“Bastards!”

At Siervian’s shout, Sir Roid drew his sword without a second thought. It was an action that showed how much he trusted the princess’ words.

Clang!

The sound of the other escorts who were with him drawing their swords rang out loudly. However, just like the assassin had thought, Siervian’s escorts only numbered five, including Sir Roid.

They had never dreamed that they would encounter assassins on the Imperial Road.

“Oh, dear.”

The coachman, who had suddenly been caught in the middle of a disaster, buried his head between his knees and trembled.

“Tsk. We’ve been trapped.”

“Protect Her Highness!”

In an instant, they were in a standoff. The assassins threw away the pickaxes and other disguises they were holding and drew their own swords. It was strange how they had hidden so many weapons.

‘Are these the assassins the Justice Guild mentioned?!’

Siervian hurriedly looked around. She had a bad feeling about this, and status windows were popping up all over the place in the surrounding forest.

“Sir Roid, there are more assassins in the forest!”

[Adante Roid]
Thoughts: Damn, we’re outnumbered. I have to protect Her Highness!

Having already experienced this situation once, Siervian calmly gathered her mana.

Then, before the assassins could charge, she poured her power into the pendant her father had given her.

“What is that?”

“Damn it, attack!”

Clang…!

Instantly, the assassins charged at the knights. The knights skillfully fought the assassins and protected the carriage. However, the number of assassins who jumped out of the forest and joined the fight continued to increase.

“Y- Your Highness?”

The coachman noticed the faint, shimmering barrier that surrounded the carriage and the horses and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Calm down. This is a defensive barrier spell that my father gave me!”

“Oh…!”

The coachman was moved to tears when he heard that it was a barrier cast by the Emperor. He was even more impressed by the princess’ kindness in including him in the protective barrier.

The horses were restless because of the commotion around them. The coachman, who had regained his composure thanks to Siervian, quickly urged the horses on.

[Kira]
Thoughts: What’s that barrier? I’ve never heard of it before. It’s annoying. Well, my job is to lure them to the aristocrat district anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

‘The aristocrat district? Why?’

Logically, if they wanted to get rid of Siervian, they should lure her away from the palace. It was hard to believe that there were assassins lying in wait on this Imperial Road. She was confused in many ways, but Siervian continued to move calmly.

‘There’s a forest nearby, so I’ll use ice!’

After her awakening, the power of her elemental magic had increased greatly. She still couldn’t use tricky attack spells like Karmen or her brother, but it would be helpful.

“Sir Roid!”

At her shout, Sir Roid bowed his head deeply without looking back.

In the meantime, Siervian’s ice spears flew at the assassins.

“Ugh!”

However, Siervian’s powerful ice magic was futilely blocked in front of the assassins.

A small, transparent shield, just like the defensive barrier Siervian was activating now, blocked the magic.

“They have magic nullification artifacts!”

Sir Roid, a combat veteran, quickly shouted.

The knights began to swing their swords with even more determination. They were prepared for the possibility that the princess’ magic wouldn’t work.

‘Magic nullification artifacts!’

Siervian was flustered, but this time she cast magic at a different assassin. However, the assassins all had magic nullification artifacts. ‘How is this possible?! Magic nullification artifacts are incredibly expensive and difficult to make!’

That was why the mages were always thought of highly. Suddenly unable to use her powers, Siervian thought calmly.

‘What should I do?’

At that moment, the thoughts of the one who had taken the lead in commanding the assassins came to mind.

[Kira]
Thoughts: Hehehe. The Duke’s artifact is good. It blocks magic quite well.

‘…Duke?!’

Somehow, it seemed like they had many magic nullification artifacts, even for special-grade assassins. Siervian’s thoughts naturally drifted to what had happened in the granary of the Mosae Kingdom.

‘If the Duke is behind this, there might be another bead that nullifies that mana…!’

If that was the case, it would be a huge problem.

The only reason the knights stand a chance against them is because of Siervian’s protective barrier.

[Adante Roid]
Thought: Each one has an artifact that nullifies magic. This is serious. I need to get the princess out of here first.

Even though he didn’t know that the mastermind behind this was the Duke, Roid realized the gravity of the situation.

“Coachman, head to the Imperial Palace right now!”

“Sir Roid!”

Siervian instinctively let out a cry of surprise. Roid, who had volunteered to protect her and was blocking the path of the assassins, spoke firmly.

“Go!”

‘Roid’s judgment is right, but…’

Knowing that the men had artifacts that nullified magic, Siervian couldn’t help the knights.

If it was her father, he would have released enough mana to destroy the artifacts, but Siervian wasn’t skilled enough for that yet.

‘But I should at least be able to use healing magic…!’

