"Wow!" Samantha couldn't help but exclaim when she saw the veiled girl.

 

As a member of the elven race, she was highly sensitive to an individual's mana purity, and it was common knowledge that the elves and dragons had the highest purity of all the races that inhabited this world.

 

But the girl in front of her defied logic; the purity of her mana signature was the best she had ever seen. It even dwarfed Aurora, who was supposed to be a once-in-a-thousand-year prodigy with the best mana purity in the entire Fiora empire.

 

Richard, Drake, and the others in their groups didn't know much about this concept, but even they could tell that the girl in front of them was not ordinary; the holy aura surrounding her body was something they had never seen before.

 

"The heir to the position of Saintess?" Drake inquired, perplexed.

 

“Yeah she is the one.” Ichinose answered and sat down on one of the chairs.

 

"How come I'm not aware of this? Being the heir to the position of Saintess is a big thing to keep hidden," Richard inquired.

 

"Normally, this would have been announced at a large party attended by many important members of the empire, but the current situation does not allow for that luxury." Ichinose explained while sipping appa juice.

 

"Um, it's okay, I didn't want anything like that," Sophia said, fidgeting her fingers.

 

"So the church kept her hidden?" Lily wondered.

 

"I wouldn't say hidden, but they were waiting for the right moment," Evelyn said as she joined her sister at the table.

 

"Great! We now have a new friend," Richard exclaimed as he extended his hand for the handshake.

 

"Thank you very much." Sophia bowed her head and shook his hand.

 

"Ahem... you may not recognise me, but I am Drake Lionheart, the one and only prince of the Lionheart empire." Drake also stood up and introduced himself.

 

"Ohh! But I know about all of you, mother has taught me a lot of things," Sophia said, smiling behind her veil.

 

“You know about us?” Lily asked.

 

"Are you Lily, the Sword Saint?" 

 

"Uhh... yes, that would be me," she wasn’t expecting her to say that so she became a little shy.

 

Richard was curious, so he asked, "Sophia, why are you wearing a veil?"

 

"Mother told me to wear one whenever I had to go outside.”

 

"The Saintess?" 

 

“Hmm.” 

 

Then everyone else introduced themselves to her, and after a while, everyone sat down around the table to continue discussing their next steps. Aurora was the only one who wasn't as excited as the others; all she could think about right now was getting to Kiara before something bad happened.

 

"So, even after all of this, we're still at square one?" Aurora asked aloud.

 

"I wouldn't say we're back to square one now that Sophia is here," Evelyn shrugged.

 

"Don't worry, sister Aurora; Ichi onee-san has told me everything about your situation. You can rest assured that everything will be fine." Sophia said it with such conviction that everyone believed her.

 

"Thank you, Sophia; I'd do anything to make that happen." Aurora smiled weakly; she had almost given up hope of ever finding Kiara before something bad happened, but now things might be different. 

 

"Wait, guys, I have a question," Richard yelled as he stood up.

 

"What's the matter, Richard?" Lily inquired.

 

"President, if Sophia could have helped us find Kiara, why didn't you bring her sooner? We could have saved two days." 

 

It made sense now that he said it and everyone else thought about it. Why would she not bring someone who could potentially help them achieve their goal much sooner? It simply didn't make sense.

 

"You are correct, Richie, president; why didn't you bring her earlier?" Aurora also stood up and yelled; her mind had not been calm enough to consider these things earlier.

 

"Onee-san, don't even try to throw it on me." Ichinose saw what Evelyn was going to do and said it before Evelyn had a chance. 

 

“Mou.. Ichi don’t be a meanie and help your onee-san please??” Evelyn whispered in her ear.

 

"No, you're on your own; Sophia, let's go; we've got work to do." 

 

"Yes, Ichi onee-san," she replied quickly and followed her.

 

Aurora said from behind, "Uhh... president, you haven't answered our question."

 

Evelyn turned around to see that everyone was staring at her with serious expressions, and tension was in the air. She knew she'd made a mistake, but it wasn't her fault that those appa-chocolate pies were so tasty.

 

"Oh, right about that, it was training, yes, training for you guys. Officer Laura had instructed me to provide you with on-the-spot training." She said and nodded as if she was persuading herself rather than the people in front of her.

 

"So you're basically saying that you forgot?"  

 

"Yeah, Ichi?" What? Do you require my assistance? Don't worry, I'll be right there." She pretended to make a call on her watch and bolted from the tavern, leaving everyone befuddled.

 

Drake snapped out of his stupor and asked, "Is she really the student council president?"

 

“The one and only.”

 

Back in the alternate dimension, Akira rubbed his temples, debating whether or not he had made the right decision in choosing Roberto. And all of this happened within half an hour of him visiting his place, after they had left to buy something.

