"Yah-hoo, Mr. Knight! We're here!!"
To be honest, when Duanmu Huai saw Anne and Guleya appear in front of him, he was somewhat surprised.
"How did you get here… ah, right, there's a teleport gate. No, wait—why did you come here?"
"Because, Mr. Knight, you asked for so many supplies. I got curious about what was going on over here, so I brought Guleya along to take a look?"
As she came up beside Duanmu Huai, Anne cheerfully wrapped her arm around his while speaking.
This was actually quite normal. Duanmu Huai had gathered up all the refugees from the royal capital, and along the way he continued to take in more refugees. This wasn't a matter of thousands or tens of thousands of people, but… nearly seven million in total!
Fortunately, the Sky City really was large enough. Otherwise, there'd be no way it could have accommodated so many people. To be honest, even Duanmu Huai himself had only just realized that his Sky City could hold this many people…
Of course, once the population increased, the issue of supplies immediately came to the forefront. Luckily, the Sky City had teleport gates connecting to the Holy City and Manaria. Thus, Duanmu Huai purchased a large amount of food and supplies from both sides—of course, these had to be paid for. Duanmu Huai had no intention of paying out of his own pocket to do charity, so after obtaining King Gandhi's consent, he pried open Seth's national treasury…
Gold was hard currency in most medieval worlds.
The Holy City itself had a small population and limited supplies, so the bulk came from Manaria. Anne was also very curious about the situation here, so she brought Guleya along under the pretext of transporting supplies to take a look.
It had to be said, seeing so many refugees left Anne deeply shocked—millions of refugees. Just thinking about that number was horrifying.
Seeing it with her own eyes made it even harder to imagine.
"What exactly happened here?"
"Heh, honestly, they kind of brought it on themselves."
Duanmu Huai felt no sympathy for Seth at all. Since Anne asked, he explained the entire situation to her in detail. After listening to his account, Anne was left… completely speechless, not knowing what to say.
"How can there be a country like this…"
"When a country develops to a certain level, class solidification is a normal phenomenon. If Manaria can't handle things properly in the future, similar problems will appear there too."
"That won't do. Looks like when I go back, I have to remind Father and have a proper discussion…"
At this point, Anne grew serious. She definitely didn't want Manaria to turn into a country like this.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Duanmu Huai then saw King Gandhi enter with Magico. When they saw Anne holding onto Duanmu Huai's arm, both of them froze for a moment, then glanced at Guleya beside her…
Uh, this one probably wasn't human, right?
After all, that plump tail and those wings didn't look human at all. Could she be a Demon?
"Hello, Lord Inquisitor. May I ask who these two are…?"
King Gandhi coughed lightly and asked curiously. Duanmu Huai patted Anne on the head.
"Oh, perfect timing. Let me introduce them. These two are also princesses—Miss Guleya here is a princess from the Dragonkin Kingdom of Regnis, and Anne is a princess of the Magic Kingdom of Manaria… Hmm, in my opinion, Manaria is actually stronger than Seth. Anne, Guleya, these two are King Gandhi of the Magic Kingdom of Seth and his daughter, Princess Magico."
"Hello, I'm Guleya."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's introduction, Guleya lowered her head and gave a solemn bow. Anne also released Duanmu Huai's arm, lifted her skirt, and performed a princess's curtsy.
"Greetings, King Gandhi. I am Anne, the First Princess of Manaria."
"Oh…!"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's introduction, both King Gandhi and Magico were greatly shocked. On one hand, these two were also princesses, and even more surprising was that one of them was actually a Dragonkin princess!
"Greetings, Princesses. I am King Gandhi of the Kingdom of Seth… though, to be honest, I am now nothing more than a failed king leading his people in flight."
At this point, King Gandhi gave a bitter smile, while Magico stared at Anne with a scrutinizing gaze.
The reason was simple.
Based on Duanmu Huai's introduction just now, this princess's Manaria was also a magic kingdom like Seth, and… he had actually said that Manaria was stronger than Seth?!
