While Lala, Akira, and Peke chatted happily at home, other no less important events were happening at the same time.
In a spaceship. It was, in every sense of the word, an extremely futuristic spaceship, similar to those one might see in a science fiction movie. Currently, this spaceship was stopped near planet Earth. The person inside was a man who didn't look more than 25 years old, with greenish hair that was waist-length, and an armor that made him look intimidating. Beside him was an extremely sharp sword that gave the impression that it could cut through anything. The sword was placed next to the huge armchair where the man was sitting. That man was sitting in front of a screen, as if he was waiting for it to suddenly turn on or something like that and that is exactly what happened several seconds later.
"Well? Why is Lala-sama still not on my spaceship? Her Majesty has made it clear that he does not want us to take long to carry out this mission" – said the man in an intimidating tone of voice.
"S-sorry captain, but it was much more complicated for us than we thought" – said bodyguard A.
That's right, they were the bodyguards who fought Akira yesterday.
"What do you mean by that? I thought you had found her" – said the captain in a dark tone.
"And we found her. It didn't take long for us to do it" – agreed B.
"And then: What problem has delayed you?" – asked the captain.
"A human. A human decided to confront us to prevent us from taking Lala-sama" – explained A.
"So what? He's just a human. While we are not allowed to kill or seriously injure them, a slight blow to the back of the head and he should have been knocked unconscious" - said the captain.
"Yes, that's what we thought at first, until he used that device to transform himself" – said A.
"Device? Transform? What the hell are you talking about?" - asked the captain confused.
"S-sir, that human has a kind of watch that allows him to transform into a monster with monstrous strength. We tried to beat him, but our strength was not enough to do so" – said B.
Hearing this, the captain was surprised: A device that allows him to transform into a monster? That technology does not exist, not even the famous Tearju would be able to make such a machine and the humans of planet Earth were very backward in technology, in fact, they were not even able to travel through space. How is it possible that such a tool is in the hands of a mere human?
"Are you lying to me? Humans don't have that technology. Even we don't have that technology: How could humans possess such a machine?" – the captain asked with an angry tone.
"We have no idea! But it's possible that only that human possesses it! As you said, humans are incapable of inventing something like that, so that human must have get it by unknown means" – said A.
The captain thought for a moment. It is true that, under the permission of King Deviluke himself, some aliens were allowed to live on planet Earth camouflaged as humans. He, as captain of the royal guard, obviously had access to all the aliens residing on Earth and none of them owned anything when they moved to planet Earth, so: Where did that human get that device?
"S-sir, I'm afraid that's not all" – said B.
"Is there still more?" - asked the captain.
"Y-yes, I'm afraid the earthling proposed to Lala-sama before we could get there and Lala-sama accepted his proposal" - said B.
Both were trembling.
Hearing those words, the captain's eyes widened as wide as they could and he almost fainted.
"What?!" - exclaimed the captain in surprise.
From the fury and surprise he felt right now, he even got up from his chair, revealing a black tail that came out of his waist, implying that he was also a Devilukian.
"S-sorry, captain!" – they both said.
"Lala-sama has become engaged to a human, great! Do you know what the fuck this means?!" – asked the captain angrily.
"W-we" – A tried to say.
"Shut up you bunch of useless people, I will go to planet Earth myself after reporting this to His Majesty, but prepare to be punished, useless!" – said the captain.
As the captain of the royal guard, this thing that had just happened was a disgrace to him. His only task was to protect the royal family and after hearing that the first princess of the empire had been engaged to a miserable earthling, he felt humiliated and disappointed for not having been able to fulfill his only mission. Unfortunately, although he wanted to go now and kill the human, this situation was beyond his control. If what those pair of useless people said was true, then the King would have to be informed immediately about this matter, before proceeding. If it was any other planet, maybe it wouldn't have mattered that he hadn't informed the King before, he would have just received a little punishment for it later, but when it came to planet Earth it was different. Humans were a promising race that, according to experts, could reach a level of technology sufficient to travel through space without problems in about 1000 years. Because of that, the planet was strictly protected by King Deviluke and no one was allowed to enter without the express knowledge of the King himself and if some of those he allowed to enter dare harm a human or even killing him/her... he would be sentenced to death without trial. That's why even the powerful nobles didn't dare to talk about planet Earth. And for all of the above, the captain of the royal guard had to inform the King before taking any action. As for the mysterious device that allowed the human to transform... That was unimportant compared to her princess's current fiancé.
