"Alright let's go but we need to stay low… Here I'll modify your clothes, those look really fancy after all." I said as I covered Rose in Miasma and after a few seconds, she came out looking like a normal adventurer who uses a sword as a weapon. I made special underwear for her so even if her skirt flips this time, the view would probably leave me agaped. in any case, I will wait for the time I could peek at her sexy black laced panties.
"Whoa~!" she let out a girly squeak. It was understandable, changing one's clothes without even touching them. I could say, I could really do some perverted stuff there… in any case, unlike her underwear that could probably make my nose bleed, her adventuring gear was mostly common knight attire. it was very modest and bland colour just perfect for blending in.
The situation in Stein was something that we hadn't thought of, with people fleeing the capital in droves, this means that whatever had happened…. It had happened just now… the country was already at war… and no matter what was happening… people were suffering… I could feel it…
[Somthing's... here...]
Being the wielder of Miasma… I could feel the despair in the city… thankfully it was only the capital… the Stein territory I passed until now had not been in the zones of this unrest... and the more ominous sign was Amanori pointing at something that was here....
...…..
"Alright no time to dilly dally…" I picked up Rose just like before and hoped high in the air, vanishing like a Ninja. in truth, I was using flash steps to move at blinding speed… rather than that, removing her armor made it easier to feel her soft body.. I could hardly believe she would be a knight with a body this soft… purge those thoughts!
Just as we entered the capital, I heard many cries and looked at many wreckage, but it looked like the capital had already become empty. The cries from the battles were going on and I could see that one side was definitely at a disadvantage..
Just as I was hopping over buildings, I saw a soldier getting surrounded by many more soldiers, their attire was different and it looked like the one who was surrounded was near death. He was already bloodied… before thinking much, I moved behind the surrounding soldiers and hit each of their necks to make them faint... then leaned over the bloodied Soldier.
"What are you doing in this new circumstance? We need to assess the situation first and not get involved yet." as I was trying to ask the bloodied soldier about what was going on, Rose looked bewildered… I am sure she wanted to discuss first then move onto intervention, but I didn't like to stay passive.
"Hey… what happened… Tell me." I was using spirit energy to heal the guy but this type of healing had a limit since it took the wounded person's own stamina to heal them… so I could only do so much… but I still tried to pack his insides up and let him off with only a few scratches….
"The Duke !.... Betrayed.. The Royal family….!" with an anguished face he lost consciousness… he had lost a lot of blood but I knew he could live now …. I took him to a nearby house which was empty and laid him on the bed….
As I sat on a nearby chair.. I started to think….
"This situation is new and…. It is currently unthinkable!" Rose looked as if she was surprised beyond words…?
"Why is it unthinkable? Even Royalties can change can't it?" I mean a king's Family is always the one to rule but if someone undeserving gets the seat he can be removed too… that is the way it works.
"No, it's not like this for Stein…. The Stein family has been the Royal family ever since history was made... they hold the Royal title not only for their power… but there was something else for it too...I.. can't say it… sorry... but the royal family not leading the country means it isn't even Stein anymore." that's a ridiculous reason…. I guess there is a first time for everything…. But what is this secret? I wonder... and was the Royal family really that special? I may have to prioritize the royalties here then.
[It's probably that the King holds some kind of protection magic around the kingdom. if that is the case, then the royal family can easily be important enough to not be removed...]
just for a single magic?
[why not, if it's a protection magic worth for a king it might even stop a dragon from rampaging, rulers with powerful defense like that are precious for the world.]
"Well whatever, I need to see what's going on inside the castle. if this really is a Coup d'état then the Royalty who is currently cornered is in a vulnerable state…." I said with a serious expression, although I didn't know what either side wanted, I currently knew that the Royalty was our line to stopping the war… if Lilith was right, then we could find some use of this unforeseen outcome too.
and Amanori's words just made it clear that the royal family can be very valuable... if they actually are that important, loosing them would mean the destruction of a country.
While figuring this out to save the royalties as much as I can, if I can strike a deal with the Coup d'état party to lay off the war, then I guess that works out too but I think I should see the situation first….
Geez! Amanori, stop thinking about slaughtering!
[Hey I like war's let it happen will you?]
Like hell I would! just when I thought she was giving me good advice, she ends it with a command to slaughter people.
"Rekka we can't proceed right now, this is already dangerous but right now this country is in chaos. if we get caught, it will be nothing but death and I don't know what would happen if the Heroes grandson dies here, it will probably set the heroes in rage!" Well At least Rose was considering leaving. But this situation really was a sensitive one.
