Surviving a Shounen Manga

The Taming of the Shrew (1)

Actually, I'd been thinking that there was something more hidden behind this.

Because there was no way that an ‘A' rank mission could simply be to find the ‘tomboy princess who left home'.

In addition, all kinds of adventure quests in this world of Adventure King basically always included a ‘battle' element.

Even if it's just a simple request to carry a heavy load, this is a world where a robber would appear out of nowhere, or a hostile force would rush in to seize it, or you might even meet a bear along the way.

In the first place, being an adventurer here meant ‘seizing treasures based on your strength'.

There may be adventures that don't need a guide to find the path, or a decipherer to solve a riddle, but there can be no adventure without battle. One treasure, and many competing with their power to win it. That's why the ‘adversary' is such a popular and essential position among the adventurers.

I put my ear to the door and listened for the signs beyond.

There were three assassins in the aisle.

They didn't seem to be very good at their jobs.

They wouldn't have chattered like that otherwise.

"Is this the right place?"

"Definitely. I saw the maid running in earlier."

What should I do with these guys?

I thought about it for a while, but the answer came quickly.

Intervene, and catch them.

It wasn't a very pleasant situation to have run into these guys from the underworld without any information, but it wasn't like I could just stand by and watch.

Besides, they also had information I didn't know, so it was better to catch them first and figure out their identity.

After sorting my thoughts out, when I was just about ready to move –

"But what about that place?"

"No idea. Seems there're people inside, though. I heard some noise from behind the door."

‘… Huh?'

It was frustrating. All of a sudden, the guys were approaching our cabin.

While I was busy feeling embarrassed, we were already face to face with just the door standing between us.

"Isn’t this the princess’ residence? That other one's a bit…"

"But the maid definitely ran into that warehouse over there. And the princess sleeps well wherever she is. She's like a wild horse, a beast really. Of course, she doesn't look it."

"Well, let's at least check it out."

‘Oh, you all are coming in?'

I couldn't help but be amazed at their boldness.

It wasn't enough for them to just chatter on about information they needed to keep secret.

Were they that confident in their kills, or was this their first time attacking somebody in the middle of the night?

I sneaked away from behind the door just in case.

And then,

Creak–.

They opened the door to our cabin and came in.

At least they had some conscience, since they were trying to be as stealthy as possible.

It was after seeing the sleeping forms of Cocoa and Chinuavi that they began to talk again.

"Just these two little kids?"

"Looks like they lucked into finding a place to sleep."

"Well, they had to have wandered around a while to have come this far."

"What should we do?"

"If there's a commotion, they'd wake up anyway."

"Then they'd run away."

"That's going to be tough."

"So there's only one answer."

There didn't seem to be any point in watching further.

"Yeah, wrong answer."

I came out of the dark spot behind the open door and strode towards them.

And slugged the one closest to me on the jaw.

Puff–.

The fellow didn't even have the time to scream.

"Hey there."

…

The other two didn't seem to even understand what was happening right now.

Well, it was fortunate for me.

Anyway, I also didn't want those two kids to wake up.

I immediately activated my unique ability.

[Scribe's Shackles].

Then, I quickly stabbed the iron pen that'd materialized in my right hand into one's arm.

"Ugh!? K-, kgh…"

"Quiet. Or the kids might wake up. We don't want that, do we? Let’s take this outside."

Then, covering the mouth of the man I'd stabbed with the iron pen with my other hand, I quietly dragged him out.

Of course, my gaze was always fixed on the third guy who remained.

Then, the last one, after hesitating a little, also sneaked out after me.

Things were simple after that.

I engraved a ‘1' on the guy who'd already been stabbed with the stylus, and ‘2' on the guy who'd been standing next to him, because he was the stupider of the two.

It was purely my compassion that stopped me from writing ‘dumb idiot' or ‘bumbling assassin' on him.

"Now, go back quietly and bring back the last one. Got it?"

The two men nodded their heads without saying a word.

After a while, ‘1', ‘2', and then ‘3' with a swollen cheek were all lined up in a row in my front.

I led the three guys out onto the open deck.

"Come on, now tell me. Who are you guys?"

The stories they told me were quite surprising.

All three were assassins from the Skull Empire, hired by an unknown party, and they said they first met on this ship.

The target was Princess Thermis of the Mainin Kingdom, and the assassination deadline was within three days after departure. If they couldn't assassinate the princess by then, they'd have to pay the recompense with their lives instead of giving back the money.

"Within three days? The voyage lasts for at least ten days, though?"

