Chapter 7: 101-110

Who would have guessed that the red bottom technique that I received so many times would actually come in handy? That night when I got home, I slept very soundly after getting a bit of revenge on the brat. The next day we took a carriage down to the mercenary guild. The size and scope of this building compared to the one in Hammerlin was like night and day. But this was to be expected. After all, this was the capital.

Sophie clutched onto my arm as we walked through the door. This time though, unlike my last time in a mercenary guild, no one really said anything. I had a few stray eyes on me, but that was about it. It might be because it was mid morning when we arrived, but it did not seem all that busy.

"Oh? Faith!" A familiar voice rang in my ear as I turned to see Gesel walking up with her partner Fred.

"Gesel! I did not think I would see you so soon!" I said with a smile. Sophie tried to become transparent as usual.

"I see that you got an accessory this time around. A cute one at that." Gesel teased. But instead of getting the reaction that she was expecting, Sophie buried her face in my shoulder. Sophie, I do not know how old you are, but burying your face in my shoulder when your head is much bigger than the shoulder itself doesn't hide you, is what I would like to say, but I do not wish to hurt her feelings.

"Sophie is not good with others. It will take time to warm up to you. But yeah, she is my friend." I explained. Gesel only smiled and walked over and hugged the both of us, causing Sophie's whole body to stiffen.-.

"Haha! It's fine, it's fine." Yes, I forgot Gesel was not one to care about personal space.

"Hi, Fred." I gave Fred a small wave with my free hand while Gesel was still hugging Sophie and I. She has been hugging us for quite a while, though… "Gesel?"

"Ah, sorry… I am just glad you are okay. I know you were traveling solo to the capital. You must have missed it, but there was a major incident on the way to the capital." Gesel's voice grew quieter as she spoke.

"What happened?" As far as I knew, I did not see much out of the ordinary on my way here.

Gesel waved her hand as tears began to form in her eyes, which made me even more concerned. She wiped her eyes and looked over at Fred. "Fred, you tell her." 𝓲n𝑛𝓻ℯ𝗮d.＆nbsp;𝚌o𝒎

"There was a mass grave found. All girls. No one knows how long they had been there. But they were both human and beastkin. Gesel and I were sent to check it out, and what we found still haunts us even now. While some were skeletons, some were still rotting away. It seemed they aged from around your age, maybe younger, all the way to eighteen, maybe twenty. The mass grave was found by a hunter who was out hunting like he normally did when he stumbled upon it. I do not know if you can call it luck or what, but he found it when he missed his prey and his arrow sunk into the ground. He pulled it up but found it was stuck in a skull." Fred's expression did not look good as he spoke. I guess just remembering was enough to make him feel sick.

"He did not dig up the grave himself. As soon as he found the skull, he came running to the mercenary guild. There had been some missing person reports in Hammerlin as of late, but not to the scale of the grave there. That grave must have been growing bigger and bigger over time. By the time they finished digging it all up, it had already reached half a mile. Thousands of bodies were found. Gesel here automatically thought of you when she saw the rotting corpses. She swore to herself that if you went missing, she would make it her life mission to find your body."

I was completely shocked by Fred's words and, at the same time, felt warm due to Gesel's care. But to have a half mile long mass grave is just insane. "They have no clue as to why they were killed?"

"None. That we can tell. Some of the more recent bodies have been sent in to have them examined. We mercs are not able to do such delicate work. That is all up to those who have the knowledge." Fred scratched his head before patting Gesel on the shoulder. "Let's not talk about what we do not know the answers to and sit down and catch up."

Gesel nodded her head and followed Fred. I pulled Sophie along and went to sit with them. Gesel wiped her eyes again and forced a smile as she asked. "So tell me, how was your trip to the capital and your stay so far."

"Not too bad? I met my second friend Sophie here." I went on and began telling Gesel about my trip, only to get yelled at because I didn't count her as my friend. So now I have friend number three. As I told her my stories of my heroine tales, I made sure to keep things about the spirits out of it.

After telling my stories of my trip, I told her stories of everything that had happened in the capital. Gesel sat back and let out a long sigh. "You have truly gone through a lot. And you, Sophie made the right choice! Screw that count! He was lucky I was not there to, or his head would be shoved up his…"

"Gesel! Relax." Fred reached out and grabbed the hand that was about to slam down on the table. "Do you want to get a scolding by the guild master again?"

Gesel blushed and lowered her head as she shook it. I could only chuckle. Just thinking of anyone yelling at Gesel seemed too out there. "Speaking of Count Freedman, I wonder who released him from my binds…."

"Haha! I bet he had to pay a heavy price. Magic is normally not very easy to undo. And I am sure your magic is even harder to undo. Not that it matters. He got what was coming to him. By the way, Faith, will you be entering the battle tournament this week?"

"Battle tournament!? How do I sign up!? Is there a prize?" I was all for a battle tournament. I mean, who can pass up something like that? I can not let all my skills go to waste!

"Hehe. You can sign up here at the guild. And the prize pool this time is one hundred gold! I am a favorite to win!" Gesel said proudly.

"Then I guess I will be signing up! Which means I will be the one to win." I said with raised eyebrows in a taunting manner. I will never forget our arm wrestling match!

"Oh? You think you can best me!? You're on!" Gesel reached out with her hand, and so did I. We clapped our hands together, making a promise that we would meet in the tournament.

Fred held his head as he looked at us. "You girl's do know that if you two were to fight at any point and time before the finals that they will need to reconstruct the ring after each one of your fights."

"Fred, you talk too much. What destroyed ring…" Gesel eyes that began to wander here and there caught my interest.

"Are you not going to tell them about all the rings you destroyed in the previous years?" Fred asked, causing Gesel to seem to fade into another realm. She was whistling and mumbling strange words as Fred's eyes locked onto her.

"Fine! Stop with the stupid staring! Okay, so I destroyed a few rings every time I participated but that was because there was a strong enemy. If I do not go all out, how am I to win?" Gesel looked aggrieved. I could tell one thing though Fred was bringing all of this up like this to keep Gesel's mind off the earlier incident. Ah, true love!

"If I destroy it, I will just make another one. They are made of earth, right?" I mean, as long as it is not a bunch of materials that are hard to find in this world, I saw no reason not to destroy it if you were going all out. It is a tournament, after all.

"Yes, all made of earth. But they are also well fortified with magic. You would need a large spell to break them." Fred answered, while Gesel looked the other way.

I chuckled and said a silent prayer in my mind to the battle stages that were about to break. But I was actually quite excited to join in and test my abilities against others. I wonder just how well I will do.

"Now that I think about it, Faith, did you come to the guild for?" Gesel asked. After getting caught up in a conversation with her, I had almost forgotten my original goal of coming here.

"Ah, right, I came to sign up to become a mercenary with Sophie. I need to make some side money." I really needed to get some money together. I did not know where I would find a place to set up my factory. I did, however, think about maybe building one at the edge of the slums. And maybe slowly trying to rebuild the area around it by giving jobs to those who wish to work and maybe bettering the lives of those living there.

"Ah, then you will need to undergo the test. What do you say? I will be your examiner." Gesel has this grin on her face that reaches all the way to her ears. To be honest, I wouldn't mind fighting her a bit to see how strong she truly was.

"Alright!" I answered excitedly. With that decided, Gesel and I walked up to the counter to fill out the forms, with poor Sophia in tow.

"Faith, I do not think I will be of any help…." I knew Sophie was not someone who was good at combat, but I planned to help her train up a bit before she entered the academy. This was why I was having her become a mercenary.

"It's fine. You will be with me anyways. I will teach you how to fight while we take on missions." I could see her ears and tail dropping lower and lower, but I am sure she knew she would need to grow stronger as well. This may also help with her confidence level.-.

While I was not sure if this would actually be the case, I just hoped it would allow for her to grow stronger. She seems to be shying further and further away from others. But I think this must have a lot to do with what happened with the Count. Just thinking about it makes me wish I killed him. Let's just hope he is smart enough not to act out of line because if he does, I will no longer hold back.

