《Journey of the Ageless》 Prologue My parents always thought I was a bit different than all the other children, and truth be told, I was. This all proved to be even more true when, at the age of 10, the Talent unveiling ceremony was held. The Talent unveiling ceremony is when children that turn 10 that year finally get their special Talent revealed. Talents are special abilities each Person has, some more useful, others less, it can range from relatively normal things like being a very good cook to unimaginable things like being the hero, albeit very rarely. There is a lot of focus on those Talents, the rarer the better, the more useful the higher the value of the person, but on the flipside ¡°useless¡± Talents get treated like dirt. I am the last one going today, everyone got a relatively normal Talent without any special outliners and then it is my turn. I walk up to the Priestess in charge of the Ceremony trying my best not to look too nervous. ¡°No need to worry, child, this won¡¯t hurt and will be over before you know it¡±, she gives me a small smile while saying that, but I¡¯m not really worried about pain, being different made me a target for bullying so I got used to it. ¡°Let us begin¡±, the Priestess continues while holding a hand over my head and starting her incantation. I closed my eyes and waited. I waited for what felt like an eternity but most likely was only a few seconds and then carefully opened my eyes slightly. I didn¡¯t know what I was expecting to see but the Priestess looking at me with a mix of shock and disgust definitely wasn¡¯t it. I sneak a peek at the big display that shows everyone what your Talent is and in big letters it says: ¡°Age¡±. Age? I never heard of a Talent like this before. I started to look around the crowd worried what their reaction would be, most of them looked confused and once I saw my parents I was the one in shock. The look of disappointment and seemingly anger in their faces comes as a surprise to me. I turn to the Priestess and ask: ¡°What does my Talent mean?¡± After a moment of her collecting herself again she says: ¡°We don¡¯t really know, it¡¯s very vague but we know that Talents like that have always been useless. Now go back to your parents!¡± After she says that she turns around and goes back into the Temple, I was the last one afterall. I return to my parents who don¡¯t even look at me and we walk home in silence. Once home they start screaming at me ¡°How can you be so useless!¡± ¡°Is this your thank for raising you until now?!¡± I don¡¯t have any influence on my Talent I¡¯m trying to ignore them as best I could and went to my room crying myself to sleep. What did I do to deserve this? Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The next morning I wake up to my Mom and Dad talking with someone I don¡¯t recognize downstairs. I get ready and head downstairs. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, we will take very good care of her once she is with us¡± ¡°tsk, just take her out of here already, she should be awake by now anyways!¡± I had a feeling from the reactions yesterday but I didn¡¯t expect it to be so soon. ¡°Good Morning¡± I walk downstairs and greet them. The person whose voice I didn¡¯t recognize is a woman, dresses similar to the Sisters taking care of the local orphanage, but not quite the same, and there was a coin purse on the table she was sitting at with my parents. ¡°Hello there child, from this day forward you are going to live with me, say what is your name?¡± ¡°Good morning, my name is ¡ª¡± Chapter 1 The light in my room turns on and I wake up, this is the normal routine here, I don¡¯t remember how long it¡¯s been since I¡¯ve been brought here, but this is my life now. I get up and sit on the edge of my bed, waiting. The door to my room opens and 2 people with full body suits enter. ¡°It¡¯s time for today''s tests, get up!¡±, the first one screams. I follow them without saying a word. Everything is better than being in this empty white cell they call my room. We walk for a bit until they stop in front of a door. I know this door all too well, it¡¯s the door to the magic power testing room. They open the door, I enter and walk to the device they use to test magical powers. ¡°Please proceed with the test.¡±, another person in a full body suit tells me with a slight annoyance in their voice. I¡¯ve done this test countless times, they want me to channel as much magic power into the device as I can but I learned how to control my magic enough to only pretend like doing so, hoping that if I don¡¯t make enough progress they will lose interest. I place my hand on the device and use just enough magic power that it reacts. ¡°How is this possible! It¡¯s been 30 years and her power is still the same as it was 25 years ago!¡± ¡°M¡¯am maybe it¡¯s time to stop this test, her progress was good at the start but nothing has changed after the first 5 years.¡± 30 years? Does that mean I have been here for 30 years? ¡°Tsk, whatever, let¡¯s go to the next one.¡± They escort me to the next room, it looks the same but instead of a device to test magical powers it has a strength test. I learned how to hold back on this one as well. ¡°Please start the test.¡± I hope I can see my friends again today. As I think that I punch the strength test with as little force as I can while still making it look like I use my full force. ¡°M¡¯am, it seems she got even weaker compared to the last time.¡± "Whatever, just get her out of my sight!" I''m getting escorted again but this time I''m actually looking forward a bit. They bring me into a big room furnished only with a big table and bench. I sit down on the bench and wait. Soon the others should arrive as well, I can barely wait. Like in cue the door opens again and a young woman enters. The woman that enters may look young but she is only a few years younger than me but she has the "Young" skill, which makes her appear like a young adult her entire life but people with that skill usually don''t live very long, certainly not as long as she has. She walks into the room and sits down next to me. ¡°Hey. They told me that because my power increased I¡¯m allowed to go out soon.¡± I give her a small smile, ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± After that small interaction we wait, usually they give us our food soon after we arrive but for some reason it¡¯s taking longer this time. A few more minutes pass and the door opens yet again and a young boy I¡¯ve never seen before enters and sits down opposite from me. ¡°Hello! I''m Xia and this is V, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°H-hello, they said my name is Clio from now on.¡± Just then the door opens for a third time and they bring us our meals. I take a small bite, mentally preparing for what¡¯s coming next. It doesn¡¯t take long for my whole body to be in excruciating pain. Poison this time, huh. I wonder how the new one is holding up. I glance across the table and see him eating as if nothing is wrong. Did they start giving lower dosages for the new ones? I look to my side and Xia also doesn¡¯t seem to have any issues with eating her food. She has always been very tough eating the food here, no matter what they seem to add. Once we all finished eating the people came to get us and escort us to our respective rooms. I wonder what¡¯s going to happen next. I lie down on my bed and my lights get turned off. I close my eyes and try to maybe get some rest but my body knows not enough time passed since I got up. As I¡¯m lying there concentrating on the mana in my body there is suddenly a loud explosion. I have no idea where it¡¯s coming from and it¡¯s not like I can check either since my door can¡¯t be opened from the inside. I probably could just destroy the door with brute force but I don¡¯t know what could happen to me if I get caught doing that. Suddenly I can hear voices coming from seemingly right outside my room. I recognize a few as some of the people working here but there are also other voices I don¡¯t recognize and more small explosions. Wary of what could happen next I walk up to my door to see if I can figure out what¡¯s going on outside but just as I reach the door everything went quiet. I wonder what happen- ¡°HEY! THERE IS ANOTHER DOOR HERE, COME HELP ME OPEN IT¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.I jump back in surprise and shock and moments later my door opens and a Knight in full armour is standing in the door. The Knight turns their head back around and screams: ¡°WE FOUND ANOTHER ONE.¡± and then turns to me, takes off their helmet and says: ¡°Don¡¯t worry everything is going to be okay now, we are here to help you¡± with a small smile. She offers me a hand to hold, which I look at in confusion, much to her disappointment. As we start walking down a now destroyed corridor she starts a conversation. ¡°I¡¯m Eliza. I¡¯m so sorry we weren¡¯t able to help you earlier. It must have been horrible being here.¡± I was given food and a place to sleep, which is more than what my parents gave me. ¡°Once we are out of here we¡¯re going to have a doctor check you out if that¡¯s okay.¡± I give a small nod and continue walking while observing the corridors we walk by. Most things are destroyed, doors broken, holes in walls, some things burning, others frozen in a thick layer of ice. As we reach the stairs Eliza stops and looks at me, ¡°Your eyes are probably not used to sunlight anymore so tell me when you want to stop to get used to it.¡± I give a small nod again and we start walking up the stairs. The light starts getting more and more intense but I decide to ignore it but I can¡¯t help squinting my eyes. We finally reached the top and after a few seconds of my eyes adjusting to the light, I see a few makeshift tents. Eliza is taking me to one a bit further in the back and takes me inside. ¡±Hey doc, got someone for a check up here.¡± Inside the tent are a few foldable beds as well as a woman standing over a foldable table with paper scattered all over it. ¡°Be right with you.¡± She puts the paper she seemed to be studying on a somewhat neat stack of more paper and then turns around, facing us. ¡°Hey there Eliza, and what¡¯s your name, little one?¡± ¡°I¡¯m V¡±, as I said my name she looks at Eliza with a pained expression and Eliza just shakes her head with a similar expression. She then gestures to one of the beds, ¡°Please take a seat.¡± I sit down on the bed and Eliza sits down on another bed next to me, while the woman sits on one opposite me. ¡°Let''s start with the basics, does anything hurt?¡± I shake my head no. ¡°That¡¯s a good start.¡± Her expression softens a bit. ¡°Do you know how old you are?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I came here when I turned 10. The people here said I¡¯ve been here for 30 years though.¡± Both the woman and Eliza look at me quite shocked and there is silence for a while until Eliza asks ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could you tell us what your Talent is?¡± I¡¯m thinking for a bit before answering, ¡°Age.¡± They look at each other for a moment when the woman suddenly jumps up, surprising even Eliza, and frantically looks through her pile of papers. ¡°I think I saw something about this on one of these documents!¡± After a bit of searching she holds multiple papers in her hands. ¡°Eliza, look at this.¡± Eliza stands up and walks over to the woman and starts reading the documents. Her expression changes slowly from curiosity to shock to very clear anger. She lets out a sight. ¡°We can¡¯t let anyone else see these.¡± ¡°I agree but I think we are going to have to talk about it with her¡± Are they talking about me? They look at me with a sad expression and walk over to me, now both sitting on the bed opposite of mine. ¡°You haven¡¯t been here for 30 years, you have been here for almost 100 years.¡± 100 years? But how is that possible? I look at them confused. ¡°I think we have to explain a bit more. About 30 years ago what your parents did to you was outlawed with heavy punishment and strict enforcement. Of course what those people did to you wasn¡¯t okay before but because of the strict enforcement they had to start doing those things more secretly than before. According to these documents,¡± she holds up the papers, ¡°it¡¯s speculated that your Talent gives you Immortality.¡± It takes me a bit to take everything in and think about it, ¡°But why is it like that, doesn¡¯t Young give the person the appearance of a young adult for the rest of their life? How is mine different?¡± Eliza averts her gaze with a pained expression and the woman takes a deep breath before answering. ¡°They used different things to test out the limits. For example, they added different drugs in your meals, one to increase mana and magical power, one to increase physical strength and others that were just straight up poisons. Aside from the excruciating pain, any one of those could easily kill someone even with a low dosage but they gave you up to 20 times that. It¡¯s a good thing progress stopped or things might have gotten even worse. From the reports they have about you both your physical and magic strength are off the charts, I don¡¯t even want to imagine how much higher those numbers would have gotten.¡± Does she mean when I pretended to use my full power but I only used as little as I could? ¡°Which is also why this information can¡¯t be allowed to spread, you already suffered more than enough. The question now is what to do next¡± When Eliza hears that she looks at me again with a soft and warm expression, ¡°How would you feel about living with me from now on? I promise nothing bad is going to happen to you anymore.¡± I think for a moment and then nod in agreement. Chapter 2 It took awhile for everything to wrap up but I am now in a carriage with Eliza on our way to her home. ¡°We are going to have to switch carriages at the next town and there won¡¯t be one until tomorrow so we are going to have to stay in an inn for the night at that town, so let¡¯s use this time to catch you up a bit on what has happened in the world. About 60 years ago the current queen had her Talent as being Young revealed. Back then people were still convinced that people with the Young Talent are destined to die young but the queen proved that to be wrong. When she was about 40 she didn¡¯t have any of the difficulties people with the Young skill usually had and her parents ordered an investigation into it. They observed her as well as a few others who had the Young skill as well and they concluded that the only difference they found was that the queen wasn¡¯t exposed to the inhumane amount of labour the others were and from that they found out that people with the Young Talent age about the same as everyone else and only their appearance won¡¯t change. Because of this new information her parents decreed that Talents have to be studied more and openly, they built research centres where anyone with a Talent that wasn¡¯t well known or understood could voluntarily undergo some testing and they would be paid according to it. At the same time all research centres that weren¡¯t under the royal order had the option to adapt their practices and follow the orders or stop what they were doing. The queen is still the ruling monarch of our country to this day but from what I heard she is planning to step down soon in order to retire. The centre you were at until not long ago is speculated to be the last one still doing illegal practices.¡± She looks at me with a serious expression. ¡°And this brings me to my next point. Are you aware that your name, V, isn¡¯t actually a name?¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t?¡± I look at her confused. Isn¡¯t my name a normal name? Eliza thinks for a bit before answering with a slightly pained expression. ¡°V isn¡¯t a name. It¡¯s a way to write numbers, in your case V meaning 5. I assume they numbered everyone arriving there with more or less the same system but we aren¡¯t sure yet. I don¡¯t want you to be constantly reminded of that place when you hear your name so I figured since you are getting the chance for a new beginning we can start with a new name. It also makes it easier for other people to not ask too many questions about where you came from.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± She starts beaming again. ¡°Then how about Lucina?¡± That was fast, did she already have something in mind? ¡°I don¡¯t mind¡± ¡°Good! Then from this day forward your name is Lucina Stallard.¡± ¡°Stallard?¡± ¡°Ah right, yes. Stallard is my last name. Eliza Stallard, A-rank adventurer.¡± ¡°Adventurer?¡± ¡°Adventurers are people who fulfil requests from the adventurers guild. Requests are jobs like collecting plants or information, slaying monsters, guarding merchants on their travels or even rescuing people from evil organisations.¡± Eliza gives me a wink while she says that. ¡°Someone who is registered can accept those requests and get paid for it but depending on the difficulty of the request your rank has to be higher. Ranks are divided from F to A, with F being the lowest and the special S-rank. There are a few ways to increase rank but the most common one is to complete a certain amount of requests according to your own rank but some also get a higher rank by slaying a monster of a higher rank than they are, but that method isn¡¯t recommended since it can be very dangerous. S-rank is the exception to this and you can only achieve it by doing something exceptional. Being registered also makes it easier to travel around not just different towns but also countries. Usually you would need to show quite a few documents to enter other countries but since the adventurers guild is a neutral party the guild card works just fine.¡± ¡°Can I join as well?¡± ¡°Of course you can! There is an initial test to determine the rank you start at. For the first part you have to hit a target with a weapon of choice and the second part is more or less the same but this time you use magic. That reminds me, do you know any spells?¡± I shake my head. ¡°Then how about I teach you a few before registering? They have private training rooms for rent at the guild.¡± I get to learn magic?! It¡¯s hard to hold back my excitement. ¡°If it isn¡¯t too much trouble¡­ ¡± ¡°Of course!¡± She seems to be almost beaming while looking at me. ¡°We probably also shouldn¡¯t tell people your actual age as well, so since you look like you¡¯re about 12 let¡¯s go with that¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The carriage comes to a stop, Eliza grabs her sword and small backpack and then smiles at me. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go¡±. We step out of the carriage and she pays the driver. ¡°The adventurers guild isn¡¯t far from here so let¡¯s go there first.¡± I grab her hand as she starts walking which seems to have her a bit flustered. This town looks a lot bigger than the village I used to live in. We are walking along a wide street with a lot of different shops, some sold weapons, some sold clothes, others I didn¡¯t recognize. I point at one of the stores that has staves, books and other things that look like trinkets and ask, ¡°What kind of store is that?¡± We stop walking and Eliza looks at the store I am pointing at, ¡°This is a magic store, it¡¯s a store that sells things for people who focus on magic as well as magical tools for adventurers.¡± ¡°What are magical tools?¡± Eliza shows me her backpack and takes out a lantern. ¡°This backpack and this lantern are both magical tools. The backpack has magic on it to make it bigger on the inside so more things fit in it than what you¡¯d assume. This makes it a lot easier to carry things when you¡¯re out and might not be able to stay at an inn since you can carry a lot more with you compared to with a regular backpack. And this lantern uses magic to light up instead of fire which makes it more convenient because you don¡¯t have to be wary of fuel or accidentally burn something down if it falls over.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s to make things easier¡± ¡°Exactly but they are usually pretty expensive.¡± I point at another store, ¡°And what kind of store is that?¡± ¡°That is an inn, you can go there to eat or rent a room for the night, we are going to one of those a bit later.¡± I nod. After a bit more walking we arrive at a big building with a sign that reads Adventurers Guild. We enter and walk up to a counter. ¡°Hey Ad, can I use one of the training rooms?¡± ¡°Oh hey El, finally back? Training room 3 should be free so feel free to use that one. And who is the little one? How come you never told me you have a child?¡± The receptionist looks at me and then at Eliza, giving her a smirk. She did tell me she¡¯s going to take care of me, so does that make me her child? Before I could finish that thought Eliza started walking towards a staircase. ¡°We can talk about that later.¡± Eliza''s face is as red as a tomato. We walk down the staircase along a corridor until we are at a door labelled 3. ¡°These rooms are reinforced with magic so I don¡¯t think it will be an issue even if you don¡¯t hold back.¡± We enter the room and right at the entrance there are a few weapon racks with all kinds of different weapons on them. ¡°These weapons are to test out which type of weapon someone prefers and are from the guild, we are free to use any we want but if we break one we will have to pay for the replacement. They also aren¡¯t sharp in order to avoid accidents. But before that let me show you some magic.¡± I¡¯m looking at the different weapons and when she mentions magic my eyes light up and I focus on her. I can¡¯t wait to finally learn about magic. ¡°Not to disappoint you but I¡¯m not very good with magic, I mainly have a few basic spells for convenience.¡± She blushes a bit. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the basics, magic is done by imagining what you want to happen, the better your image of that the more successful the magic you¡¯re going to cast but more complex magic also uses more mana and while it is possible to increase the amount of mana you have it takes a lot of time so only people who focus on magic for either fighting or their everyday life will actually do so.¡± She stretches one of her arms forwards, away from me and a small water ball appears a short distance away from her hand. ¡°This is basic water magic, it¡¯s drinkable water and a must have for adventurers because it removes the need to find drinkable water in nature, it takes a small amount of mana so most people are able to use this kind of magic. Now how about you try?¡± I stretch out my arm like Eliza did and close my eyes, concentrating on imagining water. ¡°Oh no! Lucina, stop!¡± Eliza sounds very panicked so I open my eyes and see a gigantic ball of water in front of me. Oh no, what am I supposed to do now? ¡°Don¡¯t worry, imagine the ball of water being pushed away from you.¡± I¡¯m panicking but try to focus on what Eliza told me to do. The ball of water moves slowly away from me but then suddenly bursts and water splashes everywhere. Oh no, she is going to be angry with me. I close my eyes waiting for what¡¯s about to come next but nothing is happening. I carefully open my eyes and I see Eliza looking at me concerned. My whole body is trembling, ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry.¡± Eliza now has a pained expression. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you did nothing wrong, it was your first time and you have a lot of mana.¡± ¡°S-so you¡¯re not mad at me?¡± She gets a bit closer and I flinch a bit, closing my eyes again but instead of pain all I feel is her embrace. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, nothing bad is ever going to happen to you again.¡± I¡¯m initially confused as that isn¡¯t the reaction I was expecting but soon after I can feel tears welling up and I start crying which makes Eliza hug me even tighter. After about 5 minutes I calm down again and she lets go. Only now I notice that we are both soaked in water. As if knowing what I¡¯m thinking Eliza smiles at me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I got a spell for this as well.¡± She closes her eyes and both her and I start glowing a bit and only a moment later we are both completely dry. ¡°I think it¡¯s best if we stop with magic here for now, but if you really want to learn I can hire a magic tutor for you.¡± ¡°You would do that for me?¡± ¡°Of course, like I said, I¡¯m going to take care of you. My expertise is the Sword so I¡¯m better suited to teach you that if you¡¯re interested.¡± I look at the weapon racks and then at her. ¡°Yes please.¡± ¡°So what weapon do you want to test out?¡± I search through the weapons until I find a sword that looks similar to the one Eliza has and take it. Eliza gives me a conflicted look, ¡°Are you sure you want to use that one? I think it¡¯s a bit big for you.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Okay, but please be careful. Give it a swing.¡± I swing the sword and the next thing I know is that I¡¯m lying on the floor. Eliza is rushing over to me with a concerned look. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡°Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? I¡¯m so sorry, I knew I should have stopped you.¡± I don¡¯t feel any pain or that something is wrong with me. ¡°I¡¯m fine but what happened?¡± ¡°The force of your swing was too strong for you and it knocked you over. I think it¡¯s better to choose another weapon, we can still come back to this one once you¡¯re a bit older, okay?¡± I¡¯m a bit dejected but it¡¯s probably for the best. ¡°Okay.¡± I go over to the weapon rack again and take a smaller, one handed sword. ¡°Is this one okay?¡± ¡°Give it a few swings and we will know, but please be careful.¡± I swing the sword a few times and I¡¯m not losing my balance this time. ¡°Yes, this one is a bit more appropriate for your size.¡± Eliza gives out a small sigh while saying so. ¡°We can do proper training once we are home, this much should be enough for the assessment test from the guild, so let¡¯s get that over with and then go shopping.¡± We leave the room and go back up the stairs back to the same receptionist we were at before. ¡°Already back, El? Are you going to explain the little one to me now?¡± We walk up to the counter and I say, ¡°I¡¯m Lucina and mom said I should get registered for a guild card.¡± The receptionist stares at Eliza whose face is even redder than before. ¡°She is one of the kids we rescued during the request and I decided to take care of her, but this isn¡¯t the right place to go into detail.¡± She stares at Eliza for a bit longer before letting out a sigh. ¡°Okay then, I¡¯m sure we will be able to talk about that during the assessment.¡± She turns towards me and gives me a wink, ¡°Hi there, I¡¯m Adriana but you can call me Ad. I¡¯m sure your mom already explained to you how the process works, right? Are you ready?¡± I nod in excitement. ¡°Okay then let¡¯s go to the training room you were in before to do the assessment!¡± We walk back to the training room and for some reason Eliza seems very nervous. We are about to enter the training room when Ad stops in the doorframe and then turns around, looking at Eliza with an angry expression. ¡°You better explain the state of this room as well.¡± What does she mean? We enter the room and I look around, only now noticing that a large part of the room is still full of water and there is a deep cut in the floor from my test swing with the first sword. Eliza closes the door behind her and gives a brief summary of what has happened since I met her to Ad. Ad sighs and then shakes her head, ¡°I see, but you will still have to pay for the damages of the room. I also don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to see her strength with how the room looks and what you described but I recommend adding her as an E-rank to avoid trouble.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t think she should be doing requests anyways and once she¡¯s ready I will be accompanying her.¡± They both look at me with a soft smile. So I don¡¯t have to do the test? ¡°Then let¡¯s go and finish the registration process.¡± We go back to the reception desk where I fill out a form with my name and age and then give it to Ad. Ad takes out a clear orb, ¡°Now for the last step please put your hand on this for a moment.¡± I look at Eliza and she gives me a nod so I put my hand on the orb and it starts glowing. After a few seconds it stops glowing and Ad hands me a card, ¡°Okay all done, welcome to the adventurers guild!¡± I take the card and look at it, on it is my name and rank, how will this help identify me? Eliza must have noticed my confusion. ¡°The orb you just touched is also a magic tool. It imprints your mana on the card so if anyone else was trying to use your card it would be noticed immediately.¡± Ad hands me a pendant, ¡°You can put it on here for the time being.¡± She then turns towards Eliza, ¡°And how about we go over what you owe.¡± While Eliza is paying with a dejected look on her face I¡¯m putting the card on the pendant and put it on. This feels weird. Eliza finished paying and now looks at me, ¡°What do you want to do first, find an inn or go shopping?¡± I think for a bit but before I can answer my stomach growls. I blush and Eliza smiles at me, ¡°Lunch it is. Bye Ad. Thanks for the help.¡± ¡°Bye El, Bye Lucina.¡± ¡°Bye bye¡± We walked for a bit before entering a store with a cat on a sign outside. The moment Eliza opens the door I can smell a lot of different things and my stomach growls again. We sit down on a table a bit to the side. ¡°So, what do you feel like eating?¡± I look at Eliza with wide eyes, ¡°I can choose?¡± Eliza¡¯s expression looks pained at first but quickly changes back to a smile. ¡°Of course!¡± She then hands me the menu, I have no idea what any of these things are. ¡°Can you choose something for me?¡± I look at her expectantly. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s order my favourite then.¡± She orders for both of us and then asks, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, why did you call me mom?¡± I look at her confused, ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, was I not supposed to?.¡± ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not it. It just surprised me and I don¡¯t want you to feel forced to do so, so I was wondering why.¡± ¡°You said you are going to take care of me and that you¡¯re going to protect me and even comforted me, you even gave me your last name. That¡¯s more than what my actual parents ever did for me.¡± I avert my gaze feeling a bit dejected. ¡°I-it¡¯s fine, I¡¯m more than happy to be your mom.¡± I look back at Eliza and her face is red again and she is a bit teary eyed. ¡°So it¡¯s okay if I call you Mom?¡± ¡°Of course it is!¡± She gets up from her seat and comes over next to me and hugs me. The server comes over again to bring us our food. I hesitate for a moment, remembering the pain I¡¯ve gotten used to from eating. I look at mom for a moment and see her eating the meal without hesitation or issue, so I gather my courage and take a bite. I am preparing for the pain but it never comes. The food tastes very delicious and even when I eat more there is no pain. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. ¡°Is everything okay?¡± Mom looks at me concerned. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just not used to food not causing pain.¡± For a moment her expression is filled with anger but quickly turns into a soft smile again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, eating will never be painful for you again.¡± We finish eating and head out of the restaurant. ¡°Now let¡¯s go find an inn so we have a place to stay tonight and I can change out of this armour and then go buy you some things.¡± We are walking for awhile, does she have an inn in mind already? After a bit more walking we enter an Inn with a sign of an animal I don¡¯t recognize. The animal seems to be a mix of something I don¡¯t recognize, a goat as a second head and a snake as a tail. ¡°Hey Cerys, do you still have a room available?¡± The woman behind a reception desk looks up and smiles at mom. ¡°Of course,but tell me, who is the little miss with you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lucina and this is my mom.¡±, I say with an innocent smile. The woman stares at mom, why does everyone keep doing that? ¡°D-don¡¯t worry about it, I will explain later.¡± Mom gets the key to our room and we head there. The room looks big, it has 2 beds, a desk and chair and a separate washroom. Mom rummages through her backpack and takes out two sets of clothes, ¡°I¡¯m going to change real quick, until we get you something new why don¡¯t you wear this.¡± As she says that she gives me a shirt, pants and shoes that are all way too big for me, I take them and then look at her confused. ¡°Those clothes are technically also magic tools, they change their size to fit whoever is wearing them.