"If you look closely, it seems that there are quite a few other guys hired besides us. Assassins also have their own methods, so the times must be divided so we don't step on each other's toes."

"Is that so?"

From the looks of it, it seems that they got their turns roughly in order of skill. Yeah, there probably weren't anybody else as worse off as these guys.

Then I asked something I'd been curious about.

"Do you have anything to do with the people of the Skull Empire who came to persuade the princess?"

‘1' and ‘2' shook their heads at the same time.

"No. I know the group you're talking about, though. Because we were also following the maid when she saw them. But we don't know them."

I knew it.

I'd had my doubts. When she'd heard that the troop of the Skull Empire had followed her on board, the princess had seemed very annoyed, but she didn't seem to hate them or have any real desire to kill them. This meant that they weren't the ones here to attack her.

In summary, there were currently two groups from the Skull Empire on this ship.

1. Those purely under the orders of the first prince.

A group of people who'd came to persuade her to marry.

2. Those who wanted to stop the marriage at any cost.

A group of assassins trying to get rid of the princess.

I squeezed the fellows and got some more specific information.

"What is the situation now? I mean in the Skull Empire. How are people taking the news of the engagement?"

"The engagement isn't the problem, but the princess’ refusal is. There're a lot of people who really feel strongly about it."

"So, are you guys going to start a war?"

"There is a bit of that in the air. Because we thought it was a land we could capture anytime we wanted. We were just preserving our old relationship."

"Then, if the princess accepted the engagement, there won't be a war?"

"Umm… I think so?"

"What if she died instead?"

"Well… Wouldn’t that be the same? The cause of the fight would be gone."

It sounded boring.

"Then what if you hide the truth after killing the princess? Wouldn’t it be possible to rouse public opinion by pretending that the princess ran away, or was still hiding somewhere in the kingdom?"

Then,

"Ah…"

"… Uhm."

They finally seemed to understand.

"There could be war."

I nodded.

It made some sense.

I'd been looking for this ever since I'd heard about other, related linked quests. Really, this wasn't a quest to end with a simple search for a missing person.

The task given to me was not only to tame the princess and send her to the empire. I even had to protect her from the imperial assassins who wanted to use her existence for political reasons.

‘Well, if they're all at the level of these guys, there shouldn't be any problems.'

They also seemed to have run out of knowledge.

"Do you know anything else? Regarding her, I mean."

"No. That's all."

"Me too…"

"… I have nothing. Sorry."

"Why, you don't have to be sorry."

Then, I coolly pushed the guys on the back.

"Now go, continue what you were doing."

"Yes?"

"… What?"

It seemed like they didn't understand what I was saying.

"What are you waiting around for? Aren't you here to assassinate the princess? Go for it. I won't disturb you."

"…?"

"…?"

The reason was nothing complex.

Because I wanted to awaken the princess to her circumstances, while also confirming her strength. After all, these guys won't pose much of a threat to her.

In the original work, she had been a named character, but never got any individual battle scenes. Wasn't there a scene where she just blew away a dozen soldiers at once while commanding a great army on the battlefield?

So, this time, I was trying to figure out a little bit about her level of personal power. Depending on what I found, the range of countermeasures I could take would vary.

And if there was another reason –

Knowing that her location had been exposed, I wondered if she'd consider getting out of that cage.

It was understandable that she was looking for a place others would avoid so as to not get noticed. But did she really need to be in there? I had no idea what thoughts went inside her head.

"Come on, go."

"Uh… yes."

"Hey, what… we’re supposed to do it properly, right?"

"Yeah. You have to do it properly."

"Aren't you on the princess' side…"

"No, no. Don't be so nervous."

"No, what if I just go back today and promise to come back tomorrow…"

"Ah, why would you go? You already came all the way here. Don't dawdle, you don't want to miss the deadline, do you?"

"…"

In the end, according to my orders, they falteringly reached the princess' residence. To encourage them further, I even opened the door myself.

"Good luck. She's a strong woman, so be careful."

Soon after, when the guys had sneaked in, I intervened just a little bit more, just in case something unexpected happened.

"It’s an attack!"

The next morning.

The second day of the voyage.

I looked at the princess from afar, who was wearing a hood and lingering on the deck.

"Well?"

Then,

"Not yet."

"It seems premature."

I got two opposing votes.

"What, why?"

"She isn't standing still. She hasn't found a place she likes yet."

"It won't be too late to approach once she takes a seat."

"No, you can go and lead her. To some good place with a nice view."

"Not really."

"Isn't it wiser to approach her when she's more relaxed? Considering she's currently on the run."

