Sako stared up at the horse for 5 minutes in the stable.

The horse stared back at her.

She blinked. “Uh… hi?”

He blinked and neighed casually.

She had no clue how to ride him.

His nametag said “Nero”.

Can’t I just walk on foot? She had the speed and stamina to easily outrun a horse, but it was smarter to save her energy for the battles. So, she went to Chelsea, and Chelsea taught her and demonstrated how she should mount her horse.

Within a short time, she got it. She went back to her horse, and after putting on the saddle and fixing it, she mounted the horse and used her heel to kick its side gently and get it to move. Her maneuvering skills were amateur, but they worked well enough so that she wouldn’t fall off.

She rode slowly out of the stable and met up with Chelsea and the princess.

Chelsea’s posture on her horse was different: back straight with both hands gripping the reins tightly.

Sako copied her professional posture. This should help.

“...Well, this is one thing I can’t allow!” Chelsea snapped at Princess Vanescka.

“Cap, you’re not stopping me, so quit it. As the princess, I’ll do what I want.”

“But your father—!”

“Don’t care. Not listening. La-la-la-la-la-la-la!” Princess Vanescka covered her ears.

“RESTRAIN HER!” Chelsea barked.

Two soldiers stepped forward and each held one of her arms.

“What’re you doing?!” the princess looked at them angrily.

“Sorry, princess, but the captain is right. It’s not safe to follow us,” one fully armored soldier replied.

“You’re not even in armor,” the other soldier replied. “And the king would be most furious.”

He was right: her dress and flip-flops weren't suited for combat.

“I’m giving you until the count of three!” the princess said.

“Take her back to the castle. If I lose my job, so be it.” Chelsea’s voice was cold. Her safety was top priority.

“One.”

“Please, princess.” A third guard stepped forward, breaking away from his group’s formation.

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“Two.”

“Take her to the castle already!” Chelsea ordered.

“R-right!” The two that held onto the princess began hauling her off.

“Three. MY WORD WILL BE YOUR LAW!” Her voice pierced through the air as her eyes shined with a purple light.

The soldiers glowed purple and put her down then saluted her. “Ma’am!”

The entire battalion behind them glowed with that same color. The troops saluted. “At your service, princess!”

Sako subtly trotted up next to Chelsea.

Chelsea, sweating a little, was quite unamused. “Yeah, I saw this coming…” she mumbled. She had expected this, but her disappointment was still heavy. At least she had tried to do her job. “She does this all the time.”

“Horse. Now.” The princess made her request to a nearby soldier though didn’t look at him.

“Right away.” A soldier left her side and came back a few moments later with a horse.

She climbed on and looked at Sako. “Come on, girlie.” She looked ahead and tugged the reins, starting to move ahead.

“Right!” Sako replied and followed behind her. She glanced at Chelsea apologetically then moved forward.

The troops—on foot and on horseback—followed.

Chelsea didn’t say anything and instead followed.

It was best not to make the princess too angry.

~~~

Swords clashed, arrows flew, and the air was filled with cries and the clashes of metal.

Of course, Sako avoided killing anyone. She only had to tap them with her fingers and her strength was enough to knock them out. She moved too quickly for anyone to see as she snaked her way through the ranks.

Adventurers, who were other players, battled on both sides. Lamentine had apparently offered the same quest too.

Adventurers or not, no one stopped her.

Chelsea cut through everything with ease.

As for the princess… well… her job was far easier: she sauntered around the battlefield, barking orders to every enemy troop who came her way. It only took one word for them to fall under her control. Any arrows that headed her way only bounced off her invulnerable figure. But eventually, she had to resort to whacking a handful of soldiers with plushies, who shockingly managed to withstand her whacks, though with difficulty, since they wouldn’t obey her. Those soldiers must’ve belonged to Lamentine’s royal family. As to who exactly were behind those helmets, Sako couldn’t tell from her constantly moving position around the field. She didn’t have the time to check either.

Air units flew overhead, too high up for Sako to reach. Then she remembered the ring she had gotten from the assailant. She could use it to fly. There was also a mysterious airship shooting them down.

But before she could put it on and find out what was going on up there, loud gunshots rang in the air from a far side of the field.

Sako followed the sound.

Soldiers from both sides fell quickly as a pair of girls ran through them: a tall one whose black hat shielded some of her purple hair from the sun and a slightly shorter one with blue hair who wore a hood. The taller one held a shotgun, blasting away everything in her sight at short range, while the shorter one was more calculating and quiet as she fired arrows from her crossbow. She held a small shield too. They compensated for one another’s blind spots, looking and firing where the other didn’t, which allowed for a flawless 360-degree awareness.

From the moment Sako saw them, she knew they were players. Actual players. Living and breathing. It was something in the way the two girls moved. They didn’t only have skill but also a distinct existential awareness. They were aware that this was a game, not life. Maybe it showed in their casual attitude. They casually took lives left and right with their gun and crossbow, as if they were just here to play something fun. No fear. No hesitation. No guilt. As if this was just a game.

Being in the game itself with these characters, characters she could stand alongside and even measure her height against and hold their hands, made it feel too real for her to ignore. They weren’t pixels. They had flesh and could die permanently—they weren’t players. They were real. And she felt a sense of guilt for not doing anything about it.

The pair of girls reminded her of Luna, and by God, they irked her.