36 Princess Eva
**I think I have to kiss you at this point. Shoutouts to SnusDax once again for giving the book more powerstones! This ones for you!**
Third Person POV
Atlas wasn't standing there doing nothing while Jennie prepared. He was preparing his own spell. He had gathered another giant ball of mana above him. He had plans to unleash one of his trump cards as well. When he felt Jennie's mana mix into the air, he looked up to see that he had earth spikes circling him. The spikes then flew right at him.
Atlas was ready. He released some mana from his body. When the mana was released, it turned into air and pushed away all the spikes. Jennie hadn't expected this which caused her to lose concentration for a second. This was enough for Atlas to unleash his spell.
[Elemental Beast Summon!]
Atlas had turned his ball of mana into a fire phoenix. It was at least double the size of Atlas.
(Just to be aware, the fire spirit was not controlling the phoenix. Atlas only had it do that last time since he needed to buy time. A mindless phoenix is weaker than a controlled one.)
"Let's go Jennie! You wanted to know about my affinities as well, right? I can use all four!!" Atlas could see Jennie's shocked face. He wanted to go all out since she went all out as well.
He had the phoenix dive bomb towards Jennie but he then sees something that worries him. Jennie had suddenly fell down. It looked as if she was struggling to get up.
'Fuck Jennie might die from this!'
Atlas sent his mana forward as fast as he could, preparing a power water spell. The mana he sent was going as fast as it could, but it looks as if he won't be able to reach Jennie in time.
'NOO!'
Then a giant water dragon appeared! It was at least triple the size of Atlas' phoenix. It looked at the phoenix and roared. The water roar that came out was so powerful that it extinguished the phoenix by itself.
Atlas POV
I looked over to the girls to see if they had anything to do with the dragon. May waved back at me while smiling. I couldn't help but sigh. I ran to May and the others. Noel jumped on me the moment I got close.
"Oh my gosh!!! You were so fast! So strong!! What the heck!!! Why can't I be 10 years old already?!?! I want to train too!!"
Noel was losing it. I tried to calm her down but she just kept bouncing around. I had to use my mana to hold her still.
"We still have to wait Noel. No matter how much you want to train. Be patient, okay?"
"Hmph. Fine." May laughed at Noel.
"Come on Noel, you can go to work with me today. You can watch the people that come and go so that you can learn a few things from them. Is that okay Atlas?"
"Yeah, that's okay." I lean in to tell May that I want to speak to her alone really quick. She nods and we walk off to the side.
"May, remember how I told you about what happened to me those 10 years and how I made a promise?"
"Yeah, I remember."
I proceed to tell her about what happened last night. The main point I wanted to get across was that I found Abe's family but they might need to live with us for a bit. May seemed to be worried if they could be trusted but then I try to explain to her about the eternal slave mark and how I want to free them from it. May agreed that they should be released. After more thinking, she agreed to allow the two to live with us.
"Okay then, I'm going to go talk with them. I hope you can meet with them after just to reassure them."
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Olivia POV
Last night I still couldn't sleep well. Even though Atlas had rescued all of us and that man was finally dead… I couldn't rest. I tried my hardest but I kept seeing that disgusting man.
"Mommy! Let's eat!"
My little girl. My little Katherine had woken up. I turned on my mommy face and picked her up.
"Let's go Katherine. Let's go say hello to the princess."
We left the room and headed down to the first floor. Everyone else who was saved by Atlas was already eating breakfast. Everyone was laughing and finally returning to their former selves. I sit down at the only empty table. The boy who led us here came over to our table.
"Good morning, ma'am! We only have gravy biscuits and sausage available for breakfast. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes, that's okay. Please if you have some milk or juice, could you bring it for my daughter?"
"I will ma'am."
The boy runs off to the kitchen. I look around one more time. It looks like the princess and the man with her aren't here yet. Almost on cue, the princess and the man came down at once. She walked over to our table and was going to sit down, I had to get up.
"Princess Eva! Sir Zen!"
I had to make sure Katherine was standing as well. Princess Eva was the princess of the Beast Kingdom, our home. Of course, we needed to show our respects.
"Please, Mrs. Olivia. There's no need. I'm a slave now just as you."
"Don't say that princess! I will talk to Atlas. I will make sure he releases you too!"
The princess was known as a brat. She was spoiled and always got her way. It was those tendencies that got her caught and sold by her own brother. Those few years as a slave humbled her. She was treated like trash. Many times, she was almost forced into doing things she didn't want but she had met Sir Zen early. From what she told me, Sir Zen had protected her so her owners were too scared to touch her. She ended up being passed around until she ended up with the Baron.
"Zen thanks you ma'am. If Sir Atlas could help Eva, then Zen will be grateful."
(Zen refers to himself in third person. Yes, there is a reason for this, not just a quirk.)
Princess Eva and Sir Zen sits down, Katherine and I sit down after. I call out to the boy to bring food for the two as well.
"So, Mrs. Olivia, you said that you will be meeting with Atlas again today? Could we also meet him with you? I wanted to ask him some questions."
"Of course, princess. Atlas should be here soon. Let's try to finish our meal before he does."
The four of us continue chatting and eating as we prepare to meet Atlas.
