Jessica studied the village, noted that lack of magical defences and the poorly reinforced souls of the villagers within it. In this new world, she'd been forced into, the world itself supported the power that human beings held. It was called the level system.
None of the villagers were particularly strong and the three adventurers were badly injured. Yet, they lived. They had infuriated a dragon, sent at least four groups of adventurers after it and survived.
The Princess was not naive enough to think it was because the dragon wasn't smart enough to find them.
Her plan could work.
Jessica drifted down into the village square after spending a minute using every spell she could to buff herself. The Cane amplified the spells, which in turn made it easier to use magic, which led to another round of boosts until her stats were absurd even by the standards of Heroes. It wasn't that she thought she'd be in danger, nor did she suspect that Gaelion would assault the village the moment she landed. People could sense strength and magical power instinctively, a sort of sixth strength. These people were too distant from the capital to have heard much about her. The strength she showed them would be the only source of respect until they associated her with Royal Power.
She was noticed immediately, but no one approached. Jessica raised an eyebrow at the old man who was the head of the village. He slowly, hesitantly, made his way to her and bowed.
"My lady," he said.
"Your Highness," she corrected with a smile. Savouring the alarmed look that spread across town at her loud declaration, "Walk with me. I've heard a lot about the Dragon you're having trouble with. Tell me about it."
The man bowed, deeper than before, "I apologize for my foolishness, Your Highness," he said ambling after her as she headed for his home, which doubled as the largest house in the tiny settlement, "I failed to recognize you."
"I am Princess Malty," she said with a chuckle, "but that is not our concern at the moment. Tell me about the Dragon. Your reports to the Adventurer's guild painted a rather grim picture."
They'd reached the poorly built home belonging to the headsman of the village. He bowed, led her inside and pulled a seat for her opposition to him and had his wife bring them some refreshments. Jessica was tempted to use her Cane to make something of her own, but the point was to force the man to get used to serving her.
"The Dragon is a menace," he said with conviction, "It ravages our Filolials, slaughters the young men and women who brave the mountains to gather the herbs and wood we need for our survival and shows no mercy unless we give it tribute. Worse, when adventurers were sent to deal with him it proceeded to slaughter them and our herds. Your Highness, something must be done!"
Jessica let him rant. Took a sip of the surprisingly good tea that the headsman's wife had served and said, "Why is your village not destroyed?"
The question caught him off guard. His gums flapped, but sounds were absent.
"If this Dragon is truly the mindless monster you paint him as," she said her gaze fixed on him, "then you would have been long dead. Why are you alive?"
To his credit, the man was intelligent enough to realize that she knew more than the foolish adventurer's who'd come here with incomplete information. A fragment of a Dragon Emperor was too powerful for most normal adventurers to face without extensive preparation and resources few of them would be able to muster. Jessica could imagine some of the better mercenary companies from Zeltoble managing it, but few others.
The headsman, however, failed to realize just how lucky he was that Gaelion hadn't realized that this man and his fellow villagers planned to enslave his daughter.
Even a weak Dragon Emperor was beyond this fool and his flock.
"The Dragon fears the power of the throne, Your Highness," he said after a moment's pause, "It must have chosen to hunt the vulnerable-"
"Your flattery is rather blatant. A piece of advice, rule number one of flattering someone: Make it believable...otherwise the recipient is often angered."
The man froze. The wife who had been listening in from the side looked between the two of them.
A small fireball appeared between Jessica and the Headsman. It was the size of a marble.
The heat was directed specifically at the man and his wife.
They started to sweat immediately.
"Tell me the truth," she commanded, unwilling to negotiate with Gaelion without knowing the whole story. The idea that the lies of these fools would cost her the power of a Dragon Emperor was infuriating.
"Your Highness, there is nothing to say-"
Jessica slammed her Cane on the floor. It came to life as the wood was shaped into thin spears. The fireballs multiplied with a thought and the heat was directed at them even more powerfully than before. Both humans flinched.
It was the woman who broke. She fell to her knees, "Forgive us," she said not meeting Jessica's eyes. Her old woman's husband looked in horror. "It wasn't always our greed. The Dragon did attack one of our herds-"
The whole story was predictable.
Gaelion had been hidden deep within the mountains. A hunter had found the horde he had, tried to steal from it and had nearly died in the process. The same hunter had first kept it a secret, but after a failure to retrieve it he had spread the news around town and convinced the headsman to hire adventurers to kill the Dragon to get the treasure after they left. To pay the adventurers with the treasure itself.
They would all be rich.
It was stunning to realize that they hadn't known about Wyndia. Gaelion's daughter hadn't been subject to malice, per se, she was simply a demi-human. To these people, it was natural to sell off something like that.
The woman finished her story and stayed on the ground. Jessica stood up and walked away.
"Your highness," called the headsman before she walked out the door, but said nothing else.
Jessica understood the implicit question. "I'll deal with the Dragon," she said, "Your fate shall be decided later."
The man swallowed and nodded. Jessica walked out and was about to teleport when he came running out the hovel.
"Your Highness," he said kneeling at her feet, "I-I beg you to spare the villagers. They knew little. It was my decisions-"
Jessica found herself smiling. She helped the man to her feet. "Your people shall be judged on their own merits," she lied.
The grateful look he shot her was ignored. The Princess took to the air and drifted towards the largest Soul she could see. Plans whirled in her mind. It was strange to hope that she wouldn't be forced into extremes, but the hope was genuine.
It would be better if Gaelion joined her willingly.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth to, but if the need arose, her villagers would be a minor sacrifice for the sake of a Dragon's allegiance.
