"The attack on the princess was successful, my king."

The king released a bloodthirsty smile from his aging face, the king looked so big with all the heavy black armor and fur cape on, his arms looked burly and strong that he could probably murder someone if he pinched his fingers at them.

"Hahaha! Excellent work Hel! Make preparations to mobilize our army in a week's time and tell the Four Horsemen to prepare as well."

The masked man bowed his head to the heavily armored king.

"One more thing my king."

"What is it? If it's not important then leave it be." The king glared at him.

"The Black Demon has been spotted within the border of Bolsung."

The king's eye widened at the news. He smiled at him. "He could prove to be a valuable asset but leave him be. After all, he's just a mercenary."

Hel nodded to him before leaving the throne room to make preparations.

'Such a shame, with that boy on our side...

Unbeknownst to them, a raven haired woman was listening to their conversation...

She couldn't get a grasp on him.

In the past week, she couldn't help but feel connected yet detached to him. He acted like a living contradiction. He can be kind to her, always noticing her discomforts, but he can also be vicious, like how he dispose of the threat back in the village.

Genuine yet artificial. Close yet distant. If she had to make an assessment, she'd say he was an outsider, but that wouldn't be accurate.

"You okay? Is the cloak too thick?" He noticed that she was staring at him for far too long. Maybe the heat was got to her.

"That. That's what I'm talking about." She was still looking at him.

"...You mean it is?"

She shook her head. "No, it's nothing Allendis."

"If you say so."

They remained quiet. Though oddly enough, she didn't feel awkward in his presence.

"Hey princess."

"Yes?" She asked.

"You heard what those townspeople said right?"

How could she forget. Bolsung will invade Valhalla in a few days time. With the emperor being rendered politically impotent while the senate bicker among themselves, they had no feasible way for them to stop Bolsung from invading.

"We will just have to return to the empire quickly."

"I suggest taking a detour." He said.

She stayed silent at his suggestion.

"Bolsung can't be taken lightly Adelaide. That country has the best known warriors across the land."

"I know..." She said quietly.

"We can't afford to encounter their army this early on. All we can hope for is let the empire hold them off."

Adelaide turned to him. "True, Valhalla might have numbers but without a capable leader, those numbers becomes nothing."

"It also means nothing if their leader is dead."

She took his words into consideration. Both of have their pros and cons. Would she risk her life just to return to Valhalla and fight a losing battle? Or would she sacrifice the empire's veritable army so that she could return safely?

Of course she already knew her own answer.

His bored eyes looked at her. "So what do you have in mind?"

She began thinking. With all those factors in play, how could she turn the situation to her favor?

Their four great generals alone were monters on the battlefield, not to mention King Gunther who singlehandedly annihilated an army could prove to be their demise.

She needed allies. She needed to repel their forces with warriors of her own.

"We get help, from our neighboring countries." She said, resolution evident on her voice.

"Who do you have in mind?" He asked.

"Lombard and New Venetia. Me and their heirs were friends during our time in the academy." She said to him in a slightly melancholic voice.

'Friends...'

He noticed that she was a bit troubled but decided not to press further.

"You do your politics and I'll stick to my sword. It's better that way."

She smirked at his comment. "I wouldn't blame you, sometimes it's easier to deal with force than to coat your words with honey."

She heard him sigh, the first one in their travels. "Nobility is a complicated subject. Moreover, it's a pain to deal with nobles."

She pondered his words a bit. "Am I a pain to deal with then?"

"I prefer you than most nobles."

She became quite embarrassed at his words. How could he say such things with a straight face?

"I'm glad to hear those words from you." She smiled at him.

"You're glad? That's barely a compliment, princess." He looked completely stoic when he said that.

"Did you know? Mercenaries who talk back to nobility often got killed?" She glared at him playfully.

There was a long silence. It wasn't the first time this happened, if anyone wanted to hold a conversation with him, they would have to deal with his inordinate silence.

"Is that so?" He said to her.

For some reason, she felt that he took her words seriously.

She glared at him even more. "I was joking. Honestly, is it so weird for me to tell a joke."

"...Yes..." He quietly said.

