4~ Princess Carries Princess
The tall and muscular orc laughed mockingly as its prey lost balance and fell down, sending shivers down one’s spine. It approached the delicate victim with burning desire in its yellow, pupil-less eyes. Its grotesque facial muscles were all tensed up, baring a rather nauseating smirk.
Delivered straight to their den, they never say no to such a fine specimen for breeding.
Princess Filisia was kneeling on the ground, exhausted, having lost all rational thought. She slashed wildly without even thinking about using her Divine Authority, her strength almost entirely spent but still clinging onto her sword’s hilt with sheer will. Her stubborn eyes were fixated on the approaching orc.
Seeing this, the orcs were delighted rather than angered. To their tastes, defiant and strong-willed women were always the most fun to conquer!
Filisia was nearing her limits. The greatsword in her hands felt unbearably heavy now, and her wrist and arm were trembling faintly, clearly drained from her earlier battle with the goblins.
Her powerful swings were effortlessly deflected by the orc’s mace. This time, Filisia fell to the ground, too exhausted to get back up. She tried to support herself with her hands but couldn’t lift her heavy body.
Seeing Filisia could no longer fight back, the orcs seemed to have tired of playing around and approached her in mockery.
“SWISH SWISH!” An arrow of light suddenly shot towards them, embedding itself in the ground between the orcs and Filisia. It seemed to be a warning shot that crossing it would bring dire consequences.
Sensing something peculiar, the orcs frowned and instinctively shifted their gazes to the side of the jungle from which the arrow originated.
The bushes swayed in the wind, and out stepped a dazzling figure.
A butterfly hairpin with golden edges gleamed with a dim light, and her silk-like platinum hair swayed with the breeze. Her legs, clad in white silk stockings, stepped lightly on the ground, making a soft friction with the grass.
The young girl with hair trailing down to her hips had two teal wings draped behind her. She held a long wooden bow equal to her height and stepped out of the jungle gracefully, her emerald eyes flashing ominously.
Something about this woman felt… wrong…
The orcs instinctively glanced at her ears, their expressions flickering with unease.
But as a race not prone to overthinking, they relied mostly on their instincts.
All they saw was that instead of one, now there were two fine specimens for breeding.
Why not take them both then?
Thus, the orcs abandoned the now powerless Filisia and focused their attention on Tillysha.
Without a word, Tillysha drew her bowstring, forming an arrow of light with golden wings spreading out from its sides, continuing to gain energy.
Since it was nighttime, there was no sun, so light was scarce, elongating the charging time of the light arrow.
Realizing this archer girl, the orcs charged forward in a mass, waving their crude weapons – mainly maces and cleavers.
These were poorly made weapons; it was unclear if they were stolen or self-made. But one thing was certain: these tribal orcs possessed a certain level of intelligence, at least more than goblins.
But not much.
Just at the entrance of Ruglien, there were this many orcs residing here. One could only imagine what horrors lay deeper within.
The light arrow flew like a meteor, and the burly orc dismissed it readily, attempting to swat it away with his mace. But the force was immense, aimed precisely at his neck with a cunning angle.
The mace struck the light arrow, disrupting its trajectory slightly and shooting it into the orc’s arm instead.
Rather than stopping the orc, this only made him more ferocious.
So this girl liked to play rough, huh? Good! Right up his alley!
Tillysha looked at the orc who became even more excited after being hit by an arrow in disbelief. She quickly set three light arrows on her bow and fired them in rapid succession.
Although the orcs were tough, these three golden meteors still inflicted considerable damage. Tillysha realized that these were not the same orcs as before, when she’d first encountered them while still unawakened. Those orcs had no armor and weren’t nearly as muscular as this group.
Seeing the orcs closing in within ten meters, Tillysha calmly took out a bright light potion from her waist. She uncapped it and hurled it at the orcs, stepping aside to dodge the effects.
“POP!” Accustomed to the dark, the orcs were instantly blinded as if their eyes would burst. They teared up, now completely incapable of pursuing Tillysha.
