544 Receiving an unforeseeable request

“Are we the only ones getting in a war with them? Will we have allies? Or are they perhaps going to attack other kingdoms?” Asked Vincent, hoping the two dukes and the princess could shed more light on the situation.

*Sigh* Lucas shook his head. “We are the closest land kingdom, and their students have been showing unnecessary aggression in the grand alliance tournament in the past few years. We tried to say it was a coincidence, but now it all makes sense. For this reason, they have been planting the seeds of hate in their younger generations.”

“Fortunately, we have the unsymmetrical vast Areo Forest and Yevala Forest with a couple of unsymmetrical hills. They are a natural defense against large armies.” Bobstrider added.

“What about the dwarves? Can’t they be also their targets?” Questioned Vincent.

“The dwarves are always neutral and they have a law to decline any work involved with the war. Their craft is made with the hope of protecting instead of killing countless innocents in the name of war.” Anna explained with a sad expression.

“What about the support from the Berlucia Kingdom?”

“I will be only us, Vincent. The Berlucia Kingdom will not be able to help. Many families own parts of the kingdom and they constantly dispute each other because they are trying to claim their descendent is the one who should rule the land. ”

Bobstrider nodded and continued after Lucas, “Only my wife can try to persuade her teacher and have his word that the Berlucia Kindom will remain neutral.”

Vincent looked at Bobstrider, Lucas, and Anna. “Is there a reason I, who am a noble without a title, am allowed to know this information?”

.....

“Hahaha. It looks like Darwin hasn’t told you yet.” Said Lucas while laughing.

“Huh?”

“The princess usually attends the tournament, but we need people to protect the princess because of this situation. ” Lucas smirked at Vincent. “Someone who is registered as a student and as strong as a royal soldier.”

“A-are you saying my team will participate in the tournament and protect her highness at the same time? But we only won one ranking match thus far...”

“Haha. Not even a fifth year can easily kill a magic beast, yet you can. Not to mention your army of women will keep the princess company on our travels. So it will be a win-win situation if you ask me.”

Lucas winked at Vincent and continued, “I heard you didn’t take your wives on a honeymoon trip. This can be the occasion to travel on our expenses. Hahaha.”

Vincent, Ester, Kazumi, Iris, Lilith, and Sakura became shocked to hear how they were going to become the princess’s secret guards for the tournament. Their pay was supposedly going to be a trip with all expenses covered by the royal family.

On the other hand, Lupa and Plow wagged their tails. Lupa became excited at the thought of fighting more enemies and showing her superiority, while Plow became excited at the thought of traveling and trying out different types of food.

Aceon remained silent because he couldn’t understand what was happening anymore, while Tiffi felt sad she was on Melissa’s team. Tiffi wanted to travel with Ester and have fun with her first true friend.

[Vincent. I believe this is a lot to take in. Even I believe we might be royally screwed by possibly participating in a war.]

-I... I think I have a headache...-

Anna revealed a pleasant, friendly smile. “I do hope the Lionheart family will protect me. But please understand this is not an order. This is something I want after hearing from Lucas how his strong cultivator friend has a good eye for talented people.”

“Booo. You had to ruin my fun, princess. I wanted to see how Vincent and his lovely wives would react if I didn’t mention they have a month’s time to decide the offer.” Lucas revealed that the Lionheart family had the chance to decline the offer.

*Sigh* “The mood has become too serious, and the unsymmetrical frowns are making me unhappy.” *Snap* “How about we forget the heavy topic and enjoy some symmetrically sweet desserts?”

The maids started to bring desserts and many desserts. The more they brought, the less the tension in the dining hall remained.

Half an hour swiftly flew by. When one plate was finished, another would take its place. It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet of wondrous desserts with the different kinds of cakes, jellies, fresh fruit, and pastries they enjoyed one after the other.

The food was also accompanied by Lucas’s jokes and fun old stories. When their bellies became full and stopped eating, no thoughts of war remained in their minds. Instead, they thought of the tasty sweets they ate.

“It looks like a lot of time has passed. We will need to go.” Lucas looked at Vincent and continued, “I hope we receive yes for an answer.”