In fact, Duanmu Huai wasn't saying this without reason. In his view, Seth's magical level wasn't actually that high. Among the spells used by mages in this world, the most powerful ones were "White Destruction Ray" and "Black Destruction Ray." Duanmu Huai had seen their power before—about one-fifth of a BFG9000.
Mm, to put it in game terms, Seth's magic at most reached the level of an anti-army Noble Phantasm.
But Anne's grand magic directly reached the level of an anti-city Noble Phantasm—that single fireball, if it came down, would probably wipe out half of Seth's royal capital.
Not to mention that Anne's Heroic Spirits could directly go toe-to-toe with alien robots, and Guleya's dragon roar could change the heavens and earth…
By comparison, even Seth's highest combat power fell a bit short.
If nothing else, just consider the Demon army invasion.
Even if the Machino Defense Line failed, as long as Anne stood on the front line, holding back half the Demon army would basically not be a problem.
If not for the Demons and Demon Kings having that cheating "invincibility barrier," Anne could probably tear apart a few Demonfolk with her bare hands.
So in Duanmu Huai's view, thinking this way was perfectly reasonable.
However, Magico was clearly somewhat unconvinced. Still… she was, after all, a princess and knew she couldn't speak carelessly in such a setting, so she obediently kept quiet.
As the king of a nation, King Gandhi was of course no fool. After a brief exchange, Duanmu Huai also introduced that both of them were his fiancées. This truly shocked King Gandhi. Soon after, he found an excuse and left with his daughter.
This was troublesome…
After leaving the room, King Gandhi frowned deeply. He hadn't expected Duanmu Huai to already have fiancées—two of them at that. That itself wasn't the main issue. The problem was that Miss Anne, no matter how one looked at her, seemed to surpass his daughter by quite a bit.
Whether in appearance or demeanor, she exuded confidence. Although King Gandhi didn't yet know what kind of magic kingdom Manaria was, just from this princess's bearing, it was obvious that that magic kingdom was anything but simple.
In comparison, his own daughter…
Glancing at Magico, King Gandhi sighed inwardly. In terms of looks, he naturally believed his daughter was the cutest in the world.However, because Magico had always focused on her studies, she rarely paid attention to grooming and dressing herself…
That wouldn't do.
It seemed changes had to be made.
Otherwise… she might lose.
On the other hand, King Gandhi also felt somewhat relieved. From the fact that Duanmu Huai had two fiancées, it was clear that he was, after all, a man. Having two fiancées would definitely be a problem for ordinary people, but for Duanmu Huai, it wasn't an issue at all.
After all, heroes were like that—an upright man standing tall between heaven and earth.
What was wrong with having a few wives?
Since there was a first and a second, there could be a third and a fourth, right?
That meant his daughter still had a chance!
If Duanmu Huai knew what King Gandhi was thinking, he would definitely pat him on the shoulder and say that men loving beauty was perfectly natural—but brother… do you know there's a thing called "polyandry"?
To be frank, Duanmu Huai himself wasn't sure whether there was truly love between him and Anne and Guleya. If you said they got along well, they certainly did.But it felt more like close friends.
Anne spent more time being clingy with Guleya, and Duanmu Huai was basically just their tool person.
After all, if you looked at how romance dramas or romance novels usually depicted love, it was always deep passion, wanting to monopolize everything about the other person, getting jealous at the slightest glance toward someone else.
For example, a domineering CEO would put a collar on the female lead and lock her in a cage, and if she even glanced at another man, he'd fuck her until she couldn't take care of herself, then pin her against the wall and declare, "Everything about you belongs to me"…
Or a yandere heroine would follow behind her boyfriend, staring blankly as he chatted and laughed with other girls, then slowly pull a kitchen knife out of her backpack…
Alright, those examples were a bit extreme,but love was originally supposed to be like that—right?
But between Duanmu Huai, Anne, and Guleya, there was nothing like that. Duanmu Huai got along well with Anne, while Guleya was somewhat reserved around him. Duanmu Huai treated Anne and Guleya equally, and Anne had always been sticking close to Guleya, the two of them paired together… and Duanmu Huai never felt jealous.
