Royal Princess of Blood

The supply transports of Wisteria for the war hardly had a large group of guards to protect them. That was because they couldn’t afford to give many, as those soldiers would be more useful somewhere else, fighting the empire’s forces directly. That being said, there was really no need for the supply transports to be strictly guarded. These transports were hardly attacked by anyone, as they were moving within the kingdom’s territory without enemies.

Furthermore, the bandits had been mostly eradicated, so there was an incredibly low risk of being robbed. The most they had to be wary of were stray monsters that ended up on the roads or paths they prepared.

However, now their supply chains were under threat. From what Mera had learned, a group of adventurers was tasked to investigate Wisteria’s supply chains, track them to their source, and destroy them. She wondered how the kingdom even got that information. She knew there were countermeasures in case ‌adventurers betrayed them, but she was not privy to the details. She was a mere maid, after all.

Anyway, they learned that the adventurers had discovered one of the warehouses where a good amount of supplies was being stored. And that on a particular night, they planned to attack.

Mera and the others should be there, ready to take them down.

As the day approached, Mera grew more anxious. It was the first mission she’d take that had stakes other than herself. Additionally, she’d be working with other people. It scared her to disappoint or hold everyone back.

And now, Mera and Vernon were about to meet the task force, about to head out. From what Mera heard, they were all knights, which made her feel more tense. They were professionals, unlike her. So the pressure was on.

At the courtyard, there were knights numbering a total of eight — six being men, and two were women. Some of the faces were familiar to Mera, knights who had been stationed here at the palace. But she never really interacted with the knights, so they were not acquainted.

One knight saw the two of them and he promptly approached with a smile.

“Vernon, you’re here.” The knight then turned towards Mera. “And you’re the princess’s personal maid.”

“You know of me…?”

The knight chuckled. “Who doesn’t know you?” Perhaps it was so surprising that there were knights who would even take notice of her. “I’m sorry about the princess. I pray for her immediate return. We believe that she’s still alive out there.”

Mera smiled slightly. “I appreciate it.” It was heartwarming that the knights still thought such a good thing. It was certain that she was alive, it was known only to a few what the princess was truly doing.

“I’m Cohen Warde, the captain of this unit.” They shook hands. At the same time, a female knight approached. “And she’s my vice-captain.”

“I’m Ediva Linse.” She extended her hand to Mera, and the latter shook it. She had a kind look on her face, so Mera felt a bit relieved to see it. “I heard about your skillset. But I should warn you, they may only be mere adventurers, but they will be more experienced than you. So be careful, don’t overestimate yourself.”

“Y-Yes, I understand.”

Those of noble blood were supposed to be naturally stronger, so one could expect they could easily defeat adventurers who were just commoners. However, that could be a mistake. These adventurers faced monsters constantly, they honed their skills with every job and every monster they faced. As fighters, they would be more skilled. Arrogance would be one’s undoing.

Mera had strong magic in terms of applying it to her body for strength, but she was still a novice in the end. If she grew too confident fighting against mere adventurers, she might suffer. She must be careful. Humans were different from the monsters ‌she had been fighting recently. Humans can actually strategize.

“Anyway,” Cohen said. “You have the same abilities as Vernon. Therefore, I’m thinking of putting you in the vanguard. I hope it won’t be too much trouble for you.”

“It’s fine.” She said that, but she was feeling quite tense upon hearing it. Still, that was to be her role based on her abilities, that was the best option for the team.

“Alright then, meet the rest of the gang. Best to familiarize ourselves with each other if we are to work together.”

And thus, Mera went on to meet the rest of the group. Although she felt quite awkward about it. Everyone was a professional fighter, knights with ranks acknowledged by the crown. While she, on the other hand, was just a mere maid who decided to fight all of a sudden. She had not proved anything, nor had her station ever required her to fight.

I really hope I won’t hold everyone back.

That was what she feared. If she held someone or everyone back, it could end in tragedy. She absolutely didn’t want that.

Oh, Princess, give me strength.

She prayed. This was her chance to prove to herself that she could do it.

***

It was nighttime when a party of adventurers, numbering twelve, was hiding among the woods, about to move out and fulfill the mission they were paid to do. These adventurers had no loyalty to Wisteria at all, all they wanted was the money. It didn’t matter to them how it would affect Wisteria if they fulfilled what they were about to do. All that mattered was themselves.

Once this was done, they’d be rich and could leave this kingdom that was on the brink of destruction. The one that offered this job was a person from the empire, and he offered quite a good amount, very desirable. War truly was a profitable time for those who bore arms.

