Lieutenant General Max Clausewitz, the commandant of Battlegroup Clausewitz, was currently racing through the fields west of the Rutherford Mountain Range. Earlier, a runner from XX Corps informed him that the Crown Princess Alexa Theresa was present in the central region.

  Worst of all, she was headed straight into the position occupied by the Azalea Ordo—Rumpalz. By the time Max managed to organize a security force for himself and his closest staff officers, he had already received worse news from the frontlines.

  First, the Azalea Ordo’s knight captain was requesting permission to retreat. In other sections of the mountain range’s defense line, his commanders were repeating the same story over and over again—they were losing.

  They weren’t just outnumbered; their supplies were also limited. There was simply no way for Max’s battlegroup to fight for too long. They were here to delay the Free Republic army, nothing more.

  It wouldn’t have been much of a problem in that case that they were ‘losing,’ but, with the crown princess running around, Max felt like he’d developed an aneurysm.

  That brat! Why isn’t Sir Wilhelm controlling her?

  “Sir!” One of his panicked aides closed the distance with his horse. “You should calm down. You’re running your horse too fast.”

  “I don’t care. I need to get there quickly. If she dies in Rumpalz.” Max's eyes trembled. “I’m going to be the bastard responsible for this.”

  And so, Max forced his horse to run faster. In the far distance, the sounds of explosions from the shützes could be heard from miles away. Just hearing them made Max’s blood run cold, his heartbeat increasing rapidly.

  Just one. Just one fireball artillery, and Her Highness would be eviscerated! She was such a fragile little thing. Sure, she had quite the energy for a sheltered royal, but she was still a sheltered royal nonetheless.

  If she died, Max couldn’t imagine what trouble he would find himself in. After all, many people were fond of her nowadays, and partially, even he somewhat liked the crown princess.

  Thus, he was driven by a simple purpose. He was running from a court-martial or a crowd with pikes ready for him. He absolutely could not accept that scenario.

  For many minutes, he and twelve others just rushed through various villages and settlements they found. Luckily, most were already evacuated of civilians and garrisoned by troops from his battlegroup.

  Thus, it was easy for Max and his team to keep switching horses to reach their destination faster. By the time they arrived at Rumpalz, he breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that the town was still standing and flying the colors of the Azalea Ordo.

  “So, she probably hasn’t reached it yet.” Max smiled as he looked at one of his aides. “Hand over my telescope.”

  “Here you go, sir.”

  Planning to give the town a quick scan before intercepting the crown princess in the road, hopefully, away from the battlefield, Max took the telescope from his aide. Then, he aimed it at the town.

  Then, she saw a woman with pink hair standing on a hill, side-by-side with an angelic young woman with silver hair. That alone was enough to give Max palpitations.

  Then, he heard her words that she shouted to the world as if she wanted the entire shütze arsenal of the FRA to rain on her.

  “To all soldiers in and around Rumpalz, cease all hostilities at once! There cannot be further bloodshed; I will not allow it! Stop fighting, and the saintess herself will tend to everyone’s injuries!”

  That was enough to nearly cause him to drop from his horse due to a heart attack.

  +++

  “Hmph.” Alexa turned off her [Rose Eyes] ability, crossing her arms as she observed the battlefield. “It seems like everyone’s gone silent.”

  Beside her, Phoebe was looking around cautiously, ready to use her magic at once to protect Alexa if need be. It was quite comforting, Alexa thought.

  Not that she needed much protection. The glyph spells she placed on her pocket grimoire were capable enough of withstanding even a shütze’s fireball artillery. Most of all, with [Glyph Control], she could easily activate it on demand.

  That was why she was here. She wanted the enemy to know that her words were genuine and that she was willing to stake her neck on the line. Surely, they were all aiming their telescopes at her now, observing her.

  “If they attack us,” Phoebe murmured from behind. “Be ready. I’ll pick you up and fly out of here.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Alexa smiled. “Have trust, will you? Look at the fools. They’ve all gone silent. They’re considering my offer.”

  Alexa knew that the presence of the saintess was a massive thing. She was, essentially, a walking demi-goddess who was in Alexa’s employ. She was someone who could heal thousands of soldiers but also kill thousands of soldiers, depending on the mission Alexa gave her.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The enemy, on the other hand, was most likely not expecting Alexa’s nor Phoebe’s presence. They most likely weren’t even equipped to deal with a literal saintess, someone who managed to kill an archdemon.

  Thus, they were holding onto their firepower, cautiously observing and cautiously planning what to do next. The only sound that she could hear now was the distant rumbles of fireball artillery in battles ongoing in other combat zones.

  Here, it was silent. Eerily silent.

  They suffered horrendous casualties already.

  Alexa sighed.

  They must be considering my offer.

  “Let’s go, Phoebe,” Alexa declared, pulling out her pocket spellbook. “I don't want them to think that I'm all talk.”

  “Okay.”