All blinded, and caught off guard by the blind potion, they tripped over each other and fell in a tangle.
By the time Tillysha regained her vision, she threw towards the orcs an upgraded version of the napalm bomb, the Infernal Flame potion.
“BOOM BOOM BOOM!” On the barren land, a group of orcs enveloped in flames began dancing the hula. The more the flames burned, the more panicked they became, and the more panicked they became, the more the flames burned. Orcs with burning heads collided with those with burning backs, spreading the flames wider.
The Infernal Flame potion was a high-grade potion, a purple one-time-use item, quite expensive. This was not the time to economize. When maximizing the effects of potions, one must be decisive.
Considering that regular napalm bombs might not harm these blue-skinned orcs sufficiently, Tillysha opted for the stronger potion.
With the orcs now out of commission, Tillysha turned her attention to Filisia, still panting on the ground.
Yes, from the moment Filisia stepped out this evening, Tillysha had been following her.
Tillysha’s movements were light and covered by the jungle, making her presence undetectable to Filisia. Earlier, Tillysha had a suspicion, which she now confirmed: Filisia’s injuries were sustained from battling the Demon Race.
Injuries of such severity couldn’t have come from casual training grounds – they were from actual, life-threatening combat.
With so many foreign armies stationed around Coleman City, how could there possibly be bandits or highwaymen? The only other possibility was that these orcs came from deep within the Coleman Forest, the Demon Race of Ruglien.
Filisia, now drained of strength, regained some measure of rational thought. Perhaps due to this unusual state, her mind failed to function properly.
“Filisia.”
Recognizing the clear and familiar voice, Filisia paused, her mind clearing slightly. Looking up, she saw the silvery moonlight casting the blonde-haired girl’s beautiful face in its cool light.
“Let’s go home.” Tillysha spoke succinctly, pulling the knightly girl from her dire predicament.
Breathing in Tillysha’s scent, a mix of sweetgrass and mint, Filisia felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on her. Memories began to resurface, her gaze softening as she looked at the girl supporting her.
“Miss Tillysha, why are you here…?”
“Filisia, you really lack self-awareness. Before asking me why I’m here, shouldn’t you answer why you’re here?”
Filisia lapsed into silence.
“You can’t solve problems by saying nothing, Filisia classmate.”
“Thank you for coming to my aid in time, Miss Tillysha.”
“Even in gratitude, you unconsciously place yourself on an equal footing with others, refusing to lower yourself. Is this the pride of the Princess of White Glass Kingdom?”
“No, I…” Tillysha’s words stirred a strange uneasiness in Filisia.
“No need to explain, Filisia. You wouldn’t ever think of asking others for help, even when you can’t overcome an obstacle yourself, would you?”
Hence why it has dragged on until today.”
The normally assertive Filisia was left speechless by Tillysha’s words.
“Filisia classmate, do you know what you’re doing now, how dangerous it really is?” Tillysha was smiling, but there was no warmth in it. “You know your current state is extreme and prone to grave mistakes, yet you still refuse to confide in your teammates.”
“I wonder, does Miss Filisia think I’m unreliable?”
“No, not at all…”
Tillysha was about to say more when she noticed the wind behind her had suddenly become more fierce.
Turning around, she saw a bunch of orc’s small, gleaming bloodthirsty eyes.
Though the Infernal Flame potion had caused significant damage, obliterating the entire group was still a challenge.
Oh well, Tillysha didn’t expect to k*ll all the orcs with one expensive alchemical potion.
“Alright, we’ll discuss the rest later, Filisia classmate.”
“What?” Before Filisia could react, something soft yet slightly cold lightly gripped her chin.
Staring at the stunning blonde girl in the moonlight, Filisia’s cheeks flushed an unnatural color.
“Filisia classmate, I have a somewhat impolite question. Were you raised like a boy?”
“…..?!”
