An Excellent Idiot

"It's real, but not all Mo Beasts come out. Mostly low-level ones, and even level seven are rare. But the sheer numbers make it look like they're all coming out at once."

Mayona explained the so-called Monster Tide to Ruby. As everyone knew, although the Sacred Continent appeared to be dominated by humans, that was only because humans occupied the most fertile regions. The Forest of Magic Beasts and the Endless Sea were places humans couldn't freely tread.

These two places had been home to countless lives since ancient times. No one knew how vast the Forest of Magic Beasts truly was. Furthermore, Mo Beasts lived much longer than humans, giving them ample time to accumulate power and advance. If they were to truly mobilize all their forces, human civilization would have been destroyed long ago.

"But don't worry, we have Nana on the human side now. Not a single person died during last year's Monster Tide; she handled it all by herself."

Tinasha chimed in. Ruby could tell from her tone that she was genuinely happy that there were no casualties.

"Don't call me that!"

"I wanted to ask earlier, is dressing like this a hobby of yours?"

Ruby had always thought of Mo Beasts as animals with strange powers, and that they must have had certain motives for doing such things. However, those weren't things he needed to think about now. Compared to Mo Beasts, he was more curious about this Princess clad in armor.

"You could say that. This way, I can respond to unexpected situations at any time."

"Is this something a normal Princess would do?"

"Well, perhaps I'm a bit different. My mother was just an ordinary commoner. She didn't know my father's identity when they fell in love. When I was little, she always told me not to be arrogant because of my status, but to be a Princess who cared for her people."

"I want to understand the commoners more, to make their lives happier. It's not just talk. I've also found that I can connect better with ordinary people than with nobles, so I started doing this kind of work."

Tinasha knew she might seem strange, but it had become a habit that was hard to change. In her eyes, the smiles of the commoners after receiving help were far more genuine than the inscrutable smiles on the faces of nobles.

"In short, she's just an idiot with nowhere to vent her strength. Come on, let's go."

Mayona grabbed Ruby, preparing to use Spatial Movement to leave. However, Tinasha proposed a different idea, hugging Mayona's waist and lifting her up. Tinasha was already tall, and the Archmage girl looked perfectly natural being held in her arms, in Ruby's opinion.

"Mr. Ruby is here in the Imperial Capital for a rare visit, so let me show him around. Consider it thanks for saving your life."

Before Mayona could gather her Magic Power for a Magic Burst, the Princess spoke up. Only then did Mayona give up on the idea of a mutual destruction.

"This is the Great Library. It contains all the books acquired since the founding of the Sacred Empire. Ah, but Ruby, you don't have Magic Power, so you probably can't read them. If you want to read them, ask Nana to help you."

After leading Ruby and Mayona out of the Imperial Palace, Tinasha began to show them around. At Ruby's request, she had dropped the 'Mr.' from her address. Now, pointing at a giant domed building, she said, "Here is the Great Library...". As she spoke, she remembered that Ruby wouldn't be able to open books recorded with Magic Power. Glancing at Mayona, she added.

"That's the Grand Cathedral. It's where the clergy work, and it's my favorite place. The people there are very friendly. With them around, people's lives are more peaceful."

After walking for a while, Tinasha pointed to a tower-like building in the distance. Even from several blocks away, its exquisite silhouette was clearly visible. To reach the Grand Cathedral faster, Tinasha cleverly led them through a shortcut, an alleyway not frequented by many people.

"Ah! Someone's here, someone stole my bag..."

As if to question Tinasha's presence, a scream suddenly came from ahead. An old woman with white hair was knocked to the ground, her finger pointing at the robbers who had already run quite a distance, her eyes filled with terror and despair.

"These people really!"

Ruby hadn't even reacted when Tinasha shot out like a shadow. She pulled out a silver spear from her Space Ring and pursued the robbers.

"Heh heh heh, wearing such heavy armor and you think you can catch up to me, 'Swiftfoot'? Give it a few more centuries."

The masked robber sneered, casting a Light Body Technique on himself to increase his speed. Those in his line of work wouldn't dare to rob in the Imperial Capital without some skill.

"Damn, it's that crazy Tinasha! Fire Element Spirit, please listen to my..."

As he ran, the robber suddenly felt something was wrong. The friction sound of his armor moving seemed to be getting closer. He looked back and almost wet himself in fright. Who in the Imperial Capital didn't know this eccentric Princess? Instead of learning singing and painting, she spent her days chasing them, poor souls. Thinking of this, the robber's heart grew even more bitter, and he quickly prepared to counterattack with magic.

"Dizzying Magic!"

While the self-important robber was still muttering his incantation, Tinasha leaped forward and struck the back of his head heavily with the butt of her spear, knocking him unconscious without a doubt.

"Dizzying Magic?"

Ruby pointed at Tinasha's actions and raised a question. Although he couldn't sense the flow of Magic Power, that clearly wasn't magic, was it!

"Mhm, Dizzying Magic (Physical)."

Mayona, too lazy to mock this idiot Princess who insulted magic, replied with a heavy tone.

"Grandma, are you alright?"

Tinasha returned the recovered bag to the old woman and asked, kneeling on one knee before her.

"Your Highness Princess, how can you do this to me? This is improper."

The old woman was overwhelmed with gratitude and quickly tried to help Tinasha up, only to find that the girl's weight was not something a normal person could support.

"Isn't the mission of the royal family to protect the people of the Sacred Empire? I don't see anything inappropriate about it."

Tinasha smiled faintly, helped the old woman who was sitting on the ground to her feet, and brushed the dust off her clothes without any hesitation.

Clap clap clap clap clap

The commoners watching the spectacle from the side couldn't help but applaud. This wasn't a rare occurrence in the Imperial Capital. Almost everyone had heard of a strange Princess here, completely unlike the arrogant nobles. Meeting her once would make one feel warmth.

"She's truly an outstanding person."

"Hey, if you say that, does that mean I'm not outstanding? I'm a million times better than her!"

Mayona angrily pinched Ruby's ear. After knowing each other for so long, Ruby had never praised her as outstanding. The fact that Tinasha received praise for doing something so small made her very unhappy. As for the temperamental Archmage girl, Ruby could only helplessly flick her forehead and engage in mutual harm.

Inside the Grand Cathedral, the old Pope looked grimly at Ruby, who stood before him. Finally, he picked up a knife, cut Ruby's finger, squeezed out some blood, and dripped it into a transparent crystal. This was the preliminary step before acquiring a Resident Stone.

Despite Mayona's repeated explanations that she had not been abused by Ruby, and that she was usually the one bullying Ruby at home, the Pope and Alicia still didn't quite believe it. That Magic Wand even proposed that the curse was cast by Ruby, a baseless theory that it was a trick designed to capture the Archmage girl. Mayona, dealing with her absent-minded companion, threw her into her Space Ring to quiet down.

"Go easy on him."

Mayona snatched Ruby's hand from the Pope's grasp, displeasure evident on her face. She cast healing magic on him, and the cut on his finger quickly healed, leaving the Pope's expression even darker.

"Nana's worried face..."

Tinasha observed Mayona's expression thoughtfully. She secretly nicked the tip of her longsword with her finger and then walked over to Mayona, tugging on her arm.

"Nana, I'm hurt too."

"Mm, Support Magic: Blood Boil."

Mayona smiled kindly and cast a buff on Tinasha that would accelerate blood flow.

Hiss

Blood spurted from the wound as if accompanied by a strange sound effect. If the old Pope hadn't quickly cast Healing Light on Tinasha, the foolish Princess would likely have died from blood loss.