Chapter 43

"So he is the prince?" 

"Yeah, that's him. The most famous prince of our empire. Well and alive." He began to say as he looked down on the sleeping man before turning his head sideways and whispering, " Maybe just alive." 

Daniel looked a little bit uncomfortable. Like he was fighting himself to not immediately kill everyone to the last standing man right there. 

Which was normal knowing the fact that they were supposed to be childhood friends in the book. 

I knew, from the very little knowledge I had of this book, that they met at the beginning of their teenage years but only became best buddies by the end of the first arc, during the academy time. 

Apart from that, I knew little about how they met or why then and not before and so. 

But it seemed like Daniel did care about the prince he pretended to care so little about. Like always, he was faithful to his character, he never showed his true feelings. Always masking them with jokes and pretenses. 

"What? Angry?"

"By what?"

"That your little friend has been abdicated by crazy heretics to serve as a sacrifice for who knows what." 

"Why would I care about him? We're no friends and I don't know him."

"That's not what your present expression says about your "relationship," I said jokingly as I teased him. 

Daniel, as he continued to sneak glances at the prince from behind the bushes, was tightly gripping his legs as he crouched down. His eyes were slightly squinted in a fine line full of anger, and he was biting the corner of his deep, rosy lips. 

"We have no relationship. We barely know each other." 

He turned his face to the heretics again as he analyzed them. He was counting their exact numbers and trying to figure out how he would neutralize them. 

Those later, dressed in red clothes, hiding their faces, were still chanting as more and more unknown monsters came from the void. With them, a dark, creeping energy came out on the surface, visible to the naked eye. 

I slightly flinched at the sight of it. 

"So you have some kind of plan, I suppose? How are we supposed to fight them?" 

"With raw strength and enough beating." 

Daniel smirked as began to channel his full power, chanting incoherent words, without thinking further. 

"Are you crazy!? Do you think I will jump in this shitty plan which is not even an actual plan!!?" 

"No? Why?" 

'What do you mean, why? You stupid man!' I thought as I gritted my teeth, suppressing my boiling anger. 

Wasn't he supposed to be a sneaky and smart individual with great insight and intellect? Where were those attributes evaporated into? 

"Because your plan consists of going against a horde of monsters of unknown origins with unknown strength with only two people!" 

"But we aren't two. We are five." 

"What do you mean, five!?" 

As I asked my question, puzzled, I jumped at the feeling of a cold hand landing on my shoulder. I turned backward in a quick motion to see who it was. 

"Sylvester and I. Plus the fallen one, Arias. That makes us four with Daniel. But not you. You stay there." 

Before me stood, or more precisely crouched, a smiling Mainu, his gaze betraying his inner anger, as he looked towards us.

"Why not her? She's strong." 

I turned towards Daniel, shocked, my eyes bulging and my mouth open. What was this idiot talking about? Didn't he know to keep things to himself? 

"Yes, cough-cough, I can do my best!" 

I coughed a little to not make myself look too inconspicuous with my previous way of acting. I still didn't want all of them to know more about me and, particularly, one person, so I tried to appear somehow weaker. 

My eyes were somehow wet and translucent, appearing like little gems in the middle of the pitch-black eyes. 

I wished I could skin alive this stupid man with blue hair. 

"I would still be more at ease if I knew you were somewhere safer. We can handle the rest." 

Mainu stood on his ground, not affected by Daniel's words. He didn't seem to even care about him, only concentrating on me.

As for Sylvester, as always, he wore his favorite coldest expression, blazed and unfazed.

"No. Why are you deciding on her place? Are you her mother?"

Daniel continued to stand against Mainu, unlike his usual behavior, seemingly pissed off by the attitude of the other teenager. 

He was furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at him right in the eyes, not flinching.

'What's up with you, Daniel? You are going to regret this when your lover won't give you the attention you demand…' 

I sighed, already tired. 

Finally, maybe some fight would be welcomed. At least I wouldn't have to stand there between two bullheads as I prayed internally to just disappear. 

"Hey guys—" Began Sylvester before being interrupted by Mainu, who looked at him with a "what do you want" expression. 

"You too, Sylvester? Are you also thinking of letting her go on that suicidal mission ?" 

"No, I mean, Georgia is perfectly capable, but that's not."

He tried to explain his point, but ultimately failed again when Daniel interrupted him too, giving him no chance to finish his sentence. 

I could feel Sylvester's fluster as he tried his best to convey his message. As for the other two men, they were still arguing about me going to fight or not, each giving their own arguments and point of view. 

As for me, I stood silently by the side like a good girl, while in the periphery of my vision, I observed the future chaotic spectacle taking shape. 

The monsters who were previously on stand-by, not moving nor bulging, were now advancing toward the center of the academy, where the rescuers were still battling against the dragon. 

'Doesn't seem good…'

"I think we have bigger problems than that. Look over there!" Finally, said Sylvester, with a threatening voice—threatening the two other men of skinning them alive if they didn't shut up.