On this planet, there is a certain country located in the south of the central continent of the world.

That nation is known as the Lespinasse Kingdom.

The Lespinasse Kingdom is a small country formed no more than 100 years ago.

Unlike other countries that celebrate their 200 or 300 years of history, this country is described by others as a weak nation because of it.

In one of the rooms of the royal palace, two girls were reading a novel.

"Breathing in an agitated manner, the hero Brave wielded his sword against the evil hero of demons, Evermilion."

It was normal for 15-year-old girls to be interested in romance novels.

After all, it was an age where they were recognized as of legal age and could get engaged or married.

"So, the hero Brave cut off the head of the fearsome demon and put an end to his nine lives...let's skip this part and get to the good stuff."

The two girls were on a large bed in a luxurious room.

One of them was dressed as a maid, it was her job to be one.

Her hair was short and reached her neck, purplish black, with two buns braided on the sides, making her look like a cat.

Her eyes were a beautiful clear orange, though one of them was covered by her bangs.

She was the girl's personal maid next to her.

Louise Beltre was her name.

"Princess, hurry please."

"Wait a minute, there are more unnecessary villains and a lot of filler... Here it is!"

The girl shouting happily was Louise's young mistress.

The second princess of this kingdom. Millialice Sara Lespinasse.

Named Alice by Louise and her family.

Princess Alice wore a beautiful pink dress with gold ruffles.

Her hair was honey blonde and was tied with a blue butterfly in a side ponytail on the left side.

Almost nearing the tip of the end, it turned a beautiful pastel pink her hair.

Her facial features were angelic, she could be considered a saint with her glowing golden yellow eyes.

They were two healthy and friendly girls.

They were very well cared for and fed.

So much so, that their bodies began to mature and expose an attractiveness to the opposite sex in such a way that you wouldn't think they were both fifteen years old.

Their waists were slim, their butts round and fleshy and mainly their breasts were large and firm.

They were so firm that even the other girls envied their figures.

"After breaking the door, there stood the frightened princess. But the moment she saw the brave knight, she released her tears and went running to embrace him, giving each other their first real kiss..."

"Kyah!"

Both girls shouted as they got up and grabbed pillows to hide their screams.

"I love romantic stories!"

"Especially when the hero or prince rescues the princess and she knows he is her destiny."

"I understand, princess. A girl who knows nothing about self-defense or military training just has to rely on someone she trusts to rescue her, and that someone is indeed her destined person."

Argued Louise with starry eyes.

Princess Alice stood up and took Louise's hands.

Louise was her maid, but also her best friend, they have known each other since childhood.

They both started jumping on the bed, making their big breasts flutter with joy as well.

"I know, I know!"

"Aah~. How I wish I had the chance to meet such a wonderful man and marry him."

The princess's smile was wiped off after uttering that word.

Marry.

Louise noticed how the sparkle in the princess's eyes gradually disappeared.

The reason for that is because the Lespinasse Kingdom, being a small country, has no allies, almost no resources and no farms.

Its nobles are generally second or third sons of noble families who expelled them.

Long ago, the Lespinasse family was a ducal house of a certain tyrannical country.

The king of that time had a quarrel with the duke.

The reason for it was due to something out of an otome game.

The duke's daughter was engaged to the crown prince, but a mysterious daughter of a baron came into their lives by accident.

The prince wanted an awkward woman who would praise him, quite the opposite, to the intelligent and dedicated girl who was his fiancée.

The day of the engagement party arrived, the prince announced his breakup and declared that he would later marry the baron's daughter.

This made the duke angry and he protested against the king, who did not care because deep down he hated the duke.

The royal family was poorer than a family of barons.

Thanks to this mysterious opportunistic girl, the king was able to make his son sow false evidence such as harassment, abuse of his authority and intimidation to accuse the duke's family as traitors.

Many hated the duke, so this was to their advantage.

The king first ruled that the duke's family would be a matriarchal family, meaning that only a woman could inherit the position, after which he condemned his daughter to exile.

The king knew that the duke loved his daughter very much, therefore, he did not allow it and his whole family left the country.

The king took advantage of this and seized the duke's territory.

As they had nowhere to live, they went to a distant relative and after reaching an agreement they formed the kingdom.

But for a kingdom to be recognized you need at least two or three nations to recognize it, including one that speaks to those other nations that are not a threat.

It was a piece of cake thanks to the contact they had.

That was how the Lespinasse Kingdom was born, and because of the history of the former ducal family, many sons of nobles and knights went to want to join this newly formed kingdom.

