Friend, You Might Be Good at Cross-Dressing

"How could Master Suowosi's prized enchantment end up on Kang De's axe?"

Her Highness murmured to herself.

She seemed to think of something and looked up at Cleveland. "Knight, if I remember correctly, the shortsword we gave Kang De earlier..."

The knight was just as astonished. He answered, "Yes. One of the Crimson Blood Flame Edge's enchantments was Roar of the Crimson Flame... Your Highness, could it be..."

Instead of answering, the princess asked, "Do you think he knows Master Suowosi?"

The knight shook his head. "No. He doesn't even know the most basic things about the continent."

Tina took a deep breath. "Then the only possibility is what you're thinking."

The knight murmured, "But this is the Holy Seal Archipelago. All extraordinary power is suppressed here..."

"No records say that all extraordinary power is suppressed. We only came to that conclusion because of what happened to us..."

The princess said softly, "But some people are destined to be different, aren't they?"

She thought of the vast, sacred altar and the Fire Thief's name.

A large part of the reason she had given Kang De all their precious potions and lent him every enchanted item today was the Fire Thief's Hero Altar.

She had seen its breathtaking holiness with her own eyes.

Kang De, who had received that hero's legacy, could not be ordinary.

If she didn't befriend him now, while he was stranded on a deserted island and needed help, was she supposed to wait until he was famous across the continent and held power before trying to curry favor with him?

A hint of delight surfaced in the princess's heart.

It seemed she had been right after all.

As for why she was happy-whether it was because of the decisive investment and gesture of goodwill she had just made, or for some other reason-even she probably couldn't have said.

Head maid Bedela understood as well. "No wonder Mr. Kang De wanted enchanted equipment... If our guess is right, that ability is truly astonishing. I just wonder..."

The captain suddenly said, "He's coming back."

The princess hurriedly put away the fragment in her hand and looked up. Sure enough, Kang De was striding back, wearing an awkward but polite smile.

The people of Goth had things on their minds too, and their courteous smiles were a little exaggerated.

Kang De said sheepishly, "Um, I forgot to ask. What do these enchanted items do?"

The princess was taken aback.

"There's a complete set of appraisal certificates and instructions from the Goth Ministry of Justice inside... Ah, I'm sorry." She apologized at once. "I forgot you can't read the continent's writing... How rude of me."

She stepped forward, opened the box in Kang De's hands, and explained softly, "We brought six valuable enchanted items in total. Three are the property of the Goth royal court, and three were captured on the battlefield."

"Two of them have already been given to you."

"This is the Flame Chaser Round Shield, from Goth's treasury. It bears the enchantments Immovable as a Mountain and Divine Fire-Warding Radiance. The former strengthens the shield, allowing it to withstand and absorb greater impacts. The latter protects its user from fire. Divine Fire-Warding Radiance is one of the finest fire-immunity enchantments. With it, you would be the kind of enemy casters from the School of Blazing Flames dread most."

"This is a piece of elven jewelry we captured, the famous Cat's Eye Stone Amulet. It bears the enchantment Night Eye. Whoever wears it automatically gains low-light vision and can see at night. It's a treasure assassins and thieves dream of possessing."

"This was also captured from the elves. It's an archer's thumb ring that belonged to a champion marksman, called the Eagle Eye Ring. Its enchantment, Deadly Divine Archery, makes subtle adjustments to an archer's shooting movements to ensure greater accuracy."

"As for the last item..."

The princess kept him in suspense. "This necklace is the most valuable of all the enchanted items... Can you guess what it does, Kang De?"

Kang De thought for a moment. The most valuable?

He said, "Does it have some kind of life-saving spell inscribed on it?"

The princess smiled and shook her head. She took the crystal necklace from the box, lowered her graceful neck, and put it on. Then she looked up and gave Kang De a radiant smile.

In that instant, it was as if a hundred flowers had bloomed. Astonishing beauty shone from the princess's face, and even her creamy-white skin seemed to glow with a captivating luster. In short, she was still the same beautiful princess, only with beauty filters, skin smoothing, highlights, and other effects added.

Mom, she's flirting with me!

Kang De's heart suddenly began to race. The princess had become even more beautiful, alluring, and tempting than before.

Simply put, if the princess lying in front of him yesterday had looked like this, he probably would have had to... jerk off five times before he could calm his boner down.

