OK fiiiine. I'll still post here, though.
Note that you can go ahead and steal the quotes at the end of my chapters.
They were by me and they're there because *SPOILERS SPOILERS* but yeah.
You can go ahead.
Ugh dang.
Part 1
The boy's heartbeat began to race.
The girl who his general called a kind and gentle lady was nowhere to be found.
In the first place, he didn't understand why she was labeled as a criminal.
Perhaps her circumstances were simply too unlucky?
He had punched Yalan's face as soon as he entered the room and saw what his colleague had done.
Yalan had beaten all of the girl's adopted daughters.
He had even ripped off the wings of one of them.
The poor ones, they can't even raise screams anymore...
The girl slowly turned to Yalan, who the boy punched.
"These children are under my protection."
The entirety of the girl's countenance changed.
Her gentle, almost immaculate smile disappeared.
Her eyes were a bit narrowed, as if she was sleepy.
At that instant, he felt as if the temperature in the room dropped.
Is this why she was feared as the "Flame Princess", he wondered.
Strange... shouldn't it be rising...?
Then... this must be caused by someone else.
Who is it?
The Flame Princess has a helper?
The girl nonchalantly extended her hand to the man, but she didn't even look at him.
As if in a trance, the man naturally handed over his blade to her.
She solemnly traced her delicate fingers on the body of the blade, giving it a glow similar to moonlight.
"You shall take responsibility. Accept your punishment."
The guards around the man took action, ready to stop her.
Why?! Stop! The man looked around him.
They were moving to stop her.
To apprehend the criminal about to attack one of their own.
But are her actions not justified?
And so, the man made his decision.
He brandished his spare knife and stood by her.
This isn't fair.
This is injustice.
He thought.
But it turns out he wasn't needed at all.
The girl swung cleanly, beheading two of who were once his "comrades".
He struggled to ignore the fear in his heart.
When a man swings his blade, he does so with the ferocity enough to kill--
and it is shown in his face.
But in the girl's face, he saw none of that.
Nothingness.
He saw nothingness.
It was cold.
It was blank.
Part 2 - His Point of View
The girl moved as if she was dancing.
The cell was dark and devoid of any light, but her graceful form looked illuminated as she cut the guards apart.
She gouged out their flesh to rend their arms and broke their bones, stopping them from standing up.
Needless to say, I was speechless.
A dozen of the country's finest men were easily taken down.
By a maiden, no less.
If she were a warrior, it would be understandable.
But she was a lady.
Are we really so incompetent?
I couldn't help but think as I cut down one of the knights.
Soon, the dozen or so knights that surrounded us were no more.
Trash
I heard her murmur.
Soon, we heard the loud echoing of footsteps.
"We're escaping!" I shouted at the girl.
"...Very well." The girl responded without even looking at me, nodding once.
She carried the one with yellow hair and the one with black hair in her arms.
Then for the first time, she looked at me. ...A little bit awkwardly.
"...Will you help me carry my children, boy?" Her eyes looked determined.
It was as if she would carry them herself if I declined.
She must've realized that I am helping her, though, as she whispered a "Thank you."
As I carried the rest of her children.
Darn toddlers... what has she been feeding them, they're heavy...
"Follow me, I know a secret way out."
I told her.
She nodded once again.
As we ran, I noticed something.
"...Hey, you should lea--" I stopped myself from talking as she glared at me coldly.
In her hand was the wings of the demon child, folded carefully to make it easier for her to carry.
"...Have it your way. Turn right here, I know where your friend is."
The hallways were lit by torches.
As we passed, each one of them died out, as if fearing the girl's presence.
Because of this, the hall had gotten considerably darker, making it harder for the knights to come after us.
The halls were wide and had many corridors, but they must know that this girl, Alice will head to rescue her friend.
The rine girl.
We turned to the left and rushed deeper into the knights' headquarters.
As soon as we reached the end of the hall, reaching her friend's cell, she used the built up momentum to crash the blade into the lock, directly breaking the steel bars.
...I'm pretty sure my sword is made of iron.
Did she strengthen its blade with magic or something?
Amazingly, the girl's arm was fine and it had a whitish glow around it, as if enchanted by a holy power.
So the flame princess is a creator and a caster? That's pretty amazing...
The rine girl, Lyra had her arms chained upwards, leaving her chest hanging.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I'd stare, but Alice's gaze was sharp and rather terrifying.
It was still covered, however.
...A bit of a shame, that--
Lyra had blank eyes and she was drooling.
