The rat boy peeked back as he ran by the side of the mouse girl through the alleyways, to see something which instinctively filled him with fear.

The angel was chasing them.

Her carriage seemed to barrel through the alleyway after the two as she whipped the reins with a demonic grin- one which made the boy question whether or not this creature was actually an angel, or a demon in disguise.

"Eh!?!?!? She's coming after us!!!!!", he shouted.

"This is all because you approached some strange person in the first place!!!", the girl replied.

The two rushed to the end of the alley, turning a corner.

"She's riding a carriage!! Though, it looks more like she's riding a chariot the way she's driving it.... who the hell is this person!?! She seems used to this sort of thing!!!!"

The rat boy exclaimed this as he watched Claire turn a perfect 90 degree corner without a hint of slowing down, perfectly swerving so as to avoid crashing into the alleyways. Claire was now standing up with one foot on the handle of the carriage, completely ignoring any form of danger as she sped through the streets with reins in hand.

"What's with that look on her face!?", the mouse exclaimed. "It's as if she's possessed!!!"

"We need to get out of here!!!", the boy responded.

The two ran through the alleyways turning corner after corner in an attempt to escape the relentless pursuit of the angel, to no avail.

At each and every corner, as if she were a skilled jockey, she would flawlessly turn.

The flag which rose from the carriage fluttered violently in the wind, revealing it's design.

As the boy looked back one final time, he saw something which shook the very core of his being.

The woman who previously took the appearance of an angel now seemed to be split in half.

One side of her retained her angelic form, and the other half of her now took a demonic form- this evil side grinning with such bloodlust that he could feel it piercing through him.

"AGH!!!! What the hell is that!?!?!?!", the rat boy exclaimed.

The angelic half seemed to be shouting something out in concern, while the demonic half seemed to be smiling and laughing, enjoying the chase.

It was then that the two ran into a dead end.

"There's nowhere else to go!!!", the mouse shouted.

"We've been caught!!! What's going to happen to us!?"

"I... I don't know!! This is all your fault for trying to get involved with some stranger who isn't from the city!!!"

"I just wanted to....."

"You're an idiot!! You're an idiot.... but...."

The mouse girl hugged the rat.

"But I don't want to die here.... and if we're going to die.... I don't want to be yelling at you when I do...."

The rat was unsure of whether to hold the girl closer or not, but his decision was cut off before he even had time to choose.

The carriage which the demon was riding had stopped abruptly before smashing into the dead end of the alleyway, and the woman kept her momentum, jumping off the carriage and landing on two feet in front of the two.

The tarlike aura which had taken over her left side seemed to be fluctuating, however it was retracting, and her black and red eye that was filled with a horrible bloodlust became white and silver once more.

The woman now took on an angelic form, with only her left hand remaining in such a demonic state, and with a beautiful smile, she patted the two children on the heads.

"Jeez.... why were you running away like that? I just wanted to talk. I guess it must have sounded kinda weird when I said to kidnap me, but I had a good reason!! I need to meet up with the people who lead this town to speak with them.... but I want to do that without using force!! So I was thinking that maybe if you were to kidnap me and use me for a negotiation, that maybe it would lead me closer to the powerful figures in this city. Was I wrong in thinking that?"

"W-what?"

The rat boy was trembling.

Where did that demonic smile go?

It was as if she was a completely different person from before.

"How did you..... who are you?"

"Oh! I didn't say, did I?"

Claire walked over to the carriage with a skip in her step and pointed with her demonic left hand to the flag on her carriage.

"I'm the Determined, leader of the antiheroes and one of the five rulers of the Dictatorship. My people call me 'your eminence'. Nice to meet you!"

----

Claire felt an undeniable surge of adrenaline the moment she whipped the reins, giving chase on the two children who were running from her.

'Ah jeez!! Why are they running from me?! I just wanted to talk to them!!'

'Why don't you go after them?'

'I should, shouldn't I?'

'If you don't, they might spread strange rumors.'

