At the Eberbach training grounds in the capital. It had already gotten quite dark but the training grounds had been filled with illumination because of the relentless efforts of one girl who had been occupying it ever since she was cleared to do some strenuous activities.

"HAAAaaa!"

*crack* *crack*

Another wooden dummy crumbled to the ground after the pierced parts formed and spread cracks around the pierced areas.

"Not enough…" she mumbled.

Imagining the situation Sodina had gotten away from, she was disappointed to find that her current self would still have not survived that a.s.sault. She bitterly bit her lip as the memories of the escorts that sacrificed themselves came to mind along with her imagination of the enemies she encountered.

This hadn't been the first time that she was attacked. However, it was the first time that she faced people that were way above her league. She couldn't rid herself of the feeling of bitter helplessness as she had never considered the possibility of facing it because of her father's power and influence.

"I say, Ojou-sama, didn't we already make it abundantly clear that overtraining tends to be counterproductive?" a familiar voice called to her from behind.

"Laursan? What are you doing here?" Sodina turned around to see that the vice-captain of the steel wolves brigade wearing a strict expression directed right at her.

"Without Zwei-sama and most of his people at your father's side, how can we take on missions? Though we do understand that this sensitive situation can only be handled by him, this place does not have enough people to defend against the full force of those who we suspect to be behind it." She promptly replied.

"What about M—"

"We have received an update on the leader's status, she won't need any a.s.sistance as the only thing left is cleaning up. There isn't any backup required for that so I immediately led the others to head towards the capital." Laura's gaze moved towards the multiple remnants of the targets that Sodina had destroyed for the past few days.

"Well, from the looks of things, the mansion wouldn't be in much need for firewood throughout the cold season." She sighed.

"I…" Sodina showed a guilt-ridden expression. She had been the one who insisted on taking only a few escorts with her despite Laura's insistence that she couldn't help but feel responsible. 

"Please do not continue to torture yourself over this matter Ojou-sama. The fault does not only lie with you. I had agreed with your proposal despite my personal judgment. I apologize for letting you experience such a situation." Laura gave a sincere bow that immediately made Sodina panic.

"(Is she doing this to make me feel better?)" a thought came to her mind. She appreciated the thought and was thankful towards the usually cold Laura. "Please raise your head. Though I still think that I am at fault, I appreciate your efforts in trying to cheer me up."

"Please stop blaming yourself for the death of your escorts. All of us, including myself, would have been more than happy to do the same if it was in exchange for your survival. Also, not all of them had died as we had received a report from Zwei-san earlier that one of your escorts has been found at Waise village." She informed.

"A survivor!?" Sodina almost dropped the rapier that had been gripped tightly in her hand since the afternoon. Her nerves immediately loosened up after hearing that someone that accompanied her had survived.

"Yes. The report came when I arrived at the estate. It seems that he was injured and currently unconscious, but he has been taken care of and will live."

"But… how?"

"It seems to be like the person who you were coming to meet at your visit here had been exploring the forest. The details are still uncertain since the person who witnessed everything is still unconscious but—" Laura stopped speaking as she noticed one of the messenger falcons of Zwei pa.s.s above them.

"It looks like another report from Zwei-sama. It should be more information about what he was able to uncover."

"Please tell me everything while we head toward father's study. I haven't heard anything about the situation ever since I was allowed to go back to training."

"As you wish." Laura updated her about the current situation.

Zwei's initial investigation did not yield any fruit as there weren't many useful traces left in the goblin forest. Aside from traces of the said orcs that have been proven to be lured from their usual hunting grounds, the a.s.sailants that attacked Sodina seemed to all have disappeared into thin air.

"Dad!" Sodina entered the study with Laura and saw Elrich being accompanied by one of the transcribers that were trying to decode Zwei's message.

"It looks like Laura has helped you return to your senses." Elrich smiled.

"Is it true? Was there really someone who survived?"

"It's true," Elrich confirmed as he was handed the decoded message. "It seems that he has regained consciousness as well." He continued to read the Zwei's report.

Zwei's initial report containing the trail concerning both the hero and the mysterious attackers had arrived earlier in the day. After days of not being able to find anything worth mentioning, crucial information was finally obtained.

"What's wrong?" Sodina noticed the frown on her father's face as he kept reading the report. "Did something bad happen?"

"No… but it seems like I ended up owing the hero an even greater debt" Elrich sighed. "I had hoped it would be the other way around but who would have thought…" he glanced at his daughter.

"What is it? Why is it suddenly about the hero? What about the survivor?" Sodina turned to Laura for answers but without knowing what the report entailed, Laura was unable to provide an answer.

"The hero was responsible for your successful escape. According to what Zwei learned from your escort, he was saved after the hero whose ident.i.ty was still unknown at the time. From what he overheard before he had lost consciousness, those who had been hiding were taken out before he showed himself so that would explain why you didn't encounter any pursuers." He explained.

