episode_0049

Vess, who became Claudia’s escort knight (not a knight), felt like half of her guardian spirit as he accompanied her.

Just being a mere viscount’s heir, having the opportunity to directly serve the princess was a tremendous chance. There was absolutely no reason for him not to follow.

After all the school classes were over, during afterschool hours,

Claudia and Vess were alone in the empty training ground.

Tap.

Woong.

When Claudia flicked her finger, a cage made of iron bars appeared out of thin air to accommodate the monsters.

“Here. A monster specially prepared for you.”

Pointing to the cage in front of her, Claudia spoke.

“Kkieeek!”

Inside, three goblins glowed and scratched at the iron bars.

“Let’s test your power once.”

“Understood.”

This is a special place prepared by the princess to properly demonstrate my strength. I must not make any mistakes.

“Sylph.”

-Beep!

Answering Vess’s call, the wind spirit appeared in the air.

“Now that you’re ready, let’s begin.”

Kkiik.

“Kkiyoyoyot!”

As Claudia magically opened the iron bars, the three fierce goblins rushed towards Vess.

“Sylph! Wind Cutter!”

Vess extended his hand towards the goblins, commanding the spirit.

-Beep!

However, the wind spirit couldn’t conjure the wind blades as before.

“Uh, why?”

Sylph could no longer summon the wind as it used to.

“Kkieeek!”

Meanwhile, the goblins that had approached Vess attempted to attack him.

Terrified, Vess took a step back.

At the moment when the goblins were about to overwhelm him defenselessly,

“Shield.”

Thud.

A protective barrier formed between the goblins and Vess, blocking their attack.

“Reverse Gravity.”

Woong.

As Claudia gestured with her hand, the three goblins floated into the air.

Furthermore, as she pointed her finger towards the cage, the goblins were forced back inside.

Kkiik. Thud.

The iron bars closed again in front of the goblins.

“Haa… haa….”

Relieved from fear, Vess breathed heavily.

“Hmm… It seems merely being by the princess’s side isn’t the only condition?”

Vess’s ability to handle the situation was much more disappointing than expected. A man who easily defeated a Twin Headed Ogre was now trembling and stepping back from mere goblins.

Even for Claudia, who had considered various possibilities, this was an unexpected outcome.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I, being so incompetent…”

“No. I anticipated there might be some challenges.”

That’s why I planned to start with goblins and gradually increase the difficulty, but perhaps I need to change tactics a bit.

Then, what was different now compared to before that allowed me to defeat the ogre so easily?

Ogre… Ogre… Huh?

As Claudia reminisced, a thought flashed through her mind.

Could it be…?

Glancing briefly at Vess’s state, Claudia secretly cast a spell on the cage lock where the goblins were held, weakening it.

Clank.

Bang.

As a result, the goblins immediately pushed open the iron door and sprang out.

Freed from the cage, the goblins ran towards the strange human woman who had locked them up moments ago.

“Kkieeeek!”

Just as the goblins were about to ambush Claudia from behind,

Shaaaak!

A gust of wind swept the goblins away.

Thud thud.

Due to the sharp wind, the goblins’ bodies were completely shredded and fell to the ground.

“Haa… haa…”

Behind Cladia, Vess extended both hands towards where the goblins had been, breathing heavily.

“Found it.”

Seeing him like that, Cladia smiled softly.

“What? Protecting the princess… is a condition?”

“That’s right.”

Through a small experiment, it was discovered that in situations where Cladia was in danger, Vess could freely unleash his overwhelming combat power.

“As a knight guarding the princess, your abilities are unparalleled.”

The magic that had just swept away the goblins was a destructive blade that even Cladia, who was at the 6th circle, couldn’t produce.

Vess effortlessly and swiftly handled such a devastating attack.

A spirit user who only demonstrates their true strength when they are in danger.

Can anything be more reliable and romantic than this?

“Therefore, let’s conduct a few more tests under similar conditions.”

“But…”

Can I truly protect the princess?

