23 Chapter 23: Royal Guard's Picked

While waiting in the first room of the hut, Alliyah arrives wearing beautiful knight armor with a sword attached to her waist, all within a period of one minute.

"Thank you for waiting, your highness, now if you'll follow me." Stated Alliyah respectfully with a slight bow.

"Just call me Prince Elif." Replied Elif as he stood up while waving his hand, signaling Alliyah to lead the way.

Following behind Alliyah, we made our way through several groups of people who were training before arriving at a podium situated on a small stage; when we got on top of the podium, Illumia and I stood behind Alliyah.

"Everyone stop what you're doing and make your way over to the podium; if you are not here within thirty seconds, you'll be severely punished!" Said Alliyah as she used her profound cultivation to relay her words across the entire training grounds.

I didn't have to wait long, as it didn't even take half the time Alliyah gave before everyone had arrived, filling up the entire area below with Elves who were in the middle of intense training.

"Good, you've all arrived; now I've summoned you all because the Crown Prince has informed me that he requires a group of Royal Guards to accompany him while he explores Yggdrasil!" Announced Alliyah, who, when finished speaking, backed away and bowed as Elif walked forward and took the reins.

"PRINCE ELIF!!" Shouted all the men and women simultaneously while kneeling and bowing before Elif.

'So, who am I supposed to pick? Can I pick anyone, or does it matter who it is? Haa, I should probably ask Illumia, though I don't wish to talk to her; she was a general for who knows how long, so I'm sure she knows what to do.' Thought Elif, feeling grumpy that he was asking Illumia for help.

'Illumia, who should I pick?' Asked Elif through his divine sense, something he learned a little after advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm.

'It is up to you, your highness, but if you wish to know my input, I would suggest the small Elf with the large sword.' Replied Illumia via divine sense.

Her vague answer annoyed me as to how was I supposed to find a small Elf with a giant sword; I could see plenty of Elfs carrying huge swords and also a lot of small Elfs; finding a specific one would be like trying to find-, never mind, found her. Although she wasn't the only small Elf carrying a large sword, her sword was definitely the biggest one I could see, along with her being one of the shortest Elf present, though still the size of her sword even made my sword look small.

"The short Elven woman with the giant sword, bring your group to accompany me; everyone else can return to what they were doing." Declared Elif, causing most of the Elves present to sigh in defeat, as managing to get picked by the prince, even for something simple, would allow them to reach an even higher level of authority and power than they would be able to achieve on their own.

"Is there anything else you need, Prince Elif?" Asked Alliyah as she followed behind Elf, who was making his way off the podium.

"No, you can go back bathing." Replied Elif, though his words caused Alliyah slight embarrassment, as having your first impression on the prince of you being naked isn't usually good.

"I-I understand, have a wonderful day, Prince Elif." Replied Alliyah embarrassingly as she disappeared.

Standing just below the stage, I see the small Elf I picked, along with what I assume is her group making their way over to me before kneeling.

"It is of great honor to be picked by the Crown Prince himself, all you have to do is give us an order, and we shall immediately do it; we will not hesitate even if you order us to commit suicide!" Declared the small Elven woman with immense reverence in her voice while the four people behind her agreed in unison.

'That's kinda creepy, but ok?' Thought Elif, a little creeped out at the lady's speech.

"Well, ok, I don't plan on asking you to commit suicide; the only reason I even came here was that father said I had to have a group of Royal Guards to accompany me while I'm out exploring Yggdrasil." Said Elif before walking away, heading in the direction of the castle.

"Oh yeah, Illumia, I was told that Yggdrasil was quite large, so should I take a carriage?" Asked Elif, who made it back to the castle while the group followed right behind him.

"Yggdrasil is approximately one million kilometers in diameter, your highness." Answered Illumia calmly, though her answer nearly caused Elif to pass out in shock.

