"What do you want?" one of them shouted. "We're from the Alzar Kingdom so if you try to lay a hand on us…"
Elizabeth's expression darkened. She just came from a memorial service honoring the victims in this battle, and now another victim was about to be made. Her mood got better, but it plunged into the negatives now. She was furious! She had half the mind to take off her hood and declare herself as Princess Elizabeth of the Alzar Kingdom. That should show them who they were messing with. However, she held that thought and chuckled darkly.
"What were you about to do to that boy?" Elizabeth questioned sharply.
The soldier sneered. "He was about to attack us, so we were fighting back in self-defence. What does this have to do with you? Are you related to him?"
"I'm not related, no."
"Then scram! Unless you want-"
He was about to raise his sword against Elizabeth when his vision was suddenly blocked by a wall. With a violent gust of wind, the soldiers widened their eyes in horror. Sir Winstin made his move! Although the soldiers insulted Elizabeth, as long as she made no orders, then he felt it was unnecessary to intervene. It would be overstepping his boundaries if he acted out of line after all. However, when the soldiers decided to threaten her, that was entirely different. As her Protector, he was obligated to protect her from all threats! Sir Winstin moved swift as lightning, grabbed the soldier's sword arm, and snapped it with ease. In response, the soldier released a bloodcurdling scream that echoed throughout the alleyway. The rest of the soldiers were dumbstruck as they recoiled from the shock.
While they hesitated on whether they should help, Elizabeth said, "That's enough, Sir Winstin. You can stand down."
"As you wish, Your Highness."
"Hi-Hi-Highness?" the soldiers stuttered like dumb ducks, their expressions turning sheet white.
There was only one person who was called Her Highness here. Although they tried to reject the idea, the overwhelming presence originating from Sir Winstin was hard to deny. There was no doubt about it! She was Princess Elizabeth Etuvel Reindel! As soon as that conclusion crossed their minds, they instantly turned around to flee. Since they never gave their names, then they still had a chance. Elizabeth did not know who they were! Therefore, the smartest thing to do was… getting out of here as fast as possible!
Sir Winstin looked at them fleeing apathetically. Of course, he could detain them with one hand. As the strongest knight in the kingdom, this was child's play to him. However, his main purpose was the protection of Elizabeth, so he was not about to stray from her side to catch a couple of delinquents unless ordered to. The many knights and Royal Guards watching over also felt the same way. It was beneath them to act. Besides, there was no need to either.
Benedict and Shirley shot out like arrows, darting across the alleyway, with incredible speeds. Shirley grabbed a man's head and slammed him face-first into the ground. Then using a wide leg sweep, she knocked two others down with ease. Benedict acted just as fast and grabbed the remaining two by the collars. Then using a simple rotation, he flung them back in the direction of Elizabeth. All five soldiers collapsed on the ground in a look of disbelief. They were incapacitated so fast that they had no clue what happened. From start to finish, barely three seconds elapsed. It was truly 'in the blink of an eye'!
Freon smiled wryly and lowered his hand. He was about to grab the wand from his bag, but everything ended too fast. There was no need for him to intervene. As for Elizabeth, she was not carrying her Whiteangel Bow or any other weapons on this outing, so there was nothing she could do. Instead, both of them were astounded by how swiftly Benedict and Shirley moved. It was blindingly fast! While it might be far from Perception Realms executing dozens of attacks a second, or the Second Hand's famous Twin Flicker assassination technique, they had reached a level that few could attain. They stood at the peak of Fundamental Realm potential!
"What should we do with them?" Benedict asked.
"Well, I am curious about what they said. Something about the princess, right?" Elizabeth smirked as she took off her hood, revealing her trademark crimson hair. Dangling the Holy Reingolian Medallion from her hands, she continued, "Now, would you care to explain what you were doing?"
After the five soldiers were escorted away, Elizabeth's expression was chillingly cold. As it turns out, these soldiers were managing an entrance fee into the city square. Anyone that wanted to grieve had to pay up! And to make matters worse, the fee they were demanding was not a small one either. The soldiers had this thought: there were only so many deceased people, they could only charge people a limited number of times, so they should raise the prices as high as possible! Because of this, they were demanding half a year's worth of savings in one go. The people in the Yunyun Stronghold were already poor, and they would have to pawn off most of their belongings for a chance at paying.
The reason why there was no widespread outrage was because the soldiers were very deliberate. They chose their targets carefully. People that looked like they had no backing such as children, elderly, or the disabled were exactly what they had in mind. Even if they fought back, so what? The soldiers were more than enough to suppress them forcefully. This was also neither the first nor the last time this happened. Elizabeth learned that this was a common 'game' that many soldiers enjoyed. This made Elizabeth's mood plunge further as her eyes narrowed into sharp slits. Killing four thousand four hundred people was bad enough already, but now they were kicking them while they were down? They could not even grieve in peace? She grew outraged!
"I want a full investigation," Elizabeth ordered. "Anyone caught extorting people will be punished according to my judgement!"
"As you command, Your Highness," a few knights saluted before rushing off.
While Elizabeth was dealing with these matters, Shirley looked over the boy. Although he showed impressive bravado, he was still a kid in the end. The fierce beating that he received was enough to knock him unconscious. He was not going to die, but Shirley figured it would take a few days before he could recover. Seeing this, the girl felt a complex wave of emotions. This boy reminded her of her little brother back in Firecast. To think there would be a day she would agonize over someone from the Xingyuu Empire… Shirley sighed. Perhaps the world really was greyer than she believed.
"How is he?" Freon asked.
"He's mostly fine, if not a bit shaken up," Shirley replied.
As if on cue, the boy began waking up. At first, he was still muddleheaded, but once he realized strangers surrounded him, he leapt back in panic. "Who are you? What happened to those soldiers?"
"It's okay. We took care of the bad guys for you!"
The boy looked at her smiling face and felt suspicious. "You sound funny… Are you from the empire or the kingdom?"
Shirley's face froze. Although the Xingyuu Empire and the Alzar Kingdom both used Olden Anglo, the standard language for humanity, there were noticeable differences. For example, the Xingyuu Empire typically slurred their words to create something akin to a poetic song. Their words were melodic and freely flowing, like a summer's river current. They were very pleasant to listen to. To contrast that, the Alzar Kingdom and the Zino Kingdom used sharper tones and pronounced their words harder. Their words were impactful and strong, like a brisk winter wind. Of course, the language was still the same so they could understand each other perfectly fine, except these differences were usually enough to figure out where someone was from.
"You're too smart for your own good. Why would someone from the kingdom help you?" Freon snorted derisively. "Think a little. Where's your manners?"
Sticking out his tongue, he mocked Freon, "I was joking. My grandparents always told me to thank people so thank you."
"Ungrateful brat, if you can move, then get out of here. Your family is probably worried."
"I would, but…" he smiled awkwardly. "Do you have any money?"
Freon was speechless. Getting saved should have been enough, but he was begging for money too? He did not know whether to laugh or cry. Besides, his Zino Kingdom coinage was useless here anyways, so he was arguably as poor, if not poorer than the kid asking right now!
"What do you need the money for?" Shirley asked gently, seeing her little brother in him. "If you ask politely, this big sister might help you out."
"Aren't you a bit too old to be my sister?" the kid looked at her mockingly.
Shirley twitched upon hearing those words. With a face that was smiling yet not, she yanked him by the ear and said, "I'll have you know I'm not even twenty-three yet! How am I too old?"