I stand atop the roof as the two guards march into the crowd of knights in the alleys. I can only smile as they scream the exact words I told them.
"King! There's a spirit in the alleyway! He's the one who has kidnapped Princess Reya!"
The knights clear a path for the two to move forward toward the King. Just as the king hears this, he shifts his head with a furious expression.
"Are you fucking with me? At a time like this?" He grasps the first knight by the neck.
"Sire! Please, Jason is telling the truth." The other one pleads for his friend's life. "He's right there in the alleyway. He demands that we all drop our weapons for a single moment if you want the Princess back."
To start this act, the knight drops the sword in his hand first.
The King gazes at the knight's eyes. "I drop my weapon, and you might even slit my throat. You think I'm an idiot?"
The one who's held by the neck suddenly throws up his hand with the long silver strand of hair in his grasp. "Sire, this ~ cough ~ it's your daughter's… isn't it?"
The King's eyes fall upon the strand and he snatches it from his grasp, letting the man go. The knight stumbles to the ground, coughing.
The King examines the strand of hair well. My mission is nearly complete now. There's no way he would not even notice his own daughter's strand of hair.
He gazes back at the two knights, clutching the piece of hair in his hands. "Where… is this Ghost? What the fuck does he want with us?"
"Sir. He insisted that you drop your weapons to the grounds if you want the Princess back. All of your weapons. He has the Princess on a knife's edge, sire. And he's no joker. He is powerful."
"This bullshit!" The King stomps his feet on the road. "Where is he? Come out, you monster!" He screams into the night. His voice echoes down the alleys as everything falls silent.
All the knights seize their movement. No more chatter. Simply the King's voice.
"Come out!"
I know exactly what to do. I can't speak. If I speak, he'll be sending that cleaver on his hand, right to my body by tracking where the sound is coming from. I can't let him have that.
I raise my hand again toward the crowd of knights.
'Wind Storm.' I chant again.
Lashes of wind thrust everyone down the alley. It pushes them backward, but most of these men are strong. It'll require a more powerful blast just to blow them all away at once.
"See, sire? It's his doing. The wind spirit. He would not show himself." The knight remarks.
Gritting his teeth in fury, the King furrows his eyes. "Oh, God! Fucking bastard!" His head is burning. I can feel it. After all, it is his daughter that's on the knife's edge.
"Drop your weapons! Everyone. Drop your weapons!" He orders his army.
He throws his cleaver to the street and looks around at the guards. They are still holding on to their spears and cleavers.
"Sir – but?"
"Are you the King?" He seizes the commander's words before he can finish it. "Drop the fucking weapons! It's my daughter!"
A moment of hesitation. That's all it takes. The next moment, every magi knight in that alley throws down their weapons into the street.
For a few seconds, I stare at the alley. You can't take chances.
I sense every drop of mana surrounding me. And none of that mana has any hostile sense to it. No one is going to blast me with magic if I drop in the middle of that road.
I leap into the air and gradually descend into the street.
I land, two feet within the King himself.
The second the sound of my footstep is made, the King turns around with blazing furious eyes.
I gradually rest the Princess on the road, with the black cloak covering her naked body.
"Argh!" The King summons a cleaver to his hand and rushes toward me. I already knew this was going to happen. I clasp my hands and chant 'Wind Storm - Lvl 4.'
The wind around me twists into a furious storm, lashing at everyone that surrounds me, sending them flying into the air. The King's cleaver lands on the top of a roof as the fat man flies into the crowd of knights.
Reya lies at my feet, fast asleep. She isn't affected. She is at my feet, too close to be in the range of the enemy.
"Cherish your daughter, King. She is a lovely thing that only wants what is good for this Kingdom." With those words, I chant 'Wind Mount' and fly into the air.
Not a single knight sees me. I am still wearing the Ghost Cloak. They can't spot me.
"Get a coat! And ready the doctors at the infirmaries!" The commander yells to the knights, grabbing the Princess and taking her into his arms. "She's safe, Sire! She's alive!"
I rush across the roofs, leaping from one to another. I only have one more thing to do in this castle, which I should wait for. But for that, I must wait for the Princess to wake up once more.
So, I can't leave the castle, just yet.
***
Time passes.
The commotion in the castle seizes. The knights return to their duties. Guards back to the walls. The King returned to his throne. By sunrise, everything returns to normal.
I stay with my legs crossed, perched atop the tall ring of metal that keeps the Mana Orb sealed in the very peak of the Princess's tower. There's a guard right beneath me. But he could hardly notice me.
It's not as if he is skilled in mana detection like General Connor. This one is dead weak.
The door that leads to the very rooftop of the tower opens, and a knight walks in.
"Hey, Cheryl. Are you coming for breakfast or what?" The Knight asks her. The guard turns to him and nods.
"Yeah, Sam. By the way, did the Princess wake up?"
"Yes, she did. She's sleeping in her chambers, or maybe not. Maybe she had enough sleep," he mocks. "It was her fault for running out of the castle's premises after all."
"Hm, Jason said the Devil himself came to take her virginity, man. He is saying that a devil baby could be born in another 9 months."
"Could be."
The rumors have begun to take form already, it seems. As they leave the rooftop, I leap down to the place where the guard had stood before. Then, I walk to the edge of the roof and stare down at the Princess's windows.
They are closed.
'It must be blazing hot in there, but she still keeps it closed, huh?'
I leap off the roof to gradually descend to the Princess's windowsill.