"Then I will sign up…." Sophie spoke softly, but she seemed to have a bit of determination in her voice. I think she does realize that she needs to grow stronger, and until she is strong enough, I will stand by her side, helping her as much as I can. Giving her the push she needs to grow.

Gesel leaned over and put her arms around both mine and Sophie's shoulders. "Sophie, you just leave the test to Faith."

"Ummm… Gesel… They can't fill out the forms if you are hugging them." The lady behind the counter interrupted Gesel. But it was true what she said. It was a bit difficult to write when she was squeezing the two of us against her. Her muscles were just too big!

"Ah! Sorry. Anyway, I will be their examiner so just write me down on the paperwork when they are done. When you girls finish, go to the door over there on the side wall. You will enter a hallway with a bunch of numbers on them. I will be in room nine." Gesel pointed over at the left side wall that had a wooden door with a sign above it that said examine halls.

"Okay, we will see you soon." Gesel nodded and walked away while Sophie and I began filling out our forms. Just the normal things. Name, age, combat profession, magic proficiency. All the normal things that one would fill out on any form…

While I was writing down my skills, I looked over at Sophie's paper to see she actually had skills in daggers and swords. This kind of surprised me since she had never held a sword since I have known her. But this was also a good sign. If she really has been trained in swords, it would help her a lot in her path. Now that I think about it, the fortune telling she got also showed her wielding both magic and a sword, and her swordsmanship was actually quite good. If this was the case, then I expect Sophie to do amazing at the academy.

With the forms now signed, the reception went over some rules about the mercenary guild. You could take on any job, but if you fail, you will have to pay a penalty fee that is double the amount of the job's worth. Which was a smart way to go about it, as it would reduce the chance of people trying to take on higher paying jobs just because they pay a lot. This not only reduces the chances of failure but also the chances of someone dying due to overestimating their own abilities. Besides that, there were no other real rules. She did say that if you are reported killing innocents, you will be hunted down by the guild and turned over to the knights.

"Oh right, I would also like to sign up for the tournament." I almost walked away without signing up! Gesel would get mad if I forgot to do that. The poor battle rings would suffer!

"No problem, I added your name to the list." After giving the receptionist my thanks Sophie and I walked over to the side door and walked down the hall to room number nine.

Now I will say I half expected it, and I will say I tried to prepare myself for it. But as soon as I entered the door, I couldn't help but squeal in awe. I mean, the room was huge, bigger than the building itself. It was another one of those spaces like the one Adel has in her carriage, but this was just huge.

"This is truly impressive." I said as I walked in. Even Sophie was nodding her head while looking around at the huge space.

There was not much to the room. Just a large dirt arena with a rack of weapons leaning against the far wall. Besides that, there was only Gesel standing in the middle, leaning against her sword. It looked like she was rocking back and forth. If I had to guess, she probably fell asleep. She did not seem like one who could stand around for a long period of time without doing something.

I teasing grin appeared on my face as I put my finger to my lips to tell Sophie not to say anything. When I saw her nod, I gently flapped my wings and flew over Gesel, who was indeed sleeping, and silently landed behind her. I reached up and extended my index fingers and poked her under her armpits! "Ahhh! Fred cut the shi…."

"…"

"…."

" Faith! You brat!" Gesel yelled out after taking a few seconds to process the situation. She was blushing like crazy.

"Haha!" I let out a laugh as I dodged Gesel's hands, that kept trying to grab me. This cat and mouse game only lasted a few minutes before she stopped and glared at me.

"Humph! I will just beat you up even more. But before that, have Sophie go by the weapons rack and put a protective barrier around her. I will not be able to go all out if I do not know she is safe." I had the same Idea as Gesel. I also did not wish for Sophie to get hurt either.

"Alright. Sophie, come on, let's set you up so you can get comfortable." I said with a smile while grabbing Sophie's hand and pulling her along. 𝗶𝙣𝗻𝚛eα𝑑. 𝒸𝗼𝑚

"Faith, will you be okay?" Sophie asked as we walked to the far side of the arena.

"I will be fine. I promise there is not much in this world that can harm me. And if it does, I will just heal myself." I would only actually put myself in harm's way if I were trying to save a friend or family member. But to fool around, I will never push myself to the point that I might get seriously hurt or even die. That would just be plain stupid.

"Faith… I want to get strong too…." Sophie said softly as she gripped my hand with hers. I guess she had really been thinking about all of this. Her eyes showed her newfound determination.

"Then I will train you as much as I can. How much help I will be, I do not know, but it is always worth a try, right? You will also be trained at the academy as well. As long as you keep striving to grow stronger and push yourself past your limits, I am sure you will make this new wish of yours come true." I watched as a smile appeared on Sophie's lips as she nodded her head.

"Mmm! Thanks, Faith." Seeing Sophie's tail wagging and her ears perked up made me feel much better about her future. I set up a few barriers around Sophie and took out a table and a chair for her to sit on. Then I took out some sandwiches, pastries and some drinks. So she could snack on them while I fought with Gesel. I have a feeling that this battle will take a while.

As I soar through the air, I wonder to myself. Why do I let things like this happen? Why do I not think before I rush in? I am now realizing that no matter how many times I am proven wrong, I still have this notion that I am stronger than the person I am fighting. But here I am after one clash flying through the air like a leaf caught in the wind.

—

Moments earlier…..

"Faith, are you ready?" Gesel asked me as she readied her massive sword. She looked very excited to be having this battle with me. And to tell you the truth, I was also very excited right now. I mean, I do not get to fight people as strong as Gesel every day. Just the thought of the two of us clashing seemed fun, but at the same time, I could also try to get a grasp of Gesel's strength before the tournament.

I held my own sword and nodded my head. I could already feel that this was going to be a tough fight. But I was ready for it. "Let's do this!"-.

"Then begin!' Gesel yelled out. As soon as her words finished, I shot forward, and well, this brings me back to my current predicament.

I sighed as I flapped my wings and flipped my body around, only to see Gesel once more swinging her huge sword at me. Since I can not block the attack head on, I will need to parry the attack. I flew to the side and ran my blade down the side of her giant sword. Sparks flew between our blades as I swung towards Gesel's neck. I knew I was using a killing move, but I had no choice. If I did not act in this fashion, I was sure to lose.

From what I understood about Gesel so far, she was one of those types that would not flinch in a fight no matter what was going on. Even now, as my sword was heading towards her throat, she is still smiling. As my blade was just about to arrive at her neck, she bent completely backward and kicked up with her foot while using her free hand to do a handspring and flipped her body away from me while trying to kick me back to make more room.

Luckily I was already ready for such a move, so I managed to dodge the kick and landed back on the ground gently. But this did not mean I was going to give Gesel any time to rest. My eyes glowed as hundreds of fireballs appeared in the air around me. "Go!"

Gesel eyes sparkled with a bit of surprise, but she soon licked her lips and readied herself to defend. "Good! Keep it coming! This is what I expected of you!"

I could only shake my head. Gesel was a battle maniac. Since she was enjoying the fight, I will just have to make it more entertaining. "Wind Rush! Colossal Strength! Acceleration!"

My body began speeding up at an insane speed as I raced around in a circle of Gesel. My eyes were still lighting up as I used both fireballs and confusion mist. With confusion mist up, I switched my view to detection in case Gesel pulled off anything weird. I could see inside the mist, but Gesel could not see me. My fireballs were firing from all sides, and I could see Gesel frowning as she blocked the attacks with incredible speed.

"This is why I hate you damn mages!" Gesel yelled out, and without warning, she ignored her defense, raised her huge sword above her and then slammed it tip down into the ground by her feet.