"This is our chance Rose, can't you see?" Rose looked like she also considered my way of thinking but she was still looking troubled….
"I Lived through hell where everyone wanted to kill me every second. this place is nothing compared to that, so leave your life in my care! I will definitely protect you too and finish this mission!"
"This is completely illogical! Even if we leave this situation as it is, this country will diminish its resources by this civil war. We can just leave now with this valuable information!" That was a rather cold hearted answer. But even I could see the pained look in her eye's. She only said that since she thinks there is no way 2 individuals could make an outcome that could change this event. or rather she was more worried about my life.
"Rose if you think like that, I am sorry but I think I will not follow you on that….. living in the wild has taught me one thing….. Life is too valuable for petty fights like this!... and I won't leave this country to see people kill each other for nothing… These people are not all bad, I can see people fight for no reason at all, there has to be something that is making this happen, I don't want capable people to fight a war that harms themselves." a civil war was something every country wouldn't want cause it'd affect the whole country to the highest level…
It is somewhat pathetic to see a country having internal war. But a military based war was a different thing. These soldiers were fighting on their own. The country had to invest a lot bringing these soldiers up and them dying for no good reason was something foolish beyond comparison.
"Then you are saying you want to offer help to the Royals?"
"No, I want to gauge the situation first… if I see that offering help would save more people, I will do so." Hearing me Rose bit her Lips, it looked like she was cursing me from the inside…. Still she agreed to work with me.
We moved along the capital to the Royal castle, of course we were sneaky so that nobody saw us.
For someone from another country, Rose really seemed to know her way around the capital. She led me quite fast to the castle while avoiding everything that was happening around us. Still since we were short on time, I did not start on the subject.
"Oh no, it looks like they have already entered the castle!" Rose said, looking at the wrecked gate of the castle and many soldiers dressed in blue armor dead on the ground. Fight must have happened not long ago.
We nodded at each other and entered the castle. It was really big, just when we got into a room which looked to be an audience room, I spotted a blue armored soldier. She was alive but barely. It looked like she was poisoned and stabbed by a dagger… right by death's door too. The enemy had already died; she must have killed him and then she collapsed.
"Hey.. are you okay?"
"....Who ...are you?" hearing me she had tried to lift the knife in her hand but it was impossible for her poisoned self. Since she had consciousness, I tried to say what I could before curing her.
"Okay. Now Listen, I am an adventurer okay? I saw what happened here so I want to help the royal family. Now I will cure your poison okay? don't attack me." As I healed her, she regained her lost strength, but she attacked me with the knife.
Since I was surprised, I attacked her back with a rather sharp slap.
Slap!
As she slid past the ground with the force of my slap, I literally felt sorry for the girl… her eyes looked as if she just saw the world spin. even Rose flinched hearing the sharp slapping noise.
"Guhe!" I had explained to her but it looked like her reasoning was blurred or she was just stupid. Although I had to blame my stupid reflex too… I just hit a girl… damn...
"Hey are you an idiot!? Why'd you attack me?"
"You're not wearing Royal knights armor so you're an enemy!"
"Then tell me why would an enemy heal you? And I have already said I want to help you guys." I said again, this time with a much more serious tone. Moreover… man… her face is getting swollen..
"Ohh.. yeah.. I guess that makes sense…" she said as if the point had just crossed her mind.. Thank god she didn't say anything about the slap.. I am sorry lady. Now I feel bad… but to think she wouldn't even talk about the pain… wasn't it painful?
she got up and looked as if she checked me out! I woulnd't say she was drooling, but she certainly was one who let her eyes wander as it pleased.
"You're just one man, what can you do?"
"Well I can teleport you guys to a safer place right now." hearing me, sparks lit up in her.
"That's just the thing we need! My name is Ripple Streed and I am a 2nd class Royal Knight. Come on then let's hurry up!" okay that really bought her attention?
"I am Rekka… and an adventurer."
"Rekka there are people outside!" Rose was keeping watch outside so I promptly introduced these 2 and we started to swat our way through the castle. I said swat because I slapped each of them and they fainted on the spot… these guys were weaklings… I kind of liked how easy it was to slap them so I went with the flow.
"Wow you are strong! I thought you were not that strong looking at your slim build but I guess killing everyone with a slap is.. Powerful." the Knight said with a praising tone.
"I am not killing them, don't make me look like a savage!" The knight looked old enough to be called a proper adult but there was nothing about her mind which spoke of adults. These soldiers were not filled with Miasma which clearly said they were not bad people. I can't kill them right like that.
That's when I heard a cry from a bit far away; it was a girl, maybe… that too a young one.
"I heard something that way, you guys run fast!" I said and flash stepped to the room the sound had come from.
