Led by Sirius and Commander Wezen, it didn’t take very long for the knights to dispatch the pack of about thirty fenrirs. Although the battle itself went relatively smoothly, the biggest issue came when my brother Rigel was bitten on the elbow. I’d left the healing of my brothers to the saints who were with them, so I only realized he’d been injured, when he let out a blood-curdling scream.
It seemed like it was taking a while to heal, so I wondered if I should help out even though it wasn’t really my responsibility. But before I could make up my mind, the saints teamed up and took care of it themselves.
“Overdramatic much?” Fackt muttered under his breath. I glanced up and saw him carefully untangling my hair with both hands. Just moments before, I had stepped back to stay out of the way when my hair got caught in a tree branch. In a panic, I’d started yanking at it, but Fackt noticed and quickly came over to gently help free me.
That happened around the time Rigel’s elbow got hurt, so it felt like Fackt’s earlier declaration was eerily spot-on. If I was remembering it right, he’d said, “Princess Serafina, our primary objective is to protect you. Given the choice to save the princes’ arms or your hair from being cut off, I would most certainly choose the latter.”
Hmm, is that really okay? I thought. I still wasn’t totally sure about it.
But even if the knights’ actions were somewhat questionable, their bravery wasn’t up for debate. In fact, the group had ended up defeating nearly half of the thirty monsters. Apparently, that made the rest of the fenrirs start to rethink their decision to fight, and partway through the battle they began looking for openings that would allow them to escape back to their dens.
As the goal of today’s mission wasn’t to cull their numbers, the knights sheathed their swords and didn’t offer chase. To start with, fenrir nests had multiple entrances and exits, so it was meaningless to follow them deep inside; it was highly likely that they’d just escape, and all your effort would be for naught. Commander Wezen was well aware of this, so he gave the signal to call off the battle and halt any further pursuit.
Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief that the fighting was finally over, Sirius came over and gently patted my head. Then, he looked at my brothers and said, “You all did very well for your first real battle. The heroes of the day are Vega, Capella, and Rigel.”
The corpses of several fenrirs lay scattered around my brothers. Even if it was thanks to the help of the other knights, they’d still managed to participate in the battle and slay some of their foes. After receiving protection for so long, they had finally fought as knights for the first time—guarding all the saints, including myself. This was likely their first true day as knights.
“You’re all so amazing!” I gushed at my brothers, clapping frantically. “Absolutely splendid knights!!”
But in response to my praise they fixed me with stern expressions, like there was something they needed to say to me.
“Serafina, what on earth was that magic you used?!” Vega asked in a biting tone.
“Saint magic!” I responded earnestly.
“Liar!” This time it was Capella who shot back instantly. “I’ve never heard of a saint who can make knights physically stronger!!”
But I repeated myself, this time with even more confidence. “I’m a saint, so of course all the magic I use is ‘saint magic’!”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! You’re not even a saint to begin with!!” Rigel scoffed.
But I held up my chest proudly and rebutted, “No, I am a saint.”
Unfortunately for me, by that point, Seven had already flown off, so there was no way for me to prove my claim, and since I’d left my brothers’ healing up to the other saints, it would be even harder to get them to believe me. I looked to the knights of the royal guard to see if they might back me up.
It was Scheat who spoke up first. “Princess, I agree with Prince Rigel. According to your reasoning, all the magic you use would be considered ‘saint magic,’ but the truth is, no other saints are capable of doing what you do. To be more precise, what you wield is ‘Princess Serafina’s original magic.’”
Ugh, he’s not helping my case, I groaned internally, but I doubled down on my argument without any hesitation.
“You’re wrong! Any saint could use the magic I do!”
It’s not like I’d developed the magic I cast; it was something that the spirits had taught me as “saint magic.” It would be disrespectful to the spirits to call it my original magic, not to mention pretentious. However, no one seemed to agree with my opinion. In fact, they were all eyeing me warily.
A silence fell over the group until Canopus broke it.
