A few days after the carriage journey began, we finally reached Trek Village. Apparently, monsters that had been sealed away by a saintess a century ago had begun to stir and damage nearby areas. This was truly bothersome. Why had that saintess done something as half-hearted as a seal anyway? Had the monsters been properly defeated, none of this would’ve ever happened.
It felt like the previous saintess purposefully left some work for her successor. Still, the fact of the matter was that the villagers were in trouble. Their clothes were of lesser quality to the garments that my servants wore; they were practically in tattered rags. Their swarthy, rugged hands made it difficult for me to believe that we were the same people. The elderly man who was called the village chief dressed a touch better, but I was still reluctant to stand close to him.
“Please, dear saintess,” the village chief begged. “I’ve heard that you defeated the serpent, the legendary snake! I’m certain that you would be able to handle the lesser demons that have been terrorizing us!”
A lesser demon was a large, creepy creature with bat wings and humanoid arms and legs. They weren’t too powerful, but they had the tendency to form packs and were tricky to deal with in large numbers. If the saintess had sealed them away, that probably implied that there were many—I assumed that hundreds of them awaited us. It wasn’t that we couldn’t handle them, but they were a bit of a nuisance to deal with.
Worse, the villagers seemingly didn’t believe in my abilities; they gazed at me with curiosity. None of them found it rude to stare. They probably couldn’t genuinely trust the beautiful daughter of a noble to handle horrific monsters. I wasn’t keen to handle the creatures either; I was simply here by order of the king and didn’t have the right to refuse.
I wish they’d cheer for me more and raise my spirits… I thought.
There was nothing I could do. I had to stoop to speak to these people as though we were equals. I was acting as Eleanor’s replacement, after all. It was best to act like a down-to-earth commoner here and pretend to be an unpretentious noble who was easy to get along with.
“Tea,” I muttered.
At once, my male squires rushed to the carriage and brought out a chair and a table. Meanwhile, Isabel brought out the tea leaves, Emma prepared the tea set, and Alice used magic to boil the water. When the teapot was warm enough, Isabel placed the perfect amount of leaves inside, and Alice once again used her magic to heat the water to a comfortable temperature and poured it into the pot. She placed the lid on top and let the tea steep for several minutes.
Meanwhile, Oscar had placed my seat in the perfect location, and I simply made myself comfortable on the chair. Richard placed a table right where my arm would be, while Lewis grabbed a large parasol to block the sun’s harsh rays from my skin.
The teapot from earlier was then placed on the table along with some snacks, and once the tea leaves had been properly steeped, Isabel kept proper posture as she poured me a cup. There were no needless movements in this entire process, and I was satisfied to see my squires serve me effortlessly. The tea was delicious as well. I finally managed to take a breather.
I relaxed gracefully like a lady in a painting, and I was certain that the villagers would view me as friendlier. Surely I had closed our gap in rank with my display.
Huh? Why are they all staring at me with astonishment?
“And?” I asked.
I guessed that they’d all faltered because they were blown away by my stunning beauty. Left with no other choice, I decided to break the silence and spoke to the village chief.
“Where are the monsters?” I asked.
“Huh?” the village chief replied. He sounded like he was in a daze, but a glare from my squires had him scrambling for a reply. “Y-yes, the prior generation’s saintess sealed them up in a cave. You can spot the area from here—it’s right in the middle of that mountain.”
I looked in the direction the village chief was pointing and spotted the mountain’s rocky surface. The barren terrain stood out amongst the other mountains that were lush with green trees. There was indeed a large hole in the middle.
“That mountain is sacred, and for generations my ancestors have prayed to it,” the village chief said. “We have been living under the guardianship and watchful gaze of the mountain, and it has received the blessing of the saintess as well. Many years ago, the saintess managed to seal the rampaging lesser demons within it.”
Truthfully, I was reluctant to move an inch from where I sat. I sipped my tea, my mind and body completely relaxed. It was a pain to head over to that mountain and slay the lesser demons one by one.
A blessing of the saintess? That half-baked attempt has led to more trouble down the road.
“If you can seal those monsters up again…” the village chief started.
I wasn’t a saintess. I had no ability to cast seals. I just have to get rid of those lesser demons, right? I slowly rose from my seat.
“Alice, will you provide support with your mana?” I asked.
With a nod, the petite red-haired girl placed a hand around my waist and began to supply me with mana. I felt her mana pour into me, and my body grew warm. Because the mountain was a good distance away, I had to chant a rather complex spell. My mana alone might not have been enough, and that was why I needed Alice’s support. I extended my hands toward the sacred mountain.
“My mana is the fire that can envelop all,” I chanted. “My power is merciless like a dazzling storm of destruction. I bring forth ruin, and my will is immortal. My mana is eternal, undying, and unceasing as I beget my flames.”
“Er, what are you…” the village chief started. “Mmph!”
When the anxious chief tried to approach me, Richard blocked his path and abruptly silenced him. Good grief, country bumpkins are so clueless. It was common sense to remain quiet while spells were chanted so that the caster could maintain their concentration.
“To the raging inferno that dwells within my hand, now is the time to be unleashed,” I chanted. “Erupt!”
My spell activated—a titanic fireball burst forth from my hands and shot out like a flash of light toward the rocky surface. My magic exploded within the heart of the mountain, and the deafening blast shattered the cave. The mountain also crumbled into tiny pieces. Oscar was efficient, peering into a pair of binoculars to gaze into the distance.
“Lady Serena,” he reported. “Around twenty of them have survived. They’re headed straight here, perhaps to seek revenge.”
I could confirm several dark shadows were flying over to us, but I was exhausted from the spell that I had just cast. I’d leave the rest to my squires.
“Emma, Richard, go on the offensive,” I ordered. “Isabel, Oscar, you two will be in charge of the defense. Alice and Lewis will be our support. Defeat all the monsters.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” my squires shouted.
Emma and Richard rushed toward the lesser demons. Isabel and Oscar gripped their weapons, ready to defend the villagers; the former readied her sword while the latter strung his bow.
As I sat back down in my chair, I saw that Emma was already clashing with the lesser demons. The monsters had wings and naturally favored aerial combat, but Emma could leap higher than them and cut them down.
Was she a bird in her past life?
Emma then used one of the falling lesser demon corpses as her footing to leap higher toward another monster.
Her skills were completely outside the realm of normal human capabilities. If she fell, she would likely die.
Isn’t she scared?
Richard, on the other hand, couldn’t jump as high, and he simply threw rocks at his enemies. It seemed like a childish tactic, but the stones whizzed through the air and precisely hit their targets square on the head. Oooh… That’s got to hurt.
One by one, the monsters fell to the ground, their skulls bashed in.
Not bad at all. As part of their training, I had dropped them in the middle of forests and mountains, leaving them alone to constantly fight monsters for ten days. It seemed the training was proving useful.
Still, Emma and Richard couldn’t get them all, and a few monsters were headed straight for us. Oscar shot them down with his arrows. He could skillfully wield all sorts of weapons, but he was especially adept with the bow. Sneaky ranged attacks meshed well with his nature. Three lesser demons managed to evade the arrows and approach us.
It was impressive that these monsters could endure my squires’ furious attacks. But the pitiful creatures were quickly cut down by Isabel’s blade. She was the best of the squires in terms of swordplay—no knight could stand a chance against her. Richard and Emma seemingly possessed superhuman physical abilities, so I left attacking to them while Isabel stayed in the back to guard me. Her pretty face was nice to be around.