¡± Having said that she moves to the washroom so I put on the clothes she gave me and like she said as soon as I¡¯m wearing them they shrink down to my size and fit me like they have been made for me. It doesn¡¯t take mom long to be out of the washroom, now dressed in casual clothes. She puts her armour and sword in her backpack and then walks over to me. ¡°You ready to go?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± We are back on the street with all the stores, ¡°Let¡¯s start with clothes and then look around for a bit.¡± We enter a store with different clothes on display, from dresses to suits of armour. ¡°All of these clothes are the same as what you¡¯re wearing right now, so just pick whatever you like.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t that going to be expensive?¡± Mom gives me a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can afford it.¡± I look around the store and see a few sets that I like but I feel bad choosing too many or the ones that look too fancy because I don¡¯t want mom to spend too much money for me. I settle for a more plain looking set of a white shirt, black pants and normal looking brown shoes. I pick it up and see that mom who is at what looks like the area where you pay. I hand her the set of clothes I chose and she gives it to the store employee. ¡°And these as well.¡± Only now I notice there are a few sets of clothes already on the counter and on further inspection all of them are ones I looked at before but thought would be too expensive. ¡°I saw you looking at these like you wanted them and I think they would look cute on you and I thought you didn¡¯t pick them because you¡¯re worried about the price even though I said it¡¯s fine.¡± She pays for everything and then puts the clothes into her backpack. That backpack can really hold a lot of things. She looks at me, ¡°How about we check out the magic tool store next? And tell me if there is something you want.¡± Her expression looks a bit stern for that last part. I¡¯m looking around the store and there are many interesting things but I don¡¯t think anything is really much use to me, still it is very interesting seeing all the different things you can create with magic. I walk over to mom, ¡°I don¡¯t think I need anything from here but thank you for showing me around.¡± ¡°Okay, it¡¯s getting late anyways so let¡¯s return to the inn.¡± We return to the inn and have our dinner there. I''m still a bit unsure about eating but it¡¯s already better than the first time. After we ate we went back to the room and I went to bed. Mom is still up, writing something on the desk by the time I fall asleep. By the time I wake up mom is already up and dressed in her armour again. ¡°Good morning. Did you sleep well?¡± I rub my eyes and nod. It feels a bit weird not being woken up by a bright light. ¡°Once you get dressed we can get breakfast and soon after we will have to go catch the carriage to get to my, I mean, our home.¡± I wonder what her house looks like. I hurriedly get dressed so we can eat breakfast but before I reach the door mom stops me. ¡°I have one more thing for you.¡± She hands me a backpack. ¡°It¡¯s a backpack similar to mine, the capacity is a bit smaller but that should be fine.¡± I hug her, ¡°Thank you.¡± We go and eat breakfast and then go to where the carriage is already waiting for us. The carriage ride was uneventful and we soon arrived in front of a small 2 story house. ¡°Looks like we are here.¡± We get out of the carriage and we enter my now new home. Chapter 3 Mom has been taking a break from adventuring ever since we arrived 4 years ago. She hired a tutor both for helping me control my magic better and someone for general education. I had a lot to catch up on since I was imprisoned for such a long time. We decided to make the day she rescued me my birthday and we found out that my body started ageing normally again. I wonder when or if I will stop ageing. I know for someone with the Young skill it stops at around 20 but they also age normally until then, while my body only aged 2 years over an almost 100 year period. I¡¯ve learned to control my magic very well now and I¡¯m planning to ask mom to do some requests with me so I can learn how they work and maybe even increase my rank a bit. I also think actual fighting experience would help me control my magic better, even the magic tutor said she can¡¯t teach me anything more after just 2 years of learning. As I¡¯m thinking when and how I should bring this up with mom there is a knock on the door. Mom said she is busy so she is in her office on the second floor so I get up from the kitchen table and go to open the door. I open the door and there stands a man, he is wearing a full plate armour with the image of a dragon, this kingdom''s coat of arms, on the chest and his helmet in one of his hands. He looks shocked when he sees me but gets his composure back quickly, I guess he was expecting mom to open the door. ¡°Hey there young lady, could I talk to Lady Stallard, please?¡± ¡°Sure, give me a minute.¡± I close the door in his face as I say that and walk towards the stairs. ¡°MOM, SOMEONE IS AT THE DOOR FOR YOU.¡± After screaming that loud enough for the man outside to hear I sit down on the table again and pretend to read a book. Mom comes downstairs, ¡°Who is asking for me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, from the looks of it, some knight from the kingdom.¡± ¡°And where is he now?¡± ¡°In front of the door, unless he changed his mind and left.¡± I shrug, she was the one who told me not to let strange people into the house. She lets out a sigh, walks over to the door and opens it. ¡°Greetings my Lady Stallard, I am here to-¡± She slams the door. I look at her questioningly, she looks part shocked and part panicked. She takes a bit to calm down again and then shakes her head and lets out a sigh, ¡°I guess now is as good a time as any,¡± she looks at me, ¡°I can¡¯t avoid talking to him or I will make things worse, I want you to be around for the conversation and there are probably going to be a few things you won¡¯t understand but I can explain them, just please wait with that until after he left again, okay?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Then could you prepare some tea?¡± I head into the kitchen and start preparing the tea. It''s pretty easy since I started to experiment with making my own magical tools and this tea pot was one of the first things I made myself. It¡¯s an imitation of what is sold in stores, a teapot that heats up water by itself and I only need to add water and the herbs I want to use for the tea. I learned that lavender has a calming effect so that is my choice for the tea, I think mom could use it. At the same time mom opens the door again, gives a small apology and invites the man in. They walk over to the table and mom starts, ¡°Let¡¯s start with introductions,¡± she gestures to me, ¡°this is Lucina, she is my daughter.¡± She then looks at me and gestures to the man, ¡°And this is Sir Elias Duncan, head of the royal guards under direct order of the Queen.¡± Elias gives me a bow, ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you young Lady Lucina.¡± He¡¯s awfully polite for someone who had a door closed in his face twice. He turns back to mom, ¡°Did you inform your mother about having a daughter?¡± ¡°Of course not! You being here is already enough of a hassle!¡± They both take a seat on the table and the tea finishes at the same time so I grab three cups, fill them and bring them over to the table and sit down as well. Mom lets out another sigh, ¡°So what does my mother want from me that is so important she sends you?¡± ¡°As you know, your Mother decided to step down which means your sister is going to take over and she is expecting you to attend.¡± ¡°And there is no way of avoiding it, is there?¡± ¡°Of course there isn¡¯t! And you know I¡¯m obligated to inform your mother about you having a daughter as well so it¡¯s for the best, for all of us, if you just accompany me back.¡± They both let out a deep sigh. Grandma seems to be a bit eccentric but then again so is mom. ¡°Fine, but wait until tomorrow, I have to explain things to Lucina first.¡± He nods, finishes his tea and then gets up, ¡°Good, but just so you know, we are setting up camp outside so don¡¯t get any ideas of running away.¡± Mom averts her gaze with a pained and annoyed expression while Elias turns to the door and walks out. We sit in silence for a bit before mom starts talking. ¡°I still owe you an explanation, so let¡¯s start with my full name and title. I¡¯m Eliza Reanna Stallard, first princess of the Gairyn Kingdom, the kingdom we live in. I gave up on my claim to the throne because I wasn¡¯t, and still am not, interested in having a partner and because of that I wouldn¡¯t be having an heir. My mother, the current queen, wasn¡¯t too happy with my decision but gave in after thinking it over until I was of age and still didn¡¯t have any interest in finding a partner. I left the castle and became an adventurer, I stopped using my middle and last name because I didn¡¯t want people to treat me differently just because of who my mother is. Because of my choice to not become the next ruler that hassle, I mean burden, fell on my younger sister, Emelia Rhonda Stallard, and since my mother is stepping down there is going to be a coronation for her and my mother expects me to be there. I didn¡¯t want to tell her about you because I didn¡¯t want to give her the idea that I could come back and become queen instead of my sister because since I have a daughter now I do have an heir and my initial argument doesn¡¯t work anymore.¡± This certainly explains mom¡¯s skewed sense of money. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t it be fine now? I don¡¯t think grandma would cancel the coronation this late and change who would become the next queen, would she?¡± ¡°No, she wouldn¡¯t, but she¡¯s going to scold me for not telling her about you earlier and trying to hide it. If you have any questions for something I haven¡¯t answered yet feel free to ask, otherwise you should start packing, and pack for a longer stay, I don¡¯t think my mother will let us leave quickly.¡± ¡°What is grandma like?¡± ¡°Well, she is strict but fair, you¡¯re going to meet her soon enough so you will be able to see for yourself then but you should have nothing to worry about.¡± I nod and then get up to go to my room in order to pack my things, ¡°Thanks mom.¡± Before going up the stairs I turn around, walk back to my mom and give her a hug. Now, what am I supposed to pack for a trip like this? I grab my backpack and put it on my bed so I can easily fill it up. I put one set of clothes aside to wear tomorrow and put the rest into my backpack. This red dress should be appropriate to wear when meeting the queen, right? I should probably ask mom just to be sure. I wonder what she¡¯s going to wear but knowing her it¡¯s probably going to be her armour, she almost never goes out without it. I pack a few of my favourite books as well, they are all about how to create magic tools and magic theory. That should probably be enough. I walk back downstairs to grab the book I left at the table and mom is still sitting there, lost in thought. ¡°Hey mom, is my red dress appropriate to wear for meeting grandma?¡± She flinches, probably not expecting me, ¡°She¡¯s used to me wearing armour all the time so it should be fine.¡± I chuckle a bit, so she was always obsessed with wearing her armour. She gets up from the table and grabs something from the side, ¡°Now that you¡¯re here again there is something I want to give you, it¡¯s slightly earlier than planned but now is as good a time as any.¡± She walks up to me and then gives me a plain looking metal box. I put the box down on the table and open it, revealing a big sword, very similar to the one mom has. ¡°I know how disappointed you were when we found out you aren¡¯t compatible with this type of sword but that doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t have one and I think it could be good training as well.¡± I put the sword back and hug mom. Right, compatibility, it¡¯s a term first used by people who have a weapon type Talent. Someone with a weapon type Talent, like mom¡¯s Sword Talent, has an easy time learning the weapons that are in their Talents category but there is also going to be a specific sub weapon type that they are going to be even better at using. At first it was thought to be exclusive to people with a weapon type Talent because they say they feel drawn to the weapon when they first see it but about 20 years ago it was discovered that it¡¯s a general thing everyone has but the difference is that people without a weapon type Talent won¡¯t feel drawn to the weapon. It¡¯s still possible for a regular person to find the weapon they are compatible with but it involves a lot of trial and error, essentially you have to try different weapons until you find one that feels natural to use. We have tried a lot of different weapons and weapon types over the past 4 years but so far we didn¡¯t find anything. The wide broadsword mom uses is the weapon she is compatible with and I always liked her weapon so I¡¯m still trying to learn how to use it properly but for me it¡¯s just brute force, I could probably do the same with a stick provided it was sturdy enough. ¡°Oh mom, I also got something for you.¡± I rush up to my room and grab my latest project, go back downstairs and give it to mom. ¡°This is a really nice scabbard but I don¡¯t think my sword will fit.¡± The scabbard I gave her is actually a magic tool, it¡¯s still a prototype but it should be fine. ¡°It¡¯s a magic tool I¡¯ve been working on for awhile now, it works similar to the backpack you got me. Try it!¡± I look at her expectantly. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± She walks over to her sword which she keeps at the side of the stairs and puts it in the scabbard. She looks very surprised and a bit shocked when she sees the sword disappearing into the scabbard and only the hilt still looking out. She looks back and forth between me and the scabbard in her hand while I just look at her with a proud smile. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°Try taking it out again and tell me how it feels to use, it¡¯s still technically a prototype but it¡¯s safe to use.¡± She pulls the sword out of the scabbard and gives it a test swing and then puts it back into the scabbard. ¡°This is amazing, how did you manage to make something like this!¡± ¡°Well, you go everywhere wearing your armour and sword so I figured something like this would help with that. At first the whole weapon disappeared into the scabbard and it was hard to get out again so I tried making the space shorter but then the longer weapons wouldn¡¯t fit anymore and part of the blade would still be out which made it look very weird-¡± I stop my rambing because mom is looking at me with a very angry smile. ¡°So that¡¯s where the spare swords disappeared to?¡± ¡°A-ah, I-I only broke 2 and another 2 are still stuck in a prototype scabbard and the rest should still be floating around in one of the scabbards." I turn quiet and we stand there in silence for a moment before mom lets out a sigh, ¡°I guess it¡¯s fine but if you¡¯re doing something like this again please just tell me about it." ¡°Okay¡± ¡°I think it would also be a good idea to build a workshop once we get back so you have a proper workspace.¡± The rest of the way went by uneventfully. By the time I went downstairs the next morning mom was already at the table and prepared breakfast. And I thought I¡¯m up early. ¡°Good morning.¡± I sit down at the table and start eating, still half asleep. ¡°Good morning. You can take your time eating, I doubt our escort is ready to leave already anyways.¡± I finish eating and then go and grab my backpack and sword, which is now in its own scabbard. It¡¯s the reason I¡¯m so tired currently, I stayed up late to finish one for my new sword as well. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go meet Elias then.¡± As we step outside I see a lot of tents, completely surrounding our house. ¡°Mom, what did you do that they think this is necessary?¡± Before mom can answer Elias walks over to us. ¡°Well, the first time she ran in the middle of the night, the second time she drugged our food under the guise of cooking for us resulting in everyone falling asleep and her running away again, and then the third time-¡± ¡°Stop telling her about this!¡± Mom looks very embarrassed about her past runaways. ¡°Anyways, we should be ready to leave in a bit but tell me, where is your sword? I was sure you would never leave anywhere without it.¡± Moms expression turns very smug as she draws her sword from the scabbard. I¡¯m not sure if she¡¯s trying to show off the scabbard or her sword but either way Elias looks very shocked. ¡°Where the hell did you get something absurd like this?!¡± ¡°My genius daughter made it for me.¡± I start blushing a bit while Elias looks even more shocked and then notices my own scabbard. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me-¡± I draw my sword as well showing off the sword mom got me. ¡°Of course it is.¡± I probably look just as smug as mom right now. He seems to have given up and is back to his stoic self. He shakes his head, ¡°You really are mother and daughter.¡± I whisper to mom, ¡°Why was he so shocked about the scabbard?¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± ¡°I assumed you still prefer not to ride in a carriage and we prepared a horse for you,¡± he looks at me, ¡°but we didn¡¯t know about the young miss until yesterday so we don¡¯t have a horse for her. We still have a carriage with us which she could ride in but since you¡¯re the mother you figure it out.¡± Mom turns to me, ¡°Well, what do you think? Do you want to ride on a horse with me or in the carriage?¡± ¡°I think I prefer the carriage, that way I might be able to tinker a bit.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to take the carriage as well then!¡± Preparations were soon completed and mom and I got into the carriage. The carriage was shaking so much the whole time it was impossible to do anything! The carriage suddenly comes to a stop but we definitely haven¡¯t arrived yet because it looks like we are in a forest. Mom and I both step out of the carriage to see what¡¯s going on. We get to the front of the escort where Elias is with a few of his subordinates. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± ¡°An iron golem, it shouldn¡¯t really be a problem but it might take awhile to get rid of it.¡± I tap mom on the shoulder and give her my best puppy dog eyes. She tries to fight against my persuasiveness but then lets out a sigh, ¡°Fine, but please be careful.¡± My eyes start sparkling, ¡°I will, thank you!¡± I draw my sword and walk towards the iron golem, behind me I can hear Elias arguing with mom but I don¡¯t pay attention to it. This is going to be my first real fight so I will try to just use my strength and no magic first. I sprint to cover the remaining distance to the iron golem, swing my sword and land on the other side and¡­ As I turn around the iron golem collapses into a big pile of rubble. I walk back over to where mom and Elias are standing, ¡°I think the monster guide we have at home is outdated. It said iron golems are strong monsters so I only held back a bit yet it still died in a single hit. Like isn¡¯t it supposed to have regeneration powers and build itself up again unless you hit the core? And I avoided hitting the core on purpose!¡± ¡°This is why I didn¡¯t want you to have actual fights, your sense of strength is totally screwed. I know, I know, it¡¯s partially my fault but still.¡± Oops, I forgot again. Elias snapped out of his shock again, ¡°Okay then, why don¡¯t the two of you rest in the carriage while we move this out of the way.¡± ¡°Sure, I wanted to fix the carriage. Anyways, let¡¯s go mom.¡± We walk back to the carriage and I start tinkering with the wheels. It doesn¡¯t take long and I finish my work, now I just have to figure out if it worked once we continue the journey. ¡°Do I even want to know what you did to that carriage?¡± ¡°I just stopped the shaking because it was bothering me.¡± He looks at mom questioningly. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, you know I have no idea about how magic tools are made.¡± He lets out a deep sigh, ¡°You know what, I give up. We are ready to leave so please get back into the carriage.¡± The remaining journey went relatively smooth, my modifications to the carriage worked perfectly. We stopped every now and then, probably because of more monsters, but we didn¡¯t get out for those. Mom didn¡¯t allow me to fight anymore. It took us 4 days but we are now finally arriving at the capital. We are going straight to the castle and our carriage stops right in front of the gate. Mom and I step out of the carriage and I see that there is a line of soldiers on either side of us up until the castle entrance. We are walking towards the door and I¡¯m holding moms hand, it feels pretty intimidating being here. After about half the way a young woman who looks similar to mom is walking towards us. ¡°Mother, is all of this really necessary?¡±Mom looks a bit terrified while saying that. So this is the queen and my grandma? The queen looks at mom, clearly angry. ¡°Of course it is necessary! Do you need me to remind you what you did last time!¡± She then turns to me, her expression softening. ¡°You must be Lucina, I hope my idiot daughter didn¡¯t cause you any trouble.¡± I give a courteous bow, ¡°Yes your highness, I¡¯m Lucina Stallard. Mom has been taking good care of me, thank you for your concern.¡± ¡°Oh my, what a polite young lady,¡± she looks at mom, ¡°unlike her mother.¡± Mom clearly wants to say something but is holding her tongue. ¡°This isn¡¯t the right place for talks so let¡¯s get inside and tell me all about how my daughter, who insisted she isn¡¯t going to have children suddenly appears with a child.¡± ¡°I never said anything about not having children, just about not having a partner.¡± I don¡¯t think the queen was able to hear moms mumbling or she decided to ignore it. She is leading the way inside and we arrive in a room with two very comfortable looking couches, a small table in between them and a few bookshelves on the walls. The queen sits down on one couch and points at the other one, so mom sits down and I sit down next to her. ¡°Okay then. Eliza, start explaining and you better not leave out any detail.¡± Mom starts explaining our story, she didn¡¯t get far before a maid brought in some tea. I got distracted thinking about magical tools after that because they seemed to have a normal teapot and didn¡¯t use a magical tool and I was wondering why but I can¡¯t interrupt them right now. ¡°I see. This certainly sounds like something you would do and it¡¯s good to hear you are finally learning at least a bit of responsibility.¡± Oh looks like they finished. I put down the empty teapot I was tinkering with and start paying attention again. ¡°Lucina, what have you been doing with that teapot?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing much. I noticed that this teapot doesn¡¯t heat up by itself so I fixed it.¡± ¡°You fixed it?¡± ¡°Yes, it should heat up the water inside automatically now if you add a little bit of mana to the teapot, isn¡¯t that normal?¡± ¡°You said you made the scabbards yourself as well, right? Could you tell me what material you used for it?¡± ¡°Whenever we went to town I stopped by the blacksmith and I asked if I could have the scrap metal they didn¡¯t use anymore so I used that.¡± The queen lets out a sigh. ¡°Well, one problem after the other,¡± she looks at me again, ¡°from now on you are going to be officially a part of the royal family and I will give you the middle name Renata, so from now on your full name will be Lucina Renata Stallard. And I have to insist that you attend the academy here in the capital.¡± ¡°But Lucina already finished everything you¡¯d learn in school with her private tutor, she wouldn¡¯t actually be able to learn anything there.¡± ¡°Common sense. I want her to go to school to maybe learn some common sense. Also meeting people her age will be good for her, making friends is important.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind going to school if I can learn about magic tools there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s settled then, there is a student dorm at the school so you can stay there and Eliza can stay here and catch up with Emelia at the same time. It will take until after the coronation until school starts again so it¡¯s the perfect timing as well.¡± Chapter 4 The coronation was very stressful. Grandma made me try a lot of dresses and trying to convince mom to wear a proper attire instead of her armour was a fight that made fighting a dragon seem like child''s play, not that I know how hard it is to fight a dragon but that¡¯s what grandma said when she complained to me about it. I also got to meet Emelia, mom¡¯s sister, before her coronation and she was very nice. I think she is going to make a good queen. Grandma also insisted on introducing me to the public after the coronation, with Emelia¡¯s permission of course. I¡¯m a bit disappointed that my school uniform only arrived yesterday and now is already the first day of school. I really wanted to adjust it a bit since it is just a normal piece of clothes but I didn¡¯t have the time for it. Mom wasn¡¯t allowed to accompany me to the school, which is probably for the better and I¡¯m currently in a carriage grandma provided. Sadly it¡¯s not the carriage I modified because it¡¯s shaking, not as bad as in the forest but it¡¯s still annoying. According to grandma they are trying to figure out how I modified the carriage in order to see if they can replicate it so it¡¯s not in use. I¡¯m still lost in thought about what changes I can make to my school uniform when the carriage comes to a stop. ¡°Young miss, we have arrived.¡± I grab my backpack and scabbard and get out of the carriage. The school is a very large building with a belltower in the middle. There are signs around pointing new students to where they have to go. I walk to the building on the right side of the belltower where there are signs for the girls'' dorms. There is a small line and I queue up to wait my turn. From what I see of the girls who are in line before me they have a list with names and then give you a key to a room and tell you where to go. The line is going forward pretty fast and it soon is my turn. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Lucina Renata Stallard¡± ¡°Y-your highness, p-please right this way.¡± The girl who handled the room assignments gets up to lead the way, she seems quite flustered, and why did she call me highness? I hesitate for a bit because there is still a line behind me but before I can retort one of the girls who was standing on the side walked over and took over for the girl who is still waiting for me to follow her. I started following her and after a bit of walking I couldn¡¯t hold myself back anymore. ¡°Uhm, excuse me, why did you call me ¡®highness¡¯?¡± ¡°O-oh, I¡¯m sorry, my name is Bella Ordno, I¡¯m the daughter of Duke Ordno. I was at the coronation with my father so I saw you there. Both the current and former queen introduced you as the first princess so I thought that would be the correct way to address you, your highness.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s going to be a hassle¡± Bella looks like she is holding back a giggle, ¡°I said that second part out loud didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You did indeed, your highness.¡± ¡°Can you please stop calling me highness? Lucina is fine.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a hassle?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± She giggles a bit, ¡°I can do that if that¡¯s what you prefer, your high-, I mean, Lucina.¡± We continue walking for a bit before Bella stops in front of a door with a big number 1 on it. She takes a key out of her pocket and opens the door. ¡°This is going to be your room.¡± I enter the room and look around. There is a couch and coffee table, a desk and chair including writing utensils, empty bookshelves, and an upstairs area. I think this room is bigger than moms house. ¡°Is the kitchen upstairs?¡± Bella looks at me confused. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the school dormitories don¡¯t have kitchens. There is a cafeteria where students can eat but some also leave school grounds to eat something nearby.¡± ¡­ ¡°So then when are my roommates going to arrive?¡± ¡°Your hig- I mean Lucina, you aren¡¯t going to have roommates, this room is for you alone.¡± I sigh. ¡°Well, can¡¯t change anything about that. Mom told me there is a place here dedicated to magic tools, is it possible to visit that?¡± ¡°The opening ceremony for new students is later today, about at noon in the main building and new students have to attend the first class about magic tools as well as get special approval to be allowed in there, so I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Bella excused herself and left, so I started to look around my room. There is a bit of empty space on the main floor and the upstairs has a bed room with a gigantic bed and a washroom with a bathtub. I take my books out of my backpack and start filling the bookshelves with them and then take out a few pieces of metal scrap. I think I can probably make these into a stove top but I doubt the school lets me use the desk for it. Well, I can still make it for when I get a desk I can remodel. I start pressing the scrap metal together in order to make a single plate and then start adding the different spells to make it into a stove. I¡¯m almost finished when there is a knock on the door. ¡°Your highness, the entrance ceremony is going to start soon.¡± I walk towards the door and open it. In front of me is a young woman dressed in servant''s clothes. ¡°Good afternoon, your highness. Lady Ordno asked me to escort you to the main hall where the entrance ceremony is held.¡± She leads the way to the main hall and I try my best to memorise the way there because I¡¯m probably going to have to go there often. Bella is waiting in front of the main hall and the young woman escorting me excuses herself. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t overstep by sending her to pick you up.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I would probably have missed it if you didn¡¯t.¡± She giggles a bit and we enter the hall. We take a seat towards the front and the entrance ceremony soon starts. They explain different things about how school works, like how once social status doesn¡¯t matter for classes and scores, everyone is to be treated equally, they are going to test the mana of every student because some magic related classes require a certain amount of mana, first year classes are going to be general classes for most with a few exceptions and starting second year it¡¯s going to be free selection for what you want to do. Wait. They check mana? I¡¯m screwed. Bella seemed to have picked up on my nervousness because she gets my attention and whispers ¡°Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s going to be fine.¡± Her words don¡¯t really calm me down but there isn¡¯t anything I can do about it at this point anyways. They start calling one person after the other to the front and they place a hand on an orb. The orb starts glowing when they put their hand on it and after a bit the teacher calls out a number. I have no idea what number actually means anything but from the reactions of the other students everything under about 200 seems to be normal, and everything above 1000 has everyone going wild but the only two people so far that reached that, one of them is Bella with 2498. She is currently the one with the highest value out of all the new students so I feel a bit too self conscious to ask if it¡¯s a lot. ¡°And now for our last student. Her highness Lucina Renata Stallard.¡± I get up from my seat and try my best to ignore the stares of the other students. I stop in front of the orb but hesitate. The teacher gives me a smile and tells me, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, her Majesty gave us a heads up.¡± Cracks start to appear on the orb as soon as I touch it and moments later it bursts into pieces. The teacher looks a little bit shocked but gathers her composer quickly. ¡°I expected it but it¡¯s still impressive to see, IMMEASURABLE.¡± There is a small uproar among the students and another teacher brings in a new orb. ¡°For the people who don¡¯t believe us or think she used her connections to cheat we have prepared a backup orb.