I left the tending of Allie to a priest as she cried. She must have cared for that beast indeed, although that thing was too much trouble. Fortunately, we didn’t suffer any losses. It would be a bad look to me if someone died. I value the image, you know. I also don’t want the pressure of thinking about other noble households, their complaints and outrage.

That aside, this battle here should be coming to an end. However, I have received no news from the two vice-captains, namely Astine and Estevan. They were supposed to report to me when they made sure everything was done. Did a big obstacle come up?

“Elson.”

I called on the one knight I had grown to favor here in this battle. Immediately, he stood before me on my call.

“Can you move properly?”

“I can completely manage.”

“Alright then, bring a priest with you and check up on the two vice-captains. Give me a report of the overall situation you learn and discover. In case of urgent emergencies, tell me.”

“Understood.”

“Now go.”

He called a priest to go with him and then proceeded to leave my sight. Would be pretty good to have a wireless radio right now, the downsides of a medieval society. But come on, this world has magic, they should really take advantage of that. But I guess they do, they just didn’t have much imagination? Or perhaps doing it was easier said than done?

Or was this world too peaceful for the most part? War inspires innovation and progress, if you get what I’m saying. Sure there would certainly be fights here and there, but what I’m saying is a war on a World War level! But, no use griping on things that we don’t have. Besides, no one likes war…

I walked towards where Allie was sitting down, beside the dead beast.

“Allie, you should leave. It is dangerous here.”

“But…”

“Leave him.”

She lowered her gaze before casting them to the dead beastman. “He… he was the one who gave me a chance to plead with Arnaut… One who cared enough to do that, just for me. Despite how scary he may seem on the surface at first, inside… I know, he was kind.”

I don’t know where this conversation was going, but I listened — despite not caring much for the beastman.

Then she continued. “If it is alright, please let me stay beside him for a little while longer.”

I repressed a sigh. I guess if that’s what Allie wants, I will give her this time. Let her grieve the loss of her friend.

“Alright… I will leave you be.”

In the end, this girl held some love for her friends who used her as a tool. And also, it would seem this beast held some faith in the human girl, as he attempted to stop resisting and decided to believe in her words. But because of that, he died.

There’s really no point for me to deny her this sad moment beside the beastman, her friend.

As I left Allie’s side, a knight landed before me and gave me some worrisome news.

“Vogue, a red signal has been lit by the center point of the circle.”

“Center? You mean where Astine is?”

“Yes.”

“I see. The line closest to them should help. But, let’s wait for Elson to return for a clearer picture of the situation.”

Things were not going according to my optimistic wishes and imaginations. Nothing’s just ever easy. And to be honest, the center was a risky part for my men. I wouldn’t even be surprised if we had some fatalities, but I truly hope not.

Hm, I haven’t heard news about the whereabouts of the enemy’s leader. But, I guess that’s only natural because of the difficulty of sharing information. Still, I’m curious.

We waited for several minutes, the fact that we were able to rest for that long suggests that things didn’t turn dire for us. But after that, Elson returned, his face a bit stressed, and he was alone.

“Elson, report.”

“A dog-like beastman is wreaking havoc in the center, it is out of control. It seems like it has turned into a mindless, raging beast.”

Ah, that.

“Reinforcements were called upon to help restrain it. But another beastman was also freed because of the dog-like beastman, more support was required. Both Astine and the Prince are currently facing it, but they ask for another squad to help them.”

“The one with you remained behind to help them, I presume.”

“Yes.”

“Very well, bring a squad with you and help them.”

With that, Elson beckoned some men of his choosing and left to aid those in need at the center. I am curious and I deliberated whether I should go there myself as well. But immediately disregarded the idea, I would just be putting myself in needless danger if I go there.

That situation was still not bad enough to warrant my personal involvement. Trust in your allies is essential to have success.

Besides, I need to have a little rest after the battle just now. It was nothing severe, or too concerning, but I feel the strain of using an intense amount of mana. Yes, it’s still there, and it won’t be disappearing any time soon, it would seem.

To this day, I still couldn’t understand the reason why this was. I have been training my body to adapt to the amount of mana I possess, but it was just never enough. There’s something wrong with me, I just couldn’t tell what precisely.

That was one of the reasons I prefer to avoid direct danger. If I use too much mana, I run the risk of being knocked out while in combat. If not, my effectiveness in the battle would be severely reduced. I would get all dizzy and such. What an annoying thing.

I just don’t know how to treat this.

With a tired sigh, I walked and sat down by a wall of a still standing house and laid my back on it.

“Princess, are you tired?” Rogan whispered to me.

“Somewhat… I’ll be resting for now.”

“Alright, sure.” he raised his eyes to look at Vernon and nodded at each other.

I hugged my knees and lowered my head, then closed my eyes. Just gonna rest my eyes, that’s all. I’m not sleeping.

Yeah, I should minimize using my magic, and only use it in times of urgency. This could be my death — I might be exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea.

…

Some time passed, about fifteen minutes, I felt a touch on my shoulder.

“Princess…” Rogan whispered. “Please wake up, Elson is back.”

With squinted eyes, I slowly raised my gaze to see a more battered Elson kneeling before me. I suppose it would be rude to stand and look down on me while reporting.

“Vogue, it is done. The operation is finished. We have captured all we could.”

“Casualties on our side?”

“There are no fatalities, but there are quite a number of severely wounded.”

“...I see… and our enemies?”

“We only managed to capture three beastmen alive.”

Only three, huh. I guess that’s one less enemy to think about.

“My brother? Where is my brother?”

“He is checking up on the wounded. But he should be on his way right about now.”

“I see.”

“... Vogue… are you not feeling well?”

“I’m alright… Bring the prisoners to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I want to take a look at them.”

“Understood.”

As Elson left, I turned to Vernon. “Have Allie return to the palace first.”

“She’s still beside the beastman.”

“Force her if you have to.”

I have given her enough time to mourn for now.

As everything went into motion, I returned to resting for a while. Then a short time later, I heard footsteps coming at me and what followed was a familiar voice.

“My sister, are you alright?” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you hurt?”

I slowly raised my head. “I… don’t feel very well.” I gave him a sad expression, one that would incite a feeling of utter concern in anyone that would see it.

“Oh no, something happened, didn’t it? We should return home immediately.” He gently placed a hand on the side of my face, checking my condition.

I mildly shook my head. “I can still manage, there’s nothing to fear, my dear brother… I assume they have arrived?”

“... Yes.”

“Then I will take a look at them.”

I stood up and saw cages pulled by horses coming our way. Inside were men wrapped in black shackles on all limbs. As they got closer, it was becoming more apparent how beaten up they were, with all the bruises, and how weak they appeared.

They stopped in the middle of the street, the horses neighed and the carts creaked subtly. The knights with spears pointed their weapons into each of the cages as I drew closer. The closest sniffed and slowly raised his head to look at me, his eyes narrowed. But that was all.

I then walked towards the central cart, where a man with dog ears was being kept. He was beaten up more than the rest, after the rampage he just did.

Then the third beastman at the rear suddenly began muttering as he pointed at me. “I-It’s you… You’re here? W-Why are you h-here?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I shifted my eyes towards him, and he flinched back as if in fear. Hm… I wasn’t intending to scare him.

“Y-You… A-Arnaut!” he continued. “W-We shouldn’t be doing nothing!” The cage rattled. “W-We can’t let her… We… Agh!” A knight stabbed his spear a bit into his flesh.

“Shut up.”

The beastman behaved hesitantly.

I ignored him for now and walked a step closer to their leader, the one called Arnaut.

“Sister…” Estevan warned me not to get close.

Of course I’m not intending to.

Arnaut slowly raised his eyes towards me. “Princess of Wisteria… Your eyes… as was told in the scriptures… as your Mother’s.” He said in a low voice.

The more I looked at these three, the more I felt a little irritation within me. The part where I just wanna squeeze their throat myself…

“You are the reason for all my troubles…” I said as I glared at him.

“Your troubles? I wonder…” He slowly rose up, the chains clanking. “Fighting now is futile… I know this… But we have hope that one day… someone else will come and destroy you.” His eyes were filled with strength and absolution.

Huh? What? Why is this guy saying it as if I’m the villain of a story?

A knight thrust his spear a bit through the cage as if to threaten him. “You bastard...”

I raised my hand to stop him, and the knight stood down.

“Take them away and lock them down.”

And the carts began moving away, towards the palace.

I gazed at them as they went.

