A week passed as we lived in the village for a while. The village chief insisted that we stay here until we have enough money to go to the kingdom. The entrance fee for foreigners is apparently ten silver.

The house of the village chief was surprisingly modest inside despite the horrible exterior and it’s also very spacious.

“Ugh… again?”

I looked under the blanket and saw Arielle’s foot resting on my stomach. For a girl she sleeps really sloppy. Don’t even get me started on her snoring. It’s like hearing a mosquito sing a solo.

Just like usual, Charlotte’s side of the bed was already made up. As expected of royalty, she’s very diligent. For the past few days she’s been helping miss Mili with the cooking and cleaning.

She said that as a non-combatant, her only skills include doing chores, economics, business and planning strategic battles. I’m surprised that at her age, she can already do that stuff.

“Ah, Clyde-sama. Good morning.”

Charlotte was wearing an apron when I came into the kitchen. She was busy cleaning off the fat and guts of an animal I caught yesterday.

“As usual. You’re always busy, your highness.”

“Arielle is already helping with the guards while Clyde-sama is procuring our funds. It’s natural that I should contribute as well.”

Who would’ve thought a princess would be cleaning the carcass of an animal.

“Please sit. I’ll bring your breakfast in a while.”

“Alright.”

I noticed the bags under Charlotte’s eyes. It’s not good for her growth to stay up so late at night. Although she looks fine on the outside, I’ve heard her cry during the nights we’ve been here. She always calls out to her mother.

‘Come to think of it, the queen is currently bedridden because of an illness.’

She must be worried sick of her mother being surrounded by all her siblings. Charlotte is an only child of her mother , the official queen while her other siblings are children of the other concubines.

“We’ll get back home, Your Highness. I promise to get you back safe.”

I couldn’t see her face since her back was facing me but I saw her shoulders tremble while her head is down.

I only heard a single quiet sob from her.

◇

“Ara? Good morning, children.”

An elderly elf greeted us as she entered her residence. It was always depicted in fiction that elves are beautiful creatures even in old age. That is especially true for this village chief. Although she has wrinkles, it only heightens the beauty of her mature face.

Her name is Mili and she is the only survivor of the Eastern continent’s Mountain Elves.

“Miss Mili, good morning.”

Charlotte bowed curtly.

“You don’t need to be so formal. And another thing, it really saddens me that my guests have to work so hard. Let me help.”

They then continued cleaning the animal carcass.

“So what do you plan to do once you arrive in Habsburg?”

The elderly elf glanced at me.

“I wanted to find a way to go back home. Maybe a mage from the kingdom could help.”

“Hmm… indeed. By the looks of your unique faces, you’d probably be from the western continent. Travelling with a carriage will take years to cross the two borders.”

I sighed. I can’t help but curse the gods that let this happen. They already don’t answer my prayers about why I was born into this world. Future me isn’t any help at all. He only spoke in riddles and roundabout ways.

“Going by sea is also not a good idea.”

“Why is that?” Charlotte asked from beside her.

“Pirates. Ships that plan to take long routes ought to have a lot of supplies. In short, you’d be easy pickings regardless of who you are. Although going by flight will be the best option.”

“Does the kingdom have such creatures?”

“No. The only people that have flying creatures are the Dragon Knights. Although their name should be Wyvern Knights. Because dragons are quite rare–“

“MADAM MILI!!”

Just when she was about to continue talking, a roar came from the door. I looked and saw a giant man easily topping 2 meters in height. He is the captain of the village guards.

“Yes Flin, what is it?”

Her voice was icy cold compared to how she gently spoke to us.

“The girls that were assigned to selling our village tailor’s designs to the town are missing!”

Her eyes opened wide.

“What? H-How many?”

“A-About six suddenly went missing, madam. I shamed my duty as the captain…” His face scrunched up, “But we did find a clue…”

“Tell me.” Mili obaa-chan already had her wand ready.

She is also a mage. She was one of the court mages of Habsburg 100 years ago before retiring to live out in the countryside. A few days ago I saw her obliterate a Golem with a single wind spell.

“We found this…” He took out something resembling a flag. It had an owl on it.

“The Night Bandits… We must hurry! They will sell the girls if we aren’t fast enough.”

She was about to head out the door but looked at us first.

“You kids, stay here–“

“Wait!” I hurriedly grabbed my staff and put on my robe, “I’ll go with you.”

“Clyde-sama, they will be enough–“ Charlotte grabbed my arm.

“Haa, alright. I heard from your friend, Arielle-chan that you are a mage. There might be a need for another mage so come on.” But then Mili agreed.

I turned and saw Charlotte’s scrunched up face. It looked so scary that I hurriedly turned away.

“Tell Arielle where we’re going.”

“One of the other female guards will will stay with the two of you so don’t worry.”

Charlotte remained silent even after we closed the door.

‘What’s up with her?’

..

Miss Mili had ten of the village’s most strongest fighters come with us. Of course, us mages were in the centre of their formation. Mages need to have cover for when they cast spells. The vanguards immobilize the enemy or slow their movement while the mage blasts their spells.

This tactic is used for mana efficacy. Although I don’t have to worry about that since my mana pool is immense even if the other half of my near bottomless mana is still not fully unsealed. It’ll be bad if I take on too many strong enemies though. My attack power is still my weakness. That’s why I joined the academy.

Although I heard an interesting piece of information from Undine.

Human Spirit Mages has never been born in this part of the world since the mountains elves were the only spirit mages 200 years ago. That means that I have more leeway now to practice on my untamed spirit magic. I’ll be needing Undine’s help though.

We walked through the deep snow after a scout confirmed one of the bandit group’s bases. Mili was busy buffing up the warriors of our party while I remain as the main attacker. It’s really a relief that they aren’t underestimating me just because I’m a 13 year old kid.

Mili seems to have an eye when it comes to judging competent people.