“Are you leaving the kingdom once again?”

She had no aura of a royal at all. If not for that huge hooded figure of a man with a great sword standing there by her side, anyone would laugh at her childish tone of voice.

The eyes under that hood were glowing red. His eyes alone told me how powerful he is.

Almost as powerful as Brynhildr.

“No, Your Majesty.” He gestured to us.

“These children will be using my annual gate pass.”

The little girl’s face scrunched up.

“Who are these… peasants?”

Arielle had a vein popping out of her temple.

“A-Ahaha. Regarding that… I sent a report a few days ago about why I’m coming.”

“O-Oh…”

‘She didn’t even read it? What kind of queen doesn’t read the formal letters of her subordinates?’

“Kuhum! I must have forgotten due to the fever I had a few days ago. Kuhum!”

“Ah, yes. It is not a problem.”

The count had ridicule in his eyes for a second.

“But still! It doesn’t state in the Imperial Laws that outsiders can use the gate!”

“If I remember correctly, the one who holds the pass decides who can go with him or her. The limit is just about six people even.”

The queen looked at the nobles on the high seats. Is she looking for someone to clarify? All of them nodded their heads.

“I-I see. Ahem, it was father that set them up, after all. There were so many that I forgot most of them.” She crossed her small legs that doesn’t even reach the floor.

I heard a few sighs. This Queen… how do I say it? She’s not fit for the title.

“I shall allow with my authority!”

“Pft.”

I laughed softly. Her acting is just too cute. She probably heard me since her eyes turned to me. Even her glaring face looks cute. I want to pull her cheeks.

“T-Then. We shall make our way towards the Palace Mage Tower.”

We all bowed down.

“Thank you for your permission, your majesty.”

“Humph!”

The knight next to her throne never looked away from me once. I could even feel his gaze on me as we walked out of the door.

◇◇◇

“Take this as your compensation.”

Before us was an endless abyss of darkness. That was how the portal looked when it’s not activated.

The count gave us a bag of coins as the mage was busy chanting the long spell for the teleportation.

‘Finally going back home.’

“Thank you for everything, Count Steinburg.” Charlotte accepted the bag of coins with a smile and bowed.

“No. Thank you for saving my city. I might’ve acted calm and collected back then but I was actually anxious and desperate. Hahaha. Please be safe on your journey.”

WOOOOONG–

A blue light manifested in the endless abys, creating a whirlpool.

The count was standing a few metres away as we approached the portal.

“Where would you like to go?” The mage asked.

“The Southern Continent’s Kingdom of Colchis.”

“Ah… that won’t be possible with our current resources.”

“What!?”

We all turned to glare at the mage. He then got flustered.

“T-The only nation I can send you to is the Elca Kingdom. It’s the closest I can send you.”

“The elven nation?”

He nodded his head.

“I cannot be certain where in the elven territory you might end up. Please be safe on your journey.”

After infusing more mana, he waved at us. We stepped through the portal simultaneously–

◇◇◇

The feeling of going through a portal was not pleasant at all. It felt like worms were crawling on my skin as the slimy substance touched me. But that was but an illusion.

“F-Fresh air… finally!”

Arielle fell on the ground and cried tears of joy.

“Did we make it…?”

Charlotte still looked uncertain.

“Hey,” Helen pulled my robe. “What’s that?”

Her finger pointed to the humongous tree in the distance. It was so high that it stretched past the stratosphere.

Charlotte gasped when she looked as well.

“W-We finally made it…”

Tears collected in her eyes as she held her hands on her mouth.

“Yggdrasil. The World Tree.”

“That’s the real legendary tree!?”

All sorts of spirits were roaming around us. Only I could see them, though. It looked like they’re shy to approach me.

‘How cute.’

We were surrounded by a dense forest with taller trees reaching 100m.

As we began moving to the village nearby, I detected presences above us.

‘Spirit Mages? These must be elves.’

“Halt!”

A young woman’s voice made us stop and look ahead.

In our field of vision, an elven woman with white dazzling armour and green hair was standing there in our field of vision.

“You’re–“

There’s no mistaking the mantle she’s wearing. The White Order. The most elite and strongest on the continent. Each race has three members, although the elves only has two since the previous one is missing. The dwarves have three, the human nations and the elves.

They are the ones sent out to investigate dangerous places or stop a disaster.

This woman must be Laura, the one they call the wielder of the [Tree Spirit]. It is said that she can manipulate wind and earth spirit despite being a swordswoman. All elves can manipulate spirits regardless of their profession.

‘Even after facing a dragon and a True Vampire… the people from the White Order still feel this powerful.’

“Princess Charlotte?”

It seems she has a good memory as she ran up to us. Her previous cold expression vanished and was replaced by a caring older sister vibe.

She touched Charlotte’s cheeks and around her body to see if she’s injured.

“We finally found all of you. Everyone! Lay down your weapons! They are not enemies. Can you introduce yourselves first? I’m Laura.”

We introduced ourselves one after another. She quickly took out a communication crystal and made a call to someone.

“I apologize. Please come with me. When we arrive at the palace then we will contact the kingdom of Colchis.”

Charlotte then grabbed her hand.

“B-Before that… um… is the queen..”

Laura smiled gently.

“She is still fine. Although, she is still worried about her daughter.”

Tears came out of Charlotte’s eyes. She looked like a load was lifted off her shoulders.

**

“So you are the one Lady Miya has been talking about.” Laura suddenly appeared next to me as we walked to the Elven kingdom.

“Did she say anything about me, ma’am?”

