I'm a Man!

The bandit leader had been trussed up and tied to a tree.

Li Qi rubbed his right hand as he watched Amy interrogate the man, while shaking out his left hand.

It was this hand he had used just now to pull off the feat of cutting bullets with a dagger.

The price was that the hand was now terribly sore, so weak he could barely muster any strength in it.

Li Qi was using Healing Magic to ease the fatigue, but the results were not very good. He figured he needed Healing Magic specifically meant to soothe aching muscles.

Li Qi did not know that kind of magic. After all, he was not a Medical Mage Master, and muscle soreness was not something one encountered on the battlefield.

Either you survived without a scratch, got injured, or died. For those who could survive a battlefield, a little muscle soreness was nothing worth mentioning.

In any case, Li Qi had not felt anything like this in a long time.

It was the wonderfully agonizing sensation of not exercising for years, then suddenly putting yourself through an intense workout—only for all the soreness you woke up with the next day to be concentrated in his left hand.

Still, compared to what Li Qi had gained, this little ache hardly counted for anything.

He had memorized that sensation from before. If the conditions were right, he might be able to recreate that scene of cutting bullets with a blade.

As Li Qi pondered this, his gaze shifted to Amy and the leader.

Amy's fury was almost visible to the naked eye. Without any concern for her image, she kicked the leader tied to the tree in the stomach and demanded:

"Talk! Who sent you?!"

"I don't know, I really don't know! I only know someone paid me to kill you! But he never said there'd be a Strategic Rank at your side!"

"Who paid you?!"

"I don't know him, but I know he had dark blue hair! That's the symbol of Inglis nobles—he's definitely from Inglis! Your own people want you dead!"

The leader answered in a rapid rush.

He was terrified that if he answered even one sentence too slowly, the "monster" beside him who could cut bullets would kill him.

Amy's face darkened further. Her right hand clenched into a fist, her fingertips squeezed white, and she gritted her teeth so hard the muscles in her cheeks bulged.

Li Qi sat to one side as though nothing had happened. Hearing the leader's words, he tilted his head toward Amy.

"You're from Inglis?"

Amy did not answer Li Qi's question. Instead, the bandit leader froze at those words.

Hope suddenly flared in his eyes, and he hurriedly said:

"She's Inglis's Third Princess! Emilia Shefinadel... Pff—"

Before the leader could finish, Amy smashed a fist into his stomach, choking off every word he had left.

Hearing Li Qi's question, Amy also seemed to realize something.

She tore off a strip of cloth, rolled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the leader's mouth. Then she turned to Li Qi and said:

"I am indeed Inglis's Third Princess. So what? Are you going to capture me, a princess of an 'enemy nation,' and take me back? Or are you going to kill me?"

Amy sounded calm, but there was a slight tremor in her voice.

Before this, Amy had not cared about exposing her identity, because she had not known how strong Li Qi was.

But after seeing firsthand how he cut people down as easily as chopping vegetables, after witnessing that absurd feat of cutting bullets with a dagger—

Even if Amy forced herself to say she was not afraid, her body would definitely call bullshit.

Not afraid?

Then why were her legs shaking like that?

So right now, she was terribly afraid that Li Qi would take her back to Uno.

Of course, if he only captured her, that would be manageable.

At the very least, with Amy's status, she could survive as a bargaining chip.

What she feared was Li Qi deciding it was too much trouble and killing her right here!

Judging by how Li Qi had treated her before, he was entirely capable of doing that!

"The Inglis Royal Family." Li Qi twirled his dagger with his uninjured right hand, then pointed it at Amy and asked, "Since you're Inglis's Third Princess, why did you run to Uno to become a spy? Is your country that extravagant? Sending a princess to be a spy?"

"I already told you, I'm not a spy! Going to Uno was an accident in the first place! Even getting hold of your 'classified information' wasn't my intention! Believe it or not, everything I said is true!"

Amy explained agitatedly.

Li Qi continued playing with the dagger and soothed her, "Don't get so worked up. I never said I didn't believe you."

As he spoke, he tossed the dagger up with his right hand and caught it, aiming its tip at the bandit tied to the tree.

"Can you guess who wants you dead?" Li Qi asked again.

Amy pressed her lips together and said softly:

"I have a rough idea."

"I don't suppose this is some kind of royal succession struggle, is it? Like you're an heir or something?"

"...You knew?"

"So it really is..."

Li Qi felt a little emotional.

He had only said it casually, never expecting the setup to actually be this cliché.

After a brief moment of thought, Li Qi threw his dagger.

The dagger, infused with magic power, struck precisely into the bandit's throat. Seeing him kill the bandit leader so decisively, Amy exclaimed in surprise:

"Why did you kill him?! I haven't even asked him anything yet!"

"He already said he didn't know anything. You wouldn't get anything out of him no matter how much you asked. Besides, don't you already have an answer in your heart?"

Li Qi got to his feet, dusted off his clothes, and walked over to Amy.

"Besides, that isn't important. Respected Third Princess, let's make a deal."

Li Qi wore a smile on his face.

Amy stared at that smile and was briefly dazed. But having developed a slight resistance to Li Qi's appearance, she quickly came back to herself and asked:

"What deal?"

"Look, even if today's events were an accident, the fact remains that I saved you. So... I hope you can do me a favor."

As Li Qi spoke, he tore off the wig on his head and beamed at Amy.

"Help me arrange a suitable identity that can get me into the Magic Academy. I assume you can do that, can't you, Third Princess?"

"Ah... ah? Ah???"

The instant Li Qi removed his wig, the respected Third Princess Amy's mind crashed.

Her mouth hung open. She pointed at Li Qi's face, then at the wig in his hand, unable to form a complete sentence for a long while.

Only after quite some time did she stammer:

"Y-you... you, you, you... your... your hair wasn't long..."

Li Qi: "?"

The young man without his wig froze. He and Amy stared wide-eyed at each other for a long time before he finally understood what she meant. Irritated, he kicked her to the ground.

"Are you blind? You couldn't even tell?! I'm a man!"

As Li Qi spoke, he even pulled open his collar.

Little did he know that Amy was already lamenting inwardly.

No! This of all things... this is the one thing I absolutely refuse to admit!!

In truth, the instant Li Qi revealed his short hair, Amy understood everything.

But she was unwilling to face this reality, which was simply too cruel for her.

After that little interlude, Amy and Li Qi resumed their journey to Inglis.

Li Qi finally changed out of his dress and into practical hiking clothes.

During this time, Amy also briefly explained her circumstances.

The leader had been right. Amy—or rather, Amy Lifia—was indeed Inglis's Third Princess.

Just like every royal story Li Qi had ever heard.

The King of Inglis was already old, and sometimes his mind was not even clear. The affairs of the kingdom had therefore fallen upon his four children.

The Grand Prince, Shaden Lifia, was the person most qualified to inherit the King's position. Now that the King was growing increasingly muddled, it was also Shaden who managed the entire Kingdom of Inglis.

The Second Princess, Ilona Lifia, was two years younger than the Grand Prince Shaden. She was responsible for the kingdom's military affairs and also held the position of general.

The Third Princess, Amy Lifia, and the Fourth Prince, Dio Lifia, were twins. They were three years younger than the Second Princess and five years younger than the Grand Prince.

Although neither of them held any important position, each of them possessed the Right of Succession.

Yes, that was right. Whether it was the Grand Prince, who was most qualified to inherit the throne, or Amy and her Younger Brother, who seemed to have little competitiveness, all of them had the right to inherit the throne.

So, in order to claim the throne, it was only natural for the princes and princesses to struggle against one another.