Moreover, from childhood to adulthood, because of his face, Duanmu Huai had never dated before, so he naturally didn't know what real-life romance was like. At the very least, if compared to the love in novels, movies, or anime, it definitely wasn't like this.
Duanmu Huai liked Anne more because of her lively and cheerful personality, which made her very likable. And her strength wasn't weak either—she could help him a great deal.
As for why Anne liked him… Duanmu Huai had no idea.
"By the way, you're sticking to me unusually tightly today."
Looking at Anne clinging to his arm, Duanmu Huai asked curiously. Although his relationship with Anne was good, she rarely made such couple-like intimate gestures toward him.
"Mm… how should I put it…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Anne tilted her head.
"It just feels like there's some kind of attraction coming from you, Mr. Knight. You smell… interesting."
"Smell?"
Duanmu Huai raised his arm and sniffed it…
He had showered, hadn't he?
"Hard to say. Anyway, it gives off a very rough, very reassuring aura. Mm… maybe your charm has increased, Mr. Knight?"
"There's such a good thing?"
Hearing Anne say this, Duanmu Huai's eyes lit up. Although his Charm was still a pitiful 2 and showed no sign of increasing, Anne wasn't the type to lie.
That meant—his attractiveness had indeed grown?
"And also… it seems there's some kind of… strange…"
Just as Duanmu Huai was feeling smug, Anne clung to his arm, her eyes gradually becoming hazy.
For some reason, at this moment, Anne felt that just holding onto Duanmu Huai's arm made her body turn soft and limp,and there seemed to be a kind of sour, weak sensation spreading from within,making her want to press even closer…
"Anne?"
At that moment, Guleya's voice rang out, snapping Anne back to her senses.
"What's wrong? Your face is really red. Are you okay?"
"Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Hearing Guleya's voice, Anne hurriedly released Duanmu Huai's arm and vigorously patted her own cheeks.
At this moment, Anne felt her heart pounding wildly,just like the feeling she sometimes had when she and Guleya were alone together…
"What, are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go back?"
"No, no, I want to stay here for a while."
"Alright then. I'll prepare rooms for the two of you."
Duanmu Huai didn't think much of it. In fact, in his view, there was nothing wrong with this.
That kind of love-crazed, obsessive romance seen in novels, movies, and anime was indeed unforgettable—but unfortunately, in this world, that kind of fixation was basically an obsession born of desire,prime potential believers of the God of Desire.
So wasn't it pretty good the way they were now?
While Duanmu Huai was arranging things for Anne and Guleya, King Gandhi, on the other hand, was in a very bad mood—not only because his daughter's chances had dropped sharply, but also because of the uninvited guests who had come knocking.
"What do you want with me?"
Looking at the intelligence chief and the military chief before him, King Gandhi's expression was grim.
He wasn't stupid.
He had long suspected that these Seth high officials were very likely the source of the leaked information.
After all, they had both motive and opportunity, didn't they?
"Your Majesty, we have come this time to propose a suggestion."
"A suggestion?"
"That's right."
The Seth officials were unaware of King Gandhi's thoughts. At this moment, their eyes were shining as they looked at him.
"This Sky City is truly unparalleled, awe-inspiring. But such a treasure being held by a single individual—don't you think that's a bit of a waste, Your Majesty?"
"...…???"
Hearing this, King Gandhi stared at them in a daze.
"What do you mean?"
The officials exchanged glances, then the intelligence chief stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, we believe that this great Sky City is the pinnacle masterpiece of magic. A city like this should belong only to our Magic Kingdom of Seth! At present, nearly everyone inside this city is a citizen of Seth. As long as you give the order, we can completely seize this city!"
"...…."
Hearing this, King Gandhi was utterly dumbfounded.
He looked at these high officials under his command as if they were idiots.
Are you people out of your minds?!
Isn't this just asking to die?
(End of Chapter)