"That… is that true!?" Sodina couldn't believe it. The people from whom she had ungratefully stolen the horse and had ridden to escape turned out to be the savior she wouldn't have known about if it weren't for her surviving companion.

"Zwei would not have made such a careless report so it should be."

"The hero…" she couldn't help but mutter.

If Sodina were to be honest, her interest in the so-called hero of their generation was miniscule. Though there was some curiosity because of the history she had studied when she was growing up, it was mainly admiration towards the hero 'Raphael' who was hailed as the 'Spear Emperor' because it was largely due to his influence that the Eberbach family's military structure had been one of the most feared forces in Edea.

Though the fact that the peace that they were enjoying for the past few centuries was because of the heroic feats of the hero Uriel, the Eberbach family had always looked up to the hero Raphael more.

"According to the villagers, the hero was headed towards back to the capital so he should be returning soon."

-

Meanwhile, at the palace. A girl sat on the wheeled chair that had been powered by her mana. With her current state. This was the only way she could move around on her own. No one could have imagined the ill.u.s.trious princess of the powerful Zweifel kingdom would have no choice but to slowly recover as there had not been any kind of healing magic that could fix her limbs.

"Princess, please allow me to bring my daughter back to your side!" a muscular man bowed before Alicia's chair.

This man was Julian Tisdale, the head of the King's guard. This had been the only time he could get an audience with Alicia because the princess had rejected to meet with anyone ever since the hero had made her go through an experience that made her waver about picking death over life.

"What's the point? With the restrictions put on the royal guards, she had most likely already forgotten about the secrets that we have discussed. There is no harm in letting her follow the hero, she was supposed to have been a candidate to join his party in the first place anyways." Alicia coldly showed no concern over the loss of her confidant.

Though she had agreed to meet with Julian, it didn't mean that her mood had gotten any better. She was still frustrated because of the limitations of her own mobility. The hero had instructed her with a rigorous regimen of physical therapy but left her unsatisfied with the slow pace of her recovery.

Julia's failure to get back at the hero for what he had done to Alicia did nothing but sour her mood even more. She didn't want to talk about anything that reminded her of the hero who they currently couldn't offend.

"(I swear… once you've fulfilled your purpose…)" Alicia gripped her armrest tightly.

Julian had misinterpreted this action as the princess trying to hold back her frustration because of the current situation. He felt gratified and silently scolded his daughter in his mind because of the stupidity of her actions. Though he knew that Julia had done it out of her own loyalty to Alicia, there had been more convenient ways of achieving what she had intended.

One such was when the hero started his training. The hero might have that mysterious soul weapon of his, but it wouldn't have been used in training exercises such as swordplay practice and the like.

"I understand your frustration your highness, I only ask that Julia be once again be accepted to her former duties once the bind the hero has on her has been voided." Julian bowed his head and therefore couldn't notice that his words had irked Alicia even more.

"Do whatever you want!" she turned the wheelchair around and didn't want to speak about the matter anymore.

Worrying about someone who had already left her side after such a failure was the last thing on her mind currently. She needed to find a way to be able to recover for she couldn't stand to be seen in such a miserable state. With what she had been informed about during that day, she would be forced to retreat from the limelight since she wasn't in any condition to fulfill the duties that were planned for her.

The king and his confidants had come to inform her that an official statement that she had gotten ill due to overworking herself for the sake of summoning the hero. It would soon be announced to the kingdom and she would be locked inside the palace until she had made more progress in her recovery.

"(That hero… he's not a man!)"

She was the proud princess who stood above all the young women in the Zweifel kingdom. She had countless number of suitors and admirers. How could someone bear to put her in such a state after they had just met? What baffled her even more was that the longest period the hero ever looked at her was when he had arrived in Edea. He had always acted like he never wanted to look or even see her after that.

"(He didn't even bat an eye as he was…)" Alicia thought back to the time when she was being treated.

Though the pain had been unbearable. Alicia was initially able to forget about the pain when she had concentrated on observing Kazuya when he had touched her body. She was quite sensitive to how men perceived her because she had gotten used to all kinds of looks that the opposite s.e.x would give her.

The hero had been given an opportunity to touch what usually would have been untouchable yet, he had acted like he had been touching a disgusting object instead. Even though he tried to cover it up, Alicia was observant enough to catch this. Her disbelief after witnessing such an unbelievable sight acted like a numbing agent that made her forget everything aside from what she had just witnessed.

Of course, unlike medicine and chemicals, it could not last for long. Alicia eventually felt the pain that she should have recognized when the hero had started his procedure. This was only their second time meeting each other yet, how could he act like that towards her?

"Just you wait! I'll have you wrapped around my finger before you even realize it!"

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