  The two girls immediately walked forward. Alexa preemptively activated one of her spellbook’s barrier shield glyph spells. When she used [Glyph Control] while her book was open, the paper glyph she wanted to use ripped itself off before flying away and activating.

  As a result, a mild, bluish shimmer appeared around Alexa before disappearing. Should anyone try to attack her, the barrier would activate, protecting her.

  It seemed that the enemy soldiers realized the same, as when Alexa and Phoebe approached them confidently, all they could do was scurry down on the craters while aiming their staves and crossbows at them.

  “It’s Her Highness!”

  “Isn’t that the saintess?”

  “Shit, why are they here?”

  The bewildered soldiers all had their weapons trained at Alexa and especially at Phoebe. Yet, none of them attacked. In fact, Alexa noticed that while the two of them were wholly outnumbered, the soldiers were the ones fearing them.

  I knew it. I told you, Alfred. They can't lay a hand on me.

  Alexa laughed internally. Earlier, Alfred, Adele, and even the captain of the Azalea Ordo, Captain Rosa, all argued against Alexa’s scheme. Even now, they were all prepared to spring up in action from the rear.

  But Alexa gave them precise orders not to do anything until the revolutionaries showed hostile intent. As a result, she managed to reach the lines they occupied without incident.

  “Stay back!” one of the soldiers shouted. “Don’t come any closer, or we’ll shoot!”

  “It’s the saintess! All of you better concentrate your weapons on her!”

  Within seconds, Alexa and Phoebe found themselves surrounded by a wall of soldiers scattered on the broken terrain. When one of the soldiers shouted loudly about his warning, even Phoebe let out a tiny yelp.

  But Alexa kept her head up.

  “Gentlemen,” Alexa spoke to them. “Is this really how you should treat your future sovereign?”

  “Shut up, and turn back!” This time, an officer was standing on top of a small hill, aiming a wand in Alexa’s direction. “We don’t like attacking civilians, but you two are a major threat! We will defend ourselves if necessary!”

  “Defend yourselves?” Alexa tilted her head. “From what?”

  “From you two!”

  Alexa shook her head. Then, she stepped forward.

  “Let’s keep going, Phoebe,” Alexa said. “There are injured boys over there.”

  “R-right.”

  “Hey! Hey! Are you ignoring me?! You brats! Get the hell out of here!”

  Alexa and Phoebe both walked unopposed through the line of soldiers. They were so scared of the two that they even pulled back to give space, all while the officers angrily shouted at the two girls.

  Finally, Alexa and Phoebe found their first target. Four injured soldiers were lying on the side of a crater. The enemy healer tending to them stood up before staring blankly at the two.

  “What are you two doing here?” the healer asked, his voice tired and empty. “Get out. Are you both asking to be killed? Those guys aren’t shooting you because they like you. They’re just looking for an opening.”

  “And we don’t care.” Alexa crossed her arms. “Phoebe, take care of those guys. They are my subjects. No one shall die while I grace them with my presence.”

  “I’m on it!”

  Phoebe rushed to the injured soldiers, while Alexa continued her eye-staring contest with the disgruntled healer. It was clear that his warning was real, since while he seemed to consider Alexa an enemy, there was a hint of respect in his eyes.

  When Phoebe was done healing the injured troops within seconds, the downed soldiers immediately started profusely thanking Phoebe. On the other hand, the soldiers surrounding Alexa and Phoebe began murmuring to themselves panickedly.

  “What the hell? The saint really did it. She healed our guys!”

  “Tell her that we have more injured folks in the rear!”

  “My brother! I saw my brother lose his leg earlier! Why are we trying to attack them? They can save all of us!”

  A sole angry old officer appeared, charging straight at the area where Alexa and Phoebe were. He pointed at them, barking at the soldiers to attack.

  “What the hell is the meaning of this?!” the officer asked. “Why are those two brats running around here? We’re conducting an assault! Take them out now!”

  “B-but Colonel, they’re trying to help—!” one of the soldiers explained.

  “I don’t care! Attack! Those who do not attack will be branded as traitors!”

  When no one acted, the ‘colonel’ turned redder.

  “I can’t believe it,” the officer fumed. “You bastards betrayed the revolution just because of two girls?!”

  The officer then pulled out his saber and charged in Alexa’s direction.

  “This is how it should be done, you traitors!”

  But, before he managed to reach Alexa’s position, a crossbow bolt struck the side of his head. Alexa felt a shiver go through her spine as she watched the old man’s body flopping pathetically on the grass.

  “P-Phoebe!” Alexa tried to call her so that she could save the officer, but a soldier interrupted Alexa with a shout.

  “If the revolution’s just all about throwing us into a meat grinder, then screw it!”

  The grunts all immediately lowered their weapons and roared in agreement. Meanwhile, the officers who tried to regain control of the soldiers were quickly beaten up.

  Before the two could realize it, they somehow started a massive mutiny.