 

"You see, when I was a kid, my parents would compare me to the obsidian dragon and the immortal phoenix, saying I had the same charm as them."

 

"Then, one day, while playing outside and forgetting to return home on time, I was attacked by a short-faced bear mana beast." 

"I was only a few steps away from the nasty bastard when we both noticed each other, and in an instant he lunged at me, attempting to sever one of my arms, but goodness gracious-" 

 

With each step they took forward, Roberto unwrapped more of his stories; if aimless chattering was an Olympic sport, he was Michael Phelps of it. 

 

Akira had tried to ignore it at first, thinking that after having to deal with everything, Roberto might not have anyone to talk to, but everything had a limit, and his was approaching quickly.

 

"OK, that's enough," he said, raising his hands to his face.

 

"But that's not even the best part, there was this time when I had to babysit an orc in the fields." 

 

"Wait a minute, an orc in your field?"

 

"Yeah, I was confused too; at first I thought it was a bunch of veggies laid out in a basket, but veggies don't make a gurgling sound, do they?" 

 

"They don't, but that-"

 

“So I gathered all my of mana and was prepared to attack without even looking-”

"Roberto, we're not going to talk about what you did with that orc or whatever."

 

"But I have a lot of stories to tell."

 

"This isn't the time or place for that; you know why I'm here, don't you?"

 

"Of course, amico, I have a photographic memory. You want to know what I ate sixteen years ago when my friend and I went on that fishing trip I mentioned? It was-”

 

“NOO.” Akira yelled and ran away.

 

At the same time, the stage for tonight's drama has been set in Muscovy, the capital of the Romanov empire. The rebels were ready to move out at the drop of a hat while inside the royal palace,

 

“Your highness, we have to do something, the unrest among the common populace of the city is growing at rapid pace.” Boris requested.

 

“Hmm.” Alexander nodded but didn’t reply.

 

“Just give me the orders your highness, the army is ready to charge and-” Sergey couldn’t complete his sentence as Dmitri interrupted him.

 

“Deploy the army and further degrade ourselves among the people? Great idea comrade Sergey.”

 

"Degrade ourselves?" he snorted. “Dmitri I don’t know what you are smoking but can’t you see the danger that is looming over us? The rebels are going to attack us at any moment and you want me to stay put?” 

 

All of the other ministers were roused by his words and thus agreed with him. What good was people's discomfort if the empire was not present?

 

"How can they attack us when all of our soldiers are constantly patrolling, searching every establishment, and keeping an eye out. Do you have such a low opinion of our army, Sergey?” Dmitri questioned.

 

And so they went back and forth, both making their arguments while the other ministers chimed in with bits and pieces here and there. 

 

"Silence," Alexander said for the first time.

 

“Sergey, is the army ready to move out?”

 

"At your disposal."

 

"All right, except for all the units at the border lines, bring everyone else inside the palace at once," he said.

 

Sergey wanted to challenge the order, but he knew better than anyone that he shouldn't.

 

"Yes, your highness, I will take your leave."

 

At this point, the entire hall was on the verge of erupting, but they remained silent, lacking the courage to speak up.

 

"Dmitri, what about the reports from the north and west?" 

 

"I'm afraid it's not good, your majesty."

 

‘Sigh’

 

The emperor closed his eyes and took some long breaths, his posture looked like that of a defeated person but that was only the beginning of his problems.

 

"Did they?"

 

"Yes, your highness, the northern and western provinces have rebelled under Duke Soli's leadership." 

 

"Hahaha, at long last, that son of a bitch is showing his true colours; is he also the rebel leader?" 

 

"No, your highness, that would be someone else about whom we currently know nothing," Dmitri bowed in shame.

 

"In fact, we have a lead; it's just that we have no prior knowledge of that person or people in this case." Boris chimed in.

 

"Interesting," said the Emperor as he continued to listen.

 

Above the underground tavern 'Strelka,' one could hear the soldiers patrolling, but that meant nothing to the rebels who were currently hiding there because something more interesting was happening right in front of their eyes.

 

A man shuffled his feet and then charged forward with the intention of hitting his opponent in the face, but his opponent first ducked his head, watched the man's forearm in slow motion, and then used his position to grab the man's hips.

 

The man's iron necklace jiggled as his vision turned upside down; the opponent had used his muscular arms to suplex the man; smack came a sound, and everything else fell silent.

 

The man was losing consciousness with each passing second, darkness approaching his eyes with each passing second but just at the last moment his opponent's grip loosened, providing him with much-needed relief.

 

First, his opponent stood up, and then he did, eliciting a loud cheer from the entire tavern.

 

"That was fantastic, Red."

“Awesome as always.”

 

"Man, how strong are you?"

 

The man also realized that his opponent was simply too strong to be defeated, so he smiled and extended his hand, but his opponent drew him into a hug and said,

 

"You did well, comrade; take a healing potion to ensure that everything is in place."