The ground exploded, and Gesel was launched skyward. The ground crumbled in all directions as a huge crater formed. I had no choice but to retreat as well or get caught up in the aftermath of the attack. To be honest, seeing the huge crater she formed really was amazing. She was so young, yet she could create such a huge crater with her strength alone. Not that I should talk about age…

"Haha! Where are you looking!?" I heard Gesel's voice from above. I got so caught up in looking at her handy work I forgot about her! I have no idea how she did it, but she adjusted the directions he was going in mid air and was now heading towards me. I could only guess that she knows a magic spell like air walk.

Gesel's sword was heading right for my head. I quickly bent backward and drew a magic circle with the tip of my boot. "Earth wall!"

"Stupid mages!" Gesel cursed as she was sent skyward again. I am so glad I learned how to draw magic circles with my feet. While I can do this with my eyes as well, I still need to see where the spell will take place, which is why I used my foot, to get that mental image and feel for the distance, so I can write the point of origin a few inches away from my foot. Only by doing this can I keep myself out of range of my own magic spell. I mean, if I were to use my eyes just then to do the magic spell, the spell would have spawned under me, and I would have been tossed in the air along with Gesel. While I could have used detection, it would have been harder for me to adjust the distance.

With Gesel now airborne once more, I got a better look at how she is adjusting her descent from the sky. And to my amazement, she was actually using a method of airwalk, but I could not see any magic fluctuations. This was very intriguing. I will have to ask her how she was doing that after the battle. I mean, yes, I can use both airwalk, and my wings to fly, but it was different when it did not deal with either of those. This was why I found it so interesting.

But I also had a problem because it looked like she was about to send another huge attack my way. I quickly created multiple fireballs and, like a machine gun, set them off, one after the other. While those were firing away at her, I made some distance and tried to think of my next move. 𝘪𝗻n𝑟e𝑎𝒅. 𝘤𝒐ｍ

I was not sure what I could use against her to stop her in her tracks yet not hurt her too badly. I have always only ever used certain spells that could instantly kill people. I looked around at my surroundings and went over everything I had seen so far in the battle, and only one thing came to mind. "Restrain her so she can't move…."

My eyes lit up as I floated up into the air. At the same time, large walls of one hundred foot thick ice shot up from the ground surrounding Gesel on all sides. When the walls of ice reached a certain height, they began moving in on each other, merging into one another. I could see Gesel's face sink seeing this. I just hoped she did not have anything else up her sleeve. Gesel knew what she was doing. Her combat ability was way above mine, and if I did not take this chance to trap her, she would definitely have a way to deal with me.

Luckily I did not have to worry too much as I heard Gesel let out a sigh and yell out: "You win!"

I let out a sigh of relief and waved my hand, getting rid of the ice as I floated back down to the ground. Gesel landed and hugged her body as her teeth chattered. "Faith that was just evil! That was cold as can be!"

"Sorry, I figured ice would be better than dirt. I didn't want you to get a face full of dirt." I really did think this way. I would have felt bad if she had choked on a bunch of dirt.

"Yeah, I guess that is much better. Anyway, you won this time. But do not think you can win against me during the tournament." I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw Gesel pout a little.

For some reason, I do feel that she will have a big surprise waiting for me when we meet in the tournament. I will have to be sure that I do not allow her to pull a fast one on me. Since I am entering, I really do not have any intentions of losing. I will fight with everything I have. Well, within reason. I think I will keep grand fall and heavenly rain out of it. I do not want to destroy the city after all. Unless I can change the spells a bit before the tournament… Now that I think about it, I have not really made any new spells as of late. I guess I will see if I can put anything together before then. If I can, then I can use these massive spells on a smaller scale.

After my battle with Gesel, Sophie and I were finally given our mercenary ID cards. Gesel still seemed a bit down about losing the fight, but that only lasted a little while when I said I would treat her to something good, which she quickly dragged me away from the guild to go to a stall not far away that had pastries. While I liked sweets myself, Gesel was a connoisseur. "Gesel, when is the tournament again?"

"At the end of the week. So do not miss it. I want revenge for today!" Gesel said with a pout.

"Don't worry, I will be there. That means I have some time to get a few things settled." I was planning to take some missions from the guild, but I decided to hold off in case I needed to travel for a few days to complete them. Plus, one hundred gold was quite a bit of money and would also be a good starter fund for my factory. How much I will need in total, I do not know yet, but one hundred gold is enough to feed a family of four for years.

"As long as you show and do not lose until the finals!" Gesel said while stuffing a pastry in her mouth. I smiled and shook my head. It seemed she would not be happy until we had a rematch.

We chatted for a while before saying our goodbyes. Sophie and I went back to the inn to rest for the rest of the day. I planned to go back towards the east side slums tomorrow and check it out. But before that, I had planned to train with Sophie a little.-.

When we entered the room, Sophie and I were greeted by Annie and the other maids. "Annie, let's have a small picnic out in the garden."

"Picnic?" Annie seemed confused by this word which made me realize that this world probably did not have a word for eating outdoors in the open. "Ummm… A picnic is when you take a blanket and lay it down outside and eat sandwiches and drink tea or whatever while chatting and enjoying the sun and fresh air."

"I see… An outing!" Annie smiled and nodded her head in understanding. "I will get something prepared."

"Thanks, Annie, and make sure you make enough for everyone. I want you three to join us." Annie and the girls worked hard every day. I wanted them to enjoy some time like this as well. They were my age but worked every day and night, which made me feel bad.

Luckily Annie did not make a fuss saying they couldn't do such things with the master of the house. It seemed she was getting used to having meals with Sophie and I, which was good because I wanted to be as good to them as I possibly could. 𝐢𝗻𝑛𝓇𝚎𝚊𝘥. 𝙘o𝓂

A little while later, Sophie and I were sitting on a blanket with Annie and the other girls. The sun was warm but not so hot that it would make you feel sick. We happily chatted about this and that when one of my most dreaded topics appeared. The topic about love!

It's not that I really hated the idea of being in love, but I know I should not fall in love. If I fell in love, wouldn't I just be tormenting myself once my loved ones began to grow older while I still stayed the same? Even now, my body seems to have stalled on the aging process. If my partner begins growing older and older and sees me not aging, will that make them hate me? Would they feel regret for being with me? I had a lot of fears when the word love came into question.

"So! Young Miss, have you ever fallen in love?" Brooke asked. She was the youngest of the group, so I guess the idea of love was like a fairy tale to her.

"No, I do not think the word love mixes well with me." I was telling the truth, but everyone gave me weird gazes. "What!?"

Surprisingly the one to answer my question was Sophie. "What about Adel?"

"What about Adel? We are really good friends." I replied, not seemingly understanding the question.

"Faith, ummm… I am not sure if I should say this or not, and I do kinda feel bad for her, but it is kind of clear as day that Adel likes you not just as a friend." Hearing Sophie's words made my eyes go wide. I instantly remembered the scene from the fortune teller that showed me kissing someone with long golden hair like Adels. I couldn't help but blush just thinking about it. But Me? Kissing a girl? No no…. Maybe? No..?

I quickly shook my head and waved my hands in front of me. "No! You must be mistaken. Adel just thinks of me as a really good friend or sister. There is no way she is in love with me."

I heard four people sigh in unison as they looked at me with a pitied look, but I felt that maybe that look was not for me but for someone else. "What!?'

"Young Miss, we do not know the Princess very well, but with just one look, anyone can tell that she is in love with you. Does she not always go above and beyond for you?" Annie asked.

"Yes, she does but isn't that because she is trying to keep me happy so I will not leave the…."

"Faith!" Sophie suddenly yelled, causing me to jump and sit straight up. Her voice sounded like my Mothers just now! Scary! "Are you just trying to deny it because you are afraid of love?"

"I…. Okay, yes, she does go way overboard when it comes to me. But isn't it because I am her first true friend?" The more they press and the more I think about it, I am starting to see those subtle signs. But I do not understand, why me?

"Faith, while I myself have never been in love, I have seen my parents and how they act around each other. What about you? What about your family? How do they interact with one another." Sophie's words were like a bolt of lightning. Adel was kinda like how my brother was with Rachel, always doing things, trying to help her in any way he could.

