Sovereign of Spirits (1)
“I hate people who forget their duties the most!”
I decided to scold them for now.
The Knights and Alicia were running towards me to restrain me, but they stopped in their tracks, trembling.
[Nuoooooooh!! This kind of magic is nothiiiiiiing.]As much as I dislike the idea of them returning to their senses with just a scolding, it seemed to be effective. At least the Knights regained their senses. They might be crying, but they’re back. I don’t think there will be any mercy for the attackers who have tarnished their pride.
“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them all! Team 1, form a circle around Princess and make that the final defense line. The rest, capture them alive. Show them the hell of this world. Not a single one is to be killed, understood? Don’t even allow them to die!!”
“Mr. Coote, summon the Woofers Squad.”
“Mhm, hoooooowl.”
Magic circles appeared around Mr. Coote, and about 30 Woofers were summoned.
It seems the victory has already been decided. Alicia, pretending to still be under the spell of the Magic Eye, will somehow restrain the enemy leader. I don’t think she’s the type to stay irrational in this situation, nor is she someone who would listen to the Magic Eye. Alicia was called back by the attackers, who realized the change in circumstances and was being treated as a hostage. However, the Knights won’t show mercy. Their job protecting me takes priority over Alicia’s well-being, so they focused on eliminating the attackers. Besides, they seem to have sensed that Alicia was back to her senses, since they’re colleagues after all.
“Alice, was I necessary after all? I feel like my will to keep going is fading.”
“It was nice to have you protect me when I couldn’t move. But with an attack like this, we would have won either way. Even if I were kidnapped, they would have found me, and there was no way out for them from the beginning. When they showed up, they were already surrounded by the Spec Ops hiding nearby with illusion magic.”
That’s why I was relatively calm. People who seem to be from the Spec Ops were mixed in with the bystanders, and some were hiding nearby with illusion magic. It seems they were also unaffected by the Magic Eye.
“Hah, Arland really is strange in so many ways, isn’t it?”
The attackers, who were battered by the Knights’ charge and the Woofers’ march, including their supposed leader, were kicked in the places they shouldn’t have been kicked by Alicia and fell down with their eyes rolled back. It seems she was pretending all along, after all. The magicians, who were contracted with the spirits also resisted, but as soon as a needle hit their necks from somewhere, they collapsed one after another. A blowpipe, perhaps?
“Phew, so there were survivors after all.”
“Did you just use me as a bait to lure them out?”
“I judged that with Princess’s courage, this much would be fine… but it was unexpected that these idiots would actually fall for the Magic Eye. Well, worst-case scenario, I can carry you and run.”
Hmm, but I won’t forgive you for putting my friends in danger. I made sure Sharon, Keena, and Anon were apologized to sincerely when we returned. There were various excuses floating around, like assurances of safety and mentions that Father was backing the operation, and that a considerable number of people were mobilized for this operation, so it would be absolutely fine, but I made them apologize with sincerity. It was a sincere apology, even to the point of prostration. Since I was genuinely angry, the Knights all prostrated themselves as well.
“It’s your duty to at least inform me. If you had, we could have come up with a plan together.”
“I never expected you to fall for the Magic Eye, Princess. The girls just needed to be safely put to sleep.”
“No excuses allowed!!”
I growled angrily. Of course, such behavior cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. Naturally, the three of them must be apologized to and provided appropriate compensation. There’s no excuse for using Arland’s methods in another country.
Afterward, I headed to the homes of the three parents and bowed my head. Anon’s house would receive a full set of equipment requested through Mr. Grantz, while Keena and Sharon’s houses would receive some magic tools. It’s very uncomfortable to settle things with material goods, but the other parties seemed quite intimidated, so I mostly left them behind as if pushing the stuff onto them. It’s not really about money, but I won’t forgive them for knowingly putting us in danger. I’ll ignore Father for a while. I’ll treat him as someone who’s been away for about a year.
“Ugh, I was looking forward to the cake…”
“You don’t have to apologize so much. After all, you didn’t know either, right? And… it’s not the first time something like this happened because of that idiot over there in the corner.”
“Probably… Anon will take care of it somehow, and things like this have happened before around Anon, too.
Each of them forgave me in their own way. By the way, cake time was postponed until tomorrow. Anon seemed to be glaring at Alicia resentfully only for this.
But Anon………
And Alicia, while she didn’t expect things to escalate on the first day, she was in charge of our security today.
“If something like this happens again, I’ll renounce my Royal status and leave the country.”
“I’m deeply sorry.”
I’ve lost count of how many times Alicia has bowed her head, but she did it again. She seemed a bit worn out today alone. But I won’t forgive her, not a chance.
I also sent a messenger to Father to convey that message.