12 Intermission 2: Lily Grphyn Gransus

We received a letter from Jack Evergreen today. In it he explained a rather interesting situation. He seemed to have found a homeless member of the demon race. Not just any member either, he found a skill holder. The letter explained the demon's skill and the raw power it possessed.

I was immediately interested. My younger brother, the sixth prince Thomas Leore Gransus, had been drumming up more and more political power. Meanwhile, the first and second princes are away fighting at Fort Clyfton. If I could bring another skill holder into my political faction—especially a powerful one—we could suppress Thomas from further abusing the current state of things in the Capital.

I set out immediately, deciding to move with only two trusted bodyguards. I didn't want this new skill holder to become common knowledge until I had a chance to meet and potentially sway her over to my side. From the letter, she was apparently around my age, but with the demon race you never knew about these things. She could very well have been older than my grandmother.

Lucky for us, I was currently stationed in the town of Lartree. Eastrock was only a few days away by horseback. Jack mentioned sending the girl off with his son in an easy-to-spot carriage. We'd meet them soon.

-

I woke in the morning to the sounds of howling on the wind. My guards looked to be in a panic. A pack of Devil Hounds were moving towards us. I quickly jumped into my saddle and slapped the reins down, digging my heels into the stirrups in the process. Both guards followed suit.

It didn't take long for the pack of Devil Hounds to catch up to us. Their behavior was terribly strange. They were clearly pursuing our group. Was I going to die like this? I couldn't afford to die here! Gransus was on the verge of a civil war! If I died here many citizens would die under my brother's thumb.

He wanted power purely for the sake of power alone. He had that snake of an advisor, Phanedor, whispering in his ears, giving him ideas of suppressing the populace and raising armies to conquer The Forgotten Lands. Such an act was akin to political suicide normally, but my brother's iron fisted approach was keeping the naysayers at bay.

If my brother ever managed to get the writ of succession, I was afraid all of Gransus would fall. The Forgotten Lands had at least three known rank 4 beasts. There were probably more we didn't know about. We saw the power of rank 4 beasts when a Dragon Baer wiped out three entire armies around twelve years ago.

I couldn't die here. If I did the country would die with me.

-

There was a tremendous flash. My savior arrived. It wasn't a knight in shining armor like the children's tales speak of; it was a girl. It was a beautiful demon girl.

She wiped out the entire pack of Devil Hounds in a single moment. I quickly dismounted and my guards followed suit. We all were interested in this hero that had come to our aid.

I spoke to the girl in shock, stuttering like a fame-struck child meeting their hero for the first time.

The girl turned towards us and started walking. Her eyes were like daggers, staring straight through my guard Remus.

Then, she flicked him. I couldn't even react to the speed. I could barely follow it with my eyes. Remus collapsed in a heap like a puppet with his strings cut.

I tried to say something, but she refuted me. She walked to one of his travel packs and opened it, revealing a tiny ball of fur. It was a Devil Hound… A puppy.

Everything made sense in that instant. Remus betrayed me. He was trying to use the Devil Hounds to assassinate me. I wondered how long he'd been working for Thomas? I quickly had Bevil tie the traitorous scum up.

I was finally afforded a chance to think. It was only now that I realized the girl fit Jack's description to the letter. Off in the distance I could even make out the carriage…

He said she could use -a- skill? I'm certain she used at least three in front of me! I'd heard rumors that the demon race tended to be more powerful than humans, but wasn't this just too much? Imagine how powerful we could become, as a country, if we could get an alliance with the Northern Continent? Perhaps this girl could even become the key to opening negotiations!

It was only now that I finally noticed the girl's expression. She looked ready to cry while she held the puppy…

I approached her and asked if the animal was okay. Her reply was blunt. She said she was going to try and heal it, but she didn't know healing magic. I could only wince at that. There was currently only one person in the entire Gransus Kingdom who could use Healing Magic… It was a skill so difficult to master that most couldn't accomplish it with a lifetime of training.

I stepped back, expecting the failure.

Then I watched a powerful demon, a creature capable of wiping out an entire horde of rank 3 magic beasts, break down and cry.

It hurt my heart. I wanted to hug her and tell her it would be okay, but I didn't. My feet wouldn't move. I realized, then, just how terrified I really was of her, and I hated myself for it. I was an awful person.

Once she finished crying, the girl stood up and spoke of washing off in the river. I wanted to stop her, but she already vanished from my sight. I guess, thinking about it logically, it wasn't like there were any beasts in the forest that could pose a threat to her. Still, I wished I could have at least comforted her a bit.

I was still in shock from everything that happened, but that wasn't an excuse to do nothing. I looked over the scene of the battle and could only feel awe at the sight. There were at least 40 of the Devil Hound corpses lying on the highway.

I walked to the side of the road and touched the control layer of brick. Using my mana, I made the highway start to clear the obstructions. Someone had to clean up the mess and, from the looks of things, it was better if the demon girl didn't see this again.

I took the reigns to the horses with my remaining bodyguard, and we made our way to the carriage in the distance.

I couldn't stop my mind from thinking about the scenes that played out. Just how powerful was this girl? There was no feasible way to bring someone like her into my political faction. Besides, she cried over the death of a single Devil Hound. She was far too kind to be of any use in the political game. I could never use her as an assassin or fighter for my merit.

I made the decision, at that moment, that—instead of using this girl—I'd befriend her. She saved my life. The least I could do was keep the other political parties away from her, to keep the wolves away. If I made them think she was part of my organization, even if she really wasn't, then no one would touch her. Not even Thomas would dare try to assassinate someone in my circle. He knew too well how I'd respond.

Yes. I would protect this girl. I, the weak princess, would protect this world-shaking demon. It was almost funny when I thought of it like that… But it was the least I could do in exchange for my life debt. Maybe we'd even become friends on this journey to the Capital.