"WHAT!? One million kilometers!? You, your joking, right? How can Yggdrasil be so large? How would commoners even be able to navigate through the city? It would take me several hours of constant running to cover that much distance, let alone commoners who have an even lower cultivation base than me!" Asked Elif, half shocked at Illumia's answer while half believing that Illumia was still trying to tease him.

(For Reference, the sun is 696,340 km in diameter)

"What I said is true, and Yggdrasil isn't even the largest city in the Empire, but to answer your question, there are several teleportation services across the city that allow for fast and easy travel throughout the city." Answered Illumia.

'My goodness, Yggdrasil isn't even the biggest city? What city could possibly be bigger than Yggdrasil?' Pondered Elif as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea of a city that size.

"Well, it seems like we're going to need a carriage, though let's go and visit mother first." Replied Elif as he turned down the hallway that led to the throne room.

Opening the door, the rows of Royal Guards lining the edge of the throne don't announce my presence this time, though I don't really care because, having learned about divine sense, I know mother already knew of my presence the moment I opened the door.

Making my way to the other side of the room, I see mother sitting on the throne, reading some papers, while the father is still probably spending time with Elaine.

"What are you doing, mother?" Asked Elif, who turned around when he heard metal clanking, only to realize the group of Royal Guards he picked were kneeling.

"Hmm, just reading some papers; what about you, dear? I see you've brought along some Royal Guard recruits; what's the occasion?" Answered Maria with a smile as she placed down the paper she was reading and looked down at Elif.

"Father said I could go and explore Yggdrasil, but I had to bring along a group of Royal Guards to accompany me." Replied Elif.

"Well then, why did you pick recruits instead of official Royal Guards?" Asked Maria as she shifted her focus to the kneeling group in the background, who started shaking in nervousness at gaining Maria's attention.

"I didn't know where to find them, and I didn't feel like asking a certain someone about it." Replied Elif, while eyeing Illumia halfway through talking.

"Well then, before you leave, let me take care of a little something." Stated Maria, who, when finished talking, stretched out her hand, resulting in a large golden palm appearing in the air, before heading right towards the group of guards picked by Elif.

Seeing mother manifest a giant golden palm shocked me, as I've only ever seen them do things like teleportation, and while I knew mother and father were powerful, I've never seen them display their might, so I was excited to see what was going to happen. Right before the giant golden palm was about to squish them, it stopped right above them while grabbing hold of one of the Elves in the back, he tried fighting back by releasing an attack as well, but when it hit Mothers golden palm, it instantly got destroyed, the hand then closed, trapping the Elf in there before everything suddenly disappeared.

"There, everything is taken care of." Said Maria with a smile of satisfaction, though secretly happy at how Elif looked at her with admiration.

"Mother, how'd you do that!? Can you teach me!?" Asked Elif in excitement, hoping he won't get the same answer he got when he asked them to teach him how to teleport people.

"What I used was an offensive technique called Royal Elf's Palm, and yes, you can learn it; the details of the technique are in the Royal Library." Answered Maria, as she showed the technique again by picking Elif up with it before setting him back down.

"That's amazing! I'm definitely going to learn this when I return from exploring Yggdrasil!" Stated Elif, while imagining himself slapping a certain maid.

"Well, Elif, you better hurry and explore the city because time is ticking as I expect you back in the castle shortly after sundown; also, here you go; since you're going out, you're going to need this medallion." Declared Maria as she manifested a shiny golden medallion with a purple star emblem on the surface before throwing it to Elif.

Catching the medallion, I examine it and realize that the purple star emblem is the same as the one on my forehead; I was about to ask mother what's the purpose of the medallion though that seemed to be unnecessary.

"Showing that medallion informs everyone that you're part of the Royal Family; think of it as a way to identify yourself, and it'll make it much more convenient when you're out exploring the city." Answered Maria.

"Thanks, mother; also, could you tell me where I can get a carriage?" Asked Elif as he put the medallion in his dimension ring.

Feeling information being transferred directly to my head via divine sense, I thank mother one last time before heading out of the throne room, walking in the direction of the stables, with Illumia and the group of Royal guards following right behind me after giving a bow to mother.