In the dense forest, a group of people dressed in black was escorting a carriage. It was moving with difficulty through the mountain stream. The uneven road was bumpy, but the people in the group did not make a sound. All the people in black were doing their best to protect the carriage.
The carriage hit another piece of rock on the ground, causing the entire carriage to jump slightly. At this time, a black-clothed man on the side of the carriage nimbly used his hand to support the carriage, and the large carriage actually landed smoothly under the black-clothed man's hand. This was a strong man who was at least a mid-rank Knecht.
A cry of alarm came from the carriage. It seemed that he was also shocked by the sudden stumble. The curtains of the carriage opened, revealing a beautiful, snow-white face. "Sir Lane, where are we now?" The clear voice of the woman in the carriage came.
"Your Royal Highness, we should be in the southeast of Morphey Forest now. If we go any further, we will reach the Bering Mountains," said the man in black who had supported the carriage.
"Bering Mountains? I remember. Teacher said that this place is rich in fiery fruits, "said the beautiful woman with snow-white skin after thinking for a while.
"Hey, how long until we reach brother's place?" The woman asked the man in black sullenly. She had been wandering in the carriage for almost two weeks. It was simply torture for her, who had always been in the royal capital.
"For the sake of safety, we will take a more remote path. It is estimated that in another week, we will be able to meet with the nearest army. With the protection of the army, the princess will be able to see His Royal Highness very soon." The man in black replied honestly.
"Can't you hurry up?" The princess rebuked.
"Your Royal Highness's safety is the most important." The man in black indirectly rejected the princess's proposal.
The princess angrily pulled down the curtains and ignored the rigid Sir Lane.
Yes, this group of people was Angelina and her guards who had left the palace without permission. The man in black, Sir Ryan, was a captain of the Earth Team.
The convoy did not stop until evening. The shadow guards were responsible for hunting and observing the surroundings, while the princess's personal guards and maids made a fire to cook and serve Angelina.
The black-clothed man, Sir Lane, was standing guard on the crown of a hundred-year-old tree that was more than 30 meters tall. He was the most powerful person in the team, so he had to pay attention to the slightest movement.
As night fell, the princess and the others sat quietly by the bonfire. The maids watched the sparks in boredom, while Angelina held a huge sheepskin book in her arms and flipped through it, muttering from time to time. After patrolling the area, Sir Ryan returned to the tree and leaned against the trunk, looking into the distance.
What did the group of people in the palace decide to go out this time? Lane thought worriedly. Faustian's most precious princess actually left the palace with only a team of shadow guards to protect her, and was she going to the dangerous frontline? Traversing the Morphey Forest where magical beasts roamed? Sir Ryan would have liked to open the head of the herald who had given him the job and see what was inside.
When Sir Ryan first accepted the task of protecting the princess, he thought he was going to be rich. The glory of the Ryan family would bloom in his hands again. Those vampires who looked down on him and had once plotted to seize his family's property would pay the price. But now, Sir Ryan only hoped to escort the princess safely to the destination. Those fantasies could go to hell. If anything happened to the princess, not only would he lose his head, even the declining Ryan family would have to be buried with her.
Sir Ryan was born in a declining noble family. His ancestor was said to have been a viscount, but no one knew when the family had declined. Each generation was worse than the last. Until now, the Ryan family had left nothing but a genealogy, a clan emblem, and two or three small farms. His noble title had long been disrecognized. Even his only property, a few farms that did not earn much money a year, had been seized by the other small nobles around him when he was young.
Sir Ryan had been motivated since he was a child to teach those who plotted against the Ryan family a lesson. So when he was a teenager, he asked a distant relative who was not very close to him to send him to the shadow guard for training. The shadow guard was a sword that belonged to the king. Usually, nobles were not allowed to send people into the shadow guard. Sir Ryan was lucky enough to be selected as a shadow guard by chance.
However, perhaps because of the humiliation experienced by his family when he was young, Sir Ryan's character was a little unsociable. He was not very popular among the shadow guards. After so many years, he had found many connections and spent a lot of money. Until now, he was only the jarl of the ordinary Earth team. Some of the people in the same period as him were the jarl and deputy jarl of the Sky team. Although some were also in the Earth team, they were much better than him.
Sometimes, Sir Ryan would complain about the injustice of the world, but in the blink of an eye, he could only choose to accept it. Sir Ryan was not very talented. He had started practicing impetus at the most suitable age. It had been more than ten years now, but he was still a mid-rank Knecht. This was with the help of famous teachers and precious potions provided by the shadow guards. Of course, compared to ordinary people, Sir Ryan could be considered a genius. There were not many mid-rank Knechts at his age. This was also one of the important reasons why he was selected as a shadow guard and appointed as a jarl. It was this title that allowed Sir Ryan to be awarded the title of knight by His Majesty, which revitalized the Ryan family. There were indeed real geniuses these days, but they were very difficult to discover.
