Chapter : 35

  Ken leaned forward slightly and looked at the map. His sleepy eyes narrowed just a fraction of an inch. He recognized those streets instantly. He knew exactly where that red circle was pointing.

  It was the slums. It was an area located far on the edge of the Iron Rose District, not too far from where Ken’s own family lived. The slums were a terrible pce to fight a battle.

  "They are hiding in the deep slums," Sayma noted, tracing the map with her finger. "That is a major problem for us. The streets there are very narrow. The buildings are packed tightly together, and they are mostly made of cheap wood. We cannot use rge, destructive magic. If Laxmi uses a giant fireball, or if Luna calls down a major lightning strike, we will accidentally burn down the entire neighborhood and hurt innocent people."

  "Which means we have to fight in close combat," Naomi said, tapping the handle of her dagger. "We have to get in close, find the kidnapped victims, and take out Vane before he can cast his curses. It has to be fast and quiet."

  "Correct," Finy agreed. "We will move out in one hour. Get your gear ready. Check your weapons. Prepare your healing potions. Do not underestimate this criminal. Dismissed!"

  The girls immediately stood up and began talking rapidly among themselves, pnning their tactical formations. Naomi, Sayma, and Zinia walked out of the room together, discussing the best way to breach a wooden building without making noise.

  Ken remained in his chair at the back of the room. He took a final sip of his apple juice, finishing the box with a loud slurping sound. He put the empty box on the table and slouched down even further.

  Internally, Ken was actively putting together his own strategy.

  "A curse user hiding in the slums," Ken thought, his mind working quickly behind his zy, bnk expression. "This is just like those old anime Episodes where the creepy vilin hides in a dark alley to ambush the heroes. Vane sounds like a totally cssic bad guy. He kidnaps people, uses dark magic, and hides behind innocent hostages."

  Ken looked at the map on the screen one st time. He wasn't worried about the danger. He wasn't scared of the curses. If he really wanted to, Ken knew he could just snap his fingers and teleport Vane into the middle of the ocean. He could drop a microscopic gravity spell on the criminal and crush him into the ground in less than a second.

  But he couldn't do any of that.

  "My real problem is not fighting Vane," Ken analyzed internally. "My real problem is figuring out how to protect the girls from these invisible curses without them realizing I am doing it. I have to keep my 'weak and useless' disguise perfectly intact. If Naomi sees me swat away a deadly curse with my bare hand, she will know I am faking my power."

  Ken scratched his messy bck hair. He needed a pn. He needed a way to block the dark magic while looking like an absolute idiot.

  "Okay, I got it," Ken decided silently. "I will just use my favorite strategy. I will pretend to be a clumsy coward. When Vane tries to shoot a curse at the girls, I will just 'accidentally' trip over a rock, fall perfectly into the path of the spell, and secretly erase the magic before it hits me. They will think I am just a clumsy fool who got lucky, and the curse will disappear. It is a foolproof pn. Minimal effort, maximum ziness."

  Satisfied with his perfectly zy pn, Ken stood up from his chair. He stretched his arms high above his head, letting out another loud, dramatic groan.

  "Well, time to go to work, I guess," Ken mumbled out loud, talking to no one in particur. "I really hope we finish this mission before lunch. If I miss my midday nap, I am going to be very, very cranky."

  Ken shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his messy uniform. He turned around to leave the strategy room, fully intending to go back to his dusty bedroom to take a quick thirty-minute nap before the team officially rolled out.

  He shuffled his feet toward the door, scuffing his cheap shoes against the floor. Scuff. Scuff. Scuff. He was ready to go be the best background character in the history of the Belmontia Empire. He just had to stand in the back, look scared, and let the elite girls do all the heavy lifting.

  It was a solid pn. However, just as Ken reached for the doorknob, he heard his name.

  "Ken. Wait a moment, please."

  He stopped and slowly turned around. Princess Iris was still sitting at the head of the heavy wooden table. The room was empty now, except for the two of them. The Princess was looking directly at him, and her violet eyes were completely serious.

  Ken let out a quiet, internal sigh. "So much for my quick nap," he thought. He dropped his hand from the doorknob and waited to see what the Princess wanted.

  ----

  Ken Eliot had his hand resting firmly on the cool metal of the doorknob. He was exactly one second away from stepping out of the strategy room, walking down the long stone hallway, and throwing himself onto his dusty, slightly lumpy mattress for a glorious thirty-minute nap. He had the whole pn worked out in his head.

  But then, the voice of the 13th Princess stopped him in his tracks.

  "Ken. Wait a moment, please."

  Ken let out a very quiet, completely silent sigh inside his mind. He let go of the doorknob and let his hand drop to his side. He slowly turned around, dragging his cheap shoes on the wooden floor. Scuff. Scuff.

  The rge strategy room was completely empty now. Grandmaster Finy, Sayma, Naomi, and the rest of the elite girls had already rushed out to prepare their weapons and armor for the sudden B-rank mission. The loud, panicked energy that had filled the room just a minute ago was totally gone. Now, it was just very quiet. The only sound was the soft ticking of the clock on the wall and the gentle hum of the magical screen that still showed the map of the city slums.

  Princess Iris was still sitting at the head of the heavy wooden table. She did not look like a royal Princess at that moment. She just looked like a very tired, stressed-out young woman who was carrying way too much weight on her shoulders.

  Ken put on his best scker face. He slouched his shoulders forward, let his mouth hang open just a tiny bit, and gave her a goofy, zy smile. He tried to look as harmless and foolish as possible.

  "Did I forget to clean something up, Princess?" Ken asked, his voice sounding entirely casual. He pointed a finger at the empty juice box he had left on the table. "Because if it is about the juice box, I promise I was going to throw it in the trash ter. Eventually. Probably."