I slumped down and fell into thought. Was Adel really in love with me like that? If she was, what should I do? I do not wish to hurt her feelings. Have I been leading her on? Right now, my mind was spinning around in circles with so many questions. What happened to me not wanting to fall in love!? I just told myself that love was not something that was really suited for me, so I was not hurting myself or those around me but now….

With Adel, it is different…. If she is truly in love with me, can I still act the same way? I scratched my head in frustration. It was not a fact that she is in love with me. She may be just over affectionate because I am her first true friend. I guess the best thing to do is just let things go for now and see how it turns out. To be honest with myself though, I do not wish to see Adel sad.

I looked at Sophie and smiled. It was best to keep things as is. I will not treat Adel any differently as I did not want such a kind, sweet girl to cry. If one day she does confess to me, then I will wait for that day and give myself time to figure out what I want to do and how I feel at that time. "If she is, she is. But I will not do anything at this time. Adel and I are friends, and I do not wish to ruin that right now. Sophie, you know how kind Adel is. So now, when I myself am

unsure about things, it is wise not to mention it to her. She herself may not even realize it either. So let's keep quiet about this for now."

"Mmm… You are right…." Sophie nodded her head. Luckily she agreed with me. I just hope no one gets hurt in the end. But I guess I have to do some of my own thinking now as well.

"Alright, no more love talk! Let's talk about the upcoming tournament!" I decided to change the topic, which caused everyone else to boo me, but I did not wish to stay on this topic anymore. Life is strange with many unexpected events. Maybe one day, things will play out just like the fortune foretold. If that is the case, I hope at least the bad parts can be avoided. If not I hope I can at least over turn what the future holds. I do not wish to go down a bloody path if I can help it.

Currently, I was standing with two other people. One was Sophie, and the other was Thurul. We were looking at a site at the entrance of the east side slums that Thurul had found out from his friend that his friend wanted to sell. It housed a great deal of shanties and was being sold cheaply at only ten gold.

"This is the place?" I asked to confirm that I was looking at the right place. From what I could see, there were at least one hundred families living on this land. Some of them came out and looked at Thurul and I with worried expressions.

"Yep. My old friend said he had bought this land over thirty years ago but never did anything with it. He said he would sell it to me for cheap, but we have to deal with those who are taking up residence on it." Thurul replied.

"Thurul, do me a favor and look after Sophie for a moment." I wanted to take a walk around the shanties to see the lay of the land and speak with the people there.

"The land ends by the small tree line before heading deeper into the slums. As for the little lady, don't worry. With me around, no one will dare touch her." Thurul had won Sophie over with his tea and snacks every time we went over to his place, so she was not averse to being around him. This helped a lot since I did not want to bring her with me while I walked around the slums, but I also needed to ensure her safety just in case that stupid count suddenly popped up like some kind of weed to try and snatch her away again.

"Faith, are you going over there?" I could tell Sophie was worried, so I placed my hand on her head and scratched her ears.-.

"I will be fine. Stay here with Thurul and do not leave his side." I watched as Sophie nodded and moved to stand next to Thurul. I gave Thurul a nod before making my way across the tall grass towards the shanties. I could feel many gazes filled with different emotions. Fear, curiosity, anxiousness, and even hate.

I continued forward until I saw something interesting. In the middle of the shanty town was a large well. It seems the residents here had dug the well by hand and had used the stones from digging to create the well wall. Next to it were a few women and children washing dishes and doing laundry. "Excuse me."

One of the women, a middle aged woman, looked up and looked at me. I waited to see her reaction to a demi human, but she did not even flash a hint of fear or disgust. "Can I help you, young lady? This is not the best place for girls your age, you know."

"Don't worry. If someone shows up with such intentions, I will send them to the other side of the slums." I guess my words tickled the middle aged woman's funny bone because she began to laugh.

"Now that I would like to see. I fear for my daughters as they age. There are some really strange ones in this place. Sadly That is life in the slums. But not everyone is able to get those fancy jobs that allow you to make enough to live in nice areas."

Hearing this, my smile got brighter as I sat down next to the middle aged woman and began to help the middle aged woman with her laundry, which caused the middle aged woman to look up at me and smile. 𝐢n𝒏𝘳𝙚𝒶𝘥.＆nbsp;𝗰𝚘𝓂

"Are you also looking for a decent job?" I asked.

"Sure am, but I can't leave my little ones alone. It's hard to raise the little ones. But I can't bear to send them away. I do what I can, you know? I do some handicrafts and sell them here and there, which gives enough to get by, but it is nowhere near enough to make sure these kids can eat and stay safe. As you can see the shanties are not the safest places." I nodded my head at her words. This place was not the safest place at all. I sighed and looked around the place.

The lot was huge, big enough to hold a factory and another building. Just buying the lot would put me in the red. I would also need to stick up a large wall and put in a gate to protect the area as well or I can just set up a barrier….

After being lost in thought for a minute, I looked up at the middle aged woman and asked: "How many people up to this tree line are bad?"

"Bad as in would do anything? Or just in general? The line shanties near the tree line are where the scum of this area live. They will do anything, including taking girls against their will. So many girls have been sullied by them." The middle aged woman said with a bit of emotion. I could see she was truly worried about those kinds of people.

I looked around and saw that most of the people around this area were women. "Mostly women here?"

"In this area, yes, as it is closer to the knight's patrol. If something happens, we can run over and get a knight, so many women who were thrown away along with their kids live out here." Middle aged woman explained, which made me nod my head.

"My name is Faith. What is yours?" I kind of had a plan, but I was not sure if it would work. The only issue was money.

"My Name? It's Melinda. May I ask why you have asked so many questions about this place?" I could see Melinda was getting worried. With my clothes, it was obvious I was not from the slums.

"Mmm… I plan to buy this lot b…"

"What!? Please do not kick us out!" Melinda suddenly cried out. "Please, I beg you, we have no other place that is at least a tiny bit safe."

"Wait! Melinda, I do not plan to kick anyone out as long as they are good. In fact, I was just thinking how I could make the place more secure and, on top of that, build proper housing and give you jobs as well as daycare so you can work." My plan was simple. Since this section of the slums was mainly all women. I could have an all female workforce and would give them good jobs. At the same time, any kids of age that can do simple tasks could also earn a bit of money like the orphaned kids. I figured it would be the best way to kill many birds with a single stone.

"You want to do what!? Do you really mean it!?" Another woman who overheard me walked over with tears in her eyes. "Can you really give me a job!?"

"I have to plan things out first, but if everything is able to progress quickly enough, I will be able to not only build a factory here but also employee housing." I explained with a smile.

"Is there anything I can do now? I will work for free if it means progressing things." The woman seemed very desperate for a job. I looked over at Melinda to also see her with eyes full of hope. I sighed and stood up. "Wait here for a moment. I will be right back."

I couldn't help but have a soft spot for these people. Living their lives never knowing when the next meal will be. Can I feed my kids today? Will my kids get sick and need health care? All these questions were things these mothers who had very little income had to deal with every day. I pacified the other woman before taking my leave and making my way back to Thurul.

"So, how was it?" Thurul asked.

"I want to buy this place and buy it today." I said firmly.

Thurul looked at me with wide eyes before scratching his beard. "If you really want it, I will pay the fee for the place, but why the rush?"

"I need the property to be under my name, so I can begin a bit of house cleaning and put up a barrier that will protect these women and children here. After that, I will have them work on clearing out the tall grass and rubble. The area will need to be really cleaned up to make room for the housing for the employees and then the factory. These women are starving for a job and in fear of what might harm their kids. If I can give them the security they need, then why not?" I truly had not planned to do all of this so soon. I figured maybe I could do missions and then save up the money, but now it seems I need to win the tournament and hire some people to begin construction right away. If I have employees, then I will be able to mass produce my pens quickly as soon as the factory is ready.

