James gritted his teeth with frustration as he watched the preceding events unfold.

Stalking towards him with a fiery glint in her eyes was the ‘Saint’ princess Elia Rozen. Renowned for her incredible gifts with holy magic and the divine blessing she has from the Goddess, her power which could single handedly protect Rozen’s capital from all forms of harm clearly showed that she would not an easy opponent. Behind her stood an impressive looking man wearing Armour that looked like it was created out of bones, he was ‘Fiery Dragon’ Averus. Being one of the youngest in a century to have achieved the peak of an adventurers career, the lauded S rank, even facing an actually fully blooded dragon would prove an easier task.

Dammit! What the hell kind of luck is this?! James inwardly screamed.

All I wanted to do was sign up for the tournament and get out! And for that mage I saw earlier to attack me with no regard for our surroundings, what was he thinking?! Once again, James wanted to yell out against this injustice, conveniently ignoring the fact that he almost killed Rufus and Galand with a single punch the other day, as well as being the one to spare them, thus leading to inevitable hostilities.

Completely ignorant of James’ internal conflict, Elia finished storming her way over to his location.

“You…What was your purpose for release such powerful magic in the middle of a public venue? I hope you have a good excuse to deliberately aim area of effect magic at so many innocents?” The princess interrogated the still contained James with an ice cold tone. Though her body was wrapped with a pleasantly soft golden light, the iciness in her voice completely blew away any misgivings one could have about her intentions. If James didn’t answer correctly, it was clear she would not hesitate to eliminate him.

Damn… Where the hell did that mage go anyway? Because he bolted, the magic he was just about to use ended up being pinned on me.

James quickly scanned his his eyes across the crowd of people around him in an attempt to find Rufus, but quickly gave up after realizing the princess was still waiting for his answer.

“Um… your highness? My apologies for the disturbance, but I’m afraid you’re misunderstanding. Though I did release magic power, I was not the one who generated that explosive magic attack earlier.” James spoke in the most amiable tone that he could manage, but from an objective perspective, his unnatural smile in such an intense situation only deepened the suspicions of those who looked upon it.

“Oh? Then who did? I only sensed your magical signature in this area, yet you say there was another?” The Princess cast doubtful eyes on James, though at the very least her hostility had lessened somewhat thanks to James’s willingness to speak.

“Indeed. Another attacker was present in the venue, though it appears now that he has fled. Your highness seems like a very capable mage, you surely must have felt the type of magic that was being used no? Does it not feel rather incongruous with the amount of magic power that I released at the same time?”

Elia frowned at that answer. It was true, the storm of mana that James had released just now completely overshadowed the scale of the magic attack she had felt activated earlier.

“It seems you understand. Again, my apologies for the disturbance, but my releasing of mana was intended to defend against the attack from my ambusher.” James breathed a sigh of relief as he sensed the doubt begin to fade from the princess’s eyes as he continued his explanation.

“If you intend to go after the attacker, I’d be happy to give you a description. My ambusher was a very thin young man with blond hair and dressed in a robe. He also used an interesting staff which after seeing twice, I suspect was crafted from the stump of an old Treant, but on that point I’m unsure-” James immediately stopped speaking as he saw the change in the princess in front of him. Although her suspicion was starting to fade away before, now her face had tightened up in apprehension and shock.

“And? How do you know this person?” Although her voice remained neutral, even an untrained observer could see the change in her. Elia raised her hand in James’ direction and deep currents of holy energy flowed into her palm.

Crap! What on earth did I say wrong? Does she know the man that attacked me?

James desperately thought of a way to diffuse this situation but could honestly think of nothing. It’s not as if there was no way to calm down the princess, but simply because he was not particularly adept at negotiations. He was far more suited to weilding a sword in battle then anything else.

Uhg, I can’t think of anything. I didn’t want to do this, since it would restrict my open movement in the city, but I’m left with no choice.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

James quietly started to gather energy in his muscles as he looked for his escape route. His plan was to shatter the cage of energy around him with one blow then strike hard before fading away. The opposition did not know about his power and that came to his advantage.

“Please wait your highness.” Before James could do anything however, the man standing behind the princess spoke up for the first time. It was only a single word, but it had a powerful effect. Elia immediately lowered her raised hand in surprise and turned to her guard.

