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Glad you all enjoy, as always. And I like sidestories and their contribution to the story, so I'll continue to use them sporadically throughout the story. But the ratio shouldn't be too bad from Mathias to SS.

— POV Rose —

Ah, it's finally my time to go on my adventure! It's been AGES since I last left this dank, dingy castle. Well, it is better than any other city's castle. I'm so glad I claimed it by being super powerful and predicting that calamity many years ago! Ah, the people's adoration sustains me, but should they turn on me, BOOM goes the fireball! Oh, that's right, speaking about fire, I totally forgot about Sheal! She must be so depressed being stuck in that mountain, I should make that my first stop in searching for my beloved!

Ugh, I wish my retinue would hurry up and get ready! I've been ready since my amazing display of power a couple of weeks ago! That wily king of course spun it out so that I was the hero, as it should be, and he fawned over thanking me for my greatness! He's been so helpful lately for facilitating my journey from the kingdom, I should give him some sort of reward. Maybe I will actually do what those adventurers wanted me too and give the people some more of my benevolence. Yes, I definitely should do that! Filling up some protection stones, and let’s add a lot of sparkle to these too! Yea, and my name should pop-up too…

Done! And I should also give those adventurers a token of my gratitude with my visage on it to further spread my fame, while also discretely tracking them and their progress. They did bring me that awesome Phoenix Feather which, while made useless for the actual ritual because of someone’s intervention, it did finally make my new magic 'Click' for me. I call it Demon Flame, a pitch black flame that never goes out! The only way to get rid of it is to send it to another place or dimension, easy for me, currently impossible for others. It's so eerie as well, even though it's black, it still emits a "Light". The light doesn't brighten up a room, it only defines shapes, so while everything is still mostly black, you can make out the objects around you in shades of black. It's also great in that it doesn't spread.

When I made the flames during the ritual I didn't notice it at first since they flew out to where my magic went, but afterwards it just clicked. I haven't shown anyone except for Cirili my new flame, and oh her eyes shown so bright, I adore her so much. Speaking of the adorable plushie.

— POV Cirili —

Ugh, Father still won't agree for me to leave with Rose on her journey. I already told Rose that I'm allowed to go, so if I sneak in somehow I should be golden! I want to be able to adventure and burn monsters and make people worship us on the road.

Ah, there's Rose. I still have to get her to teach me about her Demon Flame - there are so many uses for it! She doesn't seem to care that much for it now that she knows how to make it, she's always been about the puzzle, not so much about the answers.

"Hello Rose, you look as beautiful as always. Have you finished preparations for our departure?"

"Oh Ciri,stop with the formal speaking and come here. I want to hug you, you look so adorable!"

"Will you show me how to do the black flame?" I turn my eyes up to her, with my arms behind me.

"Awww, of course! When we're on the road I'll show you anything you want as long as you become my hug pillow!"

Frump. I'm enveloped in her chest, though from years of survival training I managed to turn my head to the side before I was fully enveloped. Becoming a hug pillow for her for the journey could be dangerous. She sure knows how to play hardball, I expected nothing less from her. If I don't take this offer now, the next one will be even more ridiculous. One time I held out for a week before I finally decided to accept one of her deals, she made it 10 times worse. I had to be dressed up by her each morning for 10 months instead of just a month. Of course I got a lot of great fashion advice and shown how to use my feminine beauty to the fullest, but it took at least over an hour each morning for her to decide. Her deals are always give and take, if I do become her hug pillow for a few weeks at most, then before bed each day I'll be able to get her to teach me more of her amazing magic!

"Deal. But I'm wearing all of my clothes."

"Aw, but skinship strengthens our bonds!"

"No. A deal is a deal."

"Rrrrrrr, fine. But I'm gonna hug you tighter."

Yes! I managed to protect my body from her lewd touches and get magic lessons! Another win!

— POV Rose —

She's getting smarter and smarter every day, drat! And she's finally getting to the womanly beautiful stage. It wasn't like I was gonna take her virginity or anything, but some fun between ladies would've been fine!

Aw, at least I can still hug her like this whenever I want! I’ll never give this up for any reason, it heals me.

"Well, you're right. A deal is a deal. I've been ready for ages, I was waiting for you and my new guard to be ready to go. She has some spunk and fire in her! I think she could fight Sheal and live! Barely haha, she might make a nice hug pillow too…"

"Hmm? What's wrong, why'd you freeze up?"

