To be honest, I thought Dad got me a rotten hand at first, but damn, how wrong I was.

  After staying close to my so-called not-a-hero for some weeks, I still had no idea how she worked, but she was sure interesting. Both the biggest scaredy-cat of the world and some kind of monster at problem solving. Someone who seemed both too incompetent and way too competent depending on the time.

  She was so weird I couldn’t avoid getting interested, and not only because she eluded me and Eve, although we were taking it easy.

  That girl was like a ghost who wore the most stupidly eye-catching clothes she could find and was almost too beautiful. No one would ever be able to explain how she could vanish like that, and when you found her, it was a miracle if you could keep her around for long. And further, she had a way with convincing and making other people under, and over, estimate her.

  No other way to say it: the girl who faked her name was just perfect.

  “The second and third floors are clear, Your Highness.” One of the maids reported to me, making me stop my mental rumblings and go back to the objective at hand. “No casualties on our side. What’re your orders?”

  “The same as usual: pack everything with value, and let’s light this place up. I have more interesting things to do…”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” The maid nodded at my orders and left as swiftly as she came while I turned to Eve and her huge load of shiny items, some dirtied in blood, but that was that. How many she had was quite impressive, though. Even if this place was the headquarters of the smugglers working for the local marquis, I wasn’t expecting this much. Almost made me interested in what they had in their proper warehouses, but that was Sis’ job, not mine.

  Hoarding this much and not being able to use it should be sad, though. Almost made me pity the guy who set this whole mess up now had to deal with Illia in her berserk state...

  Also almost made me pity the people who were holding this place. Illia told me to let them take some money and flee if they did, but they didn’t seem willing until almost the end. Too late by then.

  “Such a waste...” I sighed while a cursory glance at the papers I collected around. “Anything more to take?”

  “The basement smells clear, but I’m not as good as you at noticing hidden passages, Your Highness. You may want to take a second look.”

  She always says so, but we were trained by the same person. It's a little hard to think our skills are so different when the same weirdo got them imprinted on us, but whatever.

  Now that I think about it, it's been a while since I visited Master… It’d be a little hard to reach her considering all the mess we’re into right now and I’m not sure of what mess she could do with Illia around, though. Maybe we’ll meet if things go to hell for sure or if we go for a Divine Judgement, but that wouldn’t be good either.

  Being a big shot in that place full of priests should be a pain.

  ”Either way, how far was the prediction this time…?” I mumbled while looking for any monetary data in the files. “It’s around nine hundred crowns last month, so…”

  “Something close to ten percent, Your Highness,” Eve answered as she noticed that I didn’t remember the number Illia mentioned. “This one was very honest with his bribes.”

  “Hehe, an honest smuggler. Funny…”

  “We should be going, Your Highness. The water mages will be here soon.”

  Having to call the firefighters beforehand is such a pain... Better than setting the whole city on fire, I guess.

  “Lead the way, Eve,” I ordered the maid and went to the glowing orange bottle at my belt. Not exactly the safest way of carrying alchemic fire, but more convenient than having a bag of bottles close by.

  A weakness of a speed-based fight style, as Illia would call it.

  Either way, the bottle went over my shoulders and I rushed outside before the sudden burst of flames. Killing these fires would be a pain, but the guys coming to deal with them were warned.

  Not much went on after that, or not much that I cared anyway. Looting is fun and all, but it isn’t as if I need the money or would use it. The maids and the palace’s coffers are more interested in it. The weirdo waiting for me at home was more interesting anyway.

  And she better not disappoint me...

  *****

  “Apprehend everyone and collect the goods!”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  The five knights of my unit charged into the marked warehouse and started to hold down anyone in their path. Seeing them was a little hard since I wasn’t used to acting at night like my sister, but the surprise was enough to even the field.

  Soon enough, everyone was already knocked out or held down, and I didn’t need to do much more than march forward again. If it wasn’t for how many of these assaults I did every day, it wouldn’t even be enough to tire me. Although even that much being possible was only due to the uncannily detailed plans made for these.

  The outline Ms. Illia gave me had almost too many details. Too many predictions based on information I couldn’t even guess how she got. From the number of guards and goods the warehouses would have, to how much gold would be stashed away. She had everything there and countermeasures for everything they could use.

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  It was enough to wonder if she could teach me her methods some time…

  “Ma’am, we have a runner!” One of the knights shouted right as I saw a figure dashing to the exit at my back. A very young-looking figure who shouldn't even understand the situation that well. Not a smart choice still…

  With a simple motion, I pointed my blade in his direction and used my simplest spell. In a moment, the whole area around the dashing figure became a mass of darkness, and soon after, the noise of something hitting the floor followed. All I had to do then was walk closer to him and dispel my spell.

  “I recommend you sur…” But before I could finish my phrase, the young man dashed towards me with a small blade in hand. A small blade that could be dangerous if his aim wasn’t so off... Instead, the dagger only bounced on my armor as I recovered from the surprise and bashed the kid with my shield. “You’re lucky this place wasn’t under my sister’s jurisdiction, kid. She’s not as lenient as I am… Now, sleep.”

  I then threw an armored punch to get the disoriented attacker down for good while sighing at the thought of such a young person being a criminal. He didn’t seem to be more than fifteen years old, and by the small bag on his side, he was indeed a runner working for the people here.

