Blood Assimilation

"And what if I dare to lay my hand on you? In the first place, weren't you guys the ones that tried to stop me from leaving, and then assaulted me? Additionally, weren't you enjoying the show on the side with a proud smile on your face as though it was a normal occurrence until now? You, a prominent princess, relied on your status to allow your men to pick on me, a commoner. Are you not ashamed of yourself as the Crown Princess of the nation? Even if I was in the wrong, shouldn't you be leading by example? Why choose aggression to get what you want?"

Randy stood in front of the Crown Princess and lectured her mercilessly. Although he felt that he was partly at fault for all the present mess, he still wanted to vent out a little bit on the proud princess in front of him before getting to the main reason for approaching her.

His current unruly behavior was caused by his past with influential people abusing their authority to mess with him. Unlike how those from influential families assisted and took care of their children, his parents were the complete opposite. They didn't do the same for him by allowing him to rely on their prominent status for everything he needed or wanted.

"You impertinent cur! I dare you to touch me! The Royal Family would not let you off the hook, no matter how talented you are!"

The Crown Princess decided not to put on a pretense any longer. She looked fiercely at Randy in front of her with a look of disdain, and she coldly spoke with a tone full of pride and arrogance in her voice.

"Heh... Do you really think I don't dare to, little girl?"

Randy found her words very amusing and wanted to mess with her a little bit. As such, he playfully reached out his hand to grab her hand right after he spoke. The Crown Princess took a step back from fright, but she couldn't avoid Randy's grasp as she still remained rooted on the spot by his remaining pressure on her.

"You—"

At this point, a very cautious voice suddenly broke the suspense building up in the alley.

"Ahem! Dear friend, isn't that enough as a lesson?"

Randy wasn't surprised when he saw a person approaching from the corner of his eyes, and instead questioned them without looking at them.

"Are you with them?"

"...Not really. Anyway, why don't you stop right there, dear friend? She may be hotheaded at times, but I hope you will forgive her for my sake."

The person said in a friendly tone, seemingly trying to pacify Randy. Soon, he stood next to the Crown Princess, and his appearance was revealed to be a young man, who appeared to be in his twenties with handsome features. He wore exquisite attire with symbolic designs befitting someone of high status embroidered carefully on them.

His attire was similar to the one worn by the Crown Princess, as it made him appear quite dignified and regal. He was clearly not a commoner. However, despite his status, his expression was truly friendly as he looked at Randy. Randy still had his hand gripping the Crown Princess's slender hand, but the friendly handsome man didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Who might you be? And why are you interfering in this matter?"

Randy could guess the background of this friendly young man, judging from his speech, but he still doubtfully asked for confirmation.

The friendly young man answered: "I am her older brother."

"…"

'Her older brother? There are only two royal children, according to Gutz. In other words, he is the Crown Prince of this world's human nation?'

Randy concluded and then asked in a calm voice: "So what do you want exactly by only coming out now? Why were you snooping around watching this entire time? You even watched it unfold to this stage before deciding to interfere?"

The Crown Prince was startled inwardly when he heard these meaningful words, which clearly hinted at his previous questionable actions. Earlier, he hid himself a considerable distance away and then used an artifact to observe what was happening down in the alley.

'He noticed my presence at that time, huh? He even seemed to have found out about my exact location. Is he really talking about when I observed his fight with the malicious-looking woman or his current altercation with my little sister? Perhaps both instances? As expected, he is not a shallow person.'

The Crown Prince cleared his throat in embarrassment and calmly spoke: "Actually, I was merely planning on meeting you as well. Unfortunately, I realized that I was a step too late when I noticed that you were preoccupied with someone at the time. As a result, I decided to wait until a suitable time to show myself. However, I had no choice but to show myself now when I saw what was happening here."

Realizing the current state of things, he reassured confidently: "Oh, you don't have to worry about what happened here. I saw that my little sister and her bodyguards were at fault for imposing their authority over you. I hope you don't come to hate my little sister or the Royal Family over this."

"…"

Randy was left speechless by his first statement, which hinted that he had somehow managed to watch his battle against the mysterious young woman. Then, he was surprised when he heard his next two statements. He thought for sure that the Crown Prince was scheming something by showing up at this opportune moment, but it turned out he was simply thinking too much.

It seemed that he merely wanted to make peace with him instead of holding him accountable for his actions.

Regardless of the Crown Prince's reason, he saved him from dealing with a hassle that would have been quite annoying if his actions against his sibling were questioned by him. Though it was strange for him to be exempted just like that, it didn't matter to him about the underlying reason.

"Is that so? Well, I originally planned on leaving and handling some matters since it was urgent, but as you could tell, I was stopped by your sister's bodyguards."

Randy immediately released his grip on the Crown Princess's hand.

He then retracted the baleful murderous aura and its overbearing pressure that had permeated every corner of the alley, and then continued: "If you don't plan on charging me for any crime, then I will be on my way, your Highness."

The Crown Prince wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and then let out a long breath of relief as if he had just escaped a calamity. However, when he noticed Randy walking away, he suddenly came to his senses and shouted from behind.

"W-Wait! Please wait a minute!"

Randy scowled, turned around, and spoke in a slightly cold tone: "What is it this time?"

'Is this guy changing his mind already? Isn't that too quick?'

He thought with his gaze fixed on the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince noticed the suspicious look on his face and clarified: "Don't worry, I'm not taking back my words. I just wanted to invite you to the Royal Castle if you're not busy three days from now. The Royal Family is hosting an official ball— a dance party held in three days. However, it is a disguised announcement, as it was actually meant for army recruits to gather, meet, socialize, and then discuss several issues regarding the state of the front lines. This includes providing Dungeons for army recruits in order for them to train themselves enough to survive the upcoming climax in the war with the demons."

He paused for a moment, and then continued: "Though you are not yet a member of the recruited soldiers, I can still use my authority to invite you to attend this important meeting. What do you say? Are you interested in Dungeons in the Royal Capital and the Imperial City? This is a very great opportunity to learn about them. Of course, you could simply go to the Society for Dungeon Hunters, such as yourself, to get some relevant information. However, ultimately, the quota would be decided by the Royal Family."

"..."

Randy relaxed his expression, pondered briefly, and then replied: "I'm not sure, but I will let you know if I'm not occupied in three days by some means. Either that or we would have to make an appointment to meet here three days later, and I will come if I'm not busy. Otherwise… I don't want to make someone of your caliber to wait for me, after all. I might not return here if I'm truly busy so…"

"That's all right with me. I don't mind waiting for you…"

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment and then suggested: "Let's do it this way. I will let one of my attendants wait for you at this exact location, and then pick you up if you're here three days later. The time would be around the same as right now in the afternoon. Is that okay with you?"

Randy nodded in acknowledgment and replied: "Yes, I don't mind."

With that settled, Randy turned around and walked away without waiting for the Crown Prince, who seemed to want to say something else to him.

Behind him, the Crown Prince's voice resounded in a slightly excited tone.

"Then I will wait in anticipation of good news about you three days later, dear friend!"