¡± The teacher touches the orb and it starts glowing. ¡°As you can see it can even test my mana of about 25¡¯000 so it can hold a lot of strength.¡± She turns towards me with a smile, ¡°Could you please repeat the test.¡± I touch the new orb and the exact same thing happens again. ¡°As you can see the result won¡¯t change, even if we repeated it more it would still be the same outcome.¡± This seems to calm down the students and I go back to sit down next to Bella. I started daydreaming for the rest of the ceremony and only came back when Bella tapped me on the shoulder. ¡°Did you pay attention to any of that?¡± ¡°Class starts tomorrow, in the morning is a class about magic and in the afternoon is a class about magic tools or swordsmanship depending on what the students want to learn. Also for each of the classes the first thing is going to be a test of each student about both their knowledge and ability in order to put everyone in classes they best fit into.¡± ¡°Well, I guess you got most of it right at least.¡± Bella shakes her head, ¡°We are going to have a separate magic class together with Miss Barnes because our mana is significantly higher. And from what my father told me you aren¡¯t allowed to participate in swordsmanship classes on the order of her Majesty because it would be too big of a safety hazard for the other students.¡± ¡°Close enough¡± I shrug. ¡°Do you by any chance know if there is a furniture store close by? I need a sturdy table to finish my latest project.¡± She squints her eyes looking at me, ¡°Didn¡¯t you have to promise her Majesty not to make any magic tools until after you had your first class about it?¡± ¡°Damn, how does she know?¡± ¡°You are thinking out loud again.¡± She shakes her head, ¡°I won¡¯t say anything if you show me what you¡¯re doing and make something for me as well.¡± ¡°Deal! Let¡¯s also eat something while we are out.¡± There is a small shopping district pretty much right in front of the school. Only now I realise I have no idea about what is where. Ever since arriving in the capital I¡¯ve stayed in the castle, everything I needed got delivered there so I had no need to go out. ¡°There is a really good place to eat a bit further away, it¡¯s my favourite store in the capital so let''s go there.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± We sat down in the restaurant Bella took me to and ordered. ¡°So, what kind of magic tool do you want me to make for you?¡± ¡°I was hoping you could make me a sword that also works like a wand.¡± ¡°Okay, dumb question, what is a wand?¡± She stares at me in silence for a bit. ¡°A wand is a magic tool used by mages, it helps with control over your magic power and can even be used to amplify it. Didn¡¯t you have a magic tutor?¡± ¡°Ah, so the stick she used wasn¡¯t just because it looked cool. I think I should be able to do that. What is your compatible weapon?¡± ¡°Oh I use a rapier.¡± She takes the weapon from the side of her hip and places it on the table. ¡°Do you want this one to be turned into a magic item or do you need a separate one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the material used for this one is suitable for a magic tool.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Y-you need special material to create magic tools depending on what and how much magic you add to it and the ones you could use for weapons are really expensive so most weapons don¡¯t use it.¡± She looks at me really confused and as if she is explaining one of the most basic concepts to me. I put my scabbard on the table, ¡°I made this using scrap metal though.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s just a normal scabbard, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a magical tool, it¡¯s probably not a good idea to show you here so let¡¯s wait until after we eat.¡± She looks at me questioningly but drops it. We eat our food, which was very good, and leave. We go to a more isolated place and I draw my sword from my scabbard. Bella looks at me shocked, ¡°How the hell did you make something so absurd out of scrap metal!¡± ¡°Well, first I press the different pieces together in order to combine them into a big enough piece and then I bend it into the form I want it to be in and that¡¯s not what you meant, huh.¡± ¡°You know what, let¡¯s get back to this after we had our first lesson on magic tools.¡± We then went to a few stores and I bought a table that would be fitting for a stove and we went back to our dorms. As it turns out Bellas room is right next to mine. I finished the stove and then put some things on my school uniform that I think would make my life easier and then headed to bed. I¡¯m on my way to the classroom together with Bella. I¡¯m glad she is in the room next to me and knows her way around the school, I might would have been in trouble otherwise. I¡¯m pretty sure Bella said there are only 3 people in our class about magic so why is there a group of 4 in front of our room? ¡°You better not forget your place just because you got into the special class together with her highness.¡± ¡°Being lazy in your magic training doesn¡¯t give you the right to bully people.¡± 3 of the girls turn around and look at us, ¡°But Miss Ordno, she is a commoner!¡± ¡°See, Bel, I wasn¡¯t the only one who didn¡¯t pay attention yesterday.¡± I give Bella a smug smile but she just sighs. ¡°That isn¡¯t something you should be proud of, your highness.¡± ¡°Rude¡± She gives me a death glare before turning to the girls again, ¡°Her highness is right though. It was clearly stated that your status doesn¡¯t matter here in the academy.¡± ¡°But why should we of noble blood have to associate with the likes of her!¡± ¡°I have been living as a commoner until about 3 months ago, so does that include me as well?¡± They don¡¯t answer and just silently avoid my gaze. ¡°You know, grandma actually explained to me why this rule was set in place by the order of the royal family. You see, quite some time ago now there was a commoner who attended this school with a rare Talent but because they were a commoner it wasn¡¯t nurtured properly. The result was a whole town being wiped off the map from the magic explosion they caused because they weren¡¯t taught how to properly control their magic power and mana. So if you actually care about this country not only would you be fine with commoners attending the academy but you would encourage it.¡± They excuse themselves and walk away in a hurry. Bel walks over to the girl that¡¯s left, who is probably our classmate, to check up on her. ¡°You must be Miss Barnes, don¡¯t let people like this get to you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you for standing up for me. But please call me Alexia, your highness.¡± We entered the classroom and the class soon started. The things the teacher is talking about are very boring so I let my eyes rest a bit. I open my eyes again because someone is poking the side of my arm. I see it¡¯s Bel doing that so I look at her disgruntled, not noticing the teacher standing in front of me looking very angry. ¡°Your highness, you might be a princess but you are also a student at this academy! Please pay attention!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am, I already learned about this 4 years ago so I got bored.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m sure it¡¯s no problem for you to explain why it is so important to have good control over your magic power, especially if you have a lot of mana!¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.¡°Because if one isn¡¯t careful it¡¯s easy to make a spell a lot stronger than intended,¡± I create a large ball of water, ¡°which can cause problems, but if the caster has proper control of their magic and how much they want to use¡±, I make the ball of water small enough to fill about a cup, ¡°which makes it safer to use magic for everyone around them.¡± I make the ball of water disappear. ¡°Water is a relatively safe element to train with because at worst everything gets wet while with something like fire the outcome could be disastrous.¡± All three of them look at me in shock. ¡°Excuse me, your highness, but if it¡¯s not too much to ask, why are you even in this school?¡± ¡°Ah, grandma insisted on it so I can learn some common sense.¡± Miss Barnes and the teacher look at me shocked while Bel just sighs and comments, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to admit that that easily.¡± Apparently I missed the whole class because Bel, Alexia and I are now on our way to the cafeteria. Alexia seems to be a bit nervous but we did talk it over before and came to the conclusion that it¡¯s for the best to make sure everyone knows we are friends. I spent most of our lunch thinking about making something to keep both Bel and Alexia safe while I¡¯m not around. It''s been a few decades since I had to deal with bullies myself but I doubt much has changed. Bel and Alexia are both going to the swordsmanship class while I¡¯m going to the magic tool class. It surprises me a bit that Bel isn¡¯t attending class with me because I was pretty sure she is supposed to make sure my ¡®lack of common sense¡¯ doesn¡¯t get out of hand. Mom told me that grandma might have someone like that look out for me because mom had someone like that as well. The class about magic tools was very interesting. Apparently you are supposed to use special material to create magic tools. The teacher explained it as every material having different mana compatibility so using the right material makes it easier to add magic to it and while it is possible to use any material in theory it¡¯s not realistic because the amount of mana needed would be too large. I can see why everyone was so outraged by the things I was making since it is something thought to be impossible or at least close to, not like that¡¯s going to stop me from continuing. I am curious what I can create if I use the proper materials though. After the class the teacher showed me a workshop to create magic tools of any kind, including different tools to create the tool itself before adding the magic. The teacher said that it is my personal workshop. I didn¡¯t really pay attention to the reason but it felt like it was a bit of an insult. I am now on my way to where the swordsmanship classes are held, Bel told me they would be sparing together for a bit after class. I don¡¯t really understand why they are so invested in learning how to use weapons when both of them have the Magic Talent. They tried to explain to me that you can¡¯t always rely on magic since it takes a bit to activate so knowing any kind of martial art can give you a huge advantage. It¡¯s easy to find them because they seem to be the only ones around currently sparing. There are quite a few onlookers which is understandable given their spar looks similar to when I used to spar with mom. Bel is using her rapier and nimble movements to redirect or dodge the twin axes Alexia is using. At a glance it looks like Bel is at a disadvantage and only dodging and parrying but she is actually breaking Alexia¡¯s balance slightly each time. Both of their movements feel very natural but I¡¯m surprised no one is getting injured. They are going at it like that for a bit longer when they suddenly both stop. I walk towards them while they sit down. They look very exhausted. ¡°How are neither of you injured?¡± Bel points at a brooch she is wearing, ¡°This is a magic tool that can absorb a certain amount of harm for the user, the school lent them to us and they are very expensive because of the material they are made from and the amount of mana needed to create it. After the limit is reached it needs to be recharged with mana again. We were allowed to borrow them because we are able to recharge them ourselves.¡± ¡°Interesting, interesting. So who won?¡± This time Alexia speaks up, ¡°It is a draw, both reached their limit at the same time.¡± I sit down next to them and take a picnic basket out from my pocket. I¡¯m ignoring everyone staring at me and start setting up 3 glasses and lay out the sandwiches I prepared yesterday. ¡°Your highness, didn¡¯t we agree not to create any more magic tools until after you had your first class?¡± If I pretend I can¡¯t hear her I can¡¯t get into trouble. I give one of the sandwiches to Alexia who is staring at me flabbergasted. ¡°Fine, if you don¡¯t want to explain yourself I¡¯m going to inform her Majesty about what you¡¯ve been doing.¡± Oh no, grandma is scary when she¡¯s angry. I try to explain myself, ¡°I-I always wanted to have a picnic but never had the chance so I figured if I always carry one with me I¡¯m prepared for if the opportunity arises but don¡¯t worry, I also used a time preserving spell so everything I put in should stay fresh for at least about a year without problems¡­¡± Bel looks even angrier now. Alexia seems to have recovered from the shock, ¡°Wait, so you added a time manipulation spell to our school uniform and you¡¯re acting like it¡¯s a basic thing to do?¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s not! Time manipulation magic is already very demanding, not just in mana control but concentration and required mana to the point where it¡¯s incredibly hard to use as is, let alone attach it to even one of the best suited materials!¡± Bel chewed me out for quite awhile but I was still able to enjoy the picnic. She did confiscate my picnic basket though, like that¡¯s going to stop me. Instead of going to my room I¡¯m going to my workshop and Bel and Alexia are heading to the library to study. The teacher told me there is material to make magic tools provided by the school but I have no idea which material is better or worse, on one hand because I haven¡¯t really learned about it yet, on the other hand because I don¡¯t really care too much since it doesn¡¯t really matter to me. I pick a red material because it looks pretty and start working on making 2 brooches. I¡¯m trying to replicate the brooch they used for training but I think it can be improved on. I¡¯m pretty happy with the end result, the brooch gives the wearer protection by counter attacking with the same force if hit, it draws mana from its surroundings so there is no need to recharge it and if the wearer actually channels mana into the brooch it will create a magic shield around the wearer. The brooches are in the shape of a shield and have a phoenix on it because I figured that would look good with the red of the material. It took a bit longer than expected to finish both brooches because it¡¯s almost time for class now. I arrive at the classroom but Bel and Alexia aren¡¯t here yet. Did they oversleep? Class is about to start when Bel and Alexia enter together with red faces. ¡°Morning.¡± ¡°Good morning, Lady Lucina.¡± ¡°Good morning, your highness.¡± I give them each a brooch, ¡°They work similar to the one you used yesterday from the academy but I improved them a bit.¡± Before they get the chance to ask questions the teacher enters the classroom and class starts. I hope the teacher won¡¯t mind if I take a quick nap again. I get woken up by being shaken. ¡°Lady Lucina, class is over.¡± We sit down in the cafeteria, Bel and Alexia both put the brooch on and Bel doesn¡¯t even look angry with me. ¡°So when you say you improved it, what do you mean?¡± ¡°Instead of having to recharge it it uses the mana in the environment and you can add your own mana to the brooch to create a barrier around yourself.¡± ¡°Okay, next question. Why is it red?¡± ¡°I found it among the material provided by the academy and I thought it looked cool.¡± ¡°And I assume there is a phoenix on there for the same reason?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Bel doesn¡¯t seem to approve of my smug expression. Things looking cool is important! We finished eating and went to our classes. Today''s magic tool class was about different materials and their efficiency. As it turns out the red material I used is something called Adamantite, a material that is hard to use for magic tools because it takes a lot of mana to add any spell to it but if someone does manage to do so the spell''s strength gets increased. Because of that it¡¯s used in staffs for magicians or a weapon for a magic swordsman. I had asked the teacher what the difference is and they explained it that the issue for magic tools is that the material has to ¡®hold¡¯ the spell, which Adamantite has a low compatibility with, but if you use it in a staff you can still get part of the strength increase because it doesn¡¯t have to hold the spell but just passes through it. This would explain why it took so long to add the spells to the brooches. I left class and Bel and Alexia are already waiting for me. Bel looks angry and Alexia concerned. ¡°You know, your highness, adding a counter attack isn¡¯t exactly a small improvement especially on Adamantite! How did you even manage to put something on anything, let alone on Adamantite which doesn¡¯t hold even the simplest of spells?!¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry. Did something happen?¡± Bel grits her teeth but Alexia speaks up. ¡°I had to grab something from my room before class and on my way back I got cornered. They tried to intimidate me again because I¡¯m a commoner but since I had her highnesses brooch I figured I would be fine. That only seemed to piss them off more though so they attacked me, while I didn¡¯t have time to activate the shield you mentioned. The good news is, the automatic defence works, the bad news is, it works too well. The student that attacked me is now in the infirmary because they are trying to paint it as me attacking them.¡± I think for a bit. ¡°It¡¯s probably my fault. The idea was to counter an attack with the same force in order to nullify it but I think because it¡¯s Adamantite it returns the attack with a higher force. I didn¡¯t know that Adamantite increases the strength of a spell when I made it so I didn¡¯t take that into account.¡± Bel lets out a sigh. ¡°Only you can think up something so ridiculous.¡± ¡°Well, what¡¯s done is done. Let¡¯s talk to the principal and get this sorted out.¡± I enter the principal¡¯s office, who is getting quite flustered when he sees me enter with Bel and Alexia. ¡°What brings you here, your highness?¡± ¡°I heard a student attacked someone and got hurt in the process. I came by because I also heard someone is trying to spin the story so I wanted to hear the details from you.¡± He seems a bit calmer now, maybe he thinks I don¡¯t know the whole story or that he can spin it. ¡°You must have heard wrong, your highness. The injured student is the one that got attacked. Miss Barnes was the one who attacked them. I have the testimony of 3 other students and besides, the injured student is a second year student, if they actually attacked Miss Barnes she would be the one injured instead.¡± ¡°I would agree with you if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Miss Barnes is wearing a magic tool meant to protect her from attacks.¡± He looks surprised for a moment but quickly regains his calm, I do think he is starting to realise that I know everything already. ¡°Even if that was the case, that doesn¡¯t justify a counter attack that leaves someone injured. Using excessive force for self defence is just as bad, especially if you don¡¯t get hurt at all.¡± ¡°Okay, then how big of a retaliation would be enough? Would it have been fine with half the power?¡± ¡°Of course not! While the student''s life isn¡¯t in danger it was a close call! The only reason they didn¡¯t get crippled was someone giving emergency treatment!¡± I look at Alexia and she gives me a nod. Seems like she understood my wordless question whether or not she gave first aid. ¡°So are you aware that the magic tool Miss Barnes has is something I created? I actually didn¡¯t intend for it to cause harm to an attacker but I didn¡¯t know Adamantite increases the strength of a spell so that¡¯s on me. I did check the efficiency though and it only returns an attack at around 120% of the original strength. This means the attack directed at Miss Barnes was intended to cause significant harm to her and at the least cripple her. But Miss Barnes actually provided first aid to her attacker, which is something I doubt they would have done for her if the attack was successful.¡± The principal looks defeated. ¡°I recommend you take the proper actions and expel the students that caused these problems.¡± Alexia grabs my attention, ¡°Excuse me, you highness. If it isn¡¯t too much trouble I¡¯d prefer it if those students don¡¯t get expelled. Their resentment might grow if they do get expelled which could cause even more problems and I don¡¯t think they will make the same mistake again.¡± I think for a moment, ¡°Fine,¡± I look at the principal, ¡°you heard her. But don¡¯t think you will get away easily yourself because I am going to tell her Majesty the Queen about this.¡± With this we leave the office and I invite Bel and Alexia over to my room. The moment I close the door to my room both of them kneel down on one knee. ¡°¡°Your highness, please let us serve under you.¡±¡± I stare at them surprised for a bit. ¡°I refuse.¡± They both look at me shocked and Bel is the first to speak up, ¡°May I know why? Is it because we are so much weaker than you?¡± I sigh, ¡°No, I have no need for anyone to serve under me. I plan to live as a commoner in the countryside with my mom again once I finish school. It¡¯s pure coincidence that I¡¯m a princess and I don¡¯t care about the title. Aunt Emelia¡¯s children are next in line anyways so it¡¯s not like I¡¯d become the next queen to begin with.¡± This time Alexia speaks up, ¡°Your highness, I understand that for you status is something that doesn¡¯t matter and while that might be true for us as well while we are at the academy the reality is that as soon as we graduate there is going to be a gap again. A lot of nobles don¡¯t care much for commoners but anyone who is recognized by a noble or royalty can¡¯t just be ignored. This might be very selfish of me but just being able to serve under you would make my, as well as my family''s, life a lot easier.¡± Bel chimes in, ¡°My Family has a long history of being loyal to the royal family, we choose who to serve ourselves though. You not only protected a young woman you didn¡¯t even know yet but also recognised the potential danger and quite literally saved her life with your foresight. I can¡¯t imagine anyone more worthy to serve. We also don¡¯t need to follow you around as long as you promise you will rely on us if you ever need to.¡± This sounds like a hassle but they make a good point. I sigh, ¡°Fine, but only under the condition that you still treat me like a friend.¡± Chapter 5 It¡¯s been a bit over a year since I started attending the academy. Like they said at the entrance ceremony we got to choose our own classes this year. Bel took swordsmanship, Alexia took magic and since I don¡¯t think the magic class would teach me anything and I¡¯m still banned from swordsmanship classes I took magic tools, it would most likely have been my choice anyways but I would have been tempted to take swordsmanship if I wasn¡¯t banned. There weren¡¯t any more issues for Alexia or any of the other commoners that attend the academy after I scolded the principal. He also got replaced shortly after I told grandma what happened. I figured she would be angry but I didn¡¯t imagine she would be this angry. I think Bel and Alexia started dating but keep it a secret. Alexia has been staying over at Bel¡¯s room a lot and every time I saw them coming to class together they blushed. I asked them about it before but they denied it, all while having beet red faces. They also started to do more and more things together after school while I practised blacksmithing. I took up blacksmithing in order to create better magic tools. I''m also trying to use the proper materials now instead of whatever I find, at least if it¡¯s not something I make for myself. I also made a first prototype for Bel¡¯s rapier. It uses an Adamantite core and for the rest I used a material I created myself. There is a magic metal that gets stronger by absorbing mana from its surroundings. At first I carried some with me but it takes a long time for it to get stronger, even around my mana but I found a work around for it. It still takes a bit and it¡¯s not something others can replicate easily but I made a box out of Adamantite with increased space and I can put my mana into the box and the metal inside that space will start absorbing it. The Adamantite increases the efficiency as well as keeps the mana inside without any leaks. For an amount that¡¯s enough to create a single weapon it takes about 3 months and I have to add most of my mana into the box each day. Bel said she would have to do the same for about 5 years to get the same result and her magic power is now at around 21¡¯000. We are about to head out on a test from the academy, it¡¯s a joint test where a magic tool student, like me, has to deliver some things to a town outside the capital while students from both the magic and swordsmanship classes are the escorts. We were allowed to make our own groups so I have Bel and Alexia as my escorts. To ensure the safety of the students during this trip there is going to be an adventurer tagging along but they are only allowed to interfere during an emergency the students wouldn¡¯t be able to handle. We are ready to head out but are still waiting for the adventurer that is going to tag along with us. I wonder who it¡¯s going to be. ¡°Hey there little miss, long time no see.¡± I look at where the voice is coming from and I see a man around mom¡¯s age coming towards me. He is the receptionist I met at the adventurers guild 5 years ago. ¡°Hey Ad, I didn¡¯t know you were an adventurer as well.¡± ¡°Of course El didn¡¯t tell you anything. I retired and became a receptionist for the guild. El actually wanted to come herself but of course Her Majesty didn¡¯t allow it so she asked me to come instead.¡± Bel and Alexia look at me expectantly. ¡°Ah right, let me introduce you.¡± I gesture at Ad, ¡°This is Adrian.¡± ¡°Hey here, I¡¯m a retired adventurer working as a guild receptionist, I¡¯m here because El requested me to be her replacement.¡± I gesture at Bel and Alexia, ¡°And this is Bella and Alexia, they are my friends and escorts for this test.¡± Alexia leans in and whispers, ¡°Who is El?¡± ¡°Ah, he means my mom.¡± ¡°By the way Lucina, where is your sword? El made a really big fuss when she asked me to find a good sword for you.¡± ¡°Since I¡¯m from the magic tool class I¡¯m not allowed to bring one. It¡¯s part of my assessment, if something goes wrong it¡¯s because I didn¡¯t choose enough or capable enough escorts. And for the worst case you are here as well anyways.¡± Since we are all here now we leave for our journey. It¡¯s going to take about 4 days to arrive at our destination but nothing should happen until around the second or third day when we are a bit further away from the capital. The first day went as predicted and we are now setting up camp for the night. I pull a tent from my backpack. The tent is pre built and one of the new magic tools I made and now is a good time to test it. Bel, Alexia and Ad look at me questioningly, which is understandable, a single tent is usually a bit small for 4 people. ¡°It¡¯s the latest magic tool I created, you will understand once you get inside.¡± I give them a smile and then enter the tent. I¡¯m waiting for them to follow me in, the inside is much bigger than the outside would make you think and I¡¯m really curious how they will react to it. Bel and Alexia are the first to enter but they don¡¯t look very surprised. Their reaction is a bit disappointing but I guess they got a bit dull from my previous antics. However when Ad enters he looks very shocked. It makes sense, I¡¯m pretty sure most people would be shocked if they entered a small tent just to find out there are multiple rooms in there, including a small kitchen. ¡°What? How? Why?¡± I give Ad a proud smile but Bel is letting out a sigh and shakes her head. ¡°It¡¯s a bit sad how used we got to ridiculous things like this.¡± Alexia turns to Ad, ¡°I guess her highness Eliza never told you that Miss Lucina is creating increasingly more ridiculous magic items.¡± She shows him her brooch, ¡°For example, she created this brooch on the first day of school. It blocks attacks by countering them with an equal force, or at least that¡¯s what she intended it to do, in actuality it counters with about 120% of the force of any attack. And it doesn¡¯t even stop there, while defence tools like this usually need to be charged and thus have a limit on what they can block, this one actually uses the mana of the environment instead as well as creating a shield if the wearer''s mana is used.¡± Ad looks even more shocked now. ¡°This tent is still a prototype though, it¡¯s safe to use but I want to increase the space a bit more.¡± ¡°What the hell else would you want to add?! Aren¡¯t 4 separate rooms and a kitchen enough?!¡± ¡°W-well like I said this is a prototype so I made it to be used during this test. I want to make one I can use once I can go on adventures so I want it to have a workshop, bedroom, bath, kitchen and a small living room space.¡± This ended that discussion. I made dinner for everyone which we are now eating. ¡°By the way Ad, I always wanted to ask but I never got the chance. Why is it that you use the prayer to change your gender so often? I thought people usually only use it once?¡± They taught us about prayers in school. Prayers are a special type of magic that everyone can use no matter how much mana they have. Not too much is known about them and they were discovered by coincidence. Someone was in so much pain because of the gender they were born into and in desperation they prayed to God for help, God answered by changing their body to their desired gender without any side effects, or that¡¯s how the story goes at least. It doesn¡¯t really matter how much truth there is behind the story because the prayer works just like the story says. ¡°There isn¡¯t really much to it to be honest. I just change to whatever I feel like that day. I figured if I¡¯m not supposed to do that it wouldn¡¯t work to begin with.¡± We soon finished our dinner and headed to bed since we planned to leave early tomorrow. I¡¯m packing up the tent again and we are ready to leave. Ad changed to a woman this morning, she said she feels more comfortable that way because she¡¯s travelling with 3 young women. The remaining days went by pretty boring. There were a few monster attacks but nothing Bel and Alexia couldn¡¯t handle, it wasn¡¯t even enough to test out the performance of Bel¡¯s new rapier. Now that we arrived at the village my real job starts. Before we got informed about where we have to go I received a letter from grandma. This is the 3rd attempt to deliver supplies to this village this month, usually they only get supplies about once every 4 months. All of the people from the previous deliveries disappeared so she wanted me to investigate while I¡¯m here to see if I can find out more. From the journey so far it doesn¡¯t seem that dangerous to come here, while I might not be the best at judging danger for normal people I do trust that the escort selected would be able to handle what we encountered without any issues or they would have increased the strength of the escort a long time ago. ¡°Welcome to our small village, your highness. I¡¯m sorry to ask but did something happen on the way?¡± ¡°Thank you for having us. No, nothing out of the ordinary, why do you ask?¡± ¡°Usually our supplies arrive in a carriage, the route here can be dangerous so we get a lot of supplies at once but less frequently. But you don¡¯t seem to travel with a carriage so I wasn¡¯t sure if something happened to it on the way here.¡± ¡°Ah, no. I thought it would be easier to travel by foot.¡± I put down my backpack and start taking out the supplies. The village chief called over a few people to help put away the supplies, Bel and Alexia offered to help but he said we should rest. While they are putting away the supplies I¡¯m taking a look around the village. The village looks pretty normal, there aren¡¯t any signs of it being attacked or recent fighting. The villagers I saw were all unarmed as well. If they can be so relaxed out here why do the supply deliveries including the trained and armed escort just disappear. The village chief approaches me, ¡°Your highness, we finished putting all of the supplies away, why don¡¯t you all join us for dinner. We also prepared lodgings for all of you while you stay here. You are staying here, right? It would be dangerous to leave now.¡± I give him a sincere smile, ¡°Of course, thank you for your hospitality.