The caravan resumed its journey after all the bandits had been dealt with. Thanks to Henry’s intervention, the casualties were minimal. There were only five deaths among the soldiers. Less than twenty were injured and less than ten were heavily wounded.

“If I may be so bold to ask, just what are you, Lord Henry?” asked the blonde maid sitting beside the princess.

The maid’s name was Marie. She introduced herself the first thing after she intruded upon Henry and the princess just as the caravan was about to resume moving. Henry and the princess refused her offer but the maid insisted heavily, even going as far as accepting punishment later on for her stubbornness.

After the ambush by the mountain bandits, the maids felt that leaving the princess’ safety to Henry was sheer folly. So, they decided to place at least a guard they trusted by the princess’ side, or at least that was the story Marie gave when her motive and insistence were questioned.

“Given the threat we most likely will be facing again on this journey, a trusted aid by herself will do her plenty of good,” the maid explained as such.

After some more back and forth, Henry eventually relented to the maid’s presence, though his cold and wary gaze stayed on the uninvited presence in the carriage.

Silence loomed within the carriage for some time until the maid broke the ice by inquiring about Henry’s true identity.

Henry did not answer. He simply laid back, kicked a foot up over the other, and crossed his arms. He narrowed his gaze and turned towards the princess.

Though no words escaped Henry’s lips, the princess understood the intent behind his gaze. “Marie, you are being rude here.”

“I don’t believe I was, your highness. Am I rude for wanting to know the true identity of the person who had just demonstrated enough strength and power to crush a small army single-handedly?”

Henry chuckled. “You have a very irreverent maid there, your highness.”

“Forgive my subject, Lord Henry. She’s just being cautious for my sake.”

“She’s being cautious alright. But for your sake? I’m still on the fence.”

A slight frown appeared on Marie’s expression. “Your Highness, we should not return to the capital.”

“Why is that, Marie?”

“We do not know this person, this powerful individual. If we lead him back to the capital, we will be exposing ourselves. What if he turns out to be aiming for His Majesty all along?”

The princess smiled wryly. “Don’t worry, Marie. I can assure you, nothing bad will happen. I trust Lord Henry is not that kind of a person, are you, Lord Henry?”

“That remains to be seen.” Henry shrugged. “And you have one thing wrong, princess.”

Her smile fell off her face. A shiver ran down her spine. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t intend to have an audience with the king.”

“Then what are you—”

“I’m here to help solve your vampire problem, nothing more.”

“Lord Henry, an audience with the king is—”

“—unneeded,” Henry asserted. “The king is not paying for my service and I’m not expecting any reward for my work. So, I don’t see a reason to have an audience with the king other than for the sake of formality which you and I both know is just a ruse to induce me into your politics.”

“How insolent!” the maid snarled. “You are talking to Princess Luciana IV here, the sister of the king!”

“And you are speaking to the Overlord of Ulrum,” Rayne muttered from the side. She was staring out the window, taking in the passing sights, seemingly uninterested in the escalating conversation for the most part.

Alayne, who was sitting on the other side of Henry, looked towards Rayne nervously. She gestured for Rayne to keep quiet but her attempt was ignored.

The maid shot Rayne a glare. “Who allows you to speak, demi-human?”

“I don’t need anyone’s permission to speak, slave.”

“I’m not a slave. I’m a maid of the royal court, the handmaiden of Her Highness.”

“A fancy way of describing a slave.”

“How dare—”

“Marie, that’s enough,” the princess said.

“But Your Highness, she—”

“Are you opposing me, Marie?”

The maid held her tongue with her body stiffened and lowered her head. “No, Your Highness. Forgive my impudence.”

Rayne smirked. “See, a slave.”

“Stop it, Rayne.”

Rayne huffed and returned her gaze to the window.

“I hope you won’t take offence to my maid’s words, Lord Henry,” the princess said.

“That’s not what you should be worrying about, your highness.”

“...The talks did not turn out the way my brother wanted. If you I went back alone, I will be—”

“It’s not my problem, your highness. Not my concern. I’ll say it for the last time, do not involve me in your game of politics. So, at our next stop, we will be parting ways.”

“Lord Henry—”

“This is not a discussion and I’m not asking for your approval or permission,” Henry said with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.

Luciana bit her lips but she didn’t dare clench her fists. She didn’t want to show the person in front of her anymore of her weakness.

“I’m not at all unreasonable, Your Highness. As thanks for the ride, I will offer you compensation.”

The princess furrowed her brows. “How will you do that?”

Henry glanced over to the maid.

“Marie’s is loyal to me. She won’t tattle to anyone.”

“Not that I care anyway.” Henry shrugged. “The Marquis of Regan.”

“Lord Albus? What about him?”

“There was a mage amongst the bandits who ambushed us, do you know?”

“I do.” The princess nodded. “I was waiting for you to tell me.”

“I made him talk. He gave me that name, the Marquis of Regan.”

Luciana frowned. “That’s impossible. The mage must be lying.”

“Her Highness is right,” shouted the maid. “It can’t be the marquis. He’s part of the princess’ faction.”

“Whether you believe this piece of intelligence, I do not care. I’m simply the messenger. Take it how you will.”

“Your Highness, I believe the marquis is being framed here.”

