THE WOLVES GERI AND FREKI indeed made the group’s travel faster than expected. In just a day, the group was almost halfway to the Arcanas Kingdom, probably even closer. They’ve got plenty of time, so Daisuke and his companions decided to slow down inside the forest where they could spend the night once the light is out.

“I don’t feel so good,” Jack said as he started puking again.

Jack has been unconscious the entire trip. It turns out that he had motion sickness, especially when things move too fast. It didn’t happen when they were at the sea, maybe due to elves being natural sea-farers, only when they were traveling on air, like flying on top of the giant eagles, and when riding the wolves.

“We’re already halfway to the Arcanas Kingdom anyway,” said Riku. “Should we continue on foot from here?”

“I have no problems walking,” said Daisuke as he dismounted from Freki. “Brunnhilde and Siegfried can stay on Freki if they want.”

Brunnhilde dismounted as well. “That won’t be necessary. I also like to get some exercise. I’ve been tied up for the last six months after all.”

“But Princess, a royalty must not—”

Brunnhilde scowled at Siegfried. “I will do as I please, okay? And stop with the ‘royalty this, royalty that’. Hmpf.”

At noon, the group ate the remaining ration they received from Torai back at Port Royale and the leftovers they had when they had a last dinner with the Traeuxian leaders.

“This is great, Raijin!” said Siegfried as he tasted Raijin’s cooking.

Raijin smugged. “I learned from the best dwarf.”

“Really? There are dwarves in Port Royale?” Brunnhilde asked as she gobbled Raijin’s pork stew.

“There’s one. His name is Boris.”

“His name sounds familiar,” said Siegfried as he finished eating.

“Well, ‘Boris’ is a common dwarven name.”

“Are there dwarves on the Drasgard Kingdom as well?” asked Riku.

“Yes. Drasgard is an open kingdom after all. Any race is welcome. But in the continent of Dragonheim itself, most dwarves live in Shasvartalfheim, or as they call it, Carnidavellir.”

“And what about this expedition? What were you supposed to do here in Aria anyway?” asked Daisuke.

Siegfried still had reservations about telling other people about what he and Brunnhilde experienced. He looked worried about Brunnhilde. He knows how strong-willed Brunnhilde was, but what they experienced was still just too much. He gazed at Brunnhilde, trying to see if she'll object. However, Brunnhilde simply nodded and smiled, giving him her approval.

In the end, Siegfried told the group about the expedition of Dragon Raiders, the official explorers of the Drasgard Kingdom, which was supposed to last for six to nine months. They were supposed to go around the Aria Continent and survey the continent’s shoreline and potentially meet new people that they could ally with.

* * * * *

Six months earlier, at the shores near Colosseum Empire, the Dragon Raiders decided to go inland to survey the shoreline, although it was just an excuse as they were all very fond of the coconuts that they decided to take as much as they could.

“Princess!” shouted Siegfried. “Please be careful!”

Brunnhilde was running on the sand barefoot and was merrily playing with the crabs the size of the coconuts.

A bulky man sighed. “Siegfried, never let the princess out of your eyes, okay? Odin will kill us all if anything happens to her.”

Siegfried sighed as well. “All I want is to be an einherjar like you, Torstein. Why do I have to baby-sit a royalty?” he complained.

The man named Torstein laughed. “That’s the King’s Guard family’s duty, Siegfried. Even your father Volstag is proud that Odin entrusted his daughter’s safety to your hands. Do not let your family and ancestors down.”

Siegfried didn’t need another lecture. He already knew about being a King’s Guard family and his duty. It was just him complaining, asking a rhetorical question. But sometimes, it was Torstein’s words that always calms him down.

“Siegfried! Look!” Brunnhilde shouted as the coconut crabs started climbing on her.

Siegfried panicked and quickly removed the coconut crabs from her.

“Hahaha!!” Brunnhilde laughed. “You're so uptight! Come on! More exploration to do!!”

“Princess! Wai...Ugh!” Siegfried ran after Brunnhilde as they went deeper inside the woods. They followed a river where mangroves were prolific. They saw weird insects buzzing around, a variety of colorful fishes swimming in the crystal clear water, birds-of-paradise singing and frolicking around, smaller crabs fighting for foods, toads resonating hypnotic sounds, and vibrations, and even crocodiles with their snouts wide open.

“Okaaaay. It’s time to go back, Princess,” said Siegfried as he unsheathed one of his swords in case the crocodiles spotted them.

“This place is really beautiful, don’t you think, Siegfried?” Brunnhilde responded as if she doesn't care about the crocodiles.

Growing in the icy continent of Dragonheim where the only greens were within some of the nine realms, Brunnhilde wished that she could stay in Aria forever. Two years ago, they went to the continent of Montagna, a continent filled with rocky mountains, sandy deserts, and bountiful oases. Now, she got another chance to leave the icy continent and reach the luscious land of Aria.

“I’ve read something in father's library that Aria is not always like this,” Brunnhilde continued. “Somewhere north is a rocky wasteland called Pit Valley. East was a poison-filled swamp where only venomous beasts survived. The thing that made most of the Aria what it is today was said to be the presence of the Yoralfars.”

“They’re just another race of elves with plant powers, Princess. That power is their only difference with the Ljosalfar who has light powers.”

“Perhaps.”

Siegfried and Brunnhilde walked back, but before they could reach the shore, they heard loud explosions.

The United Alliance appeared and shot down one of four Dragon Raiders ships. The raiders on that ship managed to abandon the ship and were immediately saved by the other raiders. However, many were severely injured, some didn't make it.

