- (Anna’s POV) -

The prince and Charlotte just left the party, so the nobles are talking again with each other.

I keep eating some snacks with Alice and Charles. This party is not a birthday party so there won’t be a gift part, but still a dance part.

Suddenly, a boy around 14 years old come to us with an evil smile, and Alice and Charles have a disgusted face.

“Oh! Isn’t it Alice, the useless manaless?” (??)

What the hell?! How dare he insult my beloved Alice? Hearing his word, Charles starts to get angry:

“Shut up, Frederic! Don’t insult my little sister!” (Charles)

“Calm down Charles, I’m only greeting her!” (Frederic)

“She doesn’t want to see you, so go away!” (Charles)

I look at Alice, and she is looking down. Don’t let him insult you! You need to fight back!

“Haha, I don’t care. By the way, why are you hanging around with a lowly commoner?” (Frederic)

Suddenly, Alice stand up and open her mouth:

“Don’t be rude to Anna-oneesama!” (Alice)

Good job Alice! But you need to defend yourself, not only me… Suddenly, this arrogant young brat laughs again:

“Hahaha! Onee-sama she said! Only someone as useless as you can call a commoner with ‘sama’!” (Frederic)

((A/N: The suffix ‘sama’ means respect, so if someone use it, this person agree that the other person is superior.))

Well, I don’t really care if someone insult me, but it doesn’t mean that I will let someone like him making fun of me and Alice. I open my mouth and say:

“You call her ‘useless manaless’, so I suppose that you are an amazing mage, right?” (Anna)

I believe that Alice’s magic is stronger than this brat, but I don’t know if Alice and her family want to keep the fact that she can now use magic a secret, so I won’t say it without her permission.

“You lowly commoner! How dare you talk like this to me? Do you know who I am?” (Frederic)

This brat starts to shout in the hall, so we are starting to get some attentions from a few nobles. This guy totally pisses me off, he is probably using his family’s background to threaten us. I really want to kick his ass, but I don’t want to put Alice in danger if his family is powerful.

“I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care. Like any commoner, you are a human being and you will die if someone cut your head or pierce your heart.” (Anna)

After my words, Frederic looks angry. I take a look at the others, and I can see several nobles looking at me with a shocked face. Oops? Maybe I shouldn’t have said something like this in a feudal country? Suddenly, Frederic shouts again:

“How dare you! I’m the second son of a marquis, the Balista family!” (Frederic)

“So what? I don’t recognize your face and your name, so it means that you are not important. I only remember nobles who are skilled and got some achievements. You are a mere brat and you are talking like if you are the king of the world. Seeing your face and hearing your voice make me want to puke!” (Anna)

I don’t care anymore; I’m totally disgusted by this brat. Fortunately, not all the nobles are like him, otherwise I would destroy this country with a big goddess’s poop. Looking at him, he is so angry that his face is red like a tomato. After 5 seconds, he finally opens his mouth again:

“How dare y-“ (Frederic)

He didn’t have the time to end his sentence because a female voice cut it.

“Well said!” (??)

I turn toward the voice, and I can see Elise, the duke’s daughter from the earlier drama, clapping her hands while walking toward us. Once she is closer, she looks at Frederic and opens her mouth again:

“Frederic, you are causing some problems again; you are the shame of your family and our country! We, nobles, are only living a luxurious life thanks to the commoners paying taxes, and we have to protect them in return. You shouldn’t insult them! Shame on you!” (Elise)

As expected of the duke’s daughter who got a lot of achievement by introducing news reforms in her father’s duchy! She improved the commoner’s life with her reforms, so she understands how important the commoners are. On the other hand, Frederic doesn’t look happy to see her.

“S-Shut up! You are the one who is stupid because you waste your life to help the commoners!” (Frederic)

“You…” (Elise)

Elise seems angry now, and I totally understand her. This guy is saying that all her work is useless! I really can’t stand this guy anymore… However, I wonder if it’s fine to hurt him? I don’t really want to create some problem to my friends, and I don’t want to have to leave the country…

I turn toward Victoria and she is still looking at the scene with a smile on her face. She is enjoying it!! She probably knows that I can’t be hurt by someone like him.

