Chapter 7: Saving The Villainess

…

Smoke and flames danced and fluttered; guided by the wind, they rapidly conquered the soldiers without a fight. In a short while, Sir Aron, Eyad, and Andre's mission would reach its conclusion. The plan had worked. The next step was to bring the princess into the rendezvous zone. After that, the commission would jingle gladly in their hands.

Sir Calias, no, Sir Aron scrunched his brows. "It's too easy."

The greed-inducing commission was asymmetrical to the difficulty of the mission. He had prepared various plans in case something didn't go right, but it looked like they wouldn't be of use.

He had a sense of foreboding. Trouble was coming. The mercenary guild had a reputation of judging the price of the mission with uncanny accuracy. Their intelligence had been one of the best in Endramion. He knew it would not end like this; ending not with a whimper, but with a bang.

His eyes narrowed as his instincts alarmed him of an unknown danger. The mission wouldn't end on a simple note.

"What's wrong? Did I miss something?" Aron knitted his brows, a lump of discomfort rising from his chest. He blinked his eyes around, and shook his head, but the eerie feeling didn't go away.

Deep within the hazy fog and smoke, Aron picked up the change he was looking for; the wind had altered its course. Just as soon as he discovered what it was, his horse grumbled, sending warnings.

He stepped down from his mount, putting his ear to the ground.

The trembling land proved his instinct right. Aron understood what was coming next, his pupils constricting in alarm. He knew it. It would not be easy. "Andre, faster! Save the princess now. We have company."

"Aye! Comin' right up!"

"Eyad turn the wind's direction eastward. A bloody cavalry is coming! Hell, I didn't sign up for this."

Yet, the smile on his face played a different tune. His brows relaxed as a light smile dwelled on his lips; there wasn't even a tinge of worry on his face. The smoke and haze had been helpful to them. All he needed to do now was to move quicker. Unseen fractures were worse than visible cracks.

Soon, the trio saw burning torches hiding in the billowing smoke and haze. Like fireflies, they appeared. The scale was large judging from the climbing number of burning torches. Rushing like a tide towards them, the sounds of charging cavalry invaded their ears.

The three, plus the princess, cast a gaze in the cavalry's direction before turning away. "Retreat towards the forest. Once we bring the princess to the client, we'll get to live the life we want with the commission!"

Aron and Eyad watched the fallen princess gazing at them with caution. She rode along with Andre, bobbing her head with curiosity.

Puzzlement dwelled in her eyes. The lilac-haired princess silently followed whatever she was told to do. It made things easier.

“Eyad, now!”

“Hmnn.”

Soon, the wind's direction changed again. It twirled around as if it was gathering all the smoke from the fire. The wind materialized, akin to a twisting whirlpool. The gale gathered both the flaming embers and the suffocating smog, forming a concentrated ball of hot gas.

The baggy-robed mage struck the ground with his staff, halting the spinning whirlpool. A few mythical shining circles shone from his feet. He then took a deep breath, uttering the magic’s strange yet attention-catching syllables.

“Taste a rank three spell mutts! [Wind Blast]!”

The swirling smoke and flame exploded. The compressed air spread, blocking the eyesight of anyone within the smog. The smoke thickened further in the cavalry's direction.

Aron grinned after hearing the rhythm of the trembling earth slowing further and further. He could already hear the gagging and screams echoing on the other side. The exploding hot gas would be enough to make the fools' tear glands suffer and maybe kill a few.

Anyone encountering the area was bound to get lost. After all, one could only use the eyes to navigate. A cavalry couldn't charge through the suffocating, billowing smoke.

As for the enemy mages, they had already killed them all. The other members of their band had taken care of them long ago.

“Eyad, Andre. Let's go. We lost them. Our mission here is done.”

“At last, I want to drink some nice beer.”

“I want one too.”

“Soon, but for now, off we go. To the forest!”

The trio shifted their heads towards the silent princess. The information offered by the one who commissioned the mission had been spot on; a rare lilac-haired beauty. It was one of the rarest hair colors in all of Endramion.

Aside from her hair color, the rest of the descriptions of the princess didn't match. There were quite a few differences.

