But in the end, it was all worth it

Alice Pov

"Who has the audacity to cause a disturbance in my presence!"

When I looked out from the carriage window, I could see a lot of city guards who had hurried to the scene after hearing the commotion.

It was immediately apparent to me that the individual who had been yelling extremely loudly was a middle-aged man who stood at the very front of the city guards and wore an annoyed expression.

But I didn't pay much attention to it and kept telling the coachman to keep going. At the same time, the female soldier who had seriously injured the city guard earlier didn't pay any heed to the middle-aged man's words, and she continued to pave the way.

"Stop what you're doing on the orders of the captain of the city guard."

Said the middle-aged man in a loud voice while he was still talking, and after he introduced himself, I found out that he had a relatively high position as a city guard captain.

But do I care? No, of course not. The meagre honorific of captain was insufficient to cause my carriage to stop, let alone meet me in person.

When the city guard captain saw that the carriage I was travelling in did not stop and that his words were met with silence, the captain of the city guard gave the order for his men to prevent the carriage from moving forward.

Suddenly, twenty city guards clad in light armour appeared in front of my carriage. They had their weapons drawn, and I could also make out the serious expressions on their faces.

The two female soldiers I brought along were also ready to draw their weapons, and neither of them displayed any signs of fear. Alternatively, you could say that the two were simply expressionless from the beginning of the encounter.

As I looked at Sascha, I couldn't help but let out an exhausted sigh, and as I did so, Sascha walked out of the carriage with a stony expression on her face, as if she had already known what I meant.

"You're finally getting out of the carriage, so tell me, how exactly are you going to explain all of this?"

Asked the captain of the city guards as he pointed to one of his soldiers who was lying unconscious with blood pouring down his face.

But Sascha did not provide an answer to the captain's question. Instead, she asked the captain another question in a sarcastic way while giving him a cynical look.

"Do you know, whose carriage are you stopping at this time?"

At first, the captain appeared even more aggravated, as if Sascha were embarrassing him by ignoring his words. But Sascha was just being indifferent.

But after listening to Sascha's question, the captain tried to sneak another look at the carriage I was riding in and paid close attention to the symbols engraved on the carriage's body.

Instantaneously, I was able to see that the body of the captain, who had been standing perfectly still just a moment ago, was now trembling slightly, and sweat was dripping from his chin.

After realizing that the carriage they were attempting to stop was a royal carriage, the twenty city guards who were currently blocking the front appeared terrified and hurriedly sheathed their weapons.

Even the onlookers were taken aback when they saw the royal carriage pass through this area, so it should be no surprise that my female warrior could clear the path without encountering any difficulties.

"Please forgive the error that was made by my men earlier. However, as you can see, we are currently conducting an investigation into the case, and I ordered that every carriage that goes by be checked."

Said the captain hastily, and even though he was aware that the carriage might be carrying a royal family member, he held firm to his position.

"I don't care." Said Sascha in a rude manner before turning around and getting back into the carriage. However, before she could actually depart, she continued.

"Of course, I will relay this information to the empress in order to assist you in solving the mystery that you are attempting to solve."

After that, Sascha re-entered the carriage and resumed her previous position, with her eyes closed as she sat in front of me.

"What are you guys doing, get out of there!"

I could hear the captain yelling orders to his men from outside, and the twenty city guards who were standing in front of my carriage hurriedly moved out of the way as soon as they saw what was happening.

I could see that they were taking the initiative to help pave the way for my carriage to pass, and they were running around and yelling at other pedestrians to get out of the way. When I saw their behaviour, I couldn't help but laugh contemptuously at them.

Because of the efforts of the city guards, the carriage I was travelling was able to continue the journey in a less bumpy and more effective way.

_________________

My Pov

As soon as I stepped inside the room, I made my way to the front of the window to take a look at the scenery.

I cast some protective spells in this room just in case, and once I was satisfied with how they turned out, I closed my eyes and continued saying what I needed to say.

"You can come out now."

After seeing the figure that materialized in front of me, Emilia, if she were here right now, she would undoubtedly be filled with dread after witnessing it.

Because when I opened my eyes, a young girl about the same age as Alice was standing in front of me. Her hair was jet black and long, and she wore a shabby white dress.

Yes, that little girl was the spirit that almost succeeded in making Emilia cry when she was in the tower earlier. However, the little girl did not have the same frightening expression as she did the first time.

Right now, the little girl's spirit is showing up in front of me with a terrified expression. I can see her slightly faded body trembling in front of me, and I can also see the confused look in her eyes when she looks at me.

When I saw this little girl's spirit in her current pitiful appearance, all I could do was smile gently.

"It's almost as if you don't remember me, the last time I saw you was a few years ago, if my memory serves me correctly."

The little girl's spirit didn't say anything. she just kept staring at me. However, I didn't find it bothersome and kept going with what I was saying.

"I was surprised that you were able to thrive in that environment and eventually become the most powerful spirit there."

This time, however, the little girl's spirit responded by saying.

"what do you want from me?"

"Don't worry about it. I want you to put in some effort one more time, but this time in a more dangerous environment."

I could tell that the girl was upset by my response, but I also know she was aware that she did not have another option.

"If you succeed again in this new place, you could say I'm very lucky to have met you... or vice versa..."

After that, Without further ado, I closed my eyes once again, and when I opened them again, the little girl was no longer standing in front of me.

But if someone were to look at me right now, they would notice that my blood-red eyes were giving off a strange glint that lingered for a while.

After that, however, the peculiar glint that had been visible in my eyes faded away, and my eyes reverted to their usual blood-red colour.

What I did earlier was also an essential part of one of the fundamental aspects of magic, which was just as ancient and mysterious as space and time magic.

Yes, it is a type of magic related to the soul, and attempting to explain it would be pretty tricky for me right now because I'm still getting the hang of it... I still have a lot to learn even up to this day.

It would appear that Alice would be arriving at any moment now. After that, I took a deep breath in and released it slowly before continuing what I was saying.

"Even though Emilia and I were both full, I had a feeling that Alice would be even more irritated when she found out that neither Emilia nor I would be accompanying her to eat.

But in the end, it was all worth it.

After that, I left the room with a smirk on my face while thinking about something else at the same time.