Villain Retirement

"You look weird."

"..."

"I could say the same to you. Princess Vera, I presume?"

With the appearance of another evaniel, the temperature inside the confinement bay once again lowered as Tomoe covered herself with a layer of dark ice. Paige was also on alert, but prince Val quickly move in front of the two; gesturing to them not to do anything.

"She… she's my sister," he said.

"I was under the impression that all evaniels inherently have silver hair," Tomoe slightly furrowed her eyebrows; only canceling her powers when Riley ordered her to do so.

"The… the women of the Royal family are different. They—"

"I can speak for myself, Val."

"O… Of course, sister."

And before Val could finish his words, Vera turned her eyes towards him; causing him to slightly flinch and lower his head. Just from this brief interaction, it was clear to Paige and Tomoe that Vera's authority over Val wasn't just because she was older— there was a certain hierarchy between the two.

"I truly would like to talk about my aesthetics with your species, but I believe an introduction is in order."

The supposed princess then slowly walked and stood in front of Riley, before doing some sort of curtsy and bowing her head; her bright green hair, flowing from her shoulders as she did so. Her hair wasn't the only thing different from the other evaniels— the markings on her face, although it was barely visible now, one could see hints of gold on them.

Her clothes too were somewhat different. Unlike Val and the others who just had something similar to an armored scuba-diving suit, hers had some sort of cloth that flowed to the side; which she held when she did a curtsy.

…Was it only for design purposes?

"My name is Vera Lauder. Daughter of the Queen of Evaniels, and the only heir to the throne. I was sent here by the Queen as an envoy in the hopes of further strengthening the newly established friendship between our two races."

"R—"

"Let me introduce to you His Excellency…"

And before Riley could speak, Tomoe suddenly stepped forward; slightly nudging Paige to the side as she did so,

"The Lord of Darkness, Walking Calamity, Conqueror of Death, Vanquisher of the Mega, Future Overlord of the Universe, Riley Ross."

Tomoe then also bowed her head as she addressed Vera; her eyes, however, were glancing at Riley to see what his reaction was. And as soon as he returned her glance, Tomoe could really only take in a small breath, before stepping away with a subtle smile on her face.

"...Alright," as for Vera, she could really only nod her head as her eyes slightly squinted; her sight, however, did not leave Tomoe, "And what about the two of you?"

"Nightqueen, Second Subordinate to Riley Ross."

"P… Paige Pearson. I'm uh… Riley's friend?"

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you."

Although the tone of Vera's voice seemed a little stern and authoritative at first, the friendly demeanor and expression on her face served as a sort of contrast— as one would expect from someone born to royalty.

"I do wish we met in more favorable circumstances, however," Vera then let out a small sigh as she turned her eyes towards the corpses that were in Voris's cell, "You do have my thanks, if it was not for you, then my stupid brother would have probably already died at the hand of these assassins…

…They've been a little obnoxious with their attempts."

"You are already aware of the existence of these assassins, Princess Vera?" Riley, who finally found a chance to actually talk, casually moved beside the princess as he also examined his handiwork.

"...Yes," Vera could really only squint her eyes as Riley stood close to her, "They have been a thorn to the Queen for quite some time now, Lord Riley. My brother has not told you about them?"

"No, Princess Vera."

"W… what?" Val blinked a couple of times as he saw everyone's eyes slowly moving towards him, "I… I don't know anything!"

"I apologize for my brother's idiocracy," Vera let out a small sigh as she shook her head, "He doesn't attend the small meetings, which he is required to."

"...But you're the one never letting me attend it!"

"Because you're an idiot," Vera smirked; a few moments later, however, it was once again replaced with a gentle smile, "We have much to discuss, Lord Riley. But…

…perhaps a change of venue is in order?"

***

"...This really is a large ship. How much do you think they spent on something like this? Wait, do you think they even have currency where they're at? What if everything was free? I mean, so far they've been pretty similar to us in terms of the way they interact… but what if they're secretly cannibals?"

"We know nothing for now, Paige. But it's right to be alert… we know nothing about these people."

"...I'm right here, you know?"

The group was now currently in some sort of dome; the view of the space, above and beside them as they stood on a vast field of grass. Riley and Princess Vera were walking on their own, while Paige and the others were seated at a table, being offered food.

"...What do you think this is? How do we know this isn't the meat of some other sentient species?"

"I'll try consuming it to see if it's safe for master Riley to eat."

"That's… just bread. And I'm right here! You can just ask me questions!" Prince Val could not help but raise his voice as Paige and Tomoe seemed to be suddenly ignoring him.

"You did not tell us that you knew about the assassins, young prince. How can we believe anything you say?"

"W— I just said I wasn't invited to the meetings," prince Val crossed his arms, "And… no one really tells me anything."

"..." Tomoe and Paige could really only look at each other as Val's voice slowly became quiet. But after a few seconds, the both of them let out a short but very deep sigh.

"Is this like some sort of park? There's absolutely nothing here," Paige then asked as she looked at the vast empty field of grass. Even the table they were seating at was just placed there moments ago.

"It's… just one of the ship's many open spaces," Val's eyes then started to light up as he was asked a question, "We use it to stretch our legs. We also have treadmills, but they could get boring pretty fast."

"...You think I can try one of those treadmills?"

"...How fast can you run?"

"47 kilometers per hour, last I checked," Paige nodded her head, "Supers are generally faster than the normal population."

"...You're going to get thrown," Val could really only let out a sigh as he heard Paige's words, "The weakest treadmill we have can only go at a minimum of 360 kilometers an hour."

"...For real?"

"Hm, my personal record is 550."

"Is… that fast for someone your age?"

"It is," Val smirked and nodded to himself, "But once I become an adult, that would be nothing. Our prime originator was said to be able to travel at speeds unquantifiable by any calculations."

"How fast do you think Tempo could go with the treadmill?" Paige then turned to Tomoe.

"Hm…" Tomoe quickly placed her hand on her chin as she heard Paige's question, "...There's actually no recorded data of how fast Tempo can actually run. I heard he tries to hold himself back a lot."

"...Tempo?"

"He's a sprinster. Fastest man in the world, I think."

"W—"

"But enough about that… what do you think your sister and Riley are talking about?"

"That… I don't really know," Val shook his head and sighed as he looked at Riley and his sister, who were now gaining distance as they continued to walk, "They are probably talking about something important. But my sister…

…she can get a little intense."

***

"So, what is your opinion of my people so far?"

"I don't hold an opinion yet, Princess Vera."

Contrary to the expectations of Paige and the others, the two have actually not discussed anything of importance yet, and have just been asking questions back and forth; not even relating to the assassins or the fact that Riley infiltrated their ship.

"I am the same. You and your companions are the only humans I have seen for now— and I feel like I can not use you as a sample to judge your kind."

"That is true, Princess Vera. You are probably more similar to my own species than I am."

"...I guess you are wondering why I have a different hair color than the others?"

"Not really."

"..."

"..."

"It's a trait of the women of the Royal family, specifically the one that would one day inherit the throne," Princess Vera still explained, "And it's not just the hair, my face is exactly the same as my mother's."

"A clone?"

"No," Princess Vera giggled, "It's illegal for the Higher Races to engage in any cloning activities."

"..." Riley could really only blink as he thought of Silvie, and Diana.

"It's just the way it is with the Royal blood, if you and I have children and it happens to be female, it would have a 100% chance of looking like me…

…I've only been the one telling things about myself, perhaps you can share a little of you?"

"I have a complicated history, Princess Vera."

"Try me," Princess Vera let out a small breath as she stopped walking, "I just want to know more… 

…about the man that is to be my betrothed."