"Goddess Osiris, help me..."

He remained silent. This interaction felt nostalgic somehow...

No. He had no time for this longing. She was different fro-

He heard a growl coming from his companion.

He looked at her. She avoided his gaze. For an entire minute, silence reigned supreme.

"I guess it is lunch time already, we could stop by the next town to eat."

The growl grew louder. "Yes... Let's." She hid her red face under her hood.

"I wonder if they'll have sweets there..."

"Oh that sounds lovely."

They finally arrived at the nearest town, the streets were filled with people wearing clothes, if one would like to call it that. Instead of the delicious food that aired on the last village, steel and iron were prevalent in the air. The cold nature of the place was noticable. They have finally entered Bolsung.

"Let's find an armory shop, we need to do something with your equipment."

"Why? What's wrong?" She was confused on what was the problem. She tried to keep her voice down when a few of the villagers took notice of them.

His pointed at her. "Because your equipment sucks. Your uniform wouldn't provide any protection and neither does that cloak."

True to his words, her red military uniform wasn't really what anyone called an optimal battle garb. It hardly has any armor and it was more designed for being fashionable.

"You also can't wear your tattered cloak, you'll catch a cold." He said to her.

"Fine, but I get to choose my armor."

He nodded and the two went to find an armory shop. After a couple of questioning, they finally arrived at an armory. It was a typical armory, with weapons and armors displayed for customers.

They walked up to the counter, they found a bearded man sleeping.

"Good afternoon, we're here to buy some equipment."

The bearded man suddenly jerked by his voice.

"Wha- what do ya want? Can't ya see I'm busy?"

Adelaide remained patient.

"We're looking for armor for this young lady. Do you have any recommendations.?" He asked politely.

The man scratched his head. "I have what ya lookin fer but what does the young lass prefer?" He asked while looking at her, most likely evaluating her frame.

"Heavy armor and a shield to go with it." She said to the owner.

The man was surprised, with her smaller frame he could have sworn she would use a light armor set.

"I'll check in the back if I can find what ya like."

When the owner was gone, Allendis looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Heavy armor?"

She sighed. "Is it so weird for me to use heavy armor?"

"Not really considering you use an axe. Still, he must've been thinking something else since you're so tiny." She still found a calm look on his face.

She glared at him heavily. "I'm not that small you know and besides, height is not the only quality I have."

"Mmm-hmm for someone so short you certainly have decent assets."

She wasn't really ashamed that her body, while isn't vertically developed, has grown to decent proportions, but she would not take such comment so lightly.

"You are very lucky that I'm surprised that you had a sense of humor, otherwise I wouldn't have forgiven you for that comment."

He felt slightly guilty, he definitely hit a sore spot for her. "...Sorry..."

She sighed in exasperation and moved on.

Moments later, the owner came back with a surprise.

"Well this beauty isn't the heavy armor that ya want but it gets the job done."

The gray armor was surprisingly well-crafted, it was filled with gold accents, and while the top half was armored, the lower half only has armored boots of similar color.

"Here. Ya need some pants to go with it too." The bearded man gave her a maroon tights and gloves.

"Go on try it. Ya can use the room in the back. " He said to the princess.

She nodded to him and went to change.

"So about the payment." The owner said to him.

"How much?"

The man began thinking. "Seven silver coins."

Seven silvers was equivalent to one gold and for just an armor set, that was a decent deal.

"Eight silvers and two bronze and I'll take the throwing axe and a new cloak."

"Deal!"

Allendis grabbed his pouch and coughed up the money.

A minute later, Adelaide got out of the room wearing her armor.

"I gotta admit lad, that is one beautiful lass ya got there."

Allendis remained silent at his jab

The man laughed at him, thinking that he was embarrassed. "Here. Ya asked for a shield too right?"

He gave her a thick triangular shield, the same color as her armor.

"Ya look like mighty warrior there lass. Gyahaha!"

She smiled at him, "Thank you for the armor." She said and bowed her head.

"It was a pleasure doin' business with ya!" The man waved at the odd couple.

She put her shield on her back alongside her axe and put on her cloak.