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Atlas POV
I finally reached the inn that everyone was staying at. I could see some of them sitting outside, smiling and laughing. It was good to see them all finally smile.
"Good morning, everyone!"
"Good morning, sir!"
I walked around and talked to everyone. There was a family of four. The husband and wife couldn't pay the land they anymore so they were sold off along with their kids. There was a pair of siblings who were sold off together. They were kidnapped when they were delivering cargo for their father's business. The siblings have offered the family of four to work under their business so it seems like they will continue to work together.
The six adventures had plans to return to their line of work as soon as they could. They actually asked me to join the adventure's guild so they could do quests with me. I told them that I joined the commoner's guild after I was rejected by the adventure's guild. They were mad and said they would make sure no one there would talk bad about me.
"Has anyone seen Olivia? I don't see her anywhere?"
"She's still inside, she's with her daughter and two other people inside!"
One of the girls told me where Olivia was. I thanked her as I went inside the inn.
Olivia was sitting at a table with her daughter and two others. A man and a woman. Olivia looked my way when she saw me so I walked over to introduce myself to the two other strangers.
"Morning Atlas, please sit down. We were just talking about you." I sat next to Olivia. I glanced at the other two people. The woman was a beastkin. She seemed to be a lion demi-human. She had beautiful blonde hair and had a sense of elegance to her. The man was a human. He had very dark red hair. He looked up at me with his hazel eyes. He gave me the aura of someone strong.
"Olivia, have you thought about what I said last night?"
"I have, I will go with you. Please release my daughter and myself from these shackles."
"I will try my hardest Olivia," I couldn't help but look at the other two adults here. They've been sitting their quietly. "By the way, who are these two?"
"Ah yes! Sorry-."
"Please Olivia allow us to introduce ourselves."
Olivia seems to want to argue it but stayed quiet when the girl she saw was being adamant.
"Please to meet you Sir Atlas, my name is Princess Eva. And this man here is Sir Zen."
OH! Princess Eva?
"Nice to meet you, Princess Eva. I've been searching for you as well." I couldn't help but get up and kneel down in front of her. She was royalty after all.
"Please! Sir Atlas get up. I am just a slave now." She pulled me up and asked me a question. "Sir Atlas, you said you were looking for me? Why's that?"
"Princess. Your mother has asked me to look for you when I left the Beast Kingdom. I told her that I would look for you, it seems I didn't need to look far."
The princess gets up. "Mother asked you to look for me?! I was kidnapped and forgotten! Why would she want to look for me now?!"
Everyone was silent and looking at her. I didn't expect such an outburst like that. The princess realized everyone was looking at her. She sat back down, trying to recover the image she had before. I go ahead and say something to her.
"Princess. Did you not know about what happened in the Beast Kingdom?"
"Did something happen in the Beast Kingdom?!" Both the princess and Olivia asked at the same time.
*sigh*
"Please allow me to explain."
I tell them about Prince Saul's takeover. How he executed the second prince and how he locked up the queen and his youngest brother. I also tell them about the King's death. At this point the princess was crying uncontrollably. The man next to her showed no emotions but he tried to calm her down. I didn't tell her that the king was actually assassinated by her brother. She was already having a hard time. I tell them about my fight with the prince and how after the fight, the royale family was back in power.
"Why… why did I think that they didn't care for me anymore!? I thought I was suffering alone but they had it just as hard as I did." The princess was still crying. Olivia had calmed herself down.
"Atlas. I know it isn't my place to say this but could the princess travel with us as well?"
"Why is that? I already freed her. She can go home whenever she wants."
"No…"
"Don't tell me???"
I look over to the princess. This isn't good. She has the eternal slave mark as well? The princess looked at me. Still crying.
"Please Sir Atlas! If you could remove Olivia and her daughter's mark then you could remove mine as well?! I can't return to mother as a slave!"
Shit. Do I tell Ivory about everything? She should be told; this does involve her only daughter. But in the end, I thought it would be better not to tell her. She already has the kingdom to rebuild, I shouldn't put more stress on her.
"Alright. You can travel with us princess. I will tell your mother. I will make sure to not bring up your slave mark." I look over at the only other man.
"Zen, right? Do you have a place to return to? I can give you some money to start a new life elsewhere."
Zen shook his head.
"Zen wishes to follow the princess for life."
"Oh? Are you her guard or something?" Princess Eva answered for him this time.
"Zen protected me these last few years. I want to have him as my guard from now on. Is it okay if he comes with us?"
"Hmmm. If you trust him then I don't mind as well. But you must take responsibility for him if something happens."
The princess nods so I went ahead and got up. I let them know that we will be going back to the place I was living at once they finish packing. I went back outside to meet the others.
With the four inside leaving with me, that left 12 other people. I gave the siblings 5 gold each so they can travel back. The family was leaving with the siblings but I went ahead and gave them 100 gold coins.
"Sir!! This is far too much money."
"Please, just take it. Use it to start your new lives over. Think of it as a parting gift."
The couple reluctantly takes the money. The family of four and the two siblings were going back to the Beast Kingdom.
I gave each of the girl adventures 10 gold each. It was so they could gather armor and weapon to be able to go on quests once again. Everyone gave me one last goodbye as they all left. I could only hope for their success as they begin anew.
The remaining four were already outside when I finished.
"Follow me, lets go to our new home."
