The fat noble wearing an extravagant white suit was busy eating a whole pork.

He licked his pudgy fingers that were covered in sauce and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

The maids in the corner swiftly took all his plates and left the huge office.

About twenty knights were inside the office which is similar in size to a classroom at the academy. Just from the aura they’re releasing, it’s fairly certain that they are his most trusted knights.

All the knights present here are Count Steinburg’s most promising and strongest guards. He had to take extra precautions since there are some parasite monsters that can even turn a normal human into a savage monster.

The fat nobleman stood up and looked Charlotte up and down. No matter how he looks at her, she is but a frail pretty girl . Judging by her soft looking hands and milky white skin, she might never even held a sword in her hand before.

But she is drop dead gorgeous. Being a noble, he can order any woman in this city to become his woman if he just throws money at them. That method has always worked.

“Please do not look at her with such vulgar eyes.”

The boy behind her frowned when he noticed the noble eyeing Charlotte’s body.

‘Is this guy a lolicon? Well that doesn’t apply in this world but still.’

Count Steinburg chuckled and waved his hands to his knights that raised their swords. The boy dared to speak out of line when he is but a guest in this castle.

‘Hm~ I wonder how she tastes…’

“Can we get to the point now?”

Despite his vulgar behaviour, Charlotte seemed unfazed. Clicking his tongue, Count Steinburg sat up straight on his seat.

He wore a business-like smile.

“When are reinforcements coming along? We must make haste if–“

“There are none.”

“Hm? What did you say? You’re saying this kid and the others downstairs are the warriors you mentioned?”

The noble exclaimed in bewilderment.

Charlotte then nodded.

“……”

A brief moment of silence descended. The knights and their lord started laughing loudly but then.

“Listen little girl, this is no time for jokes. Do you want me to throw you outside of my castle walls to be eaten by monsters?”

Charlotte gritted her teeth. Speaking with a noble without her title of a princess is meaningless. They can’t declare with temerity that they’d be able to stop the disaster as they are still children.

“My knight.”

Charlotte calls Clyde only with “sama” when they are alone. When he is performing his official duties then she refers to him as her knight.

“Yes, milady.”

He was standing behind her the entire time. After arriving at her front he bowed towards her.

“Show them why they shouldn’t underestimate us.”

Charlotte had a cold smile on her face.

Clyde then nodded.

WHOOOOSH

Suddenly a cold breeze came from his body.

The windows were tightly shut yet it was so cold that everyone shivered. Even a short breath cannot be taken under all this pressure.

Then–

----!

----!!!

Many of the knights fell on their knees as a heavy pressure bore down on them. Charlotte was surrounded in a barrier so she didn’t feel the affects of Clyde’s killing intent with his full power. Spirit mana and his arcane mana.

Clyde then made eye contact with the count.

“Hiirk!!”

The count fell from his seat as the boy with light brown and bits of white hair glared at him. The knights couldn’t even pull out their swords from the suffocating atmosphere alone.

How the hell does he have such killing intent, is what everyone is thinking.

It was like looking at ‘Him’ again. The knight who swore absolute loyalty to the current queen of the Habsburg kingdom. Even looking into his eyes is bound to make anyone scared and imagine their death if they were to touch a single hair on the young queen.

Clyde’s mana felt so bottomless that the people with magic perception downstairs thought that about a hundred mages were releasing their mana into the air.

Yet it came from a single boy.

Charlotte raised her hand signalling Clyde to stop. The heavy pressure instantly disappeared. The blue runes that were surrounding his white arm disappeared and his hair went back to normal.

After bowing again, he returned to Charlotte’s back. His threatening face reverted back to having an emotionless expression.

The count was profusely sweating. The pressure disappeared as if it never existed.

“Can we discuss our plan of action right now, Lord Steinburg?”

The count nodded as he wiped the sweat from his face.

‘This kid is a monster. How can a little kid like her have a leash on a mage as strong as him. Are they related?’