¡± The village chief leads me to the centre of the village, where a few tables and benches are set up and preparations for what seems to be a feast have already started. Bel, Alexia and Ad are already here so I walk over to them. We sit down next to each other at one of the tables and before we can even say a word a few people from the village bring us something to drink. ¡°Your highness please enjoy this wine and relax until the food is ready.¡± ¡°Thank you so much but there is no need to go out of your way this much for us. We don¡¯t mind waiting for everyone.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us. Just enjoy yourself, we insist.¡± I have a bad feeling about this but I can¡¯t let it show or they might get suspicious. I take a sip from the wine but I can¡¯t really taste anything wrong with it. It doesn¡¯t take that long for preparation to finish and everyone else to sit down as well and meals are served. Alexia only takes a few bites and starts to slowly doze off, Bel and Ad also look quite sluggish. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re getting tired, why don¡¯t we show you where you can rest for the night?¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea, I¡¯m getting a bit tired myself. Thank you, again, for your hospitality.¡± I carry Alexia while one of the villagers leads the way. It¡¯s a single room with 4 beds in the village chiefs house, it¡¯s better than nothing but my tent would have been a better option. I put Alexia into one bed and help Ad and Bel to get in another each before lying down myself and pretending to fall asleep. I can understand Alexia getting affected by the wine but Bel is a noble, she should be somewhat used to it and Ad is around the same age as mom so she should most definitely not get done in by some wine, especially if I¡¯m not affected by it. I¡¯m pretty sure they did something either to the food or the wine they gave us but if I don¡¯t fool them by pretending to be affected by it they might not make a move, I did put a protection spell on everyone just to be on the safe side though. I think I¡¯m not affected because they fed me so many drugs in that institution that I got a resistance to most poisons. It¡¯s a good thing mom insisted I learned how to use my magic to see because I can now monitor everything around us. All the villagers, except the village chief, seem to have gone into their houses while the village chief appears to be still in the village centre where the feast was. It looks like he is waiting for someone and only a short time later a few unknown people arrive. I can¡¯t really make out much and this is the disadvantage of using magic as vision, you can¡¯t really make out people clearly unless you recognize their mana. They talk for a bit and then walk towards the village chief¡¯s house. Only the village chief and another person, who seems to be the leader of the new arrivals, enter the house while the rest wait outside. They stop in front of the room and I can clearly hear them now. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.¡°We are taking a great risk today since one of them is the first princess, I hope this will be considered in our compensation.¡± ¡°Of course, of course. But this country really is pathetic. Sending a princess on a mission where the previous people sent all disappeared.¡± The unknown man lets out a laugh. From how they are talking I get the feeling he might be from another country. He opens the door and I create an invisible barrier around the whole village. He walks over to me first and before he can do anything I use a paralysing spell on him, jump up and do the same to the village chief who is in too big a shock to react. There are still about 10 people outside and fighting them all with magic would be difficult so I grab the first thing I can use as a weapon on the way out. I stop at the door to assess the situation outside and I can hear two of the people outside talking. ¡°It looks like we overestimated the Gairyn Kingdom. Sending the princess on a mission where everyone before went missing is pretty dumb.¡± ¡°I agree but at least she is lucky. Since she is worth more alive than dead we won¡¯t have to kill her and her companions.¡± I open the door, ¡°Looks to me like you underestimated us.¡± They all look at me shocked and I use that time to start knocking them out, it¡¯s probably better to take them prisoner rather than killing them. I rush from one person to the next, whatever it is I picked up as a weapon it feels very natural to use. It doesn¡¯t take long to knock them all out and use magic to bind them. I carry them inside and bind both the village chief and the leader of the group as well, both of them still paralysed. I made sure everyone is secured and won¡¯t be able to escape and then make my way over to Alexia. She seems the one who is affected the most so I think it¡¯s best to check up on her first. My suspicions were correct, they gave us a rather weak sleeping drug. I concentrate my magic on dispelling the drug from her body. I learned how to do it in that institution to make my life a little bit easier but it¡¯s the first time I¡¯m using it on someone else. I was a bit worried but it looks like I managed to do it successfully but Alexia is still asleep. I go over to Bel and Ad and repeat the process. They should be fine now but they are all still fast asleep. It¡¯s probably for the best if I stay up to keep guard, while I trust that my binding spell can¡¯t be broken easily it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry. I take a chair from another room and sit down in a way where I can see the whole room. It took a few hours but Ad is the first to wake up. She looks very confused when looking around. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The village drugged us with something that makes you fall asleep and tried to hand us over to what I think are soldiers from another country. The people over there are bound by my spell and shouldn¡¯t be able to escape and I made a barrier around the village in case I missed someone.¡± She looks around half in shock and half in surprise. ¡°Wait, why didn¡¯t you fall asleep? I¡¯d assume they would try to drug you as well? And were you already aware of what was going on? Why didn¡¯t you warn us? This could have been dangerous!¡± ¡°Well, you remember how mom rescued me, right? A weak drug like that is nothing compared to what they gave me regularly there. And yes, I was aware, grandma specifically sent me to investigate this and I didn¡¯t tell you anything because all 3 of you suck at acting. Just look at Alexia and Bel, they clearly have been dating for awhile but they think they can fool me by saying they aren¡¯t while having faces that would put a tomato to shame.¡± ¡°¡°YOU KNEW?!¡±¡± Oh looks like Bel and Alexia woke up as well. ¡°I mean it¡¯s not that hard to guess given how often you have been sleeping over in Bel¡¯s room.¡± I shudder. ¡°And the walls aren¡¯t as thick as you think they are.¡± I get up from my chair and head to an empty bed. ¡°Anyways since you are all up I¡¯m going to take a nap. Ad, can you please fill them in? Including stuff from over 5 years ago.¡± I don¡¯t wait for an answer and lie down, exhaustion taking over. By the time I wake up again it¡¯s already starting to get bright again. Bel, Alexia and Ad notice me waking up and Bel and Alexia look at me with a troubled expression. ¡°Good morning.¡± Alexia is the first one to speak up. ¡°Why have you never told us about your past?¡± I rub my eyes, ¡°It¡¯s not really something I want to think about too much and it can be dangerous to let others know how strong I actually am. The school thinks I have the Magic Talent and the magic power result is because of that. Besides, ever since mom rescued me from there my life has been pretty good.¡± Bel is speaking up this time, ¡°But if it¡¯s that dangerous, why tell us now?¡± ¡°After what happened today it¡¯s kinda hard not to tell you and I trust you. There aren¡¯t many who would swear loyalty to someone after such a short amount of time knowing them.¡± Ad is pointing next to the chair I used yesterday, ¡°What is that scythe doing here?¡± ¡°I have my weapon in my backpack and it wasn¡¯t close enough to get it out so I grabbed the first thing I could use as a replacement. I do think it might be my compatible weapon though.¡± ¡°What are you saying? A scythe is for harvesting, it¡¯s not a weapon.¡± ¡°I know that but it felt natural to use, like it¡¯s an extension of my body and all the prisoners still being alive is proof of it as well. You know how bad I am with holding back my strength.¡± ¡°It did surprise me that they are all still alive but I figured you just used magic. The only question left now is how do we get back with all those prisoners?¡± I get up and grab the scythe, ¡°I know how to make a teleportation magic circle to get back. Just give me maybe an hour and gather everyone in that time.¡± That being said, I start working on the magic circle. I use a smaller version of it to exchange letters with mom. This one is probably only going to work once though because there isn¡¯t another one set up in the capital and since it¡¯s this big it needs a lot of mana. Just as I finish Alexia comes over. ¡°Lady Lucina, why did you never say anything if you already knew Bella and I are dating?¡± ¡°I did ask before but you both denied it so I left it at that. I figured you¡¯d tell me once you¡¯re ready and there is no need for me to force it.¡± Alexia thinks for a bit while Bel comes over, ¡°To be honest I¡¯m more curious how you found out.¡± ¡°Well, like I said yesterday, the walls aren¡¯t as thick as you think they are,¡± I shudder again, ¡°I made my room soundproof because of that. Also every time you came to class together you blushed and avoided making eye contact with me and the restaurant next to the blacksmith where I learn blacksmithing isn¡¯t exactly the best spot for a date if you don¡¯t want me to know. But why were you hiding it anyway?¡± Bel and Alexia exchange glances before Bel answers. ¡°As you might know, many nobles still have a more negative view on commoners so we wanted to wait until we have actual achievements and we both agreed that if we were to tell you the reason you¡¯d try to help us.¡± Alexia chimes in, ¡°Don¡¯t get us wrong, Lady Lucina, we appreciate all you do for us but this is something we need to do on our own. If you were to do something about it they would accept it publicly but behind closed doors we would still be scrutinised.¡± I think for a moment, ¡° I can understand that but this would be the ideal situation now. It might cause trouble if people find out that I overpowered this many people by myself. I was thinking to give either you or Ad the credit because of that and knowing that it would probably help with your situation as well. Stopping the plots of another country and keeping the first princess safe isn¡¯t something to be taken lightly and if I talk with aunt Emelia and grandma I¡¯m sure they will agree and help out as well. That would solve both of our problems in one go, what do you think?¡± They think for a bit, it seems they aren¡¯t that convinced. ¡°Both of you are more than capable enough, if you hadn¡¯t been drugged you would have easily overpowered them. I know how hard you both train and how strong you are.¡± They look at each other, smile and then drop on one knee. ¡°¡°We know we already swore loyalty to you but this just confirms to us again that we made the right decision. Thank you so much for all you do for us, your highness.¡±" I avert their gaze and blush. ¡°I¡¯m also doing this for myself. Anyways, you¡¯re over here because everyone is gathered, right? So let¡¯s go.¡± Everyone gathers on the magic circle and I activate it. A bright light blocks my vision and once it disappears we are in front of the castle. One of the guards rushes over, ¡°Your highness, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°We ran into some trouble on our test for the academy, Bel, Alexia and I used a magic circle together to get back here as soon as possible. Those people behind us are captives, please escort them to the jail and inform her majesty about my arrival.¡± The guard nods and calls over more guards to escort them to the jail. I enter the castle, Bel, Alexia and Ad following behind me. We enter a reception room and wait for grandma to arrive. Bel and Alexia look pretty nervous, I can somewhat understand why but they have been friends with me for over a year now so they should be used to being around royalty. The door opens and grandma, mom and Emelia enter. Ad, Bel and Alexia give a bow, ¡°Don¡¯t be so stiff, we aren¡¯t in public here.¡± Grandma waives her hand and sits down. Mom and Emelia sitting down on each side of her. ¡°Adriana, it¡¯s great to see you again. How are Cerys and you doing? I hope my daughter hasn¡¯t caused you too much trouble.¡± ¡°Of course not your Majesty. Cerys is doing good, she is actually pregnant, otherwise she would have probably accompanied me.¡± ¡°Oh? Congratulations. Bella Ordno, Alexia Barnes, thank you for looking after Lucina and being her friend. I¡¯m sorry for all the trouble she caused.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s no problem, your majesty. Lucina helped us out a lot as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. So Lucina, tell me what happened.¡± I told grandma about what happened, the people that are now in jail and my plan for how to continue forward. Grandma lets out a sigh, ¡°I also think it¡¯s a good idea to give credit to Alexia and Bella and I would also like to knight both of them and assign them as your personal knights. It wouldn¡¯t really change much but it definitely makes the claim more believable. That is of course if they agree?¡± She looks at Bel and Alexia, waiting for them to respond. ¡°¡°We would be honoured, your Majesty.¡±¡± With that settled everyone but mom and I left. They need to figure out the details and organise things and mom and I want to catch up. ¡°Mom, I think I finally found my compatible weapon.¡± She looks at me excited, ¡°What is it? I can¡¯t believe you found it randomly after we tried so many things!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone about this, I¡¯m gonna get scolded again.¡± I take the scythe from my pocket, ¡°I found it randomly like that because it¡¯s not used as a weapon.¡± She now looks at the scythe in my hand sceptically. ¡°You do realise this is not a weapon?¡± ¡°Yes I know, but you said that I will know I¡¯m using my compatible weapon when I feel like it¡¯s part of my body and natural to use. None of the weapons I ever used felt natural to use let alone like a part of my body, but when I used this scythe it felt like I¡¯ve been using it all my life.¡± ¡°Well, there is one easy way to find out. Let¡¯s have a duel, it¡¯s been awhile since we had a go at it.¡± ¡°Sure but this scythe is meant to be a harvesting tool and not a weapon so I don¡¯t know how well it will hold up against your sword.¡± We left for the courtyard to have our duel. I have never won against mom before, which shows the difference between someone with the Sword Talent using their compatible weapon and an amateur with a random weapon. To be fair I never used magic because that would make the whole thing pointless but I still can¡¯t underestimate mom. We both take our positions and wait for the other to make the first move. She is probably waiting for me so I can show what I can do so I rush her. She swings her sword towards me but I duck under it and rush past her. On my way past I hit her chest armour and drag her along a short distance. She gets launched a few metres when I come to a stop. I rush over to her, ¡°Mom! Are you okay? I¡¯m so sorry.¡± She slowly gets up and looks at the dent I left in her armour. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s a good thing that scythe isn¡¯t meant to be a weapon, that was terrifying.¡± Chapter 6 There was a small ceremony for Bel¡¯s and Alexia¡¯s knighting followed by an announcement for it including them being assigned as my personal knights. It took most of the remaining school year to get enough of my special magic metal. I decided to call it Aterium because of its black colouring. I tried making a rapier for Bel only using Aterium but it turned out to work worse for her than when I was using an Adamantite core. When I tested it out myself I didn¡¯t have the same issue so I theorised that since the magic metal absorbed my mana it¡¯s attuned to my mana specifically. It¡¯s still usable as a blade for other people but they can¡¯t get any increases in magic strength. It¡¯s a shame really because for me personally it¡¯s essentially a better version of Adamantite. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m quite ready to craft a scythe for myself out of it but I have enough material by now and until I¡¯m confident I¡¯m using one the blacksmith who taught me made. I also learned that after the interrogation of the prisoners we took back from the village that the soldiers were indeed from a neighbouring country. The Stovaria Empire to be precise. We have a fragile peace with them, mostly because we have a stronger military force. In the Empire commoners have little to no rights and they care way too much about one''s Talent. It¡¯s kinda ironic because our military is stronger than theirs because commoners have similar rights to nobles and the commoners with powerful Talents get discovered easily and nurtured. Since the Stovaria Empire doesn¡¯t care much about commoners they also have a lot of them fleeing to us once they realise their child has a ¡®weak¡¯ Talent in order to avoid the horrible treatment. This is another reason the Empire dislikes us but things got a lot worse when grandma became the queen. We thought Emelia taking over might improve things since her Negotiation Talent is quite rare but it seems we were wrong. I¡¯m currently in the strategy room with mom, grandma, Emelia, a few advisors and of course Bel and Alexia. We are planning for upcoming diplomatic talks with the Stovaria Empire. The main problem we are facing is that we can¡¯t send Emelia because she is pregnant, mom is too big of a liability, sending grandma is risky and having too many guards accompany her would just make them look down on us even more, so the only real option is to send me since I could handle myself in an emergency and since Bel and Alexia are strong enough they would be enough as escorts. The advisors aren¡¯t really fond of sending three 18 year olds on what could be a dangerous mission thus discussions are still ongoing 3 days later. ¡°Your Majesty, you can¡¯t be serious about sending your niece into enemy territory, they already tried to kidnap her once! This is too dangerous!¡± ¡°Did you forget she and her friends already took down an elite group from there? They can handle themselves.¡± ¡°That was a surprise attack, fighting a real battle, especially at a disadvantage, is a completely different story!¡± This back and forth was more or less all everyone talked about the past 3 days but mom speaks up for the first time. ¡°Enough of this! Lucina, how long do you think you need to finish your weapon?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty confident in my blacksmithing now so I think I should be able to finish it within about a week.¡± Everyone but Bel and Alexia stare at us while we have our conversation and grandma is the first to ask, ¡°Eliza, Lucina, care to tell us what you mean by that?¡± Mom looks at me and I give her a nod, ¡°As you might know Lucina made a new magic metal that specifically increases her strength. She found her compatible weapon during the village incident and she finally has enough of that metal to craft a weapon made completely out of that metal.¡± ¡°Your highness Eliza, we understand that having a compatible weapon can make quite a difference but I don¡¯t think that will be enough.¡± They do have a point, except something like that doesn¡¯t apply to me since not having a compatible weapon or a weapon that can actually withstand my full power has been holding me back significantly. Mom takes something out from her backpack and places it on the table. ¡°After she found out what her compatible weapon is I asked her to have a duel with me to confirm. This is the armour I wore during that duel, which she won in a single move.¡± They look at the dented armour with wide eyes. I¡¯m still a bit surprised mom didn¡¯t get injured with how dented the armour is. ¡°So unless you think someone who is stronger than me is too weak to take care of herself I say this discussion is over. Also just so this is clear, her compatible weapon is a scythe and the one she used in the duel wasn¡¯t meant to be used in a battle, unlike what she is about to create herself.¡± The whole room goes silent until Emelia speaks up, ¡°Well, I was already in favour of sending her and I take it there are no further objections?¡± No one answers. ¡°Good, then let''s start preparations to depart in 2 weeks.¡± She looks at me, ¡°You said it¡¯s going to take you about a week but it¡¯s better to take your time than risk making a mistake. We trust you to make the right decisions as our representative but don¡¯t forget our priority is to not start a war.¡± One of the advisors mumbles, ¡°If they didn¡¯t force commoners to fight we could have overthrown them a long time ago.¡± Emelia shoots him a death glare but grandma just adds, ¡°We also can¡¯t just attack them unprovoked because that would make us the bad guys no matter our intentions.¡± Grandma then looks at me, ¡°But remember, you are there as the first princess of the Gairyn Kingdom so don¡¯t let them push you around. We hope we can resolve this peacefully but we trust your judgement if that isn¡¯t possible.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, we can¡¯t go to war over something like this!¡± ¡°I disagree. They attempted to kidnap the princess and if we take this lightly they might get cocky. We need to set an example and show there are consequences.¡± And with that the discussions came to a close and everyone started preparing. Emelia was right in giving me more time to finish my scythe because it took me 2 days longer than expected. I could have finished it within the 7 days I initially said but I added a few modifications to it like it being able to fold into itself making it easy to carry around. It requires mana to activate so nobody but me is able to use it and I added a spell that lets me teleport it back into my hands. I used the remainder of the days to prepare things I might be able to use either during the trip or once we are in the Stovaria Empire. And like that the day of our departure arrived. While I understand why my carriage is extravagant I still feel embarrassed as I enter it. Bel and Alexia are on horses together with the rest of the soldiers accompanying me. They all wear shining red armour with a phoenix symbol on it, the symbol of the newly created knight order Ales Lux who serves under me and is led by Bel as the captain and Alexia as the vice captain. It¡¯s really embarrassing that they use the symbol I used because I thought it looks cool as the official coat of arms for the knight order. They did say they chose that because they think it¡¯s fitting and not because of that but I don¡¯t know if I should believe that. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.Because we travel with carriage and horses, and the knights insisting we stay at an inn for the night, it takes us a bit to arrive at the border. I grumble, ¡°We could have been here a day early if we camped out instead of staying at inns.¡± ¡°Your highness, this is an official diplomatic trip, it would be unbecoming of the princess to camp out in the wilderness.¡± I let out a sigh, ¡°I can understand doing that in the Empire but no one would know while we are in the kingdom.¡± ¡°You never know who is watching so it¡¯s better to be on the safe side.¡± One of the border guards comes over to where me and Bel are talking. ¡°Your highness, you are cleared to pass. We also prepared an escort for the rest of the way.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± It didn¡¯t take us as long for the second part of our journey, according to Bel our escort wanted us to camp out instead of staying at an inn but they reconsidered their decision quickly after Bel threatened them with us turning back because of the inhospitality. We finally arrived at the Empire¡¯s capital and they made a big deal out of our arrival but when I looked outside the carriage window the state of the people was very disappointing. Most of them looked afraid to the point of hiding their children. ¡°Welcome your highness, I hope you had a pleasant journey.¡± An official looking man approaches me, I think it¡¯s one of the ministers. ¡°Quite. It took me a bit by surprise that the escort you provided wanted me to camp out instead of providing an inn though.¡± He looks surprised by my words but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s because he didn¡¯t order them to do so or because I called him out on it. ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry you had to go through that, your highness, I will personally see to it so you rest in only the best inns on your way back.¡± ¡°You have my thanks. The journey has been long. Could you please show me to the room that is provided to me and my guards?¡± ¡°Of course, please follow me.¡± He leads us through the castle towards a more isolated part and stops in front of a room. ¡°This is your room while you stay here, your highness. Please tell me if there is anything that isn¡¯t to your liking.¡± I enter the room and look around. It¡¯s a lot smaller than the one I had at the academy, only having a bed, a couch and coffee table, a desk with an uncomfortable looking chair and barred windows. To be honest it looks more like a fancy prison cell than a room for a visiting princess but that might be to my advantage. ¡°And the room for my guards?¡± ¡°We prepared the room next to this one for your guards.¡± ¡°Thank you for your consideration. If you don¡¯t mind, I would like to rest for a bit. The journey was very tiring.¡± ¡°Of course, your highness. Please rest well.¡± The man leaves and before returning to my room I turn to Bel and Alexia, ¡°Please make sure no one disturbs me for the next 2 hours.¡± Bel shoots me a suspicious look before answering, ¡°Of course, your highness.¡± I close and lock the door behind me and then grab a cloak out of my backpack. It¡¯s one of the magic tools I made in preparation for coming here. It holds a special magic that changes my appearance using illusion magic. I tested it on Bel so I know it works. I put on the cloak and grab my scythe that is folded down to about the length of an arm and teleport into a dark sidestreet a saw on the way to the castle from the carriage. I learned how to teleport soon after the incident at the village. I can¡¯t take anyone else with me but it¡¯s perfect for sneaking out. It¡¯s my first time in a different country and I want to explore at least the capital without everyone recognizing me and treating me differently because of it. I walk around for a bit and the further away from the castle I get the more run down everything looks. How can things be this bad in the capital? I don¡¯t even want to imagine what the situation looks like in more rural regions. The further I go the less adults seem to be around as well. There aren¡¯t many people here to begin with but it feels like there aren¡¯t enough adults around for how many children there are. I approach an older man on the side of the street. ¡°Excuse me, where are all the adults?¡± He looks me over for a moment. ¡°You must be living under a rock to ask such a dumb question. We are preparing for war. They say they are going to capture the princess that¡¯s visiting and hold her hostage. Everyone they consider expendable is being drafted without any consideration for their situation.¡± Figures. I thank the man for the information and hand him some money and while he is distracted by it I teleport back into my room in the castle. As soon as I arrive I go to the door and open it. Alexia and someone else from the knight order is outside guarding. ¡°Alexia, I need to talk with you and Bel.¡± She gives me a nod and walks over to the room assigned to my guards and a short moment later returns with Bel and another guard. She turns to the guards, ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone enter until we are back.¡± They both nod and take position on each side of the door and we go back into my room. Bel rubs her eyes, ¡°What did you call us here for Lucina?¡± ¡°I may or may not have sneaked out and found out that the empire is preparing for war and are planning to keep me as a hostage.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s stupid.¡± Alexia shoots a death glare at Bel who still looks half asleep and then turns back to me with a scary smile, ¡°Care to explain how you ¡®may or may not¡¯ have sneaked out? We were standing guard ever since you entered and no one left or entered this room and the windows are barred so that isn¡¯t really an option either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a secret, also I have a plan and I need you to increase the guarding of my room. Don¡¯t let anyone enter while I tell you. If they ask, give them an excuse like I¡¯m making a magic tool and can¡¯t be disturbed or something. You are allowed to use force if necessary.¡± ¡°¡°Understood¡±¡± Side Stories 1 It¡¯s been about a week since the princess arrived here and things have been getting worse and worse. The talks with her are going nowhere. We thought since she was adopted into the royal family she was used as a pawn to be thrown away and we can just get her to agree to whatever we suggest but she doesn¡¯t accept any of our proposals and the plans to capture and imprison her failed horribly. When we sent a few soldiers to her room they got stopped by her guards and upon forcing our way in the whole group got overwhelmed just by a single person. The princesses'' personal knights are even stronger than we initially thought. We were aware that they were the ones to capture our elite unit that infiltrated the kingdom in order to cause internal issues but since according to our intel it was by a surprise attack we didn¡¯t think they would hold up without that advantage. It would be one thing if that was all but the princess started to demand territory for the attack on her as well as the disrespect towards her and her knights, as well as important figures of the empire suddenly being killed off. It first started the day after the princess arrived so naturally we suspected her but we would know if she left the room to do anything and her guards deny her leaving the room as well. To be honest, even if she did leave her room during the times our officials got murdered we saw her not long after within a time that would make it impossible. We also suspected the guards and put them under surveillance as well but they won¡¯t leave the princess¡¯s side at all. I tried to tell the others that it doesn¡¯t make sense to suspect the princess to begin with. She is too weak and has a useless Talent so there is no way she would be capable of killing officials of our empire who all possess strong or rare Talents. This war we are trying to start is really stupid to begin with. The previous queen of the Gairyn Kingdom proved how prosperous the implemented changes are, still holding on to our values and trying to take them over can¡¯t be the correct way forward. Those old farts should just agree to the princess¡¯s demands and get this over with this whole situation. It feels like all of what¡¯s happening is God''s punishment for the things we have done. I wish I could change everything but the old don¡¯t want to give up the values they had all their lives and the young don¡¯t want to lose the power they are supposed to inherit. The door to my office bursts open and a young man, my assistant, enters. ¡°Sir, another minister just got reported dead.¡± I let out a deep sigh, ¡°Let me guess, no witnesses or no signs of forced entry this time as well?¡± ¡°Actually there is an eyewitness description of the attacker.¡± Is this finally a chance to stop all of this? ¡°I take it you already have the description?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.¡°Yes, Sir. According to the eyewitness the attacker is an unknown person with white skin, white hair and red glowing eyes, wearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe.¡± I look at him with disbelief. ¡°Did you confirm the report?¡± ¡°Yes Sir, I can confirm them to be correct. I talked with the maid who saw it personally in order to confirm.