Chapter 17

After that, as Noah and Claudia walked through the village, many of the villagers approached them.

"Claudia, Noah! Thank you for letting us know it was going to rain the other day. Here, take these eggs; my chickens have been laying a lot!"

"Hey Noah. I heard you drove away a pack of magic dogs from the cemetery with your magic. That's impressive. Here, have some oranges I just bought."

"Claudia, look at this! I just finished knitting this cape. I thought it might suit you. It's not nearly enough to thank you for what you did that day, but how about it? I hope you like it."

All these people had been helped by Claudia and Noah over the past month with a bit of magic.

The villagers would stop them and give them all sorts of things. Thanks to this, Noah's basket, which he carried, was soon full without even entering a single store.

Claudia looked up at the basket with a satisfied smile.

"Mission accomplished. We could probably live off these offerings for a while."

"That won't do. We still don't have enough vegetables for the princess."

"…Did you not hear me, Noah? I said I could probably live off this for a while…?"

"No, that won't do, even if you look up at me with those cute, moist eyes."

Noah said firmly. When Claudia pouted childishly, a heavy sigh could be heard.

"You're an adult, sixteen years old. Don't act like a child with your likes and dislikes."

"Noah, remember this. Even as an adult, you can still dislike food you don't like and find things that aren't tasty, well, not tasty."

"That's not very mature of you…"

Despite this, Claudia suddenly stopped in her tracks. She saw a few men in what looked like magicians' robes talking to some villagers.

"Please understand, officials. I don't know if you're from the castle or not, but that forest is teeming with monsters."

The magician snorted.

"We are aware of that. That's why we are looking for someone who can guide us through the forest. We can't teleport directly because for some reason, we haven't been able to pinpoint the location of the tower for the past month."

"Don't ask too much! Sure, you strong magicians might be fine, but if the villagers get too close, they could be attacked and there's nothing we can do about it!"

"As long as we provide protection, there should be no problem. Understand this: you must select a guide within three days."

"That's too much to ask…"

One of the magicians responded to the protesting villager in a strong tone.

"―This is an order from the royal family."

At that moment, the villagers' faces turned pale.

"The royal family!? The king ordered this?"

"Understand and comply. Three days, got it?"

"Even with the magicians' protection, there's no guarantee we'll be safe…"

The villagers looked at each other, panic-stricken. Noah, still holding the basket full of cheese, honey, and eggs, asked:

"Princess. Are those the people who came to forcibly take you away?"

"…No. They are probably…"

It was a troublesome situation, and Claudia's good mood was ruined, making her a bit irritable.

Then, a presence of magic appeared.

"―Excuse me, Your Highness."

"Karlheinz."

As soon as the man appeared behind them, Noah immediately positioned himself to protect Claudia.

Looking up at Karlheinz, Claudia said with a frown:

"You were supposed to order the villagers not to approach me."

Since bringing Claudia back, Karlheinz had stayed in a different village for about a month.

He explained his long stay by saying, "I cannot return until I bring the princess to the capital." However,

"As you can see, the situation is urgent.―Those people are not envoys of the king."

Noah seemed a bit surprised, but Claudia had a hunch.

It didn't seem like her father, who only wanted to measure her magic, would send such people.

Rather, those magicians had the air of people who wanted to eliminate obstacles.

(They are probably envoys of the queen who exiled me.)

They are magicians who want to kill Claudia.