Secret Mission

As the van made its way out of the lively, light-filled city and into the considerably quieter suburbs, the middle-aged woman finally explained the details of their mission.

"I'm sure all of you have your questions about what exactly we will be doing."

Apart from the princess, the people in the car nodded their heads.

"We weren't given much information other than the fact that we need to serve as the princess's escorts, and even that was only told to us earlier today," the captain sitting directly next to Blaine explained.

Blaine recognized him as Captain Rick Price, someone he had directly worked with in a mission roughly two months ago.

"Yes. And that was for a good reason, too," the middle-aged woman affirmed, "since this mission directly involves a member of the Royal Family, keeping the details of the mission under wraps would reduce the chance of it leaking."

The middle-aged woman glanced at Cecelia, who then pulled out a smart tablet and tapped the screen a couple of times.

Small black rectangular sections of the roof's inner lining dropped down, revealing themselves to be miniature television screens.

There were enough of them scattered throughout the car that everyone other than Lorie, who was currently driving it, could see them.

As they lit up and came to life, a map of the continent appeared on them.

Then, the map zoomed in on one of the central regions labelled 'Clairmont Kingdom.'

"As you all know, our country has four main borders, each with less-than-friendly neighbours. Among them, Redpine is the largest city near our southern border."

The map zoomed in on a point at the bottom of the map, revealing a dot labelled 'Redpine City' located not too far north from the southern border.

"It's also for this reason that the two of us arrived at Redpine City for help with our mission." 

Understanding what the middle-aged woman was insinuating, the eyes of the officers went wide.

Only Blaine, who had already heard this information from Alford, seemed unfazed.

"Are… Are we going to the border for some reason? Or… Could it be we're crossing it?"

Captain Rick asked with an uncertain voice.

The middle-aged woman nodded her head, reaffirming the captain's worries.

"That's right. Our objective is located south of the border, directly in the territory of the Kelon Coalition."

"So that's why we were needed to escort the Princess…" Captain Ginny Walker, sitting next to Captain Lorie at the front of the car, mumbled.

Captain Lorie glanced at the middle-aged woman using the van's rear-view mirror.

"Since you are bringing a group this strong, I assume the princess isn't simply going for a leisure tour of the south, right?" Lorie sarcastically joked.

"No," the middle-aged woman curtly responded.

Having her minuscule hope crushed so thoroughly, Lorie let out a small sigh.

"So what are we doing there, and why do we need to bring the princess with us?"

This time, it wasn't the middle-aged woman who responded; instead, it was the princess.

"We have sufficient reason to believe that a Holy Ruin is located in the heart of the northern jungles."

Almost reflexively slamming the car's brakes, Lorie let out a shocked cry.

"Are… Are you sure?"

The others around her were seemingly just as surprised by the revelation.

Holy Ruins were highly sought after by every country as they could contain priceless treasures and powerful artifacts.

If one such place was suspected to be near the country's border, it was perfectly understandable why the Clairmont Kingdom was willing to go to such lengths.

"Some of the old texts we recently managed to translate expressly mentioned it," Cecelia responded, "we're sure enough that my father personally sent me to investigate it."

The map on the television screens changed. Shortly south of the country's border, a small red circle appeared, showing the expected location of the supposed Holy Ruin.

"Ah, right, Your Highness is both a scientist and a researcher! But still… Isn't sending a princess on a covert operation into an enemy territory too dangerous?" Captain Delsie Hill, who occupied the third seat in the back row, asked.

"That's why I have everyone here, isn't it? After all… I can't quite protect myself," the princess smiled self-mockingly… Although no one was able to see it.

"By the way, princess… If I may," Lorie started, "who might the lady sitting next to you be?"

Considering that only the princess seemed to know who the enigmatic middle-aged woman was, the others in the car were quite tempted to uncover the lady's identity.

Cecelia turned to the middle-aged woman, and the woman nodded her head.

"All you need to know is that I'm Her Highness's protector. As for my name… You may call me 'Lyn.'"

They wanted to ask Lyn more questions, such as how strong she was or what experience she possessed in leading a squad.

However, she was their direct superior in this operation. As members of the military, they knew when they could and couldn't ask questions.

Instead, they directed their focus back to the mission.

By now, the van had already crossed the final checkpoint for the outermost city wall, so it was just an open road from here on out.

Captain Ginny scrutinized the map on the TV screen before ultimately giving up and shaking her head.

"Princess, how do you plan for us to cross the border? I mean, there isn't a chance that they'll just let us pass the border for free. The border is something that both countries closely watch, so there aren't many ways to cross it undetected."

Cecelia sighed.

"Yes, while it would be far more convenient for that to be the case… Sadly, things aren't that simple. Instead, we have to use a separate route to cross it undetected. I've already added the coordinates to the van's GPS system, so we're on our way now."

Rick looked at the screen with a hint of mirth.

"I did not expect when I woke up this morning to trespass the nation's border along with Her Highness, the royal princess. So much can change in a single day."

Sitting quietly in the back with his head resting on his hand, Blaine couldn't help but internally agree.