The Mad Princess's Tale of Doom and Survival

— Anonymous Holy See: Wow! Look at our kid’s collecting skills! Isn’t it perfect?

— Anonymous Holy See: But we can’t use it as it is, can we?

— Anonymous Holy See: Haven’t you watched the 32-channel? He bought a building with that trick.

— Anonymous Holy See: They probably know more about cores than we do.

 

  “It’s done!”

 

  I pulled out the final core from the monster’s body and rotated my stiff shoulders.

 

  The skin and flesh were so stiff, perhaps because they had been dead for a long time.

 

  ‘I should have done this yesterday…’

 

  At that time, I was too absent-minded to realize that I should have collected the cores.

 

  In my past life, it was common practice to collect specimens immediately after killing a monster.

 

  The hunters would take anything worth money first, and the rest would be swept away by the cleaners.

 

  Even after a whole day had passed, it was a stroke of luck that the monster corpses remained intact.

 

  ‘Maybe it’s because I still don’t understand the value of monster corpses.’

 

I checked my storage box.

 

 

  In my previous life, the currency unit was ‘won,’ but in this world, it was ‘ruan.’

 

  The problem was that I had no idea how much one ruan was worth.

 

  ‘If it’s one ruan, how much is it? Does anyone know?’

 

— Anonymous Holy See: Based on the 32 channels, it’s equivalent to 1 won.

 

  Ah, so 10,000 ruan would be around 10,000 won.

 

  “To recover thirteen cores, quite a bit of magic power is needed.”

 

  If it were my past life, I would have paid a fee to a mage hunter and made a request.

 

  However, now I was not only unsure who the hunters were, but I was also a penniless beggar with not a single penny to my name.

 

“I should go to the Magic Tower.”

 

— Anonymous Holy See: Are you going to sell it?

— Anonymous Holy See: Isn’t your dad a duke? Why do you need money????

— Anonymous Holy See: Haven’t you seen the clip? Her dad is the villain.

— Anonymous Holy See: Oh! He’s the villain? I bought stocks, though. *sobs*

— Anonymous Holy See: Me too *sobs* Can’t resist those romance grays.

— Anonymous Holy See: Isn’t it more of a problem that he’s your father rather than a villain…?

 

  It’s true that I needed to earn money, but I wouldn’t need such a large amount.

 

  I just needed enough money to rent a room and cover my living expenses.

 

  I’ll become independent first, and then I can slowly earn the rest. It would be enough.

 

  ‘The important thing is to get out of this corner of the house.’

 

  That’s why my reason for going to the Magic Tower wasn’t just to sell the cores and make money.

 

  ‘I need to earn points rather than money. I can’t rely solely on sponsorship…’

 

  For that, I needed something that could earn points.

 

  “Ugh, I’ll sell it.”

 

  Once again, I found myself in the role of a points slave.

 

  I crouched down and opened that damn hellish shop once again.

 

  A sea of tiny letters unfolded before me.

 

  I had 5,000 points left. I had to find the best formula I could with that.

 

  “Ugh, I feel like puking.”

 

  To calm my queasy stomach, I sorted the magic formula items in order of points.

 

  Starting with the magic formulas, various formulas continued endlessly.

 

  ‘I’m going crazy. At least let me specify the amount…’

 

  Then, in the midst of quickly flipping through the items, something unexpected caught my eye.

 

 

  I exclaimed, my eyes flashing.

 

  “Exchange! Hurry before someone snatches it!”

 

 

  “Haah…”

 

  I plopped down on the floor.

 

  I had been so anxious during that brief moment, afraid that someone would intercept it.

 

  The formula for creating a barrier with cores was a hidden lucky item. It was the most essential item, yet no one could find it.

 

  “Who would have thought that such an important item would be a mere 100-point item?”

 

  Now that I had the barrier formula created with cores in my hands, no one else would be able to find it.

 

  It had completely disappeared from the shop.

 

  ‘That’s why the one who gets it first becomes the master.’

 

  Even though my stomach was rumbling, I felt like my spirits were soaring. It even made me hum a tune as I thought about breakfast.

 

  “…shit.”

 

  However, that feeling didn’t last long. Duke Luteous appeared riding a horse.

 

  ‘Look at him, not a hair out of place even on such an early morning, creepy!’

 

  The suit was flawlessly pressed, just like a well-maintained blade, with not a single wrinkle visible.

 

   Duke Luteouels, seated on the horse saddle like a painting come to life, scanned me up and down.

 

  “You’ve been sitting on the side of the road doing something crazy since the morning… Turns out it was true. What are you doing in that state?”

 

  Behind Duke Luteous, his aide Colin and butler Frank were following.

 

  When I glanced at Colin, he averted his gaze in a fluster.

 

  “Princess, that’s my sword…”

 

  Was the sword lying on the ground his?

