Ariel straightened her clothes as she stepped out of his embrace.

“Solviche, let’s go.”

Solviche and May came out of the mansion at their master’s call. Although it was a common occurrence, the two, who had never experienced romance before, were still embarrassed by situations like the one just now.

‘When will I be able to experience such a passionate love?’

Solviche and May both shared the same thought.

“May, the sword?”

“Oh, please wait a moment, Your Majesty.”

May hurriedly went back into the house.

Ariel saw the bow peeking over Solviche’s shoulder.

“Did you bring enough arrows?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The embarrassment had already disappeared from Solviche’s face, replaced by anticipation of using mana for hunting.

“If you run out of arrows, you can make them with mana.”

“Is that really possible?”

She answered with a chuckle to Solviche, who asked with sparkling eyes.

“Don’t you trust me? Why would I say it’s possible if it’s not?”

Perhaps this task would help Solviche grow a bit more.

Until yesterday and even this morning, she had been stressed and troubled by this matter. But once she decided to do it, she felt a sense of eagerness.

“El.”

When Leopold called her, she reached out to him.

“Yes, just a moment.”

Bang-!

Just then, May came out with the sword. Richard followed behind her.

“Thank you, May.”

Ariel received the sword. May patted Solviche’s shoulder and said,

“It’s nothing. Have a safe trip. Solviche, you too.”

“Thank you. We’ll be back.”

Richard opened the mansion’s entrance door wide.

Outside, the chief mage of Macglier was waiting.

“Have a safe trip.”

Ariel turned around as she followed behind Leopold.

“Take some rest, everyone. Or go explore the village if you like.”

At Ariel’s kind words, Richard and May both nodded. She also smiled at them and then went to Leopold’s side.

“I am Hemington Blue, the chief mage of Macglier.”

Next to Hemington, a portal that looked like a blue vortex was open.

“Nice to meet you, Hemington Blue.”

“This portal is connected to the eastern plains. I will give you a portal scroll to use when you return. This scroll is set to the Macglier royal castle.”

He handed a scroll to Leopold.

Leopold placed it in the inner pocket of his training uniform.

“Is there anyone accompanying you?”

“If you need the help of the Macglier royal mages or the magic tools of the dwarves, please let me know.”

Leopold shook his head.

“No. It’s fine. Just the two of us will be enough.”

Hemington tilted his head in confusion.

From what he saw, it seemed like a duke, a duchess, and a maid were going. Why did he say two people?

Well, as long as they could get rid of the demonic beasts troubling Macglier, it didn’t matter.

“Be careful. They are ferocious. Their speed is very fast, so you must stay alert.”

“I understand.”

Ariel knew more about demonic beasts than anyone. Leopold only half-listened to his words.

“Solviche, stay close to me. It might be dangerous.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Leopold entered the portal first.

“Can I ask you a favor? There are two people left in the mansion. Please provide them with an escort if they go to the city.”

Hemington recalled King Kaiser’s orders.

—If they ask for any favors, grant them unconditionally.

He didn’t realize it when he heard it, but thinking back, it seemed a bit strange. Is the Duke and Duchess of Atlan so powerful that the King of Macglier would use honorifics…?

“Yes, understood. I will do so. Please, be careful.”

Ariel nodded with a relieved face and entered the portal with Solviche.

***

Ariel’s feet touched the ground.

“Your Majesty, what is going on here…?”

Solviche’s voice trembled as she looked at the scene before her.

The desolate eastern plains were a dead land.

The grass and wildflowers, dried up by the heat of the fire, had lost all signs of life. The ground was parched and cracked.

A rough wind swept over the silent area where even the singing of birds had ceased. Ashen clouds covered the once clear sky, casting a shadow over the plains.

Occasionally, sunlight broke through the clouds, shining on the burnt grass and trees, and seeds that could no longer sprout.

Ash floated in the air, and the smell of burning was pervasive.

“There must be a demonic beast that uses fire.”

Ariel wrapped herself in a mana shield and then cast mana shields on Leopold and Solviche in turn.

“Yes, it seems so.”

Leopold walked ahead. As he looked around, he saw that even the scattered houses were burnt down.

At that moment.

Flame wraiths swiftly approached and spewed fire at them. Their bodies were made of roaring flames, flickering and burning unstably.

“Be careful-!”

Leopold shouted loudly and leapt into the air.

Ariel lightly pushed off the ground to avoid the hot flames, and Solviche also threw herself to dodge the fire.

‘Are these all of them?’

Ariel quickly assessed the situation from mid-air. She imbued her sword with mana and swung it broadly. The golden mana drew a large arc and flew towards the flame wraiths.

Clang-!

Kkuweeeeeek-!

The demonic beasts, struck properly by the sword aura, made grotesque noises and collapsed. The fiercely burning flames dimmed and soon subsided.

‘To think that she possessed such skill…….’

Solviche’s mouth gaped open.

Even during the hunting festival, she didn’t see such a sword aura. She wondered what had changed her so much.

But she had to set aside my curiosity for a moment. The demonic beasts, hiding in the sounds made by the fire spirits, appeared from everywhere.

Leopold also began his attack.

The red sword aura sliced through the air and beheaded the demonic beasts.

‘There are more of them than I thought.’

Indeed. At this level, even the mages of the Macglier royal family would have been helpless.

Leopold gritted his teeth and swung his sword.

Clang-!

The sword, wrapped in mana, plunged into the body of a demonic beast. Blood spurted like a fountain from the split body of the demonic beast.

‘His Majesty is no joke either.’

She had heard about it during the times she adored him. That he was a Swordmaster. But it was her first time seeing him wield a sword in person.

‘I can’t just stay like this either.’

Solviche infused mana into her arrow and shot it. The arrow quickly struck the dragon’s chest. However, her arrow couldn’t penetrate the dragon’s skin, which was as hard as iron armor.

The massive dragon tried to crush Solviche’s bones by stepping on her.

At that moment, a golden crescent moon-like sword aura sliced through the air and struck the dragon.

“Kkuweeeeeek-!”

The dragon, making an ear-splitting noise, was split in half along the path of the sword aura that pierced through its body. The corpse fell, raising dust.

Solviche swiftly escaped to avoid being crushed by the dragon’s corpse.

“Solviche. You need to infuse more mana. That’s not enough. I’ll cover you, so focus on enhancing your mana control.”

Saying that, she infused mana into her sword and swung it in the air, scattering sword aura. A group of demonic beasts fell with one strike. She infused mana into her sword again.

“I’m not sure if I’m being a burden to Your Majesty.”

“The purpose of bringing you here is to train you.”

‘So, from the beginning, you knew I wouldn’t be able to attack properly…….’

Solviche’s eyes trembled.

I must pull myself together. I must not betray the expectations of the Empress who brought me here.

She gripped her bow tightly.

The dragons flying from the sky launched a fierce attack.

“I thought there were only a few, but to think there would be this many.”

When Leopold spoke while looking at Ariel, she nodded.

“Unless dark mages have nested here and created demonic beasts, such a number couldn’t exist in Macglier.”

“I think so too.”

What should we do?

Even if we annihilate the demonic beasts right now, if we don’t catch the dark mages, the same thing will repeat.

His brow furrowed with wrinkles.

“How about bringing Liese Willington?”

Since the saintess has the ability to detect the sinister energy that is the complete opposite of holy power, if Liese Willington comes, we could capture the dark mages at once.

However, Ariel swung her sword nervously and glared at Leopold.

“Don’t involve them. You brought them here saying you’d take them on a trip.”