The First Battle

After that, a year passed, and I turned 4 years old.

As the months passed, William turned 5 and Katerine 4, just like me.

During the months, Princess Ryza constantly ran away from her castle to go to the village, no matter how risky it was, no one could see that she was here.

However, I made it a condition that she had to return home early and not run away every day, so as not to create suspicion.

So, we made a kind of schedule of when she would escape the castle.

William also started to return to the kingdom with me to say goodbye to Ryza, so I had to teach him all the stealth techniques...

Ryza is the oldest among us. She is already 6 years old, which makes her easier to deal with. She has a great appreciation for me and listens to me most of the time.

Returning to the kingdom, I leave Ryza near the castle as usual. William just stands behind me, watching.

Am I forgetting something?

Strange... I could swear something is missing.

When I find myself asking these questions, Ryza looks at me anxiously.

I move closer to try to make sense of this confusion.

"Where is Foguinho??" She asks me with a bit of desperation.

You're right! The dog!

I was sure he was coming back with us...

"I could have sworn he was with you!" I answer.

"He suddenly disappeared..."

Foguinho is not one to be lost, he is always by our side and is obedient...

He may have been kidnapped!

"Quickly, Ryza, enter the castle and tell your parents, they will know what to do. In the meantime, I'm going to look for Foguinho." I say and walk away as Ryza enters the castle.

"William." I call my brother to come closer. "Do you remember when was the last time you saw Foguinho?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't remember seeing him when we entered the kingdom..." He says.

They must have caught it when we were in the alleys.

Where is he?

Are we late?

The kingdom has four gates, one at each cardinal point.

"Let's split up, I'll search east and north, and you search south and west!" I don't wait for William to respond and head east.

"Understood!" I hear William say.

I need to activate my Mana Radar...

I need to identify anyone who is in a suspicious place.

Nowadays, I can cover up to 5.5 meters (18.0 ft.) without spending mana in an unbalanced way.

It's getting late, the sun will probably set in a few minutes. We need to be quick.

I look from alley to alley, hotel to hotel, as quickly as I can, looking for anyone who looks suspicious, anyone who dresses differently, acts differently, anything!

After a few minutes of searching, I see the guards moving around in an agitated manner. Ryza has probably already spoken to the king!

But I can't find anything; there are no suspicious people...

I should probably go outside the kingdom to look for someone who is running away.

At the same moment, I pass by observing an alley and see a hooded person, appearing to be watching the movement of the guards.

"You there!" I instinctively spoke, not even approaching the person in question.

Before I could take any action, this hooded figure starts running away from me.

Now there is no doubt, this person knows something!

I don't have time for theories!

I take out my magic wand that I keep in my pocket, quickly aim at the person, and conjure a stone thorn.

I cast it on that person as I move towards them.

The thorn hits he and destroys instantly.

The hooded man falls to the ground, and I manage to have him within my reach. But he unexpectedly gets up and raises his fist to punch me!