With Princess Yupe as a Bonus

This wasn't the first time they had found themselves in a situation like this.

They had been surrounded by monsters before, and by the Church of the Sun God and Imperial forces too.

But this was the first time their own kingdom's knights had drawn swords on them.

And with both the First and Second Princesses right here, there was not the slightest hint of hesitation.

Worrying about whether this country would be all right, he ran where Azu and the others led him.

At this point, what they could trust was not authority but individual strength.

He didn't have it, but Azu and the others did.

They headed for where the horses were waiting.

"Wait… my body's healed, but I was bedridden for so long that I have no stamina…"

Princess Yupe was the first to run out of breath.

Just moments ago she had shown abilities that gave Azu and the others real trouble.

It seemed that power had been completely stripped away.

Now she was dead weight, but they couldn't very well abandon her.

"Maybe I should leave her behind."

The moment Princess Tianis muttered that, Princess Yupe latched onto her with all her might.

"Wait just a minute! If you leave me here, I have no idea what'll happen to me!"

"You kept going on about 'that person,' didn't you, Nee-san? He came for you, so why not go to him?"

"I only said that because he liked hearing it! He said he'd be my backer, so I was just… being nice to him, I guess…?"

"My own sister is the worst."

"Don't say that. Take me with you. We're blood sisters, you know."

"I wish I could trade you for Anatia-nee-san…"

Princess Tianis looked skyward with an expression of profound distaste.

But in the end, she never actually said she would abandon her.

Family ties, it seemed, could not be so easily discarded.

With Elza lending her a shoulder, they managed to maintain their pace.

"Is Elza okay with this? You didn't look too happy earlier."

"I have no personal feelings toward Princess Yupe, so I'm fine. That wretched power seems to have been drained from her completely. I wanted to destroy it if possible, but that's difficult right now."

Azu and Finn made contact with the armed knights at the head of the group.

Finn drove her knife into the joints of the armor, incapacitating them.

Against fully armored opponents, short blades were at a disadvantage.

That was probably the most efficient method.

Azu simply swung her sword through.

Without invoking the Sealed Sword Grungaus's power, it was essentially a bludgeon against armor.

A heavy thud, and a knight crumpled.

The armor was badly dented… but blame your bad luck for standing before Azu.

The surrounding knights were numerous, but the ones actually blocking their path weren't that many.

Ordinary knights couldn't stop Azu and Finn, and they broke through one after another.

"Hey, arrows incoming!"

"Don't shout in my ear!"

Princess Yupe's voice rang out.

Knights with bows had taken aim and loosed their arrows at them.

With a whistle of splitting air, the arrows arced down toward them.

"Leave this to me."

Alexia pointed her right index finger at the incoming volley.

Wind magic activated, wildly scattering the arrows' trajectories.

"Oh my, impressive."

"Just keep your legs moving, please. They'll catch up."

"F-fine, I get it. For a priestess, you're not very nice."

Despite all that, they were almost at their destination.

The horses came into view.

There had been a chance they'd been killed to cut off their escape, but they seemed safe.

Warhorses were valuable assets, not easily bought with money.

Perhaps they couldn't bring themselves to waste them, but either way, it was fortunate.

But then a large knight stepped into their path.

His bearing was clearly different from the others, and he brought Azu and Finn to a halt.

"We'll handle this one. Get the horses ready."

"Got it."

They did as Finn said and moved on.

The large knight swung his sword to block their way, but Azu deflected it.

He must have been quite confident, as his surprise at being stopped by a child like Azu was plainly visible.

Think of Azu as just a child and you'll regret it.

"Azu, Finn. Finish him off quick."

"Yes!"

"Don't need to tell me!"

The large knight was the last obstacle.

One by one, they mounted the horses.

They shoved Princess Yupe, who was dawdling, onto a horse, and only Azu and Finn remained.

"Ready to go anytime!"

He called out to them.

The large knight was surprisingly agile for his size, keeping pace with Azu and Finn's movements.

A formidable opponent.

But that was only in a fair fight.

A smoke bomb exploded right in front of him, and the moment his vision was stolen, Azu swung her sword hard at the backs of both knees.

"Guh, what strength…!"

His stance crumbled and his knees hit the ground.

He tried to rise immediately, but before he could, Azu's strike landed squarely on his crown.

His armor must have been excellent. It withstood Azu's blow without denting, but that meant all the shock transferred inside, and he collapsed unconscious.

Immediately after, Azu and Finn mounted the last remaining horse and they all rode off together.

Honestly, it had been anticlimactic.

The expectation had been a more desperate encirclement, but breaking through had been easier than anticipated.

As a result, they escaped with almost no casualties.

With Princess Yupe as a bonus.

What to do with her… he would leave that entirely to Princess Tianis.

Her actions had been fairly malicious, yet there was somehow something hard to hate about her.

"The real problem starts now. Secretary Crispus's faction is massive. I don't even want to think about how many people were colluding with them. And we need to inform Duke Baroba too."

"If we're not careful, the traitorous Secretary could hit us from behind in a pincer attack. That would be bad."

The Secretary of Military Affairs, one of the kingdom's pillars, colluding with an enemy nation.

This was a crisis that dwarfed everything that had come before.