¡± There is a legend passed down among the commoners of the Gairyn Kingdom. It tells about an entity appearing when the people are in danger they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop themselves. The legend describes the entity as having white skin, white hair, red eyes and using a scythe, just like the enemy we seem to be dealing with right now. Whoever it is it isn¡¯t the princess though, while her skin is rather pale it isn¡¯t white and her red hair can¡¯t be mistaken for white and while I never got a closer look at her eye colour it isn¡¯t red and definitely not glowing. If it is the monster of the legend it is kind of ironic because that would mean our invasion would most likely be successful. In the end it doesn¡¯t really matter, at this point it is only a matter of time before the commoners rebel and take over. I asked the emperor to increase the number of guards he has around him but he dismissed me. He thinks he is invincible because his Talent is Mighty. The door to my office bursts open again and a soldier with a panicked expression enters hastily. ¡°Sir! We just got a report that his imperial highness the crown prince got murdered.¡± I look at him shocked, ¡°How did this happen?¡± ¡°The prince was in his study working on some documents while the guards waited outside. They entered after hearing a commotion from inside but it was already too late and the prince was already beheaded. They were able to confirm that the attacker is the same as in the previous report.¡± Damn it, this only leaves the emperor and me. ¡°Increase the guards around his Majesty. We can¡¯t let him fall to the ene-¡± Before I can finish the heads of my assistant and the guard land on the floor and before me stands the unknown entity. It is exactly as described, white skin, white hair, red glowing eyes, wearing a black cloak and wielding a large black scythe. Before I can think about how it got here an eerie voice calls out to me, ¡°Stop this war. Free the people.¡± So it really is about the war but why does it seem to be concerned about our citizens as well. I shake my head, ¡°Even if I wanted to, I can''t go against his Majesty¡¯s words.¡± ¡°The Emperor dies tomorrow.¡± I look at it in shock at this declaration. ¡°Even so I can¡¯t betray my country.¡± ¡°Shame.¡± There was a flash where it disappeared and then everything went dark. Chapter 7 I have been very busy this past week. It was very obvious during negotiations just how much they are looking down on me. I shut down all of their offers and added a few unreasonable demands on top of it for disrespecting me but also to stall things out. They even tried to forcibly take me somewhere else but Alexia who was on guard duty at that time single handedly took out the troop they sent. She didn¡¯t kill them but I doubt they are going to try a stunt like that again since either Bel or Alexia are guarding me at all times. I used the time they gave me to teleport out of my room and take out the trash. I modified my cloak to change my appearance into that of a monster from a legend Alexia told me about during our time at the academy. While I don¡¯t really like that legend I¡¯m glad I remembered it. It¡¯s about how a monster with skin as white as snow, ashen hair, glowing red eyes and, coincidentally, uses a scythe, protects the commoners from a danger they wouldn¡¯t be able to handle themselves. The story doesn¡¯t mention if that danger is something like a war or if it could even be illness or similar things but it¡¯s close enough to fit my plans. Most of the nobles of this country are trash beyond redemption so it was an easy decision but when it came to the crown prince I offered him to take over for his father and change things to be similar to how they are in the Gairyn Kingdom. Sadly he refused saying something about not wanting to give up his authority and power and commoners aren¡¯t worth it. I stopped listening at that point and beheaded him. I¡¯m not sure if I was ever spotted before but since the prince was making quite the commotion I¡¯m sure the guards outside saw me when they entered. Not that it matters since there was only one more person to try to get on my side before it¡¯s the emperor''s turn tomorrow. He also refused, I really had high hopes for him, he seemed to think differently than most and was looking forward to change so I don¡¯t understand why he would put a country and emperor like this first. I did learn something interesting from his documents though so it wasn¡¯t a complete waste of time. According to those documents the emperor has a daughter but since she has the Vindex Talent she is locked away. I have never heard of someone with a Talent like that so I¡¯m very curious about it and I will give her the same choice, maybe since she got discarded by the empire just like the commoners she will feel the same as they do which is why I am now on my way to where she is being held. I thought it would be harder to get to her but there is no one anywhere close to where she is being held. I walk up to a heavy looking iron door and when I try to open it it makes creaking noises. I can probably just force it open with my strength but I don¡¯t know how the building would take it. The building looks very run down and I¡¯m pretty sure some of the bricks are already falling apart. It¡¯s honestly appalling just thinking about how the country''s princess is held here just because they say her Talent is useless. I use my scythe to destroy the door and enter the building. The inside looks even more run down than the outside. There is only a mattress in one corner and a table and chair in another corner, otherwise it¡¯s completely empty. The princess is sitting on the chair, an eerie aura around her. I approach her and I¡¯m a bit surprised that she doesn¡¯t seem to react to me having just destroyed her door. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bother with me. I might as well not exist to the emperor.¡± ¡°The emperor is destined to die tomorrow. What I¡¯m interested in is what you would do if you took his position.¡± She finally turns around and looks at me, she looks very emotionless without a hint of fear. ¡°I would remove the officials currently in office, change the law to be the same as in the Gairyn Kingdom and ask them for aid even if we would have to become a vassal state. I guess the first part isn¡¯t really necessary anymore though since you seem to have taken care of that already.¡± I give her a wide smile, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect someone who was locked up for most of their life to know that much about what¡¯s happening outside. But I¡¯m glad my suspicions about your Talent not being as useless as people say turned out to be true¡± She looks a bit shocked, ¡°How do you know about my Talent?¡± ¡°The last minister I paid a visit had some documents about you though there isn¡¯t really any information about the powers of your Talent but from meeting you I have an idea what it could be.¡± She thinks for a moment, ¡°So what are you going to do now? Kill me as well?¡± I take off the cloak and offer her my hand, ¡°I would prefer you becoming the empress after tomorrow and start an alliance with the Gairyn Kingdom.¡± She looks even more shocked now that I took off the cloak and the illusion disappeared, revealing my true identity. She seems to think for a bit before kneeling down on one knee. Fuck. ¡°Your highness, please accept my loyalty.¡± Why does this keep happening to me? ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this at a later point, this isn¡¯t the right place.¡± She gets up and takes my hand, ¡°Okay, but I won¡¯t drop this easily.¡± I teleport us both back to my room and then walk over to the door. When I open it I see it¡¯s Bel¡¯s turn to guard me so I ask her, ¡°I need to talk to you and Alexia if it¡¯s not too much trouble for her.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I return to the room and only a few moments later Bel and Alexia enter. ¡°What do you need from us, your highness?¡± Alexia seems to have noticed the additional person in my room, ¡°You highness, why did you kidnap someone? Or more importantly, HOW?!¡± ¡°I did not kidnap her, she came with me mostly voluntarily. But she is part of what I want to talk about.¡± Bel rubs her temple, ¡°You better have a good explanation for all of this.¡± ¡°Of course I do but let¡¯s start with introductions.¡± I gesture at the princess, ¡°This is the imperial princess, her highness Lauren Audrina Stovaria.¡± I then gesture at Bel and Alexia respectively, ¡°And they are my friends and personal knights, Bella Ordno and Alexia Barnes.¡± Lauren gives them a courteous bow, ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure meeting you and thank you for your concern.¡± They both look at her a bit surprised, ¡°Of course.¡± They then look at me, ¡°Now then, explain yourself?¡± ¡°Okay, so, I went around from place to place in order to get rid of some trash in the empire but I ran into the problem of if all the leaders are gone in the empire there is no ruler and it would be a hassle if I had to fill that position. But all the officials I offered the opportunity to take over under the condition to better the empire refused. I found out about Lauren''s existence today so I figured I would offer her the same since she would be the perfect candidate to take over the empire and she accepted. I¡¯m going to need your help for the next step of my plan so I brought her back here in order to discuss things.¡± ¡°Okay, so one thing at a time, when you say ¡®get rid of some trash¡¯ am I correct to assume you mean all of the officials that have been killed recently?¡± ¡°I said what I said. The institution that held me captive and used me for experiments for over 100 years treated me better than that trash treated the literal princess of the empire. I refuse to acknowledge people like that as anything other than trash.¡± Bel and Alexia change between looking at me and Lauren with a concerned expression but Lauren is the one asking the next question, ¡°Excuse me, your highness, I hope I don¡¯t offend you by asking this question, but how old are you and what is the institution you speak of?¡± ¡°Officially, I¡¯m 18, technically I¡¯m around 120 or so. My birth parents sold me to an organisation the day after finding out my Talent. That organisation did various experiments using me and other children until my mom and a few groups of high ranking adventurers rescued us 6 years ago. Mom decided to adopt me after finding out I was there for about 100 years according to documents.¡± Bel adds, ¡°¡®Experiments¡¯ is an interesting way to say that they only gave you food that was drugged resulting in excruciating pain and would have resulted in death for pretty much anyone else.¡± Lauren looks at me shocked, ¡°I don¡¯t think being locked in a room for a few years is comparable to being poisoned for a century.¡± ¡°Maybe I exaggerated a bit but being locked in a room for years isn¡¯t something I can overlook. Anyways, to go back to my plan. Since the emperor is the only one still around with power my plan is to get rid of him tomorrow and replace him with Lauren. When Lauren takes over the throne we can declare an alliance and the Gairyn Kingdom can send support for the people in need. We can have trustworthy commoners take over the now empty positions of officials and implement changes to empower the commoners just like in the Gairyn Kingdom.¡± They think about my plan for a moment before Lauren speaks up, ¡°That plan sounds good in theory but how are we supposed to find trustworthy people to take over the position of the officials? We can¡¯t rely on someone''s Talent since we already know how that ended. And there is no guarantee that the people will actually accept me as a new ruler.¡± Bel and Alexia nod in agreement. ¡°Your Talent actually solves both of those issues rather easily.¡± ¡°How do you know about my Talent anyway? I don¡¯t even know what exactly it¡¯s supposed to be.¡± ¡°Right, let me explain. You all know about the magic used to reveal someone¡¯s Talent, right?¡± They all nod. ¡°So are you aware that Talents are actually in an ancient language and a part of the magic used to reveal it translates it?¡± They look at me shocked and Alexia asks, ¡°How did you find that out?¡± ¡°Well, I did some research since not much is known about my Talent. Turns out it¡¯s not really a secret and the temple gives access to that information to anyone. From that I also tried it out without the translation though it took a bit to get it right.¡± I use the spell and next to me appear the words ¡®Aevitas¡¯ while next to Bel and Alexia there is a ¡®Magus¡¯ and next to Lauren is ¡®Vindex¡¯. They look at the writing in the air with a hint of fascination. ¡°So now let me change the spell a bit to add the translation.¡± I cast the spell again but add the translation component and the words appear again. Next to me appears ¡®Eternity¡¯, next to Bell and Alexia appears ¡®Magic¡¯ and next to Lauren are the words ¡®Champion¡¯. At first they look at the words next to me in fascination before changing to the ones next to Lauren. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itLauren is the first to speak up, ¡°You know, this doesn¡¯t really change much. Sure I know the name in our language now but I still have no idea what it¡¯s supposed to do.¡± ¡°Ah you see, I think the story I borrowed the appearance from is actually mostly true.¡± Alexia looks at me in disbelief, ¡°What do you mean? I thought you said that was you?¡± ¡°Well yes. But, aside from the appearance, the story is mostly true. Lauren¡¯s Talent proof of that.¡± ¡°W-what? How is my Talent related?¡± ¡°The temple actually has a very similar story to the one told by the commoners. The main difference is that it¡¯s more general and not bound to a single region and the entity is described as a champion, otherwise the story is pretty much the same. This matches how life of the commoners started going downhill about 25 years ago and Lauren being born only a few years later. I¡¯m pretty sure the eerie aura and the knowledge comes from the suffering commoners. Going from that I¡¯m also pretty sure that you can feel hostility from someone who is interacting with you.¡± They all think for a bit and Bel asks, ¡°I can see how that can work but what do you need us for?¡± ¡°I need you to spread the information about Laurens existence as well as our cooperation.¡± ¡°And how are we supposed to do that within a day? It¡¯s not like we can go around and tell people about it.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s actually a lot easier. When you leave the room start talking about how the entity appeared in my room with the imperial princess saying that she is on our side and promised her support if we help her take over the throne and change things for the better for the commoners and I accepted so we have to prepare for that for tomorrow. We are under surveillance anywhere outside my room so if you talk about this it gets reported to the emperor. It¡¯s going to cause a bit of a commotion which will make it very believable and since a lot of the people employed by the castle are actually commoners it should be very easy to spread.¡± ¡°I see. It¡¯s worth a shot.¡± With that the discussion finished and Bel and Alexia leave the room again and I turn to Lauren, ¡°It¡¯s a long shot but do you know what your compatible weapon is by any chance?¡± ¡°Actually I do. I¡¯m not sure why but something is telling me it¡¯s a Tower Shield and longsword. Shouldn¡¯t it only be a single weapon? Why is it paired and how do I know it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably a part of your Talent.¡± I take a tent from my backpack, it¡¯s an improved version that has a workshop, 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, put it up and enter while gesturing to Lauren to follow me in. She seems to hesitate a bit before entering, ¡°What the hell!¡± ¡°Been awhile since I had that reaction. I made it myself, come over here, I have a few weapons for you to try out.¡± I head into the workshop and pull out 3 shields and 5 swords from a cabinet and put them on a table. ¡°The shields all have about the same durability but from left to right, the first one has a spell on it that reflects damage it blocks at about 3 times the strength, the second one has a spell that creates a barrier, essentially increasing the size of the shield, but attacks from people you consider an ally will pass through, and the last one creates a zone gives people you consider an ally protection as if the shield was blocking the attack. For the swords, also left to right, the first is relatively simple, it contains a paralysing spell that triggers when you it someone, even if the attack is blocked, the next one is a simple spell sword, it increases the power of spells cast while holding the sword, the third one ignores defences, including shields, by phasing through it, the fourth one has 2 modes, the first one is essentially like a regular sword but if you add mana it will heal instead of causing injuries, and the last one leaves wounds that can¡¯t be healed unless the wielder allows it.¡± Lauren looks at me flabbergasted, ¡°Where the hell did you get ridiculous weapons like this? Don¡¯t tell me you made them yourself?¡± ¡°Of course I made them myself. I¡¯m officially an advanced blacksmith but if you take into account that I can make any weapon into a magic weapon I¡¯m essentially a master blacksmith.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re just giving me a weapon most nobles probably wouldn¡¯t be able to afford?¡± ¡°I mean, you did pledge loyalty to me so that¡¯s the least I can do and I think it would be more impressive tomorrow if you are properly equipped.¡± She thinks for a moment before taking the right shield and the fourth sword. She activates the shield''s ability which emits a bright light for a moment and then envelops both me and herself after that she gives the sword a few test swings. ¡°I think these will do. Thank you very much, your highness .¡± ¡°Please just call me Lucina. I want to add one more thing to both so why don¡¯t you head to bed while I work on it, it¡¯s probably going to take until tomorrow. Feel free to take either the bed in the room outside or one of the two bedrooms here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to stay in the room next to this, please get me if you need me for something.¡± With that she left the room and I got to work. I¡¯m just about to finish the armour I plan to give Lauren when she enters the workshop. ¡°Good morning. You haven¡¯t been up all night, have you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s morning already? I thought I was working pretty fast. But anyways I still have to finish up the armour so why don¡¯t you take the shield and sword and add your mana to it. It might take a bit but you will know when to stop.¡± She heads over to pick up the shield and swords and I assume she starts adding mana while I continue working on the armour. The armour was already almost finished, all I still had to add some safety just in case and after I finished that I turned to look how Lauren is doing. I thought it would take longer but it looks like she finished at the same time as me. ¡°If you¡¯re done, let¡¯s test it out.¡± I take her weapons and put them to the side. ¡°How can I test them if you take them away from me?¡± I give her a smile, ¡°Reach out your arms and think about the weapon appearing.¡± I reach out my hand and my scythe appears in my hand. ¡°Just like this.¡± She stares at me surprised before holding out her hands. Both the sword and the shield disappeared from next to me and appeared in her hands at the same time. ¡°How is it? The mana consumption isn¡¯t too much, is it?¡± She looks between the weapons in her hand and where they were just a moment ago before answering, ¡°It¡¯s quite a bit but it should be fine since I don¡¯t really use magic.¡± ¡°Good, that armour over there is also for you. I¡¯m going to wait outside and we can leave once you change.¡± With that I leave the tent and go back into my room. I open the door and tell Bel, who is on guard duty right now, to start getting ready to head out. It doesn¡¯t take very long for Lauren to get out of the tent as well, dressed in the armour I gave her. ¡°While I appreciate you giving me the weapons and this armour, the design is really embarrassing.¡± ¡°What do you mean? The design is pretty standard for Paladin armour.¡± ¡°Be that as it may, it feels like wings are going to appear on my back at any second.¡± ¡°Damn! That would have been a good idea. But there isn¡¯t enough time for any more changes since Bel and Alexia should be ready with their troops so let¡¯s go.¡± When we leave the room Bel, Alexia and the rest of the Lux Ales are indeed ready to leave so we head over to the throne room. Lauren is walking next to me, Bel is walking slightly on the side behind Lauren, Alexia slightly on the side behind me and the rest is following behind them. It looks pretty impressive and I¡¯m slightly curious where they got the banners from. I¡¯m pretty sure I didn¡¯t see them use those on the trip here. We enter the throne room and there are quite a few troops here, but from the looks of it most of them are commoners. Lauren takes a step forward, ¡°Father, this is your last chance, abdicate the throne and hand it over to me and this will all be over. Our country will not survive if we continue going forwards like this.¡± The emperor laughs in response, ¡°Or what? Your Talent is useless! That¡¯s the whole reason you were locked away! You are a stain on the royal bloodline!¡± ¡°My Talent isn¡¯t useless, it¡¯s the manifestation of the pleas from the commoners!¡± The moment she says those words I use my magic to create a beam of light coming down on her. There is a small murmur going around the guards and the emperor looks angry, ¡°Guards! Kill them all!¡± The guards approach us and Bel and Alexia are about to make a move but I give them the signal to stand by. The guards stop in front of Lauren and kneel on one knee ¡°All hail the Empress!¡± They then get back up again and turn around, standing between us and the emperor. The emperor gets up from his throne, ¡°So be it!¡± He starts casting a spell and Lauren teleports her weapons into her hands and moments later a warm light envelops everyone aside from the emperor. A giant fireball comes down centred on Lauren but the moment it comes into contact with the light covering us it disappears into nothingness. The emperor looks at the scene in shock and Lauren steps forward. ¡°Guards! Arrest him!¡± The guards move forward and put the emperor in chains and take him away. All that¡¯s left now is to spread the news and implement the changes. I sent one of my guards back to the Gairyn Kingdom to inform them about what happened and request aid for the Empire and Lauren sent a guard to accompany them to spread the news on the way and inform the border guards as well as to testify from their side as well. It will probably take them a while to return but it should be faster than our journey here since they don¡¯t have to stop at inns. Meanwhile new officials are being selected and a public execution of the former emperor is being planned. News is spreading from the capital outwards and the wealth of the former officials got confiscated and is now being used for reparations or the building of facilities anyone can use. All commoners who were forced to work under the former emperor were given the opportunity to leave and while most left enough stayed so it shouldn¡¯t cause any issues. We also announced the alliance officially between the Empire and the Kingdom. Side Stories 2 We have been very busy this past week. The higher officials got taken out one after the other and while that means we don¡¯t have to live in fear as much we are getting hounded around trying to find the culprit. I even got sent to the temple to ask if they have any idea what¡¯s going on but the only thing they told me is a story about a champion rising when the people are in dire need of help. I questioned why that so-called champion didn¡¯t appear 25 years ago since that¡¯s when we needed one but they dismissed it saying that the Goddess can¡¯t interfere like that and it would be more likely for a person to be born with the destiny of protecting the people. It doesn¡¯t really make it much more believable because shouldn¡¯t they have appeared about 15 years ago in that case? Even after we finally had an eye witness things didn¡¯t really clear up much more. The maid that saw the killer earlier today described them as white skinned, white haired, with red glowing eyes, wearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe. It feels like a monster straight from a fairy tale but what¡¯s probably more eerie is that the maid said the monster saw her but didn¡¯t do anything to her and just disappeared into thin air. It is interesting that so far the only people that died are nobles, even the 3 people that died shortly after as well were all nobles. There are so many commoners forced to work here but yet not a single one got so much as a scratch from whatever that is. I¡¯m on my way to my post now, I don¡¯t understand why they put so much effort into this but I¡¯m supposed to keep surveillance on the visiting princess of the Gairyn Kingdom and her followers. I understand watching out for her followers after the incident where they wiped the floor with us using only a single person but the princess herself was a commoner most of her life and her Talent is Magic which isn¡¯t really powerful. Sure if you train it for a lifetime but commoners in the Gairyn Kingdom don¡¯t need to do so. I thought about fleeing to the Gairyn Kingdom myself before but since I work in the castle my disappearance would be noticed quickly and that would be too big a risk for my husband and two kids. I reach my post where the current shift is still guarding, ¡°Shift¡¯s over, go rest now.¡± ¡°Thank god. I don¡¯t think I can take another double shift.¡± I give her a pained smile, ¡°You¡¯re going to jinx yourself.¡± She lets out a sigh and gives a short wave before leaving. I take my position which is close enough to see and hear what¡¯s going on with the guards in front of the princess¡¯ room but also far enough to not provoke any hostility. About an hour after I started my shift the princess¡¯ room opens and she calls the captain and vice captain of her guards in. One of them is always on guard duty, it feels like they work even harder than we do, but because of that she has to call the other one before they both disappear into the room. It only takes another about half an hour for them to leave again and they seem to inform the guards outside the room about what happened. ¡°Her highness just informed us that she got contacted by the entity that has been going around killing the officials of this country. The entity brought the imperial princess to her highness and asked them to form an alliance for the sake of the commoners. The imperial princess was imprisoned for the past 13 years because of her Talent, so she asked her highness for protection as part of the condition for the alliance. Her highness accepted and they are now planning the details. We will increase the guards here until they are ready which should be tomorrow. We will make the shifts shorter but increase our numbers here just to make sure we have enough people but also so we are all ready for tomorrow. I want everyone to be ready but you don¡¯t have to worry, her highness will make sure no one will get so much as a scratch using her magic tools.¡± The captain then looks at me before going into the room that was prepared for them, probably to inform the rest of the troops. Why would they talk about something like this in front of me? They should know I have to report this. Is that their plan? I leave my post and go to the throne room. Usually I would report to someone else but right now his Majesty the Emperor is the only person left with authority. I enter the throne room and bow, ¡°Your Majesty, I bring news from the surveillance of the princess.¡± ¡°Speak.¡± He doesn¡¯t really look very interested. ¡°The princess¡¯ guards talked about how she got contacted by the killer of our officials and they claim it brought the imperial princess along to discuss an alliance and they plan to make their move tomorrow.¡± His face turns red with anger, ¡°How do they know about that disgrace to my bloodline! Increase the guards in the throne room and confirm the whereabouts of that disgrace!¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± I first went over to the guards barracks and informed them about the increase of guards in the throne room but also told them about what I heard including how I think that the imperial princess might be the champion sent to save us all. Some of the younger ones believed it rather easily but the older ones had a hard time. It¡¯s understandable, we had hope before but it ended up being a false hope. This time I¡¯m not that sure though. Not only did the captain know about the entity but she claimed it asked to help the commoners, us, with what it¡¯s doing and the captain and vice captain could probably take out most of our forces in the castle by themselves if they wanted to. After that I headed over to where the imperial princess was supposed to be held, they always told us that she can¡¯t go out in public because she is sick but her room, if you can call it that, has the bare minimums if you¡¯re generous. She definitely isn¡¯t around anymore though and the heavy iron door got destroyed by what looks like a very sharp blade. I returned to the throne room and informed the emperor about the disappearance of the imperial princess. He was furious again and mumbled something about ¡®shouldn¡¯t be a problem with enough meat shields¡¯. He also told me that the surveillance of the princess isn¡¯t necessary anymore and I¡¯m part of the throne room guards now. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.I¡¯m now in the guard barracks talking about how to proceed after updating everyone on the situation with the imperial princess. ¡°The imperial princess should be about 23 so it would match with what the temple told me.¡± One of the older guards grumbles, ¡°But what is someone that was locked up in a room for the past 13 supposed to do? Let alone fighting for someone else I doubt she can even fight for herself.¡± Another one adds, ¡°If you say that she is supposed to be the so-called champion for the people then what is the monster killing the officials supposed to be? It¡¯s clearly not someone from our country because they would have appeared earlier if that was the case and you were part of the surveillance so you should know better than anyone that it can¡¯t be anyone in the princess¡¯ group.¡± I think for a moment and then I remember something important, ¡°Actually we don¡¯t know. I heard that the infiltration group got teleported from the village, they operated in, to the castle of the Gairyn Kingdom using a teleportation circle and that the princess is very proficient with magic tools so while it is unlikely it isn¡¯t impossible for her to use something similar to that.¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t it take 3 people in order to activate that magic circle and a few hours to set it up? We would have noticed if they used something like that.¡± ¡°Yes but there were about 15 people teleported at that time and over a fair distance. I don¡¯t know that much about magic but if it was only one person and a much shorter distance that should be possible. It would also explain how the monster kept appearing and disappearing in places.¡± ¡°But that would mean the princess is the monster, are you saying someone with the Magic Talent would be able to use something like a scythe, which isn¡¯t even really considered a weapon, so proficiently?¡± ¡°You do realise who her mother is, right? If anything it¡¯s less believable that she can¡¯t use a weapon. The only reason the officials never thought about that is because of how much they are looking down on her, much like you are right now.¡± ¡°Whatever, we can come to a conclusion tomorrow once we see their conviction. I won¡¯t follow anyone who can¡¯t even stand up for themselves.¡± Everyone seemed to agree with that and the talks for the night died down. Most of the guards in the castle are now in the throne room when we hear marching coming into our direction. Soon after the doors to the throne room open and a woman we don¡¯t recognise enters with the princess of the Gairyn Kingdom next to her and all of her troops behind them. The woman I don¡¯t recognise wears a silver and gold looking armour like you¡¯d imagine the knight of a fairy tale to wear and the princess has a scythe on her back. Wait. A scythe? So are my speculations correct? The unknown woman takes a step forward and starts speaking in a loud voice, ¡°Father, this is your last chance, abdicate the throne and hand it over to me and this will all be over. Our country will not survive if we continue going forwards like this.