The next day things were looking up. The paperwork was quickly done, and I now officially own the plot of land that I had looked at. This meant I could go and begin kicking out those who were bad and using the place to do as they please. Of course, I was not doing this alone. I had a team of people, including many knights, with me. I brought the nights that Sir Randford left behind to round up all the criminals so they could do their just time for the sins they have committed. Of course, my team also included Gesel and Fred. Once I told Gesel about it, she said she would help clean things up and help me prep the land as well.

Of course, forced evictions for those who were here to take advantage of the situation would never go smoothly. Many tried to fight only to be manhandled and shoved head first into the ground. When the knights saw my amazing evil person burying technique, they stared at me with wide starry eyes. Okay, well, maybe it was more of a shocked expression. Either way, they were amazed!

But I do have to say this. There were a lot of people and many who had suffered under these bandits' hands. There were also some women who did the same thing. Sick individuals either way. And it was not just humans either. But also demi humans as well.

It took half a day before we were able to round them all up. And to my surprise, there were over one hundred of them just in this plot of land. Luckily the knights had come prepared and had quite a few prison wagons lined up with them all stuffed inside. Men and women were separated. I guess they all go to different prisons here in this world.

I never thought about it before, but I guess there are just as many female knights as there are male knights. I learned this from one of the female knights that came to pick up the female prisoners. This also made me feel a bit better about my future as I work to try to become a commander.-.

But now, with everything settled, it was time to set up a barrier around the entire plot of land. Since I would be casting the spell, I would need everyone who would be staying here to help. I would need their help in casting it since I would need their magic signature to allow them to pass through the barrier. A barrier to keep others out to keep the residents safe that would allow people out but not in unless they were written into the runic equation.

And with the number of people that would be staying, I would need to write a large magic equation without their magic signature. But with their magic signature, I can just include it into the magic equation to say these magic signatures are allowed to pass through the barrier freely. The issue I would have after that would be to allow the orphans in. This was something I would need to talk to Sei about and see if she could put me in touch with someone who knew how to set up the same kind of system I have at my room at the inn.

About two hours later, I stood in front of a large group of women and children, as well as some men who were doing their best to support their families. I gazed over the crowd and saw Melinda and her children and smiled as I put my hands behind my back and cleared my throat.: "My name is Faith Cyrilia. I now own this land. Before any of you begin to worry about your future here, please know that I will not kick any of you out. That is only if you are willing to work and make a fair wage. If you are willing to work for me, I will make sure you are rewarded. While it may take time I plan to better each and every one of your lives.

"But there is no free ride on this boat. If you wish to have a better life, you must work. I will not hesitate to kick anyone off my land for those who do not want to work or fake like they do want to work only to slack off in the end.

"Life is not easy. As a demi human I know this better than most of you. I have to work harder than everyone else and have to prove myself useful in order to become anything in this world. Some of you here can understand this just as much as I do. While life does have its ups and downs, yesterday, when I came to look at this land, I did not see a slum. I saw people working hard with what little they had.

"I saw children running around with smiles on their faces. I saw mothers doing what they could for those same children. Father's who slaved away to make a measly amount of copper to feed the mouths of their family.

"The rest of the east side slums are even worse than this. I have been there. I saw what life is like there. But I am no god and can only do so much for those around me. So I wish to offer you all jobs. For those who do not wish to work, I ask you to please leave. Because if I am forced to kick you out, it will be no different than how you saw the others get dragged away.

"I have a small goal. I do not know how long it will take, but I wish to help not only you all here today but many others in the future as I slowly expand my business and allow more and more of those in the slums decent paying jobs.

"While I am creating these businesses to make money, I am also doing it so that people like you can have a fair chance at life. So I ask once more, if you do not wish to work, please leave now. For those who wish to stay, I will need a bit of your magic to register with the magic barrier, I will be…."

"Faith! What are you doing!?" I heard a very annoying voice as I turned to see Prince Lance walking over with a group of knights following behind him.

I looked over at the neatly dressed Prince with a frown and asked: "That is the question I should be asking you, is it not Princes Lance?" inn𝘳e𝑎𝘥. co𝐦

"I heard you were doing something big, so I came to help out. But why are you here in the slums? I have a better lot of lan…." My anger flared as I stared at the stupid Prince in front of me.

"What am I doing!? I am doing your job! Look at the life these people are stuck living because you can not even do anything to make these people live better lives! Not everyone in the slums is a criminal! You waltz in here acting high and mighty, but even while standing here, you turn a blind eye and ask me what am I doing here!?" I do not understand it. The slums could easily be fixed, but even now, this prince wants to ignore it and give me land elsewhere? What was the point!?

I watched as Prince Lance's smile froze. He seemed to be at a loss for words. To be honest, I have no idea why he came running over here in the first place. This had nothing to do with him. Was he still trying to court me!? I already told him no!

"I…. Look, it is not that we wish to have a place like this in the capital. It is just hard to handle…." Hearing Prince Lance's sad excuse of an answer only made my temper flare more.

"Hard to handle!!? Are you sure you're fit to be crown prince!?" Silence…. I know I went overboard with my words just now, and even the knights behind the prince had drawn their swords, but I did not care. This stupid prince had no idea what it means to be a ruler who looks after his people. Yes, there might be hundreds of millions of people in this city alone, but so what!? They have a military that numbers in the tens of millions. How can they not have enough men to patrol the city!?

"You dare go against the crown!?" One of the guards yelled out at me, breaking the silence. My guards quickly got into formation in front of me. This also included Gesel and Fred. The tension in the air was so thick that it could be sliced with a knife.

I guess when the captain of the knights with Prince Lance saw his own members facing off against him, his anger seemed to rise quickly because his whole face turned red in anger. "You are all turning traitor!?"

"Stand down!" A firm commanding voice filled the air. I turned to look at a man with knights wearing pitch black armor surrounding him, walking over in what looked like royal robes. To my surprise, the people around me suddenly knelt on the ground with only me standing firmly. Of course, I would not kneel anyway, even if someone asked me to. Of course, that is only if it was not my mother commanding me. Her red bottom technique is still better than mine.

"We finally get to meet Faith Cyrilia." I already knew who this man was when I first saw him because I mean the crown kind of gives it away.

I bowed my head slightly as I gave a proper curtsey. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty."

"No need for the formalities. I was out on a tour of the city because I had heard of some bad things from a very reliable source. And when I came here, I find my son saying some unbelievable things." The man before me who had just finished speaking is King Gravos himself and Adel's father, as well as the idiot prince's father.

I did not say anything as the King stared down Prince Lance. It's not that I couldn't, but I wanted to see just how the prince would respond. I can say, however, is that the pressure from the knights surrounding the King was beyond anything I could have ever expected. Even I was feeling a bit of cold sweat build up on my back with them around.

"Lance, care to explain your words just now? What do you mean by the slums are hard to handle?" I also wanted to know the answer to this myself. So hearing the King ask this question, my ears perked up. I wonder how he would answer since he can not just give a half response when the King himself was asking the question.

"Your Majesty, it is not that…." Prince Lance seems to be hard up for words. Seeing him, sweat did make me feel good. And I kind of figured I already knew the answer to the reason why it was 'hard' for him to handle the slums.

I know I shouldn't be saying anything, but if this continues with the prince trying to stumble over his words, then we will never get anywhere, and I only wish to help the people in need and not suck up to some nobles, so I decided to add my two cents. "Most likely because his supporters need the slums to do their dirty dealings."-.

"Oh? Lance, is this true?" King Gravos's eyes narrowed as he looked at Prince Lance. I could even see beads of sweat rolling down the prince's face. I am sure the King had read the report about how Count Freedman had his own people in the slums. And I am sure he had things investigated thoroughly as well.

I watched as Prince Lance gritted his teeth and clenched his fists before a self defeating smile formed on his lips. "Yes….. But they told me they were not doing any serious crimes….."