Torstein ordered his men to activate the remaining ships’ runic barrier and wait until the princess returned. The United Alliance soldiers went to the shore and attacked the raiders. The raiders valiantly fought back.

Brunnhilde and Siegfried arrived at the shore and witnessed the battle. Just a little over a hundred people were clashing on the beach, and they were practically behind enemy lines. Siegfried cannot risk crossing the battlefield with Brunnhilde.

Soon, more warships arrived and pointed their cannons towards the ships of the Dragon Raiders. The runic barriers managed to save the ships from being instantly annihilated, but they can only do so for a short time. With the force of the long-range cannons from the United Alliance warships, the runic barriers were slowly losing integrity.

“Siegfried, give me mana.”

“But Princess---”

“Give. Me. Mana,” her face was dead serious.

Siegfried decided not to argue. He was not a power- or magic-user, and he only needed mana when he needed to use his swords' special ability, so mana was of no use for him at that moment. He placed his hands just below Brunnhilde’s nape and made his mana flow towards her.

With enough mana, Brunnhilde wrote runic symbols on the sand.

“Princess! That magic is far too advanced! You'll only hurt yourself!”

“You want to be helpful? Give me more mana so I could sustain it!!” she scolded.

As she activated her magic, a dome of summery light covered the battlefield that served as a large-scale barrier that protected the ships from the United Alliance warships’ cannons. The summery light and breeze then healed the raiders’ wounds and invigorated them.

“Summer Magic?” Torstein whispered as he felt his strength coming back. He looked around and saw Brunnhilde and Siegfried far at the other side of the battlefield.

Brunnhilde fell on her knees, her nose started to bleed. “GOOOO! Leave us! We’ll meet at the last peninsula!!”

“Princess!!” Torstein shouted.

“Go now!!!”

The raiders were heavily outnumbered. And with Brunnhilde, feeling the pain of using advanced magic she wasn't used to, was slowly losing focus. The summer magic she used was slowly subsiding even with Siegfried giving continuous mana to her. Some of the United Alliance soldiers started to close in towards them.

“Siegfried! We’re coming!!” shouted Torstein.

He and his men still tried to go through the United Alliance soldiers, but there were just too many.

He saw Siegfried carry Brunnhilde and escaped deep inside the woods. As much as he hated it, Torstein decided to heed the princess’s command and ordered his men to return to the ships and hoped for the best.

Siegfried and Brunnhilde were being chased by dozens of soldiers, but they managed to lose them when the crocodiles from the mangrove trees attacked. He ran towards the cliff where he saw the Dragon Raiders ships manage to safely escape from the range of the United Alliance warships.

The raiders then activated the ships’ runic boosters and sailed faster away from the United Alliance.

“And the rest led to the Colosseum Empire,” Brunnhilde concluded. “We encountered predators, treasure hunters, and bandits until we reached a certain village and got caught by that empire’s army. They didn’t even listen to us. They just kept on calling us ‘barbarians’.”

“Rest assured that not all Colossans are like that, Brunnhilde,” promised Riku. “People from Traeux XII are very hospitable. And Aurelius has treated us well.”

“They still detained a princess. Just wait until the Dragon Raiders hear about this.”

“No.” Brunnhilde firmly said. “If they learned about what happened, they will blame you and you’ll be killed. And let’s leave that empire out of this. I’m sure we could make up something to explain to the Dragon Raiders.”

Daisuke and his friends didn’t meddle with whatever Siegfried and Brunnhilde would decide to or not do. But they all agreed that they no longer have any food and they must hunt for dinner.

* * * * *

As soon as they finished eating, the group set up a camp where they could sleep for that night. Jack was still weak due to his motion sickness and just lay down.

Daisuke and Raijin, as soon as they were well-rested, went deeper inside the forest to look for some deer or boar that they could hunt and cook. They spotted a herd of deer and tried to hunt at least two deer. When Daisuke was about to use his power to entrap a deer, the herd ran away.

“Oh, come on!”

“Why did they all run away?” asked Raijin.

From their left, they saw a group of bandits was chasing a woman with long pink hair. Daisuke and Raijin didn't waste time and cut the bandits from chasing the girl.

The girl looked back and stopped running when she saw Daisuke and Raijin.

“Stay back! Daisuke will protect us,” said Raijin to the girl as he distanced himself as well.

The bandits surrounded Daisuke. “And who are you supposed to be?” asked the bandit leader.

Daisuke activated his power to create two wooden arms. The bandits were surprised, thinking whether should they fight or flee. Without hesitation though, Daisuke charged towards the bandits and smashed them.

Two other women were hiding behind Raijin and the pink-haired woman. The pink-haired girl knew about them but just gestured at them. Stop. Stay hidden.

“Thank you for saving me,” the girl said. “I had it under control though.”

“Thanks for letting us help then. We couldn't simply stand there and do nothing.”

“If you don’t mind us asking, what are you doing inside the forest alone?” Raijin curiously asked.

The girl paused for a little while before answering. “I...I got separated from my friends. We are some novice treasure hunters.”

Daisuke and Raijin looked at each other. The girl looked too prim and proper to be a treasure hunter. Besides, they both disliked treasure hunters.

The girl saw the expression of the two. “But we’re not that kind of treasure hunter though. We do not trespass countries to steal treasures.”

“I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt,” Raijin suggested.

“Agreed,” Daisuke nodded.

“So, may we know your name? I’m Raijin Lee, by the way. And this is Daisuke.”

“It is nice making your acquaintance. I am Melody. Melody O. Sonnet.”