More than a year had passed since Yoshino joined Red Wings. During this year, Yoshino had seen various sights around the world under the guidance of Nagi and the others. Because she traveled with Nagi and the others, taking on missions everywhere, Yoshino had almost traversed the entire Magical World within a year. In this year, Yoshino, curious about the magic of this world, sought magical knowledge from Nagi's master, Seguto, and also sought knowledge about gravity magic from Al.
Initially, they thought that Yoshino, as an Ice Spirit, did not have the ability to learn other magic, so they refused at first. But Yoshino was very persistent; she wanted to become stronger, so she immediately prostrated herself like Nagi once did, begging them. Under these circumstances, facing the pressure from Yoshino and her two other companions, they could only teach Yoshino. The result surprised them, as Yoshino had a very high magical comprehension. She was a good student, and their teaching became exceptionally easy.
"If the first disciple I met was Yoshino, that would have been great," Nagi's master, Seguto, couldn't help but sigh when he saw such a diligent Yoshino. Although it was somewhat surprising that Seguto, who was usually a man of few words, would say so much, Nagi still clearly felt the disdain for him in his master's words. Therefore, our student Nagi suffered ten thousand points of critical damage in his heart. He, a man known as the King of Thousand Curses, was actually disliked by his own master. This was a sad story.
In a city on the border of the Haigast Empire—airships resembling whales flew in the sky. Below the airships stood several glowing giants (Giants of Light?) holding huge weapons. These were the empire's war-grade weapons, Demon God Soldiers, dispatched here for an upcoming war.
In a small tavern, people were discussing the impending war. There were all kinds of adventurers, and even women were chatting here.
"Oh dear~ war is really annoying. It seems that water prices might go up again for a while," two beast-women, appearing to be housewives, were discussing.
A group of children ran by, shouting, "Is that dozens of Demon God Soldiers outside! Let's all go out and see!"
The child then ran with his companions, asking, "I heard that the Federation's Demon God Soldiers seem to be more powerful than our Empire's. Is that true?"
Another child replied with a matter-of-fact tone, "Of course, idiot. But even so, our Empire's Princess Erika can defeat them!"
The child who was scolded confirmed the rumor, but there was no worry on his face. Instead, when he heard the name Erika, his face showed respect: "Yes, you're right. Even if the Federation's Demon God Soldiers are stronger than ours, what does it matter? As long as Princess Erika is here, we will surely win."
"But I don't hope for war to happen. If Her Highness the Saintess could come forward to stop it, that would be great. I wonder where those strange people took Her Highness the Saintess," a girl behind the children said. Thinking of the Saintess with her pure aura, she felt admiration. News of her saving countless people had been spreading recently.
"Yes, I really don't know how those guys tricked Her Highness the Saintess into joining their team. Perhaps they took advantage of Her Highness the Saintess's kindness," a child said indignantly. Regarding Her Highness the Saintess, who suddenly appeared this year, everyone was initially skeptical, thinking she might just be a liar. But after she gradually saved numerous distressed villages and towns, her reputation was thoroughly established. looked down upon the organization that 'abducted' her.
"Mm! Mm! My parents also said that the Religious Orders of various countries are looking for Her Highness the Saintess, wanting her to join their country's church and become their exclusive Saintess."
"Is that so. I really hope Her Highness the Saintess can become the Saintess of our Haigast Empire. Her Highness the Saintess will surely bless us."
The view shifted again, this time to an inconspicuous corner of the hotel. Sitting at the window-side table was a man in a black suit and sunglasses, and a muscular man with red clothes, a headband, and long silver-white hair!
If Shiina were here and saw this man, she would definitely shout out nicknames like 'Human Nuclear Bomb,' 'BUG Man,' and 'Muscular Daruma.' That's right! This muscular man was Jack Lakan! He held the title 'Thousand Blades Lacan,' a legendary mercenary swordsman. The strongest gladiatorial slave who achieved freedom.
The suited man placed three photos on the table. The people in them were Albiore Imma, Konoe Eishun, and Seguto. "The targets I need you to deal with this time are these three, and finally..." At this point, the suited man took out another photo from his person. The person in the photo, gritting his teeth and looking ferocious, was Nagi. "This guy."
"This boy? Hmph! He's just a child," Lacan said dismissively, seeing the very young Nagi.
