"Can you tell me your names?"
When this sentence came from the princess-like girl in front of them, not only Yukina, but even Rozen had an impulse to respond to her reflexively.
That extremely natural and seemingly inevitable tone of voice really had a power that made it impossible for people to refuse, to the point that the thought of refusal couldn't even arise.
Presumably, this was also why the owner of the ice cream stall couldn't refuse the request of the princess in front of him and obediently complied, right?
"I..."
Yukina appeared somewhat confused, about to report her name on the spot.
However, before that...
"You are from Aldegyr, aren't you?"
Rozen suddenly interjected, interrupting Yukina's action.
"Aldegyr?"
Yukina was slightly surprised, looking at the silver-haired woman in front of her.
— Aldegyr.
It was a small country in Northern Europe, facing the Baltic Sea, known for its natural beauty and high industrial capacity. Due to its remote location and distant relations with Japan, it was renowned as a magical country in the world.
In this country, the magical industries far surpassed those of some major countries, and even the Three Nights Empires couldn't compare. Its magical technology was outstanding, even causing sensations globally, with several technologies making waves worldwide, making Aldegyr, despite being a small country, impossible to ignore by major powers, with an international status much higher than anyone would imagine.
So, if one were to underestimate Aldegyr because it was a small country, even the foremost countries in the world would suffer.
Evidence of this was Aldegyr's proximity to the Warlord Dominion, with a portion of its borders adjacent to the Warlord Dominion, leading to several significant conflicts and even wars between them.
As a result, in the face of the Warlord Dominion's aggression, Aldegyr, with its superior magical technology, managed to repel the army of this empire, and its internal knight orders were extremely experienced in dealing with demons, being praised as the world's top anti-demon forces, extremely famous.
Incidentally, the part of Aldegyr's territory adjacent to the Warlord Dominion belonged to the Ardeal principality.
That is to say, Aldegyr and Ardeal were international enemies, even the lord, Dimitrie Vatler, could do nothing about this country.
Thus, the strength of Aldegyr's national power and magical technology was evident.
The silver-haired woman in front of them hailed from there.
"Oh my, can you tell?"
The silver-haired woman also looked somewhat curious, seemingly not expecting to be instantly seen through.
However, Rozen wanted to say.
"Because, on the ceremonial uniform you're wearing, there's the emblem of Aldegyr."
Rozen pointed to the woman's chest.
There, there was an emblem of a Valkyrie holding a greatsword.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the emblem of Aldegyr, and it's also the symbol of the royal family."
Rozen also looked at the woman.
In Aldegyr, the most famous were not only the magical technologies, but also the qualifications of the people who ruled the country's royal family.
It was said that every woman born into the royal family of Aldegyr was without exception the most top-notch, most powerful spirit medium.
That is, the women of Aldegyr's royal family were all the top-notch, most excellent witches.
Their qualities were even enough to allow them to be possessed by spirits.
Even compared to Nagisa, who was a mixed-ability individual with extremely excellent medium qualities, they were weaker.
And among them, there was a particularly famous woman in the contemporary Aldegyr royal family.
She was a combination of nobility, gentleness, and intelligence, not yet twenty years old, but she had already demonstrated numerous diplomatic skills in international affairs, causing foreign countries to fear and be deeply loved by domestic people, like an exemplary princess.
She was known as the reincarnation of the goddess Freya, and her beauty was even enough to represent the country, becoming a symbol of the Nordic countries.
She was the first princess of Aldegyr, the first heir to the throne, and the future queen.
"La Folia Rihavein."
Rozen smiled and asserted.
"I presume you are the princess of Aldegyr, aren't you?"
With this statement...
"What...!?"
Yukina gasped.
Not only Yukina, but even the surrounding pedestrians stared wide-eyed, staring stiffly at the silver-haired girl.
"Princess...?"
"She's a princess...?"
"From Aldegyr...?"
"Come to think of it, I think I've seen her on TV...?"
"Is this some kind of joke...?"
The surrounding pedestrians all began to clamor.
On the contrary, the person in question, as if completely indifferent to the opinions of others, looked at Rozen with interest.
"You're quite something too."
Saying so, the princess named La Folia glanced meaningfully behind Rozen and smiled.
"I've had a faint feeling since earlier, but I didn't expect you to be carrying something so interesting."
These words made Rozen squint slightly.
"I see." Rozen shrugged. "So you can see it?"
"Of course." La Folia nodded, still smiling. "After all, I'm an spirit summoner."
The so-called spirit(seirei), in this world, referred to energy beings that existed in higher-dimensional space.
They, like the beast vassals from another world, were aggregates of power, with beast vassals being aggregates of magic power and spirits being aggregates of spiritual power, with very similar natures.
Of course, although their natures were similar, their characteristics were different.
Unlike beast vassals, which could reside in blood as long as life force was provided, and be summoned and commanded, spirits could only be successfully summoned by individuals with qualified abilities, and once summoned, they would disintegrate and perish within a short period of time.
Therefore, only high-ranking mages or apostles could use them as mediums for magic and jujutsu.
If one wanted to stably summon and command spirits, it was said that a giant spirit furnace, which could only be carried by warships, was needed as a carrier, and it was not a power that could be used by individuals alone.
There was only one very rare exception.
That is the spirit summoner.
This type of summoner could summon spirit within their own bodies and manipulate their spiritual power as they pleased.
Naturally, to achieve this, one must have extremely high spirit compatibility, and only a qualified spirit medium could accomplish it.
And the women of the Aldegyr royal family were the highest level of spirit mediums, capable of even allowing gods to possess them. Summoning spirit within their own bodies was naturally an effortless task.
