Chapter 1196: He Really Wants To Spar

Well, Queen Asami... I tried my best... And honestly... I think I did a pretty good job!

"Right! You’ve also fought Minotaurs as well right? What do you think about them?!" Prince Hisami asked, his eyes shining.

"Hmm... I suppose an easy way to say it is that they are simple? The only thing that makes them a threat is the fact that they are physically strong and resistant to damage."

The Prince nodded at my words enthusiastically, "That’s right! But if you were to target it right after it swings its arms, they will be especially vulnerable for a short time frame! Even more so if they are using a weapon!"

"But that will also depend on the type of Minotaur though. Some of them have a good balance of strength and dexterity which means they are also surprisingly fast."

"Oh!! How did Lady Aster deal with those?"

"Mmm... It’s not a big problem for my party at least, since the Minotaur that we faced was weaker in strength than our strongest party member, so she just needed to bait it into a strength contest and then held it down after it fell for the bait. But even if that wasn’t the case, I do have magic that can buff my party and debuff the Minotaur to turn the tides in our favour."

He leaned forward, "Ehhh?! Are you saying that there’s someone stronger than you in your party?! How is that possible?!"

I tilted my head, "Why is that not possible, Prince Hisami?"

"I was under the impression that only the strongest could be the leader, right? No offense, but how are you able to maintain your position as the leader of this group if you aren’t the strongest?"

I was about to tell him that there are roles that everyone fills and mine just so happens to be the one leading and we totally don’t compete in terms of strength to decide who should lead.

But before I could even say anything... Minnera casually quipped, "Aster is the strongest amongst us. If she went all out, none of us could hope to defeat her."

Prince Hisami turned to stare at Minnera as though she was questioning her if she was serious about her statement.

My Comissar who had actually gone so far as to pull out her canvas to start painting in the corner of the room simply just nodded at the Prince without saying another word.

He turned back to me and smiled, "I knew it, so you are the strongest!"

I scratched my cheek, "Well... When I say that she was stronger than me, I meant that she had more physical strength than I do. She could definitely lift me up and toss me any day while I would struggle to even throw her..."

Minnera spoke up again, "That’s not true, Aster. If you really tried, you would be able to throw Odeta as much as you like as well."

Ugh... I believe she’s taking into account the fact that I could buff myself to increase my strength and even layer more buffs with my Shadow Guards.

If I did do that in a serious fight against Odeta, then sure, I could most probably overpower her with pure strength alone. But I’m not going to count temporary strength in this case, ok?

The Prince suddenly stood up, "Lady Aster! Please! I must have that spar with you! Please accept my request!!"

Well... I kind of expected something like this to happen...

I wondered if it was a good idea for me to accept it right now when the door slid open and the Queen stepped inside again.

She shook her head at the prince, "Hisami... What did I say earlier? Lady Aster is here to enjoy the tea and sweets right now, not to have another spar. Sit down."

The prince sputtered but quickly sat back down without another word.

The Queen smiled at me as she returned to her seat with Katsuki entering after her to return back to her seat.

The fact that they came in right at that moment kind of made me think that they were waiting at the door for quite a while.

"My apologies for my silly prince, Lady Aster," The Queen apologised.

I shook my head, "It’s alright, Queen Asami. Umm... If Prince Hisami would like to spar, I don’t actually mind to be honest."

The prince gasped, "Oh! Umm... I would like that, Lady Aster! Could I arrange a spar with you tomorrow? Or any time that you are available to spar! I will keep my schedule free for you!"

"I’m ok with doing it after the tea party if you are available."

The prince turned to the Queen and gave her a pleading look.

Queen Asami took a sip of her tea before placing it back down on the table, "Since Lady Aster has already agreed to it, then we should respect her wishes."

Hmmm? Why does it feel like that wasn’t what the Queen wanted?

Did she want me to schedule it tomorrow or something?

Wait... Was that part of their plan to try and keep me in this city for longer? Why do they even want that though?

While I was still confused, I went to take a sip from my tea once again but I noticed out of the corner of my eye a slight movement from the Queen.

She gave the prince a pointed look before very subtly jerking her chin in my direction.

I peeked at the prince and he seemed confused by his mother’s actions at first before he suddenly widened his eyes as if realising something and turned to me once again.

"Lady Aster! Umm... Have you explored the city yet?"

"Eh? Umm... I did take a look around but I haven’t actually taken a proper look at all the places I suppose?"

"In that case... Please allow me to guide you in the next few days! I’ll show you the best places that you can visit while you’re here!"

"Ehhh? Wait... Prince Hisami personally guiding us around?! Wouldn’t that draw a lot of attention? I don’t think that’s a good idea!"

The prince tapped his chest, "Don’t worry, Lady Aster! I’m really good at disguising myself so people wouldn’t know that I’m guiding you as the prince! You can rest assured that I will not be inconveniencing you in any way during the tour!"

"No, no, no... I’m not worried about you inconveniencing me but the other way around instead! How can I get the prince and heir to guide me around like that?"

The prince quickly spoke up, "It’s really not a big deal! I sneak out all the time, Lady Aster! Especially when it’s on days where I need to study! Ah..."

He quickly snapped his mouth shut before turning to the Queen who was now smiling at him but the smile was a forced one.

"Oh? What is this I hear about you skipping study sessions, Hisami? Surely that can’t be the case, can it? Where the heir of the Kingdom actually doesn’t do his duties and instead, escapes outside the palace to chase after girls?"

"That’s... That’s not the case, mother... I was just... I mean... I didn’t..."

The Queen waved her hand to interrupt him, "Save it. We will talk about this later. In the meantime, Lady Aster, I assure you that it would be no bother for this troublesome child of mine to guide you around the city for a day. At least that would be part of his duties as the first prince instead of having him escape somewhere again."

Well... I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to explore more of the city and even though I had Katsuki, she hasn’t exactly been here in the past few years so she’s not exactly considered a local.

And from our conversation with the prince earlier, I know that he at least knows how to defend himself in the event of a fight so even if we run into thugs or the like, he should be able to take them down himself.

I nodded, "Since Queen Asami is already saying so, then I suppose I would have to rely on you, Prince Hisami."

The Nekomata prince immediately perked up and nodded, "Oh! Thank you for the opportunity, Lady Aster! I’ll make sure to show you a good time!"

Geez... Did he really just say that?

Katsuki cleared her throat audibly.

The prince seemed to only then realise what he said, "Ah! I don’t mean it that way! I mean that you will certainly enjoy your time with me... No wait! I mean... I will take good care of you! Wait, that’s not it either! I will properly guide you to sightsee the city! Yes! That’s it! Please forget everything that I just said earlier! They don’t count! I was not in the right state of mind!!"

Queen Asami... I guess I can see why you really wanted me to help this guy socialise...