Sir Ryan remembered how excited he was when he first received the order from the herald from the inner court. Escorting a member of the royal family was not a common task. Even if there was, it would be a job for the Sky team, not to mention the most distinguished Princess Angelina. As long as he could please the princess, what reward would the king not reward him? At that time, Clayon was truly grateful to the messenger from the bottom of his heart. At that time, he gave all the gold coins in his hands to the messenger. The messenger even praised Clayon and told him to protect the princess well and not to reveal his whereabouts and so on. Now that Sir Ryan thought about it, he only wanted to curse.
Recalling the hardships and hard work along the way, Sir Ryan was so worried that his head turned white. At first, he thought that his team was just one of the teams escorting the princess. It was not until they left the Faustian border that he realised that they were the only ones escorting the princess. Wasn't this a joke? Who would be responsible if something happened to the princess?
Although Sir Ryan was not good at socialising and did not mix well in the shadow guards, it did not mean that he did not know how to socialise. Sir Ryan was not stupid. Of course, the moment he left the Faustian border, he realized that there was a conspiracy. He, who was not very popular among the shadow guards, must have been abandoned by some of the higher-ups.
Although Sir Ryan was inexplicably involved in a conspiracy, he knew that his current most important task was to protect Princess Angelina. He did not have the qualifications to be targeted by the higher-ups. Princess Angelina was the real target of some people.
Sir Ryan immediately told Princess Angelina about his speculation at a secret time. Sir Ryan was worried that his team or the princess's personal staff might have already been infiltrated by people with ill intentions. Princess Angelina was very indifferent about this. Perhaps she had already expected it, she did not panic after hearing it. Instead, she persuaded Sir Ryan to calm down. "All you need to do is to send me to my brother," said Princess Angelina.
Sir Ryan was able to stand out among the talented shadow guards and become a jarl. Hence, he did his best to protect Princess Angelina along the way.
As Sir Ryan had expected, someone in their team disappeared on the first night they left the border. It was probably a traitor who had tipped them off. The private whereabouts of a noble princess was definitely worth a lot of money. Sir Ryan decisively abandoned most of the cumbersome luggage. He even hid the carriage full of personal belongings that Her Highness carried with her somewhere with the princess's tacit consent. Sir Ryan decisively led the group into Morphey Forest. Only by entering Morphey Forest, which was complicated and full of major monsters, could they avoid the possible dangers that might exist in the dark.
They did encounter a lot of danger along the way. Sir Ryan had already bypassed the central area of Morphey Forest and was heading towards the Bering Mountains from the south. However, they still encountered some casualties. Two mid-level shadow leopards reduced the team's three carriages to two. Coupled with the impact of other small and medium-sized major monsters and monsters, the team that used to have more than 30 people was now only left with more than ten people. Most of them were his shadow guards. There were only three of the princess's guards and two of the palace maids left.
Perhaps it was because they had never encountered major monsters before, but they were quite disheveled at first. Just a few low-level major monsters were enough to scatter the team. Casualties also occurred at the beginning. Not to mention the others, even Sir Ryan himself had only seen major monsters a few times. He had only encountered them once or twice during missions. This time, however, they encountered one or two every half a day, which really challenged Sir Ryan's nerves.
At this time, everyone in the forest breathed a sigh of relief. There were not many powerful major monsters left in Morphey Forest. With the powerful Sir Ryan around, safety was not a problem. This was what everyone thought. Sir Ryan's strength in recent days had indeed given them a lot of confidence. The scene of the shadow guard captain fighting against two shadow leopards of the same rank was still vivid in their minds. Princess Angelina was also a lot tired after running around all day. Although she had been protected in the centre, the princess who had never been away from home was not as indifferent as she appeared to be. However, her manners and dignity as a princess did not allow her to show timidity and fear.
Princess Angelina quietly looked at the 'A Brief Guide to Monsters' in her hand. Only reading could divert her attention at this time. Angelina, who was reading, was like a holy angel. At this time, the irritation of the people around her was greatly reduced. Everyone performed their own duties and did their own things.
The bonfire burned higher and higher as the guards busied themselves. Suddenly, there was a whistling sound and a black short arrow suddenly pierced through the neck of the guard who was next to the bonfire. The guard's miserable howl before he died woke everyone up.
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