The princess, according to the intelligence, was an innocent, nosy, and gullible kid. The trio stared and shook their heads. She was not like the princess mentioned. Based on her actions thus far, she appeared like a true and regal princess, and that was exactly what made them worried.

“Boss, you sure this is the princess? She doesn't appear like the mission description at all. Did we pick the wrong one?”

Eyad scratched his cheeks, thinking whether they’d saved the wrong one or not. That... would be a disaster. This one was not a dummy for the princess, right? She had the same hair color. She was being escorted to the stake.

The only problem was she's not naggy and bratty as described. Also not a scaredy-cat, it seemed. She didn't even raise a fuss, even in the middle of the terrible wildfire and bloody gore.

The three of them scrunched their brows after thinking of the possibility of failure. After all that hard work, will everything be for naught? It would be a tragedy, but Aron would another colossal problem.

“The archmage.” Sir Aron took a deep breath in fear. He was trying to figure out a way to test if they got the right princess. He’d rather not earn the ire of their big shot client, especially if it's an archmage.

"Hello, my lady, can I ask for your name?"

"I'm Leono-… no V-victoria! Victoria is my name," the lady answered as her lilac strands danced, waltzing along with the wind.

"…"

"Ah, she stuttered." Eyad grimaced, a line of doubt deepening in his mind. He rubbed his ears after almost hearing a different name.

Now, now. What do we have here? Our dear princess was not even sure of her name. Andre and Eyad threw a questioning look at their leader. Aron glowered, appearing like he ate poop for breakfast.

Eyad moved closer to their frowning leader, "Boss, don't tell me we messed up? I'm sure she was about to utter another name just a few moments ago."

"Shut up! I am feeling a bit under the weather. The crystal coins will be ours… I hope. But that will be the least of our concerns." Aron recalled the staff that was poked into his neck. The fierce archmage that forced him to take the mission and money. "We're near the forest. We will know soon."

Sigh.

"Let us introduce ourselves, Princess Victoria. I'm Aron, the current leader of this mercenary party. The hooded guy is Eyad. While the goofy-face who saved you is Andre. We are mercenaries." The man moved his hands to his chest, bowing a little. Even so, his eyes were checking for any reactions coming from the young lady in front of her.

"N-nice to meet you. T-thank you for saving me," The princess named Victoria answered, her voice shaky and course. After all, she wasn't able to use her vocal cords for an unknown period of jail time. It's bound to happen. She instinctively moved her hands towards her throat in irritation.

"You're welcome, Princess. Don't thank us, we do it for money. Right, men?" The mercenary leader sent a look at the other two.

"Y-yeah." Eyad's tone sounded a little stressed out.

"Absolutely! No need to thank us." Andre laughed, his eyes full of curiosity. Not one bit of awkwardness, unlike Eyad.

"B-but."

"No buts, threat us as goons all you like. We don't even care if you call us names as long as we get paid," Sir Aron quipped, his eyes still focused on the 'supposed-princess'.

"Yeah, yeah, the boss is right! Anyway, are you really… the princess?" Andre looked at Victoria as if he was a magical lie detector machine.

"…"

The eyes of Eyad and Aron stuck out, their ears perking up. Just like always, this guy was quite straightforward, but he's very useful at these times. He sounded so natural.

Victoria's eyes widened a bit, thinking about what she should say. She decided to tell the truth. The truth she discovered a day ago. "I am… I suppose?"

"Suppose?" Eyad and Aron felt faint. The promised crystal coins…

They looked at Andre, expecting him to turn the tide. They laid their hope and trust on the monkey-faced man's words.

Andre beamed, his teeth showing. "Boss, I sense no lie nor malice. I think she's indeed the princess."

The two sighed in relief.

***

Hi, my name is Leonora Brewster. A 45-year-old traveler cum spinster graced with the chance to transmigrate into a damned otherworld. A world filled with sword, staff, magic, goons, cages, chains, and stakes. From the moment I woke up, I had been chained, blindfolded, and gagged, suffering in a small, dark, moist accursed jail. There was no such thing as an easy mode. It wasn't even a normal mode. Not one bit of a hard mode. It was the legendary nightmare mode. They did not provide me with any cheats like the friggin’ major characters in fiction novels and fantasy movies. Damn, even that little guy had his ring before starting his adventure. So envious!

