Today was an important day. I wasn't exactly sure what my task would entail, but I would do my very best to make sure that I completed it perfectly.
I had chosen my outfit with that in mind with a completely black outfit and a mask to hide my identity.
I didn't want to be recognized by my employer later on since they should also be part of the Royal Academy. It would only cause trouble if they were to find out about my abilities, especially if they were a student.
Rumors about me was the last thing I wanted.
'I think this is the place,' I muttered to myself.
[8 AM, Feryn Village]
That was the note the headmistress had given me before I left yesterday.
Feryn was a small village located quite far away from the Royal Capital, since it had taken me around five hours to reach it using a horse.
'Who could require protection here?'
The village was deserted and clearly lacked some love. Most of the houses were on the verge of falling apart. There was trash all over the place, with even children sleeping outside.
Still, I didn't think much of it.
There was only a small problem. I had no idea what my client looked like. The headmistress had refused to give me any information under the pretext that I would know when I saw the said person.
'What a load of bullshit.'
There was not the slightest trace of mana in the air.
Not a single person here was remarkable.
Just as I was about to sit down on a random wooden barrel, loud noises reached my ears. I knew right away what was coming toward the village.
'Five horses and a large carriage,' I smirked. 'It seems my client has arrived.'
I quietly moved in their direction. However, I made sure to stay hidden from their sight. After all, there was a chance they would try to attack me on the spot. I had no idea if the headmistress had warned them of my arrival beforehand.
Jumping onto a tree branch without making a single noise, I looked from afar, listening in on their conversation.
"Is she sleeping?" one of the three knights asked.
"I think so. To think that we would have to drug her," another replied.
"Who knew princesses were such headaches?"
I frowned upon hearing those words.
From the way they were dressed, the three of them seemed to be knights or mercenaries hired to protect the person inside the carriage. But... they had clearly been hiding their intentions.
'Should I take them out?'
'I can keep the driver since I have no idea how to get back to the Royal Capital.'
I nodded to myself and made my choice.
Luckily for me, the sun was still in the process of rising, which created many shadows all around the carriage and the horses. It would greatly facilitate this whole operation since I would be able to use [Shadow Manipulation].
I grabbed the [Training Dagger] I had kept from the Lix Estate and pulled it out of my private subspace.
I continued watching from afar as the carriage stopped and the three individuals all began approaching it. Luckily, most of them had their guard down since their target was asleep. It seemed the headmistress hadn't mentioned my arrival, which would make things easier.
'Maybe she knew something like this would happen,' I thought to myself as I glanced around. 'There's even a chance that she might be watching from far away.'
However, I doubted it. She wasn't someone who could waste time like this. As long as the person in the carriage arrived safely at the Royal Academy, then all would be fine, and I would have managed my original goal of joining it.
[Shadow Manipulation]
In an instant, I found myself behind one of the three attackers and knocked him out with a heavy blow to the nape.
The driver and the two others immediately jumped in surprise when they saw me.
'Why would an important individual be protected by those guys. They're barely C-Rank Mercenaries and there's only three of them...'
"Who are you, kid!" one of them said. "Get out of here before something bad happens."
'They're underestimating me. Good.'
[Shadow Manipulation]
I spotted a shadow behind them and immediately teleported.
However, before I could knock one of them out, the two of them jumped out of the way.
"He can teleport, be careful!"
The two of them glanced at each other and suddenly realized something.
"W-Wait, are you here to kidnap the princess too?!"
I stayed quiet. However, they seemed to think that my silence meant yes, as they continued speaking.
"We're on the same side. If you want, we can give you a share of our money for the request. No need to fight at all!"
I stayed still.
"How about 20 gold? That's a third of what we were promised by kidnapping the princess."
'60 gold for C-Rank Mercenaries... There's definitely something fishy about this whole situation. Is this the headmistress's plan to test me? She wants to see if I will betray her?'
I simply couldn't make sense of the situation at all. Nevertheless, there was no time to think.
I used [Shadow Manipulation] again. However, this time, I didn't give them any chance. As I teleported into the shadow behind them, I swung my dagger at both of their ankles, making it impossible for the two of them to move.
In an instant, all of the mercenaries except the driver were unable to fight anymore, which meant that it was finally time for me to ask a few questions.
While the two mercenaries started wining on the ground, I approached the carriage with my usual deadpan expression.
I was somewhat excited to see who'd be inside.
But, then when I opened the door, my eyes widened.
Never in a million years, did I expect to find her here...