Voicing a short report out of nowhere, Dax's two travel companions already knew very well what to do as they stopped walking while the qiton broke into a sprint left heavy footprints in the dirt road below.

(Feeding time.)

(Ehh?~ but Dax, I've had enough of monster blood already! It's been all the same for a few weeks now.)

(Yeah it has, I've also gotten thoroughly tired of them by now…)

For the last few weeks, Dax had been travelling towards Greendale with his new cover in tow, moving through countless small cities of the fringe of Empire territory the qiton had fought and killed so many monsters now that he almost hoped for some bandits at this point.

(12 this time… Do you want to sit this one out?)

(Yes please~ I'm thoroughly tired of junk food at this point.)

Counting the minivan sized grey wolves Dax figured that he could let the sword take a break from drinking monster blood and deal with them in a way he hadn't before to at least get a bit of exercise out of it.

(... Hey, are you sure I can't eat that princess?~)

While Dax was busy manhandling the oversized wolf's the cursed sword once more brought up a subject it had talked about so many times before.

(No you can't… Anyway what is it about that dragonkin that makes her so appealing as a candidate for your next meal that you can't just let her go?)

Griping one of the wolves by its jaw Dax broke it apart and cracked apart its skull Dax pressed his partner on what didn't seem like some idle curiosity.

(I don't know… It's just that she smells really nice, like some sort of prime steak.)

(Setting aside how you can even smell her what does that even mean?... Okay then, if this trail turns out to run cold I promise I'll at least consider giving her to you.)

(Yay~✿ Dax I love you~)

Having hunted down the last fleeing wolf Dax visibly shuddered as he heard the overly sweet voice of the cursed sword in his head.

"... Sure, just don't ever use that tone of voice again it is freaking me out."

---

"... So they failed… Useless things."

Inside a brightly lit office, a high ranked n.o.ble cursed to himself when she read a report she had just received. Initially, she had been ecstatic when she had been giving some homunculus' to help her with a mission it was now clear that they had been outdated throwaways. But still, it was not all bad news that greeted her in the report, while it stated that her new toys had failed there was also some good news mixed in along with the bad.

(So even though those useless homunculi failed at even doing the simplest of jobs it did have a positive outcome…'Dax, a demonkin of unknown heritage blessed with an extreme capacity for mana manipulation has been spotted escorting the primary target'. That one might turn out to be an even better base than the princess and they're heading here? I might still have some good luck left…)

As a thin smile formed on the n.o.ble's face a single knock was heard on her door and she quickly formed a more natural looking expression.

"Yes, who is it?"

In response to her question an older looking butler stepped in and bowed deeply as he reported.

"My lady, the youth from the Aluzulite family is here to see you."

"Thank you, show him here."

With the butler leaving once more so did the n.o.ble's expression and she fell into deep tough once more.

(The youth from the Aluzuite family?... Wasn't he the one that was good friends with the dragonkin princess? I could definitely use that to my advantage.)

With her thin and cold looking smile once more forming on her face the n.o.ble took out a hand mirror and started to inspect her face.

(Now, what sort of expressions should I use? This one, or this one?... Let's go with this one.)

Settling on a warm and friendly looking expression the n.o.ble waited for a few more seconds before a knock was heard on her door.

"Please enter."

"Excuse me."

As a blue haired youth wearing a sort of mage robe entered the n.o.ble bloomed a warm and friendly smile as her earlier scheming demeanour completely disappeared.

"My my~ Look at how you've grown~ Can this aunty do anything for you Silas?"

"It has been a while, lady-"

"Now now~ Don't be so stiff."

As the Aluzulite youth named Silas tried to kneel down the n.o.ble was already on her feet next to him where she reached out and stopped him from bowing down.

"But-"

"There are no eyes in here~ Just act normally."

"O-okay, It has been a long time aunt."

Dropping the formalities Silas hugged the n.o.ble lady and after they had some tea and did some casual chatting they finally moved to more serious matters.

"Have you heard any news from Xi?"

"I have, but sadly it is not all good news I'm afraid."

Slightly toning down her friendly att.i.tude the n.o.ble lady took a few seconds to supposedly gather her thoughts before she continued.

"I seems like they have run into some sort of brute."

"... A brute?"

Also getting a slightly more serious expression on his face, Silas put down his tea.