I give her a signal stating ‘what should I do?’ by moving my head and hands very fast. We can understand each other without talking from afar by moving our hands very fast; only extremely skilled fighter can see our movement because of our speed. She answers by placing her hands in front of her necks while pointing Frederic. Of course, everything happens in less than a second.

Sorry? Is she saying that I should cut his neck?! No no, I’m angry but not to the point of killing a noble in front of dozens of nobles! I look at her while tilting my head, asking for a confirmation. She smiles and nods her head.

I don’t want to kill him, but I have another idea! I look again at Elise and Frederic; Frederic is the one talking.

“Don’t think that you are the best just because you are a duke’s daughter and got some achievements!” (Frederic)

Excuse me?! Is he really the one saying that?! He should take a look at himself! I don’t want to hear his voice anymore, so I open my mouth:

“Shut the fuck up, you stupid pig!” (Anna)

“You lowly commoner! How dare y-“ (Frederic)

He doesn’t have the time to end his sentence because I use my mana to increase my aura and I look at him in the eyes. What I’m doing right now is similar to showing my bloodlust, and I’m directing it toward him only. In his eyes, he must probably see a monster and all his instincts are probably telling him to run away. However, the pressure is too high for him, so he is forced to fall on his knees.

“W-What t-the-“ (Frederic)

“W-What is happening?!” (Elise)

Frederic suddenly fell on the ground with his knees and hands touching the ground, he is trembling like if he just escaped death. Elise and the other nobles are shocked by the show; the brat was talking to me and suddenly fell on the ground like if he was prostrating, shivering in fear. The other nobles probably felt nothing because I directed my bloodlust only toward Frederic, maybe they only felt a cold wind, nothing more. Of course, it’s only extremely effective because I’m using it on someone overwhelmingly weaker than me, it wouldn’t have the same effect on someone like Victoria.

Elise look at me with a surprised face.

“Is it you who did this? How did you do that?” (Elise)

I ignore her for now and walk toward him, he is trembling even more when I get closer, then I say:

“Don’t dare what? Do you know what the ‘lowly commoner’ wants to say?” (Anna)

I walk behind him and kick his ass very hard when he was still on his knees. His whole body fly across the hall and hit a wall about 20 meters farther. I can hear some bones breaking and the wall is dented behind him. I actually held back and made sure he won’t die though, but I think he is unconscious. He can heal himself with my potions anyway. Well, only if he agrees to go in a commoner’s shop or send someone there…

Everyone in the room is looking at me with their mouth fully open except Victoria who is laughing. This woman… it’s your party and your wall that is broken, you know?!

“Hahaha! Good job! Maids, bring him to a room and help him recover!” (Victoria)

It looks like this guy came alone, without his family. It’s a good thing, I don’t want a Marquis to arrest me, not like he could though… I hope I won’t have any problem, but I can blame Victoria since she is the one who told me to kill him!

I walk back to Alice and Charles like if nothing happened. Charles is very surprised, but not Alice, I did way more in front of her after all. The other nobles are again talking to each other, they might be talking about me, but I don’t care. What I did might sound surprising, but I don’t think it’s something that never happened before. It’s a world of swords and magic after all, there are many people who can reinforce their body. However, maybe it’s the first time that a girl of my age does that though…

Suddenly, someone is blocking my path, it’s Elise.

“Wow! It was amazing! How did you do that?!” (Elise)

“I just kicked him; I did nothing special…” (Anna)

“Wow… Your name is Anna, right? I heard that you gave a legendary item in a birthday party.” (Elise)

I see… I’m already quite famous because of that.

“Yes, I’m Anna. I also heard many things about you, your name is Elise, right?” (Anna)

“You also know me? Nice! Do you want to be my friend?” (Elise)

“I would love to!” (Anna)

I really planned to become friend with her when I read about her in the book, what she achieved is amazing for someone who isn’t overpowered. I don’t mind helping someone like her in her projects.

“Nice! You can call me Elise; you don’t need to add any honorific.” (Elise)

“You can also call me Anna.” (Anna)

“Alright Anna! Don’t hesitate to tell me if you have a problem with a noble, I can help you! Well, I think you can defend yourself though…” (Elise)

“Haha, I believe I can defend myself, but I can’t resolve everything with violence. Well, it works when the opponent is an idiot like this guy…” (Anna)

“Hahaha, yes, I agree! This guy is spoiled rotten, so he is arrogant and selfish…” (Elise)

“I saw that… By the way, will I have some problem for hurting him?” (Anna)

“Well, if it was a random commoner doing that, he might be executed. However, I will defend you if they want to arrest you, so you will be fine. But be careful in the future, even my authority can’t save you if you kill an innocent noble.” (Elise)

As expected of someone from a duke’s family, she can easily protect me against a Marquis.