"Are you an idiot!? Who in their right mind would believe such crap!?" I lost it. That answer threw the last bit of my restraint out the window. "Prince Lance, I will give you this. You love this kingdom to a point, but everything else you are an idiot about. Why would you believe the words of a noble without investigating anything!? For you to even know they have dirty dealings in the slums means that you must have talked about trying to fix things for the people here but gave in to the nobles who were trying to use you to hide their dealings, and you are letting them. You are basically doing all the work while they count the money. I am younger than you, and I can tell they are just using honeyed words because you are too naive!"

My chest heaved up and down. My cheeks were flushed. I was seriously pissed off right now. "Faith, relax. No need for you to get riled up over this. Lance, you are under house arrest for the time being. Head back to the castle. I will deal with you later."

"But father I…. I will see you later then." Prince Lance looked as if he wanted to say something, but it seemed he knew better not to. Especially with how his father was looking at him at this time.

"Faith, I am sorry. My son has caused you many headaches." Seeing King Gravos lower his head towards me made me feel a bit off.

"Please do not lower your head. You are the king of this kingdom…." I quickly stepped forward to help him stand up. The black knights around him did not stop me. I guess this was a form of acceptance? Or trust? It could also be that the King already said not to stop me if I were to approach him. Either way, at least they did not see me as an enemy.

"This is to show my sincerity. I asked you to the capital, and you have had to deal with many things. I have heard this is not the first time my son has caused you problems. And this is my own fault for not educating him properly on the ways of the world." King Gravos raised his head to look at me before stretching out his big hand and placing it on the top of my head. "My Daughter sings praises about you every time I see her. I must thank you for opening her heart from being surrounded by people who only wanted to take advantage of her and for showing her what a true friend really is. Seeing her truly smile has made the castle that much more brighter. i𝘯n𝚛𝑒α𝚍. C𝐨𝓶

"I should also thank you as well, Miss Sophie." The King turned to look at Sophie, who was trying to hide like a small animal behind Thurul, but with Thurul being a dwarf, it was kind of hard.

I chuckled and shook my head. "I apologize on her behalf, Your Majesty. Sophie is still not good with strangers. She takes a while to warm up to people."

"It's fine. It is only natural after everything she has gone through. Now that the things that need to be said are out of the way. I must ask you, Faith Cyrilia. What are your plans with slums? I would like to hear your thoughts." I guess the King was poking around longer than I had thought.

"Well, as you know, I am building a company to mass produce my pens. And when I came this way to save Sophie a while back, I saw how this place was and thought maybe I could change it. To be honest, it was Thurul, my business partner, that gave me the idea when he said he would hire some orphans to inspect pens. I figured with the factory since I need employees anyways, it would be easy to find hard workers near the slums. So with employee housing and a decent paying job, they could begin to lead better lives without worrying every day." I really did need to thank Thurul for this idea. If not, I would have been stuck on what to do about a lot of things. I had wanted to help the people here as well so this all worked out well.

"I see… This is quite a good idea. So you basically plan to keep expanding?" The King asked.

"Well, I will start with the pen factory. I also have a few other ideas as well. And if business is good, I can begin working on building more factories as well. Basically, we can turn the slums into an industrial park that gives its workers' employee housing. It will push out the scum that wish to commit crimes every day right out of the city, effectively cleaning up the slums. Of course, this will not happen overnight, but it will eventually work out." I had quite a few other ideas as well, but those would need more time and planning. For now, I can just work towards trying to give people jobs.

The King went silent as he began to ponder my words. He looked up and looked at the women and children standing before him with lowered heads. I am glad he did not look at them with disgust but pity instead. "I will finance it. The funds that should be going to this section of the city seemed to have been misappropriated. So those funds will now be given to you, Faith. From this day forward, the area known as the East Side Slums will be under your command. If you truly make this place into a place where people can live better lives by the time you graduate from the academy, then I will reward you well."

"And if I fail, Your Majesty?" I can see getting a reward, but I do not know what will happen if I fail.

"If you fail? You will just need to keep working harder at your goals. My Incentive is only to give you a reward if you can do things in a shorter amount of time, nothing more, nothing less." The King said with a smile, causing me to let out a sigh of relief.

All I know is that this funding will be very useful in the future. But there was one thing I did wish to ask. "Your Majesty, is there a way you can help me find someone who can inscribe runes for barriers? I would like to keep people out of the sections that are being reformed."

"I will leave one of my personal guards here. Each one is able to set up such barriers. They will also take care to make sure knights begin patrolling this side of the city once again. I will send someone tomorrow with the paperwork to sign over the east side slums to you. The original owners will have their rights revoked.

"Now, let's find a place to sit. I would like to hear all your plans and ideas that you have for this place in more detail."

Surprisingly the King sat down on the ground while one of his knights began setting up a campfire. His other knights all went and got lots of food and drinks and began cooking them over the fire and feeding the people who were all gathered around. King Gravos looked really relaxed as he listened to my ideas. "So besides pens, I was thinking about a few other things as well. For my own company, I was planning on a different kind of carriage that would not require horses. I will not go into full details since I myself don't know if it will work yet or not but let's just say it should reduce the time it takes to get between cities without an airship dock. As for progressing the lives of the people of the slums. I also had a few things I wanted to try to implement.

"First, I would need a kind of government official office established with people that understand the laws of the kingdom. From there, I would add in a health care clinic with reduced costs. Half the cost would need to be taken from the funds, but at least the people here would not be suffering if something happened. I was also thinking about implementing a school to teach kids how to read, write and do basic math. I am sure you heard from Adel about my idea for academies for the lower class." I stopped there to see what the King had to say about my current ideas.

"Yes, Adel did mention your idea, and I do have people working on it, actually. Your health care clinic seems like it would cost a lot to run, would it not, if you are doing things at a reduced cost?" The King made a good point. Health care was not cheap, but there was a thing called healing magic in this world as well.

"It depends. If I had a few healers here to heal people, the cost would not be too high. The main cost would be if they needed surgery of some kind or childbirth. If you do not have someone who is able to do such things, it can be a matter of life or death to give birth. These things can be charged at a reduced price." As I spoke, another idea came to mind, which I thought would be much better. "Or they can even pay off their debts by working at the clinic when they are better. And if they do not show up, they will need to pay a fine of the cost of what they owe plus a bit more." I had not thought of it until now. If the people who get reduced health care due to needing surgery or whatnot, they can commit to working at the clinic on a certain day. And if they don't show, they will be fined.-.

"Hmmm… This could work. And if the clinic does not need them, they can do other kinds of community service that will help the city as a whole. Of course, it would need to be spread out, so they are not disturbing their daily jobs, but as long as it is done, that will work out well…." I watched as King Gravos tapped his chin. He seemed to be pondering the idea over. "Let's do this. If this plan of yours works well here in the slums, I will also implement it within the city on a wider scale to see how it works. After a few years, if things are still going smoothly, I will expand the idea throughout the entire kingdom."

"Hmmm… Then… I will be issuing a proof of residence card that will be an ID that will need to be shown before they can use any of these facilities here in the slums. I do not wish for outsiders to suddenly show up and take advantage of these benefits while it is in the testing phase. This ID will be separate and can only be used for medical reasons. The card should have their magic signature imbued into it so no one else can use it as well." I did not want someone ruining the trial phase of the medical clinic pay system just because they wanted to come in and get some reduced health care and not do their part in the end.

"Yes, that is a good idea. I will be sure to do that as well when the citywide trial starts. Now you said you were going to open a school for just the basics for children?" The King asked.

While I wished I could go a step further and make it so they could learn some trade skills as well, just learning the basics was better than nothing. I do not expect to suddenly run into a bunch of highly qualified teachers to teach a bunch of different subjects, nor would I have the resources for such things. But a small school for the kids to go to to learn how to read, write, and do basic math would at least better their lives a bit. "It might not be the bigger goal I had in mind, but it is still better than nothing."

