After being blinded by an intense light, Maya opened her eyes and was stunned to discover that she was no longer in the inn, but in what seemed to be the courtyard of a beautiful palace still under construction.

Erin, Teo, and Bryn's fascination were no less than Maya's. As the four admired the palace, a slight tremor on the ground forced them to look to another point, where they stared in amazement at the figures of various humanoid creatures made of stone, who seemed to work on the construction of a large building near to the palace.

「Golems!」

Maya could not contain herself, and amazement led her to scream that out.

「Mom, Elena-sama can use puppetry」

Nia proudly stated that and Maya finally understood why her daughter had told her before, about getting ready.

「Welcome to Izana, although we are still in construction work, this will be your new home from now on」

Elena's voice brought everyone out of their daze.

「Elena-sama, how you...?」

「Mom, this is not a good time for questions」

Maya remembered that strange conversation between Nia and Elena, something about Elena going to visit her father.

Before anyone could ask Elena any other question, a shadow emerged from the ground next to Elena and took the form of a terrifying creature.

Carried away by fear, Maya stood in front of Nia to protect her. What appeared was a Lich, one of the most fearsome undead creatures that existed by being able to create and direct other undead.

Erin's reaction did not differ from Maya's. She pulled Teo onto her back to protect him. Erin had read several books in her home, so she knew what that creature was.

As for Bryn, her natural reaction was to take several steps back. Even if he didn't know that this was a Lich, his appearance was enough to tell her that this was dangerous.

「Welcome back, Master」

To the dismay of Maya and the others, the Lich knelt in front of Elena and exclaimed that.

「Anything to report?」

「There has been no change in the borders of the territory. Regarding the construction of the underground necropolis, everything is progressing at the desired pace, Master」

「Good job, Necro」

「I am unworthy of your words, Master」

As usual, Necro was Necro, something Elena was already getting used to.

「Necro, these people have joined me」

Hearing this, Necro stood up and looked at the group behind him.

「My name is Necro, a faithful servant of my Master, I hoped that we can work together in order to properly serve Master」

Maya was speechless, a Lich smart enough to behave like that and accept without hesitation to collaborate with living beings?

「I'm Teo, I will become a knight of Elena-sama, let's get along well, Necro-san!」

Contrary to the rest, Teo was totally fascinated by both Necro's demeanor and appearance, and this had led him to turn away from his sister to introduce himself.

「It's a pleasure, Teo」

Like a gentleman, Necro bowed slightly in response to Teo.

「I-I'm Erin, I will also become an Elena-sama knight!」

Taking courage from Elena's presence and not wanting to be left behind, Erin also introduced herself.

「It's a pleasure, Erin」

Necro made the same gesture as before and Erin could relax a little more.

「I-I'm Bryn」

If those two children done it, how could she be the only one who didn't?

「Do you also want to become my Master's knight?」

「Y-yes」

「It will interest to see who of you becomes the first knight of my Master」

Even Maya surprised hearing that.

「Elena-sama doesn't have any knights? What about those mytril-armored knights? 」

The first to show her doubts was Erin. In response to Erin, Necro let out a slight laugh.

「The greatness of my Master knows no limited」

Elena could only smile as with a wave of her hand she ordered one of the Izana Knights to step forward, and he removed his helmet.

Everyone's eyes widened when they didn't see any head under that mytril helmet.

「Like golems, they are puppets created by me, so I have no knights under my service」

Elena stated that while Maya's thoughts went in another direction, she thought it was a Dullanhan, an undead of a higher level than a Lich.

「I will be the first to become Elena-sama's knight!」

Erin was quick to declare that.

「It will be me, Nee-san!」

Little Teo didn't want to be left behind.

「I-I'll to try too」

A nervous Bryn joined the contest.

「Well, that's the spirit, now...」

After declaring that, Necro brought his gaze to Maya, who shuddered when she realized it.

「I still don't know the name of this lady who seems to match my Master in beauty」

Elena resisted the urge to laugh bitterly. What a joke, Maya was an elf, how could she be on the same level? In addition, Maya had much of what she lacked, chest...

「Necro, she is my mother, her name is Maya」

Faced with her mother's clear inability to respond, Nia introduced her.

「Oh, General Nia's mother! I see, so General Nia is also destined to become a beautiful woman」

Sensing that Maya was having some trouble dealing with him, Necro turned his attention to Elena.

「Is there anything else you need, Master?」

「Yes, I will take all the steel soldiers and take them with me, so I need you to bet skeleton soldiers on the walls」

「Understood, should I suppose this change our plans for tonight, Master?」

Elena shook her head.

