We departed this morning as planned, though baby-sitting the Tomboy Princess has become troublesome in various ways. A large, gray chicken-type monster called the "Big Cocco" has made its lair in the general vicinity of the highway. It's likely that it's not even able to harm the Skeleton horse that is pulling the carriage, let alone most of the party.
The Princess has been causing some issues with the Sisters and Blacksmith-san recently. So far it has only been annoyances such as "You should bow down to me" to either Blacksmith-san or myself though. Naturally, this would end up being the case for someone raised in a manner such as a member of royalty. The fact that she is our client, however, prevents me from punishing her outright.
Getting back to the monster.
The Big Cocco, better known as a Misutenddo, is a small-fry monster that newbie adventurers tend to hunt for early level experience. However, a monster is a monster. If a young unarmed girl were to encounter it, they would not be able to beat it and remain unharmed.
I usually threatened the Princess by spreading one of the Misutenddo's wings in an attempt to rid myself of her constant attention, but I still find myself challenged by her tenacity.
In the end, I started to contemplate throwing her into some form of training to distract her from her constant attempts to trouble me. If I use some of my invisible abilities, I can probably ensure that she remains without any injuries if it's only a Misutenddo. Though, it still isn't without risks, and her losing an eye would not be an impossibility, which again would be less than desired.
I then thought of possibly putting her up against a Skeleton animal I could create; it's at a weak level, but with my current strength, there is always the risk that she would receive injuries. In the worst case scenario, she could die.
Then, an incident where she tried to take on a Misutenddo with a kitchen knife occurred, where I had to intervene.
The behavior of the Princess is troublesome, even if it doesn't truly affect me personally.
But, it is the responsibility of an adult to scold children after they do something dangerous.
She tried to use her status as a member of the Royal family to avoid being scolded. I quickly squashed that plan by stating that her status had no effect on me. After making that clear, I began lecturing her about how, since she is a member of Royalty, she should have a refined level of discipline.
That said, bad behavior would be punished with a spanking for children, and good behavior rewarded with a pat on the head.
The only other person I'd possibly consider using this manner of treatment on would be Redhead, though the idea of a spanking for her might not be seen as a punishment...
At any rate, the information that I have received from the Boy Knight in regards to the Princess is quite lacking. That said, I find it safe to assume that she probably has some form of mysterious power or an important secret.
It is almost inconceivable, as one would never think that a royal family would have raised a child to have so little knowledge about this world. The Princess had a vague understanding of people, though her common sense was lacking. She was obviously not familiar with the risks involved with fighting monsters and would commonly approach them. It's similar to a child looking at a dog that they have only seen in books, thinking that it is safe to pet it because no one said it is dangerous.
While debating the subject of whether or not to shelter her until we get to the castle, I decided that it would be best if she could enjoy the outside world to the fullest. It might be something that she would no longer be able to do in her future, due to her status as a princess.
As the thought briefly passed through my mind, I immediately tossed away the more vile of my thoughts in an instant. Even if she would technically be far older than myself, she is something that is best not touched until she becomes a girl of age.
Though when she smiles, it is almost as if she is commanding me to smile back, and often, I will humor her, endearing her further to me.
Whenever she gets tired, she will come to my place, climb onto my back, and wait until I place her onto my shoulder. I've given up, at least to this extent. My shoulder seems to have become the special seat for this princess. It's not something that I really mind, she just keeps quiet mostly, fiddling with my hair and trying to act cute. I'll, at the very least, admit that she can be a nice child when she isn't out to cause trouble.
Now that I think about it, most of these outbursts are when I attempt to ignore her...
Good grief, I have to be careful, little girls often imprint on strong men... Dangerous...
I'll allow her to ride on my shoulder for now though. This despite the image of us two is perhaps a bit too noticeable. Various adventurers and merchants of various tribes who pass by our convoy on the highway always stare at me, or rather us, with surprised looks. Since the Princess is quite young, the need to provide some entertainment such as singing a traveling song is necessary to prevent her from growing bored and wandering off on her own. Like it or not, the amount of trouble she can get into on my shoulder is far less than if she was by herself...
Anyway. As for the location of the Boy Knight, Alchemist-san, and Dhammi-chan have been teasing the poor boy with a multitude of various gestures. Given that neither of the girls are wearing their glasses, the poor boy has been their toy for more or less the entire day. They were having their fun with the innocent boy, not that I'd become jealous over something trivial like that.
Today we made camp off of the side of the highway.