Seleria fought with her old acquaintance. The first attack failed, and now she engaged him in close combat. Despite his wound, he easily evaded the princess's attacks while trying to wound her with his dagger.
"You're agile," Seleria waved her hand, and Stern slipped under her hand surrounded by flames. Spinning on the spot, the princess swept her foot across the ground, creating a wall of flames. However, the assassin leaped back with a somersault. "Can't stay in one place for a second."
The princess followed the leaping enemy with her gaze and only noticed another arrow released by his accomplices at the last moment.
"Pesky insects!" Seleria stomped the ground, and a fiery column shot up, stopping the arrow. Utilizing the flash of flames, the assassin slipped into the shadows and approached the girl at point-blank range. The guy delivered a swift blow to the girl's shoulder, but she was ready for it. "Caught you!"
The girl quickly turned and grabbed the assassin's hand while gathering flames in her other hand. But when she struck, the flames dispersed. Stern leaped to the side and sneered.
"Did you lose something?"
Seleria attempted to gather fire in her hand again, but she could only create a few sparks. A small cut was visible on her right hand, left by the assassin's dagger.
"Damn thing?"
"Oh, come on, it's just poison. My invention. It blocks any magic for a couple of days. Now we'll have some fun, hehehehe!" The repulsive guy laughed as he drew another dagger from his belt. "I'll immobilize you and have plenty of entertainment. So, what are you going to do now?"
The assassin swiftly closed the distance with the princess and delivered a direct blow to her chest. With a terrified expression, she began to fall backward, and the villain already tasted victory.
"Tsk, what a fool," Seleria clicked her tongue, but she only grinned in satisfaction. Bracing her hands against the ground, the girl executed a backflip. In doing so, she kicked the dagger from the attacker's hand.
"How can this be?" The guy didn't have time to finish his sentence; as he landed, the girl abruptly rose and skillfully executed a perfect uppercut. As he was sent flying, he noticed that there were no cuts left on the girl's chest; she leaned back before the dagger could reach her, thus outmaneuvering the assassin.
The guy fell to the ground, and Seleria leaped on top of him. Catching the dagger mid-air, she plunged it into the assassin's shoulder.
"You didn't expect I could do that?" The princess smirked and surveyed the battlefield; the others were having a harder time. Although Rizel and Algo had knocked down their opponents a couple of times, they got back up and continued fighting.
"Hehe, looks like your dumb teammates don't know how to defeat us without killing. Otherwise, we wouldn't surrender to you," paralyzed Stern kept releasing his malicious comments nonetheless.
Katrina had to fight two opponents at once. When one of them closed in, she created an electric field from that side and tried to strike, but the other was always nearby and counterattacked at that moment. The girl had to focus on defending against their attacks. From the arrows, she was reliably covered by Grain, but when they shot at me simultaneously, he had a tough time.
Leira had it even worse. Her opponent turned out to be a girl with a rapier, who surpassed all the other fighters in speed. The sorceress tried to block attacks with lightning strikes, but the assassin easily evaded them and counterattacked. Only by surrounding herself with a barrier of wind could Leira dodge the attacks.
"Heh, you can't defeat us," the leader of the assassins struck, aiming at my shoulder while the other dagger aimed at my legs. I leaped, pushing off his hand, and jumped backward, executing a somersault in the air.
"But we're clearly stronger than you!" Closing the distance, I delivered a powerful blow with my larger blade to his chest while simultaneously aiming the smaller one at his throat. He easily blocked the first strike with a dagger and seemed about to stop the second with another dagger aimed at my throat. But at the last moment, he lowered the dagger, and I halted the blade just a centimeter away from his throat. "Better surrender before it's too late!"
"Or else what?" With the blade pressed against his throat, the leader struck from below, and the blade passed just a few millimeters from my face. "Weakling."
Unlike me, the assassin aimed for vital points and didn't think of stopping.
I stepped back, and the bandit lunged at me again, striking sideways with both daggers.
"You shouldn't have gotten into a fight without guards. In this situation, the advantage is on our side!" The assassin turned and aimed a blow at my throat, but I took a step sideways and blocked the dagger with the smaller blade of my swords.
"Oh, not everything is set in stone; things can change," I slyly smiled and addressed the one who hadn't joined the battle yet. "How much longer, Aileen?"
"Well, sorry, they're barely visible in the darkness. So here's the first, and here comes the second!" With a quiet click, two arrows flew from the direction of the guards still on the road. Aileen had spent all this time preparing to disable the support of the robbers.
The two arrows whistled between the fighters and hit their mark with a dull thud.
