I couldn't hide my bewilderment as I looked at Princess Lilia, who was sitting across from me in the carriage.

"Wait, Princess. You're coming with us?"

Princess Lilia, with her arms crossed, looked at me rather brazenly with those bold, emerald eyes.

"I told you I was looking forward to working with you."

"I thought you were just saying that."

"Anyway, are you going to keep calling me 'Princess' so stiffly? I told you to just call me Lily."

"Princess. No matter what, calling you Lily is—"

"Sir Monde. Be quiet."

"..."

Sir Monde, who had interjected only to get shot down, smacked his lips in dissatisfaction and turned his gaze out the window.

"Well, won't you try calling me that?"

"..."

"It's really okay, so don't refuse."

I looked at the audacious third princess before me.

Bright blonde hair flowed along her slender facial lines, framing emerald eyes that sparkled with a strange light.

She reminded me of someone I had met in Blake.

Though, there was the difference that the someone had piercing blue eyes.

Her age... was she about 15 or 16? She definitely didn't look twenty.

'Her impression...'

I don't know if I should say this to a princess, but she looked like she wouldn't listen to a word anyone said.

The face of a troublemaker, perhaps.

If left alone, it felt like she would bounce here and there and end up causing trouble in some unimaginable place.

But when I looked at her eyes, which occasionally settled into a serious gaze, I could glimpse a firmly established inner world.

'Even if she's young, royalty is royalty, I guess.'

The Heavenly Demon also added his praise in an interested tone.

[She seems bright.]

The princess, unaware that she had received a compliment from the Heavenly Demon who was incredibly stingy with praise, urged me on with sparkling eyes.

"Go on, Sir Ashuban. Try calling me Lily~."

"..."

"Just once. It's not that hard, you know?"

I thought for a moment before speaking.

"If you call me by my name informally too."

At those words, Lilia beamed.

"Okay, Ashuban."

"Alright, Lily."

"Whoa!"

I had only called her name once, but the princess was overjoyed, as if she could jump.

"C-can you call me that just one more time?"

"No. Lily."

"Eek!"

At that, Monde, who was sitting diagonally from her, looked at the princess with an expression that said, 'Here we go again,' and then spoke to me.

"Ashuban, was it? You'll have to understand. Our princess has a personality where once she gets hooked on something, she falls for it without rhyme or reason."

"Why me, of all people?"

Monde shrugged.

"How would I know? The princess herself probably doesn't know the reason either."

Since the topic came up, I asked.

"Hey, Lily."

"Yes?"

"There must be plenty of other skilled people, so why did you single me out and ask? Looking at the scale of our current party, it seems you were planning to go with only a very small number of people."

Right now, Princess Lilia was, to put it crudely, in the middle of a nighttime escape.

And she was doing it with only that delinquent-like guardian knight, without any other servants or guards.

Our princess had used the excuse of giving a wedding speech to leave the palace at night and come to District 3, and from there, she boarded a pre-arranged carriage and is currently heading north.

The carriage also showed signs of careful preparation.

It wasn't flashy, so it didn't stand out, but it was sturdy and somehow strangely smooth and comfortable, not like an ordinary carriage.

As proof, next to me, Linda and Schmidt were sleeping soundly, their heads resting on each other's shoulders.

The green dress she had worn to the wedding was nowhere to be seen; she was now bundled up to her neck in what looked like warm, fur-lined clothes.

At my question, Lilia spoke as if boasting.

"This is a secret, but I have a special ability."

"A special ability?"

Even though there was no one else to hear, Lilia suddenly moved closer and whispered, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Yes. Would you believe me if I said it's my own intuition?"

"Intuition, huh. Like a woman's intuition or something?"

"Hmm... it's a bit different from that. It's a little hard to explain."

Lilia leaned back against the plush backrest and looked at me.

"When I saw you, Ashuban, I just got this feeling. Ah, this is the hero who will save the Maia Kingdom from the crisis it's about to face! I knew it right away, you know?"

"...So, you chose me based on a simple feeling?"

"Yes!"

When I looked at the delinquent knight for confirmation, he yawned and nodded.

"Our princess is a little unique."

"More than just a little."

Isn't this an even bigger oddball than the Black Prince?

The Black Prince, though sinister and cruel, was cautious and careful.

But this reckless princess was undertaking a nighttime escape based on a simple gut feeling, heading north with a man she'd just met, into a region fraught with danger.

And at a time when the worst monster wave in history was predicted to descend.

Fine, let's say that's the case.

Even so.

"Is there a need for a princess of a kingdom to go to the north herself?"

At that, Lily placed her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and said majestically.

"To boost morale!"

"Boost morale?"

"If the noble princess of the kingdom goes to the northern wall herself to cheer them on, won't our soldiers be filled with strength?"

"...Is that so?"

"It is!"

I guess that's how it is.

[It seems to be so.]

Even the Heavenly Demon was convinced.

