Crownless Reincarnation: New World? Nah I'd win

[Aure Kingdom]

[Late in the Afternoon]

Akamir moved through the streets of the capital city of Aure calmly.

His face was covered with a white mask while his eyes remained firm.

By his side another woman walked with her body completely covered.

Sylari had her eyes completely fixed on Akamir.

'….This is really fucked up.'

Akamir thought as he looked around, who were laughing and praising their royal family.

Most of the people Akamir have met within the kingdom are like this.

They have no problem with the royal family and are fully in support of them.

'…None of them know how fucked up this place is.'

The royals they adore so much are the ones who are willing to sell them for profit.

The decent environment that the Aure have made is a bubble.

A type of trap to keep them from asking too many questions.

Akamir also scrapped one of his ideas that was to unveil the whole incident to the people.

To tell them how horrible their royal family is to sell them as slaves.

But now as he thought back it will only backfire as they will refuse to believe his words.

'And given I can't just bring out the high numbers of people dying as most of them are illiterate.'

He let out a sigh as he glanced to his side where Sylari was walking silently.

"I am keeping an eye on you princess." Akamir said coldly. "I would not hesitate to kill you if you did anything unusual."

Sylari turned to look at him, her eyes burning with hatred and fear.

"I am not your slave…Not in a literal sense." She replied, looking away. "Don't you order me around."

"...."

'I should have just killed her and replaced with a mimicker.'

He let out a sigh not thinking too much about it.

Instead he focused on something else.

"How you manage such large supply of people?" He asked her with a genuine curiosity. "People are finite and your family is doing this business for so long."

Sylari looked uncomfortable by his words but she didn't act out of her place.

"They run campaigns." She replied softly. "Providing them with all their needs…all they need to do is reproduce."

Akamir slowed his steps, his eyes narrowing behind the mask.

"Campaigns," he repeated, almost tasting the word. "So the cattle breed themselves, thinking they're being cared for."

Sylari flinched, but didn't deny it. Her hands were tucked under her cloak, clenched tightly into fists.

"It's not my doing," she muttered. "I was never allowed near the heart of it."

He gave a low chuckle. "Convenient excuse."

They turned into a busier street, the smell of roasted meat and fresh bread filling the air. Families strolled by.

Children tugging at their mothers' skirts, men raising mugs of ale at the tavern doors.

The Aure capital looked alive, thriving, almost idyllic.

And yet, Akamir's eyes caught the cracks.

The soldiers stationed at every corner, the subtle way people lowered their voices when mentioning the royal palace, the stiffness in a merchant's smile when nobles passed by.

The peace here was painted over a rotten core.

'They must also be aware about the runaway slaves that I freed.'

Akamir thought his gaze following a group of soldiers.

"You all keep the sheep fat and happy," Akamir murmured. "But you never hide the wolves well enough."

Sylari's glare flickered toward him. "If you hate us so much, why not burn it all down?"

"Oh, I will." Akamir said, his voice devoid of any emotions. "…I will definitely burn your entire family."

Sylari's face went pale at his words, lips pressed thin.

For a moment she looked like a child caught stealing—then she forced herself back into the cool mask of a princess.

"You speak like an oath," she said, voice tight. "Do you know the kind of harm that brings? The innocents—"

"Innocents who profit from other people's blood aren't innocent," Akamir cut in. His tone didn't rise.

"You want to live in a world without the Zagroths? Help me pull the rope tight enough so the beast can't slip free."

They moved on, the noise of the market swallowing their small conversation.

Sylari swallowed, her gloved fingers flexed beneath the cloak.

"The eastern wing," she repeated at last, quieter. "Within the royal family….at all times one of the advisors of Zagroth family is always present."

Akamir paused at her words as he looked at her. "….What?"

"Nobody knows about it except the royal family." She replied, looking at him. "That man is what connects us to the Zagroth Household."

Akamir's mind reeled as he began to quickly shift his plans.

"How strong is he?" He asked, looking at her. "No, just tell me everything about him."