She might be able to help if any of the knights got hurt. But then Siervian started thinking rationally again.

‘If the Duke sent more assassins, they might have that bead as well. If that’s the case, it will be dangerous for me to stay.’

Her hands were starting to shake, but Siervian calmly gathered her thoughts.

However, there was still one thing that bothered her.

“When I give you the signal, head toward the commoners’ district.”

“Yes? Your Highness. But…”

“Trust me.”

The coachman trembled at her whisper. But Siervian calmly looked him in the eye.

“…I understand.”

Fortunately, the coachman quickly calmed down. Siervian wasn’t the type to joke around about something like this, as he had seen during their journey.

[Sir Roid. I think they’ve prepared something in the aristocrat district. I’m going to go around the commoners’ district and return to the Imperial Palace.]

Siervian didn’t forget to quickly send a message to Roid using magic.

Roid’s eyes widened at the sudden message. He quickly examined the assassins’ formation and made a strange expression.

[Adante Roid]
Thought: Now that I think about it, their formation is strange. It’s like they’re trying to make us go toward the aristocrat district.

Roid nodded after understanding the situation.

At that moment.

“Now!”

“Hyah!”

The nervous coachman cracked his whip loudly. The startled horses moved according to the coachman’s guidance in an instant.

The assassins, who had expected the princess to flee towards the Imperial Palace because of Roid’s shout, had their expressions twisted in shock.

She was going back the way she had come.

[Kira]
Thought: No! Why is she going the other way, dammit! I need to contact the ambush team in the aristocrat district right away!

‘As expected, there was an ambush.’

Since this was the Imperial City, the young princess would have no choice but to flee toward the Imperial Palace.

If magic was nullified like this, the escort knights would try to evacuate her on their own.

‘I need to go to the Foundation. Tanka is there.’

And she could also use the power of the Justice Guild.

“Your Highness! Where should we go!”

“To the Foundation where we came from!”

The coachman drove the carriage calmly despite trembling.

“Stop them!”

“Damn it! Catch the princess!”

Siervian anxiously held her pendant tightly and continued to pour mana into it.

Fortunately, the artifact the men had that nullified magic didn’t affect her protective barrier.

That kind of artifact was originally designed to only react to attack magic used against the user.

‘I knew that nullification artifacts were like that, but this is good.’

“Hyah!”

When the assassins tried to block their path, the coachman became very tense. However, he quickly realized that this huge protective barrier protecting even the horses was very strong, so he continued to charge forward without hesitation.

“Argh!”

“Damn it!”

The huge protective barrier hit the assassins before they could touch the horses or the carriage.

The protective barrier gained immense power as it moved, like a huge mace.

‘So I can use the protective barrier like this.’

The carriage broke through the encirclement in an instant and continued to race toward the Foundation.

The assassins who had been following them soon disappeared after being stopped by the knights.

[Father! There’s an assassin!]

[Karmen!]

[Brother!]

[Tanka!]

Before getting any further away from the palace, Siervian had sent message spells to all those she could think of. The commoners’ district was just barely within the range of her message spell, so it was likely it wouldn’t reach the palace.

“Your Highness! Shall we go straight to the estate?!”

Siervian was about to respond but paused.

‘Wait, what if the children get caught up in this?’

Only now did she realize she had been so overcome with fear that she hadn’t been able to think like an adult. Siervian barely managed to control her trembling body and spoke resolutely.

“No. Let’s go to the restaurant street in the commoners’ district. And coachman, you run away in the opposite direction from where I get off.”

“Y- Yes, Your Highness!”

When the flustered coachman turned around in a hurry, Siervian quietly nodded.

Meanwhile, the carriage had already entered the commoners’ district. People were seen hurriedly getting out of the way as the carriage sped recklessly.

‘Besides, if I were to ride in the carriage here, other people could get hurt.’

She seemed to understand why the assassins were running wild in the imperial capital. Siervian had more to lose.

At that moment, the carriage stopped at the restaurant street in the commoners’ district, as Siervian had instructed.

“Your Highness, are you really going to be okay?”

The coachman asked Siervian anxiously as she quickly got out, dispelling the barrier.

There were many people coming and going in the restaurant district, as it was mealtime.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I have magic! But if I protect the coachman too, things will be much harder!”

It was the same reason the knights had sent Siervian ahead earlier.

In the end, the coachman ran in the opposite direction that Siervian had pointed to, shedding tears.

Siervian also ran, hiding her face by using her robe.

‘It’ll be okay. If I just hide well, Father will come.’

It seemed safer here than on the forest path or in the aristocrat district, where there were relatively fewer people, like before.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason Siervian had come here.

‘The Justice Guild’s secret restaurant is here.’

—