The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss

Sigh.

I didn’t like someone forcefully entering the territory of my space, but pushing Alicia away at the moment would end up ruining all my prior efforts.

Turning to look at the stall ahead, I began to move in its direction, with my arm still draped over Alicia’s shoulder.

Diana, on her part, quietly followed us without making any sort of comment.

That was good enough, as recently the girl had become a little sharp-tongued.

If left to her own devices, she would say something that wouldn’t be the most beneficial for me.

The stall that we were walking towards had already been crowded as people ordered their food while waiting in the same area.

Somehow squeezing ourselves through the crowd, we made it to the front of the stall, as the vendor quickly handed three plates to us, even without having to order the food.

After all, the stall was specialised in selling only a single kind of food item.

"How much is it?"

"Sixty credits."

That was on the expensive side, but still it was something expected as the stall was located in Namda.

It had every right to charge high, after all, the people visiting the city didn’t lack the required money in any way.

Taking the respective plates in our hands, we quickly made our way to one of the areas with relatively less crowd.

The food was nothing special.

It was just some meat chopped and fried in a creative way, but for Alicia and Diana it may have looked like eating something entirely different from their usual controlled diets.

I had already begun to eat from my plate, but as I raised my head to look at the girls... for some reason they were hesitating to eat the food.

"It’s safe to consume."

I clarified the worry that might have been plaguing their minds, but Diana simply looked at me with a worried smile.

"My stomach is kind of filled with all the food that I had eaten earlier—"

"That’s alright. Just finish it up."

Saying the words that left no room for argument, I began to eat my share of the food, without getting distracted by Diana’s gaze that seemed to have been fixed on me.

And thinking about it, her reasoning felt a little childish to me.

Even I had eaten the same food with them, and knowing the current state of my stomach, I could eat again without any worries.

Though mana was able to maintain the overall functioning of the body, basic food was still required to keep the body at its natural state.

And as cultivators, it was only natural for us to have a greater appetite than those who were either at a lower rank or were unawakened.

"It’s because you don’t eat that you are such a weakling."

Though there was no need for me to drop such a comment, I still uttered the words while meeting Diana’s gaze.

Hm?

"Hey kid—"

Kid?

Looking at Diana, she had paused midway, as she closed her eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Maybe you are right... I am still weak compared to the likes of you."

Though Diana said those words with a genuine voice, I couldn’t help but feel a strong intent of destructive anger in the depths of her eyes, as if she was truly upset over my statement.

Or maybe it was just me imagining things, as Diana wasn’t someone who would take offense over such words.

After all, she was indeed weaker than me, but her current behaviour... it felt as if a nobody had dared to challenge her pride and her existence that was and had always been above everything else.

Sigh.

"Diana... he was just joking."

Alicia gently spoke while motioning me to go along with her words.

Maybe she too felt the hidden anger in Diana’s words.

Haa...

"Being weak isn’t a sin, it’s just a window for opportunities."

After all, weakness was what had made humans work harder to close the gap with the people of other races that were inherently stronger than them.

Humans had chosen independence over subjugation and had always fought for it.

It was their weakness that had motivated humans to continue working towards the path to greater power.

My statement seemed to have reduced the hidden anger in Diana by a margin, though I could still see her looking at me with narrowed eyes.

Haa...

I had done a bit of damage control, and that was the maximum extent to which I could accommodate the Veltran princess’s mood swings.

If she still wasn’t satisfied with my answer, then that was it.

I couldn’t care less if her pride had been hurt. After all, what I had said was a fact.

She was weaker than me, so I found there to be no reason to get so upset over a statement that was basically a mirror of the reality that she was in.

The royals, in the end, were still the same foolish bunch.

Their worthless pride had always been the reason behind senseless wars being fought for no reason.

I wasn’t saying that having pride was a wrong thing.

No.

I was a prideful person too... it’s just that one’s capabilities should always be sufficient enough to support the weight of their pride.

Alicia was doing her best to make Diana understand something that should have been easy enough to interpret even for the dumbest of all brains.

Not paying any attention to their theatrics, I focused on finishing my food, while thinking about the words that I would have to speak before the headmaster in regards to Sophie’s admission to the academy.

I just hoped that the decision to keep Sophie close to me wouldn’t backfire in the future.

The girl was, in the end, a Dimitri... someone who shared Arthur’s blood along with his talent.

And from my interactions with her, I had a decent assumption that she was the same as Arthur.

A human with moral principles and whatnot.

Fools... the lot of them.