"What is with that look? You actually believe me without a single doubt after hearing my dream for the first time... Ugh, how long are you going to stare at me? What an incredibly ill-mannered child," Stella grumbled, a thick vein throbbing in annoyance on her forehead.
Noah blinked and reminded her, "First of all, you are only 12 years old. That makes you just two years older than me. Are you really in a position to be calling me a child?"
"Eh? How do you know my exact age? Alright, I guess it is not a state secret, but you are still wrong! I am about to turn 13 very soon!" Stella said with a smug, proud look.
In this world, 15 was the official age of adulthood.
She was one step closer to it and one step closer to achieving her dream!
As for how he knew her age... she was the Second Princess of the Empire.
Not just her age, but even her exact birthday and favorite foods were likely known by every citizen throughout the nation.
"13 is not much better," Noah muttered with a dismissive pout.
In terms of true, mental age, Stella was the actual little brat between the two of them.
Even though this little brat was physically overly developed—far more exaggeratedly so than ninety-nine percent of fully grown adult women.
"Oh? What is the little 10-year-old kid saying?" Stella teased.
"..."
Noah opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.
He quickly realized how foolish it was to argue about such trivial things with a stubborn princess.
"You may be small," Stella continued, her tone turning serious, "but looking at your incredible physical abilities in the arena, you must be an unlicensed Blazer too. And your magic control seems quite outstanding. If you are willing to come back to the palace with me, I am not against considering hiring you."
'Go back with her? Did she mean take me directly to the royal palace?'
'What exactly was this Second Princess thinking? Was she just purely, innocently kind? Even though she was only 12, it was highly unlikely she'd be this overflowing with naive sympathy for a random slave...'
'Was her generous personality determined by her royal upbringing, or... did the naturally strong just like to take pity on the weak?'
'No, that wasn't it. Neither of those reasons fit.'
Although those factors might be slightly involved, it was surely because the girl recognized him as a fellow Blazer.
And most likely, based on how he had seemingly vanished from the arena, she thought he was a highly rare "spatial teleportation" type.
Blazers were incredibly rare talents, with only one born in every thousand people.
For a struggling country like the Vermillion Empire, which had a small population and a severe aging problem, the existence of any new Blazer was incredibly precious to their national military power.
It was clear from their conversation that the young girl was well aware of this political fact.
If he went to the royal palace, there should be highly advanced training facilities and access to top-tier education.
Stella was not only a princess, but also an A-Rank Blazer.
If one were to ask where the absolute best place in this country was to learn the secret mechanics of Blazers, it would most likely be inside the royal palace.
Seeing Noah hesitate, the girl spoke hurriedly. "I will personally arrange for an official League ability assessment for you! If you are a promising Blazer, then I will have my Father ensure you receive the exact same high-level education as me. At the same time, I hope you can eventually become an official Mage-Knight of the Vermillion Empire. Even if you don't, I promise to provide you with a highly suitable job to help you avoid being hunted by those arena criminals forever! How about it?!"
In Noah's expert merchant-minded opinion, Stella was absolutely terrible at negotiations.
He was just silently organizing the tactical information in his head, but in that brief moment of silence, the girl had showed extreme, desperate urgency.
She had repeatedly raised her own terms and constantly shown all her cards without him having to say a single word.
She was a classic, impatient straight-shooter.
"I understand," Noah smiled. "I will accept the ability assessment, and I promise you that I will become a Mage-Knight of the Vermillion Empire in the future."
"Alright! It is a promise!" The girl broke into a very happy, brilliant smile.
Noah, on the other hand, had already begun to seriously ponder whether he actually possessed the talent of a Blazer in this world.
A Blazer's talent was supposed to be completely innate.
Perhaps at birth, there was no physical difference from an ordinary person, but as they grew, their unique magical abilities would gradually manifest.
For example, their elemental Ability.
And then, the physical materialization of their soul into a Device.
For Noah, the materialization of a Device was a major, potentially lethal problem.
A Device was a physical weapon transformed directly from the user's soul.
He had personally destroyed a chicken's soul back in Orario, so he had some terrifying experience with how fragile a spirit could be.
But how exactly does one safely mold a soul into the sharp shape of a weapon, and then pull it out of their own chest without dying?
Both his Truth Seeker and Weaver skills could easily be considered powerful Abilities in this world.
Even Denier could be seen as a type of ultimate defensive Ability, just with extreme cooldown restrictions.
But could he really pull a physical Device out of his own soul?
Sitting in the back of the luxurious royal car, Noah asked Stella, who was happily humming beside him.
"Your Highness, under what exact circumstances did you first successfully materialize your Device?"
"Eh? Me?" Stella tapped her chin. "Hmm—"
"I was just using my fire magic normally during practice, and then one day, my chest suddenly felt really hot and stuffy! After that, I just unleashed all my magic power with my full force, and then... pop! It just appeared right in my hands!"
"..."
'I see. What a truly valuable, highly scientific answer for my reference.'
Noah wasn't joking.
He was being completely serious!
Stripping away the strange, childish sound effects, the most important tactical point in her explanation was two words: magic power.