"Sir, were you born in the Empire?" asked the princess before he left.
Fausto shook his head and replied:
"Miss, I am a citizen of the kingdom of Lersant."
The kingdom of Lersant was a kingdom made up of several islands where comrcial activities took place. It had been part of the Argaris Empire several centuries earlier.
"No wonder he didn’t recognize ," thought Alice Venrac.
"Mr. Johanest, could you sell us the core of the monster you hunted?" asked Saint Selia.
Fausto looked at the pendant on the saint’s necklace.
"It would be an honor to support the cause of the saint and the hero. That is why I only hope to receive fifty percent of the value, no more. You can send the money to the Johanest company in the kingdom of Lersant," Fausto took two cores of "Crowned Toad," a beast that was above the rank of "General Toad," from a storage bracelet.
"There are two!" The princess was a little surprised.
Fausto smiled subtly and said:
"I’ve been in the Great Mountain Range for a while."
The paladin took the cores, and after the exchange, Fausto said his goodbyes politely.
The mont Fausto turned his back, Princess Alice said to him:
"Sir, you must be very careful. Avoid the empire’s borders with the smaller kingdoms. There is conflict, and demons have appeared."
"Miss, thank you for the information," Fausto continued walking and muttered under his breath, but loud enough for the princess to hear:
"Despicable demons."
Princess Alice, who found the knight Fausto rather charming, watched him until he disappeared into the distance.
Saint Selia took both "cores," examined them, and found no traces of demonic energy or any magic spell.
"You can try to absorb the energy from the cores," Saint Selia told Arian.
"Arian, ditate. We will stand guard and leave when you have completed the assimilation of the energy," Princess Alice said.
The Golden Paladin turned his gaze toward the area where the stranger had gone and sensed that he was already quite far away. Then he looked at Arian and agreed to follow the princess’s request, but he also used a magical communication device to report on the delay they would have in returning and the reason for it.
While Adrian ditated, protected by his companions and the Golden Paladin,
phistopheles watched from the top of a tree, his attention no longer focused on the hero, but on the emperor’s beautiful archer daughter.
She also had protection that would surely be activated if he tried anything, but in war, every opportunity is golden, and every missed opportunity cos at a high price.
The Golden Paladin, who despite how polite Fausto seed to him, could not help but doubt him and had reported what had happened, which ant that more Paladins would be sent to protect the beautiful princess.
An Emperor who refused to save his niece to avoid risks that could affect the Empire by starting a sudden war. I imagine he was praised by many for his choice as Emperor. But, as always, it is impossible for all humans to agree. I imagine there were so who quietly considered that the Emperor had committed a fault against the honor of the imperial lineage. In the end, these are only possibilities, and there must be many more. But if your daughter were kidnapped, what decision would you make, Emperor? You would have the entire empire judging your previous actions.", phistopheles thought.
A few days later, after the princess said goodbye to Arian and his two companions, she and the Golden Paladin arrived at the foot of the Great Mountain Range, where two more Golden Paladins were waiting for her, a man and a woman, wearing silver and gold armor over their white robes, white capes with a sun on them, and golden masks on their faces.
"Two more Paladins in the Seventh Spiritual Core. It’s obvious why the Empire has grown stronger; they have a greater number of soldiers at the highest levels of power," thought phistopheles.
Night had fallen, and Princess Alice Venrac was traveling inside a comfortable carriage. Outside, the three Paladins and the coachman were protecting the carriage, watching the surroundings ticulously without stopping their journey back to the imperial capital.
....
She held a bow that she had created with pure magical energy, which had taken on a pink color. At that mont, the carriage doors opened, and she shuddered when she saw a demon enter, dressed in elegant, colorful clothes in shades of green, blue, and white, covered in jewels and gold. The demon, with black spiral horns, white skin, and eyes as dark as eternal darkness, looked at the princess.
The beautiful princess looked outside and saw no sign of the Paladins.
"You..." She didn’t know what else to say. With a fourth circle of mana in the "advanced stage," she knew she was no match for the demon who had been able to defeat three paladins.
phistopheles sat down and observed the magical energy around the princess, confirming that she did not have any magical tracking devices, but she did.
"You’re the princess, right?" He didn’t need to confirm it; she looked just like the beautiful young woman who had been raped and tortured by the Demon Count Gongor Yerar.
"You... you killed them," she said with a trembling voice and a tear on her cheek as she pointed her bow at phistopheles.
"Hehehe. You’re very brave, aren’t you? Not everyone would point a weapon at ." phistopheles was analyzing the nature of the magical tracking device to prepare for any dangerous situation he might face.
In the end, he realized that if he took the artifact from the princess, it would also activate a magical protective device that would most likely attract the Emperor’s attention.
phistopheles crossed his legs and stared at the princess as he said,
"I ca to kidnap you."
She felt her heart beating so fast it could burst.
"Hehehe. But it seems I can’t help attracting unwanted attention. If you give a lock of your hair, I’ll leave."
She, who had been among the best students at the Alexandrian Academy, rembered that there were demons known for manipulating a very ominous art with which they cursed their enemies.
"I... I can’t do that... that, that... would be treason," she said, still pointing her bow at phistopheles.
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