Chapter 01

As Kyouko was walking around the town she continuously looked around her surroundings. And she found a stand that sells skewered meat. Kyouko quickly approached the shop and asked the vendor.

"How much does one cost?"(Kyouko)

With a smile on his face the vendor quickly replied.

"Three hundred coru each young lady. If you buy five then you get one for free."(Vendor)

Kyouko took out her wallet and quickly noticed that she had nothing but gold coins inside. She took out a gold coin and gave it to the vendor and she asked.

"Will this be enough for five?"(Kyouko)

The vendor quickly nodded and he replied while showing a bright smile on his face.

"Yes that amount is more than enough."(Vendor)

Kyouko then turned around and noticed a young boy and girl the two were staring at the skewered meat in Kyouko's hand. Kyouko approached the two and she asked them while showing a bright smile on her face.

"Do you want one?"(Kyouko)

The two looked at each other and nodded. Kyouko then handed the two skewered meat to the two and she told them while continuing to show a smile on her face.

"My name's Kyouko what's yours?"(Kyouko)

The young girl looked at the boy with her and she said while showing a face that's completely bright red.

"I-I'm Fina and this boy is named david."(Fina)

Fina said as she pointed her finger at the young boy named david.

The girl named Fina had short golden hair that reached up to her neck, a pair of roundish amber eyes, and slightly pale skin. She wore a long blue gown and a pair of slippers made of straw. The boy named David had short grey hair, a pair of roundish eyes and brownish skin. He wore a red leather shirt and blue leather pants.

"Well... see you later."(Kyouko)

"Thank you Kyouko-oneesama."(Fina and David)

Kyouko waved her hands at the two and continued her walk towards the adventurer's guild when a group of men suddenly approached the two and one of them shouted.

"Return what you owe us you damn brats!"(Man 1)

Shouted the man while preparing to draw his sword, Fina accidentally drop the skewered meat that she was eating and quickly kneeling down she then pleaded to the man.

"Please give us some more time, I swear that I'll repay the debt that our father left."(Fina)

Fina grabbed the man's legs and continued her pleading. The man showed a displeased look on his face and he said.

"Our lord has grew tired of waiting, it's been three years since your father borrowed money from our lord. It was supposed to be returned after two years, but since your father unexpectedly died from his sickness he failed to repay the debt. And the contract also states that if he can't pay the debt by that time both of his children will belong to the lord as his servants."(Man 1)

Fina showed a pale look on her face after hearing the man's words. Kyouko stopped her movements and turned to the direction of the men where he heard a loud shout of one of the men.

"You're so annoying! How can you possibly pay the debt that your father left behind? Just accept the terms of the contract and become our lord's property."(Man 1)

The girl's face became pale for a moment and then another man said.

"I swear that I'll pay the money by next month."(Fina)

Fina said timidly, the man looked at her with an angered look on his face and he let's out a sigh and said.

"Personally I don't care whether you pay our lord or not. Either ways we still get payed for doing our work. But if it takes too long then our lord will get angry. That's why a week is all you're getting. Whether you like it or not you must pay the lord by that time."(Man 1)

"A-a week! I could never earn that amount of money in a week!"(Fina)

Fina showed a shocked look on her face after she heard the reply of the man. But his words didn't shown any signs of lying. And a few moments later people started to gather around them.

As Kyouko continued to observe the situation she overheard the conversation of the people in the surroundings and  they were murmuring.

"Those are the men of Viscount Bernard Valdelorios the current lord of the city it's best if we leave it alone."(Woman)

Those men seems to be working for the fuedal lord of this area, I know getting involved with them will only bring trouble for me later, but can I abandon those children? They have no family aside from each other, no parents or other relatives to take care of them. No I can't do such a thing, if I abandon people who were like me, then that means that I'm no different from those soldiers.

Despite knowing that getting involved with them will only bring nothing but unwanted attention Kyouko turn away and tried to walk away, but......

Showing a bitter smile on her face Kyouko forced herself to turn away, But when she turned to Fina she saw that tears are dripping from her eyes. Kyouko continued to look at Fina and David and she told herself.

How can I let them treat children like that? There’s no way I can let someone do such a thing. They’re also like me who has lost their loved ones so I understand it all. Their pain, loneliness, regrets, sorrow and sadness.