...Come to think of it, this Heavenly Demon fellow seems to have a particular soft spot for young kids.

[I do not.]

He says he doesn't.

I looked at Sir Monde.

"As a guardian knight, shouldn't you stop such a dangerous undertaking?"

The delinquent shrugged.

"If I tried to stop her, she's the type to go alone in secret, leaving me behind. I simply follow the princess."

Lily grabbed one of Monde's arms and linked it with hers.

"My Sir Monde, too. I brought him on as my guardian knight when he was about to be kicked out of the Royal Knights. I just got a strong feeling."

"What did he get kicked out for?"

"Many things. Drinking, deserting his post, violating the code of conduct, unauthorized absence from training, refusing missions, assaulting a noble..."

"Assaulting a noble?"

He's lucky he only got kicked out of the Royal Knights.

"Hey, Princess. Why would you answer him so literally when he asks that?"

"Why, it's all in the past."

Monde looked at the giggling princess's face and, as if he couldn't win, gently shook his head and looked out the window.

My mouth felt a bit empty, so I took out a piece of beef jerky and looked at the princess across from me.

"Still, even so. Does it make sense for a princess to go to that harsh north herself? And with only a single guardian knight?"

"Why not? We have the reliable members of Sherwood here, including you, Ashuban."

At her words, I looked beside me, where the poison user and the mute were sleeping soundly, their heads resting on each other's shoulders.

For the record, Dofang was currently getting a face full of cold wind in the driver's seat.

The princess was excluded because she didn't know how to drive a carriage, and the delinquent guardian knight got out of it under the pretext of having to protect the princess at all times.

Linda, Schmidt, Dofang, and I played rock-paper-scissors, and Dofang was the lucky winner.

"And I can use magic, too."

"...Magic?"

"Yes. Want to see?"

When I nodded, Lily closed her eyes and, with a great fuss, moved her hands while muttering incomprehensible words.

After a moment of this, she snapped her eyes open and shouted.

"Yap!"

A flame the size of a fingernail appeared at her fingertip.

It looked like a tiny candle flame that had used her finger as a wick to stand up.

"How is it? How is it?"

"Oh... that's amazing."

I was genuinely impressed.

A princess who could use magic.

The princess grinned like a mischievous child.

"Heehee. You shouldn't be surprised yet."

She closed her eyes again and busied her hands and mouth as before, and then...

"Hiyap!"

This time, a chilly coldness flickered faintly from her fingertip like the smoke from an extinguished candle.

The princess poked the back of my hand with it.

"Ooh, cold."

"How's that? Amazing, right? I can use both attributes. And fire and ice, at that—opposing attributes! Amazing, right? Amazing, right?"

Sir Monde added.

"It might look a bit shabby, but that's actually really difficult. Mages who can handle opposing attributes can be counted on one hand. When it became known that the princess could handle two attributes, the Mage Tower was turned upside down. They said it was a talent born once in a decade."

"Oho."

"She was just born with it. Among mages, they say she received the blessing of mana."

Lilia, having been praised, started playfully punching Monde's shoulder, saying, "Shabby! You called it shabby!"

"Is that so?"

Without much thought, I activated the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art and produced each attribute in my hands.

In my left hand, a chilly coldness that scattered like white powder. In my right, a flaring blue flame.

Having reached the seventh stage of the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art, it was no longer difficult for me to use the two opposing energies simultaneously.

Seeing this, Lilia's and Monde's eyes widened.

"...!"

"Wh-what is that?"

Lilia brought her hand close to the white cold and the blue flame, and her jaw dropped.

"I-it's real?"

Of course, its intensity was incomparable to what the princess had produced.

Lilia looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

"Ashuban. Were you a mage?"

"Not a mage. This is called martial arts."

"...Is it black magic?"

"Well... let's just say it's something similar."

Monde was still frozen like a statue, staring at my hands with wide eyes, while Lilia was making a fuss, as if she couldn't understand it at all.

"No, what in the world is this...! It's amazing enough that you produced flame and cold instantly without any incantation or hand signs, but to use them at the same time! And with such strong power! How is this possible?"

"Hmm?"

I tilted my head.

"Can't you do it at the same time, Lily?"

The princess shrieked.

"Who can do that! Even the Red Witch probably can't do that!"

"Ah, is that so? It was incredibly difficult, I'll admit. I thought my eyes were going to pop out. It took me a long time to be able to produce them at the same time."

"It's not just difficult, it's supposed to be impossible!"

I replied with a stern face.

"I am Ashuban. In my dictionary, there is no such word as impossible."

"Oh, for goodness sake..."

Lilia laughed like a deflated balloon.

It was a limp, powerless laugh.

"Come to think of it, the miracle of Ketel also happened because you were officiating, right?"

"Hmm?"

"I know everything. When everyone else was shocked, only you were looking at the night sky and smiling calmly. Then, as if Ketel was smiling back, a crescent moon appeared and then disappeared right away."

...She saw that?