“Even if, for the sake of argument, the other saints were able to use the same magic as you, I believe it would require about one hundred years of practice.”
Now that was a silly remark if I ever heard one; I had to correct him immediately.
“Well, I know I might seem older because I’m so composed, but I’m not that old! No way the other saints would take that long to learn the magic. I bet they could do it in just three years!”
Another long silence followed.
“Thank you for that explanation,” Fackt finally said as he pushed his glasses up.
Hmph. Even I could tell they were getting to the point where dealing with me was becoming a hassle, so they were trying to wrap things up. I was a bit annoyed by that realization when my brothers started jumping down my throat again.
“Serafina, stop going off topic with nonsense! How are you able to use that magic in the first place?!”
“Because the spirits taught it to me. The one I made a pact with is really kind and a great teacher.”
“A spirit taught you?! How can someone teach you when you’re unable to communicate with them?! Enough with these ridiculous stories! You’re not fooling anyone!!”
What was I supposed to do? They didn’t believe me at all, even though I was being completely honest.
Seeing that I was in a bind, Commander Wezen stepped into the conversation.
“Your Highnesses, this is still a forest inhabited by monsters, so how about we discuss any further details once we’ve returned to castle. By the way, did you happen to spot the dark-colored fenrir?”
My brothers nodded in agreement with Commander Wezen’s reasonable suggestion before answering.
“No, we didn’t see anything like that.”
“Right. We thought a darker-colored one might show up since there was such a big commotion, but we didn’t see hide nor hair of it.”
“If it’s not here, then it’s likely that the rumors about a black fenrir are just that—all talk.”
A black fenrir? Could that mean they were talking about Ludo? But before my mind could process the situation any further, Canopus leaned over and whispered in my ear.
“Princess Serafina, I don’t think it would be wise to mention that puppy.”
“That puppy”? He had to be talking about Ludo, the black fenrir, right?
“Why not?” I whispered back.
“I believe I’ve figured out Vice-Commander Sirius’s plan. This fenrir hunt must have had two main goals: one, to give the princes some hands-on battle experience, and the other, to squash the gossip about a ‘black fenrir’ that has been circulating lately.”
“What? There are rumors like that?!”
I’d told Ludo to keep a low profile, but that little troublemaker must’ve gone and shown himself to others anyway.
“Right. If word spread that the princess was keeping a black fenrir, it would be quite unfavorable for you. The vice-commander probably used the princes to make everyone start believing the rumors were unfounded.”
Wow, Sirius sure was doing a lot of scheming behind the scenes for my sake.
Almost as if to confirm my hunch, Sirius nodded approvingly at what my brothers had told him.
“I see. So it was all just talk, was it? Wow, you reached such a conclusion on your own. Very impressive.”
I got the feeling Sirius was trying to my praise my brothers, but his delivery was completely flat. From the way that Commander Wezen and the other knights were staring at him in stunned silence, it was plain to see they all considered Sirius to be a terrible actor. But my brothers still looked pleased with his compliment, so I guess the three of them were oblivious to the poor performance.
Now that the matter was settled and everyone had calmed down from the battle, I skipped over to my brothers’ side.
“You were all so strong!” I cooed. “I’ll use my magic for you whenever you need it, okay?”
My brothers seemed to enjoy any kind of compliment, no matter who was giving it, so they proudly crossed their arms and nodded haughtily.
“Fine, if you’re that insistent, we’ll allow you to come monster hunting with us.”
Their attitudes caused the knights of the royal guard to sneer in disgust, but I couldn’t contain my smile.
Yippee, hooray! I cheered in my mind. Going on a hunt with them would be a good chance to get to know them a little better.
Sirius must have read my expression like an open book because he came over with a grin and said, “Good for you.”
“Yup!” I beamed back at him.
I was supposed to be in the forest looking for the Galle Gold Leaf, but I’d ended up running into my brothers and Sirius instead. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that it had given me the chance to get a little closer to them.
I was happy that Sirius was happy for me, so I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight squeeze.