"You're quite confident. To be honest, it makes me uncomfortable... Part of me wants to agree, but another part feels that you're too hard to control."
"That's the risk that comes with partnership, but rest assured, even if you lose, at least you lose with a much better ranking." Minos laughed.
"I need time to think. Come back tomorrow." Asumi answered after some slight thought.
"Take your time, just know that I'll be waiting." Minos replied, the Forbidden Soldier's immediately making way for him as he walked out and disappeared into the darkness.
"Miss, are you seriously considering this?" One soldier asked curiously.
"Why not? Right now everyone wants a piece of me, so having someone on my side could prove quite useful."
"But can he be trusted?"
"Long term, certainly not, but short term, there should be no problems. We'll use him while we can, and discard him once things get too hot."
"Isn't that dangerous? What if you end up burning yourself?"
"It just means I'm not as competent as I thought I was…"
"And what about the original plan? Should we still go through with it?"
"Of course, in fact, this may be a good opportunity to test this potential partner of mine, see where his mind is really at…" Asumi said with a smile, quickly coming up with a new plan to accommodate Minos's appearance.
…
"How'd it go, Sir?" Nissor asked as Minos re-entered the base.
"As expected." Minos replied with a smile.
"And the Sixteenth Princess, did she agree?" He kept asking.
"Not yet, but it's already a sure thing." Minos replied assertively.
"So confident?"
"It's not me who's confident, rather Princess Asumi, and it's exactly that confidence that will bring her to our side."
"She's in over her head." Masi said with a laugh.
"Maybe, maybe not. It'll be interesting to see just how capable she is. Who knows, she may surprise us…"
…
The next day arrived in a flash, and just as Minos was about to head out to keep discussing with Princess Asumi, he received news from Jiro.
"Sir, it's the Sixteenth Princess, her safehouse is currently being stormed!" Jiro shouted in shock, having spent pretty much the last 24 hours watching the Sixteenth Princess nonstop.
"Husos, stitch us!" Minos immediately said.
"Yessir!"
Upon being stitched to Jiro, Minos immediately took control of his Aptus, his multiple souls watching the scene from every angle.
"I didn't expect her to act so early, she really is surprising." Minos couldn't help but mumble, his words catching everyone's attention.
"Act, is this what you were explaining to us last time?" Koha asked.
"That's right… Now all we can do is watch and hope she hasn't overestimated her own abilities." Minos replied, going silent to keep watching the events unfold.
…
"Miss, just like you've expected, we've managed to lure a team to attack. Should we enter stage two?" One soldier asked Princess Asumi.
"Give it a bit more, we need to eliminate at least half of our team before we move on to the next step."
"Yes Miss!"
Sitting patiently in her safehouse, Asumi couldn't help but tap her fingers against the table somewhat anxiously.
What she was doing was incredibly risky, and if she failed, she would likely forever lose her chance of becoming king, or in this case, queen.
After all, the final victor was determined based on one's overall rank in the three battles, and if she lost now she would be among the first eliminated, which would massively affect her score.
Even if she got first place in the next two competitions, she may still not win, not to mention that was impossible.
Breathing deeply, Asumi quickly steadied her shaky nerves as she waited for news from the frontline, which soon arrived.
"Miss, four men have been eliminated, should we do it now?"
"... No, keep waiting." She said after a moment's pause, though her fingers were tapping even faster, revealing her true mood.
Fortunately, the fifth man was eliminated soon after, and without a moment's waste, Asumi's men immediately entered stage two, having already prepared thoroughly for this.
Breaking out of the other team's siege they ran back to the safehouse, 'alerting' Asumi and the three other men that were still here about the invaders.
As if surprised by the unfolding events, Asumi immediately made the decision to run, but unfortunately the 'invaders' had already chased the two men into the safehouse, spotting her.
"Anda, quick take the Miss and run! We'll block them!" One soldier shouted, knowing they wouldn't last long.
Despite seeming somewhat indecisive at first, Anda quickly made up his mind, snatching Princess Asumi onto his shoulder before jumping out of a nearby window and bolting into the streets.
The other team's soldiers wanted to go after, but Princess Asumi's men put up too strong of a fight, and before they had a chance, Anda and Princess Asumi were gone.
…
"What a performance!" Minos couldn't help but exclaim with a loud laugh, even clapping a few times.
"What happened?" Yosh asked with intrigue, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"Everything Princess Asumi wanted too. It's just a question of whether others will believe this act of hers."
"What's not to believe? Sacrificing 90% of your men just for a glimmer of hope is downright suicidal, and I doubt most would have the courage to go through with such a crazy plan." Taji added.
"You're right, and it's exactly the insanity of such a plan that Princess Asumi is betting on." Minos replied, having Husos disconnect him from Jiro as he was speaking.
"So now what? Should we go after her?" Ko asked.
"No, if we manage to catch her now, she'll realize we have means of tracking her which will ruin my plans. Not to mention we don't have too, Princess Asumi is smart enough to make things easy for us. Just leave the rest to me."
…
"Where to next, Miss?" Anda asked as the two took a break in a random alley.
"We've got to go back." Asumi said somewhat surprisingly.
"Back? That's crazy! They may be waiting for us."
"Maybe, but it's more likely that it's our partner waiting for us."
"Partner, are you talking about that Minos person? Are you still seriously considering working with him? It's too risky now, we no longer have the manpower to be his equal."
"It's because we don't have the manpower that we need him. To be honest, getting first place is unlikely given our circumstances, but top thirty is still attainable, and it will be even more attainable if we work with him."
"But what if he turns against us once he realizes we aren't strong enough to protect ourselves?"
"It's possible, but from our conversation last time, I doubt he'd do that, after all he has little to gain other than some satisfaction. Besides, with him sheltering us, we may even be able to push for top ten, which would be huge."
"Bu-"
"No more buts, we'll do as I say."
"As commanded, Miss."
…
"Here I thought you'd been eliminated completely. Who knew you were still alive." Minos said with a laugh as Princess Asumi re-entered her original safehouse.
"Since you've been waiting for me, you must have clearly been rooting for my survival." Asumi said with a smile.
"Haha, you're right, after all you're still useful to me. Is he the only one left?" Minos asked curiously as he pointed towards Anda.
"That's right, the others have been eliminated…" Asumi replied with a sigh.
"Maybe not as useful as expected then…" Minos hummed, as if second guessing this potential partnership.
"Don't underestimate me. While I no longer have most of my men, you should know that I'm quite smart, I can help you plan and strategize!" Asumi said firmly.
"Smart? If you were smart, you wouldn't have been decimated so early." Minos scoffed.