Seriously, these fellows were smart.

"Yeah, got it. See you."

"Good luck."

"Take care."

Then I went straight down the deck, leaving Cocoa and Chinuavi behind. Because there was something else I had to check.

Currently, we had decided to move into two groups.

One with Cocoa and Chinuavi, and one with just me.

While those two were going to try and get along with the princess, I had a plan to chase after the gang trying to assassinate her. I wondered if those two young kids would be able to make the princess drop her guard and get closer.

I could also transform into a pretty boy, but only once in a fortnight at most, so that was useless here.

Before long, I arrived in front of a cabin.

Opening the door, I saw three men scattered about on the bed and talking among themselves.

It was ‘1', ‘2', and ‘3' who'd gotten beaten up by the princess yesterday.

If I hadn't caught them while they were sailing over the deck to the open sea, ‘2' and ‘3' might not have been here today.

"Hey, have you guys gotten better already?"

As soon as I spoke, the guys started pretending.

"Uh, you were here?"

"I’m not in good shape right now…"

"Right now, assassinating somebody, please…"

They were funny bastards. Of course, I had no intention of encouraging them, but weren't they here originally to assassinate the princess?

"Fine, I just want to ask you guys something."

The three all breathed a sigh of relief in unison, and turned to face me.

"Ask us anything."

"The one who requested the assassination. I don't need his identity, just the body shape and appearance will do."

I didn't expect them to know his identity from the beginning. Since he had to have hidden it anyway.

But I thought he must've stayed in touch. For the one who'd secretly commissioned the assassination, not only the life and death of the princess, but even the life and death of the assassins themselves had to matter.

But,

"Umm, I don’t know anything though?"

"Same with me."

"Me too…"

The answers didn't come back right.

"Why don't you know? Didn't you ever meet him here?"

Then everyone shook their heads.

It wasn't a lie. Those marked with the [Scribe's Shackles] couldn't lie to me unless I allowed it.

I asked some more questions, but all the answers were disappointing.

They didn't know him, had never seen him, and were always the ones contacted by the other party instead of contacting him themselves.

It was embarrassing. I'd really hoped to get a clue or two from them.

It seemed wiser to give up on that.

"Now what?"

After leaving the cabin, I immediately started searching for the path using my pathfinding eyes.

However, there was hardly any ‘difference' to be found.

Not only was it difficult to set a goal because the identity of the ‘object to be found' was vague, but I also had little experience finding ‘differences', so everything that caught my eye seemed suspicious.

I searched every nook and cranny of the ship, hoping to find something, but didn't get any meaningful results.

"Haah… Let's go back."

After wandering around for an hour or two, I made up my mind.

This was not the way. It had been a foolish idea to hunt down and eliminate the assassins one by one.

I had to find a new path. If I couldn't track down the assassins, I could only wait in ambush for them to come waltzing in.

The problem was that I couldn't think of a way to keep the princess company.

‘Should I just try and stick to her along with the kids?'

Nope.

I immediately shook my head. That plan was sure to immediately backfire.

Yesterday, seeing ‘1', ‘2' and ‘3' being beaten, I could immediately recognize it. That woman had gone crazy with the stress of getting married.

What kind of man would just stroll up to her at this kind of time for no reason? Wouldn't it just seem to be somebody butting their nose in? She might proceed straight to beating him up and throwing him overboard.

To be honest, it felt far more daunting to have to convince that woman to marry than to deter the assassins. Powerlessness and temper tantrums, it was hard to judge which one was worse.

I was in trouble again.

What should I do? How could I try and persuade her while protecting her from danger?

What stance did I need to take to be able to do that?

While I was scratching my head like that for a while –

"Ah!"

At that instant, a very clever idea flashed through my mind.

A way to stay by that woman's side and protect her from the assassins, and at the same time subdue that brash temper of hers.

There was indeed a way.

To disguise myself as one of the attackers and kidnap her.

I could stay by her side, fix that temper a bit, and get her out of that stinky cage.

A real trifecta.

‘I can even make some excuses later saying I had no choice but to do that, to protect her.'

Our relationship would be a bit rocky, but we wouldn't be seeing each other for very long anyway.

And by the time she officially appeared in the future chapters, I would've already changed permanently into a pretty boy, so there was no need to worry.

"Okay, time to go into full villain mode."

Unconsciously, my lips had already stretched into a grin.

Oddly enough, some kind of excitement was welling up inside my heart.

Maybe because that was how I got my start in this world… but I really did have a little bit of a villainous side within me.

Editor's Notes:

None for this chapter.

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