Chapter 5: Chapter 5

*Yawn* "Damn this cold. Could use some booze right about now." A man in full steel armor - save for his exposed head, said as he fed some wood to a fire. Surrounding the fire were dozens of tents sitting on the cold sand of a desert at night. Above him, the dark sky had just shown the faintest sign of the sun rising.

"Bored?" Another man sitting to his opposite, wearing the same type of armor said. He himself was resisting the urge to fall asleep.

"Hell if I ain't. This stupid expedition's taking forever. Why the hell do we, the Royal guards, have to take part in the hunt of an earthworm anyway? Isn't that the job for mercenaries from the smithing guild?" The previous man said in a subdued voice, being careful not to wake up the residents inside the tents.

"They already explained that in the briefing, did you forget? Earthworms are normally docile since they live deep underground and exclusively eat rare metals - which is why the smithing guild loves to hunt them for the stuff they store in their belies. However, this particular one seemed to have an upset stomach from eating something it couldn't digest, and was currently on a rampage. It had destroyed 2 towns already before we got wind of it." The other man explained.

"Still, it shouldn't have been a problem for the guild to take care of."

"Yeah, it shouldn't. However…" The second man stopped mid-sentence, darting his eyes around to see if there's anyone awake. "Word's that our Princess's interested in it."

"That battle junkie?" The first man whispered in surprise. He then swiftly turned around, his eyes locking onto a particular tent, much larger and noticeably more well-furnished than any other one. "What does she have to do with this? I thought she only likes to fight strong monsters?"

"The worm's not what she's interested in. What she wants is the metal inside of it. For her new axe, apparently."

"Another one? Didn't she just receive one made from mithril last month?"

"Already half broken"

"Damn, that gorilla…" Suddenly, they both shut their mouths as their heads snapped to where the large tent was located. They sat still, holding their breath, listening attentively for any sort of rusle.

"Did you hear something?" The second man asked after a while.

"...No. Must've been the wind." The first man shook his head. "Anyway, at this rate she's gonna exhaust the royal treasury if she keeps breaking her weapons like this." He continued.

"Yeah, but that's not something we should care about. What is, however, is what our captain had warned us: If she gets hurt, our heads are gonna fly." The second man said grimly.

"Damn it, so unreasonable! Why the hell do we have to be responsible for something she does on her own accord?"

"Life's never fair. Deal with it."

"But you're on the same boat as mine!" 

"Morning, guys, any trouble during the night?"

Suddenly, the two men heard a gentle female voice that made them jolt. Then, they felt a pair of hands grabbing their shoulders, which made them sweat oceans. 

They swallowed their saliva. Slowly, they turned to the source of the voice. A girl, about 18-20 years old, with shoulder length red hair and sharp, bright yellow eyes was standing behind them. She wore a steel breastplate above white undershirt and tight leather pants that promoted her well-proportioned body. She looked beautiful, but there were two things about her that would make anyone think twice before approaching her: Her sharp eyes that spewed superiority, and the fact that she was carrying on her back a silvery double axe as tall as her, with blades as thick as a table leg and as wide as a man's shoulder. Its shiny surface was full of scratches and part of the axe had been broken off, but it only made it more intimidating.

Seeing the two men unresponsive while shaking profusely, she tilted her head and smiled brightly. "Hm?" That made them shake even harder.

"No-Nothing much, your highness." One of them finally found the courage to speak. "Might I ask, why are you out of your tent fully equipped when it's still night?"

"It's not something serious. I couldn't sleep, so might as well take a walk. The axe's just for safety." The princess said.

"At this hour and in this cold, your highness?" The two men asked in puzzlement.

"Bah, the cold's nothing. It's much worse in the northern mountains when I was there." She shrugged.

"Erm, then please let us wake someone up to escort you, your highness." The men said and began to stand up.

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She pushed them back down. "No need, I'm just taking a quick walk around the camp. Besides, there's really nowhere for anything to hide in this desert. And even if there is, I can take it out faster than you guys can blink."

"But…"

"Just stay and finish your shift. No need to bother someone in the middle of their sleep. I'll be back quickly. And", the princess pulled the men's ears near her mouth and whispered, "Once we're done with this expedition, come to the palace's training yard. I'll show you the strength of a gorilla." Then, with a light tap on their shoulder, she walked away.

"...She heard us, didn't she?" One of them spoke after the princess had disappeared behind the tents.

"Yep."

"We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"Yep."

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*Sigh* "Really, a gorilla?" Princess Lidra growled as she walked away from the camp. "Even I want to be called pretty, y'know?" Sighing some more, she lamented the string of events that led her to be regarded as a battle junkie. When she was young, she was a little girl like any other - liking cute things and being generally perceived as a pretty and gentle young princess. But the fact that she once beat up a male noble brat who was bullying one of her maids had ruined her image, and since then she was seen as a violent tomboy. What's worse, her father - who was the actual battle maniac, took it as a cause for celebration, then even ordered the knight captain to train her in the art of the sword. 

Unfortunately, she was very good at learning. Soon, she outperformed everyone under the captain's wing, and was even able to go toe to toe with him. She dreaded the moment he reported this fact to her father, and the king's joyous laugh as he told her to start taking on monster subjugation requests around the kingdom.

"What kind of father would tell his only daughter to go kill monsters?" She stomped her foot on the sand, noticing that the area she was standing on was a little softer than the other, but ignored it. "At least I don't have to marry. Sky will fall before I fall in love with that prick." She continued.

As a side note, the noble brat she had beaten up was the prince she was supposed to marry. What's worse, he was somehow head over heels for her now after the beating, which confused her greatly. He had been constantly sending flowers and gifts to her and finding every excuse to visit her for the last 10 years. She thought the prince was a nutcase, so she tried to stay away from him by going on expeditions as far away as possible (which contributed to the battle junkie rumor), but to no avail as he would still somehow find a way to contact her.

"God, getting rid of that man is even harder than killing a dragon." Lidra complained. "AAAAHHHH!!! Curse him and my father! They're pissing me off!" She suddenly screamed, pulling on her hair. "How do I get out of this mess?!!"

It was then that she saw a circle of teeth that had risen from beneath the sand- each as big as her head, surrounding her.

-----

Meanwhile, back at the camp.

"Hey, I've been wondering something. How do we bait the worm to show up?" One of the two men said to the other.

"Did you forget again? With rare metals, what else? We have a carriage full of those just for that." 

"Yeah, but… If that's the case, then isn't the princess's axe the most valuable thing around here right now?"

At that moment, the earth suddenly shook. The two turned their head to the source of the vibration to see a gigantic mouth - large enough to swallow a house, rising from the ground and spitting out a column of sand. Accompanying it was a high-pitched scream belonging to a voice they knew so well.

"...That was…her highness, right?"

"Yep."

"We're definitely gonna die now, right?"

"Yep."

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