“Oh, yes. Lots of things… like… you’re contracted to a monarch rank spirit.”

I froze. How the hell did she know!?

“Worry not. We elves don’t like seeing people with good hearts get in trouble. From what I heard about you from Lady Miya, you’re quite the capable mage. Capable is an understatement though.”

She left those words before walking towards the front of the group.

–She’s lying , master. Lady Miya isn’t the one that knows. It’s just that this woman found out through her perception skills.

–How strong is her perception skills to be able to identify a spirit of your power?

–Just don’t do anything that might inconvenience them, master.

–Y-Yeah.

Undine then disappeared. I felt Laura’s gaze on me before it disappeared.

‘This woman is scary. Being able to see through Undine’s spirit invisibility magic.’

We boarded a carriage that was standing in a clearing in the forest and made our way to the kingdom gates.

◇◇◇

“Your Majesty!”

When Philip was busy filling out documents brought by the nobles around the table, a knight barged right in the throne meeting room.

“You bastard! How dare you break inside!?”

The second prince, Lyle, screamed as he unsheathed his sword. The knight spoke in a hurried tone.

“T-The princess has been found!”

Philip froze. The ink on the pen fell onto the paper and ruined the contract. He turned his shaky eyes upwards and looked at the knight.

“Is that true?”

The knight nodded his head repeatedly.

“The Elven Queen sent a letter! Princess Charlotte along with Lady Arielle Luxembourg, Clyde Astley, um another unknown girl, Nate Alexander and another student from the academy!”

Philip stood up and walked over to the knight. The latter was afraid of being punched but was instead patted on the shoulder.

“Good work coming to inform me. When did they arrive?”

“Three days a-ago.”

Arielle’s father also stood there with a blank look on his face.

After a full year, his daughter has been found. He was worried sick that Arielle and Clyde must’ve died.

His composure returned. He felt like dancing in joy but couldn’t since he’s still in the presence of the king.

“Are they headed back?”

“No, your majesty. All of them are currently resting at the royal palace of the elves. They looked quite exhausted from what Lady Laura said.”

Philip took the report document and read it through himself. It was from Laura Merryweather, the female elf from the White Order’s handwriting.

‘My baby made it…!’

Naturally he couldn’t cry tears of joy in the meeting room so he regained his composure.

The six of them were still resting and will be sent back by carriage with escorts from the elven nation.

◇◇◇

The residence of Duke Luxembourg. In a huge canopy bed lay a maiden so beautiful that an artist could not replicate her beauty. Her gentle breaths and the up and down movements of her chest made it clear that she was asleep.

However–

‘!!!!’

Her eyes shot open as a familiar presence drew her consciousness awake.

It was a power so familiar that she’d never forget it, ever. One sensation was that of a gently flowing river and another was the violent winds of a solar storm. It was coming from a boy she’s known throughout all her lives.

Clyde Astley. The only human left in existence that can cast spirit magic.

“H-He’s here…!”

Artoria tried getting up but her body was still weak from her awakening. The sword near her bed that was protecting her drew closer as if to support her legs.

She grabbed it and held it tightly.

Clyde. Clyde. Clyde.

She kept muttering his name over and over as she tried to put on her armour.

There was suddenly a knock on the door.

–Um, Lady Artoria? Are you awake?

It was a familiar voice. It was a maid that has worked here for 6 years by now ever since she was a 15. It’s weird calling the person that was a boy not too long ago with ‘Lady’. Artoria herself said that it was the result of touching the sword that she was able to awaken her true self which was a member of the extinct Angel Race.

The other thing that made it weird is that she had a crush on him when he was Arthur.

–I heard a commotion inside so I thought you’d be awake.

“…”

–Err, the master will be arriving soon to deliver good news. He didn’t mention what it was but he said everyone must gather. Please head down if you are feeling better.

The maid had a lonely tone as she was only met with silence. Her small footsteps disappeared after a while.

‘News?’

Artoria’s mind was still groggy from sleeping for weeks. Her body might be fine but it took a toll on her mental health.

‘Bath! I have to bathe first!’

She couldn’t head to where Clyde is smelling like a corpse.

◇◇◇

“Mama?”

As Eleanor read the letter that George brought, tears fell down her eyes. Her husband was also clutching his eyes while tears fell down.

Jessica, one of the twins thought something was wrong with her mother. But then her mother suddenly hugged her.

“Y-Your big brother is coming home!”

“E-Eh? He’s coming back!?”

Chloe, who also heard what’s going on came inside ethe living room. She was holding a wooden sword in hand and was sweating.

They were only told that Clyde went on a long trip. Even if they told the children that their brother was caught up in a disaster then they wouldn’t understand anyway.

“1 year…”

George muttered as he sobbed.

Clyde and the others have been missing for 1 year already. Although, to them it was only two months. The phenomena that happened shifted time in a wrong direction and delayed everyone’s teleportation.

This was only proven later by a survivor that made it back a few weeks ago. For Clyde is might have just been 2 months but to everyone else it was a full year.

That means that Clyde should be 14 by now.

“Uncle Cliff says that we’ll have to wait for them to come back on their own. The Elven Royal Family are keeping an eye on them.”

Eleanor just nodded with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t even speak properly.

Chloe and Jessica don’t have much memory of their brother since he’s always away so much. They only saw him a lot when they were little. After it was discovered that he has talent for becoming a mage, he has been away from the house a lot.

He only visited a few times a month. When he got into the academy, even that decreased.

“I-I’ll prepare our things. You contact the duke and tell him we’re going there.”

Eleanor told her husband as she went into their bedroom.