"Thank you, sir," the man said as he walked away, leaving the redhead and the others behind.

 

"Not bad, red; you've doubled your strength since last year." An old man in full plate armour approached from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

 

“Old man, just when the hell will I be able to know that you were behind me.” He asked.

 

“Haha not for a long time kiddo.” The old man chuckled.

 

“Anyways, how's the thing going there?”

 

“Just as we planned, Duke Soli has rebelled in the northern and the western provinces, the capital is going to be overrun by us and for the rest of the provinces they will fall like a domino once we have everything else.”

 

"However, it all hinges on our ability to recruit that imprisoned prince."

 

"Don't worry, our intelligence indicates that he is unlikely to pass up this opportunity."

 

"If that's going to be an issue, we could always force him to do our bidding."

 

“By using his sister?”

 

"Exactly she is as ignorant and hot-headed as the stories stated; I had contacted the portal station master, who said that she had already gone to Blossom City."

 

"There is nothing that can stop us from capturing her."

 

"Haha, that means even she won't be able to get away from us, you're such a scheming old man. Capturing his sister and blaming everything on the emperor in order to infuriate the prince."

 

"I'm only doing my job, kiddo."

 

The redhead wanted to respond but was interrupted by the arrival of a huffing and panting rebel.

 

"What's the matter?" the old man inquired.

 

"The heretics have rejected our proposal, Sir." 

 

"What?" Both the old man and the redhead yelled at the soldier, making him cower in fear.

 

The soldier dropped on his knees and said, “S-sorry si-sir I di-did my best but it wa-wasn’t enough.” His forehead filled with sweat.

 

"It's fine, return to your position." 

 

“Yes-thank you, thank you sir.”

 

Their joyous mood had been ruined, and they no longer had those happy and carefree expressions; both of them had not anticipated this, making this a huge setback.

 

“Old man?” 

 

"I also don't understand why he would turn down our offer; it was the best deal he could have gotten."

 

"Does he believe he can do anything because he has a godkin on his side? Does he have no regard for our leaders? This is enough, old man; I have done what you have asked me to do time and time again, and I will not do it again." The redhead was shouting as he spoke, his aura changing with each word.

 

The other rebels in the area took a step back and looked down on the floor; the redhead's aura was too strong for them to handle, and many of them would have died if it hadn't been for the old man shielding them.

 

“Calm down kid, the more you get angry the more it is going to hurt you.”

 

"How can I calm down?" His nostrils flared, and his aura grew stronger and denser.

 

The old man passed a potion from his storage ring to the redhead, who looked perplexed at first but quickly chugged down the entire bottle, instantly refreshing and calming his haywire senses and aura.

 

‘Haah’

 

“Comrades!” The redhead turned to the rebels and shouted.

 

"The time has come for us to go out there and show what we're capable of. That tyrant Alexander believes that his army will keep him safe and secure in that royal palace."

 

"But we're going to show him and everyone else that we rebels are capable of breaking into that palace and toppling his reign no matter what."

 

"And tonight, we begin our operation by releasing the prince from the imperial prison, which will be our first assault on the Romanov empire's authority."

 

"Hail motherland!" exclaimed the redhead as he raised his fist in the air, and everyone else did the same.

 

“Hail motherland.”

 

“Hail motherland.”

 

“Hail motherland.”

 

Amidst all this drama princess Kiara was moving forward with her goal set at crossing the borders and reaching the romanov empire.

 

"So all three of them want to go inside porta nigra?" The guild master asked Takashi, who stood in front of him.

 

"Uhh yes," he replied awkwardly.

 

It wasn't the first time they'd seen three people entering Porta nigra, but it also wasn't something they'd seen on a regular basis.

 

"You're going to make a lot of money, my boy," the guild master said with a smirk on his face.

 

"Thank you very much, guild master."

 

"Don't be humble; four people have chosen your services in less than a week, which is truly commendable."

 

"But is it okay to send them all at once?" Takashi wondered.

 

"It makes no difference if they are three or three hundred; our job is to simply send them inside. So don't be concerned, and leave everything to me." He had a smirk on his face.

 

"Then I'll bring them inside."

 

After a while, the trio was standing in front of the gate-like portal that would take them to Sector X; the guild master had tried to inquire about their whereabouts, but they had kept complete secrecy about it, refusing to provide any information.

 

"You don't have to be worried; I can arrange for someone to assist you-"

 

"As I've said before, guild master, we don't need anything from you," Kiara stated coldly.

 

"Very well then," he said, smiling but cursing her internally.

 

After they entered the portal, the glyphs disintegrated into blue lights that illuminated the entire room and danced like fireflies. 

 

"YOU BITCH!!" He yelled and smacked the table underneath, causing all of the objects on it to fly into the air.

 

"You just have to wait."