¡± So she is the imperial princess. The emperor laughs in response, ¡°Or what? Your Talent is useless! That¡¯s the whole reason you were locked away! You are a stain on the royal bloodline!¡± ¡°My Talent isn¡¯t useless, it¡¯s the manifestation of the pleas from the commoners!¡± The moment those words leave her mouth a bright beam of light shines down on her. I start whispering to the guards next to me, ¡°See! She can help us!¡± Similar sentiment is also coming from some of the other guards and I add, ¡°The emperor plans to use us as a shield anyways, I¡¯m going to take the risk, if you don¡¯t just stay behind!¡± The emperor looks very angry, ¡°Guards! Kill them all!¡± I start walking forward and it seems everyone else is following me. I stop in front of the imperial princess and kneel on one knee ¡°All hail the Empress!¡± Everyone else seemed to have followed. We all turn around, now facing the emperor and shielding the princess. The emperor gets up from his throne, ¡°So be it!¡± He starts casting a spell and we prepare for the worst. Moments later a warm light envelops us aside from the emperor and the princess is holding a tower shield and a sword. A giant fireball comes down centred on the princess but the moment it comes into contact with the light covering us it disappears into nothingness. The emperor looks at the scene in shock and the princess steps forward. ¡°Guards! Arrest him!¡± I move towards the emperor who seems to be in shock because of what just happened. It¡¯s quite understandable, even I myself am not really sure what exactly just happened. One of the captains of a troop other than mine follows me and we put the emperor in chains. It¡¯s good we have those on hand since they are sealing away mana making it impossible to use spells. Her imperial Majesty was true to her words. She and the princess announced an alliance the same day and sent guards to the Gairyn Kingdom to confirm the alliance as well as request aid. While waiting for the aid to arrive she also ordered for all the wealth of the nobles to be confiscated and she started building schools, orphanages, hospitals and other important infrastructure using that, as well as helping people who lost their house or similar to rebuild them. She also gave everyone the chance to resign their position and return to their families, which most did. I myself stayed, the conditions are pretty good. I get paid enough to support my family and she even paid out reparations which made it possible for my family to move to a bigger house and my husband and I started thinking about maybe having a third child, which wouldn¡¯t have been possible before. Chapter 8 It only took about half a year for the state of the Empire to return to normal, with changes of course. I also taught the temple my modified spell for translating someone¡¯s Talent, it¡¯s hard to say how big of an influence it will have since it won¡¯t really have any impact unless a really rare Talent gets discovered. It took another half year for mom and me to be able to return to our house in the countryside. Alexia returned to her hometown for the time being while Bel started helping her dads in order to learn how to take over once they retire. It was a lot easier to convince mom to let me start being active as an adventurer. At first she wanted to tag along but she gave up once we both remembered I¡¯m still officially an E-rank adventurer. It didn¡¯t take as long as I expected to get to C-rank. Most E-rank requests are either gathering herbs or miscellaneous helping around the town. I¡¯m hopeless when it comes to herbs so I did the helping around which was actually a lot of fun. Most people were very grateful for the help since most low rank adventurers prefer to collect herbs since it pays better, especially considering the effort for some of the requests. And now that I¡¯m at C-rank, mom agreed for me to take requests that take longer to complete and thus I am now part of an escort for a merchant''s caravan that goes to different small villages within the kingdom. Aside from me there are 3 other adventurers that got hired as an escort. They said they worked together as a party since they started as E-ranks and it took them about 10 years to get to D-rank. They are Rebecca, she said she is the party''s tank but she doesn¡¯t seem to have a shield, William, the attacker of the party using a spear, and Fern, the healer of the party, she apparently has the rare medicine Talent. I am pretty curious how they are going to fight together but I also hope it doesn¡¯t come to that, not that it would be much trouble but it would definitely be easier. The route we are going to take isn¡¯t supposed to be very dangerous and I mostly tag along in order to see lots of different places in the kingdom and travel around while getting paid for it. Tanya, one of the leaders of the merchant group is approaching us where we are waiting until they are ready to depart. ¡°We finished preparations and are now ready to leave. Thank you for accepting the request and keeping us safe despite the modest pay.¡± She then looks at me, ¡°And thank you Miss Lucina for accepting a D-rank request despite being a C-rank adventurer.¡± The party looks at me with wide eyes. Right Tanya came over just when I was about to introduce myself to them. ¡°Thank you for going along with my selfish request of tagging along despite being a higher rank than you requested." Rebecca looks like she just realised something, ¡°So that¡¯s why the guild recommended us to take this request!¡± I give her a questioning look, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well you see, we might be D-rank but that rank only really applies for us as a party since we did all requests together. Our individual ranks would be in the upper E-rank unless we can show power that is high enough but the guild is pretty strict with that since doing requests alone is very different from doing them in a group, especially so if you have a fixed group compared to a group of people who maybe never met before. We also only recently made it to D-rank so I think the guild recommended this request to us so we can see the difference between us and a solo C-rank.¡± I can see why the guild did that but it¡¯s a bit questionable since my actual strength is far beyond C-rank. Ad wouldn¡¯t have made a suggestion like that since he knows about my actual strength but Ad and Cerys moved to the capital because their child is about the same age as Emelia¡¯s, so nothing I can do about it now. Let¡¯s just hope nothing ridiculous happens on the way and I¡¯m able to hold back enough to not give them the wrong impression. William looks at me with a sparkle in his eyes, ¡°Miss Lucina, if I may ask, what kind of weapon do you use?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t use any, I have the Magic Talent so I use spells.¡± He points at the folded scythe on my hip, ¡°Then is that your wand?¡± While I never actually used my scythe as a wand it might be a good idea, ¡°Ah, yes it is.¡± I take the scythe from my hip and show it to them without unfolding. ¡°I do think we should go now. We shouldn¡¯t let our clients wait too long and we can still talk about those things on the road.¡± I put the scythe back on my hip and started walking towards the caravan. William looks a bit dejected but still followers together with Rebecca and Fern. The first day was uneventful, probably because it was just a day trip to the next village. On the way I talked with Tanya. She and the other caravan leader, Leonora, founded the Reyes Trading Company together after getting married and while they could make higher profits with different routes they decided to do this one because it¡¯s important for all the villages to be able to get supplies and not that many merchants are interested in doing so. She said the people in the villages are always very grateful when they arrive and that makes it worth it to them. When we arrived at the first village this proved to be true. It was late when we arrived so we all headed to bed. The villagers offered us a place to sleep but I declined and went into my own tent. In my tent I decided to write a letter to Emelia and grandma. In the letter I tell them about how I got to be C-rank now and how mom made a big fuss about how being an adventurer is dangerous and I added what I learned from Tanya today. I think it would be a good idea to pay merchants as an incentive to take routes like this. It¡¯s not that big a deal close to the capital since it''s possible to make a decent amount of profit there but out here it¡¯s almost like charity work. I don¡¯t know too much about the finances of the Gairyn Kingdom but I think it should be possible and that should also reduce prices both for the supplies the villages need but also the things the villages produce which would increase prosperity for the whole kingdom. I wrote a similar letter to Lauren but instead of suggesting to do that I suggested investigating if it¡¯s possible and or necessary to begin with. It¡¯s too bad it¡¯s hard to create the magic tool for sending letters and the mana consumption is too high, otherwise communication would become a lot easier. After sending out the letters I headed to bed. I get woken up by my tent''s alarm going off. Bel and Alexia recommended to me to have one to begin with because apparently I let my guard down too much. I get up from my bed and get dressed and then leave the tent. Outside Rebecca is lying on the ground and Fern is taking care of her but she doesn¡¯t look injured. William and Leonora look at the entrance of my tent with a concerned look. I rub my eyes while still half asleep, ¡°What happened?¡± Leonora looks at me, still looking concerned, ¡°It¡¯s soon time to head out so I asked Rebecca to go and get you but when she tried to enter the tent she got sent flying back.¡± ¡°Ah. I¡¯m sorry, I forgot to tell you about the alarm system of my tent. Shouldn¡¯t Rebecca be fine though since she is the tank of the party?¡± Fern answers this question without looking up, ¡°The way she tanks is a bit special. She uses magic to create barriers and similar to tank. She didn¡¯t expect to get attacked from trying to enter your tent so she didn¡¯t have anything prepared to defend herself.¡± I walk over to where Fern is taking care of Rebecca, ¡°Interesting and sorry for the inconvenience. Next time you need me while I¡¯m in the tent just throw a rock or something against it.¡± With saying that I cast a spell on Rebecca. The alarm on the tent doesn¡¯t actually have much force and even a child shouldn¡¯t get harmed by it but I did add paralysis just to be sure so I undid that right now. Rebecca sits up soon after, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit too paranoid?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. My friends told me I¡¯m not careful enough and insisted I do something like that.¡± Leonora shakes her head, ¡°Just what happened that would warrant something this ridiculous?¡± Before I can answer Tanya walks over to us, ¡°If you finished with what you¡¯re doing we are ready to leave.¡± I help Rebecca up and we all walk over to where the carriages are ready and on the way I ask, ¡°Isn¡¯t it still a bit early to leave?¡± Fern looks at me confused, ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s already past noon.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry for sleeping in.¡± We started to move and Leonora informed us that we will have to camp out this time as the journey to the next village is going to take until evening the next day. A few hours into the trip we are attacked by a pack of wolves led by a direwolf. ¡°I protect the caravan, you guys go fight the wolves, they are E-rank so it should be fine but be careful about the direwolf, it¡¯s a D-rank monster.¡± They nod in my direction and move forwards and I make a barrier around the caravan so I can observe them without having to worry about protection. Rebecca takes the lead and casts multiple barriers around herself before using a spell that looks like it attracts the attention of the wolves on her. Fern stays in the back holding bottles in her hands while William charges the closest wolf with his spear impaling it in the process. The remaining wolves take a step back in response but the direwolf hasn¡¯t made a move so far. The wolves look like they are going to charge at William but before they can start Rebecca casts a spell again and they turn back towards her. Rebecca¡¯s shield looks like it¡¯s about the break when Fern throws two of her bottles in the direction of Rebecca. One of the bottles is filled with a blue liquid and the other has a dark purple hue. The bottle with the blue liquid hits Rebecca¡¯s shield and breaks but surprisingly the liquid itself just passes through it while the dark purple one hits another wolf who lets out a cry of pain. When the blue liquid touches Rebecca her shield starts to glow once more and looks as strong as when she first used it again and the wolf that got hit by the dark purple liquid falls to its side, presumingly dead or at least close to. There are now only 2 wolves and the direwolf left but William has trouble getting his spear out of the wolf he just killed. The direwolf seems to notice his struggle and jumps towards William and while Rebecca tries to use her spell again it doesn¡¯t seem to affect the direwolf. Just before the direwolf reaches William Rebecca jumps in front of him, blocking the attack with her shield but breaking it in the process. The remaining two wolves, who now are left unattended, start running towards Fern who seems to be in a bit of a panic and is fumbling to take out more bottles from her pouch. Before they can reach Fern I hit them with my still folded scythe and surround both William and Rebecca in a protective barrier and then throw my folded scythe at the direwolf which penetrates its body. Oops, I used too much strength. Fern stumbled back when the wolves attacked her, so I help her up and then go over to Rebecca and William. ¡°You guys okay?¡± Rebecca takes my hand to get up, ¡°Are you sure you are just C-rank? This amount of power seems more like that of an A-rank at least.¡± I pull William¡¯s spear out of the wolf he impaled and give it back to him, ¡°Well, strength wise I would be at least A-rank since I usually spar with my mom but I¡¯m still lacking experience so it would be arrogant to say I¡¯m a higher rank than I am.¡± William looks at me in shock, ¡°Just who is your mom?¡± ¡°You might know her, she is Eliza, an A-rank adventurer, best known for her refusal to be S-rank because, and I quote, ¡®it would be too much of a hassle¡¯.¡± All three of them stare at me with their mouths open as I walk back to the carriages and remove the barrier surrounding it. I walk over to Tanya and Leonora, ¡°Do you want to take a break here and dismantle the wolves or should we take them with us until we either arrive at the next village or camp for the night anyways and do it then?¡± They both think for a moment before Tanya answers, ¡°It would be better if we could wait until we arrived at the next village but I don¡¯t think we can safely transport the corpses until then.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no problem, I can just put them in this bag.¡± I show them a bag I use to transport my materials for forging but it¡¯s currently empty, ¡°It has increased space inside and time passes a bit slower than outside of it.¡± They both smile at me, ¡°Then, if it¡¯s not too much of a hassle, you have our thanks.¡± I go back and put the corpses into the bag and we continue on our journey. Since we have a few more hours until we camp out for the night I turn to the trio, ¡°Do you always fight like this?¡± ¡°Y-yes but usually it goes better.¡± They all look a bit dejected. ¡°Do you mind if I give some pointers?¡± They look at each other for a moment before Fern answers, ¡°Please do.¡± ¡°Okay. First, Fern. Is there a reason you throw the potions instead of having Rebecca carry at least the mana potion?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the healer of the party so that should be my job, no?¡± I shake my head, ¡°No, if the healer is idle during combat that is a good sign. A healer is more of an insurance for if things go south and maybe provide support with buffs and debuffs. Most healers also use magic for that so they can safely do this from a distance. Let¡¯s say you throw a healing potion but you miss and hit the enemy with it instead. That would cause a lot of trouble instead of actually helping but that could be prevented if William and Rebecca have their own potions to be used in such a situation. Second thing for you. Where is your weapon?¡± She looks a bit flustered, ¡°I don¡¯t have one.¡± ¡°And why not?¡± ¡°B-because I have my potions and Rebecca and William to protect me so I thought I don¡¯t need one.¡± ¡°Yet you would have been at least injured today if it wasn¡¯t for me because they weren¡¯t able to protect you in time and you were too surprised to even take out a potion. You need to be able to at least defend yourself in an emergency.¡± She looks very dejected and looks at her feet. ¡°Now William. Is the spear you are using your compatible weapon?¡± ¡°No. I actually wasn¡¯t able to find it yet but since my Talent is Spear it should be fine, no?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s actually the opposite. Because your Talent is Spear you can exert more force from it than other people but the barbs towards the tip make it hard to pull it out if you actually manage to cut that deep. Your spear and your fighting style just isn¡¯t compatible and you should also have let go of the spear and used a second weapon to defend yourself or at least dodge the attack when the direwolf attacked. Because of that Rebecca had to take the hit for you which made it possible for the other wolves to go for Fern.¡± Rebecca interjects, ¡°But as the tank it¡¯s my job to keep the party safe so it¡¯s not his fault!¡± ¡°Your job is to keep the whole party safe but your highest priority should always be the healer. If the healer is injured you have no one who can get them fixed up again unless you return to a town which isn¡¯t often a viable solution. On the other hand if you or William are injured then Fern is able to provide medical assistance right then and there. But since you are already talking as well, where is your weapon?¡± She averts her gaze, ¡°I-I¡¯m the tank and I use magic, I don¡¯t need a weapon.¡± ¡°So what was your plan after jumping in to save William?¡± She doesn¡¯t reply and looks dejected. ¡°If you really want to improve from here on out William needs a spare weapon and ideally find his compatible weapon and Fern and Rebecca you too should find an easy to use weapon you can use in emergencies, for Rebecca I recommend something that can be used defensively and for Fern I recommend something that is easy to carry. And while your teamwork isn¡¯t bad it¡¯s very chaotic without someone being the leader, which I also recommend Fern to do since she is at the back which gives her a good overview.¡± They went quiet for the rest of the day and it soon was time to set up camp. Everyone set up their tents quite fast but I left mine in my backpack. After we all ate I addressed everyone, ¡°I¡¯m going to take the night shift so all of you can rest properly.¡± Fern looks at me with a hint of surprise, ¡°Are you sure? Staying up all night and being on guard isn¡¯t easy? We are enough people to have a decent rotation.¡± ¡°I slept in today already so I think it¡¯s better if I stay up and not have a repeat of this morning. Besides I know a spell that allows me to stay awake without repercussions.¡± Everyone looks at me with wide eyes and Rebecca asks, ¡°Can you teach me that spell?¡± ¡°No. I don¡¯t know why but apparently I¡¯m the only one who can use this spell. My friends asked me the same thing when they learned about it and we tried it out but it didn¡¯t work at all and both of them are far stronger than you are.¡± Rebecca is thinking for a bit, ¡°I see. Would it be okay if we have a rotation anyways?¡± ¡°Suit yourself.¡± And with that everyone but me and Rebecca went to bed. I take out a book about magic and start reading. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.A few hours pass and Fern gets out from her tent and switches places with Rebecca and another few hours later William switches with Fern. They all took their shift very seriously and didn¡¯t let their guard down despite knowing I would be able to handle every problem. And just like that it was morning. It seems we were really unlucky yesterday when we encountered the wolf pack because nothing really happened and we are now arriving at our next stop just as the sun is about to set. The village chief greets Tanya and Leonora but I don¡¯t pay too much attention to it because I¡¯m starting to get tired. I would use my spell again but since we are at the village and are going to stay here a day at least I think it¡¯s better to just wait until I can go to bed. ¡°L-Lady Lucina. What are you doing here?¡± I turn to where the familiar voice is coming from and see Alexia standing behind the village chief. Before I can answer, the village chief turns to Alexia, ¡°Oh, you know each other?¡± Alexia looks at me conflicted so I answer for her, ¡°We were in the same class at the academy. It¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Ahh, my daughter told me about you. Miss Bella Ordno, right? It¡¯s nice to finally get to meet you.¡± Alexia now looks at her dad in horror. ¡°Not exactly. I apologise for not saying my name sooner. I¡¯m Lucina, Alexia and Bella both helped me a lot during my time in the academy.¡± He thinks for a moment before the realisation is all over his face but before he can say anything Alexia nudged him in the side and gave him a deathglare. He regained his composure, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, of course. I¡¯m really proud of my daughter and I hope you will enjoy your stay here.¡± He then turned to the rest of my party, who had a quizzical look on their face, ¡°You all must be tired. Let us show you where you can rest for the night.¡± We all went to bed and the next morning after breakfast Alexia asked me to talk. We sit down at the dinner table in her house and a girl who looks a few years younger than Alexia joins us. ¡°This is my younger sister, Violet.¡± I look at Violet, ¡°Nice to meet you. What do you two want to talk about?¡± Alexia looks at Violet and then at me with a serious expression, ¡°Violets Talent is Plants according to the ceremony but after what you showed us at the empire I think it might not be correct. Our father refuses to actually let her try out her Talent to see what it might be able to do and insists it¡¯s something like being good at taking care of plants. Don¡¯t get me wrong, she is very good at doing that but I just get the feeling it¡¯s not that.¡± I think for a moment, ¡°I can use the spell but only if Violet agrees to it. I don¡¯t feel comfortable revealing someone''s Talent if they don¡¯t want to.¡± We both look at Violet expecting an answer. ¡°I don¡¯t care. It¡¯s not like it will change anything.¡± I take that as permission and cast the spell but I use the version that doesn¡¯t translate the Talent and next to Violet the words ¡®Plantis Loqui¡¯ appear. Alexia looks at me questioningly and Violet looks at the words with a hint of fascination. ¡°Alexia, if you don¡¯t mind could you let me talk to Violet alone for a moment?¡± She looks at me with an eyebrow raised for a moment before letting out a sigh and getting up to leave. ¡°Fine.¡± After Alexia left I turn to Violet, ¡°You already know what your Talent does, don¡¯t you?¡± Violet looks away, avoiding eye contact, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. It¡¯s like Alexia said, I¡¯m good at taking care of plants.¡± ¡°Okay then. You should know in order to use this spell properly you need to know the actual language, which I do.¡± As I say that I change the spell to translate the name of the Talent and now it shows ¡®Speak to Plants¡¯. ¡°How can that be? Everyone told me it¡¯s just my imagination.¡± ¡°Even Alexia?¡± ¡°N-no, she was the only one who believed me but I started lying because everyone treated me like I¡¯m some sort of freak and I didn¡¯t want her to get hurt as well.¡± I hold back my anger, even though it¡¯s been over almost 120 years now I remember how I used to get bullied because I was different. ¡°I have a suggestion but it requires for Alexia to know about everything and actually agree as well but the most important thing is that you are okay with telling her. I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t think differently of you but the choice is yours.¡± She takes a moment to think and then answers in a small trembling voice, ¡°Okay.¡± I get up from my chair and walk outside where Alexia is waiting and tell her to come back in. Violet looks a bit scared while Alexia looks concerned. ¡°Before I explain things I have a question for you Alexia. Why did you decide to come back to this village instead of staying with Bel? As a future Duchess you should be learning the ins and outs of what is going to be expected together with her, am I wrong?¡± Violet looks at Alexia in surprise and mutters, ¡°Duchess?¡±, while Alexia gets flustered, ¡°I can¡¯t just leave Violet here by herself. Father isn¡¯t a bad person but he isn¡¯t exactly sensible so I intend to stay until Violet attends the academy herself next year. But I¡¯m also supposed to take over for my father as village chief so I wasn¡¯t able to bring up my relationship with Bella.¡± ¡°Okay, I can work with that. Let¡¯s start out with Violet''s Talent. Her Talent is ¡®Speak to Plants¡¯ which gives her the ability to communicate with plants. Because of that I want to hire her into the research department after she graduates from the academy. I consider her invaluable for the prosperity of the Kingdom, so I order you, Alexia Barnes, as well as the future Duchess Bella Ordno to ensure her safety however you see fit. You are still technically my personal knight so my order outweighs the wishes of your father. There are enough people in this village that can take over instead of you but I only have 2 personal knights. Of course I won¡¯t force you to follow this order.¡± Both of them are thinking for a while, I¡¯m sure this is a lot of information for both of them to process but Violet seemed to have regained some of her composure, ¡°I have so many questions. Just who are you to hold that much authority? Why is my Talent invaluable to the Kingdom? Who is this Bella Ordno? Since when is Alexia a knight?¡± Alexia is still in deep thought so I decide to answer, ¡° Well, let¡¯s go through one question at a time. For starters let me properly introduce myself. I¡¯m Lucina Renata Stallard, first princess of the Gairyn Kingdom. I have two personal knights appointed to me, Alexia Barnes and Bella Ordno, after they protected me during our time at the academy and we became friends even before that. There are many different rare plants in the world and one thing they have in common is that they are extremely hard to cultivate, but I think that if we would be able to actually communicate with those plants and directly learn their needs and wants we would be able to do precisely that. Rare plants often have beneficial properties so being able to grow them ourselves instead of having to find them out in the wild would improve a lot not just for the Kingdom but many other nations. If anyone finds out about you there will be a risk of them trying to kidnap or harm you so I think it would be best if you had protection next to you who both you and I can trust.¡± Both look at me shocked. I understand Violet but why is Alexia shocked? I don¡¯t have to wonder that long because Alexia is next to speak, ¡°Lady Lucina, I thought you didn¡¯t want people to know that you¡¯re the first princess, why did you say it this easily now?¡± I give her a warm smile, ¡°You know what my Talent is. Even if people found out it will blow over again in a few years or maybe I will just start travelling around places where they won¡¯t recognize me but no matter which it is, those few years for me don¡¯t compare to how much the lives of not only the two of you but a lot of other people in the Kingdom would improve.¡± Violet nudges Alexia and whispers to her, ¡°What is her Talent and what does she mean with that?¡± Alexia looks at me with a conflicted look so I answer for her, ¡°My Talent is ¡®Eternity¡¯, there isn¡¯t much known about it but from the meaning of it and the fact I¡¯m a bit over 120 years old it¡¯s pretty safe to assume that my lifespan is endless or at the very least quite long, you can ask your sister more about it later if you¡¯re interested but be aware that it is technically a state secret.¡± They are both in deep thought, ¡°You do have until tomorrow to think about it since that is when we leave.¡± They are both in deep thought and I think they might need to talk between themselves before coming to a conclusion so I leave the house and walk around the village for a bit. It looks like Rebecca and Fern found some weapons as they are now trying out different ones. Their form looks questionable at best but that¡¯s understandable given they didn¡¯t use any weapons before that and they should be fine with enough practice. Tanya and Leonora are busy discussing things with Alexia¡¯s father and unloading goods as well as loading new ones. I don¡¯t think anyone needs me at the moment so I¡¯m going to take a walk in the forest. Walking around the forest is very relaxing to me but after a bit of walking it turned eerily quiet. Not the normal forest quiet but not even birds or the leaves rustling in the wind can be heard. I look around me between the trees but I don¡¯t really see anything out of the ordinary until one of the trees in front of me starts giving off a green glow and a humanoid shape emerges from it. What is coming out from the tree is a Dryad, a humanoid creature with bark-like skin, green hair that can easily be mistaken for leaves and green glowing eyes, who are considered the guardians of a forest. As the Dryad approaches me they start talking, ¡°Thank you for helping out my kin.¡± ¡°Helping your kin? But you are the first Dryad I met.¡± I take a step back as the Dryad gets closer with an arm reached out and then a bright green light coming from their hand blinds me. When I can see again everything returned back to normal and the Dryad disappeared without a sign of them ever being here. I wonder what that was about. Still thinking about that, I walk back to the village. Just as I arrive in the village Fern rushes over to me, ¡°Lucina, the village chief¡¯s daughters have been looking for you for a while and they look pretty frantic.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think I was gone that long. Do you know where they are?¡± She nods and then leads the way to the village centre. Violet is standing behind Alexia who has a very angry expression and opposite of them is their father with an equally angry look. I approach Alexia, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Alexia answers without letting down her guard, ¡°Apparently our father promised Violet to the Viscount who manages the territory the village is in against her will and because of that won¡¯t allow her to leave.¡± I turn towards the village chief, ¡°You are aware arranged marriages go against the law, right? Especially forced ones.¡± ¡°She is my daughter and a part of this village, this is her duty!¡± I let out a sigh, ¡°I would expect something like that from a shitty noble of the empire and not the leader of a small village here. Besides, the only one allowed to reject a recruitment offer from the royal family is the recipient of it.¡± I turn towards Violet, ¡°This mess gives me the assumption you made your choice?¡± She looks at me with a slightly frightened expression, ¡°Y-yes, I would like to accept.¡± I give her a warm smile and then turn back towards her father, ¡°And that settles it. Any more and I will consider it obstructing the prosperity of the Kingdom.¡± The village chief turns red with anger, ¡°Do you even know who the Viscount is?! And who do you think you are, acting like you speak for the royal family?!¡± ¡°Well, you see, usually being part of the royal family gives you the right to speak for the royal family.¡± I grab a brooch from my pocket, it¡¯s a special item grandma gave me which serves as proof of being a part of the royal family that works similar to the adventurers guild card but a bit more intricate, and show it to him, ¡°And I don¡¯t know who this Viscount is but I don¡¯t mind giving them a visit to talk things over.¡± After saying that I ignore him and gesture for Alexia and Violet to follow me and walk over to Tanya and Leonora. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it seems like I will have to leave the escort. Alexia will replace me and I can assure you she is just as capable as I am.