"That is true, and if things go smoothly, they will be able to enter the newer academies once I get things prepared." I glanced at the King and smiled. This man was someone who truly cared about his people. I can see it in his eyes as he looks around. How he could give birth to some idiot prince is beyond me. Speaking of the prince… 𝒾𝐧𝚗𝙧𝙚𝐚d. 𝗰o𝓶

"Your Majesty, there is something I would like to say. More than likely, Prince Lance will end up having someone try to take his life now that the slums are being taken over. Since they will think it was him, that spilled the beans. Especially if you start going after those nobles with connections to this place, and as the person who is taking over, they will probably try to pin it on me and probably Sophie as well." I had a strong feeling this was something that would most likely happen. I could not be one hundred percent sure, but nobles will be nobles. Instead of being ratted out, they would rather do a dirtier deed and then push the blame on someone else to cover it all up, so they do not lose their standings.

"This I am sure of as well. This is why I made sure some of my hidden guards followed him back to the castle. But let me ask you this, Faith. As someone who was able to handle three of the armies from the Norian Kingdom, how would you handle the situation?" I could see a gleam of scheming light in the King's eyes as he asked this question. I could only sigh inwardly.

This King had been testing me from the moment he showed up here. Why he was so set on testing me I do not know. But I also do not mind. If I can get more merits to raise my rank, I will be happy. It will help me in the future as my noble rank rises.

"If they were to pin the blame on me, then the answer is simple. Hide the prince and have him announced dead. Arrest me and bring me in for a grand trial. Stage fake evidence that starts to point to my innocence and begins to point towards some of the nobles and see who tries to act against me. Have your people watch all the nobles in the trial and see who acts strange. Follow them and try to find out what moves they are making. If someone tries to assassinate me, then let them come. I can always capture them and make them talk myself." My answer was pretty straightforward. Nobles will act hastily if they think they are in trouble which will cause at least a few to slip up. While we may not be able to get all of them, at least those who survived not being caught in the net would at least stay low profile for a while and not cause any trouble.

"Haha! Interesting. But…." The King laughed but quickly turned serious again. "What if they do not try to blame you or Sophie? Then what? What if they blame someone else, like Adel? Crown successions are always bloody, you know."

"If they tried to frame Adel? I would hunt every noble in the city down and make the talk until someone fesses up and rats everyone out. As for what happens after that, I am sure I would be on trial then." I was really trying to stay calm. But the thought of Adel being blamed angered me. I already promised Adel I would be on her side no matter what, so even if all evidence pointed to her, I would still stand on her side because I know Adel would never be able to kill her own family member unless she was in danger of being killed herself.

I watched as the King's expression turned to one of shock. I lowered my head and apologized. "Sorry, just the thought of someone trying to use Adel for such a thing angers me. She is a good girl who cares a lot for those around her, especially this kingdom."

"No, it is not that. I just find it amazing because I once asked Adel if you were being brought in for a trial on something, what would she do. And you know what she said?" The King asked.

I looked at him and shook my head. "No, what did she say?"

"She said she would burn every noble house down until you were proven innocent." The King smiled and reached out his big hand and placed it on my head. "You two were truly meant to meet in this life. I am glad you appeared in my daughter's life. To have a friend who would walk through the burning flames of hell for you is not something many people have the pleasure of having. To know you are just as protective of her as she is of you makes me feel at ease."

From the way the King was talking, it was almost as if he was about to marry his daughter off to me. To be honest, I would not even know how to answer him if he were to do something like that. It was not that I was trying to ignore the thing about Adel possibly liking me, it was more, that I did not wish to think about it. I mean, when I lived on Earth, I dreamt about the guys in the novels I read about, how they would one day sweep me off my feet and become my knightly prince in shining armor. I never once thought I would have my feet swept out from under me by a princess in shining armor.

Luckily he did not stick to that topic for too long. Instead, he began talking about different things and seeking my opinion on them. Some about taxes and things about reforms with nobles. Stuff I had no clue about. But when he got to talking about the military, he gained my full attention.?

��So tell me, from what you saw at the battle against the Norian army, what would you do to secure the borders more?�� The King asked. I am not sure what he was drinking, but his cheeks were slightly red now. I am starting to think he was getting drunk. As for me, I had fruit juice.?

��To secure the borders, huh? Well, even with the forts, the Norian army could still cross our border because there is no wall protecting it but to build a proper wall would require many earth mages who could lift the rocks from below out and fuse them together. But this last attack seemed more of a probing attack, so if you truly wish to secure the border between the two nations, you should move more troops. I myself have family there, as you know. So I am always worried about that section of the border.�� I couldn��t help but worry that the Norian Kingdom would send more troops at some point in the future.?-.

��Faith, you look down on your father.�� The King��s words surprised me.

��You know my father?�� I couldn��t help but ask because this was all news to me!

��Know him!? He almost stole my wife!��The king yelled, causing my jaw to drop to the ground. What was my father doing in the past!??

��If not for your mother coming and beating him up, he would have had two wives and many more kids than he has now! The two of us even got into a fight, and he beat me good.. Hahahaha! I swear, your family��s bloodline is crazy strong. That is why I took such interest in you once I heard you inherited strength that went beyond his.�� The king sighed as he looked at me before jumping to another topic. ��I need to apologize for one more thing. I am sure you already know since Adel will not hide anything from you, but I did intend to tie you to this kingdom by marriage to one of my sons. Adel yelled at me and got so angry she refused to talk to me for quite a few days. It was as if I was trying to marry off her lover. But now, talking with you and listening to all the goals that you have planned, I can tell you are part of this kingdom and that you would not abandon it.��

��Your Majesty, as long as demi humans like myself are allowed to live free with the same rights as everyone else in this kingdom. I will always do what I can for this kingdom. I wouldn��t be going to the academy to work my way up through the ranks to become a commander if I did not wish to stay here. I see this kingdom as my home and will not abandon it as long as the kingdom does not abandon me.��? I answered honestly. These were my true feelings. While the kingdom is not perfect, it still has many things I am glad about. It is now my home, and I will defend my homeland with my life if need be. Although, I do not think my life will ever be in trouble with my mana shield and alla�|.

��I like your honesty. As I grow older, I worry about this kingdom��s future. The current crown prince is too weak minded, while my other sons seem to have no interest in anything. Only Adel is working hard every day for this kingdom and is more active in the kingdom��s affairs than the crown prince himself. I would make her the next heir if not for the fact that she said she did not want it.�� The King sighed. I could see he was left in a dilemma.?

��Your Majesty, if I may ask a personal question.�� After hearing him speak just now, I had a question rolling around in my mind.

��You are free to speak to me as you wish. As someone who is willing to do a lot for this kingdom without even being asked, you are free to speak freely with me.�� He was basically placing me on the same level as him. While this would make things easier for me when talking, it still felt strange. I wonder just how drunk he was right now.

��Thena�| Your Majesty, if Adel, and this is a big if, one day said she wished to take the throne. Would you let her?�� I asked. I keep getting this feeling that Prince Lance was not his first choice to be heir to the throne.

��Yes. I would.�� No hesitation in his answer, but after a brief pause, he continued: ��But not now. She is still young and has yet to undergo her studies at the academy.��

��I see. What would you do? Let��s say you gave Prince Lance the throne, but he became a tyrant, and Adel was forced to lead a rebellion?�� I know this question was far out there, but I wonder what he would do in such a situation. A man who has been ruling his kingdom for years, born and raised to rule, must have some kind of insight in case a situation ever happens.

��That is a strange question, but if it were to come down to it, I guess I would try to beg for my son��s life to be at least spared. I may be king, but I am also a father. I love all my children. I would rather see my child spend a life in prison than be killed in cold blood. I know it would be asking a lot, especially if his crimes were so severe that a pardon was out of the question. But I would still ask. Plus, if that were to ever come to happen, I already know he would lose since you would be by my daughter��s side.�� The King paused before staring at me with a serious expression. ��Now, what would you do if Adel was the Tyrant?��

��As she is my first friend and someone I care deeply about, I would stop her with everything I have. If she can not be saved, then my blade would need to be stained in her blood. I know this may sound like treason, but for the safety of the kingdom, one must do what is necessary, especially when the one who is causing such crimes is your closest friend. But do not get me wrong, I would not kill her. I would only do what I need to subdue her, then take her away from this kingdom where she can spend her days trying to reflect on the things she has done.�� I hoped such a thing would never happen. But I would do what I can.