It was their chance to grow up as heads of their own houses and become great knights.

It was a good start, but like any kingdom, unexpected things always happen, including tragedies.

The country manages to stay afloat thanks to the fact that they trade with the little they have and lend their knights as mercenaries.

The highest rank this country can have been a count.

Therefore, due to their long historical record where their grandfather and other ancestors had to marry second princes or important nobles of other nations in order to survive.

Since, they all said the same thing.

"What good is a nation to us where only a woman can rule?"

No male noble would think it a good idea to relate to a country that has women in charge nor a ducal family to back them up.

Therefore, Alice understands that like her older sister, she will have to marry a man she doesn't love and will most likely be an abuser.

After all, she already knows a horrible man who makes her want to vomit.

Louise tried to improve her young mistress's mood.

"Please princess, cheer up!"

"I'm sure there must be a wonderful man out there somewhere. I know you will be happy since you are a good person."

"Your allowance you use it so the children at the orphanage have to eat, you don't want fancy things and would rather that money be used to support the commoners who have less stuff."

"Even I was saved by you, I'm sure heaven will take care to reward such a wonderful person!"

"Louise... thank you."

Alice smiled again, Louise was glad too.

"I'm sorry to show you that horrible face of mine. Let's go have breakfast and then let's look for some fun."

"Yes!"

Replied the maid cheerfully.

This was a normal day like any other... until the alarm went off.

"Threat of war!"

"Huh? What did he say?"

Trumpets could be heard all over the capital.

Alice and Louise approached the window and in the distance they visualized a large army approaching.

In addition to having soldiers, there were terrifying monsters.

"An invasion! Why?"

"Our country barely has any resources. It's ridiculous that they want to invade us!"

The princess exclaimed in fright.

Louise looked carefully at the enemy army's flag.

"That emblem of a red peacock... it can't be..."

"The Great Bellmoth Kingdom!"

The Great Bellmoth Kingdom is a neighboring country which has a peace treaty with the Lespinasse Kingdom as long as they give them gifts every so often.

So this was rare for them.

"This year's gifts were already given, why are they declaring war on us?"

"I must speak to my mother now."

The princess went straight to the door to fetch her mother, her maid was behind her.

On her way out, she was quickly grabbed by someone's hand.

"Mary onee-sama!?"

Alice's older sister, the first princess was running with her without turning to look at her.

"We have to get out fast Alice!"

"O-Onee-sama wait a moment. Look what's going on outside."

"I know."

"You know?"

The three of them arrived at the main corridor of the castle, the servants and ministers were upset, but the first princess led her sister and her maid in a different direction from the one Alice wanted to go.

"Why are we going in the direction of the backyard?"

"Alice, listen to me carefully. Mother recently read a discarded letter while signing papers."

"In that letter it was written that we would stop paying offerings. And in response to that, this is what you see."

"Who agreed to such nonsense!"

The second princess shouted angrily.

Her older sister, furrowing her brows said.

"You know well who did it."

"..."

"I can't believe he really is that selfish and said that."

"That man is capable of anything. After all, he's a real pig."

They arrived at a warehouse, the door was open and a carriage was there.

The three of them got into the carriage, a group of knights who were hiding came out of a door, the horses were hidden near some bushes.

"Mother told me she would take care of the situation, but we must go quickly to Marquis Reiss and ask for his help."

"He is the only one who has contact with foreign countries, we will ask for help to prevent this situation from being worse."

"F-For that I have to go too?"

"I'm not good at politics."

Her sister looked at her firmly and revealed a secret.

"Mother wanted us to go, not to ask for help, but to at least save us."

"The queen did that!"

"Mother said that!"

The girls could not believe it.

The queen was thinking of saving her daughters before her country.

A selfish decision for many, but for her it was the only option.

Commoners can flee elsewhere, nobles can change sides like knights, merchants can go unpunished.

But the royal family will always be executed, even the youngest member of the family to end that lineage. It is the only method outside of compromise in legally obtaining a territory, in this case a country.

"If you want to cry, go ahead. But mother wants us to survive no matter what."

Alice wanted to cry.

Her mother was pushing them away to save them, excluding herself.

"Mother couldn't do anything to prevent this?"

"Prime Minister Obermayer listens only to the king. You know that mother has no voice or vote being the rightful heir to the throne."

"We are wasting time. Let's go fast!"

With that statement, the knights and the carriage driver set off for the marquis' territory.

◇

"After we arrived, we stood waiting inside the carriage."