“...Perhaps. We can’t be sure yet.”

“Your Highness… you can’t possibly be thinking—”

“I will be the judge of his innocence, Marie. I will affirm the allegations myself. You are my maid and guard, sometimes my advisor. Do not overstep your boundaries.”

The maid once again lowered her gaze and begged for forgiveness.

The caravan continued the rest of the journey in such an awkward atmosphere. It was the most uncomfortable for Alayne as the one who was the least accustomed to delicacy and diplomacy. Monster Hunters usually just ploughed through problems with brute force.

Rayne had plenty of experience of this kind considering she was essentially once a princess, the daughter of the tribe chieftain. In fact, the entire conflict reminded her too much of her past circumstances with her brothers, fighting for the proverbial throne.

Due to her own similar experience, Rayne was aware of how quickly the circumstances could shift. She had been showing no interest in the princess’ affairs throughout the journey but in truth, she was merely feigning disinterest.

Rayne had been making mental note of every interesting tidbit she noticed, this included the various sneaky glances from the escorting soldiers marching beside the caravan. The glances were more than just sneaky. She could feel ill intent from these furtive gazes.

Rayne nudged Henry, in hopes of getting his attention on those soldiers.

Henry gave her a knowing smile that was laced with assurance.

He knew, Rayne surmised. Henry was aware much like she was. She gestured towards the princess with a slight tip of her head.

Henry shook his shoulders lightly.

Rayne gave Henry a glance of disbelief.

Henry feigned ignorance in response to Rayne’s gaze.

Not long after the silent exchange between the two, a small town eventually came into view on the horizon. Even from afar, Henry could already make out the architecture of the town, especially the high walls that seemed to encircle the town. There were people on the ramparts along with ballistas.

Henry counted eight ballistas on the rampart and those were just the ones facing this side. Henry had no doubt there were more on the other side. He even spotted four Slayers on the rampart.

To think the Lavans are so afraid of them. Wait until they hear about this.

The caravan drew closer to the town. When they crested a small hill overlooking the town, more details flowed into Henry’s view.

Though the town was small, there was no shortage of people coming in and out of it. There was no fence or walls but everyone was coming and going through the paved roads. Most of these people were dressed in battle gear, forged and crafted of various materials.

If Henry wasn’t knowledgeable about the concept of hunters, he would have thought these people were part of a circus troupe. The fantasy feel certainly tickled a side of him.

The only ones wearing conventional armour and wielding ordinary weapons were the guards. The hunters had all the queer battle gears.

There was barely any metal-wear or metal-arms amongst the hunters, Henry noticed. The swords were carved out of some large bones. Shields were crafted from wood. Armour pieces were crafted using monsters’ remains. Those who wore metal were eyed enviously by others.

Metal appears to be a commodity amongst the hunters. Interesting.

The sense of wonder lasted briefly. After the novelty wore off, it was replaced by a dreary feeling of disappointment. The town did not feel lively despite their overflowing numbers of people. The whole tenor of the town was, for the lack of a better word, depressing.

“Welcome to Gretten, Lord Henry,” said the princess as the caravan approached the entrance of the town. “It was known as the Final Frontier as it is the closest human settlement to Ulrum. After passing this town, we will be seeing fewer monsters, not that we have encountered any monsters at all. Fewer bandits too.”

The crowd immediately scattered to make way for the line of carriages that bore the insignias and banners of royalty. The people practically scrambled out of the way. There were even some screams though they were drowned out by the immediate gossip spreading amongst the people.

Henry was mildly surprised by the elevated heartbeats from the parting crowd. Fearing the royals was not that surprising given the time period he was in. The shocking factor was the immense fear emanating from half of the people.

However, when the people noticed it was the princess leading the caravan, their heartbeats returned to normal. Some even cheered for the princess’ return.

The princess returned safe and sound, that was the interesting part out of all the gossip Henry managed to pick up.

Hmm. Even the people are semi-aware of the court’s internal conflict and affairs. What a shitshow.

****

The town was small but their buildings were abundant, which made the streets too narrow for the caravan to enter. The caravan stopped right outside the unmarked boundary of the town.

Everyone disembarked from the carriages. The soldiers quickly went about setting up the camps and fire.

“Are we camping outside?” Alayne asked out of instinct.

“Of course, not,” Marie said with a hint of disdain. “We will not subject Her Highness to such demeaning treatment.”

“I don’t mind sleeping in the wild,” said the princess.

“No, Your Highness. It’s dangerous and unclean. We will be finding an inn for you, Your Highness. We will head into town with a few guards. The rest will be staying outside.”

“Marie, I doubt there will be any room available with the culling season drawing near.”

“If there’s no room available, they will make it available.”

“The culling season?” Rayne muttered.

“It’s the season right after the monsters’ breeding season. It’s the time when the monsters’ numbers reach an all-time high. If let be, a monster horde will form and numerous towns and villages will be consumed by the horde.”

Henry fought down a chuckle that threatened to burst through his lips. He began to wonder if he had actually been reincarnated into a novel that he didn’t know anything about.

“Lord Henry, I take it you will be joining me?” the princess asked as the maid rushed to make preparations such as selecting the soldiers that would be accompanying them into the town.

“No,” Henry answered without any hesitation. “This is where we will be parting ways, your highness.”