Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Meeting The Princess

The first to return was Lieutenant Davril. Or rather he was keeping pace with someone else who was determined to walk ahead of him, and the armoured woman next to him. At their head was a woman who was one of the tallest elves Sara had seen so far. She was wearing immaculate trousers, and a gallant jacket both with a blue base colour, red trim, and large golden shoulders like an exaggerated version of images Sara had seen of French royalty in history books. Her black boots looked like they could kill a man, and the sword at her hip could probably finish the job if the boots weren't enough. On her head was a jewelled tiara which matched the blue, red, and green colours of the flag flying over the castle.

She cut a very striking figure. It was like she had been sculpted in the ideal image of an Elegant Beauty, and her face was rather bewitching. Firmly on the side of cool beauty rather than cute girl. Her current expression was more serious than her neutral one from before.

Her hair was a darker shade of blonde than the very golden hue Sara had seen on the other princess, and reached all the way to her waist, though it was tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were a blue very similar to Sara's.

[ Elnatha Hanoleav - Elf First Princess Of The Hanoleav Kingdom (Elven Royal Lvl 34) HP: 258/258 ]

Elven Royal? Well, I guess it makes sense for certain Residents to have special classes. So that means all kingdoms have unique royal classes? I wonder what sorts of roles they're suited for? Well... being royalty, I guess. Her level seems a little low for her position. The armoured woman who's her bodyguard is level 45. I suppose this isn't the kind of world where they let royalty go out to hunt monsters. Not in this kingdom, at least.

Sara got on her feet, but she had zero idea how to behave when she realised the First Princess was heading directly towards her, and not back into the booth. Her presence was very imposing. Sara could only hope she wasn't visibly shaking.

"First Princess, please," the bodyguard said.

"Leave it, Thanii," Elnatha said in a firm tone.

Lieutenant Davril was giving Sara a sympathetic look. As if he was wishing her good luck.

All the elves went down on one knee as the Princess got close, and she stopped right in front of Sara, who was now trembling on the inside at the very least.

"What do I do?" Sara asked as calmly as she could, which might not be very much, hoping either Naahl or Laroni could help her. "Do I shift, and communicate directly, or?"

"Rise," Elnatha told everyone, and they listened.

"First Princess," Naahl said with a bow. "The Guardian Beast wishes to know how you would prefer to communicate. She offers to shapeshift for direct communication."

Sara was grateful that Naahl was a lot more diplomatic than she was.

"Hm..." Elnatha waited just a second before replying. "Remain as you are for now. I wish to inspect you."

"First Princess-" Thanii the bodyguard started to speak, but...

"Thanii. No more." Elnatha shut her down immediately.

"Yes, Princess..."

Sara was frozen as Elnatha gazed into her eyes. Though she was a little surprised to see that the emotions in the Princess's eyes looked like mainly intrigue, and curiosity. While calling it child-like was going too far, there was a certain innocence to it that contrasted the harsh image she gave off.

It made Sara feel a little more at ease. Though just a little.

Elnatha started doing a slow walk around Sara, evidently serious about this being an inspection. Everyone nearby made sure to step back so they didn't even get close to being in the way. Sara just made sure to keep her tail down, even though she was reasonably sure there shouldn't be anything to see back there.

Once she was back around to Sara's front, she said: "Thank you. You may assume Tree Form now."

Sara did as she was told, even if she didn't feel thrilled about being commanded like this. It made her wonder for a moment whether any of her wolves felt similarly towards her.

Elnatha gave Sara a once-over from root, to softly shaking leaves, but again her interest looked more like genuine curiosity rather than any sort of judgement. Yet whatever she was thinking she kept to herself.

"You have writing implements to communicate with, correct?" Elnatha said, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. "Bring them forth, if you may."

Sara wasn't sure whether writing with chalk was a suitable way to talk to royalty, and felt like they could have found something better, but she also wasn't about to question the request. She did have enough thought to reach for a place that she might conceivably retrieve her board and chalk from, rather than making it too obvious that she had an inventory, but she probably wasn't fooling anyone.

There was a brief smile on Elnatha's lips, before she said: "As a representative of the Hanoleav royal family, I greet you, Guardian Beast."

Sara did her best to keep her hand steady as she wrote: "It is an honour to meet you, First Princess Elnatha."

There was some surprise among the others present who saw her message, but Sara wasn't sure why.