“Though it pains me to disgrace your highness’ judgement, I humbly request that you let this man go.” Averus made an elegant bow as he made his plea. Though his request clearly went beyond the station of a bodyguard, he offered no explanation to Elia and simply remained with his head lowered.

“...Very well.” Though she gazed at Averus with questioning eyes, since the man himself offered no further comments on the matter, she simply gave an affirmative to his request.

The golden light that trapped James immediately dispersed, along with the combative atmosphere that had been generated during the previous talks, however the princess still faced James with an attitude that did not give off any impression of having lowered her guard.

“Since Averus here has requested your pardon, I’m willing to overlook your outburst earlier. What is your name?”

“James Everand.” Though a little flabbergasted at the absurdity of the recent events, James considered whether he should give a fake name before quickly discarding the notion.

“Hmm, you have quite a lot of mana for one so young, I look forward to seeing you in the tournament.” The princess turned around and left with those words, apparently ignorant to the fact that she was also extremely young yet had an enormous amount of power as well. Averus simply gave James a quick nod in acknowledgement before following after his charge.

Still struggling to keep up with how quickly everything diffused, James shook his head a few times whilst ruminating on what had just transpired.

Though he was considerably suspicious as to why the S-Ranked adventurer would aid him like that, he was nonetheless grateful for being relieved of that dangerous situation. That said, he had his own goals to accomplish in this town, and mullying over useless suspicions that could not be solved at the current time was useless.

Still, to listen so meekly to her guard like that... I guess the princess is still just a girl.

Chuckling to himself, James went back to the stock still attendent at the registration booth as the likewise shocked crowd finally began moving once more.

********************************

To the quickly departing Elia, Averus jogged over and fell inline with her steps as they retreated from James. As she saw him catch up, Elia snapped her head around to him instantly.

“Did you know him? I released him because you requested it of me Averus, and I trust you to have good intentions... but did you not see him accuse Rufus of all people for attempting to blow up a crowd of citizens?”

A little miffed, the princess that currently complained to Averus was completely unlike the one that interrogated James with cold eyes and a battle ready aura. Like all the power she had just displayed had vanished, she looked just like she was, a young and beautiful princess who pouted when someone she knew went against her wishes.

Averus smiled gently at her and bowed his head slightly as show of apology. It wasn’t deep enough to properly apologise to royalty, but Elia wasn’t honestly complaining, and their relationship with one another was beyond such petty trivialities.

“My apologies princess, but that wasn't just an accusation. It was the truth.”

Elia eyes widened with shock. Though James had already told her of the attacker, she did not truly believe him. Her faith in Rufus and Galand was great, and she had no reason to believe a stranger when he said one of her close friends attempted something so ridiculous. That said, anything she heard from Averus was to her, the cold hard truth.

“What do you mean? I don’t mean to doubt you Averus, but why would Rufus do something like that?”

“To be honest, I’m unsure. When Rufus left our group earlier, I noticed his panic and followed behind. When I saw what he was doing, I decided to knock him out whilst you confronted the other one.” Averus pursued his lips whilst he explained.

“I didn’t say anything during your talk with Mr.Everand because of personal reasons, so for that, I must apologise once again your highness.” Averus stopped and gave a genuinely deep bow this time.

“Oh stop that, once back there was enough, but this is just plain ridiculous.” Elia hurredly looked away in a flushed panic at her partners overdone apology.

“And so? What are these personal reasons? You two have only just met today right? I didn’t sense anything particularly impressive about him besides that odd red hair…”

-If red hair is odd, then what does that make your appearance- is not something Averus decided to say aloud, instead he coughed to break off her muttering before he continued.

“Honestly, I wanted him to owe me a favor. Your highness is surely powerful, but your actual combat experience is somewhat lackluster, therefore you failed to sense Mr.Everand when I met him yesterday in the city at the scuffle you put an end to yesterday.”

Elia gave an ‘oh so that’s where you met him’ look in understanding.

“It’s true that I’m a little lacking in combat experience… What did you sense that would make you want this James fellow to owe you a favor?”

Averus grinned. Unlike his polite manner that he normally graced others with, his smile now was bestial, the kind a true warrior with a hunger for the thrill of a fight would wear.

“Oh nothing much. I’m just really looking forward to our fight is all…”

Elia, a bit overcome with his presence said no more as the two walked back to where Galand was waiting.