'Agh!! It might be a repeat of what happened in the lizardmen village!!! I absolutely don't want that to happen!!!'

'You could always take my route and just take over the village by force. Burst into the palace or the office of whoever is in charge and declare your rule.'

'I can't do that!!! I refuse to do things your way, Clarice!! I will take over this city peacefully if it's the last thing I do!!!'

Claire found herself fighting a battle with her demonic self as she turned a corner, chasing after the two children.

'Uwah!!! That was dangerous!! I almost crashed the carriage into the wall!!'

'A bit more and I can apply a condition.'

'Eh? What do you mean a bit more?'

'There we go. [Apply condition. Entity- Carriage. Uncrashable. Properties redetermined.]'

Without even realizing it, Clarice had taken over just slightly more than half of Claire's body, and had applied a condition to the chariot.

'What did you do!?!?'

'I applied a condition to the chariot. Now speed up. Come on. You'll lose them. Haha!!'

'O....ok....'

Claire whipped the reins, and the horses sped forward, thrusting their legs in front of each other at neckbreaking speed.

Clarice stood up with a grin, smiling demonically as she drove the carriage recklessly forward.

'Uwah!!! I'll fall off if you stand up like that!!!!'

'Don't worry about it. Heh heh....'

'So.... conditions.... is there a limit to these conditions? Can I apply them too?'

'Not like I can.... but yes. Don't think about this right now. Just keep moving!!!'

The carriage raced through the alleyways, and Claire found herself turning corners like a maniac, but as if propelled forward by some force, the carriage never once crashed into a wall. It would always turn perfectly, as if a path was predetermined and it could only follow that single path.

'Wait just a minute!!! Aren't we scaring them!! Please stop chasing them like this!!!'

'It's too late for that!!!! Hahaha!!'

'Agh.... fine! Whatever! But I'm not going to do things your way! I will peacefully negotiate the surrender of this city! I won't use your method!'

'Do what you want. I'll be waiting here for when you need me.'

There was now a dead end in front of Claire, and the two children were now stopped.

'Agh... they look scared... I should comfort them and explain myself...'

The carriage was barreling towards the dead end, and Claire looked back and forth, realizing that Clarice was no longer speaking.

'Eh!?!?! We're about to crash into them!!! Stop this!!!'

'Uncrashable. Do you think the conditions set can just be defied on a whim like that?'

The carriage bolted to a halt before it hit the wall, or the children standing there.

Claire could barely maintain her balance and jumped off the carriage.

'You really rely on me for everything, don't you, you klutz?'

Claire felt her body being moved by Clarice elegantly so that instead of tumbling forward, she landed perfectly on her feet.

'You're useless without me. But I suppose that's how it has to be. After all, I am a part of you. And you are a part of me. If there is only one piece working without the other.... we will never be complete.'

Clarice retracted after making this statement, and Claire looked at the two in front of her.

They looked scared.

'Ah!! I need to explain myself!! But... why did they run in the first place anyways?'

"Jeez.... why were you running away like that?"

----

"The..... Determined?"

"The....antiheroes?"

"The.... Dictatorship?"

The rat and mouse in front of Claire were confused at the things Claire said.

"Ah... I'm very sorry about chasing you all!! I'm sure I must have given you a bit of a scare! I didn't mean to!! I promise! I was really just concerned.... you know, everywhere I go it seems like rumors get spread about me all over the town in a moment, and then things usually become really problematic.... so I couldn't just let you all get away like that. I hope you understand."

The rat gulped, letting go of the mouse and stepping forward.

"You're joking, right? About being the Determined? That's just a legend. You may be a strange person but.... there's no way you're actually the Determined, right?"

"Hey!! Stop talking to her like that you idiot!! What if she gets mad at you!?", the mouse yelled, pulling her comrade back by his shirt.

Bowing once more, and grabbing the head of the rat once more, forcing him to bow as well, the mouse girl apologized.

"I'm very sorry for the trouble that this idiot has caused you. We won't say anything. So could you please let us go?"