"Do you have a name?" Elnatha suddenly asked. "Something more than Guardian Beast?"

Sara couldn't help looking towards Mirielle, who looked a little pained. Her expression somehow managed to communicate 'you can't lie to the Princess's face', even though it was something they had tried to keep as few people as possible aware of. Mirielle had carelessly let it slip in front of Luneria, and Sara had been a little reckless with telling Laroni, but this was a very different situation. Even if the present crowd was small, she would still be announcing it publicly.

With an inward sigh Sara wrote: "My name is Sara, Your Highness."

There was genuine surprise on Elnatha's face, if only briefly. Was she surprised that Sara actually had a name, or that her name was Sara? Sara was very much aware it wasn't an impressive one, but she had no desire to change it, or lie about it being something else.

"Well, then." Elnatha was back to her full regal bearing. "On behalf of the Hanoleav Kingdom, I apologise for what happened to you today, Guardian Beast Sara. Our preparations were clearly not sufficient. I was told that your assailants all fled, or died. Lieutenant Davril?"

"Yes, First Princess," Davril said, and stepped forth. "I just confirmed the reports. One of them got away, two fought to the death, and the final one we nearly locked down, but he killed himself before we could complete the capture. We unfortunately have no idea where they will respawn. All we can say for sure is that they were Residents."

"And the one who fled? Can you not track them down?" Elnatha asked with a sharp tone.

"We are searching. All we know is that they cannot have travelled out of the city on foot, but it is possible they have also exited via self-destruction. In the case that they have a hideout in Komeron, we shall track them down," Davril concluded.

"See that you do," Elnatha said, and turned her attention to something behind Sara. "You may approach, Archbishop."

For a moment Sara thought: I didn't even feel anyone approaching. Then she remembered that she switched off her Sense skill. If she hadn't been so focused on the Princess, and actually paid attention to her physical senses, she surely would have noticed other people walking closer.

While she held off on reactivating the Sense Mana function, she switched Sense Presence back on. Now that the crowd was gone, it wasn't so overwhelming any longer, even if she could feel a lot of people off in the distance. Focusing on a closer range was manageable, and it was a relief to have it back, like reattaching a lost limb. Maybe she should have tried to get used to it, but she would probably still choose to deactivate it if faced with another crowd like that.

"My thanks, First Princess," said a voice, surely the Archbishop, from behind.

Sara turned to look, and he was indeed there, alongside Luneria. His hat was even more impressive up close.

[ Gundal Felutenna - Elf Temple of the Moon Archbishop (Archbishop Lvl 44) HP: 295/295 ]

So not only the role of Archbishop, but the class too. It could be a regular upgrade to Luneria's Shepherd class, but it was more likely a special class that came with the job. If people who weren't Archbishops could still get the Archbishop class it would probably cause some issues.

"Greetings," he said with a nod of his head. "I had hoped to save the introductions for after the ceremony was complete, but circumstances have conspired against us. Even so, it is a pleasure to meet you, Guardian Beast. I am Komeron's Archbishop: Gundal Felutenna." He had a very 'grandfather' kind of vibe.

So you had intended to greet me regardless? I'm not supposed to be that important! Sara whined pointlessly. "It is an honour to meet you, Archbishop Gundal," she wrote. "I am the Guardian Beast of Nyolund."

"Hm... not of all of Ildhena?" Gundal asked in a tone that implied: 'Why not?'

Sara thought a bit about how to word it. "I would prefer to not encroach on the others' territories. I would rather forge friendships than engage in conquest," she wrote.

"You mentioned your friend in Wutsch," Elnatha cut in. "Are you friends with the Sholan Warg as well?"

So they are aware of him, Sara thought as she wrote her reply: "We have only met once, Your Highness. He seems hard to approach, and travel from Nyolund to Sholan is not simple." Especially since the fastest way for her would be through Ethuun, and even crossing at the narrowest she'd have a lot of people to avoid, so it would probably take an hour and a half at best. Possibly closer to two. Going through Wutsch would add at least an hour even at top speed. And then however long it would take to actually meet up with the Warg.

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"I understand," Elnatha said. "We can discuss it at a later time, Guardian Beast. Now that our final witnesses are back, we should conclude today's business."

We? Do you mean you and me, or via a representative? Sara had a feeling the Princess wouldn't mind inviting her back, even if she herself would prefer not to return. Not that she had anything particularly against Princess Elnatha, but Sara felt very strongly that she shouldn't be someone who interacted with royalty. It was quite stressful.