¡± They look at me stunned, probably still processing what happened but I ignore it and turn to Alexia, ¡°I will pay a visit to the Viscount please take my place in as the escort for them and take Violet with you. Once it¡¯s over, go to the Ordno Duchy, I will send her a letter informing them about the situation and your arrival beforehand. Knowing the Dukes they will welcome you with open arms.¡± I then put up my tent and go into the workshop area. I¡¯ve been working on a protection brooch like the one I gave Alexia and Bel three years ago but more standard issue. I¡¯m mostly happy with how it turned out but it¡¯s quite a bit weaker than Alexia¡¯s and Bel¡¯s but that¡¯s to be expected provided it¡¯s a lot easier to make. The only thing that¡¯s still missing is the phoenix symbol on it. I usually hide it as it¡¯s still kind of embarrassing to use it but people recognise it as proof that I made it so I¡¯m pretty much forced to use it. It doesn¡¯t take that long to add the phoenix since I got used to making it and I leave the tent with the brooch in hand. Outside Alexia and Tanya are discussing things and Leonora and Violet are just standing awkwardly to the side. I walk over to Violet and give her the brooch, ¡°Keep this with you at all times. It¡¯s a protection magic tool and it also serves as a way of identifying people that are under my protection.¡± I think Alexia overheard me because she is giving me a death glare so I add, ¡°It¡¯s a prototype so I don¡¯t know how strong it is but it should probably be enough for most situations.¡± Alexia lets out a sigh and walks over to us together with Tanya, ¡°We decided it¡¯s better to leave today instead of staying another night so we have to get ready. Thank you for doing all of this for us.¡± She gives me a bow and then walks over to her house, Violet following her. ¡°Your highness, I hope we didn¡¯t offend you while you were travelling with us.¡± Tanya and Leonora both look at me with an expression that¡¯s a mix of conflict and agitation. ¡°If I wanted to be treated like a princess I would have told you about my identity from the beginning. Thank you for taking care of me during the journey and please take care of Alexia and Violet.¡± ¡°¡°It¡¯s our pleasure.¡±¡± They both give a courteous bow and with that I leave towards the direction of where the Viscount lives. It took a whole day but I finally arrived at the Viscounts castle. I get stopped at the castle gate by the guards. ¡°State your business!¡± I show them the brooch of the royal family, ¡°I have a few things to talk about with the Viscount.¡± Both of the guards stand at attention, ¡°Of course your highness.¡± One of them leads the way inside and shows me to a drawing room, ¡°Please wait here, the Viscount will be with you soon.¡± I sit down on a couch and soon after a maid enters and serves me tea. She has a very controlled and neutral expression the whole time but for some reason I feel like she is very nervous, almost frightened. After pouring the tea she takes a position to the side of the room out of the way and it doesn¡¯t take much longer for the Viscount to arrive and take a seat opposite to me. ¡°Your highness, what can I do for you?¡± He looks a bit nervous while asking me this, ¡°I heard someone for a village that is under your protection promised you his daughter so I came here to see what that is all about.¡± He seems a bit more relaxed now, ¡°Aah, I can assure you the woman agrees to this so it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Oh? Is that so? Then why did I have to interfere and stand up for her?¡± He starts looking a bit angry and clicks his tongue, ¡°I didn¡¯t think it had to come to this. Come in!¡± As he says that the door opens and a woman in a white coat enters the room, ¡°Is this the next test subject?¡± She stops and looks at me and then starts grinning, ¡°Oh, V, it¡¯s good to see you again! We lost a lot of precious research when you escaped, you know.¡± How does she know that name? How does she know about me? ¡°It got hard to replace all the test subjects with you gone but since we got you back we will be able to make progress again!¡± It feels like I have an unclear memory of this person, ¡°Who are you and how do you know about me?¡± She ignores my questions and continues with her speech, ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting that you actually got older now. You were with us for 115 years but I¡¯m pretty sure you only aged about 1 or 2 years in that time and as soon as you get away you age normally. I wonder what the reason for that is.¡± I remember now, she was one of the higher up researchers when I was at the institution. She only came by once in a while so she wasn¡¯t around when mom rescued me. I start getting angry, my vision turns red and I grab my scythe, unfolding it in the process. Chapter 9 I wake up amidst rubble, the last memory I have is being in the drawing room with the Viscount. The first thing I notice is a barrier in an about 10 metre radius around me. Outside the barrier I see a few tents and a few people going between them. I can¡¯t recognize anyone as I¡¯m still a bit in a haze but as I try to stand up the barrier surrounding me disappears and someone comes rushing to me and embraces me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything is okay now. Are you hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°Mom? What are you doing here? What happened?¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the right place to talk about this and others will want to talk to you as well so let¡¯s go to the camp.¡± She helps me up and we walk towards a large tent, looking around more I see that about half of the Viscounts castle is destroyed but it looks like there is more castle missing than there is rubble. We enter the tent and there are two people, a man and a woman, sitting at a table looking at a pile of documents. Both of them look rough, having scars all over their body and the woman is wearing an eye patch. They look at us as we enter and the woman is the first to speak, ¡°Had a good nap, little Miss?¡± Mom gives her a death glare, ¡°She doesn¡¯t remember what happened but I think if we go through everything with her we might be able to piece things together.¡± The man gestures towards some empty seats, ¡°We better start from the beginning from our side then.¡± Mom sits down at the opposite side of the two and I sit down next to her and the man starts with his explanation, ¡°Let¡¯s start with telling you who we are. I¡¯m Angus, the Guildmaster of the local branch in this territory, and this¡± he points towards the woman, ¡°is Felicia, the Guildmaster of the main branch of this country. About a week ago there was a beam extending into the sky coming from this location and we soon got reports about the castle being destroyed so we sent out an emergency request to nearby adventurers and the main branch. By the time we made it here, about 4 days ago, everything was already in rubble but to our surprise there were quite a few survivors as well as you within the barrier. We tried to destroy the barrier to get to you in order to make sure you are safe and not hurt or in any danger but neither of us was able to even dent it so we had to give up on that and just wait. While waiting for the barrier to dissipate we questioned the survivors to figure out what happened, most of them were castle staff but some were children who, according to Eliza, were wearing clothes similar to the ones you were wearing when she rescued you. They all had different stories for what happened with the only common points being the Viscount doing evil deeds, him and everyone involved in those being killed and no one actually saying who or what caused this.¡± Felicia interrupts him, ¡°Let¡¯s be honest. We all know it was you, Lucina, but we have no proof and everyone who could be a witness is denying it. But even if someone was speaking up saying it was you no one would actually blame or try to hold you responsible for it. Not only did you rescue people who were in life threatening danger, everyone involved would most likely have gotten the death penalty for it anyways. Also since there aren¡¯t actually any corpses accusing the royal princess of murder feels like commiting treason.¡± Mom lets out a sigh, ¡°What they mean by that is that whether or not you remember what happened, no one blames you. The survivors are clearly protecting you, they even prevented us from getting close to the barrier at first and only let us try after we told them we were trying to help you.¡± Felicia is speaking up again, ¡°Now then, if you don¡¯t mind, could you tell us what you remember?¡± I think for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts, ¡°I was doing an escort request for the guild, guarding a merchant caravan that goes to some of the smaller villages and at the second village we stopped at, I met Alexia again. She is the daughter of the village chief from that village and she asked me to check the Talent her younger sister has because she suspected something was wrong with the translation. Her hunch turned out to be true and I offered her a position at the research department under the royal family which she accepted but her father tried to stop her saying that she was promised to Viscount Branlor against her will. I decided to interfere and had Alexia take my place in the escort and visit Viscount Branlor to figure out what exactly the story is before taking further action. When I arrived at the castle I was shown to a drawing room and the Viscount gave some weak excuses but quickly changed his demeanour and called someone in. She recognized me and even called me ¡®V¡¯. After that everything went dark and the next thing I remember is waking up in the rubble.¡± I can feel anger rising from mom and there is an awkward silence. The silence doesn¡¯t last long as it¡¯s interrupted by my stomach growling, reminding me I apparently haven¡¯t eaten in a week. I turn red from embarrassment and mom gets up from her seat, ¡°Let¡¯s leave it at that for now and get something to eat.¡± We leave the tent and enter another one that looks like a make-shift cafeteria. She sits me down at one of the tables and goes to get something to eat for the both of us. Just a few moments later a group of a few adults and children enter the tent and look around until they spot me and then walk in my direction. They all give a small bow, ¡°Thank you for saving us, your highness.¡± At that moment mom returns with our meals, ¡°You know, this is essentially admitting she is responsible for what happened and all of you lied during the questioning.¡± They look at her in shock as she sits down next to me and places my plate in front of me. ¡°Mom, don¡¯t scare people like that.¡± I turn to the group, ¡°And I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t remember anything that happened so I can¡¯t really accept your gratitude.¡± After saying that I start eating and the group disappeared outside again. I finish my plate and before I can even say anything mom switched hers with mine. I continue eating my second plate and mom starts talking, ¡°I¡¯m sorry you got involved in a mess like this. We really thought the facility you were in was the last one in the Kingdom.¡± I stop for a moment to look at mom, ¡°You know I don¡¯t blame you, grandma or the Kingdom for what happened back then or even now.¡± Mom had a conflicted expression for a while after that. I eat another 4 plates and as we leave the tent I notice it was already dark outside. ¡°Let me show you where we can sleep for the night.¡± Mom guides me to a collection of tents and gestures to one, ¡°This one was prepared for you,¡± she then points at the tent next to it, ¡°and this is mine in case you need anything.¡± I give mom a long hug, ¡°Thank you.¡± and then enter my tent. It¡¯s a basic tent with just a bed in it and I lie down trying to sleep. I look around and I¡¯m back in the drawing room, the Viscounts castle fully intact again and the woman and the Viscount sitting in front of me. It looks like they are saying something but I can¡¯t understand anything. I grab my scythe and unfold it, my body not listening to what I want it to do. A single strike hits both the woman and the Viscount but they didn¡¯t get cut and they just look at me in shock. Just a few seconds flames start to erupt from where they should have been cut quickly engulfing them and it doesn¡¯t take long for them to turn into ashes as if they were never there to begin with. My body turns around, facing the maid that served me tea, she looks horrified and frightened. She tries to talk but I still can¡¯t make anything out and there is another strike from my scythe. A few seconds pass again but this time there are no flames, instead there is a bright light emitting from her. The light seems to be coming out from her and fully envelops her before turning into a barrier floating slightly in the air. The door to the drawing room opens and 4 guards enter, their mouths making me think they are screaming about something but there is no sound. I walk past them as they move in slow motion and cut each of them. Three of them burst in flames moments later while one of them gets engulfed in light, just like the maid. I continue walking, striking every person I meet on the way with my scythe. Most of the maids and very few guards get put into a barrier while anyone else turns to dust. I stop in front of a big iron door and punch it in. The door bends where my fist hits it and gets stuck in the wall on the other side and behind the door is a staircase going into a basement area. There are a few people who attempt to stop me but they are moving too slow to do anything. I recognize the corridors, they are similar to the ones in the facility I was in. Each time I reach a door with a number on it I pull it open by force, a lot of them are empty and the ones who aren¡¯t I strike the children that are being held in there and each of them gets swallowed up by a barrier. There is only one room left and as I enter a very scared person has just pushed a button, I strike them down and just as they burst into flames there is a bright light and I wake up. I look around frantically and notice I¡¯m still in the tent. It¡¯s still dark outside and the castle is in ruins. I¡¯m thinking about telling mom about the dream but decided it can wait until tomorrow and go back to bed. I wake up in my bed in the facility and look around, the room is exactly how it was before mom rescued me. I check out my body and it¡¯s small, just how I was when I was 12. My door opens and two people in full body suits enter, ¡°It¡¯s time for today¡¯s tests, follow us.¡± I get up and follow the two people, we aren¡¯t going the usual path for the magic and physical power tests and instead go into a large empty room with a few weapons on the side. On the other side of the room is a young boy holding a sword with a distressed expression. ¡°You better pick something to defend yourself if you want to live.¡± saying that the two people left and closed the door behind them. Just then the young boy comes charging at me, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I have no choice!¡± It looks like he is about to start crying but his movements are slow. He swings down his sword and I just step aside. He tries to follow up with a sideways swing but I punch him and he flies to the other side of the room again. Fighting people is almost boring after sparing with mom for such a long time. I go to the wall on my side and pick up an axe. Too bad there isn¡¯t a scythe here. Before I can move I get a strong headache. Wait. Mom? A Scythe? The headache disappeared again but the young boy closed the distance already and I can¡¯t dodge or block. I wake up in my bed in the tent again, drenched in sweat. It¡¯s still dark and I¡¯m pretty sure not that much time has passed since I went back to bed. My heart is beating loud and I can feel tears welling up in my eyes so I leave my tent and go into mom¡¯s. I¡¯m pretty sure mom is asleep but the moment I enter she sits up in her bed, ¡°What¡¯s the matter Bunny?¡± ¡°I had a nightmare again, can I sleep with you?¡± She lies down again and holds open the blanket, which makes me think she might not really be awake, so I lie down next to her and soon fall asleep. I wake up next to mom, she seems to still be fast asleep. I used to have a lot of nightmares for the first few years after mom rescued me and she always comforted me like this. I didn¡¯t have a nightmare in quite a while but it¡¯s still very comforting, especially knowing mom doesn¡¯t mind it. I thought I¡¯m over everything that happened but the nightmares I had last night prove I still have some issues. Before I can think more about it mom wakes up as well, ¡°Lucina? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I had a nightmare yesterday and I think I remember what happened to the people who disappeared. Looks like I was right thinking you were still asleep, you even called me Bunny.¡± We both turn a bit red with that last remark. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I know you don¡¯t like that nickname. As for what you remember, let¡¯s talk about that later with the others present as well and I¡¯m assuming the nightmare was similar to those when you were younger?¡± I just nod. ¡°Okay. Do you want to go eat breakfast or do you need a bit more time?¡± I nod but then I can feel the tears welling up again. Mom seems to have noticed it as she is now embracing me. It takes me a moment to calm down again but once I have we make our way to get breakfast. We eat in silence until mom starts to speak, ¡°How would you feel about travelling for a while to get a change of pace?¡± I finish my second plate, ¡°That might be a good idea, but I want to drop by the capital first to make sure everything works out with employing Violet.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan. Let¡¯s inform Angus and Felicia after you finish eating and then leave for the capital.¡± Back in the large tent mom is telling Angus and Felicia what I told her earlier. I¡¯m having a hard time following the conversation but lucky for me mom is able to answer all the questions and I don¡¯t seem to be needed. ¡°Hmm. I can see how strength like that is kept secret by the kingdom but after what happened here I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to keep it hidden much longer. I suggest we make Lucina A-rank and publicly state she declined S-rank,¡± Felicia looks at mom, ¡°just like you. Since she is your daughter it should be believable and as long as we don¡¯t tell the whole truth I¡¯m pretty confident most people would just dismiss it as her being your daughter so of course she is going to be at least close to your strength.¡± ¡°I agree. Making it public that she is your daughter should also protect her from people trying to use her for her power, which, knowing you, is more a favour to them.¡± Angus chuckles while he adds that. Felicia now turns to me, ¡°Could you give me your Guildcard please?¡± I instinctively reach for my backpack and only when I grab air do I notice I don¡¯t actually have it on me. ¡°It¡¯s in my backpack and I don¡¯t know where it is.¡± They all look at me with a troubled expression until Felicia suddenly jolts up. She rushes to a corner of the tent where a lot of different objects are in a messy pile. It doesn¡¯t take her long to find what she is looking for and walks over with a pitch black backpack in hand. ¡°Is this your backpack?¡± I shake my head, ¡°No, my backpack is brown.¡± Felicia¡¯s expression changed from excited to frustrated, ¡°Damn, I was hoping it was yours because we aren¡¯t able to open it to see what¡¯s inside and every time I hold it it feels like it will bite me any second. Could you try opening it anyway?¡± Before I can even answer she puts the backpack down in front of me and when I think about opening it it already opened all by itself, revealing my Guildcard. I give the Guildcard to Felicia, ¡°Looks like it¡¯s mine after all.¡± Mom leans closer to me and whispers, ¡°When did you add a security feature like that?¡± I whisper back, ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± After Angus and Felicia recover from the surprise of the backpack opening Felicia does something with my Guildcard and then gives it back to me. The card looks the same with the only difference being that the ¡°C¡± indicating my rank is now an ¡°A¡±. As I put the card away mom gets up from her seat, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind we will take our leave now.¡± We walk out without waiting for an answer and I follow mom to a makeshift stable, which is just a few tents without walls, where there are a few horses and carriages. We approach someone who seems to be taking care of the horses. ¡°Could you get a carriage ready for me? We are leaving for the capital.¡± They nod and walk off and mom turns towards me, ¡°It¡¯s going to take a moment for the carriage to be ready, so how about a spar to ease your mind a bit?¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itI look at mom dumbfounded, ¡°If you think there is a place where we can go without causing any collateral damage.¡± Mom smirks and gestures for me to follow her. We don¡¯t walk too long but we reach a large open space with no one around. Mom takes up her position some distance away and waits for me to get ready. I have to take even a spar with mom very seriously, I can¡¯t afford to make a single mistake. I put my backpack to the side where it shouldn¡¯t get into the way or be damaged by crossfire, take my scythe and unfold it. I go into position and mom doesn¡¯t waste a second and charges me. She swings down her sword on me and I dodge it to the side. I try to punch her to throw her off balance at the same time but she uses the momentum of her downward slash to jump over her sword, still holding it, and then uses the momentum from pulling her sword along to add power to a horizontal slash. I barely blocked it with the end my scythes hilt but the impact still pushed me a few metres away while spinning me around. We continue like that for a while, mom consistently deflecting my scythe while I dodge her sword but neither is able to hit the other. I stop when I notice how out of breath mom is and she stops as well and collapses onto the ground clearly exhausted. I walk over to her after grabbing my backpack and give her some water. ¡°Thanks. I don¡¯t think I will ever get used to just how much stamina you have, but I¡¯m a bit surprised you didn¡¯t mind all the spectators.¡± Spectators? I look around and it looks like everyone from the camp is standing around the edges of where we were fighting looking at us awestruck. I start blushing and cast a cleaning spell on mom which instantly removes all the sweat and dirt from our fight. Mom gets up while smiling, ¡°The carriage is probably ready now so let¡¯s go.¡± We only had to camp out one night before arriving at the capital. I used a normal tent together with mom because I wasn¡¯t able to find my own tent in my backpack. I am still a bit in a haze so maybe it¡¯s because of that. We went directly to the castle and mom is currently explaining what happened to grandma and Emelia and they left me to watch over Emelia¡¯s child, Liliana Rhea Stellard. Lily is very smart for a barely one year old and she seems to be very interested in my backpack for some reason. It¡¯s good that Lily has some toys already because I don¡¯t think most of the things I have are appropriate for a toddler. I am curious why she is so interested in my backpack though and I swear I could see it move slightly when she approached it. I¡¯m in the middle of reading a storybook to Lily when the door to her room opens and Emelia enters, ¡°Thank you for playing with Lily. I hope it wasn¡¯t too much, she has Eliza¡¯s energy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, she is very well behaved. Are you finished with your talks?¡± Emelia picks up Lily and looks at me with a serious expression, ¡°Almost. The only thing left is your suggestion for the remote villages and we all think it would be best if you are present for that discussion.¡± ¡°Ah, sure.¡± We walk back to the drawing room where mom, grandma and Emelia were talking before and I sit down next to mom. I explain what Tanya told me during my time escorting them to the villages and the idea of assisting the merchants by paying them for those routes. Grandma and Emelia take a moment to think before grandma speaks up, ¡°I think I understand your idea but do you think it would benefit the kingdom?¡± ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t really know much about the financial parts and I think you should discuss that with the Reyes Trading Company. I also recommend giving them priority since they are among the only ones who are currently doing that part. As for the benefit for the kingdom. In my opinion, the reason why we are more powerful than the Stovaria Empire is the happiness of the common people. A lot of people will try to return a favour and actually help someone according to their abilities when they were helped by them before so while there probably won¡¯t be any short term benefits there is a high likelihood of long term benefits. Also, if the villages aren¡¯t dependent on every single person in the village it¡¯s more likely for them to send their children to the royal academy and someone with an exceptional Talent is more likely to be found.¡± ¡°I see. We will see what we can do.¡± She then looks between me and mom, ¡°So what¡¯s your plan now? You could stay here for a while if you just go back.¡± Mom answers for me, ¡°We are dropping by the Ordno Duchy to check in with Alexia, Violet and Miss Bella before travelling for a while. I¡¯m hoping that will ease her mind a bit.¡± Grandma lets out a sigh, ¡°Okay, be safe, and know that you can come home any time.¡± It has gotten dark faster than expected and mom and I are staying at the castle for the night before leaving for the Duchy tomorrow. My room looks the same as before I left for school when I was living here for a while. Mom¡¯s room is also still right next to mine with a connecting door. hope the familiar surroundings help me sleep better. I lie down on the bed and close my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I have no choice!¡± a young boy screams while rushing towards me with a sword. Just before the sword reaches me everything turns dark and when the light returns the boy is lying on the floor in a puddle of blood and then everything is dark again. The same scene repeats over and over again, each time with a different child. After about the 9th it stops and everything stays dark. The floor feels muddy as if I¡¯m in a swamp. Different voices echo through the darkness like a soft whisper, ¡°¡°Why did it have to be us?! Why wasn¡¯t it you?!¡±¡± One after another translucent children without recognizable faces appear, slowly surrounding me. ¡°¡°This is all your fault!¡±¡± ¡°¡°We would still be alive if it wasn¡¯t for you!¡±¡± Then suddenly all of the translucent children rush towards me and the moment they reach me I¡¯m blinded by a bright white light. When I open my eyes again I¡¯m in a plain white room with a single bed and door and before I can fully comprehend what¡¯s going on the door opens and a familiar woman enters the room. I recognize her as the scientist from the Viscounts castle but she is missing her right arm. ¡°I got to give it to you, V, I didn¡¯t expect you to put up that much of a struggle and after all we did for a monster like you.¡± I can feel anger welling up and try to reach for my scythe but nothing happens so I rush towards her trying to punch her. Just before my hand reaches her face she dissipates and soon after the floor gives out and I appear to be in the royal academy. ¡°I bet they manipulated her score since she is the princess.¡± ¡°She probably thinks she is special just because she was adopted into the royal family.¡± ¡°Do you think we will also get some strong magic item if we pretend to like her?¡± ¡°I have never seen her use magic or fight with a weapon, I bet she just used her status to attend here and get into the advanced class.¡± ¡°I heard she is so useless even her parents abandoned her and her highness only adopted her out of pity.¡± ¡°What kind of monster would attack someone just for putting a peasant in their place?¡± ¡°Why did someone useless like her get adopted into the royal family to begin with?¡± Everything around me changes again and I¡¯m now in a dark brick room and cuffed to the wall with large chains. A soldier is standing in front of me and mom is on the other side of the bars looking at me with a disgusted expression. The soldier reads off a scroll, ¡°You are sentenced to exile for impersonating the royal princess and deceiving the royal family. You will be sent out to the wilderness tomorrow at dawn and all of your possessions will be confiscated.¡± I look at mom in horror, ¡°Mom! What¡¯s going on? This isn¡¯t true, is it?¡± Mom scoffs, ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. As if anyone could love a monster like you! Do you even know how many people you killed?!¡± ¡°¡ªCINA!¡± There is a loud bang from a door being opened, ¡°LUCINA!¡± I open my eyes but everything is blurry which makes it hard to see. ¡°Lucina! Is everything alright?¡± I rub tears out of my eyes, it seems like I was crying in my sleep, and now see mom next to me looking worried. ¡°I think I had another nightmare.¡± Just as I finish saying that I can feel tears flowing down my cheeks again. Mom hugs me and whispers, ¡°It¡¯s going to be alright.¡± repeatedly. I don¡¯t know when I fell asleep but I woke up still in my room, mom still asleep next to me. I sneak out of bed and look through my backpack. I haven¡¯t had the chance to check if the tent really isn¡¯t in there so it might be a good idea to check if anything else is missing. Essentially everything is missing, only my Guildcard and a few sets of clothes are still in there and I¡¯m pretty sure at least 2 sets are missing as well. What surprises me the most is the box I used to create my metal, I made sure it¡¯s sturdy since it did have to withhold a lot of mana and even if it broke there should still be fragments of it or at least the metal around. Then again, the backpack isn¡¯t burned so it might have turned black from absorbing the metal but that still doesn¡¯t explain all the missing things. I just put the last set of clothes back into the backpack when mom wakes up. We briefly discuss my nightmare and then eat breakfast before leaving. Grandma already had a carriage ready for us to use and sent word to the Duchy about our arrival. We arrived at the Dukes¡¯ mansion in the late afternoon and they are already waiting for us outside. ¡°Welcome, your highnesses. We hope you had a pleasant journey.¡± One of Bel¡¯s fathers turns towards me, ¡°Bella, Alexia and Violet are currently in the backyard training, why don¡¯t you join them? I¡¯m sure they will be excited to see you again.¡± I nod and follow a maid who gestures for me to follow. I can hear the clashing of metals before I can even see them. It looks like they have improved quite a bit since I last saw them and are also quite distracted with their spar so as I spot Violet I go and sit down next to her. ¡°Hey, how was your first adventure?¡± Violet jolts at me suddenly talking to her but quickly gathers herself again and gives me a courteous bow, ¡°Your highness, it¡¯s a pleasure meeting you again. The journey was quite pleasant.¡± I look at her in shock, ¡°Please don¡¯t do that. I¡¯m living and grew up as a commoner so formalities like that make me uncomfortable.¡± Violet blushes and avoids eye contact, ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m trying to learn proper conduct so I don¡¯t mess up too much while at the academy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine and you don¡¯t have to be too worried about the academy. The principal already got informed about you so no one should give you any trouble.¡± I gesture at Alexia and Bel¡¯s spar, ¡°How long have they been going at it?¡± She looks at them concerned, ¡°About an hour so they should probably finish up soon but I don¡¯t think I will ever get used to seeing them go at it like that.¡± ¡°I mean my spars with mom are usually about 2 hours depending on how all out we go.¡± She looks at me in disbelief, ¡°I thought I got a rough grasp on how strong you are from what Alexia told me but I think I underestimated you quite a bit if you can last that long against her highness Eliza.¡± I shake my head, ¡°Strength isn¡¯t everything, we usually end in a draw because mom has way more experience which can¡¯t be overcome by brute force. That¡¯s also the reason why Bel and Alexia keep sparing like that, or at least that¡¯s what they told me.