Though Vess had unknowingly protected Cladia, his self-esteem had hit rock bottom due to several past failures.

“No need to worry. You need to believe in yourself more.”

Cladia brought her face close to Vess’s.

“Eek!”

Vess’s face turned red.

“You are the knight chosen by the princess herself. She believes in you. So, do not underestimate yourself.”

Of course, the reason she chose him was not only for his abilities but also because of her rational fondness for him.

“…Understood.”

Vess clenched his fist.

“I will give it a try.”

“…Cute.”

Seeing him like that, Cladia smiled.

Afterward, Cladia rescued numerous monsters while continuing Vess’s training.

As an imperial princess with a powerful faction built up to oppose the crown prince, the training methods were luxurious.

“Wow, impressive.”

Cladia murmured as she looked at the massive hole Vess had created on one side of the training ground.

The once incompetent spirit user who couldn’t protect himself from goblins had grown to the point of crushing high-level monsters single-handedly.

To the extent that Cladia would be fine even if she wasn’t in danger.

However, Vess’s combat power varied greatly depending on whether she was in danger or not.

“You have grown significantly compared to when we first started training.”

“If he continues like this, he might even surpass the royal mage. It’s limited to protecting the princess, though.”

Looking at the powerful spirit user she had nurtured, Cladia smiled softly.

“It’s all thanks to the princess’s help. I will dedicate my life to following the princess.”

“I will count on that.”

Dreaming of a rosy future with Vess, Cladia walked out of the training ground.

“Princess Cladia, are you present?”

“Hmm? I am Cladia. What is the matter?”

Several knights blocked Cladia’s path.

“We request that you accompany us as a suspect in the ogre incident that attacked the previous academy.”

“A suspect? Me?”

It was Cladia who had stood at the forefront and repelled the ogre.

Cladia found it hard to accept that she, who had done that, was being labeled a suspect in the incident.

“Yes. The Crown Prince has accused the Princess.”

“…Him. Could it be?”

“In relation to this, as various pieces of evidence have been discovered, please accompany me.”

“Ah, Your Highness!”

“Be at ease, Vistus. You just need to wait for a moment. Her Highness will soon resolve the issue and return. There is no need to worry.”

With that, leaving Vistus behind, Cladia followed the knights.

At the spot where she trailed the knights, Cladia came face to face with investigators from the Empire and the Academy.

That scoundrel has really caused trouble.

Was the appearance of the ogre at the Academy not a mistake?

To frame Her Highness as the culprit of that incident…

The knights presented Cladia with records of various monsters that had been brought in. Records of the monsters brought in for Vistus’s training.

I knew it would come to this.

Under normal circumstances, Cladia would have retaliated and exposed the Crown Prince’s misdeeds to the world.

She possessed such abilities, influence, and execution power.

“I can’t believe I was so distracted by Vistus’s training that I missed all of this.”

Her mind was entirely consumed by Vistus’s training, forgetting everything else.

“Could it be that many rulers fall for women and meet their downfall like this?”

The Crown Prince had prepared numerous falsified documents.

All those documents were already pointing towards Cladia as the mastermind behind the attack.

“This… seems difficult to escape from.”

There seemed to be no way out at all.

If her guilt was confirmed like this, she might end up disappearing somewhere in the palace.

If that happened, all the power she had gathered would surely dissipate into thin air.

But that’s fine.

Power is something that can always be rebuilt.

“However… not being able to see you again… that will be hard to bear.”

Cladia gazed at the moon in the night sky through the window of the ruined room.

—

“Did you bring it, Sylph?”

– Beep!

A young girl of the wind handed a small bead to Vistus.

Hmm

As Vistus brought the bead to her ear, she heard the voice of the Crown Prince speaking the contents she desired.

“Well done, Sylph!”

– Beep!

Thud

Vistus hurriedly rushed out of the room.

There’s no time.

Things have gotten delayed more than expected.

But there’s no choice.

She must save the Princess…!