"Y-yes!" – they both said.
"Now watch Lala-sama until I come to Earth, but let neither the human nor Lala-sama see you! Have I explained myself clearly?" – said the captain.
"Yes, sir!" – they both said.
Then the captain hung up the call and rubbed his temples.
"Damn it... How did a simple run away from home become so serious?" – he wondered.
Lala ran away from home very often, but never managed to escape. This time, the captain believed that this time it would be the same as the previous ones, but what was his surprise when he found out that it was not like that.
"I hope His Majesty won't be too tough on me. How could I foresee this situation?" – sighed the captain.
But deep down he knew he was going to be punished and the punishment would be even worse if he call him later, so he decided to do it now.
The captain tapped a series of buttons on his computer and waited a few seconds until the screen lit up again.
This time the same man we had seen before was shown, only this time he looked angrier.
"Well? Why isn't Lala here, Zastin?" – asked the king.
"You see, Your Majesty... I'm afraid something unforeseen has happened" – Zastin said somewhat nervously.
"What has happened?" - asked the king annoyed.
Zastin told the king what happened and, as expected, this was not funny at all.
"I see..." – said the king with a frown.
Seeing him like this, Zastin trembled violently. What was going to happen to him? Would he be punished? Murdered?
"It's okay, I don't really care" - said the king.
Hearing those words, Zastin almost fell to the ground in fright. Don't you mind? Until less than a day ago he didn't think the same! What's going on here?
"B-but sir, the human..." – Zastin said.
"I said I don't care. Actually, the marriage was false, I never planned to accept the proposal of that disgusting toad" – said the king.
"But I don't understand it. Why did you do it, Your Majesty?" - Zastin asked.
"Naturally I had my reasons, but now that doesn't matter anymore" – said the king.
"Did you have? Do you mean Your Majesty doesn't have them anymore?" – Zastin asked curiously.
"That's right. According to what you have told me, the human has an interesting artifact at his disposal that allows him to transform into a monster or something like that and when it is transformed, his strength increases" - said the king.
"That's right. Do you want me to beat him?" – Zastin asked.
"No, on the contrary, that human has made me change my mind. Approach him and bring him and Lala to your spaceship. I want to talk to him" – said the king.
"Your Majesty. Are you planning to accept the human as your successor?" – Zastin asked in surprise.
The king smiled.
"Doesn't that sound interesting? That human has an interesting power in his hands. I want to meet him in person. If I like his character, I will appoint him my heir, but first, if he wants to talk to me, he must prove that he is worthy of such an honor" – said the king.
"What do you want me to do?" – Zastin asked.
"Fight him. Test him, but don't damage him too much, otherwise I will punish you for being unable to do your duty. Have I explained myself clearly?" – said the king.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty!" - Zastin nodded.
"To test him, use 30% of all your power. If he is able to overcome or make you use more strength, bring him to your spaceship so that I can talk with him, otherwise, bring Lala back. Have you understood?" – said the king.
30% of his strength against a human. Had the king gone mad? If he used 30% of his strength against a human, he would die without leaving a corpse. What is your king thinking? At least he didn't have to kill him, or rather, he shouldn't kill him, if he didn't want to die too.
*Note: The Zastin in this fic is hundreds of times stronger than his anime and manga counterpart, just as it should have been in reality. That's why 30% of all their power is much more than you think.
"Yes!" – Zastin nodded.
"Goodbye. I will wait for good news and do not fail me this time" – said the king.
And then, he hung up, leaving Zastin with a severe headache.