Chapter 25

Princess’s Visit (2)
"Hardt, so this is where you were."

Brother Gerald called out to me as I was reading a book in the greenhouse. Even though it was morning, he looked exhausted.

Since I was exempted from studying while the princess was here, I had been spending my mornings lounging in the greenhouse. Atre was also here, napping on his favorite cushion.

"Brother Gerald, you look tired. What happened?"

Apparently, early this morning, while Brother Gerald was doing his usual routine of running around the estate with Ripka in his pocket, Princess Rinaluna approached him and asked if she could join him.

Since he couldn’t refuse, he ended up running with her. Along the way, she asked him a barrage of questions—whether he always ran with Ripka in his pocket, if she could continue running with him during her stay, and whether he could communicate with Ripka.

Encountering the princess early in the morning—was it just a coincidence, or was it an ambush?
If, in such a short time, she had already researched our daily routines and acted accordingly, that would be truly impressive.

Given how sharp she seemed when dealing with yesterday’s documents, it would be strange if she hadn’t looked into us.

There’s a high chance she’ll come to this greenhouse.
Sigh… What a hassle.

I considered moving from place to place to avoid her during her stay, but that would only make me look suspicious. I figured it would be best to talk to her at least once.

However, aside from dinner, I didn’t have any interactions with the princess.

Now, we were on our way to the Great Forest.

Princess Rinaluna, dressed in riding attire, was skillfully handling her horse on her own. As for me and Atre, we rode as usual with Knight Meyer.

For some reason, Atre always stayed in my arms during the round trip between the estate and the Great Forest. If this keeps up, I might have to get a special harness for him—holding him like this for two hours straight is quite a workout.

Yet, once we reach the forest, he’ll run around and hardly stay by my side.

Since the princess was with us, our family’s guards remained silent and focused on their duties.

All of the princess’s guards were accompanying us for now, but most of them would remain stationed at the fortress. Only three knights, experienced in subjugating magic beasts, would enter the forest with us, while the rest of the escort would consist of our family’s guards.

Normally, when we entered the Great Forest, we had about fifteen people. This time, however, the group had expanded to around thirty.

At the princess’s request, she wanted to observe the usual duties of our guards firsthand, including the live capture of female Cocottes and the subjugation of magic beasts. That was why the scale of the operation had grown.

After arriving at the fortress, we took a short break before entering the forest.

As soon as we stepped in, Unicorn Rabbits and Cocottes charged at us, prompting the knights to subdue them.

Brother Chris was explaining the process to Princess Rinaluna.

"Why is Captain Kyle not the one explaining to the princess?" I asked.

"Young master Reinhardt, there is a vast difference in status between us and the princess. Also, since she has many attendants and wants to observe our normal operations, the captain is fully occupied with giving orders and ensuring security along the way." Knight Meyer explained.

Then, he whispered in my ear, "To be honest, there *was* talk of Captain Kyle serving as both the princess’s escort and her guide, but he outright refused and ran away. So, in the end, Young master Chrisford was asked—no, rather, entrusted with the task to avoid any missteps."

Ah, so that’s the difference between official statements and the truth.
Knowing Captain Kyle’s personality, it makes sense—he hates formalities.

As we continued capturing and subduing magic beasts, we reached a clearing and took a break.

The guards who had gone ahead had prepared hot water, which was cooled with ice magic to make tea. They distributed it to everyone.

We usually only had cold water, so having iced tea today was a treat.

Atre hadn’t returned yet. How far had he wandered off? He wasn’t up to something, was he? I was starting to worry.

Once the break was over, we continued toward the river where we had previously encountered the Brown Bear.

This was another request from the princess—most likely because she had heard about Bianca.

Suddenly, the group came to a halt.

Tensing up, I wondered if it was an emergency, but Knight Meyer reassured me, "There are no magic beasts nearby. However, something seems to be happening by the river."

A report came from the scouts—three orcs and ten silver wolves were fighting each other.

Orcs provided both meat and hides. The hides were used for wagon covers, and the meat was similar to pork in taste. They looked like pigs but were about twice the size of those from my previous life and walked on two legs.

Although they were only E-rank magic beasts, their value depended on the condition of their hides—holes or scratches would significantly reduce their worth. That’s why, when subjugating them, the preferred targets were the arms, legs, and head.

A team of ten, including my brothers and eight guards, was assigned to deal with them.

The remaining guards split into groups—some to protect the princess and me, and others to keep watch on the surroundings.

The princess and I observed the battle from the shade of a tree.

Brother Gerald and two guards used wind magic to target the orcs’ legs, while Brother Chris and three guards struck the silver wolves’ heads and legs with wind and ice magic, reducing their numbers by half.

Then, all ten members of the strike team finished the remaining enemies with their swords.

"Meyer, they could’ve finished the battle with just magic. Why didn’t they?"

"E-rank beasts can be defeated with swords alone. The fundamental rule is to conserve mana as much as possible—we never know when we might encounter a high-ranking magic beast. The battle is over now. Would you like to take a closer look at the magic beasts?"

"Yes. I’ve never seen an orc up close before."

Upon closer inspection, the orcs were massive.
If one of these things rammed into me, I’d be dead on the spot.

To think these creatures were only E-rank—now I understood why even the outskirts of the Great Forest were considered dangerous.

That day, we encountered orcs and silver wolves, but no high-ranking magic beasts.

When we returned to the clearing, I found Atre napping, which brought me a sense of relief.

What do you think about this chapter?