Chapter 4 | A Mere Princess of a Fallen Kingdom Dares to Order Me Around?

The pitch-black spatial rift in the sky suddenly snapped shut, as if it had never existed.

The battlefield fell into a brief and eerie silence.

Dulac, commander of the Empire’s Seventh Legion, sat atop his warhorse. He stared at the empty sky, a fleeting glimmer of purple light reflected deep within his pupils.

"Spatial magic...?!"

The adjutant beside him was so shocked he nearly dropped his signal flag. A dry, raspy voice squeezed out of his throat:

"Commander, this... besides those few half-dead monsters in the floating city of Arcanum, someone can actually master this kind of magic at such an age?"

Expressions shifted unpredictably across Dulac’s grim face.

"Spatial teleportation... and so rapid at that..."

Dulac narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a meaningful arc.

"It seems the Holy Light Church has hit a brick wall this time, hahaha!"

"Sir, what do you mean?"

"Hmph, I knew it. A kingdom as large as Sylvania, with a century of heritage, how could it not have a few trump cards up its sleeve?"

Dulac stroked the coarse stubble on his chin, his eyes flashing with the light of a calculating veteran.

"This war of annihilation is nominally a 'Holy War' launched by the Church; the Solan Empire only joined because we were forced into it by political ties. The Church is the one providing the troops and the effort; we’re just here to coast along."

"The Church’s influence has expanded too quickly these past years. Their reach is too long—they even dare to meddle with the Empire’s imperial power."

"If we can let the remnants of Sylvania survive to cause some trouble for the Church, or even become a thorn in their side..."

"Then for the Empire, that seems like a rather good thing."

This... is likely the situation the Emperor wanted to see, isn't it?

Dulac recalled the Emperor’s meaningful expression before his departure.

"Screee—!"

A gust of wind swept up as a massive griffin landed in front of Dulac.

"Dulac! Why didn't your men stop them?!"

The temple ranger was incensed, his crossbow pointed directly at Dulac’s nose, spit flying from his mouth as he shouted:

"What is your mage corps doing? Why didn't they attack him? You will be held responsible for this! I will report your dereliction of duty to His Holiness the Pope!"

Facing the accusation, Dulac didn't look terrified; instead, he let out a sneer.

"Dereliction of duty? Ha!"

Clang—!

Dulac suddenly drew the sword at his waist. A sharp blade of Qi sliced into the dirt by the griffin’s feet, scaring the beast into retreating several steps.

"It’s not your place, you watchdog, to give me orders!"

Dulac looked at him coldly.

"You’re welcome to try and file a complaint. I’m not like you, who personally shot and killed his own colleague with a crossbow bolt just to snatch the credit."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That shot was truly magnificent, blowing that idiot named Eli-whatever-gor to ashes along with the rest."

"You...!" The temple ranger’s face turned ashen, rendered speechless by the retort.

"We’re leaving!"

Dulac gave a grand wave of his hand, not even bothering to spare him another glance.

"Full army, withdraw! Write in the report... that we encountered resistance from an unknown powerhouse. To preserve the Empire's vital forces, we are making a strategic pivot!"

...

On the other side.

The turbulence of spatial teleportation was not as comfortable as clicking a map in a game.

Leo felt as if he had been stuffed into a high-speed tumble dryer; his internal organs felt like they were shifting out of place.

Pshhh—!

A spatial rift abruptly tore open in mid-air.

Two figures tumbled out of it in a pathetic heap.

'Crap, we’re in the air!'

During the previous fight, Leo had taken a moment to study that bullshit contract. He knew all too well that if his Master died, he would perish along with her.

Left with no choice, Leo gritted his teeth and flipped over, using himself as a human cushion.

Thud!

His back slammed hard against a tangle of gnarled tree roots. The intense pain made his vision go black, and a mouthful of blood mixed with gastric juice sprayed out.

"Cough... cough cough..."

He hacked, the thick taste of iron instantly filling his mouth.

The salty, damp sea breeze mixed with the unique scent of decaying organic matter drifted into his nose. This... seemed to be a swamp.

Lucrezia landed on top of him, completely unscathed.

Her petite body was light, like a wad of soaked cotton.

After a brief moment of dizziness, the relief of surviving, the humiliation of having her mana greedily plundered, and the experience of being crudely cursed at and handled roughly by a member of the opposite sex for the first time all intertwined, rushing to her pale little face.

"You—!"

She snapped her head up, her rose-red eyes burning with shame and indignation.

"You lowly thief! You vulgar scoundrel! How dare you... how dare you do that to this Princess..."

Leo had already pushed her aside. He was leaning against a strange tree covered in red aerial roots, coughing violently. Crimson blood trickled from the corner of his mouth; his handsome face was currently as white as paper.

Lucrezia’s cursing came to an abrupt halt.