Kyouko then turned to the two and bit her lips. After regaining her composure Kyouko said to herself with showing a wry smile.

"I can't just stand here and watch, I need to do something right?"(Kyouko)

Kyouko realized that she can't just stand around and do nothing as the two children in front of her are being threathened by then lord's men. Kyouko clenched her fist and approached the group of men. She then tapped the shoulder of the man who seems to be the leader of the group and she said.

"Please reconsider, I"ll make sure that these two will pay their father's debt by the end of the month. So please give them some time."(Kyouko)

The leader looked at Kyouko with an angry look on his face. the man quickly drew his sword from it's scabbard and while aiming the sword at Kyouko and he shouted.

"Don't put your nose to where it doesn't belong! Interfering will only result in your death or are you willing to throw away your life for this girl that you bearly know?"(Man 1)

Kyouko smiled at the man and she said while placing her hand on the hilt of her katana.

"I'm not dumb as you think so I know my current situation. But I just can't bare the sight of fully grown men making a little girl cry!"(Kyuoko)

After hearing Kyouko's reply the man swung his sword towards Kyouko without showing hesitation,. But Kyouko quickly drew her katana from it's scabbard and moved it at lightning fast speed.

Clang!....

There was a sudden sound of metal clashing metal and when the man looked at Kyouko with a surprised look. Kyouko  easily managed to block his attack with the katana that Shirou gave her while moving at lightning fast speed. Afterwards she took a few steps back and returned her weapon to it's scabbard and changed her stance to a sword-drawing stance(Iaijutsu). The leader of the group looked at Kyouko with an angry look on his face and he shouted

“Are you trying to defy the lord of this town? Protect those two and you’ll suffer and lose everything that’s precious to you.”(Man)

After Kyouko heard the man's words she unconsciously showed a confident smile on her face as she maintained her sword-drawing stance. Kyouko then glared at the group of men and she shouted.

“Come at me with everything you’ve got. I’ve clearly made my decision and there’s no turning back, this matter can only be settled by the sword.”(Kyouko)

The man looked straight at Kyouko in the eyes and he said confidently.

"Oh? I see.... you're an adventurer aren't you miss? Judging from the way you blocked the attack it's safe to assume you're a C rank ,it would be better for you if you don't interfere. Or do you want me to tell the guild of your actions here?"(Man 1)

Kyouko smiled at him and said in a cheerful voice.

"No I'm not an adventurer. I knew that you're the men of the fuedal lord of this town. But that doesn't give you any rights to attack a person without a valid reason.(Kyouko)

Kyouko gave her reply to the man.

One of the men drew his weapon and ran towards Kyouko at full speed and he shouted.

"Shut up you brat a kid like you should learn their lesson"(Man 2)

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Kyouko easily dodged his attack by sidestepping to the right and she took a few steps back while maintaining her sword-draw stance.

“Surround her! No matter how fast she is if we limit her movements then it’s we can take her down.”(Man 1)

After hearing their leader’s orders the five of them surrounded Kyouko and they prepared to her attack in every direction, but Kyouko gathered some magical energy into her legs. After one of the men lunged towards her Kyouko quickly jumped vertically to avoid his attack, Kyouko then showed a surprised look on her face as she realized that she vertically jumped that exceeded 30 meters.

So Shirou-kun also gave me knowledge on how to properly use magical energy. That must have been the reason why I knew how to use magical energy. But I never expected this!

"How did she jump that high?"(Man 2)

Said one of lord's men while having a surprised look on his face.

Once Kyouko landed on the ground she felt a strange sensation coming from her katana and then she suddenly heard a mysterious voice and it told her.

"Chant these words and the spell you need to use shall be activated. Repeat after me my master."(?????)

Kyouko didn't know where the voice came from or who spoke those words, but she abandoned her thoughts and begun following the instructions of the voice and begun reciting the chant that the voice spoke.

Kyouko pointed her hands towards the men and then she said the words that she heard.

"Accept my magical powers and produce the miracles that I want to make [protection]."(Kyouko)

Then particles of light quickly surrounded Kyouko’s body and a few moments later a glass-like wall surrounded her body. Afterwards Kyouko continued to chanting the next spell that was told by the voice.