Sylari's voice dropped to a whisper, as if the word itself might call him forth.

"He goes by Malrec," she said. "A thin man, older than most courtiers, he always stands behind the throne or at the king's shoulder. The palace calls him 'advisor.' The Zagroths call him 'our eye.'"

"What does he do?" he asked.

"He watches," Sylari answered. "He listens. He signs documents. He approves shipments when the royal seal would not look right. He knows who is loyal."

A cold thread uncoiled through Akamir's chest. "Is he armed? Bodyguards? Some mark that makes him untouchable?"

Sylari swallowed. "He is never alone. Always two escort knights in black. But it is not only the guards."

'Looks like she has already tried to kill the old man.'

Akamir thought as he looked at her, while rubbing his chin.

'…This is going to be difficult.'

Akamir let out a sigh as he looked at her again. "How strong is he?"

She looked down as she thought it through.

"I am not sure." She finally replied. "But my father once said he is around Purple Core."

Akamir's steps slowed. His head tilted just slightly, but his eyes sharpened behind the mask.

"Purple Core…" he muttered, almost to himself. "That's not some frail old court puppet, then."

Sylari nodded once, her lips pressed tight. "He hides it well. Always moving like a frail man, but the air around him… it presses."

Akamir's jaw tightened. Purple Core meant Malrec wasn't just a political shadow.

He was dangerous in his own right. That changed everything.

"So he's not only their eye," Akamir said slowly. "He's their blade too."

Sylari's hands trembled beneath her cloak.

"If you go after him carelessly, he'll crush you. That's why…" She hesitated, then glanced at Akamir with conflicted eyes. "That's why even I never tried again."

Akamir's lips curved faintly, though there was no humor in it. "So you did try."

Akamir rubbed the back of his neck as he began to think.

'I am pretty sure, I can defeat the old man.'

But the problem is those who are guarding him.

Akamir can't be so sure as he wasn't aware of their power levels.

He could try but there were so many variables unaccounted.

He let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Nayomi who was listening to their conversation all this while moved inside his sight of view.

She looked at Akamir seriously. "Are you forgetting something?" She asked. "You have a whole area of spirit herbs."

Akamir tilted his head in confusion. "What about it?"

"There are some herbs that can cause sleep if burned." Nayomi replied, folding her arms. "If added with silent herbs the smoke will become colourless and odorless."

Akamir nodded his head in response as it was a feasible plan.

He let out a sigh as he thought about something else.

'….I should ask Saia to bring me those herbs.'

The queen of fairies have much more inherent knowledge about herbs than him.

She can help him find while he will make sure everything is according to plan.

Akamir turned to look at Sylari. "Can you get us inside the palace?"

She looked conflicted but nodded nonetheless. "There is a secret path that I always use."

Akamir nodded. "Lead me."

Sylari's steps faltered when she heard his order, her eyes flickering with hesitation.

"You trust me to lead you?" she asked carefully, her voice low.

Akamir's reply was sharp and immediate. "No. That's why I'll be walking right behind you."

Sylari's lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn't argue.

Instead, she turned her gaze forward and began weaving through the crowd.

Her movements were smooth, practiced.

It was clear she had walked these streets many times without drawing attention.

Nayomi stayed close to Akamir's other side, her eyes scanning every corner, every soldier, every suspicious glance.

"This way," Sylari whispered, slipping into a narrow passage between two warehouses.

Akamir followed without a word, his steps silent on the cobblestones. The mask hid his expression, but his eyes never left the princess's back.

The alley bent twice before it ended at an old, ivy-covered wall.

At first glance it looked like a dead end, but Sylari stopped and pressed her hand against a slab of stone.

There was a faint click.

A narrow seam appeared, and part of the wall shifted just enough to reveal a hidden passage.

'A backdoor for royals to run away huh?'

Akamir thought but he immediately paused as he felt something.

"Princess." He said, stopping in place. "Tell your men to stop if they don't want to die."

The woman looked back at him. "What—?"

Her words were cut off as an arrow whistled to her face.