There were words among the populace that Wisteria was certain to lose this war. The empire was a giant nation, a fierce nation, their army numbered in hundreds of thousands if ‌all the states that were under it were included. Of course most people were hopeful. However, there were others who were certain of defeat and felt hopeless. Therefore, why keep loyalty to a failing nation? It was best to take care of yourself given the opportunity. But of course this sentiment just stemmed from the fact that they held no true love for their home nation. Driven only by self-interest and self-preservation.

There had always been an underground market for any kind of job, for shady or illegal jobs. One that Wisteria failed to dismantle, nor could they have. For this was not really an organized activity. This only spread by word of mouth, or like someone’s friend knew a friend that could do a particular job, or knew someone who would be willing to take such risky jobs. Perhaps that was how the agent of the empire got to find adventurers willing to betray their nation, but not like it was hard to find people like them.

And thus, these willing betrayers were tasked to look into the secret supply chains Wisteria used for the war. Then they were to destroy them, sabotaging their own nation. This, of course, was not too difficult to track down for these adventurers. Before the war, they had heard a word that the government was working on something big. Workers were hired, supplies were ‌bought and routed somewhere. They were never exactly subtle.

The adventurers only had to follow where the supplies were being delivered to and track it from there, along with information from workers hired to work on whatever it was. Then they discovered one of the warehouses where they store such supplies, ranging from rations to weapons. From then on, they only needed to burn the place down. Months' worth of essential supplies would be gone, burned to ashes.

This operation was supposed to be a secret, known only between them and their employer. However, unbeknownst to them, the Crown had become aware of their plans. How? Because precautions had already been made in case of something like this happening.

Estelia had guessed that enemies might try to hire adventurers to betray the kingdom. Therefore, if the empire had adventurers, the kingdom should have its own. Wisteria invited some adventurers who had a promising background and had had loyalty to their homeland, then hired them to become double agents in case a situation like this happened.

Due to time constraints though, these adventurers were not given step-by-step instructions. However, they were told that when the time comes, search for jobs that would work for the empire and join them. Or just get information. Through whatever means, just so they could get the information and tell the discovery to the crown. In short, these adventurers were to do whatever means to protect the kingdom against other adventurers.

One of these adventurers got to infiltrate these traitorous men. He pretended to be in the market for taking any shady jobs, anything for the money. And fortunately, he heard that there was a job that would be against Wisteria’s interests. To fulfill the crown’s job for him, he quickly joined in on this shady job. Where he then met the employer, who was from the empire. And they offered quite a sum indeed.

But that did not matter to him. The crown also gave a good sum, and he would not betray the Wisteria.

Therefore, once he was in and learned of what the job was, he sent a message to the Crown. And he hoped that they would be able to respond in time.

Meanwhile, he maintained his facade. They gathered after their scout returned to them after checking out the location one last time.

“So how’s their security?” one adventurer asked the scout.

“Unchanged. We can take it down easily.”

“You’d expect that kind of place would be strictly guarded.”

“Wisteria is stretched thin,” answered another. “They’d have more use for armed forces fighting the empire than guarding a place that would hardly be attacked.”

One snickered. “Heh, until now.”

“We’re a bunch of bastards for doing this, you know.”

“Being not a bastard won’t get us food on our plates.”

“Besides, Wisteria’s fucked anyway. Better team up with the winning side.”

“The other adventurers joining the war effort are idiots, just gonna waste their lives away.”

“That’s right.”

Wow, these pieces of shit. What a bunch of defeatists.

It was absurd, what they were doing now would only guarantee Wisteria’s defeat.

“I’m moving to Eventon after this. I don't want to get involved with the Empire any further.”

“Well, before you guys start talking about what to do afterwards, let’s finish the job first.”

One adventurer put a hand on the agent’s shoulder. “You good? You’ve been quiet.”

The agent frowned. “I just want to be done with this and get the money.”

“You leaving after?”

“Nah, I've got money to spend first. Besides, I haven’t decided where to even go.”

“Gonna wait for the empire to take over the kingdom? That could be good.”

“Who knows, depends if the empire wants to kill me.”

Fucking no, I’m not leaving. I ain’t leaving my homeland. I’ll fight for it.

“You really think the empire’s gonna kill everyone?”

The agent shrugged. “Not everyone, but a lot.”

“They’re conquerors, they take nations, not obliterate them.”

“I suppose, but I’m still undecided, and I just want the money. After that, I’ll consider my options.”

“Hm. Up to you.” He smirked. “Anyway, what about we all go now?”

Everyone agreed.

They snuffed out the small campfire and ‌set out.

He had not received an official response from the crown, but he sure hoped they had prepared for the attack. He wouldn’t want to be involved in destroying the supplies.