He was so very tired.

He cannot believe that restoring Eddan was more burdensome than ending the war.

But it was a judgement that left him satisfied, for his love of humanity will make him do whatever it takes to guide them down to a prosperous path. That was something he was supposed to do.

With the defeat of Yaldabaoth, it is prudent of him to say that he at least deserve a day of rest.

Yes... rest he shall. And when tomorrow comes, he will bear the fruits of his labor and celebrate it with his dear children.

...

He didn't.

_________________________________________

Allendis woke up from the dead of spring night, panting and covered in sweat. The window creaked as the air breezed through.

His confused eyes stared at the ceiling, he squinted a little bit as if focusing on something.

'What was that dream?'

Restoring the continent? War? Yaldabaoth? Non of it makes sense...

Why was he having those dreams?

Just then, he heard a hurried knock on his door.

The door opened up to reveal the old man running this inn. He looked completely distressed and panicked.

"Sir! We need your help!" The old man bellowed.

He quickly calmed his nerves, his face turned serious.

"What happened?" The question was barely a whisper and yet it sounded so loud and intimidating.

The old man let out an audible gulp. "The guard said that there were a large group of bandits spotted just outside the village entrance, the guard said to meet him downstairs to talk to you."

Slowly, he stood up and began preparing for what he needed– since he already wore his light armor in his sleep, he only needed to get his sword and his black coat.

"Of course but tell him that it will cost him." His apathetic gaze turned to the owner.

"Ye–yes!" The old man wobbled out of his room.

With his sword rested on his waist and his coat over his shoulders, he too went to the mess hall to see what awaits him.

_________________________________________

Nothing has been going well for Adelaide these days.

One minute she was about to return to the empire from her studies, the next her carriage was being under attack by bandits. It all has been going so fast.

But first, she needed to diffuse the situation.

Fleeing was seemingly the best option she had. She was outnumbered five-to-one, equipped only with her battle axe.

So she ran.

But that won't be enough to deal with them.

Help. She needed to find help as soon as she can.

But she needed to lose them first. Buy her some time.

Running through the forest was the only way to achieve that.

However, getting lost in a forest at the dead of night was not advantageous for her, especially with their numbers. Luckily, she was nearing the watch tower.

The attempt was successful, as she couldn't sense the bandits' presence.

Yet.

"Halt! Who are you?! And what business do you have?!" The guard asked with caution evident on his voice as his blade was readied.

"I request help! A group of bandits are pursuing me!" She said, her golden eyes resolute.

"What?! And you're dragging us into this?!" He became even more guarded than before, indicated by his drawn blade.

"Yes, but that's not the issue right now. What's important is that you help me get rid of this mess, don't worry I'll take full responsibility." She said with a steady voice.

"Like hell we wi—"

"Would you allow any harm to befall this village? Or your family?! If no, then help me drive them away, we're wasting enough time as it is." She said as her tone has become more commanding.

While still not liking the idea of getting drag into this, he had to admit, she has a point...

"Tsk, fine! I'll go get help!"

"Thank you for your cooperation." She said.

_________________________________________

...

"So, you would help us?"

Allendis looked at him, unimpressed.

"Yes."

"Ha! Thanks pal!"

"But it will cost you extra. I understand your reasoning but taking on a group of bandits without alerting the villagers is—"

"Argh, you mercs are all the same! Fine, fine. I'll get the money ready for you." The guard said dejectedly, when the guard remembered something. "By the way, the one who notified me about the bandits was a white haired woman, she's at the entrance, you'll know who I'm talking about."

"Okay."

Allendis needed more than his sword. He needed a cautious approach. He immediately prepared a dozen knives and hid it under his coat.

He quickly went to the entrance, and there he saw a beautiful woman standing, waiting.

'She must be the one.'

She noticed a stare and saw the black armored man. She got the feeling that he was the 'help' she requested.

"So only you?" A resigned sigh escaped her pink lips.

"Yes. The guard hired me." He informed.

'Hiring a mercenary?'

He merely moved past her and started to observe the field.

Trees on the nearest left. A small windmill at the center, just past the trees. Thicker trees on the near right of the village.

He turned to Adelaide. Silently contemplating his words.

"You. How good are you with that axe?"

He didn't contemplate enough.

Adelaide chose to ignore his brusque manners. "Good enough, but how do you propose we deal with them."

"A pincer attack."

She looked at him confused. A signal to elaborate further.

"We'll use the trees for cover. But first, you need to bait them into following you. This will allow me to attack them from behind. I'll hide on the trees on the right, draw them in to the left."

Considering the numbers, it was a sound strategy, however...

"What happens if they decided to stand back?"

"We advance carefully. Use the trees as covers and eliminate them one by one."

He could feel her gaze observing him quietly. "You have a strange presence around you. Be sure to not disappoint."

If he was confused, he didn't show it. "Get into position. They're almost here."

"Right!"

After getting to position, a group of bandits emerged from the forest beyond the windmill.

Adelaide took this opportunity to reveal herself.

"There she is! After her!" Their leader ordered.

It wasn't long till all of them began chasing her.

He saw her ran towards the western trees, when the bandits were all in the middle...

He threw a dagger with blinding speed.

The dagger punctured the first bandit's jugular. His body dropping with a loud thud, blood gushed out of his neck. One.

"Wha— AARGH!"

Before he could finish, a sword was plunged into his chest, his mouth oozed blood immediately. Two.