"My sister came out the door shouting that the marquis betrayed us and that we should leave."

"Many knights were caught and the rest helped us escape until those guys chased us and then..."

*Crying*

"Princess, wipe your tears with this."

I was listening to Alice's tragic story while digging some graves for the knights.

Truth be told, I didn't plan this, but after she looked at me like a puppy begging for help, I agreed, then she saw the corpses and became sad.

To show them that their effort was not in vain I am giving them some graves.

The bandits will just lie there like dog shit.

I finished burying the last knight and proceeded to rest a bit in the carriage.

The weather was too hot, I wanted to rest for a moment.

"That's all I can offer you since we were barely able to load supplies as soon as we got there."

Maid Louise handed me a canteen. Something like this is too advanced for a world of magic and swords, but I'm used to things like this by now.

"Thank you."

I proceeded to drink all the water and then demonstrate how tasty it was.

The princess cleared her throat to speak to me.

"Again let me introduce myself."

"The second princess of the Lespinasse Kingdom, Millialice Sara Lespinasse thanks you...traveler..."

It's true, I didn't tell her my name.

"Vandelion is my name. But you can call me Lion."

"Lion-sama. Thank you very much for saving us."

"Both me and my servant Louise. We are deeply grateful to you."

"We thank you with all our gratitude."

The two of them bowed to thank me.

As they did so, their visibly covered breasts jiggled, showing those developing fruits that can grow larger.

Thank you so much.

After delighting in watching them for a moment, Alice looked at me with fixation.

"I know I asked you this already, but I must ask you again just to be sure."

"Could you please lend us your help in saving our homeland?"

"I know I shouldn't ask this to a traveler, but we are desperate. We don't know anyone and you arrived at a miraculous time."

"I will reward you immediately when my mother is safe."

"That's why. I implore you!"

Again the princess bowed, shaking her breasts.

I repeated to her.

"Emm, I say it again. I will help you."

"Thank you very much."

She said with a smile, but Louise looked at me very doubtfully.

"Excuse me for asking you this Lion-sama. But what exactly are you doing around here?"

(There it is!)

(The valid question I was waiting for. It was rare that no one asked me where I came from.)

(I prepared this beforehand.)

"I'm from a town east of here. I was raised all my life in that place, one day I dreamed of a goddess who told me that the world was in danger and I must save it."

"What you could see was the blessing of the goddess."

"Th-That's a most intriguing story..."

Louise commented.

"Really!"

Alice on the other hand looked happy.

"So meeting us was kind of like fate, wasn't it?"

"L-Let's say so."

"For that reason I must help you. Because it's part of my job as a hero."

"On my way here I fought many monsters and mercenaries so I have a lot of combat experience."

Partially part of what I said is a lie, the rest is true.

"If we're done talking, we should go to the nearest town to get ready."

"Get ready?"

The princess asked.

As I stepped out of the carriage I answered her.

"You said your sister was trapped by a traitor, didn't you?"

"I need some information from that place before I go to save her. That's why resting at an inn was necessary."

After getting out of the carriage, I went through the corpses of the bandits looking for things of value.

There was a lot of trash and little money, but it would do.

Money in this world was just like the others.

Coins of copper, silver, gold and surely platinum gold.

I got on the horse and asked Louise for directions to the nearby town.

◇

Before we reached the village, we left the carriage and I just took the horse.

I told them to get on.

There were no guards in this place.

Since there is no fortress, it must be a tourist place for merchants.

Such a place should be full of guards keeping watch.

But that would not be visually pleasing to a merchant.

So the guards must be trained elites hiding in the crowd.

I went to a random inn and asked the price.

I rented an attached room for two people, the price for one night was 10 copper coins, which is equivalent to one silver coin.

On the other hand, if it were a gold coin, it would be 1000 copper coins and 100 silver coins.

In the case of platinum gold, it is much more stressful.

To achieve a single platinum gold coin, five gold coins are needed.

How much would the silver and copper coins be then?

There's the answer.

I went to the girls waiting inside the inn, sitting at a table looking at the people passing by through the window.

"This is the key to your room. This is mine, decide if you want to rest or go eat."

"I would like to first make the map and tell everything related about the place. It's information I vaguely remember."

"I also have a little knowledge of the place, but I managed to see several guards, so you can count me in."

With that said, I handed them the key to their room.

"Very well, I'll go buy what I need then."

I said goodbye to them and went to buy paper and ink.

◇◇◇

As Lion left the place, Louise spoke quietly to Alice.

