After a long trip that felt like seconds, we finally arrived at a certain location, not too far away from Veldonia. When the carriage stopped, we stepped out of the carriage, but the princess and I were still busy talking.
We didn't realize that the captain of the knights is already standing in front of us, waiting for us to notice him.
"Ah! So, you managed to tier it up just by not using it?"
"Precisely. By not using it, the magic energy will become more and more condensed and purified."
"That's so cool, I have never heard about that method before… maybe I could--"
"... Ekhem!"
The captain had to clear his throat really loud, and the two of us finally turned to face him.
"Who are you?"
I casually asked, making the knight captain even more annoyed.
"W-Who am I?! Who are you, talking so casually with the princess!?"
"Sir Egile, calm down. This is Rize, the Saint healer. Do you want to piss off the person who saved my mother?"
Captain Egile of the knights. He turned his confused and shocked gaze at me, and I simply placed my hands on my hips. He quickly panicked and bowed slightly at me.
"A-Apologize for my ignorance... There has not been a word of the saint healer in a long time, and I have never seen her in person before."
"Relax, I hid myself for a reason."
The guy stood straight again and looked at the princess. He bowed and lifted his hands that were pointing towards a camp in the distance.
"This way, please."
Captain Egile led the way as we followed. Everyone else from my team also followed as we entered a large knights camp.
Inside the camp are a few knights, possibly the high ranking knights that will be contributing in this whole business. There's a large table placed in the center of the room, with papers, maps, and books stacked above them.
This is like a temporary war room. Considering the situation, it might as well be one.
"Wait, where is the village?"
Fran asked after we entered, and the knight on my left answered.
"The village is nearby. It will only take a slight walk to reach. Don't worry, we have knights there on guard."
We turned to the captain, and he seemed to be standing so seriously right next to the table.
"Apparently, what you adventurers reported was true. The chief was meddled by the Veldonian nobles, but he rejected all the offers to sell his village to the Veldonian. In the end, he got assassinated, leaving only his daughter."
Captain Egile said while placing his hands on the map.
"And… where is this daughter?"
I remembered the villagers from before said that the sole survivor is the daughter. So I went ahead and asked that, and he nodded.
"At a church in the village."
"I see. What is the situation now?"
After asking that, I noticed the princess turned her smiling gaze at me, and I got confused as to why she did that. She then immediately turned her face away and turned back to the captain.
"Right. We talked with some people in the village, and they said things have been going really spicy lately.
A few days ago before the chief was murdered, some knights came to threaten the chief, only to get scared out of the village by the mob of angry villagers.
And just now, a group of knights approached the village again, but seeing that the village was crawling with our soldiers, they turned back immediately."
"Hmm, so they are already acting."
"Yes… And we are waiting for the next command."
Captain Egile said and turned to the princess. Lescia ponders for a while, and decides what the proper move will be.
"For now, the only proper move is to do as many peaceful approaches as possible. Do we have a messenger?"
She asked, but the captain nodded awkwardly.
"Y-Yes, but to send a messenger is like sending him to die… You know the situation now."
"We just need to send a letter to the king, and let him understand that these people are the people of Mazino. He must not touch them.
I will write the letter myself, you guys will have to figure out how to send the letter."
"Hmm… that could work. But, what if the king doesn't accept what's in the letter? Or maybe if he didn't read it at all?"
"... Then, we might be looking at a war with the Veldonians."
The whole room became silent immediately, and everyone quickly imagined what a war would look like.
We are already at the verge of a great war with the demons, so having a civil war with the Veldonians is the last thing we need. If a war truly breaks out with Veldonia… then things might not work out well for Mazino in the future.
No matter what, we have to try and take the peaceful way first. And if things don't go the way we wanted… then it's endgame.
Everyone knows about this, and so do I. And yet, I don't feel scared at all.
I'm… feeling confident, today.
I clapped my hands really loud, and everyone was startled.
"We have two White ranked adventurers in the room! Let's send them as the messengers."
""What??""
Fran and Cane replied shockingly at the same time at my suggestion, and I grinned at them.
"That's a great idea! You two are strong, then you may be able to send the letters."
The princess supported me and also grinned evilly next to me towards her cousin and Cane.
"W-Wait, Lescia..."
"Don't worry, cousin. If they hurt you, then the kingdom won't stay put!"
Hearing that the princess already had her mind set, Fran can only let out a sigh while the princess walks out from the camp.
"I will be at the carriage if anyone needs me."
She closed the curtain and went back to the carriage. Fran and Cane let out a long sigh, while captain Egile suddenly burst to laughter and turned to me.
"You are interesting, adventurers! To think the princess was so fond of you!"
"Yeah, Rize… You may not know this, but she doesn't usually talk that much with just anyone."
Fran moved forward with a really intrigued expression. Meanwhile, I stared at her blankly.
"You still need to send the letter."
""And who's fault was that!?""
Fran and Cane replied at the same time again with glares much hotter than before. I simply lifted my shoulders to fend off the heat.
"I was saying, the princess usually doesn't act that casual in front of anyone. To get her that close to you, you might be very interesting to her."
Egile continued. He seemed to be more friendly too, now that the princess is away. I guess I can be friendly as well.
"Well, that depends on what kind of shitty people I am dealing with. If they are good to me, then I am good with them."
"Though… your words are really blatant… I'm scared you will be a bad influence for her…"
"Then it's a good thing I have my shit personality hidden!"
PLAK!!
Fran slapped me in the face for saying too many bad words before we continued with the planning.
"Me and that jackass there will be delivering the letter to the king, but you need to watch us from afar. Got it?"
"Who are you calling jackass!?"
Cane shouted from behind Fran, while I simply nodded with Hod's ice crystal on my cheek. She slapped really hard, I lost a tooth.
The plan was made. Fran and Cane will go to the kingdom's entrance and send the letter through a knight at the gate. And just to be cautious, I will be in the skies watching over them. If things go south, I can just destroy the entire kingdom.
I'm kidding. I won't destroy it…
…
Yet.
.