I would've never thought that such a brimming smile could be so coercive.
Claire "S-sure."
For some reason, Claire felt inclined to lift her hands, as if to disarm Licia.
If Claire had hit me with that puppy act, I'd have given her an entire week off, but Licia was surprisingly strong and kept a cool head.
Though she did drop the scolding...
Licia: "So, what do I need to do to get mine as well?"
Seemingly satisfied, she finally sat by the table as well, facing me with a more relaxed smile.
Miwen: "You're to take the newly created position of Head of Scolding, thank you very much."
I tried giving her no time to refuse.
Licia wasn't so easily pressured, though.
She squinted her eyes, staring at me with suspicion.
Licia: "...Why?"
The main reason was that I didn't want it.
However, I gave her something more substantial.
Miwen: "You're better than me at it."
Even though I wasn't exactly a soft person, I had a hard time reprimanding the girls. I just liked seeing them have fun too much to tell them "no".
It was fine with Licia; she never caused any trouble, but Claire...
She had just proved her ability to avoid a well-deserved sermon.
If Licia, who had a much better head on her shoulders, struggled with her, I had no hope.
Licia: "Alright, but does that mean I can reprimand any citizen?"
She brought a hand near her face, half-hiding her lips.
Miwen: "Yeah? I guess..."
This lovely sight distracted me, and I thought nothing much of it.
Licia: "Even you?"
She revealed a smirk hiding behind her hand.
Miwen: "... The king is an exception, obviously."
Licia: "You can be such a child... But alright, I'll take your offer."
Even though we were mostly fooling around, it was a nice little talk to have.
I was looking forward to spending some time with the two on our day off.
And with this little issue dealt with, the girls returned to Earth to enjoy the rest of their day while I visited Melissa's fortress.
The bars of my cell appeared before me, and a couple of meters behind them was Mia.
She curled her lips into a smile upon seeing me, her eyes glistening for a second, and even her fang briefly made an appearance.
I had never seen her so happy before, and I couldn't imagine why she'd be relieved to see me.
However, it was such a cute, warm sight that it blew away the cold from the prison cell.
Mia: "...! You're back! I'm gonna call Mom, stay there."
She left in a hurry, leaving me no room to tease that odd attitude of hers.
Since I had nothing left to do and nowhere left to go, I sat on the bed, burning that cute wolfgirl's expression into my memory while waiting for Melissa.
Melissa: "Boy, it's good to have you back."
Miwen: "It does look like it huh?"
Even now, the two of them look like they've been running around all day long. It does pique my interest, and I end up asking about it.
Miwen: "So, why do you two seem like you're in a hurry? Is something the matter?"
Melissa: "I'm afraid so. Yesterday at night, the enemy managed to disembark. Five ships in total and-"
Miwen: "Wait. What? How?"
Everything was alright before I left, and from what I've gathered there should be no way for them to do something on this scale, so what exactly is happening right now?
Melissa: "It's not exactly clear to us either, but I'll tell you what I understand from the situation. You remember Prince Gerbil, right?"
Miwen: "The third prince of Hamperlon right? You mentioned him to me before."
Melissa: "Yes... It seems like due to a perceived failure, his older brother, Prince Normyu joined the fight."
Miwen: "That's a name I haven't heard before."
Melissa: "He wasn't a factor until now. Both the first and second princes should've been severely hurt from the last war, but it seems like Normyu is now healed."
After we managed to take one head down, another one shows up, huh? This suddenly became a work worthy of an epic.
Miwen: "Prince Gerbil is astute, while the Seven Rainbow Miracles is a problem due to her defensive ability. So, what does this guy bring to the table?"
Melissa: "To put it bluntly, power and resourcefulness."
Miwen: "In which way exactly?"
Melissa: "You know how you can expect someone to have one, or at most, two Gifts, right?"
Miwen: "Yeah?"
From long ago, there was a Divine Event where the reward was a second Gift, bestowed by the Gods themselves. No one from Earth managed to get that, but it was speculated that it would either replace your current Gift, or you would simply have both.