She decided to not actually ask. There were four people approaching from the direction the Senior Speaker had left, which probably meant him, and three officials. She was surprised he managed to get that many to come with him.

Sara shuffled her way back to the podium as quickly as her current movement allowed, and the witnesses took their positions. Not back in the booths of course. That would have been too convenient for her. They just stood at a respectful distance. That Sara still felt was too close, as if they were scrutinising her. She decided to focus intently on Aina's dictation, and tried to not think about everyone standing around her:

First Princess Elnatha of the Hanoleav Kingdom, the Princess's bodyguard Thanii, Archbishop Gundal of Komeron's Temple of the Moon, Bishop Luneria, Priestess Mirielle, Spiritualist Naahl of the Naturalist Society, Senior Speaker Golhon, Speaker Laroni, three public officials Sara didn't know the name of, nor did she care to learn them, Lieutenant Davril, and his guards.

Maybe I should have paid more heed to mother's warnings, Sara thought to herself. I'm sure this is very interesting to her, but with just a little bit more foresight maybe I could have avoided things getting to this point. The most important person I ever talked to in my old life was the boss of my company. And that wasn't even in person.

As many jobs as possible had become remote back on Earth. The fancier companies even had virtual spaces they could work within. There were still some jobs that required physical presences, but in general things had worked towards providing people with more free time, and stable lives. A cynical person might say it was in large part due to an effort to increase birth rates, but most people benefited from it.

Now she was in a world where everything was in person, and travelling anywhere took a lot of time. Especially for someone like her who couldn't access any of the fast-travel features this world provided. She had noticed the airship platform on her way in, but it was out of her reach. Her fastest travel was running.

With a head full of grumpy thoughts Sara finished writing the document, which meant she had to return to the reality around her. She could see some of the crowd had returned as well, though the guards were keeping them at more of a distance now.

"I'm done," she said to Laroni with a tired sigh. "Now what?"

Laroni jumped a little before conveying the question a little more elegantly than Sara. She was probably not used to being surrounded by very important people either, and seemed to have been lost in nervous thought.

"Now I shall add my signature as well," the First Princess said. "May I have the quill?"

Sara handed it over, and Aina reminded her of the thing about assigning rights. Thankfully Elnatha was reading through it first, so Sara had the time to sort it out before any writing actually happened. She was curious what would have happened if she hadn't known about the whole 'rights' thing.

"On behalf of the Temple of the Moon, I shall do the same," Archbishop Gundal said once the First Princess was done.

Then it was Naahl's turn, and finally one of the public officials also had to step up.

Afterwards the quill was placed back in the case Mirielle was holding, and Sara looked towards all the witnesses in turn, not really sure what she was supposed to do now.

What gets me home as quickly as possible? She wondered. Fleeing wasn't exactly a viable option.

"Well done, Guardian Beast." Elnatha was the first to speak up. "I would consider this a cause for celebration of the deepening ties between us, but considering the circumstances I think it would be difficult to host anything appropriate."

"I sadly have to concur," Gundal said. "If we hadn't been delayed, or if the reason for the delay wasn't so... problematic, a quick post-ceremony gathering wouldn't have been an issue. But not only were you attacked, we ended up taking more of your time than intended." He shook his head. "We all have duties to attend to." It was a little hard to tell if he was just being genuinely considerate, or trying to excuse himself as well. Maybe a bit of both.

"Quite so," Elnatha agreed. "We hope your next visit will be a more peaceful one, Guardian Beast Sara."

I'm not sure I want to do another visit, Sara thought. At least not in this state. She would much prefer to go incognito, and actually explore the city a little, but it would likely be some time until she had that possibility.

It also felt weird for someone to use her name in public.

Still, she should write some sort of response. Her brain felt tired, so she went for just writing something polite: "I thank you for your hospitality, First Princess. And everyone else. I also hope our next meeting will be in better circumstances." It wasn't like she could say 'I never want to see you again'.

They assembled her escort out of the city, with Mirielle following her the entire way this time. Even if they couldn't communicate, Sara still appreciated the gesture. It was nice that her friend was worried about her.

Once they parted ways at the Hunting Post, Sara bolted directly for her den. Physically she felt fine, but mentally she was exhausted. Once she got back, she plopped down on her homemade couch.

