When Serena still didn't know about her [Weapon Crafting] skill, she found a secret letter from a prince from a neighboring kingdom.

His name was Damian Grey, the second prince from Avalonera kingdom. He was looking for support, promising appropriate rewards if they were willing to help him become the next king.

Serena saw this as a good opportunity. If she played her cards right, she could make both the human kingdom of Samalanra and this prince's kingdom fight each other. It didn't matter who won. If they both lost their military power, it would be a win for her.

So, even though his father wasn't interested in corresponding with this prince, Serena secretly tried to make a connection with him. This led to the moment when she saved him from a group of knights chasing him, which led to the problem she was facing right now.

She was invited to a private meeting with her father, the king of the elves, and an elder named Galadriel something something. The elder's name was hard to remember, and Serena didn't care enough to look it up.

He was supposed to be a few hundred years old, yet he still looked young. Well, young for his age at least. His appearance was probably around 40 years old for a human, but he was grumpy exactly like an old man.

"Don't you know what you have done?" the elder said. "You're helping a traitor, a rebel leader! Our hands are already full dealing with Samalanra's attack. What if Avalonera decides to attack us too because of this?"

Serena was already prepared. She had predicted that her actions would be questioned, so she had some counterarguments ready.

"Well, we can use him to make a deal with the Avalonera kingdom, right?" Serena said. "If we return him to his kingdom, we can ask for a reward or something. It's not like we're openly saying that we're supporting their second prince."

"You already attacked their knight!" the elder said.

"You would have attacked them too if I didn't do anything," Serena said. "I believe that's the rule, right? Any human that enters our land without permission will get attacked right away."

"Well, that's true," the king said.

"But you saved the prince!" the elder said. "They already know that you and he were allies!"

"We can just say that we recognized him, so we decided to take him as a prisoner instead or something like that?" Serena said. "I mean you can't just kill a prince from a neighboring kingdom, right? Even if they are criminals."

The elf king nodded his head. "That could work," he said.

"No, my king. Don't get swayed by this crazy girl's idea," the elder said.

"Elder," the king said, "while I admit Serena is a little eccentric, she's still my daughter. You'd better watch what you say."

" I'm sorry, my king," the elder lowered his head.

Serena smiled. Finally, some justice.

"But if we're going with this plan, you must be the one responsible for it," the king said. "I will send a message to the Avalonera king, explaining the situation. After we get their reply, you will escort the prince back to his own kingdom."

"I get it -- I mean, I understand, father," Serena said.

The king then said, "Good, then go and prepare now."

Serena nodded and left the room. But before she walked away, she could still hear their voices.

"I still think this was a bad idea, my king," the elder said.

"I know," the king replied. "But we will see."

So her father didn't really believe her either? That's annoying. But whatever. She just needed to show him a stunning result, and then he would finally realize how brilliant she is.

She walked out of the building and saw her friends waiting outside.

"Hey, look, the princess is finally out!" Talia said, grabbing her twin sister's arm.

"I know, stop grabbing my hand," Salia complained. "It hurts."

Serena smiled and walked toward them.

"Princess, are you okay?" Talia asked.

Serena nodded. "I'm okay, don't worry."

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"So what did they decide?" Altea asked, still looking worried. "They didn't punish you or anything like that, right?"

Serena shook her head. "Even better," Serena said. "My father told me to escort the human prince back to his kingdom."

"You will come personally?" Altea asked.

"Yes, that's what my father decided."

"Oh, can we come too?" Talia asked.

"If you want to," Serena replied.

Talia and Salia traded glances with each other, nodded, and said, "Of course, if you're going, we will be going too, princess!"

"I'm relieved then," Serena said. "I don't think I can handle it alone."

Altea smiled. "When are we going, princess?"

"I'm not sure yet," Serena replied, "but it could be as soon as tomorrow."

"Then we better prepare," Altea said.

"Yes, let's bring a lot of food!" Talia said.

"We're not going for a walk. Take it more seriously!" Altea scolded her.

"I know," Talia pouted. "But food is important, right? I mean, it's going to take some time to reach there, right?"

Altea sighed. "Fine, let's pick up some food then. Are you coming too, princess?"

"Yes, but wait for a moment."

Serena went back to her room, picked up her bag, which was a special bag that had been expanded 100x times using elf magic, a perfect companion's tool for her skill [Weapon Crafting].

The only problem was she was lacking more variety of materials. If only she had a chance to go to the dwarf kingdom and buy materials there, she could craft whatever weapon she wanted.

She pushed that thought away and went back to her friends. She might not be able to make more variations of guns right now, but at the very least, she needed to stockpile material to create bullets for her guns.

***

Few days later, Serena walked towards the green carriage parked outside the gate. Talia looked excited, while her sister kept an eye on the human prince beside her. Altea was already there too.

"Are you ready to go, Princess?" Altea asked.

Serena nodded and glanced at the two guards on horses beside the carriage. Due to the conflict with the Kingdom of Samalanra, they could only afford two guards for her.

She sighed, a little disappointed. Even if they lacked manpower, she was still a princess, wasn't she?

"Is something wrong, Princess?" Altea asked.

"Nothing," Serena said. "Alright, let's go."

She entered the carriage, followed by Altea, then the prince and finally the twin.

Serena sat with Altea on her side, while the twins sat on the opposite side, with the prince in between them. Their job was to keep an eye on him.

The carriage started moving.

Talia looked outside and seemed excited. Probably because this was the first time for her to go out to another kingdom.

"Don't get distracted," Altea reminded her.

"I know," Talia said, pouted.