[Vincent. How about you ask to meet again? We need to know more about Feng Mengli since he knows our secret and he has accepted us.]

“Can we meet to discuss about Feng Mengli? He is the man who saved my wife and me, and I want to know how he is doing and other details about what a cultivator is. If possible I want to meet him.”

“Sure, Vincent. We can have a chat. ” Lucas looked at Anna. A second later, Lucas looked back at Vincent and said, “How about now? You can also help me with the request I wanted to ask previously.”

[This is a great opportunity. Not only did we make a great deal with mister symmetry, but we can learn more about why we are being protected so much. I dare say without Feng Mengli giving us the identification of his sect. We would’ve been in deep trouble long ago.]

Vincent understood life was peaceful after all the enemies he made. He agreed with Kazumi to go with them.

Later, Vincent said farewell and left with Lucas, Bilka, and Anna in their ordinary-looking carriage. As soon as the carriage departed, Anna became started talking like a chatterbox as if she was excited to learn more about Vincent.

“You have so many pretty wives, but who do you like the most?”

“What is your class, and how strong is it? I bet it is pretty good to make Lucas and Biro excited.”

“How old are you? You look a little bit older than me, but I heard the new son-in-law of the Lionheart family is over thirty years of age. Is it true?”

“Ohh. And don’t worry about Bilka. She may act tough, but she is a kind and worrywart girl.”

“M-my ladyship. You must not say such words.” Interrupted Bilka while glaring at Vincent. “This man is a lustful creature, and you should protect yourself instead of being friendly.”

“Hahaha.” Lucas laughed.

“Please don’t make fun of me. I am curious about the man everyone is interested in. I want to know why Vincent is special. That’s all.” Said Anna with a cute, displeased expression.

“Thank you... I guess...”

“Haha. Don’t be nervous, Vincent. You can address the princess as Anna in here.” Lucas looked at Anna and continued, “Isn’t that right, Anna?”

historical

Anna smiled pleasantly. “Please call me Anna when it is only us.” She said with a little nod.

[Hang in there, Vincent. Know that I will support you in this tense situation with possibly life-threatening conversation mistakes.]

-...- Vincent became more nervous after remembering games that had the wrong answers causing the main character’s death.

“Preposterous! I will not accept such a man to act so close with the princess!” Bilka shook her head. “No. Never.”

“Thank you, Anna. It is good to meet the real you.” Vincent said while ignoring Bilka’s complaints.

Anna blushed. “I don’t have many people to talk to...” Anna cutely averted her gaze and continued, “I sometimes can’t stop talking and asking questions when I am excited.”

“Princess, don’t reveal your secrets. This man...”

“Can I know more about the wheelchair design?” Asked Anna. She also ignored Bilka.

Bilka looked at Lucas and saw him chuckling. He was having a blast watching Bilka become angry for being ignored.

Bilka crossed her arms and glared at Vincent, hoping to make him uncomfortable and stop talking to Anna.

“Imagine a chair with two wheels attached to the back and two smaller wheels attached to a piece of wood similar to the hilt of a sword. When you move one wheel forward, and the other held or moved backward, the wheelchair will turn without the help of anyone.”

“Really!” Explained Anna with her eyes sparking with amazement and desire to sit on a finished wheelchair.

“Yes. That’s why I said the wheelchair will be your new legs on a flat surface.” Vincent looked at Bilka and continued, “That means the little girl will still need to be your legs when going up and down the stairs or other activities that require standing up.”

*Tsk* “I don’t need your pity. I will always remain the princess’s legs, one way or another.”

Anna was happy that her first-ever real friend stated she was going to stay by her side.

Even though Bilka was technically Anna’s slave, no one would guess the princess of a kingdom treated her slave with kindness and respect.

Thanks to Bilka standing out with her unruly behavior, no one could guess Anna learned the hard way with people looking down on her and became an assertive person.

Anna wasn’t only a cute teen with delicate features and a naive crippled girl. She remembers all the bad treatment she received and keeps a diary with a waiting list of people she will kick their ass with her legs in the future.