A Deal

I rushed back to my room after meeting with my grandmother, my heart was throbbing like hell. My mind was in disarray, just thinking of whatever, all in concern of how to survive. That was the scariest interaction I ever had, way scarier than the paladins. Was it because I knew grandmother was a more frightening being?

At any rate, time was running out.

When I arrived at my room, I walked over to my desk and slammed my fists. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Opening my eyes, I stared into the mirror.

I’ll survive this.

I grabbed the small puppet with sharp and pointed limbs. I dematerialized it and checked the clock. It was about afternoon, I still had plenty of time to send the puppet to the Chamber of Mystics. Around late afternoon was the time I should be seeing more activity, where the staff would start heading back to their dorms or finishing things up.

I left the room and made my way to the elevator. All I needed was to drop the puppet to the lower floor, and I could control it from there. However, when I arrived at the elevator, I discovered a lone knight standing as if on guard. This was the first.

Anyway, I still went on my way. But he suddenly got in my way, holding out his hand to stop me. I directed a confused look at him.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Apologies, Princess. But we have instructions not to let you off this floor.”

What?

And ‘we’? Could this mean that my family seriously instructed everyone to keep me from leaving this floor?

They’re damn insane!

“Me? Just me?”

“... Yes, Your Highness.”

With an annoyed expression, I made my way back to my room. I materialized the crawler puppet.

Guess I have to do it the hard way.

I sat down on the chair and placed the puppet on the desk. I closed my eyes and made a link to this puppet. There was also another handy ability in my Puppeteer class. It was the ability to possess my created puppet.

My vision distorted and changed, now from the small puppet’s point of view. Unlike when usually controlling the puppets, there were no visible magical strings. It truly was like possessing an object. I ran to the door and controlled one of the plain puppets to open the door. Once I was out of the room, the door closed.

It was so weird that I was all the way to the floor, so small. But there was no time to make fun of this, and I made my way to the elevator. When there were servants passing by, I would hide behind a decoration or anything. This was a stealth mission now.

I arrived by the elevator. I would be taking the stairs here. I waited for the knight to look away, even for just a moment. When a servant went by, his gaze shifted. I took the chance to swiftly move through and reached the stairs. I could move really fast on this thing, but it almost felt like I was a spider or something.

A short time later, I arrived on my intended floor. At least there weren’t any guards here just yet, they must have only just given the order. I arrived on the pathway leading to the Chamber of Mystics. I moved over to the edge and clung to the side wall of the pathway, the pointed logs going through the small recess on the stones and bricks. Best I hide from anyone’s view, even from the ferryman.

I started moving sideways towards the Chamber of Mystics. Considering where I was, I couldn’t help but look down.

Wow, that is deep.

I shouldn’t fall, lest I be wasting a good puppet. Although, moving around on this part was easier than I thought.

Anyway, I arrived outside the Chamber of Mystics just fine. I hid in a corner, waiting for someone to come out. It didn’t take long before a couple of staff chattering with each other came out of the door. Once they had passed, I immediately slipped through the closing door.

Inside, I hid under the chairs and tables of the lobby until a person came out of the door leading further in. I quickly slipped inside, and of course I made sure there was no one following him, lest I be discovered.

I made my way to the door where they stored the chimeras. I waited for someone to come out. The door opened, but I didn’t move immediately. Because it was the Preceptor. I remained completely still. The Preceptor paused in place and looked around, as if sensing something.

You sense nothing.

A moment later, he disregarded it and moved on. Thank goodness I didn’t try to move while it was him, he might have discovered me easily. I waited for another one to come out — if there were none, I’d find a way, there were plenty of ventilation systems I could go through.

The door opened.

“Finally, I can rest. My head hurts.”

“Yeah.”

It was a small group of people. I quickly slipped through the doors.

I’m finally here.

I waited for half an hour before making my way to the paladin. I pressed the button, and the oxygen mask descended onto the paladin’s face, she woke up. Confused, she looked around. And she looked down, finally seeing me.

“Is your mind still your own?” My voice was delivered through the puppet.

“... You sound familiar…”

“Is your mind still your own?”

“... A doll…? Talking?”

“Answer my question.”

“... Ah, now I remember. The princess.” Her gaze changed, turning into a glare.

Well, that at least confirmed that she was still not under their control.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a grim tone. She truly was making her disdain known.

“I am here to make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“I can free you, but you must do something for me.”

“Why should I believe a word you say?”

“... Because I’m the only one who can grant you freedom.”

“You? Why would you give me that?”

“I wish to flee ‌this place.”

“Flee?” she chuckled. “Why?”

I decided not to answer that. “Let us make a deal. I will free you from this tank. But afterward, you will free the other chimeras, and wreak havoc on this place, on the palace.”

Her eyes widened. “What is going on?”

“You will make it as loud and chaotic as possible.”

“... You wish to flee… You want me to be a distraction?!” She didn’t seem to like that.

“Yes, along with the other chimeras. Such a simple request that I’m sure you’ll be quite pleased.”

“...” She fell silent for a moment. “Fine. Now free me.”

“Not yet. In three days.”

“Three days?”

“There is preparation that needs to be done. Be patient. I will hide this puppet here. It will free you when it is time.”

“... Very well.”

After pressing the button again to remove her oxygen mask, I moved and hid my puppet in a small crevice at a corner. Once it was secure, I stopped the possession. I let out a sigh.

I need to keep the most dangerous individuals in one place. Give myself as much time as possible. Trap them, even for just a few minutes.

And the place to trap them was the place of the ritual itself, where they would all be there. I would also be there.

“Hmph.”

Everyone’s focus should be during the ritual, instead of keeping me inside the palace.

I can do this.

Now that I had an agreement with that paladin, and with those many chimeras there, I could only imagine the sheer chaos it could cause. But that was the point, there would be ruin, but that was what I needed to get people off my back. At least for a time. These people shouldn’t be underestimated at all, so I must overestimate them.

And now, with that matter settled, it was time to set up other traps. Anything to slow my family down when the time comes. I dematerialized many of the small puppets in my room. I would be spreading them all over the hallways. I’d be using a lot of puppets, so I’d be using my power to the limit with this.

But I had to do what I had to do.

I left my room and walked around.

Surprise, surprise, they wouldn’t even let me outside at all, where I could see the city and where the waterfalls were. How annoying.

When it came to dinner though, I didn’t bring up that matter. There was no point.