'Wasn't this girl just running from me as well? And she's now blaming it all on the boy?', Clarice asked.

'Ah, it's ok!! They're just kids after all. Of course they would be scared of some strange person like myself....'

'You really are too understanding for your own good. Some day someone is going to deceive you and if I'm not here to warn you, they're going to make off with everything because you're going to act like they had a good reason. Not everyone has a good reason. Some people are just greedy, you know.'

'I.... I know that!! But these kids are different! So that doesn't matter right now!'

'Alright....'

"It's alright!!! Don't bow to me!!! I just wanted to.... make some contacts and maybe get to know some people."

The rat boy looked into the eyes of the angel in front of him.

He could tell that those words were the truth.

There was a pureness in those eyes which he could not mistake.

'I have no idea what that demon was before.... or why she looked to be possessed.... but right now, she means every bit of what she's saying. I.... don't feel like she's a bad person at all.... but....'

A chill went down the boy's spine as he remembered the demonic smile as the woman pursued him.

'What was that?'

"And.... I am really the Determined. I told you just now, right? I come from a nation called the Dictatorship. That's our flag. I am one of the five Dictators. I suppose you could call it an oligarchy rather than a dictatorship then? Ah, whatever. Anyways... I came here because I want this village to become part of our nation."

'You're talking too much, Claire. These are just kids. They don't need to know about this stuff.'

'Ah!! You're right.... sorry....'

'Don't apologize to me. If this slips out and people want to fight you, you might just have to rely on force after all.'

'Ah!! That would be terrible!!'

"But please don't tell anyone I told you that!!! Keep it a secret for me, please!! After all, I want to annex this city peacefully, so-"

"Annex this city peacefully? Why should I keep this a secret? We have our own troubles here in this city. You know nothing about what's going on here. And yet you come in here and expect to just peacefully take over? If life was that easy do you think that we would-"

"Can it."

The rat boy began to go off on Claire, however the mouse girl gave him a fierce glare.

Turning back to Claire, the mouse's expression went from a rebuking glare to an apologetic look in an instant.

"I'm sorry. He really doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut! We'll keep this secret for you! But.... can I ask why you want to take over this city?"

"Ah.... I see...."

Claire had a sad look on her face.

"So you all have problems as well in this city.... I suppose that's right..... before taking over this city, I should probably first try to understand the people living here and the problems it faces. Then, instead of focusing on taking over this city for now, how about I instead solve all the problems here! I'll prove to everyone that I can do that, and then maybe they will be willing to have a peaceful discussion with me about annexation!!"

Claire smiled as she came up with this idea.

"Do you really think that you can just solve all our problems like that!?", the rat boy asked.

This was met with another elbow in the gut.

"You really need to keep your mouth shut sometimes. Can't you see that she's trying to help?"

"But!"

The mouse girl turned to Claire with a smile.

"If you really are the Determined.... that being of legend... then it is said that all who go against you will be punished severely. If that's true, we can't afford to go against you here. So we will help you."

"How do you know that we can just trust her?!", the boy yelled.

Before Lisa could even respond, Claire spoke.

"You can't. But I'll do what I can to build up that trust. Ah.... I can't say my real name for certain reasons, but you all can just call me C. What are your names?"

"Mori."

"Lisa."

"Then, it's nice to meet you both, Mori and Lisa! Why don't you tell me then? About the problems in this city. I'll see what I can do to help! Here, come onto my carriage and we can talk as we travel."

----

Claire sat in the drivers seat on the left, and Lisa sat in the middle with Mori on the right. They traveled through the alleyways as they talked.

"Well.... you seemed to want to talk to the ruler of this city, but this city doesn't really have a single ruler.", Mori explained.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"There are three factions in this city. The rats, the ferrets, and the gerbils. We've been fighting for who knows how long over territory, but right now.... we're in a pinch."

"Eh? Why would you fight over territory when you could just expand outwards? There was so much land around the city that looked undeveloped."

