- (Anna’s POV) -

It has been 2 days since the event with the behemoth and it’s finally time to leave for the capital! The trip should take approximately a week, so I hesitated to leave a few days later with Shiro but I decided to stay with Alice’s family’s carriage. There are several reasons for my decision: I have nothing else to do in this town for now, I don’t know the way to the capital, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to Alice and her family.

Everyone is preparing right now because we are leaving in a few hours. I think I should give my farewell to several peoples in the town. I head toward my shop and wait for a moment when there are no customers to talk with Maya.

“Hello, I came to say ‘good-bye’” (Anna)

“Alright, leave the shop to us and have fun in the capital!” (Maya)

“I will come back once a week to check if everything is ok” (Anna)

“Uhh?” (Maya)

“I can come back with Shiro, it shouldn’t take more than half a day.” (Anna)

In reality, I will teleport, but I prefer to avoid telling them that. It’s not that I don’t trust my employees, but they might want me to come back everyday if they know I can come back in a second; but I want them to be independent!

“A-Alright… I forgot that common sense doesn’t apply to you…” (Maya)

I also give my farewell to the other employees then I leave the shop. Next step: the orphanage. I head toward the orphanage and once I arrive, I can see several children looking for herbs in the garden. They are already working hard in the morning! A few children see me from afar and start to get excited.

“Anna-oneesan is here!” (kid 1)

“Let’s tell the others!” (kid 2)

I enter the orphanage and find the headmistress playing with several children.

“Hello, I came to give my farewell, I leave in a few hours to the capital!” (Anna)

“Ara, it’s already time to leave? Thank you for everything you did to us, the children are very happy to eat tasty meal and play with new toys! They will miss you but enjoy your time in the capital!” (headmistress)

“Thanks! I’m happy to hear that my action has been useful!” (Anna)

Then, I leave the orphanage and head back to the mansion. I met a lot of people in the town, but I can’t visit everyone, I don’t even know where most of them are!

When I walk in the street, I can still hear many people whispering “It’s Red Flash!”. Ahh… so annoying!

I finally arrive at the mansion and it seems like everyone is ready! The carriages are already placed in front of the house and I can see several maids transporting bags to the second carriage. We will move with 2 carriages with Alice’s family in the first and the servants in the second along with the luggage. There are also 10 knights coming to escort us.

As for me, I have everything in my inventory… I prepared a year worth of food, a lot of potions, all my gold coins and a few books. With the shop being extremely profitable, we already made nearly 300 gold coins in only 2 weeks! It’s enough to live a humble live for the rest of my life! Of course, I don’t intend to do nothing for the rest of my life, I want to have fun and improve my business!

I enter the house and see Eleonora

“Ah, you are here Anna-chan! We are leaving in half an hour!” (Eleonora)

“Alright! Where is Alice?” (Anna)

“She is already in the carriage.” (Eleonora)

I have nothing else to do, so let’s join her then.

*********

It has been a few hours since we left the mansion and I’m already bored! We didn’t really talk yet, but I don’t know what to say! Suddenly, Eleonora open her mouth:

“Anna-chan! Let me pet Shiro-chan!” (Eleonora)

“Ah yeah me too please!” (Alice)

AGAIN?! Ahh! I can’t resist if they are looking at me like this! S-Sorry Shiro, your sacrifice won’t be forgotten!

“A-Alright… Make some space for him.” (Anna)

I summon Shiro inside the carriage, she is so big that she can’t really move. As soon as she appears, Alice jumps directly on her and Eleonora sits in front of her and starts to pet her.

I feel a bit bad to keep Shiro unsummoned so I will let her travel with us. I wonder where she is when she is not summoned though. Is she somewhere else? In another dimension? Or is she in a frozen state? I don’t think I will ever have an answer to those questions…

I turn toward Roland and ask him a question that I wanted to know since a long time.

“Roland, can you tell me more about the royal family?” (Anna)

“Of course, what do you want to know?” (Roland)

“Mhh… About the princes and princesses, the queen, and the king. How old are they? What’s their personality? Who will likely succeed to the throne?” (Anna)

I need to know more about all those kinds of stuff before I start to interact with nobles… I only know a few nobles right now…

“Let’s see… There are 2 princes and 2 princesses, the princes are 24 and 17 years old while the princesses are 16 and 8 years old. The king and the queen are in their forties and there is no concubine, it’s pretty famous that they love each other. The older prince is recognized as the crown prince. And about their personality… I would say they are normal, nothing too extreme. They all have something they are good at and other things they are bad at. I don’t really know more about their personality, it’s not like I see them everyday and they must probably keep a good figure when they interact with someone.” (Roland)

“I see, thank you. And what’s your opinion about the king and the princes?” (Anna)

“Mhh, I don’t usually give my opinion like this because I can be in danger, but I think that we have a good king that care about the citizens and try his best to improve the country, even if he makes some mistakes sometimes. About the princes and who will succeed the throne, I’m in the neutral faction, I don’t really support a prince in particular and will continue to work with whoever become the next king. Well, keep it for yourself though.” (Roland)

“Haha, don’t worry, I will keep it for myself.” (Anna)

I asked about his opinion because I think that Roland is a good noble. He is hard working, he obviously cares for the citizens, and he is also nice to me; so I don’t mind supporting him. Well, I don’t know yet if I really want to do something in the high society, I prefer to stay neutral for now. I will only act if there is a purpose for me, my friends, or my business.