Was I the only one who saw it?

This princess had sharp observational skills.

"The priests of the night said it's been a whole 300 years since Ketel last showed a miracle. On top of that, a miracle of this scale is the first in history. It's not even in the records. Which means the uproar at the night temple wasn't for nothing. Well... thanks to that, it was easy to sneak out, though."

Princess Lilia looked at me with a strange expression.

"Ashuban. What exactly are you?"

I gave her a grin.

"Sherwood's secret weapon."

* * *

Whoooosh—!

The north, where a white wind raged.

A massive wall that seemed to be made of ice and steel stood blocking the white land and the frozen city.

A man stood atop that wall.

His hair was all gray, and his beard and hair had grown out luxuriantly, like a lion's mane.

He was wearing the hide of a tiger-like magical beast, and from his appearance, an unapproachable dignity and a ferocious wildness could be felt.

His gray eyes were staring beyond the wall, at the white land where an endless snowstorm was blowing.

Soon, his mouth opened.

"Reinforcements?"

His voice was flat, hard, and stern, without any rise or fall.

But just from that, an overwhelming presence could be felt.

His adjutant reported.

"The royal court is still just repeating that we should re-examine the situation. It seems it will be difficult to expect support from the royal family."

The man let out a small sigh.

"Those useless and incompetent worms. If I had my way, I'd like to march south with the magical beasts right now."

"...Your Grace."

"Right, what about the Mage Tower?"

"A reply came from the Mage Tower saying they will dispatch a total of thirty-one battle mages."

"An unprecedented scale."

"Yes. If they don't want to give up that place and move to another Mage Tower, they will have to block the monster wave with all their might."

"What else?"

The adjutant mentioned the knights and soldiers dispatched from the various territories scattered across Maia.

The man said in a blunt voice.

"The numbers are small."

"...Yes. It seems they are wary of the royal court's reaction. On the surface, they said they had to leave a minimum number of personnel to protect their territories from the magical beasts lurking nearby."

"Cowards."

The man muttered lowly.

"Then what about the mercenaries?"

"Yes, the Mercenary Guild has been spreading the word to the mercenaries in various ways to avoid the eyes of the royal court, but..."

"Just the conclusion."

"My apologies. The mercenaries... it seems most of them have chosen the option of running away instead of fighting."

The man clicked his tongue lowly.

It wasn't surprising.

Mercenaries, unlike knights, originally had no beliefs or sense of justice.

They only moved for money.

But what was coming this time was the worst monster wave in history.

A situation where, beyond money, individual survival was uncertain.

If the magical beasts broke through the northern wall and headed south, it would be a big problem for the Mercenary Guild of Maia, not the mercenaries themselves.

Because they could just seek asylum in another country and wander around.

The man stared silently beyond the wall for a moment before parting his lips.

"What about 'him'?"

"The last news was that the branch manager of the Milestone Mercenary Guild went to persuade him personally."

"Meaning you haven't received a definite answer yet."

"Yes."

"Hah... If only he would come, we could breathe a little."

The man's sigh turned into a puff of white breath and scattered.

"Ah, and."

"What is it."

"They say the Sherwood Mercenary Corps is on its way."

The man's eyebrow twitched.

Like a crack forming on a sheet of ice, a change in expression was observed for the first time on the man's stiffly hardened face.

He said slowly.

"Weren't they. Disbanded?"

"Recently, a man named Ashuban of the Half-Sword has appeared, revived the mercenary corps, and is re-gathering the scattered members. They say the scattered members of Sherwood are gathering one by one around him."

"...Ashuban? Never heard of him."

The man, after thinking for a moment, said.

"The Sherwood crew wouldn't gather around someone they don't know."

"There is a theory that he was a member."

"Nonsense. If that were the case, I would have known."

"There's also a rumor that he's... Sherwood's secret weapon."

When the man turned his head to look, the adjutant cleared his throat and avoided his gaze.

"I was suspicious too, so I looked into it separately, and it seems his skills are certain. They say he became the new owner of a Platinum Badge by defeating an A-rank magical beast, a Hydra, by himself."

"Hmm."

"We did get a definite answer from him, the new captain of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps, that he would gather all the Sherwood members to the north, but..."

"The situation is still uncertain."

"That is correct."

Just then, a movement was detected beyond the all-white wall.

Looking, something was approaching through the blizzard, drawing a red line.

It was a man, dragging a huge magical beast with one hand, leaving a trail of red blood.

Seeing him, the adjutant said.

"I told him to rest until the wave officially begins. But he just won't listen."

"That's how all the Sherwood guys are."

The man looked at the long red line on the white snowfield and said.

"Leave him be. He's not a man who will listen to words."

"Yes, sir."

The man fiddled with the sword at his waist and muttered.

"The revival of Sherwood... Is that the only place we can pin our hopes on?"

The turquoise sword hanging at the man's waist was shimmering with a mysterious light.

(End of Chapter)