Being around that many people would be draining at the best of times, and because of who those people were it had taken everything out of her. She had no idea how much her nervousness had shown, but she doubted she had been able to completely hide it. Her Tree Form mercifully had a hard time expressing emotion, with the exception of the leaves, and she was pretty certain she had heard them rustle a fair bit.

I wasn't made to mingle with such important people, she thought, basically repeating her earlier sentiment.

The couch was nice enough. The silk cushions were very nice, even if they were crude, but the structure she had made underneath ruined the feeling a bit. Maybe trading for some actual, professionally made furniture was an option. Though what was the point? Well... it might make the place feel more homely. And it was more interesting than just asking for food.

She moved over to her shelf bed, which was much more comfy, and fell asleep pretty quickly.

* * *

First Princess Elnatha Hanoleav was finally able to settle down in her room all on her own. It had been an exciting day, in both good and bad ways, and she'd had to attend to several things after the Guardian Beast had left. But now she could finally relax.

She knew my name, Elnatha thought. I was so excited I forgot to introduce myself properly, but she still knew my name. Had someone told her? Or could she see it?

The Guardian Beast had fascinated her more and more the more she read about it... about her. That she might be able to use Identify, or something similar, made her even more intriguing.

And her eyes were like mine. Maybe not an exact match, but Elnatha had seen herself in the mirror enough to recognise the resemblance. It was probably just a coincidence, but it still made her feel strangely giddy. The brown coat had looked lovely as well. She had been tempted to touch it, but that would have been completely unseemly. Perhaps she had come across as rude regardless. She couldn't in all confidence say she had acted with the utmost dignity.

I wish we could have had tea, but her form isn't exactly suited for it. The Princess let out a slight sigh. And Mother surely would have drawn the line at letting her into the Palace.

But... Sara, huh? Isn't that a human name? She couldn't exactly say she was an expert, but she was reasonably certain. It was possible it showed up in more races. Regardless it was a simple enough name that it was unlikely to be a lie. Unless it's an alias, but why would she need one? Surely she'd go with something more impressive in that case.

There were so many mysteries around Sara. The alliance had just been a political move at first, one that was potentially high-reward, and low-risk, but Elnatha had become more and more intrigued.

I wish she had written my name again. Her hand-writing is cute, Elnatha idly thought. If only I didn't make people so nervous. Though it probably wasn't just my fault. Even the most sociable mob isn't used to being around people, certainly not so many of us. Still, she stood there, doing her best. I feel bad for forcing that upon her. It should have been a more private ceremony, but I don't think I could have made everyone accept that.

At least the Spiritualist had confirmed that the spirits had protected Sara against the attack on her, so that was a small bit of fortune in misfortune. Proof that the spirits approved of the Guardian Beast was important, even though she had figured that at best they would have been able to show that the spirits didn't reject her. Elnatha had never doubted that the spirits would like Sara, but several others did. Even if the spirits weren't considered as important as the Moon Goddess, they still held a special place in Hanoleav society.

She still would have preferred that the attack hadn't happened, and it annoyed her that they hadn't been able to discover their identities. They might still be able to, but the report read that there hadn't been any obvious identifying features on what the assailants were wearing, nor were they carrying anything that were leads. For a moment it made her wish that Residents dropped items from their inventories when looted, but it would lead to all sorts of trouble if that was the case.

The assailants likely opposed either Elnatha, the alliance, the Guardian Beast specifically, or just mobs in general.

There were likely factions that did not like the idea of forming peaceful relations with mobs, or had some issues with the Guardian Beast herself. But it felt more likely that it was someone who wanted to undermine Elnatha's efforts.

Despite their rivalry, she didn't think either of her siblings would do anything like this. Some fringe faction that supported either of them might have, but there were several other reasons someone might want to sabotage her.

Or perhaps it wasn't aimed at her specifically, but Hanoleav in general.

It should be possible to narrow down what spell they had used considering the power of it. It was unlikely to be a basic spell, even at max level, so maybe that would turn out to be a clue. Attaining a powerful spell like that required dedication, or special connections.

Elnatha sagged into her chair. It was tiring to think about all of this.

Part of her had wanted to make a friend, not just an ally, as childish as that wish was. After their meeting it felt even more unlikely. Sara might be something akin to a queen to the wolves, and even had some authority over other mobs, but they were still in completely different worlds. The wolf was clearly not comfortable being around Residents, especially not ones with authority.

At least I know her name. And she knows mine.

There was some comfort in that.