"Y-you! You can talk?"
The voice was faint, but Joey was certain it had come from the monster in the cage.
"It's me." The human-faced head lifted with difficulty, its eyelids drooping.
"A Transcendent who lost control can actually recover?"
He had never heard of such a thing. Transcendents who lost control had only two possible outcomes: they either became mindless monsters or turned into complete lunatics.
The human-faced monster looked down at himself and sighed softly. "I'm going to die!"
He could clearly feel the divine blood draining rapidly from his body. That was also why he had briefly regained his sanity.
"What exactly are you people doing?"
Everything suggested that Alisa's identity was far from ordinary. There were things he couldn't ask her directly, but now he had someone better to question.
"You people?"
"Did you meet Alisa? Is she all right?"
Joey backed away a few steps. "Don't get worked up. She's fine. I rescued her not far from the aircraft."
"Of course, if you don't cooperate, I can't guarantee she'll stay safe."
"Roar!"
"You can't do that, you damned commoner!"
He seemed furious, which only reinforced Joey's suspicion that Alisa was someone important. Judging by his attitude, their relationship wasn't the friendship Alisa had described. It seemed more like that of a superior and a subordinate.
Alisa was staying with him now. That concerned both his safety and Old Tony's, so he had to be cautious.
"Of course, if you cooperate, things will turn out the way you want."
In Blue Star terms, this was called using both the carrot and the stick. He couldn't just keep making threats; he had to offer a little incentive, too.
"What do you want to know?"
His voice was very weak. Clearly, he had given up resisting.
As the man spoke, Joey finally learned who Alisa was.
She was the highest-ranking noble in the Imperial Knights-a princess. Daniel was the royal surname. Alisa had sneaked out this time without any guards, bringing only a pilot. An accident along the way had caused the aircraft to crash.
"She's a princess?"
Joey asked in disbelief.
He had always imagined princesses as imposing and regal, radiating nobility with every gesture. But from what he had seen, Alisa seemed like a pretty girl from a modest, respectable family.
Although he had suspected that Alisa held an important position in the inner city, he had never in his wildest dreams imagined she was a princess.
Now that's a powerful backer! I'd better hold on tight! Joey thought.
"Does Udir know who you are?"
Pfft!
The moment he asked, Joey realized how foolish the question was. If Udir had known, he would never have dared torture the man like this.
Perhaps he had lost too much blood. His voice gradually dwindled to a thread.
"Please, take her home!"
"Hey, don't die! I still have questions!"
"..."
Joey shook his head, got up, and left the farm. Dusk was settling when he returned to the cottage. He pushed open the door to find a lavish meal already laid out on the table.
Alisa sat quietly and properly at the table, like a young wife who had finished cooking and was waiting for her husband to come home.
"Joey, you're back!"
He walked straight past the dining table to Tony's bedside and complained in frustration.
"Dad, you just let her waste food like this?"
Instead of earning Joey's praise, the tableful of food left Alisa puffing out her cheeks in a sulky pout.
Old Tony lay in bed with his eyes shut. The paper figure at his bedside flew up, glanced around, and was left equally dumbfounded.
Under normal circumstances, the food on the table would have lasted the two of them a week.
Joey couldn't really blame Old Tony. From the look of things, he hadn't known either. His severe injuries caused him to lapse into unconsciousness from time to time, and he usually communicated through the magical paper figure.
Alisa stared at Joey with a wounded expression. She seemed unable to understand what she had done wrong.
"Ah!"
All his frustration finally dissolved into a quiet sigh.
She was a princess, after all. Someone who had never managed a household wouldn't understand how much daily necessities cost.
He had stolen this food from Udir Manor last time. This single meal used up more than half of it, which meant they would have to scrape by again.
But then he reconsidered. If he secured this powerful backer, what couldn't he have?
"Alisa, let's eat! I shouldn't have blamed you!"
"Really? You were so scary just now."
Joey smiled wryly. It took a lengthy explanation to make Her Highness understand that food wasn't easy to come by.
"Alisa, you're a really good cook."
The ingredients were simple, but the dishes looked appetizing and tasted good, too. It was hard to imagine that a lofty princess could actually cook. It was simply incredible.
"Of course! They all say I'm the best cook. They always ask me to make the meals."
"Huh?"
"You cook often?"
"Yes. Is that strange? Don't you cook every day?"
There's nothing strange about me cooking. You cooking is what doesn't make sense! You're a princess! Isn't preparing meals supposed to be the servants' job?
Joey began casually steering the conversation toward Alisa herself. He discovered that she was rather strange. Her behavior was barely different from a child's.
Not only did she lack the bearing expected of a princess, but her behavior didn't even match her apparent age. On the outside, Alisa looked like a mature, beautiful woman. In reality, she thought like a child of ten or so. It was very odd.
That night, Alisa went down to the basement. The cottage was tiny, and that was the only place they could make a bed for her.
Joey told Old Tony everything he had discovered at the farm, along with Alisa's unusual behavior.
The paper figure landed on Joey's shoulder, and a voice came from it.
"Her injuries may have affected her memory!"
That was the only explanation Joey could think of, too.
"Dad, how do you think we should get her home?"
"Joey, have you thought this through? It'll be very difficult!"
Difficult! Of course it would be!
The Inner City and outer city were far apart, with wild beasts and constant dangers along the way. Even leaving town would be difficult with Alisa's looks.
But Joey had no choice. Only in the inner city would they have a chance to heal Old Tony's legs.
"I think you should become a Transcendent first," Old Tony suggested.
"Dad, you're absolutely right!"
That reminded him of something he hadn't considered at all before. It seemed gathering the ingredients for the Potion needed to become a priority now.
Sequence 9 was only the lowest rung among Beyonders. The supplementary ingredients weren't hard to find, and the only main ingredient he still lacked was Agate Worm saliva.
"You could try the Adventurers' Guild."
If the Imperial Knights were an official organization, then the Adventurers' Guild was a private one.
"That's our only option! Help me keep an eye on Alisa. I have a feeling she's hiding something from us."
The Adventurers' Guild was more like a bar, packed with people. Joey found a seat in a corner and ordered a glass of wine.
"Carson Mine! Anyone want to team up?"
Carson Mine? If I remember correctly, Agate Worms can be found there.
Just what he needed, right when he needed it. Joey rose with his wine in hand and slowly walked over.