She suddenly realized that although his methods weren't 'knightly' or 'gentlemanly'—and were in fact savage and crude beyond measure—this man had brought her out of a certain-death situation at the final moment.

"...Hey! Are you alright!"

Her tone softened involuntarily, her high-and-mighty arrogance replaced by a sliver of concern she hadn't even noticed herself.

We actually made it out alive.

"I'm fine. Looks like I won't die yet... Tsk!"

Leo leaned against the tree roots to catch his breath, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. His black eyes appeared exceptionally calm in the dim forest.

Then, as if remembering something, he walked straight back and crouched down.

He reached out a finger and poked her little face, which was bloodless from cold and weakness but still retained a hint of baby fat.

It was very cold, very soft, and completely defenseless.

"Tsk."

Leo clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, as if appraising a defective power bank.

"Not a single drop left?"

This blatant look of appraisal and the attitude of being measured like an object was a sharper humiliation than any vicious insult.

It reignited the shame and indignation in Lucrezia, who had just been feeling guilty.

"Take your filthy hands off me!"

Her face instantly flushed beet-red, whether from anger or embarrassment.

"You pipsqueak! You are not permitted to touch Us!"

"Fine, stop shrieking! Instead of that, you should take a look at where we are first."

Leo stood up, surveying the surroundings while checking his own injuries.

Fortunately, it was only minor internal rattling, and that soul-tearing aftereffect of teleportation had finally passed.

"Also, whether we've shaken the Church's pursuers."

Leo’s gaze swept over her pathetic state as she sat slumped in the mud.

"Besides, it’s not wise to keep soaking in water."

Lucrezia was choked by his words. Only then did she feel the piercing chill from the muddy water frantically seeping into her body, making her unable to stop shivering.

"Sigh, I have to be a babysitter too, making sure you don't die. What a massive pain!"

Leo bent down impatiently, grabbed her slender arm, and hauled her up from the mud.

"Ah! What are you doing! Let go!"

Lucrezia cried out. With her mana drained, she had no strength to resist; her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed again.

"What do you think? Or would you rather walk yourself?"

Leo half-dragged, half-carried her weightless, petite body away from the knee-deep shallows, stumbling up onto a relatively dry patch of high ground occupied by massive tree roots.

It was a completely unfamiliar environment.

Tall trees were rooted in the murky shallows, exposing large sections of crimson roots that looked like a monster’s tentacles.

In the early spring evening, a damp, cold wind blew through the woods, making the soaked clothes on both of them feel even more bone-chillingly cold.

Leo’s Kuromi pajamas clung to his body, while Lucrezia’s tattered princess dress was so thin she trembled in the cold wind, her lips beginning to turn purple.

Leo picked up two relatively dry branches from the ground and began awkwardly trying to start a fire by rubbing them together.

Lucrezia hugged her arms, enduring the waves of weakness and the piercing cold, taking a deep breath to force herself to calm down.

She strained her eyes to look around. When her gaze landed on the signature red aerial roots poking out of the sludge, her dim spirits lifted slightly.

She stole a glance at Leo, who was clumsily trying to start a fire nearby, and bit her pale lip, feeling conflicted.

Although this guy had a terrible attitude, a poisonous tongue, and judged her like an object...

It was undeniable that in a moment of desperation, this man she called a "pipsqueak" had saved her from a dead end.

Yelling at him just now... did seem a bit like returning kindness with ingratitude...

But! It’s not entirely Our fault! Who told him to be so rude!

Lucrezia argued indignantly with herself in her heart:

We are a Princess; the necessary decency and dignity must never be lost!

How could he... treat Us like that!

But the Kingdom is gone...

A battle between her tsundere nature and her reason waged in her heart.

Finally, to break the suffocating, stale atmosphere and to prove she wasn't a useless burden who only knew how to throw tantrums, she cleared her throat and took the lead in breaking the silence:

"This is... the Red Mangrove Swamp."

"If I’m not mistaken, we should be within the borders of the Virado Federation."

Red Mangrove Swamp? Virado?

Leo didn’t stop his movements, quickly searching his mind for places in the Divine Realm Era that matched those two names.

Unfortunately... there were no matching locations...

As expected, this world wasn't the game world he had been immersed in for ten years.

It seems I really have transmigrated to a different world...

Tsk! What a pain...

"Yes."

Lucrezia’s voice carried a hint of scholarly confidence:

"A federation composed of over a dozen small nations, known as the 'Land of Freedom.' This place doesn't belong to the Solan Empire, and there are several buffer states in between. Most importantly, the Holy Light Church's influence is very limited here. They won't be able to catch up in a short amount of time."

"Oh?"

Leo stopped his fruitless efforts and glanced at her with some surprise:

"I didn't expect you to know so much."

"Hmph! Of course!"

At the mention of her field of knowledge, Lucrezia immediately regained her confidence. She struggled to straighten her slender waist and lifted her little face proudly: