Raitzal. Capital of the mighty kingdom of Rozen, it’s splendor shined bright like the sun, and even from afar, one can feel the weight of opportunity to be found hiding in its depths.

Because they were approaching the last of the fall, clean spring air blew through the crowds of people milling about in the streets, announcing the start of the new year. People from everywhere in the continent, even ambassadors from other countries had gathered to pay their respects to the King, as well as to see the famous Martial Tournament that was hosted at their grand arena.

And in the midst of all the crowds of excitement, a certain young man with red hair strolled through the city while eating various foods.

Wow, this city sure is incredible… James thought to himself while he stuffed food he had purchased from various food vendors into his mouth. He couldn’t keep the smile off of his face seeing how majestic the festivities seemed, and realizing that he finally would get to participate in it. He had of course been here before, but the majority of the city had been destroyed and was on fire the last time he saw it.

If I recall correctly, then Hilfeim should be winning the tournament in around 8 days…?

Naturally, James didn’t come here just to participate in the tournament. Rather, he had come to put a stop to the first of the demon attacks on human countries.

In the past, or rather, the future, a demon by the name of Helfeim had disguised himself and entered the tournament. The reason for doing so is the fact that the princess, who would meet with the tournament’s victor, was an incredibly powerful priestess, who could use the powers of the gods themselves.

Surrounding the capital of Raitzal was a barrier made of divine power, summoned by the princess, which repelled devils and other forms of inherent ‘evil’. Because humans weren’t necessarily the proper representation of good, several factors like how powerful the opponent was, whether or not manual checking could find anything suspicious about them, and what the person had done in the past, all determined whether a person would be allowed through the barrier and into the city.

Because of all these factors, powerful demons or enemies with poor intent, would not be able to enter the city no matter how hard they tried.

The fact that Helfeim could enter the city at all, meant that he was both not powerful enough to be stopped, and he had not done anything evil in the past, meaning he was a fairly new demon.

However, not being stopped by the barrier didn’t necessarily mean that he was weak. The barrier itself was not sentient, so it could only make judgements based on rudimentary measurements. Mainly, how much raw mana one had.

Although one could get a very general guess at how strong a person was based on the amount of mana that had accumulated inside their body, relying to heavily on this would instantly spell one’s doom. The reason for this being that personal skill and unique abilities could not be determined by the amount of mana one had alone.

Helfeim may have only been a low to mid tier demon, and thus didn’t have a massive amount of mana, but he was an incredibly vicious and skilled demon, who had access to an incredibly wide repertoire of magic and combat skills, not to mention, he was named.

Demons are unlike other monsters in this world because they cannot reproduce. They are merely spawned by malevolent energies in the south, courtesy of the Demon God. Because of this factory like process of demon creation, they are individually unimportant, and many demons are completely indistinguishable from one another.

But like how special human individuals are given a blessing from the Goddess, demons can receive favour from the Demon God, in the form of names. When a demon is named, it becomes unique, and also receives a unique ability. Named demons are more frequent in the demon lands then blessed individuals are in Rozen, but the point of them being stronger than the rest of their kind still stands.

If Helfeim manages to get to the princess, and she dies, then the barrier will will fall, and more powerful demons will storm into the city with their armies in tow.

If James defeated Helfeim in the tournament, then he would have no chance to assassinate the princess, and the demon armies that lay in wait would never have the chance to assault Raitzal.

I also need to do some research on the southern front. After I finish my business here, it would be good to have some info on how Rozen handles the demon lands before I show up there myself… Well whatever, there's plenty of time.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

As James searched the area for a good inn to book before going to enter his name into the tournament, he noticed a crowd of people that had gathered in one spot on the side of the road.

What are they looking at?

His curiosity piqued, he pushed through the crowds of people to see what at first appeared to be a brawl in the center of the circle, except in actuality, it resembled more like a one sided beating then anything. Lying on the ground was a young boy covered in rags, perhaps a resident of the slums, being one sidedly kicked by a group of older men. The smell of alcohol permeated the air, and it was evident they were drunk, it didn’t take a genius to see who was in the wrong.

James Frowned. Really now, such an impressive city and yet the guards here can’t put a stop to such a senseless act of violence?

To be honest, James really didn’t want to help.

Although he had saved the brute he had met earlier from perishing, it was because the injuries that would have taken his life were his own doing, and not anyone else’s. No matter how much of a hero he was once hailed as, it was nothing but a title given to him by the people for slaying demons. He was not cruel, but he certainly wasn’t nearly as virtuous as his other fellow heroes.

He heard the crowd murmuring in worry, and he silently pitied the boy. Perhaps if the situation was different, and there were less people around, he would have stepped in to put a stop to it, but putting on a show of virtue in front of so many people wasn’t his style.

“What is going on here?!” a sudden, feminine voice filled with dignity rang out.

The people in the crowd gasped as they saw two individuals approaching them. The people parted way for them like a seperating sea, and James could hear whispers intensifying from those surrounding them.

“No way, isn’t that ‘saint’ Elia? I knew she was visiting from the palace to oversee the tournament, but to come here…?” “Who is that guy besides her? I’m so jealous…” “Wait! I know him! He’s ‘fiery dragon’ Averus!” “What are you all doing?! She may be a priestess, but she’s still royalty! Bow!”

Numerous whispers, that hardly counted as whispers due to their loud excitement, emanated from the crowd.

James quietly observed as a young women who appeared to be in her early 20’s stepped forward, trailed by a man wearing armour that appeared to be made out of polished bone.

The woman was exceptionally beautiful, her clear white skin, nigh perfect facial features, coupled with her long silvery hair, instantly captured the attention of everyone around. She wore a simple white priestess robe.

So this is the ‘saint’ princess?

James was impressed. To the untrained eye, she may appear to simply be a stunning lady, but by looking beneath all the beauty, one would see an ocean of holy power churning with the strength of a ferocious storm, yet moving as gentle as a calm sea.

She’s very powerful no doubt, I can see why they call her the strongest priest ‘saint’. What about the one next to her? I heard something about a dragon…?

Suddenly, the man’s eyes turned towards him, a wave of pressure instantly enveloped his body. James was confused, but he still stared back unfazed by the show of intimidation. The man showed brief surprise on his face, then grinned and turned his attention back to the original scene before him.

“I ask again, what exactly are you doing here?” The princess asked harshly, her blue eyes were were filled with anger as she gazed coldly at the group of men before her.

The men looked at eachother, stunned, before one of them who appeared to be the leader, stepped forwards.

“T-This, This brat made me spill my drink on myself…” his voice trailed off, he had clearly not anticipated the arrival of such a high up and powerful figure.

“And because of such an insignificant accident, you ganged up on him and beat him is that it?” the princesses asked harshly.

“I-It’s hardly our fault! What, you want us to just let him go after that? He’s just some slum brat! It shouldn’t matter what happens to him!” The man screamed angrily, unable to control himself under the princess’s eyes.

“...Hmph, I’ve had enough of this. Averus, clean them up please.”

“Understood.” The man called Averus stepped forwards- and vanished.

The other men instantly collapsed, and Averus, who had reappeared a little farther away from them, stepped back over their bodies and made his way back to the princess’s side before the crowd had even realized what was going on.

“Guards, take them away and throw them into a cell!” The princess called out to the dumbstruck guards who had been previously been standing by and watching, as they scrambled to follow her orders.

“Come Averus, we’re leaving.” As the princess turned around and started walking away, Averus turned around and looked back at James.

“Participating in the tournament?” He questioned curiously.

“Yep” James gave a short answer, doing his best not to give any impression. He was cautious of this man, who was clearly very powerful.

“I thought you were strong, you were the only one who followed my attack. Well, I’ll see you in the arena then.” The man gave a friendly smile, before turning around and following behind the princess once again.

James stood there dumbfounded at the exchange he had just witnessed.

Impressive. With someone that strong protecting her, how on earth did Helfeim manage to kill the princess? I feel like I’m missing something here…

James looked back up to the sky, as he thought about it.

Not that it matters. It will all end once I kill him anyways.

James turned around and went back to looking for an inn.