Suddenly, I can detect something with my ‘radar’. According to their shape and mana, they must be human and there are at least 20 of them. Are they bandits? I think it’s better to inform the others.

“Roland, there are about 20 humans approximately 500 meters ahead. Probably bandits.” (Anna)

“WHAT?! H-How do you know?” (Roland)

Ah shit, I forgot about it. Well, whatever.

“Well, it’s a spell from my hometown, you will see in a few minutes if you don’t trust me.” (Anna)

“No, I trust you, I’m going to inform the knights.” (Roland)

He opens the window and call a knight.

“Hey! We will probably meet some bandit in a few minutes, be ready for a combat!” (Roland)

“A-Alright, Milord.” (knight)

Roland instantly close the window and sigh. I bet that the knight must be thinking something like ‘how the hell does he know?!’ but he probably keeps it for himself. Haha~

“Are bandit’s attack frequent here?” (Anna)

“Not really, but it happens once in a while.” (Roland)

“What will you do with them if we manage to catch them all?” (Anna)

“I think it’s better to kill them. It’s less risky and it’s not like we can bring them with us during a week, they are too many.” (Roland)

As expected, it looks like death is not a big deal in this world. Well, it’s fine for me.

“I see. I’m going out to help the knights!” (Anna)

“Be careful!” (Roland)

I leave the carriage without any complaint from Roland or Eleonora. I think they understand that no mere bandit can hurt me after what I did in Marina. Alice? She is too busy playing with Shiro, maybe Eleonora aswell…

As we predicted, about 10 peoples are blocking the road a few minutes later. One of them get closer and shouts:

“Leave all yar belonging and we will let ya live!” (bandit)

I already noticed that about 10 people are missing, I can feel them hiding behind a tree on the right side of the road. I get closer to the man that shouted:

“And what will you do if we refuse?” (Anna)

“Uhh? Obviously killing ya all!” (bandit)

“Well, we refuse then.” (Anna)

“Are ya stupid? Well, whatever. ARCHER!” (bandit)

After his signals, I can feel several arrows coming toward us, but I already expected something like this. I create the same number of small ice spears and throw them to intercept the arrows, making them fall on the ground. I leave the surprised bandit and shout to the knights:

“I will deal with the archers; I let you take care of the others!” (Anna)

“A-Alright!” (knight)

I immediately summon my sword and run toward the trees where the archers are hiding while the knights take care of the one that are on the road. They are trained knights; they should be able to easily deal with them while protecting the carriage.

Finally something to do after those hours of boredom!

They are still trying to hide even though I run toward them, so I slice a tree in half to reach some bandits hiding behind it, killing them on the spot. I continue toward 2 more archers hiding behind another tree, they are trying to shoot me with several arrows, so I lower my head to dodge them and kill them again by cutting the tree in half.

I could be an amazing lumberjack~!

It looks like the 5 remaining archers understood that it’s useless to hide behind a tree and shoot at me, so they show themselves with a dagger in their hand.

Well, it’s useless!~

I immediately dash toward them and cut their neck, their head falling behind me.

Alright! It looks like I’m done with the archers! Let’s see how the knights are doing! Oh, there are only 2 bandits remaining but are about to be slashed aswell. As expected of 10 trained knights, no one of them really got hurt, a few of them only have a scratch.

I unsummon my sword, clean my clothes with magic, then I head back to the carriage. When I enter the carriage, I can see three peoples looking at me with sparkles in their eyes.

“Wow, it was amazing, Anna-chan!” (Eleonora)

“I already knew that you were strong, but it’s different to see it with my own eyes! It’s reassuring to have you as an ally, haha~.” (Roland)

Oh, it’s true! It’s actually the first time that Eleonora and Roland saw me fight! Well, they already heard about all the things I did so they shouldn’t be surprised that much. On the other hand, Alice has a proud face, like if she was thinking ‘as expected’. But it’s embarrassing, I have to say something to change the subject!

“I can’t detect anything anymore, so all the bandits are dead.” (Anna)

“A-Alright, let’s continue the trip then!” (Roland)

I take a book and start reading it.

************

5 days passed since we left the town. If everything is alright, we should arrive to the capital in 2 days. I’m currently on Shiro’s back, walking as fast as the carriage. I’m still reading a book right now, it’s a romance novel, I’m not a big fan of romance but I found nothing else interesting to read except a few books of history.

Those days were… very boring! There was no other bandit attack and we only met a dozen of goblins. I started to stay on Shiro’s back after 2 days because she is not shaking, unlike the carriage. Sometimes, Alice joined me, but she still stays most of the time with her parents.