The suited man, hearing the disdain in Lacan's tone, kindly reminded him, "If you're careless because you think he's just a child, you'll suffer for it." The suited man looked at Lacan, who still didn't seem to care, and could only give up on trying to persuade him. Anyway, he was so strong that he should be able to handle it himself. "The main reason for the failure of the Ostia recovery operation was these guys. Although we also organized an elite expedition team, they still defeated them. If you need it, we can send subordinates to help you. But the subordinates we can send you are not regular soldiers, but mercenaries or bounty hunters..."
"No need," Lacan interrupted the suited man, who was about to continue speaking. With a confident smile on his face, he told him, "Just leave everything to me! I can complete this mission by myself." Lacan's tone was filled with strong self-confidence in his own power.
"I see~ Then I'll put it down. I hope you can complete this mission. Seeing how confident you are, I'll give you this bounty as well. This is an even more important mission than the previous four. I think if it's you, you should be able to complete it well. The difficulty of this mission is very high, and some people have already failed in it. I think you must be very curious about this mission." Looking at Lacan's confident appearance, the man in the suit took out another photo from his body. The photo showed a very cute blue-haired Little Girl, who seemed unaware that she was being secretly photographed. Her face showed a healing smile, and her exquisite features made even Lacan, a man with a head full of muscles, not want to harm her.
"What do you mean? Giving me this photo, do you want me to capture her? Is she a princess of a fallen kingdom, or a Little Girl who knows some secret she shouldn't know and needs to be eliminated? If that's the case, I'm not interested in taking this mission. I, Lacan, have a principle of not killing elders or girls. I will not accept this mission. No matter how high the bounty is, I will not accept it." Lacan said, somewhat annoyed, throwing the photo at the man in the suit's face. He was a bit displeased. The other party should know his rules, so why would he give him such a mission?
"Hehe~ Of course I know your operating principles, and of course I wouldn't give you that kind of mission. This isn't a typical assassination mission, but a capture mission. This is a mission issued by the National Religious Order. This girl is the rumored Her Highness the Saintess. Because the power of a god was detected in her, the people of the Religious Order want to bring her back to serve as the Saintess of the Religious Order. However, due to the obstruction of the previous four, all the personnel sent by the Religious Order to persuade her were beaten back. But the Religious Order has not given up and has issued a bounty. As long as she can be brought back to the Religious Order, one can receive the Religious Order's protection, become a high-ranking official of the state, and receive a generous bonus. To be honest, when I first saw this bounty, I almost couldn't resist wanting to do it myself."
"Yet you don't have the ability to complete that bounty, do you? I've also heard rumors about this Little Girl, the Saintess who rose in the past year. I heard she saved many lives and is loved by many people in the country. But bringing this Little Girl back to the Religious Order to be a Saintess? That's the funniest joke I've ever heard! Saying they'll make her a Saintess, those hypocritical guys just want to use the power within this child, don't they? Or use this child's current status to better deceive the people of their country, but they would definitely not offer such a high bounty." Lacan scoffed loudly at the Religious Order's statement, attracting the attention of others in the tavern. However, after seeing Lacan's appearance, they quickly turned away and avoided looking. They had all heard of Lacan's reputation; it was better not to provoke him if possible.
"These things have nothing to do with us, do they? As long as the bounty is attractive enough, no matter how dangerous it is, bounty hunters will flock to it, won't they? Just like the legend of the Ice Spirit thirty years ago. But whether the rumor is true or not, as long as there's even a glimmer of possibility, everyone will choose to take the risk because of the temptation, won't they?" The man in the suit, seemingly oblivious to Lacan's sarcasm, continued to speak to him with a smile. Isn't this the current state of all humanity? This situation is the same among all groups of people, and it hasn't changed no matter how many years have passed.
"Yes, that's how humans are. Without power, they will be controlled; only by gaining power do they have a say." He himself gained his current power through bloody and injured battles in the arena. Thinking about what kind of life this girl would face if she were captured, he felt a pang of regret. The people of this world were truly too dark.
"So, do you want to accept this additional commission? Her Highness the Saintess is in Red Wings. After you defeat everyone in Red Wings, you just need to bring Her Highness the Saintess back. But there's a condition: Her Highness the Saintess must not suffer even a scratch, otherwise the bounty will be reduced. The more severe her injuries, the less the bounty will be, and in the end, you might even be punished. How about it? Do you accept?" The man in the suit took out a stack of papers from his body, all containing information about Yoshino, but they were all rumors. No one knew the exact extent of Yoshino's strength.
"...I accept! Let me see what this rumored Her Highness the Saintess is like!" Lacan said, snatching the papers.
He had a premonition that this operation would definitely bring him unexpected surprises.
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