Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

Thump!

The nameless hero who was also a gang leader kneeled before me. Beads of sweat were rolling down his sharp chin. His brown eyes were gazing me with not just fear but also admiration for some reason. Perhaps my eyes were deceiving me.

Now that I had a better look at him, he was actually quite handsome. To say that for all heroes might be a stretch but generally heroes had to have some charisma. His clothes were in the upper class. I could tell because his tunic had an intricate family crest sewed on the front.  

"Boss?"

"I'm so sorry! I won't do it again. I was told to intimidate a newcomer to the city, supposedly a beautiful female hero. No one told me you were this powerful. Please spare me! Have mercy!" He begged pitifully with his forehead on the ground.

"Boss!?"

One of his henchmen panicked.

"Should we rough her up for you? What's wrong?"

He shouted with exasperation, "Shut up! We're no match for her. Should I give you a beating? Huh?!"

"Boss..."

Echo, what's going on? I intimidated him a bit but is he a fake hero? That reaction was too overblown.

[He has the |Hero| trait.]

Alright, so he's a real one. Even so, a glare from me shouldn't be enough to make him cower in fear. Do the celestial eyes have hidden functions that I'm not aware of?

[The Celestial Eyes of Fortitude, the ones you currently possess, empowers the user with indomitable aura.]

Oh, that's why. It has a new function added in, I guess after my evolution? It does match the original abilities. Neat! Anything else I should know? Surprises are fun but keep me informed, okay? I already have too much to keep track of.

[Information must be requested.]

Fine, fine.

Now that I knew one of my eyes' unique effect, I retracted that powerful aura. Oddly enough, this aura could be directed to specific individuals. The others in the area were not affected at all.

Speaking of others, normally I would have expected a peanut gallery to have formed around us by now but none did. Bystanders had all scurried off at the start of our confrontation.

"Enough." I said, "Don't let me see you messing around again."

He raised his chins to look at me once again, "Thank you. Thank you. Please, may this lowly one please have your name? My name is Halbu."

Halbu? That doesn't sound heroic.

"I'm... Berry." I replied, a bit hesitant to give out my name.

"Lady Berry, we won't get in your way ever again!"

The gang hastily left the scene.

The entire time, Kanoko remained quiet and unfazed while standing behind me.

"Sorry about that. It took longer than I expected. We'll have to quicken our steps."

"Yes, let's do that."

Although we were running behind on time, it was still acceptable considering how inaccurate time was kept tracked of in this world.

Enclosing the grand palace stood impressive stone wall painted in blue and white in the style of the city's buildings. It at least thrice my height. Complimenting the wall was a grandiose gate in front of us, armed with intimidating guards. Looking through the entrance, it was as if this was the actual city gate.

What an unnecessary big palace...

The guards didn't stop us from entering. In fact, one of them was our escort until we reached the audience hall.

My background was supposedly a sheltered daughter of a nobility who studied magic extensively. Kanoko acted as my secretary and maid. Ideally, I would have preferred it the other way around because if I spoke out of character, things could get messy. Though, after that short incident, she decided to the initial greets solely onto me. If and only if everything proceeded smoothly, I would introduce her as a diplomat from a foreign country.

Proudly sitting on the throne was the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard. His appearance when seen in person was quite menacing or imposing in my opinion, not the typical hero in fantasy tales. Regardless, he retained a youthful appearance despite his old age. Like the people of this country, he had dark hair and lightly tanned skin. His build was not bulky but I could I could tell he had strength hidden beneath the gilded silvery armor.

I intentionally avoided his piercing gaze at the moment. I was afraid if I gazed into him, I might reactively activate my celestial eyes' unique ability and intimidate him.

We walked on the red carpet. To either side of us, there were ministers and nobles examining and scrutinizing our every movement. Although I could not directly read their thoughts, I had gathered intelligence on some of them. Their loyalty was first and foremost to the Hero King despite their fear towards him. This kind of baffled me, but at the same time I understood their mentality. As long as they followed the Hero King, their livelihood was set for life.

We stopped at an appropriate spot. Pretending to be citizens, the two of us courteously bowed before the Hero King as was the custom in this country for ladies. All the while, I paid attention to the armed soldiers and mages within the palace.