“Alright, thank you! I can’t promise that I won’t kill a noble though.” (Anna)

I was just joking, but it looks like she took it seriously:

“WHAT?! You can’t do that!” (Elise)

“Calm down, I was only joking! I will only kill criminals who hurt my friends.” (Anna)

She heaves a sigh of relief.

“Please don’t joke like this! When I see what you did to a noble who only insulted you, I wonder what you will do to someone who really hurt you or your friends…” (Elise)

“Haha, don’t worry, he cans easily heal himself with my potions.” (Anna)

Suddenly, she looks surprised.

“Your potion? Wait! Don’t tell me you are the one who opened the shop selling the miracle potions yesterday?!” (Elise)

Eh?! Oh, yeah, I told my employees to not tell my identity because I don’t want to have everyone coming to me for a question… Many people did that in Marina and it was annoying… But it’s fine to tell Elise since she is my friend!

“Yes, it’s me.” (Anna)

“Wow! I’m so happy to meet you! When I heard of those potions and tested it, I was so happy because it could resolve a big problem in my duchy. There are many people dying because of diseases, and I couldn’t find a way to resolve it. However, your potions can cure most diseases my duchy is suffering from! I went to the shop this morning, but the employees refused to tell me the identity of the boss… I could force them with my authority, but I don’t like to use it to threaten innocent peoples. But it turns out that it’s you!” (Elise)

“Haha… Sorry, I told my employees to keep my identity a secret… Why did you want to meet the ‘boss’?” (Anna)

“It’s fine! I won’t leak your identity either, don’t worry. I would like to order about 100 potions per months and bring them to my duchy. The number is not enough for every single people, but at least it will save those that are dying! The problem is that I can’t buy more than 3 potions at once…” (Elise)

Yeah, I had some problem in Marina because some merchants wanted to buy all the potions in the shop at once… So, I added a rule stating that a person can’t buy more than 3 potions per day. It’s still possible for a merchant to buy a lot of potions if he sends a lot of people, but it slows them a little bit. However, since Elise is my friend, I don’t mind making a contract with her.

“It’s fine, we can make a contract, but it’s only because we are friend! I can’t produce an infinite number of potions, after all…” (Anna)

I have a limited number of herbs, potions containers and time to fill the containers… But it’s good to see that she doesn’t ask what are the material needed to make the potion, it proves that she is a real friend and not someone trying to take advantage of me. I wouldn’t mind telling her though, it’s not like someone else can make them…

“Nice! We will do it tomorrow if you are free!” (Elise)

“Yes, I’m free because the tournament starts only the day after tomorrow.” (Anna)

“Eh? You are participating in the tournament or only watching?” (Elise)

“Participating, of course!~” (Anna)

“Ohh! I will come to watch you then!” (Elise)

“Alright! By the way, if a potion can’t cure someone’s disease, don’t hesitate to tell me. This potion can only cure all common diseases and a few rare diseases but not everything. However, I can make more effective potions or even heal the person myself without using a potion!” (Anna)

“Wow! It’s amazing! I will make sure to call you if the potion can’t cure someone! I’m a bit worried about the distance though… It’s only 2 days with a carriage because my duchy is close to the capital, but it’s still a lot to make you go there everytimes…” (Elise)

“Well, you can bring them to the capital if it’s possible, the mortal diseases that my potions can’t cure usually take months or years to finally kill the person.” (Anna)

Well, she is right. I don’t really want to go there everytimes. I could use teleportation, but I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t mind telling her, but I still need time to entirely trust her. I can also go with Shiro, it would only take a few hours to arrive.

