Rose stared at her. The same Rose that had somehow managed to deal with her share of the beasts. Wichita had to admit, she was a bit surprised that she had managed to deal with five beasts with only her mechanical weapon. There had been some use of magic on her part, but no combat spells. A better showing than she had expected. The human girl huffed, and then spun on her heel towards the younger girl.

“What the heck were you thinking?” she practically screamed.

Wichita coughed. “Perhaps it would be wise to attract a little less attention.”

Rose turned her head to her, her expression belying that she had things she wanted to say. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes, of course. I was just…attempting to convey to my sister the foolishness of her actions.”

Tully raised her hand. Rose’s temper seemed to spike again as her calm expression contorted. “What?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“I thought the stick would kill it.” she held up what remained of the stick she had been holding.

“And what exactly gave you that idea?” Rose’s words had so much stress in them that Wichita wondered if she should interfere. Even though it probably was wiser to not get involved, this seemed like it would cause a fight. Rose did not appear to be in a listening mood.

Tully shrugged, which only seemed to make her sister angrier. “Wichita’s stone killed one. I thought a stick would at least hurt it, I mean dogs usually run from it.”

Wichita had to give it to her, there was logic to her words. “I fear that is improbably miss Tully. I have enhanced strength that I doubt any of you possess at the moment. The stone likely hit the dog monkeys with more force than Miss Rose’s projectiles.”

“I noticed that.” The boy interrupted. “Is it something to do with the System or -”

A sound eerily similar to a strangled dog came from Rose as she realized that nobody else was very concerned about what Tully had done.

“Yes, the System can give that power. The dog monkeys have hardened fur that rebounds a bit of the damage back. I recognize the texture. That is why your stick broke, it was too brittle to withstand the damage.” she said, hoping it would calm the argument a bit. Rose did seem to grow calmer.

“Oh.” was the only reply she got from the younger girl. That suited her just fine.

“On that note, how old are you?” she asked. That was important, if they were underage, it would make her case much stronger.

A look was shared between them. “Why do you ask?” Rose said, looking her with puzzlement.

“The class system activates the night of your eighteenth birthday. If any of you have reached that age, then you should get the options as soon as you go to sleep. That is, of course, if this is the first night in the world since you turned eighteen. ” she said. “If you are not yet eighteen, then other ways will be needed. I doubt I need to explain to you why a class would be helpful.”

Wichita wondered if they did need an explanation on the importance of classes. But surely, even transmigrators would be able to understand what classes were?

Rose sighed. “I am eighteen -”

“— but I am not.” The boy said before the girl could finish. “Tully isn’t eighteen either. Do we get preparatory classes or something?”

Wichita nodded. “I see. And no, the System does not grant classes to those under the age of eighteen.” Then she considered. Rose had seemed suspicious of her when she arrived. And though she was less suspicious now, she would not easily take her offer.

Should she broach it now? If she sparked suspicion, it might ruin their relationship. But did she even have a choice? Could she even survive the forest without doing it?

Mana: 52/453

A sigh propelled itself from her as she looked at it. One mana more than what would force her to go through a height reduction. But the thinking of how she’d only had two mana remaining before she levelled up made her want to curl up in a corner and cry.

If she ran out of mana her body would collapse, only her Heart surviving. Then some beast would eat it and she would die. This was perhaps the closest she had come to dying. This entire experience, from the second she had been declared a princess, had been harrowing. Wichita was sure she would be a crying mess if not for her Heart.

No, she did not have a choice. The forest was far too dangerous for her to traverse alone. Just because none of the powerful beasts had eaten her yet did not mean they would continue to show mercy.

“Ugh, hello?” Rose was looking at her questioningly as she realized that she had been lost in her own thoughts for far too long.

“I apologize, I was simply considering the situation. Pursuing other options would require using certain options that may be less than desirable. For you more than me in this case.”

“And what options are those?” Rose asked, her eyes narrowing as her face contorted into something Wichita did not recognize. Was it annoyance? Or perhaps suspicion?