How could I tell?

The moment my eyesight returned to me. I heard the craziest sentence in my life. I had to die for several sins that I didn't commit. It was capital punishment straightway; a not-guilty plea wasn’t even considered. It was a swift sentence. A death sentence. Fate seemed to play with me; as soon as I died in the icy silence of Antarctica, fate deemed me worthy of another death. This time via a burning stake.

Can it get any worse?

Of course, the sentence was every bit inhumane. I had to die on a stake, barbecued while alive. Paraded like a clown. Suffering from curses, cussing, and spits from many people who I didn’t know. Showered with vegetables, eggs, tomatoes, and stones until I became a salad. Hundreds, no, it was at least a thousand people watching me being slowly paraded to the throne of hay, stake, and fire.

I don't even know how I survived without eating or drinking anything.

So I just slept through it all, wishing it was all a dream.

The moment I woke up, I saw a fire blazing all around me. Billowing smoke somewhat suffocated me, rendering me unable to even breathe. My groggy thoughts were, "Am I already at the stake? No one woke me up? Or is this hell?"

When I was about to die. I saw my knight in shining armor rushing towards me. He flashed such a goofy smile at me, I almost fell in love with him.

Well, not really. He looked like an uncle. Even before death, this aunt had a well-established standard. This aunt doesn’t want a goofy uncle for a partner. A handsome face is a must. Not too muscular, but his abs must be chiseled to perfection. Enough to be hidden wonderfully under his shirt. He also had to have a clean or devilish smile. A tall, rich, and handsome man who can do home chores and will not make me suffer hunger or harm. He must be a vampire or a dragon or a werewolf. They weren’t superior standards, but they would be enough for now.

In the end, I realized they were mercenaries tasked to save me. The princess? That's what the flashing status screen in my face tells. I'm not even sure if I was the one they were looking for. I thought it was a cheat, but the damn thing was only a useless screen that tells my current status.

I could sense the three of them sending gazes of concern towards me. Not the empathetic kind of concern. It was as if they were deliberating if I was the one who stole their money or not. Hell, why would I?

I learned that face from my old ever-so-suspicious boss in my old company. In his eyes, all the people he called into his office owed him money.

Soon, the mustache man introduced himself and the other two. Oh, so his name is Sir Aron. Hm, a bit knightly. Eyad was the weird hooded man; he was the mage who controlled the smoke to save me. And the weirdest among them, the man named Andre. He was the monkey-faced man to whom I owed my life.

I don’t know them. Even so, I thanked them. Damn! My voice is all chirpy.

"N-nice to meet you. T-thank you for saving me," I said. That was my genuine feeling. I somehow felt like crying, but I controlled myself since we're in the forest. I don't wish to attract some beast because of my crying.

"You're welcome princess. Don't thank us, we do it for money. Right, men?”

"Y-yeah." The hooded Eyad looked at me as if he already decided that I stole his money. What's wrong with this guy? He's getting on my nerves.

"Absolutely! No need to thank us." The monkey-faced Andre grinned like a monkey. I could easily recognize the thickness of his face. The one who couldn't even read the atmosphere. I met a lot of these types when I was working on the corporate ladder. I call them 'the nut jobs'.

Still, I should show proper respect and appreciation for their help. "B-but."

"No buts, treat us as goons all you want. We don't even care about other names as long as we get paid," the mustached middle-aged man quipped. I could sense that he was checking me out. Maybe I don't have the supposed princess-feels, the regal aura that usually oozes from royals?

"Yeah, yeah, the boss is right! Anyway, are you… the princess?" The monkey-faced mercenary asked.

And I'm right. They doubt that I'm Victoria, the Princess. Don't worry. Even I, myself, am still in doubt. When you reach 45 and are still single, you're bound to get a lot of doubts in your life. Put your faith in me, I am professional at this.

I caressed my chin, gazing straight at the honest man. How should I answer this?