"Alice-sama, doesn't this seem very suspicious to you?"

"S-Suspicious you say..."

"Louise, he saved us."

"That's why it's suspicious."

The steady look in her words made the princess see that her maid was not joking.

"A guy who comes out of nowhere, precisely in the place we're attacked by mysterious bandits."

"Then he decides to help us because of a strange dream."

"This doesn't seem at all credible to me princess."

Alice understood what she meant.

"I understand you. But, I meant it."

"We have no one to help us. We need help as soon as possible."

"I understand your concern, but that guy is very friendly with us, so he must be planning something."

"The marquis betrayed us, so he must be no different."

Louise whispered in Alice's ear.

"After we regain our strength, we must flee."

"We have not yet contacted other countries. I'm sure some of them will want to help us considering we would be indebted to them, that's not an everyday occurrence."

One nation being indebted to another is one of the reasons for lending mercenaries or being very friendly with other countries.

If one day, a country suffers a tragedy, the country that lent its services will do it for free.

The country that received the help will know that it will be indebted to the country that saved it.

Therefore, a debt to pay was generated, and if they fail to pay that debt, they will be criticized by the other nations believing that they are a bad sign to form relationships.

Alice knew that her homeland would be in trouble, but the most important thing was to save her sister, her mother, and then her nation.

"I understand."

"After we regain our strength we'll get out of here. We have the horse luckily."

In the distance Louise watched as Lion approached with a brown bag in his hands.

(My mission in this life is to be the princess's shield, it will protect her from any threat).

She swore in her heart to protect her friend and young mistress.

◇◇◇

Night fell very quickly.

After Lion said goodbye to them, Louise waited until midnight.

Quickly, but very stealthily, she stood up and then woke the princess.

Alice woke up a little sleepy.

They took some things that Lion brought them with the bandits' money.

Because in the adjoining room was he, they waited until the voices of the customer’s downstairs were louder before they could leave.

Due to the racket they made, it was the perfect opportunity.

They went downstairs and went to the back to get the horse.

"Are you really sure, Louise?"

"Your Highness, I'm thinking of you more than my own safety."

"Making sure I get out alive is my priority."

Being called "Your Highness" Alice understood that it was indeed serious business.

"I'm sorry."

"No. You want to believe him, but I can't believe something so miraculous happened for no reason."

"Let me go up first."

Just as Louise was about to get on the horse, it collapsed for no reason.

"The horse!"

"What happened?"

Foam came out of her mouth.

In the distance, Louise visualized a dark hooded figure.

"Shit!"

She grabbed Alice's hand and they both ran.

"Your Highness, don't stop for anything!"

"Louise, here it comes!"

The mysterious figure was chasing them.

There was no one there at night, that was strange.

(They might be hiding, but let there be no guard nearby.)

(I knew it, it was a trap.)

She bit her teeth in frustration.

(That kindness was a plot. He planned this from the beginning and like fools we fell into his trap).)

"This way princess!"

They turned a corner to get to the center of town.

Again, there was no one there, just the great noise of a fountain in the center of the place.

Arriving in this area, it was easier to flee in either direction.

Thinking about which direction to take, a sinister voice spoke to him from afar.

"It's useless to run away. We have you surrounded, kaka."

A mysterious group of at least thirty shadows emerged from different places.

Among them, a man of short stature, dressed in black, similar to a thief, but with similarities of a ninja and several scars on his face introduced himself.

"I am Serpent of the Dead Waterfall."

"My group and I specialize in kidnapping and assassinations, that person contacted us after he was informed that you escaped."

"Tracking you was easy, we just followed the tracks of the carriage they abandoned and searched everywhere until they fell asleep."

"We won't hurt you if you hand her over peacefully."

Serpente was referring to Louise.

"Louise, sorry... because of me."

"No, princess, it's my fault for trusting him."

"Kakaka, don't worry, he's gone."

"...?"

Louise looked at Serpente in confusion.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me..."

"Kakaka. You thought that guy was one of us?"

"I don't know how he managed to defeat Laffan, but now my guys must have sent him to the other world."

"Now, you two─"

*Fall*

Suddenly they all heard, a strange sound of something falling to the ground.

As they looked in the direction where that noise came from.

They observed some heads rolling across a rooftop.

The one responsible was yawning.

"You girls, I'll give you a lecture for leaving in the middle of the night."

"And you weird guys, if you don't want to be next, get out now and leave your leader."

Lion just woke up in a bad way.