I Planned a Su*cide Mission and Got Kicked Out of the Party

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Rose ascended to the top of the Magic Tower with an astonishing speed, so much so that one could hardly believe she had injured her arm. Peering through the hole in the ceiling, Rose caught the gaze of the still-dazed Sage Gwen and offered an awkward smile.

“Y-Your Highness the Crown Princess?”

“Um, yes. I’m just going to borrow the tower for a bit. Is that okay?”

“I have no problem with you using the platform, but please be careful. She is certainly a half-breed of a mine, but not an evil, corrupted being.”

“She definitely looks that way. However, I’m feeling a bit tempted to test her.”

If Rose had genuinely judged the still-floating Jenis to be a threat that needed to be eliminated, she would have meticulously prepared herself, taking her time to gather armor and a combat sword.

Her attire—with a red coat and white trousers, resembling a uniform for a ceremonial lineup—paired with only a thin rapier, was proof that she had no intent to kill a vampire flying high above. However, this didn’t mean she had casually come up to say hello.

As Rose poked her head through the hole in the ceiling she had made, Jenis landed slowly, folding her wings.

“How do you do, Your Highness?”

Jenis tilted her head in question, seemingly curious about why Rose had crawled up to the top of the Magic Tower to converse with Gwen through the ceiling hole. Rose looked over Jenis from head to toe with an admiring expression before asking.

“Is that little one from House Harker?”

“That’s exactly right. Do you have any business with me?”

“You look quite different now.”

Rose stuck out her tongue and laughed. Jenis nodded, not quite hiding her grin.

“I was quite surprised too, Your Highness. Actually, it’s more like refreshing.”

“So, have you suddenly felt the urge to follow the Demon King, or had the impulse to bite people and drink their blood?”

“I haven’t. I consider it a blessing for myself.”

“That’s quite a relief for me as well. But you seem a bit too excited.”

Rose hid her injured right arm behind her back, extending her sword with her non-dominant left hand toward Jenis. Jenis shrugged after seeing Rose’s blade.

“Yes, I am quite excited, Your Highness. As you say.”

“Don’t you need someone to calm you down? If you give me permission, I’d like to see firsthand how strong you’ve become.”

Normally, Jenis would be startled or would run away at Rose’s overt battle challenge. Asking a wizard to a duel while armed was folly.

Except in the extreme case of Rose Caprice. There wasn’t a single primate in the world who wouldn’t consider it foolish to challenge Rose to a one-on-one battle. Among living beings, nearly none could confidently declare they could win against her in a fair contest.

In her usual state, Jenis likely would have bowed her head and begged for forgiveness, but upon seeing Rose’s confident smile, she felt an inexplicable sense of rivalry and pride. She knew herself that something was definitely off.

Yet even as she recognized how strange her current state was, Jenis couldn’t help but think, ‘If it doesn’t go well, I can just get hit a few times and snap back to reality.’

With both her wings spread wide, Jenis unleashed a magic circle in both hands. The rather unique sight made Rose’s eyes widen and nod in appreciation.

“A vampire casting a magic circle of light with wings spread wide in the daytime… I’ve never seen or even imagined anything like this before!”

“Then it might be best if you don’t let your guard down!”

The instant Jenis thrust one hand forward, fragments from the tower ceiling that had scattered around began flying towards Rose at high speed. To prevent her right arm’s injury from worsening, Rose still held one hand behind her back while swiping at the flying rocks with her left-hand sword.

Jenis activated the magic circle in her other hand as if that was just a preliminary move, launching a powerful flame of incandescent fire at Rose. Rose simply jumped over the fire in an amused manner.

As Rose landed her foot atop the flames, the fire extinguished beneath her foot like a blown-out candle. Such a simple act was difficult to achieve even with regular flames, let alone with raging fires.

During the brief moment Jenis was taken aback upon seeing her own fire extinguished uselessly, Rose’s relentless counterattack flew towards Jenis.

“Oh dear, what the—!”

Jenis barely managed to deflect the kick from the Crown Princess aimed at her abdomen using her wings. Fortunately, she succeeded in blocking the blow strong enough to rupture the insides of an ox, but the shock from the impact sent Jenis flying backwards, beyond the edge of the tower.

Just as Jenis was about to fall from the top, she flapped her wings desperately and rose back into the sky.

“You’re too serious, Your Highness?”

“I’ve fought enough to gauge how much my opponent can take without getting seriously injured.”

Rose stuck out her tongue. She had fully anticipated that her level of attack was enough for Jenis to successfully defend and would prevent her from falling to her doom.

“Is one of your arms the injured one?”

“If I go and worsen that injury, my boyfriend and superior will surely scold me severely. What can I do? Even though my noble status is higher, his military rank surpasses mine.”

“Then I suppose I should refrain from targeting your right side.”

Jenis said casually. Rose laughed as though finding it amusing.

“Then when targeting the left side, you’re saying you won’t show me any mercy, right?”

“You’ve saved me a bit of trouble. How indeed gracious of you!”