 

  I felt a pang of guilt, but I pretended not to hear. I didn’t have enough points left to buy a new weapon anyway.

 

  “I have something to take care of.”

 

  “What is it?”

 

  “This.”

 

  I showed him one of the cores, and Duke Luteous examined it closely.

 

  The fist-sized black glass bead glittered in the sunlight. Its radiance was so dazzling that it was hard to believe it came from a monster’s body.

 

  “What is that?”

 

  “It’s a monster core.”

 

  “A core?”

 

  “Not all monsters have them, but most do.”

 

  “And?”

 

  “Those creatures have to destroy the cores to die. Even if you cut their throats or rip out their hearts, as long as the core is intact, they’ll keep attacking. If you leave it alone, it regenerates slowly. But not just anyone can destroy a core.”

 

  “…Only hunters can, is what you’re saying. Why are you telling me such important information now?”

 

  “It’s awkward to put it that way. Besides, you’re the Duke who returned because you had something to say, right?”

 

  I smiled, lifting the corners of my mouth confidently.

 

  Duke Luteous’s gaze was fixed on my wide smile.

 

  “…You resemble someone.”

 

  “Who?”

 

  “No one.”

 

  He firmly replied and asked in a low voice.

 

  “I heard that there is no one among the hunters who has undergone a personality change like you or knows so much about monsters.”

 

  “I’m not sure if my personality has changed. I don’t think I’ve changed much. Do you think I’ve changed a lot, Duke?”

 

“…”

 

  He wouldn’t have anything to say. Because he doesn’t know. You have to experience it to understand.

 

  “How did you come to know so much about monsters?”

 

  “It’s a long story. Do you have time?”

 

  “I’m busy, so explain it accurately and concisely.”

 

  ‘Geez, I’m your employee or what?’

 

I exclaimed with a sense of urgency and theatricality.

 

  “Duke! Someone keeps whispering in my mind! They say monsters have cores! You have to destroy them to get rid of those creatures!”

 

  Duke Luteous fell silent. I erased my expression and looked up at him.

 

  “If I explain it like this, will you be able to understand?”

 

“…”

 

  “I’m curious. Are you going to see it as another ability now, or are you going to say that I’ve gone mad and hear voices?”

 

  Duke Luteous dumbfoundedly accepted it.

 

  “Of course, it’s my ability.”

 

  “Your change in attitude is quite swift.”

 

  “Isn’t it natural? People are evaluated differently based on their position and power.”

 

  “Is that so?”

 

  “The murder of an ordinary person is just the emergence of a villain, but the murder of a person in power is the implementation of justice.”

 

  “If I were to kill you right now, would it be evaluated as the implementation of justice rather than me being insane? Shall we give it a try?”

 

  I smiled slyly and confidently spun the knife once.

 

  Duke Luteous didn’t even blink an eye, but the faces of Frank and Colin froze in an instant.

 

  Frank quickly stepped forward, as if protecting Duke Luteous.

 

  “Princess, isn’t your statement going too far?”

 

  “Am I frightening you?”

 

  The question was directed not to Frank, but to Duke Luteous.

 

  Duke Luteous approached me as he descended from his horse. He gazed down at my face, tilting his head slightly.

 

  “Do you wish to kill me?”

 

  “How do you think it would be?”

 

  “It doesn’t matter. Life is meaningless anyway. It doesn’t matter whose hands it ends in.”

 

“…”

 

  “But Astel, don’t be too presumptuous about yourself. The world revolves not around ability holders like you, but around those in power like me.”

 

  “Oh, so that’s why you’re so confident. But what should we do? It’s going to change soon. Before that happens, you should enjoy yourself to the fullest, Duke.”

 

  “Will it really?”

 

  Duke Luteous smirked and lightly poked my cheek. It was a playful gesture, similar to poking the chubby cheek of a baby.

 

  ‘Oh my goodness! It’s creepy!’

 

  To do such a thing with a mechanical expression!

 

  I lowered my voice.

 

  “Do you have dementia?”

 

  Even though my tone was so cold and barren that it could freeze, Duke Luteous didn’t react.

 

  Silently, he mounted his horse and took hold of the reins.

 

  “Let’s go.”

 

  With a soft clatter, the horse began to walk.

 

  I stared at the broad and upright back of Duke Luteous.

 

  It was absurd and unpleasant, but it wasn’t frightening. I didn’t even feel sadness.

 

  I am both Astel and not Astel at the same time.

 

  The only thing I was curious about was why Duke Luteous kept provoking me in this way, and I couldn’t figure it out at all.

 

  ‘Well, it’s not so bad.’

 

  It’s disgusting to pretend to love each other like ordinary parents who don’t fit together anyway.

 

  It was much more comfortable to expose our true selves, revealing everything to the very core.

 

  Without any lingering feelings, I turned away from Duke Luteous, who was getting further away.