"How does it feel?" He asked.

She nodded, she was quite satisfied. "It feels nice.

"Good and as a bonus, here." He handed her a throwing axe.

"Oh! Why thank you." She said as she took the axe and inspected it. "I haven't used these in a while..."

"Still you remember how to use it then?"

"I studied at a military academy, Allendis." She stared at him blankly.

"...Fair point."

While they were walking down the street, they saw a bunch of people standing on a circle. They went to check what the fuss was all about and saw a minstrel sitting on a small stage lazily with his eyes closed, most likely waiting for enough audience, his thin frame and crooked nose under his pointed hat were the things Allendis recognized about the man.

"Fern Belly..."

Adelaide looked over him, "Who?" She asked him.

"Just wandering minstrel I met on my travel. The village must've hired him to raise their morale."

Fern Belly opened his eyes and looked around. He showed a smile, that of a performer as he stood up from his chair and greeted his sizable audience.

"Welcome, villagers of Baren Berry! I, Fern Belly promise to all of you that this day will be a memorable one! I will sing songs for you, so that this play will ve as lively as before. I will tell you the story of the Goddesses' Champions victory against the Dark God Isfet's Goetia. I will tell you the time when Queen Ramona sailed through the vast oceans of West Whirl. I will tell you the stories of the Three Kings' Journey to the unknown Dark Nation."

"Tell us the time when Lady Regina, walked over the moon! Or the time Lord Baldur climbed the tree that sent him to a different world!" One of the townsfolk told him.

Fern took out a blue ball and flicked it over the villager but instead of hitting her, the ball floated around her and swirled around her body.

"Later my dear, for now I will give you all the most interesting stories. The most beautiful of songs." He said as he grabbed his lute and started playing.

The villagers had smiles plastered in their faces. With what was hapoening in the world, Adelaide felt that they at least deserve to lighten up.

Allendis was beside her, silently watching the minstrel play his lute. In the crowd, he noticed a cloaked figure blended with them.

"Come one let's grab something to eat." He said, walking away from the crowd.

"H–hey! Wait up!" She called out as Adelaide followed.

While that was happening, the minstrel noticed the both of them and had an unreadable look on his face when he saw the black coat of Allendis.

Night came, they finished their meal in the Berry Inn and decided to rent a room for the night.

"It was a good thing the owner was okay with it. With all the festivities going on outside."

He turned to Adelaide. "Yeah, quite fortunate."

"Can you pass me the fire wood." He said while the fire place lit up.

A few moments later they sat near the fire place. The fire reminded her of her days a few months ago, when they would go out and went to military exercises and camped outside. The fun times. The peaceful time she had.

But time was changing and it was changing fast. Those peaceful days would one day be filled with grief, a temporary grief but grief all the same.

The flame was so bright and warm.

Just like the future she envisioned.

A future where no one would have to suffer. A future where every child would grow with their families. A future where one ruler saves them.

But for now, she was content. But why was she? She only just started...

It wasn't long before she fell into deep slumber. Allendis saw that she fell asleep and drape a blanket over her.

He noticed the air was a lot colder tonight. He felt it. Someone is definitely following them. What could they want? He stood up and grabbed his sword and went outside.

"So you came."

He saw a raven-haired woman standing in front of him. It was dark, with only the moon providing any light in the forest clearing.

As far as he could see, her cloak was on the ground revealing that she was wearing a light armor on top of battle dress that had slits on her thighs. Her white high boots clung to her thighs and her bicep long gloved hand gripped her sword loosely. Her fur cape draped over her shoulders like his jacket.

She was ready to fight.

"Draw your sword."

He looked at her unimpressed.

"Why should I?"

"Then stand there and be my training dummy."

He didn't budge, yet his hand was holding the pummel of his sword.

"I will tell you once more, draw your blade—?!"

He was already in front of her, she could've sworn his eyes glowed crimson when he attacked.

Fortunately, she was fast enough to parry his strike.

"I don't want to fight you..."

He pointed his sword in front of him. His eyes were as dead as a corpse.

"But it seems like it's the only way to get through to you. Don't blame me if I kill you."