I want to be a faded person for life

She had a good impression of this new big dog, and since he was a friend introduced by Kale, he shouldn't be a suspicious person.

Blaze shook his head violently and threw the Hound Knight out. The latter rolled on the ground several times to regain his balance, and his right arm holding the curved sword drooped unnaturally.

"Next time I'll pull your tongue out, you biting wild dog, but before that—"

The Hound Knight's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot.

"So fast! Oops—"

Blaze screamed and turned to chase in the direction of the girl.

Hound Stride, a special combat technique used by Hound Knights.

It can move by stepping, and it is said to be extremely fast, even able to disappear in an instant.

Even with Xiangzi's current dynamic vision, he was unable to catch Darville's movements for a moment.

"Let's deal with the ones in the way first--!"

Darriwell's figure suddenly appeared in front of the blue-haired girl. At this distance, it was impossible to use his grappling hook or curved sword to cause serious damage to the opponent. The thin chain mail could definitely not block the attack of this weapon.

But the Hound Knight's movements suddenly froze, and his pupils under the helmet trembled violently, as if he had seen something incredible.

"You are... the master?"

Blaze had already taken action and seized Darriwell's weakness.

The half-wolf suddenly took a step back, and a snowy mist rose from the gorgeous giant sword. The hound knight immediately used that strange step to move to the side.

But Blaze had already locked onto his position in advance. The half-wolf descended from the sky and thrust the sword into the ground. As he drew the sword, the ice mist completely exploded.

Darriwell's figure staggered out, his left hand and both feet frozen to the ground by a thick layer of ice.

Facing the hound that was completely unable to move, the half-wolf swung his heavy sword.

——The victory has been decided.

"One day... you will meet the same end."

Darriwell, who was fatally injured, turned his head and looked at Xiangzi again.

"You are finally back... My Lord, I have been waiting for too long."

His body collapsed and scattered into ashes.

This scene doesn't seem like a normal death.

Instead, it looked like what Xiangzi often saw, the appearance of ashes and spirits dissipating.

-

"Thank you so much."

Blaze took a sip of the Holy Grail bottle of Dettol on his body, and the wound on his face that was still bleeding was immediately healed.

As expected, the Holy Grail bottle is something that everyone here has... Nepheli actually charged me half a million?

The other party's skilled appearance made Xiangzi grit his teeth.

"These are thank you gifts."

Blaze didn't notice the girl's psychological changes. He touched his pocket and took out two gray-white stones and a shield-shaped badge.

The purpose of the stones is unknown.

Another dark blue shield-shaped badge was inlaid with a golden staff and sword pattern and decorated with red and blue gems, and looked very valuable.

"Would you consider working for my master, Princess Lani of the Moon?"

"That lord is from the orthodox royal family of Kalia. A magician like you should have no reason to refuse, right?"

Kalia?

Xiangzi heard a familiar term. The most powerful fighting skill he now possessed, the [Kalia Greatsword], sounded like it might be a move from this force.

But she now has something more important on her mind.

"Is it really that similar?"

She touched her face.

Both Blaze and Darriwell said so, and Darriwell even lost his mind at the critical moment of life and death, which led to his loss of the duel.

"Uh..."

Blaze scratched his drooping ear.

"It's not about looks. Whether it's me or Darriwell, we're more used to distinguishing different people by smell."

"Miss Xiangzi, your aura, and some... I can't quite put my finger on it, are indeed very similar to that of Lady Lani in the past."

"Having always stayed with the adults, I might be able to tell the difference, but Darriwell has been gone for too long... and now that he's become a spirit, it wouldn't be surprising if he made a mistake for a moment."

"If you care about this, would you like to go and confirm it yourself?"

Xiangzi reluctantly accepted this explanation. Although she didn't think there was any strange smell on her body, a dog's nose is different from that of a human after all.

"However, Mr. Darriwell's last words... don't sound like something a traitor would say."

-

【Kalia Badge】

A talisman with the royal coat of arms engraved on the shield.

Can reduce the amount of magic consumed when using combat skills.

It is said that among the knights of Kalia in the past, only those who directly served the princess were given this emblem.

Currently, there is only one princess left in the Kalia royal family.

Chapter 7: History of the Royal Family

It looked like a dog abandoned by its owner, which was hard to look at.

"Who knows... But he certainly committed an unforgivable act. Otherwise, I wouldn't want to take action against my former colleague."

Xiangzi did not refuse it directly, but accepted the badge.

Although she still didn't know what kind of person the Moon Princess was, this coincidence made her pay attention to it. Maybe she could get more fighting skills from the Knights of Kalia.

Blaze was delighted.

"Maybe we'll be colleagues when we meet again."

"By the way... you seem to be in need of weapons. If you continue north to Rhea Lukalia and see a rather large old blacksmith, you can tell him that I introduced you to him."