"Aaaaah!" Two figures in cloaks, who had been standing by the wagon, fell to the ground, clutching their shoulders.
"Now the advantage is on our side," I charged at the enemy, blocking his daggers with my swords. If I applied enough force, I could knock him down, and then there would be no escape for him.
"Then I'll have to reclaim the advantage," the assassin kneed me in the stomach and diverted the swords to the side, finding himself behind me. I quickly turned around and delivered a circular strike, but he was no longer there. The leader had cleverly assessed the situation. If he killed me, he could help his other companions, but five meters away, Katrina was blocking the attacks of two assassins and didn't notice what was happening behind her. If he killed her, he could then fight me with two assistants.
"Katrina!" It was too late to warn her. Both of the girl's hands were occupied, and the assassin was already two steps away from her. I had no choice.
"Yaaaaah!" The princess closed her eyes, but the blow never came. The leader of the assassins stood in front of her, his gaze empty. He hadn't expected this from ordinary school kids. A short black sword stuck out of his chest.
"Heh, seems not all of you are spineless worms," with these final words, he knelt down and fell dead. I approached the body with a stone-cold face and pulled the sword out.
"Your leader is dead, surrender now. Anyone who resists, I will kill!" I glanced at the bandits, leaving no room for doubt about my words. Assessing the situation, the assassins laid down their weapons, and the guards put them in chains.
The assassins surrendered to the authorities, and we were able to proceed to Ragni, lying behind the wagon with the gold. She didn't have any serious injuries, just two cuts, but she was breathing heavily, fighting the pain.
"Hey, Ragni, are you okay?" I leaned toward the girl and touched her forehead; she had a fever.
"I'm fine, just need to rest a bit, and I'll recover soon," the dragoness attempted to sit up, leaning on her arms, but she fell to the ground.
"It's poison," Seleria leaned over Ragni, "the only weakness of dragons. If it was deadly, without an antidote, she won't survive."
I headed toward the prisoners and lifted the nearest one.
"Where's the antidote!?" I held the sword to his throat, and the guards exchanged cautious glances but didn't interfere.
"There's no antidote."
"So you expect me to believe that?" I threw the bandit to the ground and stepped on him. "You carry so much poisoned weaponry, and you want to say that if you get accidentally wounded, you just lie down and die?! You must have some medicine! I will kill each one of you if you don't tell me where it is!"
I pressed harder on the assassin's chest, and he cried out in pain.
"Heh, you fool! We don't have any antidote for her. Even if you kill us all, you won't get anything," the one-armed guy, whom Seleria was fighting, sneered maliciously.
The fiery princess jumped at him in rage and lifted him off the ground.
"But you're still moving, and that's after being wounded by your paralyzing poison. How did you heal?" she asked.
"Are you stupid? Each assassin has their own set of poisons, and the owner of the blade that injured your lizard is lying over there," the assassin nodded in the direction of the leader's body. "You should have asked him for the antidote. Too bad you can't do that now."
Seleria clenched her teeth in fury and threw the guy to the ground, to which he only chuckled maliciously.
"The leader had an excellent collection of all kinds of poisons. It seems he poisoned her with a mixture of venom from ten poisonous snakes. You can search through all his supplies, but apart from the antidote, there are also poisons there. Of course, you can try pouring everything into her, but there's no guarantee she'll survive. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha."
It seemed the guy had gone completely mad, but he was right. We didn't have an antidote for Ragni.
"Mayor, we need to take her to the city immediately. Do you have a good healer there?" I asked.
"Huh? Well, we have a healer, but I don't know if he can help with such poisoning."
"Or maybe I can try," a figure in a black cloak with a silvery staff approached the dragoness. "Ragni, let me help you."
The girl showed her thin hands in gray gloves from under her mantle and began to take off one of them. Contrary to rumors of a walking skeleton in the cloak, there was a delicate female hand with snow-white skin and neatly trimmed nails. However, what surprised me more was the length of the glove, which could entirely cover the hand. Rizel brought the sharp end of the staff to the hand and made a small cut. A few drops of blood appeared, as if reluctant to part with the body.
"I am immune to all poisons and diseases. That's the gift of necromancers," the girl brought her hand to Ragni's mouth. "If I'm right, my blood can be a cure for all poisons."
"Hey!" Ragni withdrew her hand from the necromancer. "I'm not some kind of vampire. I'll be fine."
Ragni tried to get up again, but she could only kneel.
"You fool!" Katrina grabbed the dragoness and held her close. "You know you can't heal on your own. Just listen to us."