「We need to increase our workforce, so there will be no change of plans, tonight I will take you to that place without fail」

「I understand, in that case, I will patiently await the moment, Master」

After that, Necro retired to continue supervising the construction work on the underground necropolis. Her figure disappeared into Elena's shadow.

Almost at the same time that Necro retired, the ten steel knights that Elena had left at Izana arrived.

「Nia, can I ask you to take care of arranging them and showing them the place?」

「Elena-sama, wouldn't it be better if I went with you?」

Elena showed a faint smile.

「I need you to stay here and help the others to settle, don't worry, I know the strength of my half-brothers, they won't even be able to put a hand on me」

「Understood, Elena-sama」

Nia, who knew Elena's story, could sense that she wanted to face this alone. Elena would not only see her father, but also that half-brother who had tried to rape her. Elena probably didn't want Nia to see she fight her family, something that would never be pleasant to see for someone who was at peace with her own family like Nia.

After taking the magic power from another magic core, Elena used warp and returned to the inn accompanied by the two Izana Knights and the remaining ten steel soldiers.

Elena covered her head once more with the hood of her white cloak and then left the inn accompanied by all her steel soldiers and the two Izana Knights. The owner of the inn could only show consternation when seeing how mysteriously the number of black-armored soldiers had increased.

It was just past noon when a mysterious group of what people could only describe as armed knights crossed the streets of Lutrel towards the Marquis' palace in the center of the city.

With the recent assassination attempt that the Marquis Lutrel had suffered, people sensed that the nobleman who was protected by those twenty-two knights must be an important nobleman of high rank who came in support to the Marquis.

Faced with the appearance of so many armed knights of whom even two of them wore mytril armor, the soldiers who guarded the gate of the wall that surrounded the Lutrel palace did not know how to react.

「W-whom should we announce, Excellency?」

One soldier finally took courage and asked the hooded person who was protected by that group of armed knights that question.

In response, one of the two knights wearing mytril armor approached and quietly handed him a silver ring.

With a bit of fear, the soldier took his magic mirror tool to review the information associated with the ring.

The curious people who had followed the mysterious group of knights waited impatiently for the name of that hooded noble.

Once the information appeared in the mirror, the soldier stopped breathing and his eyes widened.

The soldier's reaction only further increased the curiosity of those waiting for an answer.

「B-Baroness Elena Izana requests access to the Lutrel Palace!」

The soldier could finally announce the name, and silence filled the area for several seconds.

「The Valkyrie!!!」

Someone finally broke the silence by shouting that, and the commotion quickly erupted. That scream was repeated over and over and many people arrived with the intention of finally meeting the famous Valkyrie.

The response from inside the mansion took a minute to arrive, and upon reading the order, the soldier's face paled.

「The request has been denied...」

The crowd that was already large was shocked to hear that. Who in the kingdom could refuse to receive the heroine who had bravely led the army to victory?

Elena was not very surprised by the answer, her father and her half-brothers should already know that Elena Lutrel and Elena Izana were the same person.

While people's faces went from disbelief to outrage, Elena removed the hood from her head, and silence reigned again.

Women and men alike gasped by checking with their own eyes Valkyrie's rumored great beauty was the real.

「Who can deny a daughter the right to see her convalescent father?」

Elena made that statement, and the commotion broke out again. The Valkyrie was the daughter of the Marquis Lutrel? Far from questions that this might raise, emotion and pride filled it people's hearts. The Valkyrie was originally from Lutrel, from their city.

As for the soldiers stationed at the entrance to the mansion, and those on the wall only two meters high, they were all shocked. Some of them remembered seeing Elena Lutrel some times, and without a doubt, that beautiful young woman who claimed the right to see her father, she was that same girl who already had great beauty at thirteen.

「I-I'm so sorry, Excellency! I-I'm just doing my duty…」

In response to the soldier's words, the crowd started booing and shouting angry claims. With the Marquis bedridden, clear he was not the one denying access to the Valkyrie.

「May the gods judge me if I'm wrong, but if to see my father I must make my way with the sword, then that's what I'll do!」

Elena had already reached this point, even if her father didn't have any kind of feeling towards her, he was still her father and she not could just turn around and leave without even knowing if he was all right or not. She did not hate her father and was still grateful to him for the treatment that she and her mother had always received from him. In contrast, even in this situation that stir up her emotions, Elena was skilled enough to win the moral support of everyone present with those words.

To the amazement of everyone present, the twenty-two knights unsheathed their swords at the same time in perfect coordination.

「E-Excellency...!」

Before the soldier finished his words, the Izana Knight swung his sword on the iron grating and cut it as if it were made of paper.