He threw another dagger, this time, hitting the bandit's leg. Once distracted, he went and sliced his head off, his eyes rolled over and his mouth gurgled before dying. Three.

"You bastard! You'll pay for that!" The bandit rushed forward.

"AAAAAARGH!"

He was met by an axe from behind, cleaving him in half.

Allendis' eyes widened slightly. It was quite surprising for a young woman of her stature and small frame to have that kind of strength.

"Well? How was that?" She said with a smirk pointed at the remaining brigands.

"Focus."

Allendis wasted no time and engaged his enemies, the other bandits didn't have time to react as he was already moving from the corpse he just made. Four. Five.

Not wanting to slow him down, Adelaide charged at the remaining bandits, they were frozen in fear by him. She saw this as an opportunity to dispose of the remaining two.

"Hey! You with the dead stare! Stay outta my way!" The bandit leader rushed forward towards Allendis, preparing to do a desperate final swing.

The young woman then noticed the last bandit sneaking behind the mercenary.

'So that's what their plan is.'

Allendis held his ground. Adelaide ran towards him.

The leader's axe swung forward. The last bandit thrust his spear towards the mercenary's back.

He used his sword to counterattack and send the leader flying. She swung her axe at the bandit, cutting him in half.

Allendis was rather surprised, he didn't expect her to know about the sneak attack that the leader planned, it seems she was at least trained enough to notice.

He heard the bandit leader, groaning in agony.

Just then, he saw her walking passed by him and towards the man on the ground. She lowered her axe on his neck, eyes turning dark, as if silently threatening to kill him.

"Why did you ambush me?" She said with a steel voice.

He watched the scene unfold, he saw the look on the bandit leader's eyes and recognised it instantly, fear. Fear that he will die by her hands.

"A— a guy to–told us that a royal was about to passed through this route, I–I dunno his name, but he was wearing a white mask and a black cloak, that's all I know, I swear!"

"And what will you do to me if you were successful, scum?" She asked, her voice was calm but she was hiding her seething anger underneath.

Understandably, the bandit leader didn't have anything to say, maybe they were going to hold her for ransom. Maybe they planned to kill her or sell her off. Either way, the princess was in the mood to explode.

When the lack of an answer came to the leader, she raised her axe to meet out his punishment.

But her arm was met with a force that prevented her from lowering it.

"Control yourself." He said quietly, grabbing her arm tighter.

It was the only thing that he could say to her.

"You got what you're after, no need to be greedy."

She stared at him for a good minute. He stared back, not wavering a bit. She could see an almost sad look for a brief moment. Finally coming to her senses, she slowly lowered her axe, her eyes, unreadable.

Allendis turned to the man shaking in fear.

"Leave, and don't make the mistake of doing this again."

The bandit leader quickly nodded his head as he picked himself up and ran for his life, leaving behind his dead allies.

"Mercenary I—"

"Allendis. Call me Allendis."

"Right. Well, Allendis I would like to talk to you about something?"

"We'll do this at the inn I'm staying at."

"Right... But first, we need to notify the guard and maybe let them clean up the mess we made." For some reason, he felt a twinge of guilt in her words but decided to ignore it.

_________________________________________

"I never did properly introduced myself have I? I am Adelaide von Helregin, the imperial princess of the Valhalla Empire." She said while subtly evaluating his reaction.

He merely nodded for her to continue.

So she does. "Well, I saw that you were quite the skilled mercenary back there. The way you dispatched the threats were... sufficed to say, quite efficient. It's clear that you're experienced in this line of work."

He merely nodded again, to let her know that he knows.

"And so, I will offer you a proposition." She said.

Allendis tilted his head slightly.

"You want to hire me?"

"To put it bluntly, yes. As a bodyguard." She said, her eyes trying to find faults on his mannerisms.

"What's in it for me?"

She thought about for a second. "A large sum of money. If that is not enough then you can name your price."

He stayed silent for an inordinate amount of time. She waited patiently for his response, her eyes not straying away from him.

"Okay."

She was relieved that he accepted her offer. "Really? That's great." Having someone as skilled as him by her side would make this journey a lot safer than it already is.

But she would be lying if she said she wasn't interested in him.

"Are you returning to Valhalla?" He suddenly asked.

"Ahh yes, that's why I want you as my bodyguard, at least until we reach the empire. Danger is always lurking." She said.

"Then get some rest. We leave tomorrow morning, I can rent you a room if you'd like?"

She didn't expect him to accommodate her so quickly, her retainer certainly, but a mercenary? "No, no need for that we can share yours instead."

After giving it some thought, he agreed to her suggestion. "Follow me." He stood up and went upstairs while she followed suit.

They arrived in his room and realisation dawned on her. There was only one bed.

"Oh! My apologies, it didn't occur to me that your room only has one bed." She said almost in a panic.

He stared at her, his eyes looked like he was confuse but she couldn't tell.

"It's okay, you can take the bed. I'll just ask the owner for some covers."

"Bu–but!" She was too late as he already went outside.

A sigh escaped her lips and began looking around the room. It was fairly ordinary, only having the basic necessities, though it was surprisingly clean.

Deciding to take his word, she occupied his bed. Her eyes becoming heavy with all the stress and fatigue she experienced in one night.

Allendis went back to his room, only to find Adelaide already passed asleep. He gently removed the old covers on his bed and replaced it with new ones.

He then laid down his own covers as a makeshift bed. A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

He wondered if this woman will be a huge pain for him in the near future.