After the princess escaped, a man repulsive in appearance and short in stature took an ancient telephone.

Phones were expensive to produce, they worked with magic stones just like electricity.

The man was Marquis Reiss.

"The second princess escaped."

"No, the first princess is captured here."

"Yes... yes... everything is going according to plan."

"Call me if you need anything."

The marquis hung up the call and sat down in his favorite armchair.

A small table was near him, he picked up a cigar that was in a box and a hand came out of the darkness to light the cigar.

"Serpente, huh? Don't scare me."

A man named Serpente worked for him from the shadows.

The marquis paid a lot of money to get rid of any hassle in his life.

He was loyal to the kingdom, so this betrayal is a mystery.

"Listen carefully, Laffan was sent to find the second princess. That guy is clumsy, he can hurt her by mistake."

"I want you to make sure she's in perfect condition."

"Besides..."

The marquis fell silent.

"... 'He' said that the queen is trying to bring about a peace treaty. But it's useless, she's just wasting time, but that man doesn't care."

"Hurry up and go find the princess."

Serpente faded away after nodding.

◇◇◇

After nearly thirty minutes of setting out, Serpente and his men found a group of dead men on the road.

As they approached to see, they found the lifeless corpse of Laffan among them.

Serpente thought carefully who could have done this.

"This guy wasn't weak at all, so his killer must be a high-level opponent."

"Look for any traces they may have left in which direction they are headed."

He received information that the princess did not possess combat talent, so she could not be.

But someone had to do this and protect her as well.

After searching, they found some carriage tracks heading in a direction he knew well.

Before long they found a hidden carriage.

"They must be here" was what he said.

They infiltrated and secretly liquidated all the elite knights guarding the city.

One of his men reported that he found Princess Alice along with two other people.

They watched them carefully and came to the conclusion that one of them was the one who killed Laffan.

He was very angry that his prey was taken from him.

Serpente sent five of his men to take care of the male.

The others along with him watched the movement of the princess.

They cornered her soon after seeing her flee.

It was a simple job and perfectly done.

Until they watched as the heads of their companions fell from the roof and a man yawned with blood on his clothes.

"So. Will they retire in peace?"

◇

I listened as the princess and her maid got up to leave.

I thought it was for them to go to the bathroom so I left them alone.

But after a short while of waiting, a strange group of subjects invaded my room with knives.

I quickly stood up and materialized my magic sword, I killed them all quickly.

Then I saw the girls running because they were being chased by a hooded man.

I secretly followed them, but not before cutting off the heads of these guys.

I guessed correctly, it was a bad situation.

I don't understand why they were trying to get away from me.

No wait, maybe that's it.

What I felt from many.

Distrust.

They didn't trust me.

It hurt that they thought I was secretly a criminal, so I can't blame them for looking mysterious, sorry.

I turned to the ugliest guy of all, usually it's always the leader someone like that.

"You say leave... but I'm staying?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Two guys jumped over me.

Two more came from the front.

"I don't know how you did it to finish off my subordinates, but you don't think you'll have the same luck twice."

"Pay for your sins!"

*Sigh*

"Truly, how pathetic these bandits are nowadays."

I quickly used physical reinforcement on my legs to gain more speed.

I quickly approached the one closest to me and with my sword I split him in two.

I then threw his corpse at one of his companions, approached the one who was stunned and smashed his skull.

Then I threw my sword at the one next to him and finally I went to the one who was falling to the ground and broke his neck.

All that was in about ten seconds.

I repeated to him again what I said.

"I repeat it one last time, go away and leave your leader─"

"Don't think you're the great man, big idiot!"

Suddenly, everyone jumped in my direction.

"We'll finish you off in a combined attack!"

"You'll die from our rain of poison darts!"

Again I sighed.

The princess and Louise were close by, it would be bad if any poisoned darts fell on them.

I guess I'll use a little overexertion here.

I materialized a lot more magic power.

I could feel my blood pressure rising, my head was starting to hurt.

That's why I hate to push my body's limits.

But I wanted to finish this quickly.

"Sword Rain."

As I said that spell.

Several magic circles manifested in the sky.

Just like a rain, several swords fall down like knives.

"What the hell!"

The bandits were mowed down one by one until only the leader was left who used one of them as a shield.

The guy tried to escape leaving his companions behind.

◇◇◇

Serpente used all the strength in his legs to run away.

He grew up in a hole where no one could escape.

He had to steal to live.

He had to kill to eat.

He had to erase fear if he wanted to stay in this world.

For that reason, after finding a snake falling down a waterfall used for corpses, Serpente was born.

His goal was to live a life of riches.

He wanted to know what it felt like to take a bath in a tub.

To have beautiful women behind him.

And above all to wear luxurious clothes.

The underworld is a place of darkness with no escape for the so-called trash of society.

He was trash qualified by others.

But still, even with that, he wanted to prove that such trash can escape.

"I must report quickly to the marquis."

"That guy is dangerous."

"The only one capable of dealing with him is that guy."

"I must escape and manage to live."

