"It was real, but not every magical beast came out. They were mostly low-level ones; even level-seven beasts were rare. Still, there were simply too many of them. It looked like a sea of black, as though they had poured out in full force."
Mayuna explained to Ruben what a magical beast tide was. Everyone knew that although the Holy Continent appeared to be ruled by humans, humanity only occupied the most fertile regions. The Forest of Magical Beasts and the Endless Sea were both places humans could not enter at will.
Countless lives had existed in those two places since ancient times. No one knew how vast the Forest of Magical Beasts truly was. On top of that, magical beasts lived far longer than humans, giving them ample time to accumulate strength and evolve. If they all truly came out, human civilization would probably have been destroyed long ago.
"But there's no need to worry. The human side has Nana now. During last year's magical beast tide, not a single person died. She handled all of them by herself."
Tinasha chimed in. Ruben could tell from her tone that she was genuinely happy no one had been hurt.
"Don't call me that!"
"I've been meaning to ask, is dressing like that your hobby?"
Ruben had always believed magical beasts were merely animals with strange powers. They probably had some reason for doing such things, but that was not what he needed to think about right now. Compared to the magical beasts, he was more curious about this armored imperial princess.
"You could say that. This way, I can deal with sudden situations at any time."
"Is that something an ordinary imperial princess would do?"
"Mm, perhaps I'm a little different. My mother was only an ordinary commoner. When she fell in love with my father, she didn't know who he was. When I was little, she always told me not to be arrogant because of my status, and to become an imperial princess who cared for the people."
"I wanted to understand commoners better and let them live happier lives. That wasn't just something I said. I also discovered that compared to nobles, I got along better with ordinary people, so I started doing this kind of work."
Tinasha knew she looked somewhat strange, but it had become a habit that was difficult to change. In her eyes, the smiles commoners showed after receiving help were far more endearing than the unreadable smiles on nobles' faces.
"In short, she's an idiot with nowhere to vent her strength. Come on, follow me."
Mayuna grabbed Ruben, preparing to leave through spatial movement, but Tinasha offered a different opinion. She wrapped an arm around Mayuna's waist and lifted her up. Tinasha was already tall, and to Ruben, the sight of the Archmage girl being held in her arms did not seem strange at all.
"Since Mr. Ruben rarely visits the imperial capital, let me show him around. Consider it thanks for saving your life."
Before Mayuna could gather magic power for an explosive outburst, the imperial princess spoke first. Only then did Mayuna give up on taking her down with her.
"This is the Grand Library. Every book acquired since the founding of the Holy Empire is kept inside. Ah, but Ruben, you probably can't read them without magic power. If you want to, just ask Nana to help you."
After leading Ruben and Mayuna out of the imperial palace, Tinasha began introducing the sights around them. At Ruben's request, she had dropped the "Mr." from his name. She was now pointing at a massive domed building, then remembered that Ruben could not open books recorded with magic power and added that last part after glancing at Mayuna.
"That is the Grand Cathedral, where the clergy work. It's also my favorite place. The people there are all very kind. With them around, people's lives can be more peaceful."
After walking for a while, Tinasha pointed at a tower-like building in the distance. Even from several streets away, they could clearly see its exquisite outline. To reach the Grand Cathedral faster, Tinasha cleverly led them through a shortcut, an alley that few people used.
"Ah! Someone! Someone stole my bag..."
As if challenging Tinasha's very existence, a scream suddenly rang out ahead. An elderly woman with graying hair had been knocked to the ground. She pointed at the robber, who had already run quite far away, her eyes filled with fear and despair.
"These people, honestly!"
Before Ruben could react, Tinasha rushed out like a shadow. She took a silver spear from the spatial item she carried and chased after the robber.
"Heh heh heh, you think you can catch me, Swiftfoot, while wearing such heavy armor? Try again in a few hundred years."
The masked robber sneered and cast a lightness spell on himself, increasing his running speed. Anyone in his line of work needed some skill to dare commit robbery in the imperial capital.
"Damn, why is it that madwoman Tinasha? Spirit of the fire element, please listen to my—"
As he ran, the robber suddenly sensed that something was wrong. The friction of armor moving with each stride seemed to be getting closer and closer. He looked back and nearly pissed himself in fright. Who in the imperial capital did not know that unhinged imperial princess? Instead of learning singing or painting, she spent all day chasing miserable people like them. The thought made him feel even more bitter, and he hurriedly prepared to fight back with magic.
"Stun spell!"
While the robber, who thought rather highly of himself, was still chanting his spell, Tinasha had already leapt into the air. The shaft of her spear slammed heavily into his head, knocking him unconscious without any surprise.
"Stun spell?"
Ruben pointed at Tinasha's actions in doubt. He could not sense the flow of magic power, but that clearly had not been magic, had it?
"Mm, stun spell—physical version."
Mayuna could not be bothered to criticize that idiot imperial princess for insulting magic, so she answered heavily.
"Ma'am, you weren't hurt, were you?"
Tinasha returned the recovered bag to the elderly woman's hands, then knelt on one knee before her and asked.
"Your Highness, how can you make such a gesture toward me? You mustn't."
The old woman was overwhelmed with gratitude and hurriedly tried to help Tinasha up, only to discover that the weight on the girl's body was far beyond what an ordinary person could support.
"Isn't it the royal family's duty to protect the people of the Holy Empire? I don't think there's anything inappropriate about it."
Tinasha smiled gently, helped the elderly woman up from the ground, and dusted off her clothes without the slightest concern.
Clap clap clap clap clap!
The commoners watching from the side could not help applauding. This was not an unusual sight in the imperial capital. Almost everyone had heard of the strange imperial princess here, completely unlike those arrogant nobles. She was an imperial princess who made people feel warmth after just one meeting.
"She really is an outstanding person."
"Huh? Does that mean I'm not outstanding? I'm ten thousand times better than her!"
Mayuna angrily pinched Ruben's ear. They had known each other for so long, yet Ruben had never praised her even once. Tinasha had merely done a small thing and received praise, which made Mayuna very unhappy. As for the Archmage girl throwing a tantrum for no reason, Ruben could only helplessly flick her forehead and hurt each other in return.
Inside the Grand Cathedral, the old pope stared gloomily at Ruben standing before him. In the end, he still took a knife, cut Ruben's finger, and squeezed out some blood into a transparent crystal. This was the preliminary step for obtaining a resident stone.
Although Mayuna repeatedly explained that she had not suffered any abuse from Ruben, and that she was usually the one bullying him at home, the pope and Alicia still did not quite believe her. That staff even claimed that Ruben had cast the curse, calling it some absurd scheme to win over the Archmage girl. As for that dim-witted companion, Mayuna had tossed her into a spatial ring to let her calm down.
"Be gentler."
Mayuna unhappily snatched Ruben's hand from the pope and cast a healing spell on him. His cut finger quickly returned to normal, while the pope's expression darkened even further.
Nana's worried expression...
Tinasha watched Mayuna's expression thoughtfully. She secretly ran her finger over the tip of her sword, then walked over to Mayuna and tugged on her arm.
"Nana, I'm hurt too."
"Mm, support spell: [Boiling Blood]."
Mayuna revealed a kind smile and applied a buff that made Tinasha's blood flow faster.
Ssshhh!
Blood sprayed from the wound as though it had been given a strange sound effect. If the old pope had not promptly cast Healing Light on Tinasha, that idiot imperial princess might have died from excessive blood loss.
Before you continue