It seems that she had fainted with her eyes still open.
I recognize those symptoms, however.
"Worry not. She was just forced to take a drug that makes her tell the truth.
It has no other side-effects except for... what you see now." I assured her.
"I see." She nodded as she heaved a relieved sigh.
...I saw her before all this mess.
She had a mysterious but charming smile.
Her face now... is nothing like that.
We enter the cell.
Unexpectedly, there was someone on the ground.
"...Nide." Alice whispered.
He was covered in bruises and bleeding all over.
...It seems he tried speaking for her, eh?
Poor kid.
It looks like it didn't end well for him.
I smacked him awake as I performed minor healing magic on him while Alice removed the rine girl's bindings.
"...That glow... you can cast healing magic?"
Alice eyed me, but I didn't understand the meaning of it at all.
"...I know at least this much." I said with a wry smile.
"Maiden of forgiveness,
o goddess of purity!
Rewind the clock of time,
save your suffering servant!
Mend!"
Naito's eyes shot open as he got up and almost punched me, thinking I was one of those scumbags.
I caught his fist as it came slower than a shearkin's strike.
"...Gerald. I-I mean... C-Cap--" Naito smiled as he realized it was me.
"...Mm. We'll explain the situation better later, but for now we need to escape.
Little missy here is now a legitimate criminal. Other than her, on top of that most-wanted list is you, that rine and these cubs. Of course, that includes me. Heheh."
I grinned.
"..." Alice quietly pointed at the rine girl with her head, prompting Naito to carry her.
Ignoring me, eh?
I handed Naito one of the kids, as well.
The brown haired cutie with the tail.
Alright... that lessens the load on me.
"Before we leave, we have to take Reu with us. Maybe a few others, too..."
I had to tell Alice now as she'll be in too much of a rush later.
"...As long as they can be trusted."
She looked like she didn't even care.
Oh well.
Less troubles for me~
Part 3 - His Point of View
After we left the rine girl's cell, I led the two of them around the hall.
I had pulled a torch down, causing a mechanism to trigger and open up a secret path for us to move in.
Naito looked suspicious with furrowed brows.
Looks like he didn't know about this path.
Inside, we heard the roaring, vulgar laughter of men.
After we all went inside, I pulled a lever from the inside, causing the path to close.
After listening intently, we heard the loud thundering of footsteps from the outside.
The knights were still probably looking for us.
"Oi oi! We've got trouble, boys!" I shouted loudly.
Causing the men gambling to scramble to their feet.
There were six of them in total.
"..., Kailu. Even you, Ryan... what are you doing in a place like this?" Naito looked at his friend, Ryan with questioning eyes.
Oho. He knows quite a lot of them in here.
"Uhh... erm... I can explain..." Ryan's eyes swam as he looked for an excuse.
Alice looked annoyed and interjected.
"Enough."
She spoke loudly, as if she was a queen making her proclamation.
Well, she's a princess in a way, I guess...
"I am Alice. Some of you may know me as the flame princess.
I... have killed a man--"
"Pffft!" I couldn't help but stifle a laugh as I heard her spoke.
She stopped midway and glared coldly at me.
"...Killed a man? It wouldn't be lying if you said you killed an entire legion, girl...
Say it this way,
Those of you who wish to betray your country and fight for me... step forward."
At my words, she looked down on the ground.
That's right.
She didn't want to bring them into this, eh?
...I knew this girl was good.
Fine, then.
"Alright, ladies. Listen up.
This here lady is Alice Icelance.
Not only was she framed as a murderer of a princeling, when the suspicions were cleared, her adopted daughters had been tortured to near death.
One of them, a demon child even had her wings ripped off.
Upon exacting vengeance, although a bit rashly--"
Hey, don't glare at me. I'm helping you.
"--she is now a wanted criminal charged of murdering several knights of this city and it is likely that she is also wanted by the kingdom."
At my words, all the men in the room stood up straight.
Alice seemed on edge.
She's misunderstanding something, ain't she?
Everyone else apart from her and Naito seemed to have understood exactly what's going on.
"Which is why we're betraying this blasted kingdom to help her escape."
I have never been this excited in my life.
"Apart from ranking, all general orders are to be issued by her. Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
Simultaneously, we saluted at our new leader.
"I, Gerald Flameblade, Captain of the assassins division salute you! Shadow Corps! We're moving out!"
"Understood!"
Ah, the simultaneous calls of these women have never sounded so manly.
"We are the weak.
So we fear.
Which is why we are powerful.
We learn from fear."