¡± Violet ponders for a bit, ¡°I wonder if I can meet someone like they did and I bet your strength and power made you popular in the academy.¡± ¡°Nah, focusing on experimenting with magic tools made me weird so no one was really interested in me, not that I mind that to be honest.¡± I didn¡¯t notice that Alexia and Bel finished up and walked over to us and got a bit surprised when Bel suddenly joined the conversation, ¡°She did get hit on at least once a day in the first semester, I always thought she turned everyone down because she just isn¡¯t interested in relationships but it looks like she is just too dense.¡± Alexia adds, ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure it only stopped after half a year because we started a rumour that she is only interested in someone who is stronger than her and people who ignore it will be subjected to testing her more dangerous magic tools.¡± I look at them in shock, ¡°What do you mean dangerous magic tools? Everything I make is safe to use, at least once I let other people use it.¡± ¡°¡°¡°THAT¡¯S the thing you focus on?!?!¡±¡±¡± All three of them almost shout at the same time and I just shrug. ¡°I mean I really am not interested in a relationship so I don¡¯t really care about that and being dense isn¡¯t an issue in that regard either. If anything I¡¯m grateful to both of you for doing that even if I didn¡¯t notice it.¡± Alexia shakes her head, ¡°Then how about you spar with us as a thanks? Me and Bella against you to make it fair.¡± I smile, ¡°Never.¡± Bel frowns, ¡°Oh come on, just once so we can see how much progress we made. You never agreed to it even in the academy.¡± ¡°Forget it. Fighting you too is too exhausting. If you want to test your strength go ask mom, she¡¯s a battle junky just like the two of you.¡± Alexia is pouting, ¡°How come fight Miss Eliza isn¡¯t exhausting but fighting is? She is way stronger than we are, even when fighting together.¡± ¡°Because mom¡¯s style is simple and straightforward and I agreed to not use magic during our spars while your style focuses on the combination of magic and weapons so there is a lot more to focus on and I¡¯d have to use magic as well, especially if you are tag-teaming.¡± ¡°Fiiiine. We will ask Miss Eliza after she finishes talking to my dads. You¡¯re going to stay for until tomorrow anyways, right?¡± ¡°Yes. I think mom planned to leave in the afternoon since it¡¯s going to take a few days to arrive at the Empire anyways and she refuses to camp out since my tent is missing.¡± ¡°What do you mean it is missing? I thought you always had it in your backpack? Where is your backpack anyways? Why do you have a new one?¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually the same backpack, I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s black now but most of the things that were in it disappeared. The only things left are my guildcard and clothes but some of the clothes disappeared as well.¡± Violet looks at my backpack and then at me, ¡°Why do you give it mana? Is it required for it to work?¡± I look at her confused, ¡°What do you mean giving it mana? I¡¯m not giving it any mana.¡± Bel, Alexia and I look at her questioningly and she blushes a bit, ¡°I-I¡¯m not quite sure but I can faintly see mana coming from you going towards the backpack. I only used to be able to see Alexia¡¯s mana before and I don¡¯t know why I can see yours now as well but with Alexia it was when she started having more mana so I figured I¡¯m just getting more used to it.¡± I¡¯m trying to think of a reason for why she can see my mana and why my backpack is absorbing my mana but before I can even really start Bel asks, ¡°What about me? Can you see my mana? I should have a similar amount to Alexia.¡± Violet looks at Bel for a moment and then shakes her head, ¡°No, I don¡¯t see anything. Alexia and Lucina are the only ones I¡¯ve ever seen the mana of and I also don¡¯t think I can see all of Lucina¡¯s mana because it looks like less than what Alexia has but from what you told me she should have more.¡± ¡°Hmm. I will look into it while travelling. From what I know nothing really comes to mind that would explain it but who knows, maybe another country has more information on that.¡± We talked for a while longer until mom and Bel¡¯s dads came outside and Bel and Alexia spared with mom. It was impressive to watch and the both of them made a lot of progress but I could tell mom was holding back still. The stay with Bel¡¯s family was very pleasant and mom and I are now on the way to our first stop for our trip, the capital of the Empire. Chapter 10 We arrived at the empire''s capital and rented a room in an inn that¡¯s popular with adventurers. It was fascinating to see how quickly things have changed in the empire. There are still a lot of things in progress and it¡¯s definitely not finished yet but the atmosphere all around is much happier and streets that were almost desolated before are now bustling with people. I sent Lauren a letter ahead of our arrival saying we will stop by tomorrow for a quick chat and briefly explaining our reason for travelling. We decided to eat something before looking through the merchant district. There are a lot of new stores around, each carrying things from different cultures. Lauren told me that the people from conquered nations were forced to adapt to the empire¡¯s ways and would even be prosecuted if they didn¡¯t. It was one of the first things she changed. I expected there to be at least some clash with so many different cultures in one place but it looks very harmonious. We checked out a few different stores that sell weapons, mom because she is obsessed with swords and me because I figured I might be able to learn something, but they said they can¡¯t just give out information like that. By the end of the day I was more exhausted than I thought I would be but then again I wasn¡¯t really able to explore as much as today before. After eating breakfast we are now on our way to the castle. We arrive at a gate and two knights greet us, ¡°Your highness¡¯, her Majesty asked us to guide you when you arrive.¡± We follow the knights into the castle and through quite a few corridors before they stop in front of a large door and knock, ¡°Your Majesty, they are here.¡± ¡°Come in.¡± The knights open the door and direct us in but stay outside while closing the door behind us. The room looks like an office, on one wall there are all kinds of different weapons displayed while on the other side there are bookshelves reaching the ceiling. There is also a small sitting area and a desk, where Lauren is currently sitting at, with multiple stacks of documents. ¡°Take a seat, I will be right with you.¡± I think she is waving her hand towards the sitting area but it¡¯s hard to make out with all the documents in front of her, nonetheless mom and I sit down while a maid pours us tea. It only took about a minute before Lauren lets out a loud sigh and gets up from her desk and walks over to us. Mom gives her a warm, understanding look, ¡°I hope we aren¡¯t too much of a bother.¡± Lauren shakes her head as she sits down opposite us, ¡°Not at all. Verna, my assistant has been pestering me to take more breaks for a while now anyway.¡± As if on cue the door opens and a woman enters, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t complain as much if you stopped insisting on doing everything yourself and let others help with the workload, or at the very least me.¡± Lauren lets out another sigh, massages her temples and mumbles, ¡°Speak of the devil and they shall appear.¡± The woman looks at Lauren with an intimidating smile, ¡°What was that?¡± Lauren flinches and looks clearly uncomfortable if not scared, ¡°N-nothing.¡± She then looks at us, having composed herself again, and gestures at the woman, ¡°This is Verna, my assistant.¡± Verna gives a courteous bow, ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure meeting you your highness¡¯¡± She looks in my direction and suddenly has a puzzled expression. ¡°Your highness, if you don¡¯t mind me asking, why does your golem look like a backpack?¡± I switch between looking at my backpack and her in confusion, ¡°What do you mean golem?¡± She tilts her head and stares at the backpack as if trying to stare a hole into it, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I might be wrong but I grew up around golems so I¡¯m pretty confident in recognizing them but I¡¯ve never seen one quite like yours before.¡± I don¡¯t really know what she¡¯s talking about, what even is a golem and why would my backpack be one. Before I can ask any of my questions mom asks, ¡°Excuse me but aren¡¯t golems a type of monster? As far as I know inanimate objects can¡¯t turn into monsters, can they?¡± Verna seems to think for a moment before turning her head towards Lauren who gives her a quick nod. ¡°The kind of golem I¡¯m talking about is different from a monster. They are manmade instead of occurring naturally like a monster. You see, I grew up in a place where such golems were commonplace before the empire took over. We told the former emperor that they can¡¯t be used for battle, because of that he wasn¡¯t interested in them and mostly left us alone. Since I grew up seeing them a lot so I¡¯m pretty confident in recognizing them but I don¡¯t really know too much about them so if you want to know more about them you should probably visit my hometown.¡± I turn towards mom, ¡°I think it¡¯s worth a try but I don¡¯t know what you have planned so you decide.¡± Mom gives me a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t really have anything planned to be honest so it¡¯s no problem.¡± She then turns to Verna, ¡°We would need to know where it is exactly though.¡± ¡°Ah right. It¡¯s to the west, close to the Everroot Forest.¡± ¡°Everroot? Isn¡¯t that where the Elves live? I thought they don¡¯t like outsiders?¡± ¡°Yes, but as long as you don¡¯t enter the forest without permission it¡¯s fine. The village even trades with them from time to time.¡± Lauren massages her temples, ¡°I want to ask why the empire doesn¡¯t know about something like that but I can already guess what the answer is going to be.¡± Verna gives her a mischievous smile, ¡°Hey, at least I¡¯m telling you now.¡± Mom thinks for a moment, ¡°That should be fine, there is something I have been holding off doing around there anyways.¡± Lauren clears her throat, ¡°Now that that¡¯s settled I want to suggest holding a banquet but I know you would hate that so I will hold off on it but at least get in touch with me if there is anything you need while you stay in the empire.¡± ¡°Then can you ask the blacksmiths to teach me their forging method?¡± Lauren looks at me flabbergasted while mom and Verna are clearly trying to hold in their laughter. ¡°I assume you¡¯re asking me because you already asked them and they refused, right? There is nothing I can do about that, forging methods are a blacksmith''s lifeblood, they only teach their disciples.¡± I shrug, ¡°Well, it was worth a try.¡± ¡°That does remind me though, if you don¡¯t mind could you have a look at the armour? All the blacksmiths and magic tool craftsmen that looked at it couldn¡¯t figure out how to maintain it and I wanted to make sure it¡¯s still in working order, especially since it seems more like a parade armour rather than one used in actual combat.¡± ¡°Ah. I can¡¯t really inspect it properly since my workshop disappeared but it should be fine. It has a self maintenance function so as long as you don¡¯t completely destroy it it should even fix a few dents by itself given enough time.¡± She looks at me even more shocked than before, ¡°what do you mean it disappeared? You¡¯re saying this as if it¡¯s something minor but isn¡¯t this quite a big deal?¡± I shrug, ¡°There is nothing I can do about it. It disappeared together with most other things I stored in the backpack so it either got destroyed when whatever changed the backpack happened or it got absorbed into the backpack somehow. It¡¯s more realistic to assume it got destroyed though since I tried to fuse magic tools before but it never worked.¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re not worried about it there is nothing I can do about it.¡± We talked for a bit more about different things that happened while we didn¡¯t see each other and as it turns out Verna and Lauren are engaged and they invited us to the wedding. They don¡¯t have a specific date in mind yet but it¡¯s probably going to be in about 2 years. We left for Verna¡¯s hometown after another day of sightseeing in the capital and I tried to use that time as well as the time it took to get there to get mom to tell me what she had to do around there that she¡¯s been holding off on but she always avoided answering. At least the journey was pleasant until we got so far out the countryside that even calling the roads a dirt path would be a compliment. Since the carriage we used was rented I also couldn¡¯t modify it to make it more comfortable which made me miss home a bit but the change of scenery was definitely worth it. We arrived in the late evening so we were a bit worried about finding a place to stay since a small village this far out doesn¡¯t even have an inn but it seems Verna might have informed them about us arriving because we were welcomed by a couple a few years older than Verna and they offered us a room at their house. Turns out I was correct, Verna sent a letter ahead of time and the couple that welcomed us are Verna¡¯s older brother and his wife and they said they would introduce us to someone who is a golem expert and maintains most of the ones used in the village. ¡°They live at the outskirts of the village, close to the forest but luckily the village is small so it doesn¡¯t take long to walk over there. It¡¯s the only house out there so it¡¯s hard to miss and when you meet them just tell them I sent you.¡± With that we start walking towards the forest along the village''s roads. Mom is fidgeting around with her sword handle which she only does when she is nervous about something but I don¡¯t really know what she would be nervous about and since there are a few golems walking around I¡¯m also too focused on them to try to get mom to tell me. The golems indeed look quite different to the monsters. They look like they are made out of dirt and mud and are about one metre tall. They don¡¯t seem to have any fingers, toes or facial features aside from faint yellow glowing eyes and they seem to either transport things from one place to another or do simple farm work. I¡¯m still absorbed in observing the golems when a voice calls out to mom. ¡°Eliza? What brings you all the way out here? I thought you were trying to avoid me.¡± I look towards where the voice is coming from and there is an Elf with a big grin walking towards mom. Mom tenses up and I can almost hear her gritting her teeth, ¡°Well, had I known you were here I would have made an excuse to not meet you.¡± ¡°Oh come on, don¡¯t be like that, it¡¯s been like what, 15 years? You¡¯re all grown up now so I promise I won¡¯t tease you anymore.¡± Mom sighs and seems to loosen up a bit, ¡°Fine, we can talk later, we are currently looking for the golem master that should be around here somewhere.¡± The elf tilts their head and puts a hand on their chin, ¡°Oh my, that would be me. I thought people outside of here don¡¯t know about golems to begin with so why do you want to know about them?¡± I shove my backpack between mom and the elf, ¡°Apparently this is a golem.¡± The elf looks at me blinking a few times before smirking at mom, ¡°Eliza, don¡¯t you think she is a bit too young for you?¡± ¡°You know, this is exactly why I didn¡¯t want to meet you. Lucina is my daughter, she is also older than me.¡± ¡°I see, I see. Let¡¯s go back to my place first so I can take a look at that golem and after that you can tell me all about what you¡¯ve been up to these past 15 years.¡± As they say that they turn around and wave us to follow them. As we follow them I nudge mom to get her attention and whisper to her, ¡°Who are they and how do you know them?¡± Mom lets out another long sigh, ¡°They are Arlayna, a like 400 year old elf and they used to be my mentor when I started out as an adventurer. I¡¯ve been trying to avoid them because they kept teasing me about ending up with at least one child because I can¡¯t distance myself from my job as an adventurer.¡± Arlayna turns around, now walking backwards with a mischievous grin, ¡°Hey, I will have you know I¡¯m only 362 and in the end it turned out I was right, wasn¡¯t I.¡± They then turn towards me, still walking backwards, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me how this golem got created while we walk? I have never seen one quite this unique before.¡± ¡°If I knew I wouldn¡¯t be here. There was an¡­ incident and what used to be a regular backpack with increased space turned into this.¡± How can someone walk backwards with their head tilted like that without walking into anything or falling over. ¡°Hmm, you are going to have to tell me about that incident later but there is something else I¡¯m curious about. How did you get Sylva¡¯s blessing?¡± ¡°What do you mean by Sylva''s blessing? Who even is Sylva?¡± Arlayna starts bursting out in laughter, ¡°Are you seriously telling me you got blessed by the queen of Dryads, who never blessed even an elf, without even knowing her name?¡± ¡°I mean to be fair she only said something about helping her kin before flashing a bright light directly into my eyes and disappearing as if she was never there to begin with. It was the first time I encountered a Dryad so I have no idea what helping her kin was supposed to mean and I got distracted with other things right away so I forgot about it.¡± Arlayna¡¯s expression turns serious very quickly and they turn around, ¡°Well, let¡¯s take a look at the golem first.¡± They enter a house and gesture for us to follow, going further into a side room that looks like a workshop. Though, in my opinion it looks more like a slaughterhouse rather than a workshop, there are crude looking limbs and torsos made out of all kinds of materials hanging on the walls and over some tables, some partially assembled others just laying around on their own. The floor itself is covered with a layer of dirt and in two corners are piles of dirt and mud respectively. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.Arlayna clears off one of the tables by swiping their arm across it, dropping everything on the floor in the process. ¡°Now, could you please put the golem onto the table so I can take a look at it?¡± I make my way to the table, trying not to stumble over anything, and place the backpack on the table. They use magic I don¡¯t recognize, presumably, inspecting the backpack before prodding and poking with a variety of tools, I have no idea what they are supposed to be for. ¡°Just what in the name of god did you store in this backpack.¡± I look at her just as confused as she is looking at me, ¡°Just the normal things, a few changes of clothes, a few corpses of monster I defeated, a few magic tools I was experimenting with, the box I used to create my special metal, oh and of course my workshop including weapon and armour prototypes.¡± They look at me, mouth agape, for a moment but getting their composure again pretty quickly, at least compared to others, ¡°What did I expect from Eliza¡¯s daughter.¡± They turn towards mom who, for some reason, is fidgeting around with an arm made of a green metal, ¡°I somewhat expected it but why didn¡¯t you teach your daughter some common sense?¡± Mom puts the arm down on a stack of other limbs, ¡°First of all, rude, and how am I supposed to know I need to teach her not to do something that¡¯s impossible anyways.¡± ¡°Excuse me, but what are you two talking about?¡± Both let out a sigh and Arlayna shakes their head, ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to be able to put a magic tool with space expansion into another magic tool with space expansion. Of course there are some exceptions but they are very hard to make and because of that often not worth it.¡± I look at Arlayna confused, ¡°I know that. I tried it at first but it didn¡¯t work so I changed the magic that is on the backpack so it¡¯s a pocket dimension instead of a space expansion.¡± ¡°Pocket? Dimension? ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡° Arlayna looks at mom as if asking for help. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the magic expert, not me so don¡¯t ask me to explain. But wasn¡¯t it your theory that as long as someone uses enough mana pretty much anything is possible?¡± ¡°I-I mean yes but something like this wouldn¡¯t be possible for me and I haven¡¯t met someone with more mana than me until now. Even when looking at records of the history of different places it¡¯s rare for anyone to have similar mana to me, let alone more.¡± Their head snaps in my direction and they stare at me for a moment before letting out a sigh, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about what happened in the past 15 years over some tea, and after that I can explain more about Dryads and teach you how to make and control golems. It should be easy enough with your amount of mana.¡± We leave to the living room and Arlayna prepares some tea for us. While mom is explaining what happened to me and how we met I tinker with the teapot. Teapots that don¡¯t heat up by themselves have to be one of the most annoying things there are. It seems I got faster with making teapots into magic items as mom is still in the middle of explaining but I already finished. Maybe I can add some other functions to it since I seem to have more time. ¡°Care to explain what you are doing to my teapot?¡± Before I can think of things I could add to the teapot Arlayna seems to have noticed I was remodelling it. ¡°Lucina! We talked about this! Didn¡¯t you promise not to make other people''s things into magic tools without permission?!¡± Oops. ¡°B-but I hate regular teapots a-and it¡¯s not that big of a change and it¡¯s not like I have to listen to my own story and I was bored and I didn¡¯t want to be a distraction and¡­¡± Mom buries her face in her hands and Arlayna looks at me in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Arlayna, she does this every. single. time.¡± Mom gives me an angry glare, ¡°I told her before that that¡¯s the reason she keeps getting into trouble but no matter what she just can¡¯t seem to help herself.¡± Arlayna calmed down again and is inspecting the teapot now. ¡°I mean, to be honest, I can see her point. I probably wouldn¡¯t have believed that story but seeing her make a magic tool out of an ordinary teapot makes it hard to deny.¡± They let out a deep sigh, ¡°Now let me tell you about Dryads. Dryads are spirits, to be precise they are forest spirits. They are protecting forests all over the world but usually it¡¯s not necessary for them to interfere. They feel strong kinship among each other and will protect each other to the best of their abilities and protecting a Dryad, especially a young one, will earn you their gratitude. They also follow a rather strict hierarchy where the older the Dryad is the higher up they are going to be. Sylva is considered the queen of Dryads because she is the oldest among Dryads. Now for the blessing. A Dryads blessing marks you as similar to kin and other Dryads will also recognize you as such, in addition to that you will get the forest''s blessing which means that if you are in a forest you will be protected by it, either by getting safe passage or preventing dangers to get near you. Of course that only applies to a forest under the protection of a Dryad. And before you ask, I know about this because Elfs are very connected with Dryads since we also live in forests and also protect both the forest as well as the Dryads if necessary. Getting blessed by Dryads is still uncommon for Elfs but it¡¯s also not exactly rare so it¡¯s a part of our culture. Now to the part as to why you got the blessing. Dryads are able to polymorph into another species, not very long, but long enough to be able to get pregnant by that species. They don¡¯t usually do that because it can be very dangerous but since Sylva is that old of a Dryad it¡¯s not impossible. Because of that, who you helped might not have been a Dryad, or at least didn¡¯t look like one at that moment.¡± I take a moment to think and take in all this information, ¡°But if kin is so important for Dryads then why didn¡¯t Sylva protect her kin herself? Also how am I supposed to know who it was if they don¡¯t even look like a Dryad?¡± ¡°Dryads can¡¯t freely leave the area they are protecting. If they do it¡¯s not just a limited range but they will also be severely weakened, which makes it very dangerous, so unless it¡¯s something very major where they think they have no choice other than to interfere they won¡¯t. And for how to recognize them, generally they will inherit at least some powers of the Dryad, examples for that would be controlling plants, strong plant based magic or the protection of the forest. They usually also recognize their kin, meaning Dryads, other half Dryads and those blessed by a Dryad. It can take a few years for those powers to manifest so unless they are still young they should recognize you now and in a few years you should be able to recognize them as well.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that I can just wait until that power manifested from the blessing and I will find out then?¡± They chuckle for a moment, ¡°Normally I would agree with you but since Sylva personally met you and gave you her blessing I think it¡¯s safer to assume that we are talking about her child and with that I think Sylva also assigned you as their guardian with the blessing. I guess I forgot to say that earlier, being blessed by a Dryad doesn¡¯t just mark you as similar to kin to Dryads but the equivalent to kin to the Dryad that gave the blessing which includes you in the Dryad hierarchy just below the Dryad that blessed you. It¡¯s the main reason as to why Sylva doesn¡¯t give her blessing to anyone, well, anyone but you it seems. But that also means it would be in your best interest to figure out who it is and make sure they will be safe until they can properly protect themself because if something happens Sylva is going to blame you.¡± I¡¯m trying really hard to think about who it could be but nothing comes to mind yet but mom seems to have an idea, ¡°I wasn¡¯t around when it happened so it¡¯s hard for me to say for sure so, Arlayna, is green hair a possible indicator as well?¡± ¡°It can be, a lot of people with green hair have at least a distance relative that was a Dryad but it¡¯s not that reliable because of that. Still, if you know someone with green hair it would at least be a start.¡± Mom looks at me, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Alexia and Violet have green hair? And isn¡¯t Violet¡¯s Talent talking with plants? From what you told me you also only know one of their parents so there would be room for the other parent to be a Dryad.¡± Arlayna starts laughing again, ¡°Wait wait wait. You¡¯re telling me you know someone with a Talent that lets them talk to plants but you are confused about who the kin of the Dryad is?¡± I puff my cheeks, ¡°But Talents aren¡¯t passed down so assuming it¡¯s related should be wrong.¡± ¡°That is mostly correct. While it¡¯s true that Talents generally don¡¯t get inherited, some species are more limited or have more specific Talents. A wolf can¡¯t do anything with a weapon specific Talent so a wolf with for example a sword Talent won¡¯t appear. They usually have something related to leadership or their bites and claws. The same thing applies to others as well so Dryads have Talents related to nature or forests, of course Dryads themselves don¡¯t have a Talent that lets them speak with plants since they can do that naturally but for a half-Dryad it would make sense to have a Talent like that since they wouldn¡¯t be able to do it naturally.¡± I think for a moment and then shrug, ¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case I don¡¯t have to do anything since Violet is already under my protection anyway. So can you teach me how to make golems now?¡± They look at me for a few seconds before shrugging, ¡°For the one you have here you just need to clean up the different magic in it a bit and change the appearance, unless you want it to stay as a backpack of course.¡± ¡°Sounds easy enough. If you don¡¯t mind, can I borrow your workshop and some of the limbs and torsos?¡± ¡°They are failed experiments to make proper humanoid golems which I haven¡¯t been able to make so far but I doubt that is going to stop you, so knock yourself out.¡± It took some time to analyse the magic but I think I know now which magic is the core of the golem so to test it I grab a few limbs and torsos and put them into the backpack and then use the core of the golem to combine them into one. Nothing exploded so I think it worked, so I¡¯m going to the next step to change the appearance and¡­ the backpack transforms into just a torso. I try to do it again but the golem turns into just an arm and then just a leg. I must be doing something wrong still. I think I got an idea, I try again and the golem turns into a spear that used to be in my workshop. It looks like my theory is mostly right so I change the golem one more time and now it looks like the Direwolf I killed while escorting the Reyes merchants. The golem opens its eyes and in the blink of an eye it turns pitch black and its eyes are glowing a dim red. Well, that should probably be enough for today. I walk back to the living room, the golem following close behind me. Arlayna and mom are still catching up on other things that happened while they didn¡¯t see each other. ¡°Arlayna, thank you f-¡± ¡°¡°What the-¡±¡± I look back at them, tilting my head, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mom looks behind me, ¡°Where did this black wolf come from?¡± Before I can answer Arlayna asks the next question already, ¡°How were you able to make that?!¡± ¡°What do you mean? I just did what you told me to do?¡± ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, how can you do something I have been struggling to do for 50 years within just a few hours!¡± ¡°How am I supposed to know? I don¡¯t know what you tried in that time. When I tried it the issue was that it had to be a single thing. When I tried to assemble the limbs and torso using the golems core only one limb or the torso appeared, the same when I made a sword the centre of the golem, so I tried using one of the corpses that I had which worked. I think it needs to be one entity for it to work so it might work if the golem is assembled completely beforehand.¡± Arlayna narrows their eyes while staring at me intensely, ¡°Do you really think I didn¡¯t try that before.¡± I shrug, ¡°Then maybe you just don¡¯t have enough mana.¡± I turn towards mom, ¡°If you finished catching up can we go back now? I learned what I wanted to and,¡± I point towards Arlayna,¡± that person is annoying.¡± Mom chuckles, ¡°Sure let¡¯s go. Arlayna, it was annoying meeting you again but thank you for helping out my daughter.¡± Mom shoots me a glance and whispers to me, ¡°Go and thank them as well.¡± I roll my eyes, ¡°Thank you for teaching me how to make golems and about Dryads.¡± We leave Arlayna¡¯s house and walk back to where we are staying while we are here. There were a lot of people staring at my golem in fear, which is understandable, it does look like a quite big black direwolf. We explained everything to Verna¡¯s family and I think they in turn explained everything to the village because the next day they weren¡¯t as scared anymore. We are now preparing for our next destination, the Calux Kingdom. Mom didn¡¯t want to tell me too much about the Calux Kingdom as she wants to keep it a surprise and in order to get there we will have to go through the Ulketia Kingdom, a small nation between the Empire and Calux. Since mom said we will leave the next day I¡¯m going to use that time to adjust a few things on Nyx, my golem. Notice Hey y''all, I wanted to give a quick update on things. I had a lot going on lately and I''m not sure when it''s going to get easier so the next chapter is most likely going to take a while. I started editing the past chapter for better readability and I think I managed to get to chapter 7. I don''t know when I will have more time to edit the rest and it might take a while as well. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. This is the first story I''m writing and I started out just writing it for myself so formating and probably other issues isn''t something I really thought about too hard so I really appreciate the feedback! :) I will try to edit the previous chapters as I have time but it takes me about 30 minutes each so no promises ^-^''