It was a wonderful day. The clear weather was especially perfect for adventuring!
Through a dense forest ran a narrow trail, and along that trail walked a young girl by the name of Mil. She’d just taken up adventuring and looked perfectly the part—clad in flexible light armor, with a one-handed sword at her waist and a bag over her shoulder.
Less common additions to this beautiful day were the cries of bloodthirsty beasts that could be heard from the surrounding undergrowth. Then there were the monstrous birds fighting for territory in the sky above, each of them big enough to swallow a man whole.
All in all, it would have been a waste not to go on an adventure!
Mil stretched her arms high above her head. The girl could scarcely believe she was walking through a place so full of danger! She was headed for a village deep within the forest, but Mil was planning to take her time and enjoy the journey.
“Um, young lady... Are you sure it’s safe? Those monsters in the trees have been eyeing us for a while now.”
The grown man nervously walking by Mil’s side was a traveling merchant. He’d decided to accompany her to the village after she’d saved him from a monster.
“Yep! We’re fine!” She clenched her fist in a display of strength. “If anything attacks us, I’ll handle it.”
Despite Mil’s reassurance, the merchant looked no more at ease. And as if on cue, a monster leaped out from the undergrowth, blocking their path forward.
They were faced with a massive bear, with forelegs as broad as a man’s torso and long claws that could decapitate someone with ease. Upon locking eyes with them, the beast bared its menacing fangs—just the right size for gnawing a human head.
“Oh, a tyrant grizzly!”
Mil had seen them in books. Tyrant grizzlies were giant bears that preyed on adventurers. This type of monster ranked so highly on the danger scale that a sighting near a village would result in a hunting quest being issued by the local guild without question. If it was near the capital, a company of knights would be sent to dispatch it at once.
The tyrant grizzly’s gaze was fixed on Mil as it advanced toward her, flattening the ground beneath its paws with a series of thundering steps.
“Eeek!” The merchant stumbled backward and landed on his behind.
The tyrant grizzly had closed in on Mil, and it towered over her. Its shadow covered her and the ground around her, and its face was almost directly above hers.
“It’s huge!” Mil was surprised by the thickness of its fur. She imagined it would feel stiff to the touch.
“Young lady! Watch out!”
“Groooar!”
The tyrant grizzly’s roar drowned out the merchant’s warnings as it swept at Mil, sending its massive claws hurtling toward her.
“Eek!” The merchant beside her averted his eyes, unable to watch the gruesome scene about to unfold.
But Mil was quicker on the draw.
“Grrrooh?!”
The tyrant grizzly’s claws came to a sudden stop when they hit her blade.
“Eeek...?! Young lady?!”
What an odd sight it must have been to the merchant. A frail young girl with nothing but a simple sword was effortlessly holding back a giant bear’s claws.
Mil grinned as she held back the tyrant grizzly. “All right. I’m making it my pet! I’ll take real good care of it.”
“What?! Have you lost your mind, young lady?!”
“Grrrohhh!” As the creature let out a cry of rage, it brought down its other arm in an attempt to crush Mil’s head.
“Oh. Oh, oh, oh.”
Mil dodged with a simple twist of her body. The bear was so big that its attacks were easily avoided.
“This way, Mr. Bear.”
“Groh!”
It attempted a few more attacks of the same sort, but Mil dodged them all without issue.
“A-Are you really a novice adventurer...?” the merchant asked. “This is amazing.”
Mil began to cast a spell while taking care not to let the monster turn its attention to the merchant. “Slave chain!”
A black chain rose up from the ground and wrapped itself tightly around the tyrant grizzly.
“Grrrh...”
The chain rattled each time the tyrant grizzly tried to break free, but magic bindings weren’t so easily broken. That said, Mil had never put the chain’s strength to the test.
“Grohhh!”
Ka-ching!
With a great roar, the monster spread its arms wide and snapped the chain. The creature was even stronger than Mil had anticipated.
But it didn’t try attacking her again. Instead, it dropped on all fours and fled into the undergrowth, quickly disappearing into the forest.
“Awww. Grizzy!”
Even though Mil already had her heart set on a name, she knew she’d have to let it go. Carelessly straying from the path was a good way to get lost.
“I guess I’m not good at magic yet since I only just learned it. I’ll have to keep practicing.”
“Y-Young lady...?” the merchant behind her started, still stunned.
“Oh, sorry mister. Let’s catch our breath, then we’ll keep going!”
“Hold on,” he continued. “Are you really a trainee adventurer? You clearly know how to fight. How’d you take on a monster like that with no trouble at all? I visited a fortress town not long ago, and none of the adventurers there could hold a candle to you.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Weren’t you scared? You said you’re a trainee, but where from?”
This had been Mil’s first real taste of battle, but she was finding her first adventure so exciting that she’d forgotten to be scared.
“Well...”
It was a tough question. Mil was from the royal capital, but that was a long ways away. She couldn’t pretend she’d walked that sort of distance.
“Are you from the fortress town?” the merchant asked. “Trainees shouldn’t be this far out. And how can you be a trainee when your sword skills and magic are on par with a skilled adventurer? Where’d you learn it all?”
It was hard to answer when the merchant was showering her with questions. But Mil figured there was no point in hiding anything.
“I came from the Demon King’s Castle. That’s where my sword skills and magic—” Mil stopped midway through her explanation when she spotted a pack of monsters out of the corner of her eye. “Oh! Those are lupus urus! I want one!”
Abandoning the interrogation, Mil went charging down the trail after them.
“Huh...? The Demon King’s Castle? Wait! Hold up! Don’t leave me!” The merchant hurried after her.
If Mil Arphilia had come from the Demon King’s Castle, the natural conclusion was that she was some kind of demonkin. But not only was she entirely human, she was a princess of the Holy Arphil Kingdom.
Having escaped the Demon King’s Castle, the long, long journey back to her home in the royal capital lay ahead. Grueling challenges awaited her as she headed for her distant home. For now, however...
“Wait! Wait!” Mil cried.
“Young lady! Don’t leave me!”
After hearing so many amazing things about the adventurer lifestyle, Princess Mil was finally trying it for herself.
But why would a princess like Mil take up adventuring? It all began a month earlier...