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m merely piecing together some concrete facts. Like, I’ve heard that the Queen of the White Glass Kingdom passed away early, and the King still has no plans to remarry, so you’re the kingdom’s sole heir. And then…” Tillysha’s flower-like smile widened at the blush on Filisia’s cheeks. “Your reaction right now.”
Considering these points, those rumors don’t seem entirely baseless. Filisia seemed to have a certain tendency in this area, though she’d never acted on it, her reactions towards some girls had made the rumors grow even more exaggerated.
“Sorry about that.”
“Huh???” Filisia was still lost in her jumbled thoughts when she suddenly heard Tillysha’s random apology directed at her.
For some reason, hearing Tillysha apologize made Filisia have an ominous premonition.
“Next, ‘Prince’ Filisia, I might do something that will hurt your precious pride. Please pardon me.”
Before Filisia could even react, the orcs were already charging forward. Tillysha curtseyed gracefully, slung her bow on her back, bent down, and scooped Filisia up bridal-style – one hand under her knees and the other supporting her waist.
“???” True to her prediction, no matter how composed Filisia was, this unexpected maneuver confused her enough to make her dizzy.
Filisia, having been trained as the kingdom’s heir from a young age was fiercely stubborn with a high self-esteem. Though she later learned the royal lady’s etiquette, deep down, she still regarded herself as a “prince.”
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that one day, she would be rescued by a girl who then proceeded to pick her up so humiliatingly in a bridal carry.
And worse still, right in front of so many orcs – though they weren’t technically human, Filisia’s sense of shame skyrocketed as she covered her face, a gesture that she would never normally make in public.
“It’s still early in the night, friends. Please enjoy your party~” said Tillysha politely with a slight bow before leaping lightly, stepping on several orcs’ heads and shoulders, jumping into the jungle behind them – Coleman Forest.
“WHAT!?” The orcs, who had been tricked and suffered multiple burns, were naturally not pleased. Ignoring whether it was Coleman Forest or not, the chief gave the order, and more than ten orcs rushed into the jungle.
However, hunting elves in the jungle would be the biggest mistake they’d ever make in their lives.
As soon as the first orc stepped into the jungle, several light arrows shot down from above, piercing its neck and forehead.
Some buds silently floated to the orc’s forehead and blossomed into huge gray-black flowers. Soon, these orcs felt their strength and bl**d rapidly drain away until they were completely depleted.
The subsequent orcs tried to forcefully break through, stepping on the daisies growing on their comrades, only for the chicory to explode, tossing them into the air.
Light arrows shot at the intruders from all directions, causing the orcs to retreat in disarray.
“Wahaha, kakakaka! (No good, there’s an ambush. We’ve fallen into their trap! Retreat from the jungle quickly!)”
Upon hearing this, the orcs held their heads and fled the jungle in a panic.
“Such a thick hide.” After seeing the orcs run far away, Tillysha gracefully flipped down from a tree, her golden silken hair waving under the moon’s glow.
Looking at the ground, there was nothing left except for a bit of bl**d.
She caused the orcs immense injury but didn’t k*ll a single one.
These were just the weakest inhabitants on the outskirts of the Coleman Forest, the Demon Race.
“Could you put me down now?” Filisia’s voice interrupted Tillysha’s thoughts.
Her tone sounded calm, but there was an undertone of forced composure.
“Filisia classmate, sneaking into Ruglien without permission isn’t something endorsed by the academy, you know.” Tillysha’s eyes bent into a crescent moon smile.
“You wouldn’t want others to know about your nighttime intrusion into Ruglien, would you?”
“Put me down first.”
“……” Tillysha smiled silently, without making a single move, as if she hadn’t heard Filisia speak at all.
Filisia realized that she would have to explain her recent abnormal conditions clearly before Tillysha would let her down.
Recalling the scene just now, the feeling of being completely off the ground, being held in someone’s arms, was truly humiliating…
But why…
Perhaps even she herself hadn’t noticed, apart from the intense sense of shame, there was also a subtle flicker of an unknown thrill.
