Richard blocked the door, holding his greatsword with both hands, clad in magical plate armor, with Aurina breathing fire.
The plate-armored guards couldn’t leverage their numerical advantage at all; they hesitated, and after an initial probing attack that left several corpses and dragged back ten wounded.
These dead and injured comrades became some kind of evidence, convincing them not to charge forward recklessly.
For a moment, more than two hundred people gathered outside, with more and more encircling them.
All staring wide-eyed, not knowing what to do; the officers were loudly arguing over attack plans.
So many people, yet they had no way to deal with these three.
Aurina leaned rather bored against the broken window edge, one hand propped on the windowsill with shattered glass: “So boring.”
Richard was still at the door confronting the increasing number outside, turning back to ask: “Done yet?”
“That’s the fourth time in twelve minutes,” Frostsilver said. “The more you rush, the slower it gets.”
“The longer we drag this out, the more unfavorable the situation for us,” Richard said. “If the Emperor transfers, we’ve failed.”
“No problem; I still have an escape route.”
Richard decided not to talk to Frostsilver; though she was beautiful, with an otherworldly charm, once you communicated with her, you’d just get angrier.
“Hey! I see you!” Aurina shouted while leaning out the window. “Shelled little bugs!”
“They’re trying to flank from front and back.”
Frostsilver’s thumb was still tapping each of her other fingers in turn, saying faintly: “If Aurina falls, I can just put up a wall of force.”
Put it up from the start.
“Spells are precious.”
“Your meaning is, Aurina isn’t even worth a spell?”
“You can interpret it that way.”
“What?!” Aurina was dissatisfied. “You actually think this king can be beaten?”
As soon as the words fell, Aurina’s scalp tingled, as if someone was about to scalp her.
So she directly flipped over the window; her soft white soles stepped on the shattered glass shards, a bit itchy.
Aurina’s soles even twisted hard.
“Boom!”
An explosive boom came from the window above; a burst of dust surged out from the window, some falling on Aurina’s red hair.
She shook her red hair like a cat, and the dust came off her hair.
“The mount won’t be injured, right.”
Worried that her possession might depreciate, Aurina stood up, looking into the room from the window.
Dust and smoke filled the room; the original door had disappeared, turned into a “door” the size of a wall.
Some unknown high-power spell had directly opened the wall.
Richard was covered in dust; the all-silver Frostsilver was still spotless.
An oval-shaped protective shield blocked all incoming objects, including the dust and debris that would make one look disheveled.
She glanced at the dust-covered Richard and said slowly: “Done; quickly wipe your hand clean, then hold my hand.”
Richard had no choice but to search the room for something to wipe the dust off his right hand.
“Gah!”
Aurina called out, directly hugging over, her four limbs wrapping around Frostsilver’s long legs.
Frostsilver looked down at her with disgust; Aurina looked up at her with a smile, not “afraid” at all.
Frostsilver’s mind raced for a moment, deciding to let it go as an adult not holding a grudge against a child, raising her hand toward Richard: “Richard, hold my hand.”
Richard gripped her extended hand tightly; Frostsilver began chanting the spell.
After the dust and smoke filled, shadowy figures loomed; before the first enemy charging through the smoke could be clearly seen.
The two dragons and one human disappeared in twisted blue light.
After a bout of dizziness, an abandoned grassland appeared before them.
In the abandoned grassland was a tower that looked problematic from design and construction; it stood tilted on the earth.
Aurina looked and wanted to try; run up, jump, and see if one kick could topple it.
“Get off my thigh quickly,” Frostsilver said. “You lecherous little girl.”
Aurina twisted her head, pressing her cheek against Frostsilver’s warm, soft thigh root.
“Richard,” Frostsilver turned her head and said. “Control Aurina.”
Richard was wiping the dust off with grass; Frostsilver chanted a spell, a small whirlwind blew over Richard, blowing all the dust off him clean.
Richard asked: “Not short on mana now?”
Frostsilver said: “Just a minor cantrip.”
Without waiting for Richard to act, Aurina came down from Frostsilver’s thigh.
Richard asked: “In this tower?”
“Yes.”
Noisy sounds flipped over from the other side of the palace walls, not far from where they had fought before.
Richard didn’t have time to ask why they found it so close; he directly strode quickly toward the tilted tower’s ancient wooden door, the bottom edge covered in blackened fungal spots.
The door was half-open; behind it revealed an old woman’s face, half-hidden in darkness, warily looking at them.
Aurina caught up to Richard, climbing and jumping onto his head to ride properly, seeing what she was wearing.
A bit familiar, like a patched princess dress.
The old woman immediately closed the door.
Old wooden door, tilted tower; the old woman seemed born from this building.
The bug empire’s princess wouldn’t have become that old woman, right.
Toward young and beautiful females, Aurina was always sentimental.
Time spares no one; in just a few blinks, little bugs age; long-eared little bugs are a bit better.
Richard said: “Open the door, or I’ll force my way in.”
The door didn’t respond.
Richard grabbed the wooden door and yanked hard; the rusted handle fell off.
He simply punched a hole, directly dismantling the entire wooden door.
He bent down to enter.
The old woman in the patched old princess dress leaned against the corner, shivering as she looked at him.
Aurina looked at the old woman suspected to be the Crown Princess, couldn’t help recalling the girl who begged her to take her away not long ago.
And in the end, she chose the unicorn.