That's what he said.

His head was screaming that it was dangerous to stay there, so he chose to abandon his own.

Doing this was normal in the underworld.

The moment he set foot outside the city.

"Huh?"

He felt like he was falling.

It was real, the sensation.

Serpente turned around and watched as his legs were cut off.

Lion was behind him.

He waited until he was out of the city so he could do this.

Serpente crashed to the ground, screaming in pain as blood poured out in spurts.

"My legs! My legs!"

Lion reached over and lifted him up.

"Listen carefully, I'm only going to say this once."

"You have two choices."

"The first is torture. I will torture you in ways you never knew existed."

"You know how damaging a pinch of salt on an open wound can make you don't you? Well, imagine there's something worse than that, something you can get anywhere...like soap, for example."

"You have no idea what a medicinal herb could be made if combined the wrong way."

"The second option is this."

"I won't lie to you, I'll kill you without hesitation."

"But I can give you a quick and painless death, I will also give you a grave where you will spend all eternity without ending up in a ditch."

"Which one do you choose?"

"You have three seconds."

It was too short a time to think about it, but the threat was extremely convincing to him.

"I'll tell you everything, but stop the wound at least."

"Okay."

Lion set him down and then with his magic sword closed the wound as if he was cauterizing it.

This was possible because magic power has property to close any scratch in nature.

Serpente spoke after no longer feeling pain.

"I work for a man named Marquis Reiss for a long time."

"He said that the kingdom is targeted by them."

"Who are they?"

Lion asked curiously.

"They are... a secret and malicious organization called..."

Lion was finally getting clues from his enemy.

"The Ouroboros Order."

"They have one goal, to revive the Demon God Jaldabaoth."

"But those are fairy tales. There never was such a demon, but they use it as an excuse to cause chaos in the world and take over countries."

"Currently the kingdom is their target and they are using Bellmoth for that."

"Anything else you want to tell me?"

Lion asked with interest in what he was saying.

"Two things."

"The first, the princess's older sister is locked up in the marquis's mansion."

"He is partly responsible for what is happening now, he wants both sisters I don't know what for."

"The second thing you need to know is..."

Lion's eyebrows twitched after hearing that.

"Utgard-Loki."

"That's the name of the mastermind of this invasion."

"I heard all that from the marquis."

"Well, if you have nothing else to say..."

"Just one thing."

Serpente said, looking at the horizon.

"Say it."

"Do you think this atoned for my sins?"

"I hope my next life will be better than this one."

Lion closed his eyes and materialized his sword.

"If you repent of your actions, you will surely live better in the next life."

"I see."

With a swift movement, Lion put Serpent to sleep forever.

Before he closed his eyes, he saw the fireflies approaching.

(A nice sight at least at the end...).

After passing away, Lion began to use his sword to dig a hole.

That hole will be Serpent's grave for all eternity.

"It really bothers me that bandits have feelings."

◇◇◇

After burying Serpente, Lion wiped the blood off his clothes.

They were the only clothes he had, he couldn't get rid of them until he had another outfit.

Arriving in the center of town, he found both girls with their heads down.

He was about to tell them to lift their heads as the distrust came partly from him as well.

(I should have been a little more realistic and asked for money like a mercenary would. That would have made the trust genuine.)

A pact with money will always show trust in people, Lion forgot that as he didn't trust others thanks to his experiences.

He was about to tell them when they said at the same time.

"We are so sorry!"

Apologies came from Louise and then Alice.

"Lion-sama. You saved us and it's because of my mistrust that this problem occurred."

"If it wasn't for you, again we would have been dead by now. Or worse, the princess would have been kidnapped and I would be lifeless on the ground."

"I really beg your forgiveness. My stupidity caused this."

"No, Louise. This is my fault, you vouch for my safety."

"If I had given a reward at the time, your distrust of him would not have arisen."

"You two... you overreact a little."

"We don't!"

Alice raised her voice.

Her eyes showed tears.

"I really was grateful to you for saving us, but Louise really made me think there would be something dark you were planning."

"The worst thing is that I still think so now."

"Why do you really want to help us?"

"At home everyone is nice to me, but I'm not stupid. Helping others for no reason and even agreeing to accept a reward just for my words is something many would refuse to accept."

"Please make me trust you."

He stared at them both.

They wanted to trust him.

But trusting someone for no real reason makes trust and credibility like oil and water.

Lion told them a bit of the truth.

"The truth is...I'm not a good person."

"I helped you for two reasons."

"The first is because I told them the truth, I had a dream where a goddess told me I should save the world."

"She promised me a life of riches and many wives if I did."

"I prioritize my interest before others."

"That's why I thought, a noble girl's carriage being attacked, by saving her, her father would give me a reward."

"The second thing is..."

His gaze focused on them, to be precise on their breasts.

"Because it really would be a loss for two beauties like you to die, especially if you are two beauties that fall into my range of tastes, and also possess a large bust which is an extra bonus."

The two girls blushed as they heard his reasons.

