Old man Rimo started to walk towards the far side of the table. Just as he was about to sit down, His glance landed on the young girl with pointy ears and slanted eyes.
He immediately stood back up and took a slight bow. "Pardon me for not noticing. I thank the guardian for gracing us with her presence."
Jzy was startled by the old man's sudden action. She immediately stood up and gave a deep bow signifying that she's lower than him. "Please take that back your highness. I'm not a guardian." claimed Jzy but did not explain why.
Old man Rimo understood and said, "Well, that's that. I'm still thankful that you're on our side." then sat back down.
Queen Shezbeth and King Wulfhart immediately understood and kept silent. Only the princess was left in the dark, but she held it in. As long as it doesn't concern her, she doesn't really mind.
.
A day after, A young girl with pointy ears is seen in the morning, traversing with ease through the what's-supposed-to-be impassable mountains. One moment she makes a 10-feet high jump, another moment she jumps a 50-feet drop, then she strides on the rocky surface like it was some rubbery flat road. Yes, she's Jzy Lin, the girl who denied being a guardian. What's a guardian you ask? Let's leave that for the next chapter or so.
Though traveling as fast as she can, she purposely avoided the Narrow Snake Pass so it still took her three days before reaching the other side.
Her location is already far from the Belkan barricade but she can still see soldiers and workers making a makeshift road. She stealthily followed the road towards the opposite of the barricades until she ended up outside the mouth of a man-made cave. She paused for a second while having second thoughts, then decided to wear a hood to cover herself and entered the cave. Inside the cave was spacious so was able to find cover easily without being noticed. Observing from afar, she saw hundreds of miners digging up illumination crystals.
She lost interest immediately upon discovering that they are only digging up crystals with no useful function other than illumination. As she was about to go back, she spotted King Monde of Belka together with a man with pointy ears like her. Although she didn't recognize that pointy-eared man, she carefully hid herself to the point of erasing her presence. She definitely knew that this man spells trouble. She watched them as the king picked up something that looks like a refined illumination crystal. A blue gas-like substance slowly appeared from the crystal and it seemed like it was being sucked into his hands. After a while, the refined illumination crystal lost its glow and became a normal rock. Then she saw an inexplicable event. The king of Belka raised his arm then formed a glowing ball of fire. Jzy hurriedly turned around upon seeing this as she suddenly felt a killing intent. Not even a second passed, she saw the king throw that fireball at her location.
.
Four days later, back at the castle.
"I'm going, my grandchild." The old man Rimo stated it with surety like nothing in the world can change it.
"Haraboji, can't you stay longer? I want to listen more of your stories about the wilderness and the forest." The princess begged her grandpa like a kid asking for more candy even though she's already eating one.
"If I stay here any longer, I might really strangle that clown of a son to death." This old man looked exhausted.
"Hey, no talking behind my back!" The king exclaimed, walking towards them with a knight's entourage.
"You're the one behind my back. What kind of hole did you pop out from?" Again, with grandpa's witty insults.
"Hole up yours. I just came back from your camp."
'Nice rebound, father.' Of course, this king's daughter only mumbled in fear that someone might hear her thoughts.
"Do you need some of my men?" Grandpa became serious for once.
"That would be great. But I know they're loyal only to you." The king honestly said.
"Times are different now. If this is for the survival of our country, even I will stay." Says old man Rimo, the strongest (used to be) general of the alliance.
With perfect timing, Jzy Lin appeared from nowhere.
"My lord. I'm here to report. It's something urgent." She stood there while showing her matter-of-factly face.
"Speak." The king waved his hands and the knights behind him retreated.
"My lord, King Monde is on to something. He's been digging a mine not far from their barricades." Jzy stated.
"Mine? No wonder they pushed us back from our border. Have you found out what they were mining?" The king asked.
"Yes, my lord. They're mining illumination crystals."
"Illumination crystals? That's all? No gold, or anything more valuable?" The king found it unbelievable.
"What can they do with illumination crystals? One crystal is enough to light up a room for a thousand years so an excess doesn't really matter." Old man Rimo joined the conversation also confused.
"There's one more thing I need to report to my lord. Although I still don't understand most of it, I saw King Monde holding a crystal then suddenly it lost its glow and became an ordinary rock. The next thing I saw before I even figure out anything, he suddenly conjured a ball of fire on his hands." Jzy omitted the last part about being attacked.
"Hmmmnn… that is indeed peculiar. I have to go and talk to my wife about this." King Wulfhart walked hurriedly and entered the castle.
"I'm going with you." Said grandpa Rimo.
The king was about to say something but decided to keep silent and continued walking.
"Jzy, are you busy? Can you teach me that sudden appearance technique?." Now that there's nobody else around but the two friends, the princess finally opened her mouth and said something.
"Princess…"
Before she can utter any more words, she suddenly passed out and fell to the ground.
"Jzy!" Princess Kahlia nimbly caught her before this young girl was about the hit the ground.
"Silly girl. Were you afraid that my father might notice that you're wounded?" Although she cares a lot for her friend, it is common knowledge on this planet that as long as one is alive, even if he or she is severely wounded, everything will heal after a day's rest so she wasn't really worried. But of course, the queen is an exemption since her body is fundamentally different from everyone else and constantly needs to be supported with qi.
The healing process was delayed because Jzy Lin was running for her life to avoid being captured or killed by her pursuers, but all still fine as she was still able to keep a sliver of her life force.
"I still want to be of use to my lord. I don't need him to worry about me."
"You were awake?" The princess was slightly surprised. "You are being sneaky. With your slanted eyes, I don't even know when it's close or open."
"My father may have saved your life once, but what do you think father will feel if he knew that you now almost lost your life because of him?"
"You don't have to tell him anything. Princess, can I go now? I still need to rest." Jzy then stood back up and started walking slowly.
Princess Kahlia can only watch her friend walk away from her.
'This feels wrong. I should have reincarnated as a guy so I can rescue this damsel in distress and live happily ever after like a blockbuster movie.' But the princess wasn't really serious about this thought. She was just reminded of her past life.
'Well, that's that. After she recovers, I'll go and wring her dry of her secrets. For the meantime, off to the training grounds.' The princess became lively again just thinking about bullying the soldiers and the warriors in training.
"Shush!" The princess wildly waved her sheathed sword in the air, hoping that this narrator gets hit.
Meanwhile inside the castle.
"I've already been studying this crystal for a long time." The queen lectured.
Holding an illumination crystal in her hands, she kept thinking.
"There's some sort of energy from this crystal but I can't feel any life force from it so I don't know how to use it." She was being honest.
"I need more information about how they are planning to use this." The three of them (Queen Shezbeth, King Wulfhart, and Grandpa Rimo) unconsciously formed a circle while looking at the previously worthless illumination crystal like it was more important than their lives put together.
"But I can't order Miss Lin. I feel that she was wounded but didn't want me to notice." The king certainly knew.
"Don't worry about that. Send some of my men." Grandpa Rimo offered.
"But –" Before the king can complain, the old man interrupted him.
"They're not like your average soldiers. We've been roaming through the forest and beyond where life force is abundant. We've also been practicing the cultivation technique your wife has given us." Old man Rimo boasted. "We can even raze a country to the ground. Compared to that, a simple spy mission is nothing."
"Still, we need to be careful. I feel that King Monde is no longer the same. He used to be a simple guy who rams straight through the battle. But after he survived from his sever wounds during our last battle, somehow he's changed." The king told the old man everything that's happened during the last battle with Belka.