Dawn- An Age Of Darkness

"Daarc, a humble first-class adventurer." I made a slight bow and met his glare.

"First-class you say? And humble?" He snickered. "Check him." He nodded to one of his men and a soldier came near me. I handed him my card and he nodded back at the baron before giving it back to me. "What are you doing with one of our men?"

Technically, this girl was a woman though. 

"She was being attacked by a monster and I happened to be nearby. She has bought my services and since I was heading to the capital anyway, I accepted." I kept it short. I was here in undercover, kind of. 

"You must one of the new recruits then." He cleared his throat. "How much is she paying you?"

I had a bad feeling about all this. I could literally see where this was going and I didn't like it. "100 Xylax gold." It was fifty though. 

"A 100? She does look noble-born too." He licked his lips. "I'll pay you two hundred for her. And you can keep the hundred too. Me and the men have been starved for the last few days." He looked back and smiled rather disgustingly. 

The men also laughed. 

'Is it possible they don't know the princess's looks or is it that they knew and that's why they want her?'

I really hoped my bad feelings wouldn't come alive but now they just did. 

The girl gripped my robe a bit tighter and grimaced. Her head was down and I had a feeling she was regretting this a lot. 

"I'm sorry but adventurers can't just go back on their word that easily."

The man laughed haughtily. His brown beard waved up and down. "Bastard. You still ask for more while facing this many men? Fine!" He laughed a bit more. "But 250 is all you'll get." He signaled one of his men and he was bringing me gold. While the other was coming to take the princess. The guy literally assume I'd just hand over the girl for the money.

The princess's eyes shimmered. Did she seriously think I was going to hand her over for money too?

Yeah, probably. But both of them were wrong. 

So, I unsheathed my knife and sliced the first guy that reached me to take the princess. He gushed blood and fell on the floor: he didn't have a hand anymore. The other one ran away. 

"You bastard! What is the meaning of this! You dare defy us!"

"Are you deaf?" My voice was calm. "A no means no." I sheathed the knife and pointed my finger at the guy. "If you will." I nodded at the bunny and she just rolled her eyes. 

I glowed in pale blue and the newly formed light balls froze and within a second, pierced the man in his shoulders like bullets. With a bit of a scream, he fell down. The wounds weren't that deep though. "Kill him, but not the girl."

The rest were now after us. But unfortunately, I raised my hand again and this time, formed a large icicle and threw it like a spear. I just aimed for their feet and most of them were now frozen to their ankles. I fired multiple shots and also ensured I didn't accidentally skewer anyone. But that didn't mean, I didn't harm them either. A lot of them were now bleeding and trying their best to survive. 

I used the knife to slice any who got near me. 

I deliberately avoided their vitals and now they were all on the floor. Was it me or were these guys a bit weak? Actually, soldiers from all the countries were a bit weak now. 

I went closer to the baron, my foot on his hand. "Well, that was that but what were you people doing here?"

"We'll erase yo-"

"YOU don't get it." I smiled and twisted my foot a little. "Do you?"

"Arghghgh." And he screamed a little. "I won't talk!" It must have really hurt but the guy was intent on keeping his mouth shut. 

"I believe you." I bent down and sliced his arm vertically. "I can heal you but- who knows how long my patience will last."

He screamed as blood slowly dripped. It was too painful to watch.

'Please just tell me so I can stop pretending.'

He screamed even louder and bled badly. But he gritted his teeth and just glared. I guess he was a military man. Well, this was pointless. "We were here to get her. She's lying to you. I'll change my offer. How about we give you ten thousand gold, what say you?" And now he got desperate. "Lord Beladore, would reward you tremendously if you take her back to him! Remember, you're only here because of us. We'll even offer you better women than her!"

And he also answered my questions. My face lit up a little and I smiled. The guy smiled too, albeit painfully. 

"Sorry but a promise is a promise. And since you were kind enough to tell me that much, would you mind telling me why her uncle wants her dead?"

The guy literally freaked out when I said that. 

"You knew?" 

No, I just took a guess. I sighed, this was too easy. "Well thanks man." I froze his wound and half of his body. These guys weren't going anywhere, at least not for a day or two. 

I stepped away from him and went closer to the shivering girl, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."

The fact that I didn't kill anyone here, meant I just made the uncle of this girl my enemy. Sigh, and now I had more shit to deal with. But then again, her uncle, the duke was already our enemy. 

She nodded but didn't say a word. 

"Yo-you will regret this!" The baron screamed. 

I smiled. "Oh trust me, you chose the wrong side." And I was already regretting it, so too late now. 

I got on the horse and the girl followed me on. We went toward the guys in robes. They were also kind of frozen and shaking more than the princess. "What do those do?" I asked, pointing at the crystal balls.

"Keeps monsters away."

"Shows the correct path."

"Stores food."

Instantaneous answers. And they looked like mages. All three were fox demi-humans but they had fur too. And their faces were like foxes. Reminded me of a certain throat-slicing wolf. 

"Give me all three."

Their faces went pale but they all obliged. 

We moved on. I gave all three to the princess and she was in charge of navigating. 

"So, you knew," the girl whispered. Her voice was soft and her breath was short. We were at least a hundred meters away from the soldiers but since we were teleporting, there was no way to see them. 

"No, when you said those were your uncle's men I assumed they were trying to kill you. The maid told me people were trying to kill you, so I just connected the dots. I assume you are at least the daughter of a count?" I really wished someone would teach me lying skills, already!

She stayed quiet for a moment. "I'm a-" She sighed and her breath fell on my neck. "I'm a princess," she spoke softly.

I tried acting surprised. "You don't say." I chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" She was crying. 

"Well, I expect a very handsome reward when I take you back."

She almost snorted, despite the tears. "My father is weak and my uncle holds all the power. So I don't think I can provide you with the rewards that would make you happy. I will try my best to give you lots of-"

I laughed some more. "Don't worry about it. You, the princess owing me favors would be more rewarding in the future than just getting rewards. Oh, should I address you as your highness from now on?"

"Just Viola is fine."

"Okay."

And the two of us dashed for the capital. But something just felt odd.. Perhaps I shouldn't have lied like this.