Kang De stared for a moment before abruptly coming to his senses. He forced a smile. "It... it boosts charm, huh? But if that's all, how could it be worth more than that equipment... Ah..."

He fell silent.

Now he understood.

A divine archery ring that could make a master archer even more dangerous and deadly, a treasure for moving at night that assassins dreamed of, and a shield that could greatly suppress flame mages.

And a magic necklace that could make a woman more attractive and beautiful.

Which was more valuable?

The latter.

Because most powerful, influential nobles and strong experts had wives—or rather, they all had a need to please women. Even emperors were no exception.

This necklace had also been captured from the elves.

Damn, the elves really get it.

"Kang De, you're very smart. You figured it out right away."

Tina took off the necklace and placed it in the box in Kang De's hands. "It's quite ironic, really. Treasures sought and coveted by so many experts are worth less than a necklace with almost no practical use. More sadly still, countless women yearn for this necklace simply because they want to use their beauty as a weapon to get more from men..."

She sighed softly, looking a little like a feminist.

But...

I understand all that, but why are you giving me this necklace?

The princess noticed Kang De's expression and smiled slyly. "Men can use it too, you know."

"Really?"

Kang De was rather good at handling this sort of verbal banter. After all, he had a mother like that.

So he naturally replied, "In that case, let's have Knight Cleveland try it."

A flash of pleasant surprise appeared in Tina's eyes. She immediately said, "All right! I've always wanted to see that."

The upright, rigid knight flushed red. "Please don't make jokes at my expense!"

Kang De and the princess laughed together.

But then again... Kang De glanced at the handsome, dignified knight. This good-looking son of an official was handsome, but his features weren't rugged. In other words...

Friend, you might be good at cross-dressing.

Meeting his gaze, the knight instinctively sensed danger and took a step back without thinking.

"Then I'll take my leave."

Kang De wanted to make a few more jokes, but he wasn't close enough to the knight for that. Besides, the enchantments on the magic equipment had given him some new ideas, and he couldn't wait to get back and try them out.

"I'll bring some local specialties over tonight to treat everyone."

The princess and her companions watched him leave.

"Your Highness."

The captain had been watching Kang De's expressions. "When you spoke of the enchantments' effects, he didn't look pleasantly surprised or enlightened. He looked thoughtful."

Lady Bedela said, "And he looked very intently at the equipment, as though he were seeing something we couldn't..."

The princess did not answer, seemingly lost in thought.

After a while, she looked up, her eyes shining. She seemed to have thought of something important. "Captain Oswald."

The bearded captain bowed. "Yes, Your Highness."

Tina said gravely, "Please report to me again. What condition is the Penguin in? What difficulties are preventing it from sailing again?"

The captain answered in a low voice, "First, we need to replenish our supplies of fresh water, food, and fresh fruit to prevent scurvy. Second, the difficulty with setting sail again lies in the materials. Our ship suffered severe damage in several places, from striking the reef and from spell attacks... In our present circumstances, it's difficult to find enough suitable specialized timber to repair the ship, so we can't get the Penguin sailing again quickly."

The princess asked, "Won't the timber on the island do?"

"No. Felled timber can't be used directly to repair a ship. Processing harvested timber into shipbuilding material requires more than half a year of work through various stages. The only thing that can speed up that process is... magic."

He said, "But in this area, extraordinary power is suppressed, and we can't use spells."

Tina was silent for a moment. "It seems... someone can."

She took out the battle-axe fragment she had hidden away and said softly, "Since he could put Roar of the Crimson Flame on this axe, he must be able to enchant a plank with Immovable as a Mountain too... Right, Captain?"

"Theoretically, yes."

The captain's eyes flickered. Though he didn't show it, he was excited too.

"It looks like we'll have to invite a new crew member aboard," he said. "But it won't be easy. This gentleman from Cathay is a smart man with a mind of his own and a great deal of caution. Convincing him to take the risk with us will be extremely difficult... especially when we're still facing the threat of the elves."

Tina nodded silently.

"But for Goth, we have to try, no matter how difficult it is," she said softly. "Leave it to me."

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PS1: First update... Ah, something came up today, so this update is late. There's another one coming in a little while. I hope I can finish writing it before eleven. You can go to bed early and read it tomorrow morning instead.