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

He licked his pudgy fingers that were covered with sauce and wiped his mouth with a napkin. He tapped his plate with his cutlery which alerted the servants of his finished meal.

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

About twenty knights were inside the office which was similar in size to a classroom at the academy.

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

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

But she was 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 had always worked.

Charlotte had a maturing body that was pleasing to look at. Her face wasn’t bad at all. She charmed many of the knights when she walked in.

“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 it's still creepy.'

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

‘I wonder how she tastes…’

“Can we get to the point now?”

Despite his vulgar behaviour, Charlotte seemed unfazed. She faced many men like him in the past after all.

Clicking his tongue, Count Steinburg sat up straight on his seat.

‘A feisty one. I like her.’

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 nodded.

“……”

A brief moment of silence descended. The knights and their lord started laughing loudly. The entire room was filled with their loud laughter. A few seconds later, all of them sharpened their eyes at her.

“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 was meaningless.

“My knight.”

Charlotte addresses Clyde only with “lord” when they are alone. When he is performing his official duties then she refers to him as her knight. The reason she calls him lord is to maintain a certain distance in their relationship. This is so that the two of them don’t become too familiar with each other.

Anything more than a friend is not allowed.

“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 nodded and pushed his bangs out of his face. His green eyes turned blue as his power was released.

WHOOOOSH

Suddenly a cold breeze came from his body. The windows were tightly shut yet it was so cold that everyone shivered.

Then–

----!

----!!!

Thump...!

Thump...!

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. It was the force released from an 8th spirit mana grade core combined with a 5th grade core.

Clyde then made eye contact with the count.

“Hiiiih!!!”

The count fell from his seat as the boy with light brown gazed 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 was 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 was bound to make anyone scared and imagine their death if they were to touch a single hair on the young queen, Elphemia.

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. The knights who were proud in their strength felt helpless as they saw the endless mana seep out of the brown haired boy’s body.

Charlotte raised her hand signalling Clyde to stop. The heavy pressure instantly disappeared.

After bowing again, he returned to Charlotte’s back.

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 she must have had something on him. Judging by her speech and mannerisms, she might’ve been a child of a noble family and he might’ve been her slave. But he had never heard of any families with blonde hair in Habsburg before.

“Good. First–“

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

◇◇◇

(CLYDE ASTLEY POV)

We came out of the office and I noticed the sky had 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 with a bright smile.

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

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

We entered the Great Hall once again. Some looked like they were unable to sleep. It made sense since they had 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 entire 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 was 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 was 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.

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

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

“There’s a scouter.”

One of the mages said as he infused mana into his eyes. A scouter didn’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 had two big beady eyes and a small mouth. It’s the kind of thing you didn’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.

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 was so worried then it was 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 two times the amount and magic attack power by three times at her current limit. Her buffs on swordsman can increase their muscle strength and agility. Nate did mention 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 resided in the forest.