Therefore, the women of the Aldegyr royal family were basically extremely outstanding spirit summoners, able to freely manipulate the spiritual power brought by high-level spirits.
With this, La Folia seemed to have noticed.
She noticed the presence following Rozen.
Throughout, Rozen has various guardians by his side.
For instance, Hokuto, as Rozen's shikigami, always remained in spiritual form by Rozen's side, protecting him. When Rozen encountered danger or called for it, Hokuto would appear to fight for Rozen. This was the role of servant-type and guardian-type shikigami.
For example, Kinu, symbolizing the sun, hovered around Rozen, always vigilant for danger and ready to lend its power whenever Rozen called for it. However, Rozen didn't wear Kinu's coat because it would attract too much attention while living on Itogami Island.
Rozen was protected by such beings.
However, both Hokuto and Kinu have relinquished their roles.
Hokuto formed an absolute contract with Rozen and, after transforming purely into a record engraved in Rozen's soul, Rozen no longer allowed it to protect him. It no longer remained in spiritual form by Rozen's side as before.
Kinu had long formed an absolute contract with Rozen. Because, without Rozen's usual magical power, it was not easy to summon it again after canceling its summoning. Rozen only allowed it to hover around him, calling upon it when necessary, but now even that was discontinued.
These two shikigami now exist within Rozen in a different form.
Given this, Rozen's only guardian now is one person.
Like Hokuto before, she silently follows Rozen in spiritual form, never appearing or speaking unless Rozen calls her or when needed in battle, materializing only then.
La Folia, an exceptionally skilled spirit summoner, noticed her presence. With keen blue eyes fixed on a spot behind Rozen, La Folia's expression was full of curiosity.
Whether it was La Folia's gaze that displeased her, a subtle, ominous aura emanated from her, causing La Folia's expression to change slightly.
"...It seems she doesn't like being observed by me like this."
La Folia fell silent for a moment, then quickly withdrew her gaze, speaking nonchalantly.
"It seems so. She's unexpectedly shy. I hope you'll understand."
Rozen acted as if he hadn't noticed anything, sounding extremely casual.
It was only at this point that Yukina reacted.
Yukina naturally didn't know what Rozen and La Folia were talking about.
Although Yukina, as a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, was also a highly skilled spirit medium, she still couldn't perceive her presence when Rozen's guardians didn't emit her aura.
Now, due to the subtle release of an ominous aura, Yukina seemed to have sensed something.
But seeing the expressions of both Rozen and La Folia, Yukina tactfully refrained from asking further.
It's not that Yukina didn't care.
After all, Rozen was Yukina's subject of surveillance, and if there was anything unusual around him, Yukina needed to report it to the Lion King Agency.
However, compared to that, the problem now was La Folia's appearance here.
The clamor of the surrounding pedestrians became louder and even showed signs of getting out of control.
It would be strange if the sudden appearance of a foreign princess in the shopping center's mall didn't cause a sensation.
Yukina thought to herself, "This is not good."
"In... In any case, let's leave this place first!"
Yukina hurriedly advised.
Rozen and La Folia then noticed their surroundings.
"Indeed, we can't stay here any longer." La Folia said with some regret and unfulfilled enthusiasm. "There's no other way. We'll have to save the shopping fun for next time. Can you please take us to a quiet place now?"
This request was a boon for Rozen.
"Then let's leave first."
With that, Rozen snapped his fingers.
"Hum!"
The next moment, ripples appeared in space, swallowing Rozen, Yukina, and La Folia, causing them to disappear on the spot, leaving the area.
"Gone...?"
"Was that magic?"
"She truly lives up to her title as the princess of that magical kingdom."
"If only we had taken a photo just now."
The surrounding pedestrians were all first stunned, then seemed to understand something, and began to discuss with some regret.
Luckily, this is the Demon Sanctuary, so even if residents witness inexplicable phenomena, they are accustomed to it.
Otherwise, Rozen wouldn't have directly used Space Manipulation Magic in such a public place.
As a result, news quickly spread of the arrival of the princess of Aldegyr to Itogami Island, who appeared alone in the Teddy's shopping center.
Later, a group of knights dressed similarly to La Folia rushed in, conducting a thorough search of the area but found nothing.
"The princess is gone!"
"Where could she have gone?"
"We must find the princess quickly!"
"Hurry up! Keep searching! Keep looking!"
The knights shouted in urgency, then dispersed again, continuing their relentless search.
This scene unfolded in various corners of Itogami City.
However, the princess in question had already been taken away by Rozen. Even if the knights searched again, it would be futile.
...
A distance away from the Teddy's shopping center, there was a seaside park.
"Hum!"
With a tremor, space suddenly fluctuated, and three figures appeared.
"Alright, this place should be secluded for the time being."
Rozen spoke up.
"At this time, there aren't many people in the seaside park, especially considering the hot weather."
Yukina glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief.
Only La Folia's eyes suddenly lit up with wonder.
"Space Manipulation Magic?"
La Folia once again turned her gaze to Rozen, her expression seemingly changing slightly.
"A mage who can effortlessly use Space Manipulation Magic like this is rare even in Aldegyr. Even if we search the world over, there's only one person who can do this kind of thing."
Who is it?
"The Witch of the Void—Minamiya Natsuki."
La Folia spoke confidently.
"Among the people I know, only this demon killer can accomplish such feats."
And at the mention of this witch, anyone would immediately think of one person.
A figure recently known worldwide, within the industry.
"The Divine Child of Origin—Minamiya Nichiyo."
La Folia's eyes glistened with unprecedented enthusiasm as she looked at Rozen.
"You're the younger brother of the Witch of the Void, aren't you?"
La Folia finally recognized Rozen's identity.
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