  It always felt bad when I had to deal with these, but at least he was still alive. His punishment wouldn't be that harsh considering the sneaky way he was arrested too, so I didn't feel that bad. All I could hope was that my sister didn’t cross paths with anyone like this…

  “Sorry about this, ma’am.” The knight who called earlier came to apologize, but it was something so minor I couldn’t see any reason to admonish him. This whole situation was, no matter what, outside of their area of expertise.

  “Don’t worry about it. Is everything else cleared?”

  “All targets are down, ma’am.” The first knight reported.

  “There were hidden goods as expected, but I don’t think we can carry them right away.” A second one going through the crates, added.

  “We found some papers that seem relevant too.” And a third one inside the overseer room concluded.

  “Good,” I answered the multiple reports in the same tone as usual and then started moving as I felt my maid approaching. “Get everyone roped up and leave it to the city guards. We have more work to do.”

  I could already smell it, and I knew beforehand, but it never felt good to see Eleonora's maids working. Even though I had nothing against them, I couldn’t avoid disliking how they worked… At least Dori was a little less ‘efficient’ than her companions. She was also always a good maid, although a little lazy, and I could say we were close friends even. If she wasn't part of my sister’s maid corps, then I'm sure she would be the sweetest person.

  Leaving her to act alone was usually the best choice for me, though, so I got used to knowing when she was back to report.

  “I’m back, Your Highness.” The smiling redhead came walking from the shadows of the docks while dragging a person on her right shoulder and a mallet with her left hand. “The overseer was easy to find and he explained everything almost right away… That blondie got it right again.”

  I could see that she was missing some daggers from the belt on her thighs and there was red all over her maid outfit, and the unconscious overseer, but I wouldn’t think about it. Even if using these methods to get proof felt bad, they were the most efficient right now.

  “Leave this one with the others and get going. We have two more tonight.”

  “You’re accepting this plan easily, aren’t you, Your Highness?” Dori asked with her head cocked to the side a little. “I thought you would be more against it. Giving all that power to an unknown…”

  “Both father and Eleonora trust that girl, so I don’t have a reason to not.” I sighed while pushing back my discontent as a ruler should. “No matter what, I’m not a schemer, but a schemer is what we need now. Complaining about it without having a better plan would be dumb… And it wouldn't help Mr. Hayato at all.”

  Being a ruler isn’t only about being righteous, no matter how idealistic I want to be. Mother always taught me such. It didn't feel good, but that was how things were. All I hoped was that our real hero could see it too. The thought of seeing his disgusted face if he heard about this the wrong way...

  “Heheh… For Hayato, is it? He’d be very happy to hear it… Or he wouldn’t get the idea at all and end up scolded.”

  “You know very well it would be the second option… But that doesn’t matter." I cut off the useless thoughts again and turned to the dock's exit. "We’re moving.”

  I started to walk while hearing my knights follow behind a few moments later but never looked back. And at the back of my mind, I was a little curious as to what the faker back at the palace would be doing after this…

  *****

  “That kid is crazy, dear. I cannot believe you’re allowing her to do all this…”

  “Crazy is indeed a way to describe her, but is that relevant? An unexpected result or not, she CAN solve our problems.” I sipped at the tea prepared by our head butler while watching Caitlyin worry. Having someone this serious when the whole situation was so complicated helped keep me in check, but more than that, her worried expression was nice.

  Few would expect a princess bred for marriage to be as strong-willed and, in all honesty, belligerent as she was. And that was very much my alley.

  It was also interesting to see how close, but still so far, was Valiria’s way of thinking. They were almost copies of each other in many ways, but somehow the daughter became an idealistic pacifist.

  The world is a funny place.

  I’m sure she would be a good queen in the future, but neither of them could see the hidden capabilities of the ‘accidental’ hero we got. Both were failing to see beneath the lack of presence and the scared facade she has. And more, they fail to see how dangerous that girl can be...

  If it went bad enough, she could be the worst villain of them all.

  Only Eleonora seemed to understand it, just like I expected her to. She was much closer to me in almost every way than her sister, even if her tastes were less… orthodox. Would be good if she somehow managed to get something with that dangerous heroine, though. Was probably our best bet at keeping her stable…

  “Even if it is a way to solve our problems, giving nobility and power to someone who won’t even tell us her name…”

  “It’s no danger, Cait, of that I can assure you. That girl will never turn on us no matter how much power she has, unless we do so first… It’s simply not worth it in her eyes.”

  “How can you be so sure, dear?”

  “I can see it. No idea as to why or how she ended like this, but that girl will never wish power for herself. It’s possible that she would give everything back in exchange for a reasonable supply of food and someone safe to talk with… Or that’s what I can read from her.”

  “See? You are unsure if it’s safe. Risking this much for territories we could avenge later…”

  It seemed that my words went wrong to my queen.

  What I meant was, even if not fully safe, that worrying about the ‘Illia Without a Surname’ made no sense. She was no danger unless pushed towards it. The only worry I had about her was if her facade ever broke. But that was something I could only deal with in the same way she was dealing with keeping her friend in this world…

  A very interesting gamble if you ask me.