novelraw Chapter 15
Chapter 15
15~ Mountain Bandits~
"..."
Squatting down against the wall, her mood was about to explode at this moment.
What kind of bullshit outing? It was purely just an excuse the Empress found to toy with her!
"Let's go, Mo."
The little Princess looked at the Empress with a "do you think I can still walk" expression.
In the end, she was carried to the seaside.
The sea breeze blew gently, but her mood couldn't improve at all.
These past two days, the Empress's toying with her, or rather training, was extremely unfriendly to someone with a body that didn't have much stamina or strength. She'd tried all sorts of high-difficulty standing splits with leg raises, high-difficulty single-leg back raises while standing. It could be said she was constantly exploring her limits...
"Does Mo believe in fate?"
The Empress watching the sea beside her suddenly asked.
"I do."
"Is that so?"
"Then what if I said your meeting with me was fate's arrangement?"
"..."
Being held in the Empress's embrace, her emotions were extremely complex.
Previously, being held and embraced like this still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. Now she'd completely gotten used to it. Not only that, after being tied up for several consecutive days, she'd also gotten used to the feeling of being bound...
It felt like certain things seemingly couldn't go back anymore...
However, at least these past few days hadn't been beastly enough to make her lose anything important. Something about how fruits taste best when picked after they've ripened.
She knew that being imprisoned by the Empress's side like this, important things would be lost sooner or later.
The Empress had intentions toward her. This point had been confirmed not long ago. Probably valuing her talent was just incidental.
But she couldn't understand why, among so many nations' princesses, the Empress had set her sights on her. As for it being some arrangement of fate, she didn't think there was any possibility of that at all.
Yes, this world had things like magic and organizations like the church that worshipped deities. But whether in history books or from what she'd heard, she'd never discovered true gods. There were only fake gods pretended by heretics. These fake gods generally weren't strong. Normally, a single Archmage could handle them.
What she said about believing in fate was nothing more than words to comfort herself about her reincarnation.
"So, Mo, have you had enough fun?"
Faced with the Empress's teasing words, the little Princess rolled her eyes at her.
The next morning, all the binding ropes on the little Princess's body were removed. Of course, except for the collar around her neck. And the outing had also reached its end. Now they were returning to the palace.
The rope marks on her body would probably take several days to fade. Fortunately, the clothes she wore could just cover them. Otherwise, if others saw them, she felt she'd have no face to go out again.
In the carriage, the little Princess had completely lost any drowsiness. Perhaps because the amount of exercise these past few days was relatively large and she'd slept more than usual, this left her only able to look at the scenery outside the window.
Completely without drowsiness, and looking at the scenery outside was really boring, so she simply directly lay on the Empress's lap, planning to rest with her eyes closed for a while. Although somewhat annoying, not taking advantage of a freebie would be foolish. Using a pair of big white legs as a pillow through a layer of stockings was still very comfortable.
Unknowingly, she'd gradually gotten used to it...
Looking at the little Princess lying on her lap, the corner of the Empress's mouth unconsciously lifted slightly. This was precisely the effect she wanted.
"Your Majesty, the road ahead is blocked."
The Empress put down the book in her hand, her expression slightly displeased. After poking her head out the window, she saw the previously unobstructed road ahead blocked by simple barricades made of several logs.
"Looks like it was set up by nearby mountain bandits, Your Majesty."
Although people's livelihoods within Scarlet Phoenix Nation's borders had always been relatively stable, the place for this outing was an area Scarlet Phoenix Nation almost never bothered managing. The appearance of some mountain bandits was quite normal. Most were composed of criminals who'd committed crimes and were unwilling to be captured and imprisoned.
"Blast open the road."
"Understood."
After using two flame explosion spells to blast open the barricade, the huge noise also alerted nearby mountain bandits who were heading this way.
Of course, the Empress had absolute confidence she could handle it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had Ling directly blast open the barricade.
When the mountain bandits arrived at the scene, they only saw a row of wheel tracks running over the barricade's debris, which made them somewhat angry.
What blind thing actually blew up the barricade they'd just set up? Didn't they know these surrounding mountain peaks were all their territory?
They immediately followed the wheel tracks on the ground to catch up.
A total of two explosion sounds had blasted open the barricade they'd set up. Initial judgment was a Great Mage, not yet at Archmage level. Otherwise, such a simple barricade wouldn't need two flame explosion spells to blast open. And this also made the leading mountain bandit feel they had a chance of winning.
Among them were also Great Mages, and two at that. This was also the source of their confidence in pursuing.
...
...
"Your Majesty, those mountain bandits seem to have caught up. There are also some ahead."
"Drive them away. Those who cannot be driven away, kill them on the spot."
After receiving the order, Ling unloaded the bag containing the sword and took out the weapon to hang at her waist.
Seeing someone get off the carriage, the mountain bandits surrounded them.
A woman?
After clearly seeing Ling's appearance, the leading mountain bandit immediately became somewhat excited.
How long had it been since he'd seen such a beautiful woman? Since fleeing to this mountain peak, it had been almost over ten years. She was so much prettier than those old women and little brats in the stronghold. She could simply be called a rare supreme beauty!
"Quick, brothers, capture her alive!"
Ling gripped the sword hilt tightly. Looks like there was no need for expulsion, because they'd already charged up.
The two mountain bandits rushing at her were easily dealt with by her drawing the sword and lightly swinging it a few times. The ones preparing to ambush from behind also had their heads separated from their bodies by a quick turn and slash.
"Those who want to die, continue coming up. Those who don't want to die, leave now."
After dropping a provocative line, she stood in place holding the sword, waiting for these mountain bandits' attitude.
"Where's the mage? Hurry up and get her!"
A mage?
Ling was somewhat incredulous. When had mages fallen to the point of having to become mountain bandits?
Immediately after, an extreme cold magic shot toward her from behind.
"..."
After leaping to dodge this magic attack, Ling helplessly sighed. Looks like she had to show some real skill. Otherwise, these mountain bandits would definitely disturb the Empress inside the carriage in a bit.
Condensing a light arrow in her hand and aiming at the mage in the back row, she shot it straight through. It collided with the magic shield, paused slightly, then directly penetrated, shooting straight through that mage's head.
"She's at Archmage level!"
A Great Mage killed in one hit by a magic light arrow, and under the premise of cautiously constructing a magic shield for defense. This was no longer something the same level could achieve. The only possibility was that her strength had already reached Archmage level!
An Archmage-level mage was no longer combat power that could be measured by numbers. And the Great Mage on their side had been killed by the opponent in one strike. Victory or defeat was already without suspense.
"Retreat!"