"The old man should give you some preferential treatment. After all, you have helped me a lot... I have talked too much. It is time to say goodbye."

As if he had thought of something, the half-wolf knight added a few more words.

"The old man is right on the road leading to Kalia Castle. Even I can find him. He's tall—you can't miss him if you see him."

"and many more."

Xiangzi stopped Banlang who was about to leave.

"Are you planning to go to Rhea Lukalia now?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

Xiangzi pointed in another direction.

"You went south."

"..."

Farewell to Blaze who finally went in the right direction.

Xiangzi began to check her spoils. She couldn't find Darriwell's ashes in the sealed prison, but the other party's curved sword was left there.

The quality of this weapon is not bad. Although she is not very good at using it, it can at least last her for a while.

-

"Why are you here so late today?"

Seren put on the thick pyroxene headdress with the female face carved into it, but it didn't seem to cause any problems with her vision.

Xiangzi mentioned what had just happened.

Se Lian fell silent.

"...You shouldn't have agreed so quickly. Sit down."

Xiangzi obediently sat in the seat that Se Lian had prepared for him.

"Why? It seems like there are a lot of benefits...it shouldn't be a bad thing, right?"

Se Lian handed a new pyroxene head mask to Xiangzi. The carving of this head mask was obviously a bit rough. Compared with Se Lian's gentle female head mask, it looked more like an ordinary stone with simple facial features graffitied on it.

"Looks like I missed the lesson on the history of pyroxene magic."

"Princess Lani of the Moon... a princess of the royal family of Kalia and one of the demigods known as the Witch."

"Demigod——"

Xiangzi immediately thought of the terrifying mayor of Stonewell.

"The Moon Princess is no match for Greg... People often say she was the mastermind behind the conspiracy that night and the one who caused the Elden Ring to shatter."

"what?"

Xiangzi was shocked by such heavyweight news. Such a person can be said to be the ultimate villain. She got the employment notice from the hands of the Demon King of the Borderland. Isn’t the leap too far?

Xiangzi immediately felt that the badge he was wearing became hot.

Looking at her expression, Se Lian laughed.

"Don't be so nervous. Legends are just legends after all. As a Faded One who wants to become king, joining her army can be considered a bad thing."

"Put on your hood and let's start tonight's class. Do you still have headaches lately?"

Xiangzi put on the heavy hood, and everything in front of him suddenly became dark again.

"No, I feel fine. I haven't felt any abnormality since I used the pyroxene magic a little bit today."

Se Lian nodded.

"It's somewhat stable now. I'll check on you again later... Let me give you a history lesson today."

"Since we're talking about Princess Lani of the Moon, we have to mention her mother, Lenara, the first and last queen of Calia. She was also the principal of Rhea Lukalia Academy..."

“So many titles…”

"Not only that, she is also the mother of three demigods."

Seren spoke of the conflict and history between the Academy and the Royal Family of Kalia, calling it the First Magical War.

That was the war between the stars and the moon.

The result of the war was that Queen Lenara conquered the academy with moon magic and became the actual ruler, which also declared that the Kalia royal family was superior to the academy.

As a wizard of the Origin School, Serenity didn't have much affection for the queen, but she had been expelled from Rhea Lukalia long ago, and she also disliked the academy that was once at the mercy of the royal family.

However, even so, Seren was able to objectively tell this history while putting aside his own likes and dislikes.

"The Queen banned the academy's exploration of origins and expelled both masters of the Origin School. The heretical Razli School became mainstream... However, under her leadership, the Kalia royal family and the academy were able to stand up to the Golden Dynasty. At that time, Lenara was truly a hero... until the union of Gold and the Moon."

Seren also talked about the honeymoon period between the Golden Dynasty and the Royal Family of Kalia. Three demigods, including Lani, were born in that era.

"...After being abandoned by King Radagon, the already dethroned Queen of the Full Moon also lost her mind and was imprisoned in the Great Library of Rhea Lukalia Academy."

"She no longer has the skills she once had to conquer the academy, and she's no longer considered a hero."

"The war between the academy and the Kalia royal family resumed after that. This is known as the Second Magic War. The academy's Cuckoo Knights are still confronting the Kalia Castle in the north."

Seren took off his hood, drank some water, and put it back on.

"So, if I enter the academy wearing this Kalia badge now, I might be attacked?"

"That's a possibility, but the academy has now sided with the Golden Tree faction. As a Faded One, even without the badge, you're likely to be attacked."

Xiangzi sighed deeply.

She had already sensed that no matter where she went, she would basically be attacked by other creatures, and only a few creatures at the border could have peaceful conversations with her.

"However, being able to summon multiple ashes, and having a scent similar to that of the Moon Princess—I'm increasingly curious about your identity. Could it be that you're actually the wandering offspring of the Full Moon Queen?"