“Alright!” (Elise)

“By the way, are you the one leading the duchy or is it your parents?” (Anna)

“My father is the Prime Minister, so he doesn’t have that much time to take care of the duchy. I also have school, so I have to ask the academy to leave for a week sometimes. I’m the one leading the duchy, but there are several people helping me like my mother or the head butler. However, my little brother’s dream is to become a knight so I will likely inherit the title of duchess, he is still very young though so it might change.” (Elise)

I see… It’s quite amazing to manage to entire duchy by herself at her age, even if she receives some help. It’s also very rare to see a female inheriting a noble title! Well, Victoria also has a noble title, but she is alone in her family as far as I know…

“Wow, it’s amazing!” (Anna)

Suddenly, we can hear the music starting. Elise noticed it aswell and says:

“It looks like it’s time to dance, we will talk again next time!” (Elise)

“Alright!” (Anna)

As Elise predicted, Victoria interrupts everyone:

“Your attention please. It’s finally time to dance!” (Victoria)

After her words, all the nobles move to their partner and start to dance. Wait, what about me?! Should I dance with Charles again? It looks like fate heard me because Charles is coming closer to me.

“May I have the honor to dance with you?” (Charles)

“Sure!” (Anna)

I accept his hand and start to dance with him. I need to find several male friends… I can’t rely on Charles to dance everytimes… I’m pretty sure he is forced by his parents… isn’t he?

We all dance for about half an hour. Once we are done, we are free to do whatever we want before there are no present in this party. I try to find Elise, and I can see that she is talking with Victoria. Are they also already friend?

I chat with them for at least half an hour, then Eleonora and Roland call me because they are leaving the party, so I go with them.

We are walking out of the party and are about to enter the carriage. Suddenly, someone shouts behind us:

“Wait!” (??)

Ohh shit, not him… I turn my head and see Frederic, the boy I kicked earlier, covered with bandages. I sigh and ask:

“What do you want?” (Anna)

“Do you remember when I fell on the ground earlier?” (Frederic)

“Of course, I remember! So what?” (Anna)

“At this moment, I didn’t only fell 1 time.” (Frederic)

Eh? What the hell is he saying?

“What do you mean?” (Anna)

“At this moment, when I was on the ground, I realized that I fell 2 times.” (Frederic)

What the fuck is this guy saying?! He only fell one time at this moment! I don’t think that flying across the room can count as ‘falling’.

“What do you mean???” (Anna)

“When I saw your eyes, I was forced to fall on the ground. However, I realized that I didn’t only fell on the ground, but I also fell in love. Please marry me!” (Frederic)

EEEHHHH?! WHATT?! This guy… I can’t help but laugh.

“Hahaha!” (Anna)

This guy is an idiot, but I must admit that his declaration was original. Falling 2 times, hahaha! I’m a bit disappointed that the first man confessing to me is this kind of guy… Isn’t he only 14?! Well, I suppose it’s normal in this world to have a fiancée at this age.

“W-Why are you laughing?!” (Frederic)

“I’m sorry, this confession was hilarious! Why are you even loving me after what I did?” (Anna)

Is this guy a masochist falling in love with the first girl hurting him?!

“When I saw your eyes, it was like if I was struck by a lightning. I was somehow forced to my knee and I couldn’t help but trembling… My heart was also beating faster, and I was sweating.” (Frederic)

“THAT’S CALLED FEAR, NOT LOVE, YOU MONGOLOID!” (Anna)

“I-Is that so…? Why would I be afraid of a girl?!” (Frederic)

This guy… he didn’t even realize what happened to him, did he?

“Do you even know why you are injured?!” (Anna)

“No, I was looking at the ground after I looked at your eyes, then I felt something hard hitting my ass and I don’t remember what happened after that… When I woke up, I was in a bed, covered with bandages.” (Frederic)

I see… It means he doesn’t even know that I kicked his ass… Well, it’s good for me, at least I won’t have any problem with his parents! A lot of nobles saw it though…

“…” (Anna)

“So, what’s your answer?” (Frederic)

He still hasn’t given up?! I don’t want to marry someone like him! Let’s use his own word to refuse:

“I’m sorry, but a lowly commoner like me can’t marry an amazing noble like you!” (Anna)

“B-but!” (Frederic)

“No ‘but’! I don’t want to marry an idiot like you who is arrogant!” (Anna)

“You…!” (Frederic)

It looks like he is becoming slightly angry. I look behind me and see Alice and her family laughing their ass off (not literally). Fortunately, Frederic hasn’t noticed them. Suddenly, he runs away with a dejected face, so we enter the carriage and leave.

Somehow, I feel a bit bad about him…