Afterwards the men started to swinging their swords towards Kyouko, but it had no effect and there was not a single crack on the glass-like wall that surrounded her body. Then after realizing that their attack is futile the men took a step away from Kyouko as she prepared to chant the next spell.

"Now use your mana to feed the sacred cloak with energy, If the cloak acknowledged you as it's master then it will answer to your summons. Now begin the chanting my master!"(????)

Said the voice that was inside Kyouko’s head.

Right now I have no idea on what I should do so it's best for me to follow his instructions, Isn't it strange?  Isn't when I begun fighting other people a mysterious voice suddenly comes to my rescue? Isn't this a bit too convinient?

One of the men looked at Kyouko with a serious look on his face as he took a few steps back. He clicked his tounge and he said.

"Tsk! She's a magician and she manage to cast [protection] an S ranked defense magic. Everyone be on guard!!!"(Man 3)

Kyouko pointed her hand to their direction and started chanting the spell.

"I ask you oh great spirit lend me your powers. Accept my power as the price for your service come forth [sacred divine cloak pegradon]"(Kyouko)

After Kyouko finished the chant small particles of light surrouded her body and a cloak made of fire and pure energy appeared. One of the men looked at Kyouko with a frightened face as he said.

"A sacred cloak? Isn't that something that can only be used after forming a contract with high ranked spirits that reside within the cloak, she spoke the name of the cloak and it was [sacred divine cloak pegradon] that's the legendary cloak which the spirit king of fire resides. That's should be impossible for a human girl!!!"(Man 1)

A clock made of fire and magical energy was made and the men started to act with caution but it was futile. The [sacred divine cloak pegradon] grants the one wearing it powers that surpass their current abilities. It multiplies the physical abilities of the user by a hundred times.

As the lord's men prepared to guard themselves against Kyouko's attack she instantly vanished and reappeared behind then within a single second.

Clang!....

Then the swords that the lord's men held in their hands suddenly shattered into small pieces. The lord's men quickly discarded the swords and drew another pair of swords as they stared at Kyouko.

The man who seems to be the leader of the group was surprised when his sword was shattered into pieces. He then said with a surprised voice.

"B-but how? this swords were made from ionaide the second strongest metal in the world?"(Man 1)

The other man said.

"Could the weapon in her possible a legendary weapon? Or could that weapon be made of mithril?"(Man 2)

 "Stop analyzing her weapon and continue atacking!"(Man 1)

After hearing their leader's command all of the lord's men quickly ran towards Kyouko at full speed.

The there are seven types of metal in this world. The rarest and sharpest of them all is mithril it's a type of metal that greatly absorbs magical energy which greatly increases the sharpness of the blade. This metal is often used to create a legendary weapon, But there are only a few people who can process this metal.

The second is known as ionaide. Though the difference between the two is great this metal is still several times sharper than regular materials.

The third metal is Rigia this kind of metal is known not because of it's strength but rather it's durability, It's said that this metal is as sturdy as mithril but it cannot be sharpened thanks to it's durability thanks to that only mages use it because of it's high magical properties which improves the strength of their spells.

The fourth is deorite a type of metal that's as hard as platinum but it's bad at conducting magic and it's sharpness is better than Rigia and it's also cheap so most of the adventurers use this metal for weapons instead of steel the fifth type of metal in this world. And it's quality is the same as those that were in earth. The sixth is copper and the seventh is bronze.

Gold, Silver, Diamond, Ruby and emerald are treated as treasures rather materials so merchants buy them at a very high price.

But the katana in Kyouko’s hands is made from something different it's made from mithril, Orichalcum and dark steel. It's also greatly enhanced every time it destroyed another weapon with magic flowing from it.

The five men all rushed foward towards ti attack Kyouko, but the barrier that's protecting Kyouko was too strong and the attacks they did were all in vain. As the five men continued swing their swords at Kyouko. As the lord's men continued their attacks Kyouko's body was suddenly filled with power. She then closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she  re-opened her eyes the movements of the men of the lord, the civilians along with Fina and David started to slowly started to slow down until their movements finally stopped.

Kyouko looked around the surrounding and no one was moving, she then timidly asked herself.

"What on earth is going on?"(Kyouko)

Kyouko stared at her surroundings for at least thirty seconds. No one was moving everyone around her isn't moving at all and she continued to stare at the people. She approached one of the lord's men and waved her hands in-front of the man, but there was no reponse then returned to her original position she then asked herself.

