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I'm going to lose it if I don't do something. I walked faster because I was in a hurry. He saw me walking after him and fastened his pace. He must have thought I wouldn't be able to catch up.
I was walking a little faster and bumped into a neighboring person's shoulder. Because of that, I stumbled for a bit. There were so many people walking around the street. Unlike me, who turned into an adult and couldn't avoid people, he was taking advantage of his small body to get around. I clenched my teeth when I realized that. It was unfair that I was deprived of my weapon and I couldn't even take out my anger on him. So I decided to make a choice that was a bit extreme.
I gave full power to my legs so that they could move at a high speed, and without slowing down, I flew towards him.
"Wh, what! Since a while ago!"
I blew myself up and hugged him from behind. It was either like I was wrestling him or giving him a back hug. The boy, deeply bewildered by my actions, flinched. I kept having to grab him.
I seemed to have caught him, and he pushed me away with a speculating look. I used a lot more strength than expected. In an effort to escape, the boy headed over to another location. It made things easier for me. Fortunately, the distance was narrower than before. The boy began to run as soon as he found me chasing after him again.
"How long are you going to follow me for? The deal's already finished!"
"You dirty bastard! You took what I asked to buy first!"
"It's not my problem! Does the first person who asks to buy something always get it?"
The boy looked astonished at me, who was still running after him. I'm sure he looked down on me because I was a woman. He probably thought I would be exhausted soon. The training I did every morning wasn't for nothing.
The boy's hood fell off while he was eagerly trying to escape from me. The boy was a rare young man with red eyes and black hair. His beauty was so overwhelming that I would've been absent-minded for a while, but I was very angry. My attention was focused onto the sword that the boy was carrying. My hood fell off too. Fortunately, it didn't come off entirely, so I still looked like an adult. My orangish hair was also fluttering in the wind.
Anyway, I wonder how the boy learned about the sword, normally it wasn't cheap. I climbed the wall and avoided many obstacles. At first, I was able to chase him effortlessly, but now I was starting to get overwhelmed. It was better exercise than I'd expected.
"Now, I… I'm out of breath. "
"Humph."
The boy looked as if he was having a hard time. His expression seemed to suggest that.
I paused for a moment and put my hand in the space pocket near my side. When I picked it up, I felt something familiar. It was a product that I had developed recently. These days, when I read the newspaper, it's all about monsters. Monsters who live in mountain and forest tribes, often come down to places where people lived. In particular, they've come down more frequently into the part of the capital where the imperial palace was located.
As the number of knights, mercenaries, and soldiers taking part in monster subjugation increases, many weapons for subjugations are developed and sold. I also made my own weapon for monster subjugations, and it was what I had taken out of my pocket.
In fact, this object was made using my previous lifes knowledge. I was able to make objects that only existed in my imagination, such as magic stones, magic circles/formulas and other artifacts. So I made some of the animated things I used to have fun with in my previous life, and this ball was one of them. But the possibility of a misusage was so great that it couldn't be put on sale. I hesitated a little when touching the magic ball.
"...Will he be fine?"
I've never used it on a person before. What, maybe someone will die? I threw the ball at the boy. The ball hit the boy, following a parabola. The black-haired boy used his quick reflexes to knock out the magic item I threw, but it was his mistake. The boy didn't know the function of the ball.
The ball was an object that puts something it touches, into a ball, and he just whacked his arm at it. The boy looked perplexed when he saw the sudden beam of light.
"…What!"
Because I liked to be extra, I made the ball shake slightly after the target gets into it. As the boy entered the monster ball, it shook several times and became silent after a 'tingling' sound. Wow, it's real.
I succeeded in capturing the boy. I gave the ball that fell to the floor the most wicked smile ever. I do feel a little bit guilty for trapping him inside the ball, but I'm pretty sure it'll be okay to just let him go after I get the sword. I won't use it on anyone else. I was rationalizing my actions in my head and pressed one of the many buttons on the side of the Monster ball. It was a function that allowed you to hear inside of it. It was a fun feature. For communication. When I turned on the sound, a loud voice pierced my ear.
"What's wrong with you? Let me go!"
"How about you give me the sword and I'll let you go? Sell the sword back to me."
I answered dryly while picking my sore earhole with my pinkie.
"You… I know who you are! If you don't let me go, I'll lock you up for Lèse-majesté!"
...Lèse-majesté? He's not the Emperor of the Empire. That sounds cheesy.
"I'm sorry, but if you want to lock me up, don't you have to get out of there first?"
I pouted at the thought of criminals posing as nobles and condemning commoners. I pressed another button on the ball. In a second, it turned transparent, making the inside of it visible. The little boy was looking at me with folded arms and wicked eyes. Suddenly, the view brightened up and the ball enlarged itself. The boy was surprised at first but then he relaxed his arms and raised himself up.
He looked at me as if he was about to eat me, opened his hands, tried to cast a spell, and swung the sword. But inside the ball I designed, it was useless. The boy kicked at the wall of the Monster ball.
"Uh! Get me out of here!"
"I don't want to."
The boy shouted back at my jeers, and I replied vividly. I asked him if he would give me the sword if I released him, and he nodded his head.
As much as I wanted the sword, so did the boy. For a moment, the boy lifted up the sword from his arms and looked at it in silence. He then began to say, 'It was for a short time, but it was fun.' When I saw that, I felt sorry for him, even though I was the one who caused it. The boy sighed and soon opened his mouth to speak.
"I'll give you the sword, so let me go."
I took the boy out of the monster ball. He gave me the sword as promised and I tried to pay him for it, but he didn't accept it. After I got the expensive sword for free, I screamed joyfully on the inside. I had a feeling that he really could have been a high-standing person, because he didn't care about money like most aristocrats, but I was distracted by something unexpected, and soon forgot my anxiety.
He took a closer look at the monster ball he was just in, and stepped on it as if it was something offensive. He said, 'There's all sorts of weird stuff in this world.' The now free boy glared at me with an unpleasant face.
"You may be old, but you're childish."
He only saw my disguise, so he didn't know that I was actually just a child like him. I raised only one side of my mouth.
"Life is originally about being trampled on."
Pht, after the boy stuck out his tongue, he turned back and put up his hood again.
"I'll remember your face, so I better not see you in front of me again."
I gave the brightest smile at his words .
* * *
I had all the equipment and parts as planned. I went over to the place where my brother and Hestia were. I had the sword of victory in my hands. It was a sword obtained after a fierce battle, so it felt more valuable. I smiled brightly and walked into Hestia's garden, where a carriage was waiting. Hestia asked me why I arrived so late, but I just laughed it off.
But my pleasant mood when arriving to the Academy quickly disappeared. It was because the boy I met was the Crown Prince.
Arc 2. I hate the Crown Prince.
In my dreams I was able to see myself reading a book. The image of the dream was focused on the contents of the book. I read the book next to myself in the dream. The hair I caught a glimpse of was black while the eyes were a shimmering red.
[Where are you going? I'm not finished talking.] (T/N: brackets mean dialogue in the novel)
Hylli caught Hestia and looked into her eyes. His frustration began to grow into embarrassment. He grabbed on to her shoulder with a longing look, but soon his face filled with tears and he looked back down.
[You're the only one I care about.]
[Hylli….]
When he looked up again, his face was full of bitterness. He gripped her arm tightly and bruised it, with the desire to possess her rising up from within his stomach. Suddenly, his voice had turned cold.
[Please…stop driving me crazy.]