The prince laughed, "Don't worry, I won't do anything."

"Yeah, right," Altea said, "As if we can trust you."

"Hey, I'm not the one betraying my ally," he replied. "Unlike you guys. I thought you guys were on my side."

"Don't blame us. I had no problem working with you," Serena said. "But you're just a burden now. There's no benefit at all in being your ally."

"Burden, huh? Fair enough," he said.

Serena stared at the tired-looking prince. She kind of felt bad for him, but right now, her kingdom's survival was more important.

Their first day passed quite smoothly. There were no real problems on the road and when night fell, they decided to set up camp near a clear-looking river.

"I will get us some fish!" Talia said, running towards the river with excitement.

"Hey, that's dangerous..." Altea sighed.

"Just let her be," Serena said. "She must be bored after sitting in the carriage for so long."

"But she's forgotten about her job already," Altea complained.

"I'm still here," Talia said. "I will make sure I won't let him out of my sight." She promised as she glanced at Prince Damian.

"I told you guys already, I won't do anything," the prince said. He sounded genuine, but the more he said it, the more Serena became suspicious.

Unfortunately, she didn't really see how he could run away from them. Serena had heard that humans can use magic too, and it was different from the magic used by elves. So, he might use magic then?

Still, they outnumbered him. It wouldn't be that easy.

"Please watch him properly," Altea said. "Your sister was useless, so I can only rely on you."

Salia blushed a little. "Okay," she said, looking happy.

Altea then started to prepare dinner. Not long after, Talia came back, with a huge grin and some fish in her hand. She was wet too, probably because she hadn't used a fishing rod and instead caught them by hand. "That's kind of impressive, actually," Serena noted.

Talia sat close to the bonfire, trying to warm her body. While Serena picked up her small handgun and looked over the menu, there was an option to modify it, but she was lacking materials. That was really frustrating her.

"I have been wondering," Prince Damian said, "what is that thing you're holding? That's the same weapon that pushed back the knights that were chasing me, right?"

Serena put her gun back into her bag. "You don't need to know," she said.

"Oh come on," the prince said, "I'm just curious. It won't hurt telling me a little, right?"

"Shut up, prince," Altea said. "We're not your friends."

"Ow, what sharp words," the prince said. "That hurts my feelings."

"If you won't stop talking, I won't give you dinner," Altea said. The dinner was ready, and it smelled nice.

The prince's stomach rumbled. "Alright, you win."

Serena smiled, as usual, Altea's cooking was amazing. Thankfully, even though it was a fantasy world, most of the food they served was normal. So Serena didn't need to worry about eating something weird.

Monsters exist in this world, and some people have eaten them, but that is not the norm. Thank God, she thought.

"Hey, princess," one of the guards said, "would you like to try this drink? It tastes great with this food."

"Really?" Serena said. "Let me try it then."

That was Serena's last memory before she woke up with a painful headache. She looked around in confusion, not registering what had happened yet. And then her eyes widened.

"Hey, wake up!" she shook Altea's shoulder. "Altea, wake up! Talia, Salia, wake up!"

"Uhm... What...? It's morning already?" Salia said.

"Huh? Since when was I sleeping...?" Altea said, still looking sleepy, while Talia hadn't woken up at all.

They were the only ones left in the camp. The prince had disappeared along with two guards and their coachman.

"I'm screwed," Serena said weakly.

It was supposed to be a simple task, just bring back the second prince to his kingdom, and that's it. It should have been easy, but they messed up anyway. The prince successfully ran away, along with the three elven traitors.

"That drink..." Altea said, finally realizing what had happened. "I'm sorry, princess. Even though they were our guards, I should have been more careful..."

"Sis, wake up!" Salia shook her twin sister's body violently. "It's not time to sleep!"

"What...what happened?" Talia asked, still not fully awake.

"Wake up already! The prince was running away!" Salia exclaimed.

"What?"

After finally waking up fully, Talia immediately checked around and used her magic to find the prince's footprints.

"He went this way," Talia said. "We can try to follow him, but this footprint is from last night. He has been running since then. Even if we followed his steps..."

"He's already far gone," Salia continued her twin's words. "I'm afraid we're already too late..."

Serena sighed. "Great..."

"I'm sorry, princess," Salia said, looking like she was almost crying. "Even though I promised to watch him properly..."

"No, it's my fault!" Talia said. "I'm sorry I didn't take this more seriously!"

"Forget it," Serena said. "There's no point in blaming ourselves. Anyway, what about the traitors?"

Talia used her magic once again and immediately found their footprints.

"They ran with horses in the other direction," Talia said. "I don't think they're going back to the elf kingdom."

That's weird, Serena thought. She had assumed that they were working together with the second prince, but maybe that assumption was wrong. After all, when she thought about it more, they shouldn't have had a chance to talk to him at all.

Not to mention they must have been preparing that sleeping drug from the beginning...

"What are we going to do now, princess?" Altea asked.

"No, we can't just go back," Serena said. "If we do that, it's no different than saying that we let the second prince run away on purpose."

"What should we do then?" Talia asked.

"We continue to the Avalonera kingdom," Serena said, "and ask for forgiveness for this mistake."

"But will they accept it just like that?" Altea asked.

"It's better than making them think we let him run away," Serena said. "If they decide to attack our kingdom seriously because of this..."

"Princess!" Talia interrupted. "You should just go back! Let us do it! It's our fault anyway!"

"As if I could do that!" Serena replied. "This is my responsibility!"

"But princess..." Salia started crying.

"Enough, let's continue our journey," Serena said, already made a decision.

***