Uneventfully, three days pa.s.sed.
We advanced on stone pavement. Ria was in front on foot, with Lulu on the donkey’s back behind her.

The journey was peaceful. Though a destination had been decided on, it wasn’t urgent. While enjoying the surrounding scenery, you could enjoy the true pleasure of travelling.

“Since this is your so-called journey to increase your fighting skills, I thought that you’d be in more of a rush.”
“Hmm? That’s a pain so let’s take our time. Even though I said this is for training, it wouldn’t be smart to do that the entire time.”
Ria was in a good mood. Although she was only walking, she was in a good mood.
The reason was the katanas visible at her waist.

They weren’t wooden swords nor an imitation swords, they were genuine katanas of different lengths. If it were j.a.pan, lethal weapons like this were an out.
She carried herself in a dignified manner walking during the day. Just this made her glad. After all, up to now she had only been using the wooden sword for a weapon.
This was because wearing a j.a.panese katana was a man’s romance. Of course Lulu was a woman and couldn’t understand a martial artist.

By the way, the wooden sword for beating people to death was in the magic pouch as well. Katanas were too good for the likes of goblins. Maintenance was immense.

They ate their various rations, peacefully spending the afternoon, however a figure suddenly flew past overhead.

“Oh, a dragoon.”
“A pursuer?”

A dragoon is a soldier that rode on a wyvern. Although a wyvern was more or less cla.s.sified as a sub-dragon, it looked completely unlike a dragon. As for the differences between a dragon and a sub-dragon, they were about as different as mice and humans.
That dragoon, after revolving around the two, returned to where it came from. Its direction was directly towards the royal capital.
“We were found.”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Think they’ll come to bring us back?”
“If so I’ll beat them.”
“I’d prefer a peaceful method.”
“Then I’ll beat them peacefully.”
Ria grinned and laughed, though that doesn’t mean she was joking.

Anyways, if they were enemies she had confidence to moderately wound them and make them give up.
However, the situation exceeded Ria’s expectations.

They didn’t change their route. Lulu only glanced back sometimes.
Sensing that it wasn’t the shaking luggage on its back, the donkey continued walking slowly.
Before evening, in Ria’s ears that had the Gift of Keen Senses, was the sound of horses’ hooves.
“They came. Three of them.”
“Understood. Though I also have good hearing.”
Even though she’s a half-elf, an elf is an elf. Although her eyes and ears were certainly superior to a human’s, Ria’s were beyond even that. It was the Dragon’s Bloodline.
“What do we do? Are we going to continue hiding?”
“No, although its been simple and most of the time travelers would just pa.s.s by, being searched by magic would happen sooner or later. In any event, this is a bit of a bitter experience.”

Folding her arms, she stood in the center of the road. Fortunately other travelers hadn’t come for a while.
Before long, three knights riding horses came in to sight. However…
“Geh-, Reyas.”
“Geh-, Carlos.”
Changing their motives, the two’s faces strained.

That the vice-captain of the knights would personally pursue them was unexpected. And for Lulu, the other knight was someone she wanted to avoid.

By the way, the last person was inconsequential.

“Carlos the Elf Lover huh…”
“That person, he only sees my ears.”
He was the best young soldier in the chivalric order, though while his personality and pedigree couldn’t be criticized, his dream to embrace an elf was famous. Was he twenty years old this year?
By the way, Lulu turns twenty-four this year. Because she is a half-elf, she looks much younger than him.

Lulu got off the donkey and we waited for our pursuers’ arrival.
Reyas arrived first, dismounting a small distance away. The other two followed his lead.

“Princess…”
Reyas had a stunned expression on, his fighting spirit unable to be seen.
“Please return as soon as possible. His Majesty is worried about you.”
“From this cute child’s journey, you mean, huh. Could you stop persuading me, Reyas?”
“Although you left the message and disappeared, not searching for you would be impossible.”
“Since I’m going to the labyrinth city for now, I’d like it if you didn’t worry and reported that back.”
Haah, Reyas let out a sigh.
“With all due respect, does the princess understand what is happening to the court right now?”
“I know. For that reason, I did it to separate from the court to not be used.”
As she said that, a tinge of praise appeared in Reyas’ expression.
“That’s unexpected. I thought that you were certainly uninterested in such things.”
“Well, I don’t want to be involved.”
Ria shrugged her shoulders. The atmosphere was calm.
“Still, please return for now. If you’d like, I don’t mind if you accompany us to the labyrinth city.”
“Since Rufus-jiichan isn’t there anymore, it would probably be bad if the strongest knight in the kingdom disappeared.”
“That is correct, there is a dissension.”

The air became heavy.

“Even if you have to go through a bit of a painful experience, I am bringing you back.”
“Yeah, it’s good that’s easy to understand.”

Reyas drew his sword. Not the wooden sword usually used for training, but a shining mithril sword.
Of course, getting hit by that would cause bleeding. If Ria wore nothing but her leather armor, it would be easy for the blade to reach her body.

Honestly, Ria had the odds in her favor.
The defeated element couldn’t be found.

First of all, his prepared weapon was bad. With his magic mithril sword, he had no choice but to go easy on her. Though it would be stopped if Ria’s Hard Body Skill was used, Reyas didn’t know that.
In other words, he would aim at the ends of her limbs, avoiding her vitals. In that case the wooden sword would have been better.
Even if he said that they may have a painful experience, he could not afford to greatly injure the princess. At that point he was already at a large disadvantage.
As for Ria, in an extreme case she didn’t mind going so far as killing Reyas. Of course she didn’t have the intention to kill him, but aiming at his vitals was an option.

“I’ll say this, Reyas. Until now, while training with you, I’ve never once used my true strength.”
She had gone easy on him, not that she wasn’t training. She just didn’t use all of her abilities.
“That includes my loss to you the other day as well, I wasn’t being serious.”
Frankly, Reyas was a sore loser, but that was besides the point.
“If I win, obediently go back to the royal capital. I’ll also leave the persuasion of Dad to you.”
“Yeah. Naturally, if I lose there is no one that could stop you anyway.”
Now that Rufus is deceased, those words are correct. Rufus had no intention of stopping her in the first place though.
“Then, shall we begin?”
Saying so, Ria took a spear out of the magic pouch.

A spear. A cross spear.
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
Even for Lulu, an outsider to hand-to-hand combat, it was unexpected.

Ria meant katanas. Katanas meant Ria. In the royal palace, that image had been solidified.
Without speaking, Ria rushed forward, darting the spear out.
Reyas rose his shield to defend. Bringing back the spear, she extended her foot.
“Ku-”
He stabbed his sword into the ground, preventing it. The spear immediately turned towards Reyas’ face. This was again prevented by his shield.

The attack nearly pierced him, Reyas was fighting a defensive battle.
It was because until now, Ria had not been seen to ever use a spear.

But Ria’s Spearmanship Skill was Level 6. Although her Swordplay was a slightly higher Level, spears were stronger than swords to begin with. While this was common sense in her previous life, Ria was also of the katana.

Even in this world, the main weapon for war infantry is the spear. Even for Reyas, when riding he used a weapon with a long handle.
However, he mainly practiced with a sword on the ground, as it had good maneuverability and was portable.
In this fight as well, where anything goes from the onset, this became a one-sided fight.
That is to say, Reyas had sweetness towards Ria. You could say it was a difference in att.i.tude.

This world has no notion of being combat ready at all times. Even martial artists in modern j.a.pan where arms are prohibited have it, it was the resolution to immediately shift into a fighting resolution, and Reyas didn’t have that.
Ria had it. In the royal palace, even when she didn’t have a weapon, she had the resolution to kill enemies if attacked, she had the ability.

Between Ria and Reyas, excluding levels Ria had the better ability.
Reyas didn’t acc.u.mulate magic to enhance his body, he instead increased the strength of his armor and shield’s defense, but that was immediately dispelled by Ria’s high magic power. If you compared the attribute values of the two, there was a huge difference between their magic power.
If there was anything Reyas was superior to Ria in, it would only be his experience in war. However, this was no battlefield. When it came to experience of simply killing each other, Ria was not inferior to him as she had spent her free time committing genocide on demons.

In the end, Reyas was forced to adopt the strategy of giving flesh to take bone.
He raised his shield against the spear in advance, getting pierced on purpose.

“Guu-!”
Penetrating the armor on the back of his left hand, the spear reached flesh. Even so, from there he rotated his elbow, entwining the spear with his shield.
Ria simply let go of the spear. Although she lost her weapon, the shield was pierced by the spear, affecting its maneuverability. Reyas lost one of his means of defense.

However, while Reyas was wounded on his left hand, Ria was uninjured.
Reyas’ advantage here would be that he still had a weapon in his hand. Facing against Ria, by the time she withdraws a katana, he could take many actions.
Reyas thought that as he brandished the sword in his hand, naturally aimed at Ria.
However, Reyas didn’t know.

Ria had the Swordplay Skill at Level 7. However, at the same time she had another skill at the same level.

Quick Draw.

The moment Ria’s right hand touched the katana at her waist, it had already been swung completely.

Reyas’ right arm was cut off at the elbow, his sword revolving midair.
Ria returned the katana to Reyas’ armpit. She sliced through the metal armor, gouging his side.
“Gufu-”
With a groan leaked into the air, Reyas fell to his knee.
Ria paused, carefully confirming that her opponent had lost his fighting power, and lowered her katana at last.
“Lulu, treat him.”
“Y-yes!”
As for what happened, Lulu didn’t see, but she knew he needed to be treated.

Taking off Reyas’ armor with the a.s.sistance of his companion, she first treated his side before reattaching the severed right arm.
Fortunately the wound on his abdomen did not reach his internal organs, and that his right arm was cut so cleanly, so it adhered without any problems.

“Princess… did you… always go easy?”
Laying on his side, Reyas asked in a small voice.
Between himself and Ria, there was an overwhelming difference. It didn’t feel the same to him as the usual practice. Rather, he now believed that her sword skills surpa.s.sed his.
“It’s nothing like that. I’ve always been serious. But, what I mean is don’t you think that the abilities used in training and those in killing differ?”
“So it was something like that…
Although that didn’t convince Reyas, at any rate Ria was stronger than him. To the extent that she took away his fighting strength, there was that much of a difference in skill.
“I will report to His Majesty. Though I’ve said it before, there’s no way for us to bring Princess back now.”
“Sorry. You’ve helped me.”
Ria bowed obediantly.
“However, there is a condition.”
Reyas turned, facing the man known among the knights as the Elf Lover.
“Carlos, go with the Princess. Don’t think of it as guarding. If you are traveling, a male’s help is always required.”
“Eh, is that okay!?”
Carlos asked delightedly. Lulu had on a complicated face.
“Princess, is this fine?”
“I’m fine with it but…”
She looked towards Lulu. The Elf Lover was like a disease. What does Lulu the half-elf think? That’s the question.
“Well, it can’t be helped can it? While the princess is fighting, it is necessary for someone to defend me.”
Carlos spontaneously dropped down to one knee.
“On my pride as a knight, I will protect you!”
Everyone there had on a wry smile. Normally, a knight would mainly protect a princess, but it couldn’t be helped as she was much stronger than him.

And thus the travelling group increased to three people.