"Yeah, it seems like all but one of her knights have been killed by this brute and she has been captured by him. This brute is having them continue on their journey towards this place still, but it is only so he can extort money from me I'm afraid."

Shedding 'real' tears, the n.o.ble lady covertly kept track of Silas to a.s.sess his state of mind.

"... HOW COWARDLY!"

Seeing the youth's outrage the n.o.ble lady did her best not to break out into a smile as she made sure to keep up her expression as she continued.

"It really is, but as the brute is holding dear Xi hostage and is ready to kill her or the knight she cares about at any moment I can't act against him."

"If you can't act then let me! I've grown strong in the years we have not seen each other aunty!"

"... Could you really do something against that brute? I don't want you to put yourself in danger…"

(If Silas is killed I can spin the entire thing to my advantage and call in the imperial knights and if the useless b.a.s.t.a.r.d somehow manages to capture that demonkin I can also spin it as I want... Truly a win-win situation~)

"Please leave it to me! I will capture this brute and learn who sent him to do such a cowardly thing!"

"Thank you, Silas! It seems the heavens have sent you to me in this time of need, from the bottom of my heart I thank you."

Hugging the youth as she continued to 'cry', the n.o.ble lady's eyes once more turned cold as a thin smile formed on her face.

---

"Is this?..."

"It is."

Standing at the entrance to a large town both Chad and Dax looked at each other for a moment before both of them broke down and started hugging each other in the middle of the busy street, much to Xi's embarra.s.sment as she acted like she didn't know the two fools.

""OOOOHHH!!""

As they started to shout loudly the demonkin and knight pair gathered even more attention as the dragonkin princess backed off even more.

"We've finally reached civilization once more!"

"No more monsters!"

"No more sleeping outside!"

"No more bug bites!"

"A proper toilet!"

"Beer!"

"BEER!"

(Honestly… When did the two of them become so good friends?)

Looking at her two escorts Xi couldn't help but wonder if they had been brothers in a previous life or something of the like. Over the last 2 months of travel, the two of them had fought together countless times against all manner of bandits and monsters and Xi wondered if that was everything men needed to become friends.

"My brother, do you know what must be done now?"

"... My kin, I do."

Having gotten over their initial happiness Xi's two escorts suddenly got extremely serious.

"I'll find the alcohol, you deal with housing-"

"- And we meet up at the central plaza in one hour, correct?~"

(Oh G.o.d, now they're completing each other's sentences… But at least Chad finally looks a bit happier... No! What am I thinking!?)

As her cheeks started to redden Xi stopped imagining the things she were and stomped forward and gripped Chad's arm.

"Come on, let's find a place to stay already! There are people looking at you like you're crazy!"

"I-I apologize my lady!"

"Yeah yeah, come on."

Splitting up with Dax then and there, Chad and Xi walked for a bit in silence before the dragonkin princess spoke up.

"You two sure became friends quickly, what's all that about?"

"We are comrades that have fought together for a common goal, of course we would become friends over a few months."

"... Is that so?"

Increasing her walking speed Xi separated from Chad as she suddenly felt annoyed at the clueless knight of hers.

"Whatever, I don't care!"

"Ah, my lady slow down please!"

-

(ICI do a threat a.n.a.lysis and bring down the drone a bit, I want to be ready for anything.)

(DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED.)

Meanwhile, Dax was busy blending in with the other travellers as he remained alert. Over the last few weeks of travel, he had felt serval pair's of eyes on him. With the help of ICI, he had confirmed that the dragonkin princess had been the point of interest for the people and it seemed like they were planing something.

(Whatever is happening it seems like we've come closer to the centre of it, so they'll most likely make a move soon. The question is how much influence these pesky flies hold over the local security forces, depending on that I might need to abandon the princess and her knight to their fate, I can't afford to be discovered by an angel so close to my objective…)

(My how ruthless of you Dax~✿ That's why I love you~)

(Yeah yeah, I agree that it is a bit cold… But this is still black ops. There is more at stake than these two.)

Entering a store to look at some wine, Dax continued to keep up his discreet demeanour but suddenly he broke out into a full smile as ICI's cold voice entered his head once more.

(HOSTILE PRESENCE CONFIRMED. CONTACT, 300 METERS NORTH AND CLOSING.)

"Well, it's about time~"