Princess Ariel

Corpses scattered across the ambushed site, both from bandits and bodyguards for the carriage. A few bandits still left alive after they killed the remaining guards, only the maid and the princess inside the carriage.

The maid though suffered a wound on her ankle coated with poison a low ranking Detoxification Magic can't heal. As desperate as she was to protect the Princess with her life, the tip of her sword pointed at the enemies, hiding the Princess behind her back.

"Well would you look at that? When I look at you closely, this maid is a looker!" The leader of the bandits declared, holding the sword in his hand leisurely.

"Boss, after you have your fun. How about we take turns with her? And then let's sell her somewhere to a slave merchant?"

Vulgar words exchanged before the bandits as they laughed at the circumstances of the pitiful maid and the Princess.

Just then as the circumstances were dire for the victims, a voice interrupted them enough for the bandits to stop their laughter.

"I can see that you villains had malicious intentions to do on a woman and a child. I don't really appreciate what you're doing."

"Who's there!" the bandit leader looked around and didn't see anyone. That includes his lackeys remaining alerted from the sudden intruder.

Even the maid and the princess didn't see anyone in the area. It was as if the sound from his voice came from all sides.

"Above you." Mimir's voice warned them in the preemptive attack coming from above forming spherical ball of magical attacks from each of the main four elements.

".!!"

The moment the leader noticed the origin of the voice, each of the bandits were hit with magic killing them in an instant.

"Damn you!" The leader who was more skillful than his lackeys was able to evade the attacks at hair's breadth.

"Too bad I have more for you."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....!!" Suddenly the ground below the Fett of the bandit leader crumbled like a fissure forming as it swallowed him down the depths of the Earth.

It's like the attack itself was a natural disaster from an Earthquake, just that it wasn't indiscriminate on the target, specifically aimed at a single person.

Next moment with a tap of his magic staff, the corpses in the fields that belonged to the bandits were burned without ashes remaining. It only occurred merely in an instant without collateral damage from the intense heat from his masterful way of using Fire Magic.

"Hello ladies, sure gotten yourselves into some trouble huh." When he finished his introduction, he gave them a curious look.

He noticed the wound the maid recieved from her ankle. From Mimir's observation, she was already deeply poisoned for a long time that it paralyzed some of her movements.

Mimir used Healing magic on the wound, but only enough to stop it from bleeding. It would need a high ranking spell to fully heal the wound, but that would take some time. He could also use a potion to fully recover the wounds in an instant too in his dimensional storage. But wether it was Healing or Potions, it would require a lot of money to pay for it.

The maid knowing that they have just been saved by Mimir said, "Thank you very much for saving us. My name is Lilia, a combat maid serving the Princess, Ariel Anemoi Asura."

"A princess, you say?"

"I am the 2nd Princess of the Asura Kingdom, Ariel Anemoi Asura. As a member of the Royal Family, you have my utmost gratitude for saving my life. I'll grant you the reward that will satisfy you with your good deed." The young princess Ariel curtsied and gave her thanks to Mimir.

Despite her young age, she was well educated and had the etiquette to act in a way not to dishonor the Royal Family's name.

"Oh gosh, what a charming young lady we have here. I desire no such thing." Facing Royalty, Mimir wasn't fazed at all chuckled.

The maid Lilia was scrutinizing Mimir from head to toe. From his good looking appearance that stands out with white hair and blue eyes, it's a familiar description on a certain man famous around the world.

"Excuse me sir, if you could please give us your name...?"

Realizing his mistake, Mimir cleared his throat, "Oh forgive me for the lack of manners, I still haven't introduced myself didn't I? The name is Mimir Helvig Asgeir, just a simple wandering Mage."

Mimir gave Ariel a gentle smile. Though he looked really young, Mimir's smile stirred the young princess's heart.

"A wandering Mage..." Ariel muttered, her pupils reflected the white handsome prince charming in filter.

She'd heard of handsome valiant men saving a damsel in distress in plays in theaters and children's story books. As a young girl as she was and a real life princess, her fantasies made her heart flutter. Wether it's love or admiration, only time will tell.

"That white hair and eyes, together with an unmatched display of magic power. Are you the 'Sage'?" Lilia asked.

That question made the corners of Mimir's mouth curl awkwardly. He already anticipated they would connect him with that name.

"Sometimes people do call me by that nickname. But I'm not really that knowledgeable or wise as they say." Mimir told them honestly.

He's just an ordinary person that was more knowledgeable after his adventures in his journey. And the amount of time he spent on training and research made him a more formidable Mage than average, if he put it modestly...

"By the way, I've burnt all the bodies from the bandits, would you like me to do the same to the guards?" Mimir asked the maid named Lilia.

"You can put them on the side of the road. Once we get back to the Capital, we would send soldiers to recover their bodies. The weapons and horses will be coming back with us. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in gathering them together." Lilia said.

Though he ended up saving them, Lilia was shamelessly asking for assistance for Mimir to help them.

Knowing how this will lead into a troublesome situation, he sighed internally. From the very beginning Mimir already knows how this situation will end up for him. But even with that, he won't regret his decision to save them from an unfortunate fate.

'I could just ask some Asuran Gold Coins for reward then.' With that set in mind, Mimir agreed to help them.

"Understood. Then I'll take it that I will have to escort both of you and her Highness back to the Capital?" Mimir said.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Making our benefactor go unrewarded would invite malicious rumors against the Princess's honor, I simply would like to avoid." Lilia answered truthfully.

Mimir curiously eyes to the Princess Ariel, she also stared at Mimir. From the looks of her eyes, he could tell that she had gone through so much even as young as she was. "How old is her Highness?"

"Princess Ariel is three years old."

"Must be tough being Royalty." Mimir said with pitied eyes.

When he was three, he remembered blasting an entire forest burning it down with magic with an Advanced Fire Magic. He thought during that time it would be fun playing with fire in a forest killing the monsters in it, just like how kids use magnifying glass with sunlight to burn ants to death. Although Mimir was a mini nuclear weapon, his innocence from being a three years old was there.

Meanwhile the Princess Ariel before him doesn't have the purity in her eyes like normal kids have anymore. After facing several assassination attempts, of course she would learn the harshness of this world at such a young age.

After collecting the weapons and armors from the bodies on the guards, the three went on their way to the Capital.