Jenis charged toward Rose with her wings fully spread. This time, instead of using a magic circle to attack, Jenis fiercely lunged at Rose with her long claws, a result of being aware of her vampire state. Rose managed to fend off Jenis’s claw strikes using only her untrained left hand while keeping her right arm hidden behind her back.

As Rose recognized that she was stepping back while taking Jenis’s blows, she suddenly realized there was a hole in the ceiling of the tower right behind her, halted her steps, and launched a counterattack.

Jenis, deflecting Rose’s attack with her wings instead of her claws, wore an expression of disappointment.

“Did you grow eyes on the back of your head? You could have missed that just a bit.”

“I have a good memory, young lady. You’ve studied enough that you should be able to get the gist.”

“Of course. By the way, Your Highness, you’re sure you don’t know how to fly, right? With all the legendary hero stories about you, I just can’t be certain.”

“If I could fly, it would indeed make things much easier, but sadly, I haven’t learned yet. Recently, I’ve been suffering for it.”

If Rose had been able to fly, even dragons would have found it almost impossible to gain the upper hand when facing her.

As Jenis seemed pleased to have discovered Rose’s left arm, she began flapping her wings into the sky. Rose, unable to use her right arm, didn’t resist much as Jenis pulled her skyward. In fact, it seemed she had decided to go along without giving it a second thought.

Having already grown accustomed to wings, Jenis flew up high into the sky while looking at the clouds around them.

“I hope you’re not feeling cold up here.”

“As a person bound to a northern campaign, this kind of chill is nothing at all.”

“I hope you’re also accustomed to the sensation of falling.”

“Oh, you got me there, kiddo. To be honest, I don’t have many ways to resist at this height. Hurry up and do it. I’m not one to get seriously injured just from falling from this height, you see.”

With the Crown Princess’s permission now granted, Jenis didn’t feel much reluctance in actually dropping Rose from about 40 meters in the air. However, the moment Jenis released Rose’s arm—

In a split second, Rose quickly moved her left arm to grasp Jenis’s ankle, spinning her downwards and driving her straight into the ground. In an instant, their positions of power were reversed.

Unknowing of the sudden turn of events, Rose mounted Jenis, pushing her bare against the ground. Jenis hurriedly spread her wings to gain air resistance and tried to soar back into the sky, but Rose firmly grasped one of her wings, not allowing her the room to flap.

No matter how large Jenis’s wings were, it was difficult for just one to hold both her weight and Rose’s. Therefore, it looked as if Rose was standing atop Jenis, both crashing through the ceiling of the tower. Naturally, it was evident that Jenis received the brunt of the impact.

With both of them embedded in the ceiling, the entire top of the Magic Tower began to collapse, forcing Gwen, who was on the highest floor, to hastily flee outside. She quickly grabbed her staff, fearing it might break, and dove down the stairs. While the Sage narrowly avoided the fallout of the fierce duel between the two women, Rose grabbed Jenis’s staggering legs and hurled her fiercely into the air.

“Surely this won’t be enough to calm you down, half-vampire?”

“Your respect has completely vanished from your title, Iron Wall Knight!”

Although Jenis took an immense amount of impact, it didn’t quite render her combat ineffective. If this had been a simple mage Jenis from before, she would have fainted instantly from such a setback. This confrontation with Rose became a valuable opportunity for Jenis to realize and understand her limits anew.

In fact, verifying her endurance and defensive capabilities was another goal behind Rose’s provocations, which stemmed from her awareness that Jenis was not hostile.

While Jenis spun around in the air, unable to regain her balance, Rose leaped up the wall to reach the tower ceiling again, presenting her blade. Jenis wore a slightly annoyed expression as she puffed out her cheeks.

“Prince Alex would be knocked out cold after just one training session with the Crown Princess. I think I now understand why!”

“Alex? I wouldn’t go that hard on him. I know his strength well enough not to push it so far.”

“Then that means I’m at least better than him, right?”

At Jenis’s comment, Rose let out a laugh in disbelief.

“Alex? You’re considering him as your comparison target? Kiddo, you don’t even know yourself well yet. Right now, I’m testing you to see if you’ve risen to the same level as Margaret or Jeongjae!”

“Those two are certainly not lesser individuals when compared to Your Highness.”

“They are rare heroes who can stand on equal footing with me.”

“Then if I want to pass your test, I need to at least hold my own against you.”

“It’s troubling if you can’t win. Have you forgotten I haven’t even used my right arm once?”

Rose playfully stuck her tongue out. With her expression fuming with determination, Jenis charged at Rose again. Grabbing Rose’s uniform collar, Jenis flew into the sky and locked eyes with the Crown Princess, growling.

“Then I’ll comply with your command, Your Highness! I’ll show you that another monster of considerable strength has finally been born into this world!”

“I liked how you just said that, brat.”

Rather than responding with words, Jenis expressed herself through action. Still grasping Rose, she flew straight to the ruins of the structure, specifically the area dense with taverns and accommodations, preparing to dive straight to the ground with Rose in tow.

Rose realized she had no proper way to counter this attack. Perhaps in this test, she might actually achieve a result that she desired, after all.