"Who's Sheal and who's the guard? Can't we just leave her and just you and I go? Won't she slow us down and report everything to Father?"

"Tsk tsk, I thought you had a decent head on your shoulders. Let me ask you something, do you know how to cook, hunt, drive a carriage, make a fire without magic, barter with the peasants, and know how to build a shelter if needed?"

"I can cook! And quite well I might add, you made sure of that! And a shelter can easily be made using our magic. But the rest, I don't know. I especially don't want to have to talk with all of those peasants. I do suppose we deserve to be spoiled a bit. But I don’t like being spied upon by my Father. Can we just kidnap her and begone?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not. If you are ready to go, I don’t see the harm, she shouldn’t have much to pack or get done. And for the whole spying business, I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that. She’s a simple girl, and we’re both wily enough to get her wrapped around our fingers. Well, come along now, let’s get going. Once we start leaving they can’t stop us anyways, you can just smile at all the guards while I shoot some fireworks into the air or something and they’ll let us pass anyways.”

— POV King —

I don’t think I can keep Rose delayed any further, please forgive me my people for what I am about to unleash upon you. Tread softly. My only saving grace is that I managed to convince my precious Cirili not to go. It was hard to resist her sparkling eyes, but I managed. With this I have saved at least our lineage for another generation.

Fuuuu, it looks like Rose has finally had enough waiting, I thought the time might be soon. I can see her carriage slowly rolling through town, with some sort of sparkling magic flying in the sky above the carriage. The city residents are tearfully waving off Rose, and it looks like there may be an impromptu celebration as all of the people are shutting down their shops to go say goodbye. Looks like I’ll need to make an announcement this evening raising their spirits after their protector is gone, rousing some more patriotic spirit in the country. I’ll also announce the

It’s a shame that the Archer’s sister will have to go along with Rose - that girl will probably not return alive. I tried to impress upon her the need for daily reports and to send me any news she could as often as possible to safeguard Rose in case of trouble and to provide advice if needed. With this I might be able to reduce the casualties as much as possible.

“Your grace, what a courageous decision to allow your daughter to accompany Rose to attain experience with the people. Your family is a true testament to good rulers.”

What. Was. That!? Nononononono. Deep, calm breaths. Okay, maybe I misheard.

“Is that what the people are saying Lord Sheaver?”

“Why yes sire, in fact I passed by the trio this morning, Rose, Cirili, and the new guard Liza, and was informed just so by Princess Cirili herself. Was there a mistake?”

Shit. If I go now and try to stop this, it could all turn on my head. The people may stop supporting me so much if it looks like I’m rescinding such a bold and caring gesture. Also, I can’t really stop Rose. If she decided Cirili should join her, I can’t really do much in stopping it. Shit. “Sheaver, since you are fairly knowledgeable about our Country and I trust you deeply, I must tell you something important. Yes, my daughter will be gaining real world experience as well as interacting with the people, but there is a second, more hidden agenda. I trust you will only tell the necessary persons, we don’t need this information getting out to the wrong people. Princess Cirili will also be acting as a diplomat to countries they may pass through, extending and creating relations with the neighboring cities. I have the utmost confidence in that trio, they hold the future of this country in their hands. Our Kingdom is built on hard work and dedication, something my daughter has in abundance.”

“That is tremendous news! How courageous, training your daughter this early in matters of state. Truly admirable. I will tell only our most trusted Nobles that are on their journey’s path so that they may offer any assistance they may need.”

“Thank you Sheaver, you may go now. I need to send correspondence to the Elves and the Beast-Men that my daughter may visit their people.”

“It appears that you are tearing up, I too have had to watch my children grow up and move on. It is a heart warming view. As you wish, my liege, I will take my leave.”

I want to yell these are not tears of JOY! They are tears of despair, how could I have let my daughter be thrown out with that demon in disguise! I am a disgrace to my forefathers.

Wait, I still have the guard, what’s her name, Liza! Cirili can still be protected, and I can be notified wherever they go. Shit! Cirili, be safe!

— POV Liza —

I was told by the King to delay Rose’s leave as much as I could, but when both the Princess Cirili and Rose appeared before me ready to go, I could not hold out. I tried to say that I wasn’t ready yet, there were forms and such, but they just brushed it off! Then they just grabbed my arms, and Rose moved to my clothes and other items and shoved them into her bag and declared they were leaving. I technically don’t have the authority to restrict them, I’m sorry my King. I will have to go with the flow in this situation. I’m just a lowly guard tasked with protecting these two important persons.

