While Raymond was inside the forest— busy inspecting the after effects of his fight with the wyvern— Jasmine slowly stood up and walked towards the direction Raymond had gone with wobbly legs, her head was spinning because of the speed at which they were escorted out of the forest by Raymond.
Sasha recovered from her shock filled state as she saw Jasmine heading into the forest. She quickly got up and went to support Jasmine who looked unsteady due to the sudden turn of events. She took Jasmine's arm and put it around her shoulders as she held her waist and entered the forest.
Not long after taking a couple of steps, they saw Raymond coming in their direction.
"Ray! What happened to the forest? Are you alright?" Sasha asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, I am alright. As for the forest, the entire inner region has turned into a barren wasteland."
Raymond shrugged his shoulders and led them towards the creek. Sasha retched after seeing the land filled with the dark demonic miasma of the wyvern.
"Fucking hell!! What was that wyvern doing here? No wonder my gra– cough, a Martial Emperor had died in this forest." Sasha exclaimed in the midst of her dry heaving.
Jasmine clasped his hands tighter seeing the devastation in front of her. It was still hard for her to believe that they had survived the onslaught of the demonic wyvern.
"Let's go back, there is nothing here for us to see."
Raymond carried Jasmine on his back seeing her tired look. Her eyelids were droopy and on the verge of closing for a good sleep.
She was just recovering from her previous fight when she was dragged into another fight which exhausted her mentally.
Zzzz~
Raymond sighed hearing her snore as they made their way back to the capital city. Maybe he should have gotten her outside when the wyvern first appeared.
There was nothing that could be done about it now, so Raymond quickly stopped this line of thought. As they got closer to the capital city they heard screams and roars along with the sounds of battle.
"Shit!! We might have caused a beast invasion!" Sasha said with her voice laced with guilt.
"Yeah! Let's go help the guards."
Raymond increased his walking pace but did not run as he didn't want to wake up the sleeping beauty. But Sasha ran towards the ongoing battle location as fast as she could.
She reached the city gates in a few minutes where she saw thousands of beasts trying to rush up the walls and enter the city. She found several men wearing golden armors engaged in a fierce battle with the beasts.
"Brothers!! Hold on for a few minutes, the reinforcement from the palace is coming." Shouted a gruff looking spear wielding guy as he removed his spear from the belly of a Level 4 Blue Tusk Tiger.
Sasha took out her sword and jumped into the battle. Red hot fire surged from her sword as she hacked away at an armoured rhino.
Sasha's involvement in the battle soon eased the pressure on the guards protecting the gates. Most of the beasts were below Level 6 and even the one leading them seemed to be in Level 7.
The gates opened with a loud bang as a company of 200 Imperial guards rushed into the battlefield with a Martial King captain in lead.
Just when the battle was in a deadlock all the beasts screeched with panic as they frantically rushed away from the city gates.
Sasha— who was entangled in a deadly battle with a Level 6 Blaze Horned Moose— was dumbfounded when the moose suddenly avoided her sword slash and ran away from the fight.
'Huh?'
She turned around to see all the beasts running away from the city gates. She seemed to have realised something as she turned towards the direction of the forest.
Sure enough, Raymond was nearing the battlefield with Jasmine on his back somehow still asleep.
'The fuck? If we make him a gatekeeper then we don't have to worry about beast invasion ever again.'
It was with those strange thoughts she met up with Raymond.
"Hmm, the battle is over? Tsk, I wanted to fight some beasts." Raymond muttered.
"You can still chase after them." Sasha deadpanned.
"Nah, I can't," he said pointing towards Jasmine who was on his back. "Need to get her someplace comfortable."
Sashs chuckled at the sight of Jasmine still sleeping even with the sound of guards clearing up the battlefield.
"She seems comfortable enough on your back."
Raymond smiled at her words and took Jasmine into the city. Along the way, many guards thanked Sasha for her help. She casually nodded at them and didn't engage in any talk as she was eager to get back to the palace and inform her father emperor about Ray.
A Martial Minor capable of defeating a demonic beast of Level 9 with such ease was no small matter. She needed to inform her father and make sure to somehow tie him to the Imperial Family. He would be a great asset to the empire if that happened.
They reached the mercenaries guild amidst the commotion of commoners scurrying around the streets in panic and the guards trying to get the situation under control. After Raymond submitted the ten cores from the low level beasts to the guild he received 10 silver coins in return and a mission completion token.
These square shaped tokens were used to keep count of the missions completed by a mercenary. If they had 10 tokens of the same rank and had broken through to the next level then their mercenary rank would be upgraded.
These tokens were made by the guild which had an intricate rune inside it, so it was almost impossible to duplicate these tokens. As the guild also kept the written records of the missions completed by a mercenary it was pointless to duplicate these tokens.
He also received his mercenary badge along with the silver coins. Raymond and Sasha parted ways after a quick goodbye. Raymond went to his family compounds to pack and leave whereas Sasha headed towards the Imperial Palace Grounds in quick steps.
*******
After entering her courtyard through the secret passage, Scarlett quickly donned her Imperial robes and assumed her role of a perfect Imperial Princess.
She headed towards the Imperial Palace with a retinue of maids and guards in tow. She hated being flanked by people like this wherever she went. Alas, such was the life of an Imperial Princess, she had no choice but to comply with these protocols.
Soon she entered the Imperial Palace and headed straight towards her father's bedchamber as he was not in the throne room.
She found two guards guarding the door to the Imperial Bedchamber. She was stopped at the door when she was asked to let in.
"I am sorry, your highness. His Majesty is in deep meditation and has ordered us to not allow anyone inside." A guard bowed his head as he informed her.
Scarlett nodded and turned back to head towards her courtyard. If she knew this was going to happen she would have spent some more time with that brute.
*******
"Hey! Sleepyhead, wake up."
Raymond shook Jasmine awake as they reached the Clover Family compounds. Jasmine groggily opened her eyes and looked around.
"Huh? Ray? What happened?"
She asked, feeling puzzled. Then she remembered what happened in the forest and her head buzzed in panic, bewilderment, and astonishment.
"So everything that happened today was true? Master, how did you get so strong?"
Raymond pulled her cheeks in exasperation.
"I already told you it's because of my training."
"Aww, don't."
She freed herself from his hands and rubbed her cheeks in mock anger.
Raymond chuckled at her antics and told her to wait outside while he went inside to get their luggage packed and bring it out.
He quickly wrapped his packing along with Jasmine's belongings and went outside. He finished his work so quickly that nobody noticed his entry and exit.
"Jasmine, do you feel bad that we are leaving our home behind? You still have a choice, you can stay here if you want to."
Raymond told her as he saw her looking longingly at the family manor.
Jasmine shook her head and smiled sweetly.
"No, master. My home is here."
She hugged him tightly and leaned into his body. Raymond lifted her chin and gave a kiss on her lips lovingly.
"It's just that, I wanted to see you become Lord Clover and head the family after Master Thomas." She said wistfully.
Raymond rubbed her back and whispered in her ears.
"Don't worry, we will find plenty of opportunities in the future to bring glory to my father. It doesn't have to be by becoming the family head."
Jasmine nodded her head against his chest and wiped her tear filled eyes.
"Yes!"
She clasped his hand and beamed at him. With that, they walked towards the city to find an inn.