Even on Earth, some people claim to have multiple Gifts, but it's hard to determine the validity of such claims since sometimes a Gift can be so complex that it manifests in a lot of different effects.
What makes the idea quite reasonable is the fact that in dungeons there have been confirmed cases of monsters on difficult enough floors with more than one Gift themselves. And so, if monsters sometimes have multiple Gifts, why would humans be any different?
Melissa: "Well, Prince Normyu is said to have at least ten of them."
Miwen: "Hah!"
As if by reflex, I couldn't help but laugh at what she just said. I mean, it's obviously a joke, right?
Melissa: "Well, he might actually have a bit less, but his maximum potential right now should amount to ten."
She's not joking. Damn, I wish she was joking.
I'm beyond words, really. If this is true, the guy is a complete monster.
Melissa: "It's also not quite right to say that he has ten Gifts, since he only has one. The problem is that it's known throughout the land that he has the strongest Gift of the continent, being able to copy other Gifts. What limits the number of Gifts he can hold is his level, so right now, it should be about ten given that he's level one hundred."
Miwen: "That's his limitation? Really?"
And here I thought my Gift was overpowered. What happens if he copies mine as well? This guy doesn't even feel like a final boss, it's more like he is a cheat character you're not meant to fight at all.
Melissa: "Whatever Gift he copies can never be as powerful as the original. Its strength depends on the original Gifts complexity, power, and how much he uses it."
Well, at least there's that I guess. But still, something is bothering me about this.
Miwen: "You seem to know an awful lot about him."
Melissa: "I fought against him ten years ago. His biggest weakness might be how much he likes to blabber about himself."
Ten years ago... It was when the war started then...
Miwen: "Did you win?"
Melissa: "I... can't say I did. My husband died but we managed to give him life-threatening injuries, he ended up being unable to fight for a number of years. Due to that, another kingdom, seeing an opportunity to rid themselves of the second prince and take land from Hamperlon also declared war."
So instead of focusing on the island, they decided to commit their forces to protect their borders. The guy must also be somewhat scared of Melissa and the Snow White Wolves since he decided to fight in the other war before coming here.
It's also worth noting that Mia in the back seems to get quite agitated upon hearing this story, it must have been hard for her.
Miwen: "Just so we are clear, does the crown prince of Hamperlon also have an absurd power that I should know of?"
Melissa: "He's quite average from what I know. He also mostly takes care of internal affairs and strengthens his alliances with the nobles. It seems that due to the excellence of his brothers, he does his best to solidify his position whenever possible."
Having a guy like this Normyu as your younger brother, your position as the crown prince would never be truly safe. And if you can't fight him with strength, at least you can try with numbers and connections. It's a solid plan given his circumstances, but sadly it's not something I can hope to replicate.
Melissa: "The fourth prince however is another-"
Please no.
Melissa: "I'm kidding ok? You don't need to be so scared."
I guess it showed on my face, but I really don't wanna hear about another prince right now.
Miwen: "You shouldn't joke about that, I was about to leave you to your fate."
it's a bit saddening since we had just started making progress, but I think we can deal with it somehow if there are no surprises left...
Miwen: "So, for them to have managed to land 5 ships, I'm guessing this guy has a copy of the Seven Rainbow Miracles ?"
Melissa: "Yes. They managed to protect quite a number of ships and disembark, even though the Seven Rainbow Miracles barrier was more spread, there were two layers thanks to that idiot, so even though we broke through the first, the second one was too much. The only good thing about it all is that we managed to confirm that the two princes along with the Seven Rainbow Miracles girl are now present on this island."
Hm? The girl is on this island?
That is truly good, I spent a lot of time thinking, but I couldn't come up with a way to deal with her.
Reflecting on the current state, even though our situation clearly worsened, it might be our best chance to deal with the problems and send them home once and for all.
And I might be cooking a good trap for them...