Accompanied By The Princess

Vim found himself in the bizarre situation of having the princess of a nation bowing her head to him.

“My name is Vim Abel. Please, lift your head. I only lent a bit of a hand.”

With that, the Princess and the steward raised their heads.

“Nevertheless, I perceived the magic from earlier to be a Disconnection Barrier. You are quite a formidable magic user,” Jeffrey, the steward, remarked. It seemed he had even seen through the specific type of barrier Vim had used.

As expected, someone serving as a royal house steward is cut from a different cloth. Normally, one wouldn’t be able to discern the core principles of that barrier so easily.

“You have a keen eye. I did indeed use a Disconnection Barrier. I considered it the safest option.”

“I simply happen to have reasonably good eyes.”

Vim doubted that having “good eyes” alone made it easy to see through his magic, but he decided not to pry further.

“Well then, I am in a hurry, so I shall take my leave.”

He wanted to avoid sticking his nose into troublesome affairs as much as possible.

“Please, wait!”

As Vim tried to leave in a hurry, Princess Erin called out to stop him.

“Do you have some business with me?”

“Well, won’t you come to the Royal Capital with us? I would very much like to introduce you to my father.”

“But I am merely a passing magician, you know?”

“No, you are my savior.”

When a princess goes that far, it’s harder to find a reason to refuse than it is to accept. After all, Vim was just a magician of commoner origins.

“I understand. If Your Highness insists that much, I shall humbly accept your offer.”

There was no point in making things difficult by causing a scene. Vim decided to follow Erin’s lead.

“Splendid. Please, enter the carriage.”

At Erin’s urging, Vim stepped into the luxurious carriage. From here to the Leoria Royal Capital, it would take about half a day by carriage.

“Mr. Vim, why were you out there?”

“Well, to put it simply, I suppose it’s to escape the Empire.”

Vim gave a very broad explanation of his circumstances.

“Was there a need for you to flee?” Erin asked, a look of brief confusion crossing her face.

“Yes. I will speak truthfully, trusting in you as a princess: I was framed for treason.”

He felt he could place a certain amount of trust in a princess of a nation. Vim decided to explain the situation.

“Fearing my power, the Empire imprisoned me on false charges. That Empire is rotten. That is why I decided to flee the country.”

Vim explained the situation to Erin, touching upon the current state of the Empire.

“I had heard that the rumors regarding Cyrus weren’t very pleasant, but I didn’t realize the situation was that dire.”

“Do you… believe me?”

“I believe you. I don’t think a bad person goes out of their way to save someone,” Erin said with a gentle smile.