| Euphoria, Gundian Empire, Town of Jublee, Three years ago |

—GUSH

Blood pours onto the floor as three men look in horror at a small girl in front of them.

"Help…me…" A corpse starts to crawl forward toward his comrades as a piece of intestine is the only thing connecting his upper body to his lower waist.

"AAAH!" The men turn around and run towards the edge of the alleyway while screaming in panic.

The young girl licks the tip of her blade as she gives a wistful glance at her running captives.

"Aww… I hate when they run."

—Thump Thump

"We need to get out of he—"

The man running alongside his comrades looks toward his side and sees two headless bodies heave to the ground. His teeth start to chatter as he turns to the front of him, where two heads lay, their eyes turn upward as if they're beckoning for help.

"GAAAAH! I'M SORRY!" The man's distressed expression reflected in the multiple windows he maneuvered past in the small space.

—Thump

"AAAH!" He falls to the ground as he reaches for his left shoulder. Blood starts to spew from the gash created by his missing arm.

"I don't know why you're all so surprised… I mean… If I were a child trafficker, I'd be delighted that a young girl like myself is putting me out of my misery."

She walks over to the man squirming in his own fluids. His eyes shift as he's loomed over a childlike figure with a menacing grin.

The young girl lifts the blade up and plunges it into the man's missing arm socket.

"GAAAAAH!" He screams as he holds onto the blade, trying to remove it from his body with his hand. His palms start to form cuts from the blade as blood runs down his fingers.

"Come on now… I only had a quick question to ask…."

The girl bends down and caresses the man's cheek while tears and snot running down his chin.

"Where the hell is your—"

—BOOM

A large explosion interrupts her interrogation. A large cloud of smoke puffs into the air above the alleyway's buildings and covers the sky.

"THEY'RE COMING!"

"RUNAWAY!"

The girl looks at a crack through the alleyway and sees a large swarm of people run frantically through the city streets.

"The hell is going on.."

She looks upward then back towards the man.

"Stay here—"

The girl looks down as the man's eyes tilt toward the back of his head with his mouth wide open.

"… Died of shock."

She drops the bloodied sword and walks into the bustling city streets.

"AAGH!"

A man's back is shredded in front of her as a speck of blood is dashed on her cheek.

She turns her head, and a group of individuals in silver armor looks down toward her.

"A kid… Do we kill her too?" One of the knights looks over to his comrade.

"I've got a younger sister at home… I couldn't sleep at night if I start killin' children."

The two knights walk past the girl as the shadows cast by their figures hide her widened eyes, looking at the devastation in front of her.

Large fires engulf the town in the distance as groups of knights murder groups of citizens.

"W-what's going…."

She starts to back away into the alleyway.

—Clang

Her body stiffens as she turns around and looks up at a lady with short silver hair.

The lady whistles looking back at the corpses, then turns towards the young girl.

"Quite the killing spree…."

The girl clenches her teeth and jumps to the side of the knighted lady, picking up her sword as she tumbles.

The knight turns around as a blade's edge is in the vicinity of her left pupil.

The silver-haired woman clasps the sword between her palm and breaks it in half. The pieces of the sword shatter to the ground.

The girl jumps to the ground and leaps away, staring down her opponent.

"You're pretty fast for a half-pint." The knight drops the rest of the sword to the ground

"Looking at your clothes, you aren't supposed to be in these parts… Runaway from home?"

The girl looks towards the dead carcasses then back to the knight.

"These men tried to take away from the castle and sell me… I think that death was quite merciless for scum like them."

"Ah, I see."

The girl's eye widens as the knight disappears from sight.

"… You're quite special. I think you should come with me."

Before the girl could react, she feels a powerful blow on the back of her neck. She falls to the ground turning to the knight's content smile.

. . .

"You're positive she's the King's daughter."

"Don't question me. I know a noble when I see one."

The girl wakes up in a daze and looks at her surroundings. She glances around to see a small wooden room with three knights sitting at a table.

—CRACK

A large thunderstorm is heard in the distance with pouring rain.

"If this is true, this makes things a lot simpler for us. We may just be able to storm the main city and demand to see the King."

The girl shifts around, but the tight rope restricting her to a wooden seat doesn't allow her to stir free.

"I see our captive is awake!"

The silver-haired knight from before turns around in her chair.

The other knights at the table look at the girl as well.

"If you know who I am, then you better let me go." The girl uses her teeth to dig a chain out of her shirt. A red pendant encased in a golden metal vessel shines as it falls to her chest.

"I'm part of the Mono family. It'll be wise to let me go before you cause too much trouble for yourself."

The two knights laugh as the silver-haired woman got up from her chair. She bends down and looks into the girl's eye.

"Since you've given your introduction, let me give ours."

She gestures behind her to the black-haired knight sitting with his arms crossed. "That's Juo…"

She then uses her other hand to point her thumb at the brown-haired female sitting across from him. "That's Mika…"

At last, she points to herself and smiles. "I'm Calina. We're currently a part of the brigade of soldiers that's taking down your nation city by city."

The girl's eyes widen as she opens her mouth as if she was going to speak.

"So, what's your name."

The young girl clenches her teeth as she looks to the side.

"… Iyuna."

. . .

"Are we almost there yet…" Juo's armor clanks as he moves through the dense forest.

The ground beneath them was moist and damp from the rain covering the area just a few hours ago.

"Not yet… Wait, I lied." Calina stops on a cliff and gazes towards a large city with broad gray stone walls.

"FINALLY!" The male drops Iyuna to the floor and stretches his arms into the air.

"Ew!" Iyuna squirms while her dress and face get muddied from the damp dirt on the ground.

"W-whoops, sorry." He picks up the girl and wipes a bit of mud from her cheek.

"Be careful with the cargo!" Mika drives a fist into the knight's head.

"GAH! No need to hit me!" Juo rubs the back of his head while glaring at his comrade.

"Enough. Let's get moving." Calina jumps down from the cliff, and her companions follow.

"What's a group of mercenaries want with Gundian Empire anyway… We're a simple trading nation."

The male falls to the vast plains below the cliff, his armor clanks as he stands tall.

"Uh… Are we allowed to discuss this type of stuff with our captive?" Juo looks over to Calina, walking forward.

Calina gives a dismissive wave of her hand as she looks into the air.

"Alright, so, apparently, your father is hiding some pretty powerful magic scrolls or whatever, or job is to come to see if the rumors are true." He gives off a faint smile then looks forward.

"My father? Oh please, all he cares about is liquor and bargains. He couldn't care less about magic. In fact, he loathes it ever since it killed my—"

The girl stops and looks to the ground while clenching her binding ropes.

"Er… Well, magic is kind of changing how wars unfold around the world. Anyone with one of these parchments could decimate an entire army in seconds." The male adds while continuing to stride forward.

"We've seen it before," Mika adds while walking close to her male companion. "Large waves of fire crashing to the ground. Floods leveling entire cities, I mean, it's quite the spectacle."

"…And according to our sources, your daddy's made an enticing offer to the Bostax Empire and got his hands on one of the scrolls." Calina looks back to the three gossipers then faces forward.

"For your sake, Iyuna, I hope you're right about him not having one." She licks her lips while giving a sly grin.

"Because things might get a bit… Complicated."