Trying to block my teleport? What a joke. I made a mental retort upon noticing several mages preparing a large scale sealing barrier.

A minister stood out and announced, "You may speak."

I nodded at the minister before announcing myself.

"Your Majesty, I am here per your invitation. What business do you have with me on this fine afternoon?"

He muttered, "Your name."

"You may call me Berry."

"Your full name."

"I have lived in secrecy my entire life sheltered by my humble family. I prefer that my family remain uninvolved with the matter of my profession."

"Interesting. Who is that girl next to you? We have no record of her ever entering through any of our city gates."

"She is my assistant and maid. As you may already know through your intelligence network, I am capable of teleporting in and out of the city via quick spells. I hope that answers your question."

Murmurs quickly spread among the ministers and nobles.

"Silence," he raised his hand to quiet the ministers. "For you to be aware of our intelligence network, I'm impressed. Last night, I received a report that you were with another hero who seemed to serve you. Tell me, how did you make him a servant?"

"You ask me that and yet you have a hero serving you right now?" I retorted while remaining in an amiable manner.

It seems he still doesn't know my identity even though I'm in a celestial gown. Clearly, I'm not dressed like the locals here?

"You are extremely talented indeed. Let us have a private conversation. Ministers, you're dismissed for the day."

With his order, the ministers filed out from the front entrance without compalaint. Once they left, the guards closed the doors behind them leaving only four individuals within the audience hall.

There was one person who had yet to make an appearance so I asked, "Is she not coming out?"

"Don't mind her."

Though, I could tell she was secretly communicating with those mages stationed within the palace. Their trap could to be sprang on me at a moment's notice.

"Fair enough. Do you have an agenda prepared for us seeing that you have invited us here today?"

"It's simple, really. With your talent, what do you say to serving me as your king? I need someone like you."

So you're willing to go as far as to try and capture me... Some nerves you got.

"Will you make me submit to you if I refuse?"

"Making you submit would be easy part but let's not get ahead of ourselves," he grinned but the next moment his voice grew cold, "This isn't a request. This is an order from the king. Serve me."

In that instance, the sealing barrier was activated around the palace, blocking all forms of teleportation via magic. Though, if I was a regular hero, I probably wouldn't have noticed at all. After all, barriers like these were normally invisible.

Fun, fun. Even back when I didn't have this |void| trait, escaping from this type of barrier was child play. He's seriously underestimating me.

I shook my head slowly, "Looks like your agenda doesn't match mine."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I shall forego the ruse. Actually, today, I'm here on behalf of the Grusia Empire to negotiate with you. If you're going to be hostile, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back. Let me be blunt. You're unbecoming for a hero to resort to such dishonorable methods to reign your people."

"The empire? If you said you were from the resistance groups, I would have believed you. You don't look remotely like those from the beast country. Perhaps, you are capable of transformation? Either way, you're an enemy of the state. It is your loss."

"Hero King, are you willing to negotiate with the empire or not? Answer me, I do not have all day."

"I do not negotiate with animals."

I retorted quickly before he could dish out another rude remark, "And yet you have a diplomatic relationship with some lizards."

"It has nothing to do with you. Enough of chit-chat, I'm giving you one last chance. Submit to me."

He unleashed a wave of tyrannical aura in my direction. Although it was powerful, it wasn't overwhelming. However, Kanoko wasn't as fortunate.

I spun around and caught her as she was collapsing, "Kanoko, are you alright?"

She groaned in agony, "Berry, let's retreat for now."

"That's the idea."

Kanoko was actually somewhat optimistic to finally meet with the Hero King. To her, there was a chance that perhaps it was the nobilities or ministers who was blocking a diplomatic relationship between the two nations. However, now that she had heard the decree of the current Hero King, she could now accept the situation.

The ministers were not the ones to puppet an righteous hero but rather the hero was the tyrant controlling others. The tyrannical aura was all too obvious. Though, there was a hint of nobility within that aura. Perhaps he used to be a noble hero, but due to circumstances transformed him into his current self. This was truly a fallen hero, a deplorable existence that endangered this world.

"Mae, capture the two."