“After that… I’ll learn why I went through all this…”

All this trouble…

***

The carriage shook a little before stopping in front of the palace doors. My pair of servants got out first before me. By the door stood my family. My Mother, Father, and eldest brother. I smiled slightly at the sight of them, their faces filled with relieved concern.

Quite a bit funny to be honest. So sweet.

The moment they laid their eyes on me, they beamed up with bright smiles. My father in particular went on to run towards me, spreading his arms apart.

— No wait!

“Guh—” I accidentally let out that disgraceful sound when he hugged me tightly.

“Daughter! Oh gods, you made me so worried.”

N-No — you should get worried now, you’re gonna crush me!

I tapped on his back to indicate that he should release me. But his hug only tightened a little more. Ugh! He definitely mistook me for hugging him back!

Calm down, Father!

He rubbed his face on my cheek.

“Egh—”

Your beard! Stop it!

He ignored my silent plea as he continued. “I was so concerned that I almost rushed out there myself to help you!”

“Y-You k-know the risk of t-that…” I squeezed that out. He was also a potential target. Not only him but also the entire family! I specifically instructed them to stay behind. Violating that plan would have only served to stress me even more. That aside, it’s getting harder to breathe. I turned to the one that could help me. “M-Mother…!”

My mother merely chuckled adorably and let me suffer for a few seconds more before pulling my father by the collar. “That’s enough, my dear. Don’t tire our dear daughter any further.”

“Ah, alright…”

I fixed my posture and addressed my father about a certain issue. “Father… I would like to apologize for the damages caused by the operation… It was more than I had predicted.”

“Yes, I would need someone to personally check how much is destroyed. I expect capital nobles’ representatives will come in at any moment to demand an explanation for what just happened. But for now, let’s come in.”

“Yes. Let’s go to your office, father. To have a meeting.”

We went inside, while Eleden walked beside me. He patted me on the head gently with a sweet smile.

“I’m glad you’re alright.”

“It’s good to see you too, my dear brother.”

“You were not harmed in some way, were you?”

“I was alright for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

My parents heard it and they paused to look back at me. I frantically shook my hands. “It was just a minor inconvenience! Such things are expected to happen.”

“I see,” said Father. “I want a full report tonight, if you can.”

Aaaaaw, a report? Where I manually write things with a pen and paper? No, I don’t want that! Writing reports’ the most painful and excruciating part in every mission ending. That should be the part where I be resting, but noooo, the higher ups just demand reports with every tiny detail!

And mostly I have to do that right after the mission if I’m fully capable of writing, can’t even rest for a day. But this time, there’s no computer to type on. So I have to really use my hands, uuuugh.

I know I ask for reports from others, but doing it myself is such a pain. Yeah, it’s alright if I’m not doing it. But there’s really no place for complaints as this was what should be done. I just want to let out some irritation in me, okay? I may like writing reports, I may also not like it, depending on my mood. But I mostly don’t like it.

“Why are you pouting, dear?” my mother suddenly pulled my cheek.

Ouch.

Was I expressing my face openly? Oh, not good.

“Nothing, mother. I’ll get to it later.”

Moments later, we arrived at Father’s office. Outside, by the door, I turned to Vernon. “Call for Estevan, he should be able to join us now. Leave matters to Astine if you must.”

As I watched Vernon turn and leave, my eyes caught the sight of a familiar man that I had to resist my face from wincing.

Geh— what the hell’s he doing here already?

Namely, it was my uncle, the person I would rather avoid facing. How the hell was he here already anyway? Was he here the whole time? Waiting for my operation to be over and just ambush me from out of nowhere?

“Brother, I didn’t expect to see you here.” My mother said to him.

So he just arrived?!

“I came as soon as I heard there was a commotion. That being said, I noticed that information going outside was being suppressed…”

“…”

“Guards were all over the place and prevented people from going out of the city. Good thing my agents possess quite the talent to get through. I imagine my niece has something to do about it? Her instructions?” he smiled at me, but that was no plain smile. Not at all.

It was almost sarcastic or something. As if he was trying to measure my reaction.

“I don’t see how that is one of your business to know, uncle.”

“Oh? I was made aware that there would be an operation in the city, but I didn’t think it would be to that scale. And to think you were leading it…” he grinned. “Unexpected.”

“How were you made aware…?” I turned to my father.

Father mildly smiled. “I mentioned it to him.”