As I entered, I saw a young girl dressed like a noble and a red armored soldier was standing above her. knife in his hands, it was pretty close to the girls chest. he was going to murder the girl in cold blood!
I flicked the air in front of me with my fingers and a bullet like wind hit the soldier straight to his head. He fell over the girl like a puppet cut from it's strings which made the girl scream even more.
"Eyaaaaaa!" and tried to pull herself out of that situation.. As the Knight was heavy and had heavy armor, she was struggling a lot. I moved near her and moved the soldier to get her out.
As she got out from the bind, she also distanced herself from me, she looked like she was about to cry any second. her whole body shivered just looking at me. she must have been scared... if I was not here on time...
"Hi there, I am here to help the Royal family. Are you one of them? Anyway, the castle has already been sieged.. But are you alright? I am just an adventurer, you can trust me. I am here now, nobody will harm you." I said with the softest tone I could. But how could she trust me…?
Not only her… the stupid knight that had thought me as an enemy was right too… I was not trustable.. I wore black up and down.. If anything, I probably looked like the first one needed to be killed here. Man.. .I should really review my dressing sense… no matter how good I look in black...
[I am here too, don't I look like a serial killers weapon?]
just shut up Amanori, one of these days, I would learn to change your form into a cute fruit cutter for sure.
The Girl still looked scared but she composed herself and looked at me. Still, she looked flustered, maybe she wasn't as composed as I thought.
"I am Leilana von Stein, the 2nd Princess of Stein kingdom. I thank you for saving me." she said as she curtsied and showed an elegance equal to what a princess would. Although young, her speech was flawless.
She looked like a young girl of maybe 13 or 14 and she had shoulder length hair. With a tiara on her head with 3 gemstones. Just like her silver toned hair, her eyes were jade coloured.
As she looked at me after introducing herself, I saw that her skin had a whitish feel to it which showed that she was a sheltered girl. This girl probably went out only when necessary. Not to mention her clothes were certainly not meant for mobility, it was way too princess like.
"Nice to meet you Miss Leilana von Stein. I am an adventurer . My name is Rekka. I am here to see if I could help the Royal family with my Transportation magic." As I introduced myself, she blushed but answered.
She probably looked a bit puzzled since I had addressed her royalty by name… I had no idea that I should have called her highness… or something, well she let it slide so I had no way of knowing it.
"My! You are very polite. I had been told adventurers are a barbaric bunch…" she said fidgeting with her hands.
"My Lady, are you alright?! I am sorry that I was not here to help you. Who is the one that tried to harm you? I will kill him right now!" Ripple had gotten in at that time and seeing Leilana, she started spewing until she saw that who she was looking for was strewn on the ground. Like an idiot she tried to kill the enemy knight who was right now unconscious.
"Hey! That's not very knightly! you are trying to kill someone behind their back?" As I said so, it made Ripple stop and as if she grasped it, She put her sword in her sheathe again…
she was an idiot.. I had to watch myself around her. There was a tender princess here you know? You can't just draw blood in front of her. Anyway, I had attacked the guy with an air bullet right at the head. He was bound to die… I don't need to think about that, anyone who could kill such a lovely girl should die.
"My lady, this adventurer says he can transport your highness and you. He also saved me. I feel like trusting him!" Well you did try to stab me?
[heh I like this idiot! I think she could be a good wielder for me!]
Yeah no shit! An idiot like her and then an evil like you… I can only see the misery you two would cause the others.
"Alright, I should probably transport you right now, we may have to get upstairs to get to the king." I said, for now only strong presences left were upstairs…
"Yes, that would be for the best." Ripple agreed and Rose nodded too, still she was acting like she was hiding herself… or rather she really was hiding herself. Why was she so quiet anyway?
"No! I want to see Father and get to safety with him.`` The little girl knew that something might have already happened to her father but she looked as if she wanted to see this through, even if it could be something like seeing her father already dead.
"Hmm.. Alright my lady! if you say so!" Ripple, like the idiot she was, agreed without even a fight. I guess she doesn't think much.
"Alright then let's.. Go." I moved with the 4 of us to the king's chamber. Ripple gave us directions. on the way we fought off the soldiers that were from the nobles perhaps. I still didn't know the mastermind behind these incidents but I could feel something bad was going to happen… the soldiers were starting to look more and more malicious as we fought our way up.
Things aren't looking that good… my predictions were being voided… was I not lucky anymore? Although saving the princess in the nick of time was lucky… I wondered about the king… as such thoughts entered my mind, I looked upwards… the king… he is the key… my gut was telling me something… and it was something big!