Starship Commander Trapped In A Fantasy World 193 A Certain Princess' Circumstances.

After rescuing the n.o.ble lady and reuniting her with her knight Dax figured he was already too deeply involved with them and might as well hear out their full story before deciding if it was worth it to help them, or if killing them both was still the better option. Having returned to his inn room with the two visitors Dax allowed the lady to sit on his bed as him and Chad took some chairs.

"Okay then. Explain what the f.u.c.k that is going on and no lying please, the way I see it you're both dead within a week without my help."

"You dare question my lady!"

"It's fine Chad."

As her knight was boiling with anger, the so called princess calmed down her knight as she took a deep breath and started explaining.

"Thank you for saving me Dax. My name is Xi, I'm the first princess of the Ta'ia clan.-"

(Ta'ia? ICI run an archive search.)

(DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED, SYNCING RESULTS.)

While Xi explained her's and her knight's circ.u.mstances Dax ran over the archived intelligence he had spent over a year gathering.

"-I am currently travelling towards the imperial capital to ask for aid from a personal beneficiary."

"Aid? What kind of aid could you possibly seek that would result in you being marked for death?"

"... My clan has been struck with a calamity. I can't say anything more than that."

Falling silent as her face turned grim with the mention of a 'calamity' Xi refused to say anything more than that, stating that she couldn't just involve random strangers, even if Dax had saved her two times. Sending the knight and princess pair to rest in another room with the reasoning that he would need the night to contemplate coming to their aid, the qiton stretched before sitting down in an armchair.

(So the land of Ta'ia…. One of the homes of dragonkin, specifically a very powerful type of dragonkin. How the f.u.c.k did they get struck by a calamity so bad that their 1st princess is desperate enough to risk her own life to seek help?... Other than map data and general intelligence and map data….)

Tempted to break radio silence to get some information he could actually act on, Dax remembered he had a subject matter expert in different races right next to him.

"Sword, do you know anything about the dragonkin?"

(Oh?~ How rare of you to ask me a question Dax~ Have you perhaps gone mad?~✿)

Ignoring the cursed sword's annoying tone of voice for the moment Dax took a deep breath to calm down slightly.

"Why would I be mad? We entered a mutually beneficial agreement. I feed you souls-"

(And I help you with fighting~ As I have done and will continue doing~✿)

"Help me with fighting? Ha! ahahah"

(What's so funny!?)

As Dax started laughing uncontrollably the sword finally spoke like Dax imagined a cursed weapon would and completely dropped its cutesy tone.

"It seems like you have misunderstood our agreement, let me be perfectly clear: I have and will never need something like you to fight, I need your knowledge and mana manipulation. If you didn't have those things, you would just be a glorified throwing knife."

Seeing the cursed sword's crimson aura flare in response to Dax's explanation, the qiton formed a smile as he continued.

"Please don't misunderstand my words. I still do very much respect you and we're still partners, I have no plans to change that agreement. I am a qiton, the very definition of a living weapon, but I am out of my element in a strange land. Please tell me what you know about the dragonkin race."

(... Fine, but promise to never demean me like that again. I have a very short fuse.)

"Sure, partner~ I promise."

-

With the first morning rays. .h.i.tting Dax's face he realized he had spent all night thinking.

(s.h.i.+t… So much for renting an expensive room, I didn't even get to sleep in the bed.)

Getting up from the armchair Dax stretched and went to open a window as he decided what to do. 

While supporting the princess which had been marked for death was risky, it also came with multiple advantages. First was the possibility that she was targeted by the same faction which Dax was after, if he followed Xi there was a chance they might target her again and Dax would have a chance to learn more. The second major and perhaps most important factor was cover, while a lone mercenary wandering and looking for work was normal here out in the middle of nowhere, that might not be the case when he closed in on the imperial capital, but a mercenary escorting some n.o.ble lady was another story.

(f.u.c.k… I still don't like this…)

But the main issue with supporting Xi stemmed from what the sword had told Dax, according to it, dragonkin were extremely strong and blessed with an immense capacity for mana manipulation, falling somewhere between the level of greater demonkin and angels.

(Why the h.e.l.l would be so pressed to seek help? Could it be some kind of plague?.... Guess I'll figure it out at some point.)

Sitting down right in front of the inn Dax waited to be joined by the princess and knight combo. 

"Good morning, let's get going. It's a long way to the imperial capital."

When Xi and Chad eventually joined Dax a few hours later they were quite confused at his straight forward att.i.tude.

"Eh?... Does that mean-"

"It does, I'll do my utmost to make sure you get to your destination unmolested. Now come on, move it."

"R-right! Chad, prepare my carri"

"Yeah no, sell it. And the horse too."

"Eh?"

"S-sell the carriage!? You would sell something with the royal mark of Ta'ia!?"

(Haa… ICI do a rough probability calculation, what's the chances that the princess will still listen to what I'm saying if I rip out this knight's spine?)

(PROCESSING, STAND BY…)

The very mention of selling something with their royal crest on it angered the knight so much that he drew his sword and closed in on Dax to cut him down, but luckily for him ICI finished its calculations before that.

"DIE!"

Swinging down his sword towards the sitting Dax's neck, the knight had apparently forgotten that Dax had dealt with the bandits that almost killed him mostly unarmed.

"No! Don't kill… Him…"

Even before Xi overcame her confusion Dax had dealt with Chad. Blocking the knight's sword by simply catching it in his bare hand the qiton yanked the sword downwards, then knee'd the knight in the chest when he tumbled down towards him and then took hold of his arm and swung him over his head.

"GHA!-"

Having all his air knocked out forcefully Chad was momentarily incapacitated, which was all the time Dax needed. Kicking his side, Dax sent the knight tumbling in the dirt while helping himself to the knight's sword.

"No! Don't hurt him!"

(... You're hopeless.)

Looking at Xi's expression Dax immediately judged her unfit to rule, she simply cared too much for one of her subjects. Switching the knight's sword into a reverse grip Dax brought its blade down towards its owners face.

"And you're dead. Now if you can't defend your lady from a single mercenary, is it really that good of an idea to travel around in something that is clearly marked with her ident.i.ty when there are people after her?"

Looking into the cold eyes of the demonkin mercenary and then his own sword which had been buried deeply into the ground right next to his head, Chad calmed down and was forced to face the reality of the situation.

"... No, it is not a good idea. I'll go sell it."

"Perfect~ I'll prepare the princess for travel in the meantime, let's meet at the city gates in an hour."

"... Fine."

Reluctantly accepting Dax's outstretched hand, Chad got back on his feet and was handed back his sword.

"Anything else you need me to do?"

"Yeah, lose the armour. It stands out too much."

"... What the h.e.l.l are you planing?"

"The Xi princess is dead. Until we arrive at your destination we are merely travellers."

"Understood."

Somewhat coming to terms with their current situation Chad left to sell the carriage and discard his armour, leaving just Dax and Xi.

"... So what are we doing?"

Having also come to the realization that listening to Dax was her best chance of survival, Xi looked at the rough looking mercenary with a slight hint worry visible on her face. In response, Dax turned to the dragonkin with a large childlike smile on his face, anyone knowing Dax should have known to run away immediately, but sadly the young Xi didn't know that yet.

"First I need you to strip~"