How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 32

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

032.
I tried a few more times, but it was no use. Each time I struck one down, another would dart in front of the Queen Jellyfish, blocking my approach.
They seemed to be throwing themselves in front of her, protecting her with their bodies.
“This won’t work. Leon, I’ll drop all the smaller ones at once — you take the Queen! Here!”
Tamia let out a sharp cry and accelerated her staff strikes to a furious blur, then in a single fluid motion set the weapon down and drew her bow.
Five arrows split the air at once. Dozens of monsters crashed to the ground almost simultaneously.
For an instant, the opening appeared.
“Leon, now!”
Tamia gripped her staff again to hold back the swarm of Paralytic Venom creatures pressing in, while Leon seized the moment and fired an arrow at the Queen.
“……! It hit!! You’re the best, Leon!”
Tamia moved like she was dancing, her staff wheeling through the air in triumph.
But then —
“……Watch out, Tamia!”
Just before the Queen Jellyfish plummeted, she fired a barrage of Nerve Spines.
I managed to bat several away with my bow, but I couldn’t stop all of them — a few pierced through my guard and embedded themselves in my flesh.
In an instant, my whole body went numb.
“……Tamia, I…….”
The neurotoxin was vicious.
My mind was clear, but my body wouldn’t obey. Not a single finger would move.
I toppled helplessly to the side.
“You, those spines…….”
Tamia hadn’t dodged them either. I could see black spines protruding from several places across her body.
“Leon! Are you all right?!”
Tamia’s voice came through clear and sharp.
‘She should be worrying about herself first…….’
She’d taken the same hit I had, yet she still had the presence of mind to turn back to me.
The Queen Jellyfish dropped to the ground. True to her name as a Queen, even at a glance her core looked enormous.
‘Can we even carry that thing out of here?’
Tamia was poisoned by the spines too, and none of the other squad members possessed the kind of overwhelming strength she’d just displayed.
“Just hang on! I’ll pull these spines out for you right away!”
‘Is this really how I’m going to die? Uselessly? Hmm?’
Still gripping her staff in one hand, Tamia began pulling the spines from my body.
“Got them all. Try moving now!”
‘How can Tamia still move?’
I frowned. Had the paralytic venom damaged my optic nerves or something?
She’d definitely taken the spines too…….
“Ow, ow! This little thing really hurts!”
Tamia switched the staff from one hand to the other and casually yanked the spines from her own body as though they were nothing.
“Ta……Tamia…….”
“Oh, you can talk now?”
“How……you took the same spines I did, and yet…….”
“Ugh, carrying this jellyfish all the way back is going to be impossible. Give me a second.”
Tamia had been about to hoist the Queen Jellyfish onto her shoulder, but she changed her mind and quickly dismantled it instead.
She extracted the core, tucked it into her pouch, and slung me over the spot where the monster had been.
“It’ll take time for the toxin to wear off completely. Let’s get out of here fast!”
Tamia quickened her pace toward the mouth of the Gorge.
Through it all, she’d never stopped swinging her staff.
* * *
“Good heavens, Your Highness! Are you unharmed?”
Kallen, who had studied toxicology extensively, rushed straight to my side.
“I’m……fine. But Tamia…….”
“Your Highness the Princess is perfectly well. It appears she managed to avoid the spines quite skillfully.”
“……That’s not true.”
She’d definitely taken more hits than I had.
As Kallen continued treating me, Tamia approached quietly and pressed the Queen’s core into my hand.
“Leon, this one’s yours. You caught it, after all.”
“……Why would I take something so valuable? Besides…….”
I dropped the core and grabbed Tamia’s wrist firmly with that same hand.
“……That was reckless.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know that jellyfish could fire spines like that. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have brought you along.”
“That’s not what I meant…….”
Watching Tamia step carelessly into danger, unaware of the peril, made his chest tighten.
But his throat remained stiff, and the words wouldn’t come out properly.
Tamia pressed the core back into Leon’s palm and rose to her feet.
“You rest for a bit. Kallen, keep an eye on Leon for me.”
Kallen, who’d nearly lost his mind when he saw Leon gripping Tamia’s wrist moments earlier, answered half a beat late.
“……Yes? Oh, yes! Understood.”
“I’ll have to work extra hard today—make up for Leon’s and Kallen’s share too. Come on, let’s go!”
“T-Tamia…….”
Before Leon could protest, Tamia had already bolted off into the distance.
That was the moment Leon’s insides burned black with worry.
* * *
The Griffin Squad hunted monsters without rest for three straight days.
Leon, who’d initially tried to dissuade Tamia, eventually realized it was futile and threw arrows alongside her with equal vigor.
‘Better to fill the quota quickly than to keep arguing with her.’
Watching Tamia swing the staff for three days without complaint or a single muscle ache filled him with something like awe.
But even more remarkable was how she’d taken a direct hit from a Nerve Spine and emerged completely unscathed.
“Tamia, are you immune to Paralytic Venom?”
When he asked directly, her answer was utterly astounding.
“Huh? I just push through with force, and I manage to move anyway.”
“……Still, be more careful from now on.”
“Thanks, Leon! I’ll be careful!”
Her radiant smile only made Leon more anxious.
The rest of the Griffin Squad lay scattered and exhausted across the ground, yet she hefted her staff and charged forward with undiminished vigor.
Or she’d notice they’d missed one monster and stride straight into the Paralytic Venom fog without her staff at all.
Each time, Leon’s heart dropped into his stomach.
“Tamia, please be careful…….”
“Are you worried about me? Even my parents don’t fuss like this. Thank you!”
Even the Griffin Squad members took her side.
“Your Highness! Haven’t you seen the Princess’s skill all this time? Let’s not be overly protective.”
“O-Overly…….”
Leon’s words caught in his throat.
Meanwhile, Tamia and the squad members began counting the cores they’d collected.
“Your Highness! Adding them all up, it looks like we have roughly six thousand cores.”
“Really? That’s way more than when Father and I come here hunting! Everyone worked so hard.”
“Hehe, not at all. Your Highness did nearly all of it. We just watched.”
The squad members, especially the three-man fan club, flushed and grew bashful at Tamia’s praise.
“If we process these properly and sell them, we’ll make a fortune. I think splitting the proceeds equally by headcount is fairest…….”
“What are you saying? How would equal division even work?”
The members, who’d been fidgeting, suddenly turned serious.
“We are Griffin Squad members. Hunting monsters is our profession and our calling. We simply went on a sortie and did our duty!”
“Indeed!”
“Wh-What? You all, this is incredibly valuable…….”
“We need only the set Danger Pay.”
“Besides, the Princess caught nearly all the monsters anyway. Equal division? That would be absurd!”
All eleven voices spoke in perfect unison.
“Leon, what do we do with them? How can they have no desire for money?”
Bewildered, Tamia turned to Leon for help, but he merely shrugged.
Their unwavering resolve moved her deeply.
“I’ll sell these and cover the Griffin Squad’s operating costs, and I’ll give you all a bonus! Is that all right?”
“We gratefully accept!”
“The Princess is truly magnanimous.”
As the members applauded around her, Tamia began making plans in her mind.
‘The Griffin Squad is so impressive, really. Once we return to the Capital, I should give each member a core as a gift!’
Of course, if she said so now, she’d face more objections, so she decided to pursue it quietly once they got home.
‘And……Leon’s pretty amazing too. To build such a noble and selfless knightly order.’
Tamia, whose heart was filled with vanity and greed for riches, gave Leon a thumbs-up.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————