As expected, I’m tasked with driving their carriage and actually planning the particulars of the travel. Good thing they teach us the basics in training, otherwise we’d be in a whole ton of trouble. I am glad to be leaving the castle for a breather though, being near all of these high class ladies as the personal guard of Rose in the Castle really does a number on your self-confidence. At least I’m used to these two, and they don’t sneer when they see me sweating in my armor. Rose looks at me like she wants to own me, while Cirili always gives me a kind smile and words of encouragement.

Oooh, those are really cool fireworks Rose is throwing up, she really is amazing. Oh, and the townspeople are all waving, and smiling at us! Whoops, the guards at the gate are looking awkward, looks like they didn’t receive word yet to let us through. I quickly dismount and run up to them, explaining the situation. Thank you King for my promotion to a Head Guard, I won’t cause you any trouble!

And they took my explanation and are opening up the Gate. I’m glad I didn’t have to show the Royal Seal the King gave me though. I tried to refuse many times, but again I got caught up in the situation and with just a few words about the importance of the mission and other stuff I was walking away with it in my hands. This is important stuff King, why do I have to hold on to it!?

At least my training as an Archer will be useful in finding wild game to eat if need be, as well as spotting and shooting warning arrows to rough looking individuals when they show up. In our country it’s not a big deal, but in-between the cities it can be dangerous. And in the cities my boxing skills my brother trained me in will also be useful. He’s always saying the archer’s weakpoint is close-combat, and since you won’t always have time to draw a blade, a couple of well-placed punches might incapacitate them or allow you more time for your allies to arrive. I never truly knew what I wanted to do, I just kind of followed what my brother did. Thankfully I actually had talent in those fields, otherwise I’d be the worst guard ever.

— POV Archer Harvey—

It’s been a week since we were tasked by the Kingdom to investigate the mana-blast that the Oracle sent into the forest. That hellish landscape we saw truly showed the threat that the Kingdom was in. We saw things that day that I will never forget. Burned, charred remains of many animals, some only heard about in legends. And all around the area was black flames, flames of death. Nothing seemed to be able to put out those infernal flames. A truly horrendous beast must have been living here to create such flames. Our Magician Cal could sense two very different magic at work here still. One was the magic from Rose, and one that created the black flames. It confirmed our initial thoughts - two mighty forces met here, with them both being obliterated and only the flames of the beast remain. Rose must have sensed the evilness of the creature here and acted before it could cause harm to our Kingdom. After we sent word back to the King and the Guild we were told to try to contain the flames somehow,.

It took us days to find all of the black flames and seal them in special jars Cal had to create and fortify. We are in originally the center of the most dangerous forest in the world, with legendary class monsters roaming about, but now it is eerily quiet, with all of the beasts avoiding the place. I do worry about the citizens around the forest, since it appears that many beasts may have been disturbed from their normal grounds. Thankfully a lot of the beasts were killed, but as we were finishing I saw a dark-colored beast watching us from the shadows before it ran off south-east. It might be an offspring of the beast that was killed here, but I wasn’t sure at the time.

Then the letter came from the guild - Rose was leaving on a tour for the country, and sent us each a small medallion emblazoned with runic magic and had a small relief of herself on it, showing that she is granting us her protection. That’s what it appeared on the surface, but then I read it aloud to the team, we instantly all came to the same conclusion. That she was actually going on a journey to exterminate these vile beasts before they spread, and she needs our help in combating the new beasts. She must have killed the strongest one, and it’s up to us to keep the people safe as she continues on in her mission. She can’t reveal that to the people though - mass panic would be terrible. We quickly wrote our thoughts to the Guild and went on our way to track the beast I saw that day. The Adventurer’s Guild immediately agreed with us and actively began recruiting for more Adventurers and putting out requests to hunt more dangerous beasts from the forest on our borders. This was a National issue if even Rose, our Kingdom’s pride and joy, is being sent off to combat the menace.

Which leads up to us four staring down a dark scaled beast in a peaceful glade. Even though it’s been damaged by the blast from Rose, it’s eyes are still full of vitriol and it has some black flames on its hide that aren’t damaging its scales. This will be a hard fight indeed, as each of us clutched our medallionsbefore our fight.