“And so I guess that’s why I was told not to work this day in the city.” Added my uncle.

“Don’t you have something else to work on as well, uncle? Other than in the city.”

“Oh yes, your plans. Don’t worry, preparation is going smoothly.”

“I see. And for what purpose are you here?”

“As the head of intelligence, I don’t think I would be denied to be privy to the situation at hand.”

“I suppose.”

“But that’s not the only reason. With what has transpired in the city, nobles are expected to assemble. To discuss the situation.”

“If I’m correct, they should send a representative first, and not the head of the household themselves.”

“Oh yes, they should arrive shortly I imagine. But I work closely with your father, Estelia. My presence should be expected.”

“Daughter,” my father placed a hand on my shoulder. “Your uncle will be joining us in our meeting.”

I’m tired, whatever. Let’s just get on with it.

We all got into my father’s office, from which he ordered the staff inside to leave. I sat down on the chair by the desk with the rest of my family. My uncle remained standing, good for you!

“Did we capture all of them?” asked my father.

“No, we only have three. The elves managed to execute the rest of the beastmen, and then themselves…in some ways.”

“At least we have three we can interrogate.’

“Indeed. As for casualties, we have no losses.”

“Woah, that is impressive, my daughter. As your first led large scale operation, that is an amazing feat.”

I meekly nodded my head. “Thank you…” I glanced at my uncle, then averted away. He was observing me very closely, ugh. “But I fear for those that were terribly wounded, or forever scarred and damaged. And I fear the repercussions… the reactions of their family.”

“Specifically?”

“There was an elite that almost died, and he lost an arm. Welford.”

“Welford, huh. But being a knight, something like this would be expected.”

“It would be different if the reason for that is not because of his younger brother, who I, despite him being weak, let him join the operation.”

“... Yes, you did mention the insert.”

I sighed and placed a hand on my forehead. “If their family hears of this, they’ll be outraged.”

What a headache, dammit, I shouldn’t have decided to let him in the group. This is what you get Estelia for being soft on your knight and brother.

“They might, but they will not blame you, daughter.”

“They’ll blame us.”

“They also will not. That is expected of their duty. If they carry grudges, they can't do anything about it. Besides, it would be nonsensical if they blame the royal family when it is their child that stubbornly requested to join despite being warned.”

“I suppose…” I might be safe from a bad image, but I am concerned for my brother.

“How is Alzen Welford, by the way?”

“I heard his arm has been healed close so he should live, but of course he is impaired for his entire life now.”

“Important thing is that he is breathing. And your asset, she arrived first, what do you plan on doing to her?”

“Nothing for now, leave her be.”

“Has she been a good contributor? I saw the first light signal, I assume that was her?”

“Yes… but as I said, leave her be for now. Where is she, by the way?”

“She’s with your maid.”

“I see.”

Knocks came from the door, and Rogan went on to check who it was before opening it. My brother, Estevan, entered the office still wearing his armor. My mother rose from her chair to hug him.

“I’m relieved you're completely fine.”

“Indeed, mother. It’s good to be back.”

My mother lowered her gaze to look at the cut through his armor. “You were struck.” Mother’s eyes moistened a little.

“Nothing a little healing spell can mend. Good thing I practiced it for a little.”

“That is why you should not focus all your learning on offensive knight’s magic. Practice more on your recovery magic, okay?”

“Of course, mother.”

Mother returned to her seat, and Estevan stood behind me.

“Dear little sister, they’re locked down in the dungeon. Extremely secured, knights and priests are placed in their cells and outside.”

“Good, thank you, brother. Now then, for our topic of discussion, the news of what happened in the city will be spreading out and will reach the ears of other nobles. My brother, Estevan, what we discussed with Father beforehand, do you accept?”

“Y—”

I raised my hand to stop him. “If you agree, you will have all the credits of being the leader of this operation. But that also means you will bear all the aftermath, even the casualties. The public will know you are the leader. Are you really willing to take it?”

“Although I don’t like taking all the credit… I don’t want people to look strangely and negatively at you. I will take it, if that is what you want, Estel.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean by this?” Eleden chimed in. “Estevan’s keeping all the credit to this operation of yours, sister?”

“This is a surprise.” My uncle joined in. “Why would you give all of it to your brother, just like that? Surely the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. You will have the praise of the people, the nobility, of having gotten rid of the enemies of the state.”