He made all sorts of assumptions but stuck to the story that he must be indebted to her. Judging by her demeanour, she might be a child of a noble family and he might be her slave. If a slave suffered before being bought by their master and treated with kindness then they’d obviously develop a feeling of loyalty to their caretaker.

‘Could it be that way with the two of them? I’m not sure...’

But he had never heard of any noble families with blonde hair in Habsburg before.

“Good. First–“

The meeting then began. Now that they know the power they held, Charlotte could proceed with her original plan without complications.

◇◇◇

We came out of the office and I noticed the sky has already turned dark.

Charlotte had an exhausted look on her face. She took out a piece of candy and chewed on it.

“Things went well…”

She muttered to herself.

“Well done, princess. Now all we need to do is rest.”

I patted her shoulder.

“Yeah… let’s go. The others must be sleeping.”

Well, Erica isn’t. She’s been watching me for a while now.

We entered the Great Hall once again. Lots of people were asleep. Some looked like they were unable to sleep. It makes sense since they have the fear of the monsters invading the castle.

Once morning arrives then Arielle, Nate, Helen and I will set out along with the count’s knights and mages. We’ll be heading into the forest’s centre. A merchant that was heavily injured said that the source came from there since he passed by there once before. The monsters killed his whole family and only he managed to survive.

Charlotte said that she’ll be staying back at the castle. The count guaranteed her safety. I must’ve frightened him good with my full power. To be honest, I’m exhausted since I let out so much power. It was the first time I felt this way. Not physically tired but mentally.

It wasn’t even a second later when I laid down that I fell asleep.

◇◇◇

“This route will be safer but also very long. Stick to the group unless you wander off!”

The commander of our small unit shouted. He is the eldest son of Count Steinburg. A total of 100 people were gathered when we left the castle gates. Some were knights contracted to the count and the rest were volunteers from the city residents.

Quite a few of them are capable fighters and mages. I could count on my hands how many adventurers joined. They must have grown up here and feel attached to the city. The count said that the kingdom adventurer guild refused to send him aid.

The mages were enlisted under my command while the knights followed the count’s son. Arielle and Helen are serving as his second and third in command.

Just like his dad, he’s a mass of fat. Even the poor horse carrying him looks like it’s about to collapse every few seconds. Our group was slowed down immensely because of this fat and sweaty pig.

“There’s a scouter.”

One of the mages said as he infused mana into his eyes. A scouter doesn’t refer to a human but a monster.

In other words, they are the lookouts for monsters. Why have monsters suddenly joined hands together?

The scouter has two big beady eyes and a small mouth. It’s the kind of thing you don’t want to flash a flashlight on in the dark. Its way to inform enemies is its unique cry which is similar to two turtles making love with each other.

I googled this once on earth and found out that it’s similar to the sound scientists made for velociraptors.

The sound itself isn’t the problem. The sheer volume at which the scouter can shout, is.

There were quite a few of them around. Many of the archers and wizards worked together to take them down.

If they alert all the monsters in the forest then we’re screwed.

“I sense a strong presence deep within the forest.”

Arielle suddenly spoke.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I can’t put my finger on it but the aura this particular monster is releasing is incredible. Should we assume it’s the leader of the monsters?”

“No.” Erica shook her head. “This might be monster that’s forcing the monsters weaker than it to do its bidding. There is a possibility that they are being manipulated with mind control as well.”

She’s been quiet for a while now. If the Saintess herself is so worried then it’s necessary for all of us to put up our guards.

Erica’s role will be applying buffs to everyone. I had to lie and say that she’s a Holy Priest from a fairly well-known temple. Even the people out here would cause a ruckus if they found out that she is the Saintess.

Erica’s [Blessing] can multiply your mana by three times the amount and magic attack power by four times at her current limit(although it depends on the person receiving the buff). Her buffs on swordsman can increase their muscle strength and agility. Nate mentioned that that’s how the two of them survived. His destructive fire magic could be utilized much better with her buffs.

He kept asking me questions nonstop when he saw Erica heal my arm that day. It’s good that he’s trustworthy enough to be told this secret about her powers. She saved his life countless times too.

Erica will be our trump card for the boss that resides in the forest.