"W-Well, that was honesty. A lot of honesty I should say."

"C-Certainly, that makes us at least know their reasons for helping us."

Suddenly, they looked very sheepishly at Lion.

Alice touched the tip of her hair.

"I-I can call you Lion-kun since we're the same age, I think?"

(Actually I doubt it, I'm over 2000 years old doing math).

"I'm 15 years old and where I come from I'm considered to be of age."

"H-Here you are also considered of age when you reach that age."

"Which means..."

Alice's cheeks were red.

Her fingertips touched awkwardly.

Her eyes darted back and forth between him and Louise every so often.

Suddenly, she pointed to herself.

"I-I said I would give you my mother's reward. But your actions indicate that you are a greedier man than you appear to be."

"Therefore...would you like me to give you a personal reward?"

"P-Princess don't tell me that you..."

Louise commented in astonishment.

Alice mustered up all her courage to say.

"Would you like me to be your reward?"

"If we're talking about my tastes, I consider you to be a very attractive guy, plus you've saved us twice, you want to save my sister and my country."

"Even if it's for a personal interest, it's still risky what you do. Therefore, I consider the best reward I can give you is to offer myself."

"What do you say?"

Alice wanted to die of embarrassment.

She had never planned this, but her feelings were real. She really hoped that one day she would meet someone who would save her from avoiding marrying a horrible nobleman.

And the boy in front of her was the opposite of a horrible nobleman.

Even she understood what he was saying.

Alice deep down was very attracted to him, her contact with the opposite sex was almost nil, more if you added that there were no boys her age.

Lion was about to respond when Louise interrupted him.

"In that case, please take me as a reward too."

Louise didn't want Alice to be the only one showing her interest.

Louise was a commoner, she had a surname only because she worked as a servant. A servant without a surname is a disgrace to any noble or royal family.

Deep down she was like Alice, the palace would force her to marry a noble so that she could be by Alice's side when she married.

It would be unthinkable for a maid with no family or status to take care of a nobleman's wife, and if she is a princess, even worse.

It is worth mentioning, the two have a secret pact.

"When the princess and I were younger. We made a pact, that pact said that, if she married a wonderful man, I would have that man take me as his mistress."

"Therefore, if it would please you, I would like you to take me as a reward as well."

"After all, you haven't stopped looking at our breasts for a while now."

"Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about it."

Louise said smiling.

"I want to express my apologies, but I also want to support the princess."

"I'm sure, having a combo of two beautiful girls, a princess and a voluptuous maid, is a dream for a man right?"

"Umm..."

Lion walked over, put his hands on both of their shoulders.

"Are you sure?"

"Just so you know, I want to have a harem, but you don't have to worry that I won't show interest in you."

"In fact, deep down I would like to have children. So you shouldn't worry that I won't love you or take responsibility for those children."

He said a little embarrassed, those were honest feelings of his.

They both laughed a little at that.

"Hahaha. I didn't expect that honesty to be even very rare."

"Rare?"

Lion was surprised to hear Louise tell him something he never expected.

"It's not rare in nobility for there to be parents who don't acknowledge their children. It is rare for a father to show interest in his children."

"That's why it's rare for us to say that you want to have children and take responsibility for them."

"Lion-kun."

Alice moved closer, entwined her arms with his.

"Do you really want to have children? Would you accept them all?"

For a moment, he remembered his past as a salaryman.

One day going to work very early because of his inept boss, he watched a family getting up early to go to the fields.

He overheard them inadvertently mention how they were looking forward to this vacation and spending time with family.

He could never have that.

He never got to enjoy time with his parents, let alone receive that affection.

For that reason, his words are genuine.

"If I had five wives, and each of them had two children, I would have ten children."

"Those ten children I would take them fishing, horseback riding and play all day with them."

"My desire to have a family and eat with everyone at the same table, regardless of the number of people. That's the reason I agreed to be a hero."

"My happiness is something that money cannot fill, money is to make my family happy and never go hungry."

"That's why I want riches."

"I'm sorry, I went beyond what you asked."

The two girls stared as he told them what he kept inside.

His words reflected no lies, only genuine honesty.

Even if it didn't seem to be, they saw how he truly longed for a family.

They thought her life before they met him was so horrible, so he wanted to be happy.

That honesty made both of their hearts feel that this man was the right one.

Louise also reached over and clung to his arm.

"In that case, let's hurry up and save the kingdom."

Alice nodded at that.

"Then I'll have mother perform a betrothal ceremony for the three of us."

"Ah, would you like to live in the palace or in a separate house?"

They started walking back to the inn.

Of course, the next morning they quickly escaped so as not to be caught after forgetting to clean up the corpses in Lion's room.

◇◇◇

A man sat looking out the window of a makeshift camp.

It was nighttime, the noise of soldiers preparing for battle kept him awake.

"They are taking too long."

"Why can't they bring that guy in already?"

On the back of his left hand, he had a strange tattoo, which was a black snake eating its own tail.

"Making Utgard-Loki-sama wait is an unforgivable sin, Number 666."