“Indeed, you planned all this, sister.”

“Why would you give it all away? You could have a great influence through this. Fame. Reputation.”

I am looking at it from a more negative side. Praise of the people? Dude, their homes were basically demolished.

I faintly smiled. “I don’t need those. I do not desire fame, reputation, or to be praised. I am fine where I am now. I don’t need any credits in this operation whatsoever… In fact, my involvement will not be officially recorded.”

“What? You would do that?” my uncle seemed to be in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“What about the men involved in this?”

“All the knights and the priests have been told that this is classified outside the palace since day one. We should be fine.”

“...” he slowly and mildly nodded.

I returned my gaze to Estevan. “Brother, thank you. This means a lot to me. If you need help in this regard, when they pressure you, I will help you.”

He smiled. “I will be alright, my sister. There’s no need to worry.”

Estevan truly is the best! He’s willing to shoulder all hardships for me.

“Okay… now with that done, you can proceed to interrogate the prisoners.” I turned to my father. “I just need an answer to one question, the most important. Do your best to extract it.”

“And what is it precisely, daughter?”

“A simple question, and the only one I want answered. Why do they want me dead?”

***

I stepped into the room where I used to study. Inside was my personal maid and along with her was Allie. With a small and gentle smile, I glanced at the former with a smile, then I greeted the latter.

“Hello, Allie.”

She stood up. “Princess…”

“I would like to thank you for your help. I am thankful for what you have done.”

She meekly nodded, sadness in her eyes. She must have heard how many of the beastmen died at the hands of the elves. But, that was not part of our deal, so no problem for me.

“Would you like to rest? I suggest you take a bath first and you can sleep in your room if you want. You must be exhausted.”

“Yes…”

I raised my hand and gently placed a hand on her cheek, as I faced her with a pleasing smile. “I am so proud of you. Without you, we couldn’t have done it.”

“So I was useful?”

“... You were helpful.”

She smiled a little, trembling at the corners of her lips. Her eyes were moist in tears.

“Go and rest.”

With a nod, she took a step, but then I remembered something. “Ah, wait. The cylinder, I need to return it.”

“Oh yes, here.”

She gave me the cylinder.

“Thank you.”

Wonderful, because of your splendid choice, Allie, I had less of a problem. This in turn, spared your life somewhat. Did I ever forget to mention? Why was this cylinder here in particular was hollow on the inside? And why I always have it in my hand outside of the operations? Why I was pouring magic into it despite having already a crystal at the tip?

I made some precautions, in case Allie made a decision not to my liking. But she picked otherwise, and that was why I didn’t need to detonate the thing. Yes, inside, if Allie didn’t press the button, a blaze would have been unleashed with a snap of my finger.

A bomb you could say. A mix of modified, compressed, fireball spell, with some barrier to contain it. Like what I did with my flashbangs. But this was so compressed, that I was able to shrink it to the size that fit this small cylinder. I could have made it explode whenever I wanted, and thus, would result in an explosion that would definitely kill Allie in the process.

Others might be hit, but those non-humans would definitely survive the explosion, but killing was not its purpose. Its purpose was to send a signal through a burning house, dark smoke rising to the sky.

But I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t end up in that scenario, did we?

It was hard to maintain the spells given the vast distance, and drained a bit of my mana at every moment, just a tiny amount. Furthermore, given that I am linked to the spell, like a string connected to both points, to keep providing it with mana, preventing it from dissipating, I can sort of tell where my magic was going. Of course, the further they were, the fainter the signal you could say. That was why I can’t tell exactly their location. I could try walking there myself like a cute tracker, but it's too time consuming and risky, and it would be hard to send messages to my people in real time. Thus, I deemed it best to just make things explode. In addition, if it got a little even more faint, I would have had no choice but to snap my fingers — lest I run the risk of losing Allie permanently.

“Princess… I’m wondering about my friends… how will they be?”

I smiled. “Oh, they’ll be alright… They’re in good care.”

With a satisfied smile, Allie left the room with Mera.

Vernon then stood beside me. “Princess… you know what they’ll do to them, right? Doesn’t that violate the deal?”

“What? We’re here, aren’t we? You, Rogan, me, and Mera with Allie. The involved parties are not there with the prisoners.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“...All’s well.”