“The two of them will have to swear themselves to me.” she said, expecting questions. There was one.

“I see. And what exactly would that entail?” Rose pursed her lips, her eyes till narrowed at Wichita. The girl thought she was taking advantage of her. Not an unreasonable assumption. The events since they had transmigrated did seem a bit convenient.

A girl appeared just as they arrived here, saved them from beasts and was now asking them to swear themselves to her. A common enough thing given how Fae magic reacted with transmigrators, but they didn’t know that. Wichita barely knew how that worked, let alone them.

Thankfully, she had an easy way out of this conversation.

“I have no idea.” she answered honestly. “The System has not seen fit to give me that information.” There that should inspire some trust. If she had wanted to take advantage of the situation, then she should at least have the means to do it.

Rose blinked, clearly having not expected that. “I — what?”

“I arrived in this forest only a few hours ago after a…slight incident.” she continued, considering if she should reveal the details of her arrival. There were risks to it, but she knew something of equal importance about them too. And it was a secret that would be revealed easily once they escaped. After all, she knew no more about the outside world than them.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

There were excuses she could make, but being Queen would make keeping them up more difficult. What kind of Queen didn’t have a basic understanding of the world? What kind of Queen could not even name some nations that existed in her lands.

Wichita doubted she could make a story work. And lying would spoil long term relationships with the three, something she did not want to do. Even if it was doubtful they would continue to be in her service after they escaped the forest, she could perhaps establish relations. A transmigrator that survived would easily achieve a rather high ranking position in any kingdom. And such a connection was valuable.

“Were you hunted?” Tully asked, looking excited. “Are you on the run from an invader that took over your country?”

Wichita blinked in surprise. Rose sighed. “I think it is far more likely that she is the Queen of this forest. Perhaps some kind of beast that has taken human form?” The girl looked at her, as if expecting a confirmation.

Wichita was lost. What kind of world were they from, that they expected it? Well, now that she thought about it, both of those situations were more common than hers.

“Not quite.” she finally said. “I was a Princess of a nation that was hiding out in a small world during an attack. After a failed assassination, I found myself three Ages in the future.”

A branch broke as the boy leaned forward, seeming much more interested. “An assassination? Are there assassins after you?”

“I highly doubt they followed me through time.” she said dryly. Why was he so excited about assassins? “But there might be some if my identity were to be revealed.”

“The current rulers won’t be happy that you’re back?” Tully guessed.

“No, I — actually I am not sure about the status of my kingdom. The System informs me that it is long gone, but the fact that I still bear a royal class implies that it exists in some form.”

Now that she thought about it, was that really true? The [Forgotten Queen] class might only need for the kingdom to exist then, not now.

“So…that leaves us where, exactly?” Rose interrupted. “I am sorry, your backstory is fascinating, but I think we should refocus. I remember you talking about System access.”

“Yes.” Wichita nodded, glad the topic had shifter away from her past. There were few species even in other worlds that would approve of the stuff Arcana had done. The less they knew about it, the better.

“The System will only give a class to anyone below the age of eighteen if they have earned it. Just being transmigrators, and then swearing to me, a holder of a Legend ranked Monarch class should suffice. The fact that you shall be my first subjects will not hurt either. Can I presume that you are transmigrators.” she said, laying out her plan?

“No-” Rose began.

“Yes, we are and there is no need for us to lie.” the boy glared at Rose. “But you were saying about how you could not accept us.”

Wichita looked at the two of them, but decided to ignore the unsaid argument. “Yes, that is the issue. The System has not seen fit to give me the Skill for it yet.” she huffed. “The Skill has to be one of my Tier 1 class Skills, but I have not got them all yet. There are ways to force it to be my next Skill, but even then, I won’t get it till my next level.”

Tully raised her hand as Rose spoke out. “So we’re stuck until you get to another level. And then we swear our lives to you for…how long exactly?”

Wichita decided to deal with whatever Tully had to say first. “Yes, Tully?”

“Did you say Monarch? I thought you were a Princess.”