If she could go back to the past…
Aurina recalled the unicorn’s snow-white fine fur, and a pair of powerful hind legs.
The unicorn is still better; nicer to talk to, better than the skinny princess by who knows how much.
Richard asked: “Do you know where the Empire’s princess is? Old lady.”
The old woman was as if mute; her wrinkled hands tried hard to smooth the wrinkles on her skirt, looking at Richard with fear and anticipation.
“Just a few years,” Richard said in surprise. “Already so old?”
The old woman said with tears in her eyes: “I… I am.”
Her eyes full of anticipation.
The indoor light suddenly improved; it was the all-white Frostsilver entering the room.
She didn’t even glance at the old woman, directly saying: “Hmph, the one we’re looking for is at the tower top.”
The light in the old woman’s eyes dimmed, to the point Aurina thought it was an illusion earlier.
“Like this…” Richard couldn’t bear it, took out a gold coin and handed it to her: “Thanks.”
The old woman didn’t take it; Richard placed it on the nearby table; the table wasn’t balanced, wobbling.
Richard lifted his foot to go upstairs; Aurina consciously got off the mount.
Richard went upstairs quickly; Aurina followed closely.
Frostsilver didn’t skimp on mana, directly flying to follow.
“What’s wrong?” Frostsilver said. “Very regretful for her? A loser in political struggle, locked in this tower until old, beauty gone, only decay left.”
Richard agreed: “Yes.”
“I know you men,” Frostsilver said. “If she wasn’t born royal, once beautiful and noble, a valuable female, then you’d only glance at her a few times and not regret for her.
If nothing else changed, but she was a male, you wouldn’t regret either.
On the contrary, you might be wary if he’d do that kind of thing to the beautiful noble princess.”
Richard didn’t speak; he felt Frostsilver made some sense, but didn’t have time to think deeply.
Aurina asked puzzled: “What’s wrong with that?”
“Just like your father…” Frostsilver thought of a certain dragon, flicked the silver hair falling on her shoulder: “All males in the world are the same.”
During the conversation, they arrived at a bedroom door.
Richard knocked on the door: “Hello, anyone there?”
A female voice came from behind the door: “Who?”
“Someone hoping to cooperate with you, who can save you from the tower.”
The female voice said: “Please come in; the door isn’t locked at all.”
Richard pushed the door open; Aurina followed behind, poking her head from beside Richard, seeing a beautiful blonde woman leaning against the window.
She had a great figure; her chest bulging, pressing against the white somewhat yellowed clothing.
The somewhat ill-fitting princess dress instead highlighted her well-developed figure; the skirt hem a bit short, revealing smooth, taut calves.
A pottery jar that had held milk was on the table.
She didn’t look at Richard but gazed at the night sky, at the stars; her green eyes reflecting the starry sky.
The city’s war fires only burned at the bottom of her eyes, unable to attract her attention.
Aurina still nakedly scanned her with her gaze, confirming she was the Empire’s princess in her memory.
Back then, after taking the gold that automatically grew in the treasury, conveniently leaving a gray hill.
She and the princess caught each other’s eye, and slept together.
But later, there was a better unicorn.
Didn’t expect in such a short time, she grew from skinny to so plump.
Richard said: “Your Highness the Princess, I want to solicit your opinion.
Because of your father’s stubbornness, besieging and suppressing the good gods’ alliance, now war fires are ignited in the imperial capital.
Before it escalates to engulf the whole city, harming innocent lives, my fellow believers, my friends, and my fiancée.
I plan to follow customary law, crusade against your father—might kill him, and promote you to the throne.
As long as you make a few promises.”
“Looks like it’s not a simple hero fights evil dragon, saves the princess, huh,” the Empire’s princess still gazed out the window.
She said: “Can you kill my father?”
“Yes,” Richard said. “From a personal perspective, my brothers and sisters and fellow believers are in danger because of him; I also want to kill him.”
“Then do you have the strength? I don’t even know your names.”
Richard originally wanted to say the three’s names, remembering Frostsilver said the princess majesty loved that evil dragon.
So he thought to conceal that he was the dragon-slaying hero, but on second thought.
Why do righteous deeds, yet like a rat crossing the street, have to hide.
But thinking of the Hand of Tyr knight order’s bloody battle, thinking of the fellow believers in the temple district still struggling in war fires.
“So many unread messages,” Frostsilver looked at the purple crystal-like phone.
“His Majesty the Emperor is asking if I’ve betrayed.”
Aurina ran over: “Let me see!”
Frostsilver was fast; in an instant, she stored the phone in “the air”—anyway, it disappeared without a trace.
Frostsilver said: “He also said he’s planning to temporarily transfer.”
Time was running out.
Richard said: “I am a servant of the god of justice, Tyr.”
“Good,” the Empire’s princess majesty agreed, turning her face to look at them, a sorrowful smile on her face.
“You’re the renowned dragon-slaying hero Richard and the Countess of Champagne, huh? Hehe, truly justice.”
Richard said: “As long as under Tyr’s witness, sign the contract, we can fight for you.”
“God of justice? Hehe, whose justice?” The Empire’s princess majesty laughed.
“Anyway, not my justice; I never expected your arrival either.
I’ve been waiting for familiar red wings to appear in the sky, but instead waited for a painting my father sent.
“On it is you, dragon-slaying hero. Proudly standing on my lover’s head, even calling yourself the hero who saves the princess, acclaimed and praised by the world.”