Ball of Nothing

Truen wanted to scream but he couldn't blame Zero. The moment he stepped foot into the palace to talk to the king and chancellor, he had already fallen into their trap. Zero was asking for help using the party call but there was no apt advice that he could give his friend.

"Is something the matter?" Motley asked with a sickly pleasant voice.

Truen swallowed. "Could you make this quicker? I'm worried about leaving that perverted dwarf with my sister for too long. Also, I only came to inform King Darius about needing to leave for Derby Desert. It's part of the agreement I made with Dorgon for him to create the statue of Freya at Magnus Hilda. He did say that he wanted to make a trip personally to where the shrine and statue were going to be built and he needed a picture of Goddess Freya. I'm sure my sister is passing the painting to him as we speak but I don't trust Dorgon around her."

Instead of acting surprised at the news, the chancellor merely poured tea and sat down. "Don't worry about it, your sister is in very good hands now. Also, there is no better person for her to be with at the moment if you want to rush off to Derby Desert. Fret not, we have not forgotten the deal about helping your sister register as an adventurer. In fact, Zero has done such a great job with transforming out princes into a great beauty that the King and I have decided to bring forward the reward."

Feeling slightly suspicious, Truen asked. "What do you mean?"

The chancellor grinned. "In Rocket Mountain, there is only one other man who can stand proudly beside Queen Demora. He is an S-ranked adventurer with the blessing from the God of Art. The name of or current guild master who is also the godfather of our beloved princess is no other than Dorgon Flintstock. It is for this very reason that we allowed you to bring him back to us, envoy of Magnus Hilda."

The hostility in the air was clear. Motley didn't trust elves and even though he didn't show it explicitly earlier, Truen could see it now. He got up and tried to leave the room but the dwarven guards pointed their spears at him.

"Sit down, Truen. You and I have much to discuss. Don't worry, your sister will be safe. Dorgon will go easy on her, he has a good gauge of a person's true strength and since you requested for a special rank, surely a special test must be given."

The princess who had dropped by to greet her teacher's brother overheard the conversation and swiftly turned around. The guards who were waiting outside of the conference room were puzzled that the princess decided not to go in and exchanged confused looks but decided not to interrupt the chancellor.

Although she carried herself with poise, the princess was panicking internally. On one hand, she wanted to save her teacher and on the other, she didn't want to let her teacher down by abandoning the image of a good princess that they worked hard to create. Dorgon was her godfather and she knew him best. Even though he acted like a lazy bum for more than half the time, he could be absolutely frightening when he wanted to be. His S-rank was not earned through friendship with her father, it was earned through the victories of battles and war against the Altear Kingdom alongside her mother.

Princess Dorothy left the castle without anyone stopping her because the guards were so used to seeing the process help out at her teacher's clinic. However, today, the princess wasn't heading there. Instead, she asked around the marketplace to know if anyone saw her godfather and teacher. It didn't take long for people to point Dorothy in the right direction and the princess made haste. It would be better to stop her godfather before he made her teacher mad. Dorgon might be strong but only Princess Dorothy knew how frightening Zero was. That one time Zero got mad and lost control over a fraction of her powers, an earthquake took over Rocket Mountain.

Thankfully, the crafting guild wasn't very far from the main town and Dorothy forgot about etiquette with nobody to watch her. The dwarven princess gathered her skirt and ran even though it was difficult to do so in heeled shoes. Still, the princess was tenacious if she wasn't anything else. Her training with Zero made her physically stronger and she ran all the way, displaying amazing stamina.

"Godfather! Godfather stop!" a voice called from outside the crafting guild. Zero dodged another powerful slam that rattled the floor of the crafting guild. She now understood why they used reinforced wood here.

"Dorothy?" Dorgon wasn't expecting the appearance of his goddaughter and paused. Zero sighed in relief. Truen didn't respond and Zero had to put up with the attacks for the last fifteen minutes, dodging what he could and parrying with his bare hands what he couldn't. It wasn't difficult to destroy the annoying rafter's suit but Zero didn't want to damage it more to a point where even gnome technicians couldn't salvage it. Why couldn't Forgon see that she wasn't willing to participate in his test?

Dorgon stared at Zero and sighed. He got out of the crafter's suit and opened the door to a panting princess.

"Princess! What are you doing here?" Zero asked and the girl pouted, glaring at her godfather. Instead of answering anything, she pointed at Dorgon and shouted.

"Don't bully my teacher! You should be ashamed of yourself, godfather. How can an S-ranked hero use testing as an excuse for bullying a healer with no combat abilities?"

Zero was stunned. No combat abilities? What had he been teaching this girl the whole time then? Those fighting styles that Princess Dorothy learned were combat abilities. The marsupial demons' martial art was also a combat style. Lord Amon would be offended if he knew the princess thought it was a dance.

Dorgon spluttered. "P-princess! It's my job to test the adventurer who requested for a special rank and pass. You shouldn't interfere. Besides, this was your father's orders."

Princess Dorothy narrowed her eyes. "Really? Did daddy say so or was it uncle Motley who told you to do this? I won't forgive anyone who mistreats my teacher. If you want to test her, you will do it with me as the spectator so that it is fair. Besides, special testing means that there must be a neutral witness. You have no witnesses present, how can this be considered a test? Don't try to fool me, I've studied the guild rules while you were away."

Unable to refute his goddaughter and also impressed that she had grown to be a fearsome woman like her mother in the time he was away, Dorgon had a slight change in his opinions about Zero who had been this girl's teacher for a month.

"Very well, you can stay and watch. I won't go easy on her just because she is your teacher."

Zero deadpanned and mentally wondered when had the dwarf ever gone easy on him. Still, with the princess looking out for him, Zero felt reassured and patted her on the head. "Thank you, princess. I'll be fine. Watch me and learn. I'm going to teach you how to kick an S-ranked hero's ass. You can do this to anybody who isn't in a crafter's suit too if they bully you."

Dorgon who was about to climb into his crafter's suit paused and spluttered. With the princess watching him eagerly to demonstrate his abilities, he couldn' simply disappoint her by hiding in the crafter's suit. What a sneaky move by the elf! He knew he didn't like these folks regardless of their skin colour. All elves were deviants!

They got into position quickly and Zero opted for empty-handed combat. against someone like Dorgon, it wasn't necessary to bring out Origin or YY. That would be an overkill. Instead, he passed his walking staff to the princess and told her to hold onto it. Princess Dorothy didn't know why the staff her teacher always carried around was very heavy but agreed and leaned it against the wall so that she wouldn't tire.

Dorgon snorted at the arrogance. "You can use any weapon of your choice. I'll be coming at you seriously with my best weapon."

Zero smiled politely and got into a stance with one foot forward and one hand behind his back. "No need."

Dorgon didn't like the cocky attitude and lifted a heavy scythe. Princess Dorothy who was the umpire of the test looked at both parties nervously before inhaling and shooting, "Begin!"