“Oh, yes. I gained a Monarch class because technically, I inherited the throne once everyone ahead of me in the line died. I was seventh in line at the time, so it must have taken a while.”

Or just one deadly battle that targeted the royal family’s safe spots. Wichita doubted that they had managed to get to them although. The spots weren’t public. As far as she knew, they were some of their most precious secrets. But there was little reason for them to know that.

“What now?” Rose prompted again. “I want to know more about this swearing stuff before we do anything - “

A rustle in the nearby trees had her jumping in alarm, and calling on the needle. But it was just a crack piercing through it.

“Yes, I can make it temporary.” she said, still looking around. Why had the beasts not attacked them? The four of them had been making plenty of noise, and their mana would attract it besides. “And I rather doubt I will get any loyalty enforcing Skills anytime soon.”

“I am sorry, what?” Rose asked, her voice reaching a higher pitch. “What do you mean ‘loyalty enforcing Skills’ “

Oh dear, she should not have mentioned that. Wichita had no idea how they would actually to react to the Skills, and she did not want to find out. The [Bond of Arcana] had not been subject of dislike by many a Monarch, and most loyalty skills mirrored that, at least to a lesser extent.

“I think it would be better if we moved on.” she said. “This forest is…strange. There should have been a beast attacking us by now.”

“There were quite a few beasts attacking us.” Rose noted dryly, looking at her with suspicion, but she started looking around anyway.

“Not them” Wichita waved her hand dismissively towards the dog monkeys. “I was attacked a lot in the past few hours. There should have been at least a chipmunk trying to take our head by now.”

“Perhaps they’re just afraid of the larger numbers?” Tully asked nervously.

“No, you’re too weak. The monsters won’t be scared of you.” she said. “Or me for that matter. There are far more powerful monsters around here.”

“How did you survive then?” Rose asked. Wichita frowned. That was an interesting question. How had she survived till now?

“I have been lucky.” she said in the end. “The stronger monsters all decided not to eat me. I met a few of them, but they just went on their way.”

Tully approached her. “Do you have a luck power?”

“In a manner of speaking.” she said. “But I doubt it is powerful enough to affect someone of their power. Perhaps it is your ‘luck power’ acting here. But even then, there is something wrong. Fae magic is known to favor transmigrators, but if it protected them to such an extent, then so many of them wouldn’t die. No, this is something else.”

Wichita had been thinking aloud by the end of it, and it had an effect on her companions.

“What do you mean Fae magic?” Rose demanded. Tully was shoving her head from one direction to the other as fast as she could. Even the boy looked wary, as if he expected a monster to jump at him at any moment. Not an unreasonable assumption, she had encountered several monsters that did that.

“Later, we move now.” she replied, trying to project strength. Like she had read in a book. The three of them followed, though Rose still looked suspicious. The girl was more suspicious than her, and she was Arcana. Did she have a Skill for it?

There was no danger as they walked, not even cracks in their path. Wichita had been afraid they would walk into one, and told them to only step where she did. But that seemed to be a waste. The more they walked, the more suspicious it got. The purple mist was hovering over them again, and her companions looked more fidgety the denser it grew.

“The mist isn’t wet.” Rose murmured.

“The mist is made of mana.” Wichita whispered back. “I would suggest not stepping into dense parts of it, but even I don’t think it matters.”

“What do you mean?” Rose asked. “This is… I didn’t expect this.”

“I think we should stop.” she said, sighing. “There is no way we can escape whatever the forest is doing now. This is beyond me.”

“Do you think it is going to kill us? I don’t think I can fight a monster I can’t see.” Tully asked, her voice betraying her nervousness. The girl was scared. So were they all. The mist had begun dispersing the second they stopped, and she did not like what see was seeing. The trees were arranged right next to each other on both of their sides, leaving no space for them to walk through.

Two paths emerged in front of them, and none behind them. Wichita couldn’t be sure, but the arrangement reminded her of something, something she had not expected in this forest.

A maze.