"We need resources to live. There are 9 massive cheese factories throughout the city, and without these factories, we wouldn't have enough food to survive. The soil around doesn't grow normal crops for some reason, so we gotto make do with what we have. When I say that the factions are fighting over territory, they're really fighting over the factories- aka the food supply. The more food one has access to, the more the population can grow.... and the more the population grows, the more power a faction gains.... it can snowball into elimination if we're not careful, but.... it's probably getting close to that point."

"Eh!? Why can't you just give each faction 3 factories? Then everyone would have an equal amount and there wouldn't be any more need to fight.", Claire asked.

Lisa's ears drooped at this.

"If only it were that easy."

Claire nodded, understanding the meaning behind this.

"I guess that's right... there are some people who are selfish and unwilling to give anything to help others... but what do you mean it's getting close to that point?"

Mori looked down with a defeated face.

"Currently the ferrets are in control of 7 factories. The rats have only 1, and the gerbils have only 1. We're on the verge of elimination. My grandfather is the leader of the rats faction, and he's done everything he can to lead our people.... but we're on the edge. When I saw you, I thought 'maybe we could trade you in exchange for control of a factory or 2 with the ferrets.' That's why I wanted to take you in. I'm sorry."

Claire puffed out her cheek, clearly irritated.

"Jeez.... why didn't you just say so!! I'll do it!!"

"Eh?"

"I'll become a trading tool!! Trade me for a cheese factory!! If I can make it so it's back to 3 factories each, then everyone will have equal power and I can consider the problem to be solved, right?"

"I don't think it's that simple....", Lisa stated.

"Really? Why not?", Claire questioned.

"Well, even if the number of factories are equal, the ferrets have much greater numbers right now. They wouldn't be so willing to just give up a bunch of factories, and even if they did, they would probably try to take them back...", Lisa responded.

Claire put her hand to her chin in thought.

"What if I were to get the three factions to sign a peace treaty with one another?"

"A peace treaty?", Mori questioned.

"Yes!! I can have them all sign a treaty saying that they will stop the fighting after the factories have been evenly distributed!!"

"But the ferrets won't agree to that so easily unless there's something big in it for them. After all, that would be the same as telling a lot of their people to just die off."

Claire's face became distressed at hearing this.

"Mmm... this is more complicated than I thought.... ah! But that's an easy fix! If this city becomes part of the Dictatorship, we can easily provide enough food for everyone."

"Is that true!?"

"Haha... of course it is!", Claire said proudly. "We've already taken over 3 villages here in the monster realm, 1 in the human realm, and planted spies in the capital of the Empire!! We've got people all over the place under us, and we have no trouble feeding them!"

'You shouldn't have said that. You're revealing too much.', Clarice berated.

"Ah!!! I said too much!!! Forget I said that!!"

"How could I just forget that?", Mori asked with a chuckle. "You.... you're actually pretty dumb, aren't you? What are you, like 10?"

Mori had no clue of the spear had just shoved through Claire's heart, yet Claire quickly forgave him and tried to change the subject.

"A-anyways! I can figure something out!! All I have to do is get the three faction leaders together and I'm sure I can strike a deal with them! Then, I can annex this city and we can provide it with all the food needed! Problem solved!"

"You talk about these things as if they're so simple.", Lisa said with a kind smile. "I hope you can help us, C."

"I will!"

"Then, I suppose I'll take you to meet my grandfather. But... I don't know if he will want to meet up with the other factions. That's the first step. You have to convince the faction leaders to meet with each other for a peaceful talk. That's probably going to be the hardest part."

Claire nodded with Determination as she whipped the reins, and the horses began to trot.

"I'll figure something out one way or another!"

"You're reckless, kinda like this one right here.", Lisa said with a light chuckle.

"I can't just sit back and do nothing all day. If you don't try, you'll never succeed!"

The three laughed together as they rode through the town, headed towards the headquarters of the ratmen- the single cheese factory which they owned.

----