Ragni looked embarrassed and nodded obediently.
"Well, alright, but I've never drunk human blood before."
"Don't worry, you won't need much," Rizel extended her hand to Ragni, and she obediently licked the drops of blood from her palm. "Hehe, tickles, Ragni; you have a tongue like a cat."
"Well, sorry, it's not like I'm human."
After a couple of minutes, Ragni calmed down, breathing became easier, and her temperature dropped.
"It seems it really works," the girl stood up, but staggered and leaned on the wagon. "Although this poison has drained a lot of my strength."
"Let me help," Seleria supported Ragni and helped her to the horse. "You can't fly right now, so how about riding with me on the horse?"
"Alright, I can't fly anyway," Ragni accepted our help and sat behind the fiery princess on the horse. "And I wanted to talk with you some more."
Taking the wagon, we headed back with the guards.
On the way back, Katrina caught up with me.
"Krito, are you okay?" Her voice sounded concerned.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You protected me, and I'm grateful, but you killed a person, and I thought..."
"Don't worry. I did what was necessary. If I hadn't killed him, we probably wouldn't have won that fight. Besides, if it wasn't for that, Algo would likely have killed to protect Leira."
"But still... Don't you feel anything?"
"Some matters can't be resolved peacefully, Princess. You're meant to rule this country, and you must understand that there are people who won't be convinced with words alone. Or did you think that risking your life, fighting monsters, is all that noble lords and Academy students do?"
"No, but I would like to rule without any human casualties," Katrina guiltily lowered her head.
"A merciful ruler isn't necessarily a wise one. Sometimes, hiring an assassin to kill one arrogant nobleman can save the lives of thousands of his subjects."
"I would never do such a thing! If the subjects suffer because of a bad feudal lord, he should be punished, but not killed."
"I don't know why your father sent you to the Academy, but I'm glad he did. Maybe being with us will help you see the ins and outs of this country, and you'll understand that the punishments for nobles and peasants are not proportionate."
"I still want everyone in my kingdom to live happily!" Katrina raised her voice and looked at me with fiery eyes.
"I hope you don't lose all your enthusiasm when you ascend the throne. Only then can you possibly change this country," I quickened my pace and distanced myself from the princess.
One horse with two girls slightly fell behind the group; they didn't want anyone to overhear them.
"So, what did you want, Ragni? Were you trying to get a discount at our confectionery? Don't think I'll take pity on you because of your illness," Seleria tried to tease the dragoness, but her face was serious.
"No, that's not what I wanted to ask," Ragni hugged the princess around the waist and pulled her close with force. "I wanted to ask how we managed to create that bridge using such crude methods."
"Hehe, what are you talking about? It's all thanks to your black flame, have you forgotten?" Seleria pretended not to know what she was talking about.
"You're lying! It was the flame... It was all thanks to Krito; without his help, I could never have summoned it on my own. But I think you know the special properties of this flame; with it, the bridge would have turned into a pile of molten stone," Ragni lifted her head and rested it on the shoulder of the red princess, speaking quietly so that no one else could hear: "It's a different story with Saraz's crimson flame, the shape-shifting flame that can change anything it touches. With it, you can turn a heap of stones into a beautiful statue in a matter of seconds."
"Probably a useful skill, but why are you telling me this?"
"Are you going to keep pretending? However you like, but I've long sensed something familiar in you."
"Hey! I use the finest spirits of Leran, don't make up stories about me."
"Hehe, it's not about the smell of flowers. I sensed something familiar in you, and I became sure of it when I saw your mother. I didn't recognize it right away, but now I feel like she introduced us, and it was much earlier than an ordinary human could live. Though I don't feel anything similar from your father."
"That's right. My father is King of Leran, from the ancient lineage of fire mages, and that's all you need to know."
"Is that so? Then why don't you talk about it?"
"Why should I? I don't know how people will react if they find out. Besides, no one asks, right? You won't tell anyone, will you?"
"Hmm, I don't even know. It would be easier for me if I weren't the only non-human in the guild."
"By the way, now that your job here is done, maybe you can help us at the confectionery, and in return, you can eat all the sweets that won't be sold by the end of the day."
"Hmm, Princess, can I consider this a bribe?"
"Oh, come on, don't be like that. Just a little gift as a sign of our friendship."
"Alright, alright, I won't tell anyone. I'm even a little glad," Ragni loosened her grip and, closing her eyes, peacefully started dozing on Seleria's back. "My first friend."
"And for me too," Seleria gently stroked the dragoness's hand.