Inside the Royal Palace of the Kingdom.
Guards and maids hurried past; the situation in the palace seemed no different from usual.
In the room of the Kingdom's Third Princess, Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself, low-voiced conversation could be heard: "Although I don't know what happened, the cadres of Eight Fingers were indeed murdered, and their bodies have all been confirmed."
The noble lady speaking was Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, a friend of Princess Lakyus. Speaking of this young lady, she was a famous figure in the Kingdom.
She inherited the bloodline of the Thirteen Heroes and held a magic sword once wielded by a legendary hero. She herself was one of the Kingdom's Adamantite-ranked Adventurers and the leader of the Adamantite-ranked team 'Blue Rose'. Having stepped into the realm of heroes before the age of twenty, she was a girl even more talented than the Kingdom's Warrior Chief, Gazef.
This time, she had been commissioned by Princess Lakyus to investigate 'Eight Fingers'. However, just as she had uncovered some information, she received news of the group's destruction and immediately rushed to discuss the matter with her employer.
But generally speaking...
This wasn't bad news for her. Although this particular commission fell through, an Adamantite-ranked Adventurer would never lack for a job or two.
If it weren't for her friend's sake, she wouldn't have accepted this commission. After all, the waters within 'Eight Fingers' ran deep; even an Adamantite-ranked Adventurer would be in danger if they got too involved. Furthermore, this was a private commission from Princess Lakyus and couldn't be certified by the Guild, making it a thankless task.
"It seems this country still has some heroes who do good deeds without seeking fame. However, this is quite a headache; if we knew which hero did it, we could have Father grant him a title."
Princess Lakyus said with a smile on her face.
Lakyus held the beautiful reputation of the 'Golden Princess' abroad; she was the one who had slave trading written into law, which gave her considerable prestige among the common people. Although the Princess's policies never successfully made the country better, her posture of seemingly fighting against the nobles for the sake of the commoners truly gave many people hope for the Kingdom even now.
Upon discovering the traces of the Eight Fingers organization, the Princess had immediately written to her Adventurer friend to help gather intelligence on them.
However, before they could take action, Eight Fingers had already been quietly dealt with by someone unknown. This was what they were currently discussing.
Lakyus did not reply to those words.
A so-called reward might seem wonderful, but once accepted, one would be tied to the Royal Family.
Under the current circumstances of internal strife and external threats facing the Kingdom, surely no fool would want to step forward.
The Empire and the Theocracy were watching hungrily from the outside, while the Royal Family and the Noble Faction were still engaged in internal power struggles. Among the populace, there was even the Goddess Cult, an evil group that wanted to destroy the world.
Wow, just imagining it...
She could foresee a future where the Kingdom was on the verge of destruction. Although saying lines about becoming the Holy Maiden protector of this country might sound cool, even she couldn't make such a heartless joke. Currently, the Kingdom saw very little hope; even her parents were privately discussing when they should withdraw from the Kingdom.
"Princess, I'm coming in."
Just as Lakyus and Lakyus finished discussing the matter, a youth pushed open the door and entered. He clearly looked like a servant-level figure, yet he didn't knock before entering the Princess's room, instead pushing it open as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
No matter how you looked at it, this was far too improper. However, Lakyus was not an inflexible noble lady. Although this was somewhat inappropriate, as long as Princess Lakyus didn't mind, then it was fine.
"Climb, come here, sit," Princess Lakyus called out to the youth like a little girl.
The youth seemed very...
...serious, even serious to a degree that felt somewhat deliberate.
"Good morning, Lady Lakyus, Lady Aindra." This was natural, because this youth named 'Climb' was an ordinary person. This wasn't a humble way of speaking, but a fact.
Because Climb was an ordinary person with average talent. Even though he had been exceptionally allowed to join the Kingdom's elite troops for training due to his privilege as the Princess's attendant, his performance among his peers was entirely unremarkable. It was precisely because the youth's talent was so ordinary that many people envied his good luck and gossiped about the Princess behind her back.
In such a situation, the youth, who possessed absolute loyalty toward the Princess, naturally held himself to extremely high standards, even overworking himself.
But reality is cruel.
Even with dozens of times more effort, the limitations of talent remained something the youth could never break through in his life.
This world had geniuses like Tsukasa Astrea, who could slay gods at sixteen, and naturally, it also had failures like Climb, who could only linger at the level of an ordinary guard no matter how hard he worked.
Lakyus watched as Climb was teased by Lakyus until he was sweating profusely, but deep down, she was still a bit worried for her friend. She supported Lakyus's decisions and didn't think Climb was bad, but sometimes, things do not develop according to one's personal will.
Especially regarding the Princess's marriage.
Under the Kingdom's current plight, Princess Lakyus was destined to be used as a symbol to promote an alliance. It now depended on how the King decided the Princess's destination, but regardless, the low-status Climb had absolutely no hope.
If Climb had talent on the level of the Warrior Chief, there might be a sliver of hope, but unfortunately, Climb truly lacked any talent.
Even if she wanted to say something nice, she couldn't bring herself to lie and say Climb's talent was decent, because his talent was truly the worst she had ever seen.
"Well then, I shall take my leave for today."
"Wait, speaking of which, Lakyus, have you met that legendary Sword Saint?"
"The Sword Saint?"
Lakyus's question made Lakyus a bit curious.
"Lakyus, you're not thinking of helping His Majesty win that person over, are you? I advise you to give up on that as soon as possible."
"I'm just a bit curious about that person's situation, and don't you think the timing is very coincidental?"
"Hmm, it's not impossible when you put it that way. But even if it really was the Sword Saint's doing, it's unrealistic to expect His Majesty to grant her a reward. After all, on the very first day she entered the city, the Sword Saint mercilessly rejected His Majesty's invitation."
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