I also don’t forget to keep my radar active constantly to see if there is something coming, but the distance is short, a few hundred of meters at most. I can of course detect something at several kilometers, but I can’t keep it constantly because it uses too much mana.

Suddenly, Shiro start to sniff something, then she turns toward me. Can she smell something? I expand my ‘radar’ and can feel something at approximately 3 kilometers.

Mhh, a dozen of people from what I can feel, and it looks like they are going away from the capital using a different road. It doesn’t look too suspicious. Well, whatever, I’m bored so let’s take a look!

“Roland, I’m going to check something, I’m coming back soon don’t worry!” (Anna)

I turn toward Shiro and stroke her.

“Shiro, let’s go toward them, but don’t let them see us!” (Anna)

Following my orders, Shiro dash toward the forest. We quickly arrive and hide behind a tree to check the situation.

Mhh, there is a dozen of people on a horse around a carriage. However, it’s not the kind of carriage that a noble would use, it’s a big scare shaped carriage covered with a blanket. Very suspicious! It looks like a cage or something, but I can’t see anything because of the blanket. Thanks to my mana, the only thing I know is that there is someone inside.

D-Don’t tell me… that they are slave trader?

Wait, I need to be sure before doing anything… I wonder how I should engage them… Should I kill them all on the spot? No, it might create some problems if they are innocent. Oh, I know! I only need to ask them to show me what’s behind the blanket! If they are really innocent, they should accept if I force them a little bit!

I jump in front of them to block the way and shout:

“Hello, can you show me what’s inside your carriage?” (Anna)

They immediately take their weapon to prepare for a battle. Relax guys!

“W-Who are you?” (man 1)

“Please show me what’s inside the carriage, then I will immediately leave!” (Anna)

“Why should we do that?” (man 1)

“Come on, just a sneak peek then I will go away! I only want to confirm something!” (Anna)

“N-No, I refuse!” (man 1)

Well, it doesn’t work like this, I will need to be more threatening. The fact that they refuse is already suspicious.

I take out a random sword that I had in my inventory, then I bend the blade with my bare hands until it become a ball of metal. Then I throw the ‘ball of metal’ to their feet. Their body tense immediately because of my show.

“Come on! Let me look inside the carriage or I do the same with your arms!” (Anna)

They start to back off while shaking.

“N-No, y-you still c-can’t!” (man 1)

“Well, you let me no choice…” (Anna)

I dash toward the carriage and lift the blanket and take a look inside.

I knew it… I can see a girl around 10 years old sitting inside a cage with torn clothes. And it’s not all! The girl even has a collar at her neck! Our eyes meet and I can see that she is shaking.

Yup, definitely a slave.

I turn toward the men that are shaking behind me. I’m really angry right now… How can they treat such a young and cute girl like this?! My opinion might be biased because I lived on Earth, but slave trading is still forbidden even in this country! I think that a slave trader would be discreet, so I doubt that the mastermind is here. Besides, I think that those men are only lackey, they probably don’t know who hired them.

Yup, let’s kill them, it might calm my rage.

“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” (Anna)

I dash toward the men and strike their neck one by one before they can even react. It only takes a dozen of seconds to kill them all.

Ups! I forgot that there is a child watching. I walk back to the cage, destroy the cage, and take a look at the girl. She looks like approximately 10 years old and has light blond hairs. Not the same kind of blond that Alice’s hairs has, her hairs are a bit lighter than Alice’s hairs. I immediately grab the collar and crush it with my hands. Is it supposed to be that easy to break them or is it because I’m simply too strong?

I try my best to smile and speak to the girl:

“Are you alright?” (Anna)

“…” (girl)

She doesn’t seem very talkative… Let’s try another question.

“Are those people bad guys?” (Anna)

She nods slowly, I think she means ‘yes’.

“Do you want to come with me? I’m going to the capital!” (Anna)

She waits a few seconds, then she nods again.

“What’s your name?” (Anna)

“…” (girl)

“It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me.” (Anna)

“…lith” (girl)

She said something but very low so I couldn’t hear it.

“What did you say?” (Anna)

“…Lylith” (Lylith)

“Alright, pleased to meet you Lylith! Where are your parents?” (Anna)

“…” (Lylith)

“It’s fine, you don’t need to tell me now. Let’s go back to my group, ok? We will move on top of Shiro, she is a big wolf, but she is very nice and not dangerous, so don’t be afraid, alright?” (Anna)

“…” (Lylith)

Still not really talkative… Well, she probably had a hard time, I can’t blame her…

I lift her and place her on top of Shiro’s back. She doesn’t look afraid at all, well I don’t know, it’s not easy to read her expression… Shiro start to run back to Alice’s carriage while I hold Lylith to make sure she doesn’t fall.

Still, it’s strange that a single slave girl was guarded by a dozen of men… It’s also not very discreet… It would be way more efficient to move on a horse while holding her. Maybe the slave trader is stupid? Or maybe the girl is someone important so he had to make sure that no one could take her back?

Well, whatever.

I wonder what I will do with her once I arrive in the capital…~