��I seea�| You would strike her down without killing hera�|. But then what. Leave the kingdom without a ruler?�� The King raised his eyebrows as he looked at me and took a sip of her drink.

��I am not sure. Depending on the stances of the people, I guess we would elect a new ruler to take over the position of King.�� I really did not think about the aftermath of what to do if Adel was forcefully removed or if she did become a tyrant. I couldn��t help but scrunch my nose at this as I really did not know how to answer him. 𝗶𝙣𝗻𝚛eα𝑑. 𝒸𝗼𝑚

��Do not think too hard on it. Wouldn��t the perfect ruler be right under your nose?�� The King gave me a strange smile. But I still did not understand what he was talking about. He let out a laugh as he said: ��Look into your cup. What do you see?��

I absentmindedly looked down and looked at my reflection before it suddenly hit me like a sack of potatoes. I became flustered and quickly shook my head. ��No! No! I would not be a good ruler. If anything, I would be a bad choice.��

��Haha! This is hard to believe. You never know what time will tell. One day your words could be just a story you made up but then the next day comes and it has all become reality. Remember one thing. All things start from a story. An idea that gave birth to actual fact. This is just how life is. Never forget this. And always keep charging forward and always trust your instincts.��

At the end of the day, the King was taken back after he passed out. While some would say it is not good for a ruler to be seen in such a manner, but after he danced and laughed with those people of the slums, he had shown the people here that he was no different from them. He was still a person just like them.

And now it was me sitting with Thurul and Sophie as well as a female night dressed in heavy black armor. I really do want to know where she gets that strength as her body was very petite. Although I guess I did not need to wait long to find out. "Ahh, that is much better." 𝙞n𝐧𝚛e𝚊𝑑. 𝗰o𝐦

The female knight took off her helmet, and to my surprise, the person wearing all that heavy armor was someone I knew very well. "Sei!"?

"The one and only! Sorry I had to lie to you this entire time, but you know how things are. His Majesty wanted to make sure you were properly protected, so I was working undercover. But now, I have been officially assigned to you as your personal guard. This means I will also be joining you at the academy as well." Sei said with a smile. I mean, yes, she looked young. Actually, she looked much younger than she did when I first saw her!

"Wait, Sei…. May I ask because I am not sure if I was seeing things or not but were you not older than you look now?" I feel like I am being really rude here, but I really do think I am going slightly crazy!-.

"Hahaha! It's because of my bloodline. I have the ability to change my appearance from older to younger and back. So I can look as young as you or even younger." Sei replied with a smile while at the same time changing her age to match mine perfectly.

"That is quite unique. So does this make you immortal?" I was curious. Because if Sei could change her age to be as young as she wanted, couldn't she continue to do so?

"Hmmm, I am not sure, to be honest. I am currently only in my twenties, believe it or not. I was an orphan, so I do not know who my family was. But the researchers in the palace say my bloodline is very special. And is also why I was able to become a black knight and server at His Majesty's side." I see, so Sei does not know what her actual bloodline is, but it does seem to be pretty handy.

"Then I guess we will be together for quite some time then. And I guess this is why there was a barrier around that room?" I asked. Sei really knew how to work the barriers at the royal suite. Even if she was an 'employee' there, she acted without much caution. Now I know her words were not truthful and that the King said he would leave someone to take care of my barrier issues. My guess was that Sei was said barrier expert.

"Ahaha…. Sorry. Yeah, I did lie quite a bit, but you have to understand this was all because of my job and that I was under orders by his Majesty." Sei scratched her head as she spoke.

I really can't blame her. I mean, after all, she was supposed to be undercover. "It's fine, don't worry. But now that you will be sticking to my side do you plan to stay with me at the inn?"

"Actually, your permanent residence has already been taken care of. You can move in at any time. His Majesty was supposed to bring it up, but instead, he got drunk…. But in a way, this was good for him to let loose. He has been stressed as of late. But I do expect you to be seeing quite a bit of him. I have never seen His Majesty sit back and talk with someone in such a relaxed manner. As he is a king, you know he needs to always be wary of those around him, but with you, he talks as if you were his own daughter." Sei did make a good point about the King. He really was talking to me about things without much care. Did he really have such trust in me?

My own question actually made me wonder why he would trust me so. Unless it is because I have a spirit with me, so I can be considered someone without evil intentions.

"Don't think too hard about it. His Majesty is a person who can see a person's character for what it is. But what shocked me was what he said in the end. To think he would recommend you to take over the kingdom if everything went south." Sei did not speak her words out loud. Just loud enough for myself, Thurul, and Sophie to answer.

"Not that I would want to become something like a ruler." I said with a forced smile.

"I do not know, lass. You're truly capable of moving people. You have a good head and a kind heart that cares for those around you. You have the charisma that draws people to you. These are all qualities of a good leader. Just do not go try staging a coupe any time soon. Ahahaha!" Thurul let out a joy filled laugh as he took another swig of whatever he was drinking. But I do know he was drunk. With a big smile on his face, he looked at me and said: "But if you do let me know, I will get my kinsman to help…. Urk…. I think I might be sick. I will be right back."

Sei giggled as he watched Thurul run to a bush off to the side. "He is an interesting person. All the people around you are quite interesting. So when do you plan to move to the new residence?"

"After the tournament. It will be over a few days before the exams to enter the academy. Just enough time to finish up a few things here and settle into the new place." I answered. I already planned out things since I knew I would be moving at some point soon. So having the house ready now was a good thing.

"Tournament, huh? Maybe I will join." Sei scratched her chin. "It has been a while since I actually faced off against the capital's best. Gesel should also be there as well."

"You know Gesel? She was here earlier but ran off as soon as the King arrived." I was kind of irked about that. She ran off without saying goodbye!

"Ahh, yeah, she would. You see, Gesel has never beaten me in a fight, and I always look for her to test how far along she has come, so she likes to avoid me as much as possible. You must know how competitive she gets." Sei explained, causing me to smile. I did know Gesel disliked losing.

"Yes, I do. But now, I am not so sure I can make it to the finals. With Gesel, I may have had a chance to win, but if you are joining and can beat Gesel, then I might be sadly out of luck." I let out a sigh. The tournament is not going to be an easy win.

"No, there is one more who will be showing up as well. Derek Tandor. He is an ex-black knight and just recently retired this year. I heard he wanted to test out the best the kingdom had to offer in the tournament now that he had some free time." Sei's words gave me a headache. Things were getting harder by the second!

Just the thought of having to face not one but three powerful enemies was going to be a pain. I mean if Sei is on par with Gesel and Gesel is strong enough to fight me equally, then I might be in a bit of trouble. I could use mana shield and breeze through it all, but I am not sure if that is wise at this time. While Sei and Gesel posed a problem, I now had some old man joining that was even more experienced in battle than the others.

"Don't feel too dejected. You may still win. The barriers will be extra strong this year, so you will be able to cast high tier spells." Sei's words did give me a bit of hope, but I still was feeling slightly unsure about a perfect victory.

"I will just have to wait and see. Let's put the barrier up in the morning. I will cast one now to protect everyone for one night. Sei, I hope you do not mind sleeping outdoors tonight." I did not plan to head home, not when it was this late, and I, for one, was not afraid of being attacked by anyone.

"Nope, this is fine. I trust you to secure our defenses." Sei replied while slipping the rest of her armor off. She then pulled an already pre built tent out of her bag and set it up. I am guessing the bag was similar to Adel's room in her carriage. "Us girls can sleep in here tonight. As for your friend Thurul, well, he will need to fend for himself."

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Chapter 7: 101-110

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