"Alright, then we will take this time to practice." Sophie and Adel looked at each other and nodded. I could tell they really wanted to get used to their new spells in a real world application.
As we moved through the streets, the people were all taking shelter indoors. It was like a ghost town. No one was out and about. When we ran into knights, they would attack us, and Sophie and Adel would get rid of them.
The entire time I was paying attention to the situation with the king. He was currently in his throne room with his officials, that were still on his side, from what I could tell, working on plans to quell the rebellion.
"Kim, your king is still alive and kicking and putting up a force fight. But just so you know, we will not stop the army from taking over the kingdom. I will only protect your king as I promised." I said as I turned to look at Kim.
"As long as he is fine. I lied before…." Kim said softly. "I am no guard. I am nothing more than a princess of this kingdom. One who has low standing in the castle but the king is still my father. I do not wish to see him die."
"Hmmm? You have an aura of someone who has been to battle though." I could tell Kim knew how to fight. But her answer did tell me why she was so concerned about the king.
"Our kingdom is no stranger to wars. We have fought against our neighboring kingdom at least every three years. I would not be surprised if they were the reason for this uprising. There are two factions in the castle. One who wishes to take down my father, who is pro peace while the other faction is for war. They think with our current technology, we should not be hiding behind tall walls. That we should be expanding our lands, but my father sees no reason for it. Why would we expand when we already have so much land that we are unable to fully protect all the time? My father thinks logically and realistically. At least this is how I see it." Kim answered as she let out a long sigh.
"I see for now, I will keep an eye on things with your father. Even from here, I can stick a barrier around him if he is attacked. But if he wants me to protect this kingdom, then he will need to pay a price." I decided since a princess was next to me, I might as well be upfront. Sadly I would not take her word for anything and will only talk directly to her father.
"I am sure my father will ask for help if he begins to lose," Kim replied. I guess even she was not sure if her father would be willing to make any promises.
Not that it mattered, but I guess we will see when the time comes. For now, we were only doing what we needed to make it to the castle. If they attacked us, then Sophie and Adel would get rid of them. If they ignored us, we ignored them.
The capital city was big. It was almost two hours on foot before we finally arrived at the front line. As soon as we arrived, we were stuck in a situation of how do we get through because the main gate was completely blocked off. While we could charge through, I decided it was best to plan out actions before doing so. If I was going to talk with the king, I wanted to first make sure I did not kill anyone on their side. It would look bad if I did.
"How should we do this? Is there a secret way into the castle?" I asked as I looked at Kim.
"There is, but I am not sure if the tunnel is actually accessible from the outside. It has not been used in my father's reign. I only know about it and never have actually been down it." Kim explained.
"Wait! Kim, you said father just now!?" Adel looked at Kim in surprise. I guess she did not hear the early conversation.
"Yes. My father is the king. I am the ninth princess." Kim replied.
"I see… No wonder…." Adel thought for a moment before continuing. "Faith, what if I use a mass time stop, and then we can just walk past both armies and through the castle gates?"
I thought for a moment before nodding. "We can do that, but Adel, how much mana will it take for you to cast it on thousands of soldiers?"
"Ah….. Well, I can't do it, but you can!" Adel said with pursed lips.
I chuckled and shook my head. "Nope. I want you to do this. But we will not do it on a grand scale, we will only stop those we need to. Adel, watch your mana and when you need more, let me know but go as far as you can. Even reduce the mana consumption of your magic circle. See how low you can go before the spell no longer works."
"Okay!" Adel nodded. She really wanted to try this out. Any time it came to changing the way her spells worked, she always got excited because her spells were limited. While she was working more on casting other elements, her main priority was her cosmic magic.
"Unmmmm… can you all please take this seriously!? Why does it seem like you are only here for fun?" Kim asked, her expression was filled with annoyance and worry. I can understand where she was coming from, but she should remember this kingdom has nothing to do with us. She asked us for a favor, and as of now, her father was in no danger. And since he was not in danger, we could use this chance to train.
"Don't worry. I already said I will protect your father." I replied before turning to Adel and said: "Anyway, Adel remember to keep a close eye on your mana consumption. I want to see if you can stop at least one thousand people!"