"Why haven't anyone more yet? It's been thirty five seconds."(Kyouko)

Kyouko continued to observe her surroundings and after twenty seconds she finally came up with a conclusion.

The reason why everyone wasn't moving is because time was stopped, I can't think of another reason why everyone stopped moving. I remembered that Shirou-kun told methat the vanguards gain powers from guardians. And it seems that mine is able to stop time. Or maybe it's the ability of someone else and I had a resistance to the abilities of others? But it doesn't look like that I have an ability that negates the effects of other abilities. So it must be an ability to stop time.

"Time froze? and it looks like that the only person who can move while time has stopped is me? I don't know how long can I stop time. So I should start things up by destroying their weapons. That way the lord's men will have no other way to attack me."(Kyouko)

After five seconds of thinking Kyouko decided on destroying the weapons of the men.

Clang!.... Clang!.... Clang!.... Clang!.... Clang!....

Kyouko ran towards them and striked their swords with a single blow each. She saw a crack on each sword which means that it will be destroyed when time resumes. She leaped back to her original position and readied she stance.

After that a total of a minute has passed and time has continued to move. At the same time Kyouko realized that she has the ability to stop time for at least a minute.

But I felt slightly tired after that all happened does that mean that stopping time puts a lot of stress on my body?

Does that mean that if I consecutively used this ability then I will lose more and more stamina?

When time resumed there was a loud sound of metal clashing against metal was heard. The man who seems like the leader was shocked and shouted.

"W-what happened? why is our weapons destroyed?"(Man 1)

Kyouko faced him while in a sword-draw stance then said while revealing a wicked smile on her face.

"Isn't that obvious it's because I destroyed them by using my katana. If you wish to continue then come at me with all you've got, that is if you're not afraid of death."(Kyouko)

Kyouko smiled at them while pointing her weapon at them. The man suddenly bows down to her and said.

"P-please don't kill us! We were only following our lord’s orders to collect the money."(Man 1)

Kyouko let’s out a sigh and she said.

"I have no intention of killing you."(Kyouko)

The lord's men looked at Kyouko with a surprised look on their face. Kyouko then returns the katana to it's scabbard and approached the leader of the men and she asked.

"How much  do they owe the lord?"(Kyouko)

The leader of the group looked at Kyouko with a serious look on his face as he said.

"A hundred thousand Coru."(Man 1)

Kyouko showed a bitter smile on her face as she looked at the five men while failing to hide her irritation,

Said one of the men while showing a wry smile. Kyouko then took her wallet from her pocket and took a few gold coins and she handed them to the leader.

"Here's the hundred coru that these two children owe the fuedal lord of this town."(Kyouko)

Shirou-kun seems to have added a large quantity of money to the original money that I originally had in my wallet.

Kyouko handed the leader of the group twenty gold coins that valued ten thousand core for each piece, One of the men showed a surprised look on his face as he asked Kyouko.

"Why are you giving us this amount miss? Isn't it a bit too much"(Man 3)

Then Kyouko turned to the leader of the group and she said while showing a serious look on her face as she was releasing bloodlust.

"The other ten gold coins is for the five of you to keep quite on what happened today. If you ever break this agreement then I will find you and I'll make you regret making that mistake."(Kyouko)

The leader of the group bowed at Kyouko as Kyouko placed the coins to his hand. With a pale look on his face as he said.

"I-I'm so sorry for the trouble miss so please forgive us"(Man 1)

Then after that the five of them left and Kyouko walked up to David and Fina and she asked the two.

"So what will the two of you do now?"(Kyouko)

Fina loked at Kyouko with teary eyes. She wiped her eyes with her right hand and she showed a slightly forced smile at Kyouko and she said.

"We don't know, but thank you for helping us, If it weren't for you the two of us would have been made into slaves. So please allow me to thank you."(Fina)

Fina bow's down at Kyouko and she told her while showing a truly sincere smile on her face.

"Is there anything I can do to repay you Kyouko-oneesama?"(Fina)

Kyouko smiled at the Fina and david then she said.

"Then would you guide me to the adventurer's guild?"(Kyouko)

The two nooded and looked at Kyouko with a bright smile on their faces as they said.

"Yeah"(David and Fina)

And Kyouko’s journey to the adventurers guild continues.