From a mere village girl to the life of a royal bodyguard.
First, her entire wardrobe was replaced.
The mantle, boots, and gloves that the deceased guardian mage had used.
"Gale Boots" that allowed the wearer to run at several times normal speed.
The "Sweltering Mantle," which blocked heat and kept the user at a constant temperature.
The "Crushing Gauntlets," which halved the impact received by the palms.
Every last one of them was an artifact imbued with magic.
And then there was the undergarment newly tailored for Sylphiette—a "Steel-Silk Corset."
This was made from anti-blade fiber. While it couldn't withstand a blow from a Sword God-style sword, it could shrug off thrown knives without so much as a scratch.
Beyond that, there was a magical tool that changed color to warn when a specific person was in danger, indicating that person's direction.
The "Distress" sunglasses.
They concealed her face while simultaneously allowing her to instantly detect any threat to the princess.
These pieces of equipment were all exceptional.
Any adventurer would give their right arm to have them.
There had also been a suggestion to give her a staff, but Sylphiette refused.
The beginner staff she currently used was a gift from
It was her sole possession.
And so, she did not want to part with it.
When a mage who had one-shot the Terminat Boar with a beginner staff said she didn't need anything else, no one pressed the matter.
Her diet changed dramatically as well.
Back in
That was what Sylphiette understood meals to be.
Her family may have been poor, but Buena Village was part of the Kingdom of
Now, however, she was eating the cuisine of the Asura royal court.
Snow-white, pillowy bread. Rich, hearty soup loaded with ingredients.
Meat and fish prepared with generous amounts of spices and slow-cooked to perfection.
And on top of that, fresh vegetable salads and even dessert.
It was far too luxurious for Sylphiette's taste.
That said, even these lavish meals were still only what a bodyguard ate—several tiers below what the high nobility dined on.
Lower, even, than what Rook, her fellow bodyguard, received.
But compared to meals in Buena Village, the difference was heaven and earth.
For Sylphiette, it was a life straight out of a dream.
If she had any complaint at all, it was that she had little free time.
Even so, she managed to find moments to train her body and practice magic.
Naturally, she worried about Buena Village and about Rudeus.
Information was being gathered, but James Boreas
Minister Darius had taken action and lent his support to a man named Alphonse—once the butler of Sauros—to help establish a refugee camp, but the outlook was bleak.
Sylphiette insisted on going to search for them herself, but this was rejected.
"You need only carry out your duties as a bodyguard and wait," she was told.
And so Sylphiette did as she was told, performing her bodyguard duties.
At first, she made mistake after mistake.
Especially when appearing in public.
No matter how much etiquette she had learned, she could not execute every last detail flawlessly.
She fumbled her table manners, botched greetings in the hallways, and erred at formal ceremonies as well.
Her mistakes became targets of mockery for the nobles aligned against the second princess.
"Even a prodigy boy, it seems, cannot master every last mannerism."
Not outright, perhaps, but the malice was unmistakable.
It reminded Sylphiette of the time she had been bullied.
Her legs nearly gave out.
But she did not collapse.
Because the insults being hurled were not about her.
They were directed at Rudeus.
For Sylphiette, that was something she could not tolerate.
Rudeus—Rudeus would have handled even this situation with ease.
She had to become someone who could stand alongside that Rudeus.
Thinking this, a fierce heat welled up from within her chest.
From then on, she moved with meticulous care to never repeat the same mistake twice.
If she didn't understand something, she asked immediately and practiced it over and over.
She even revised her speech, changing her pronoun to "boku," imitating Rudeus and carrying herself in a more masculine manner.
The person who received this change most favorably was Rook.
He was, by his own and everyone else's admission, a womanizer.
His motto was to observe women carefully and analyze their preferences in order to win them over.
Because he observed so closely, he was able to identify the good qualities people possessed.
That was his special skill—though it was limited to women, of course.
Rook saw the earnestness in Sylphiette.
A dedication that noble women did not possess.
A dogged determination to fix her gaze on a single point and keep striving toward it.
Watching Sylphiette make her efforts, Rook naturally fell into the role of supporting her.
He quietly filled in where she was lacking, quietly taught her what she didn't understand, and when anything came up, supported her from the shadows.
From the shadows—this was precisely what made him so popular.
Sylphiette noticed this.
But she did not fall for Rook.
There was no room in her heart for anyone other than Rudeus.
Rook, for his part, had no interest in the flat-as-a-board body type that the long-eared race was known for.
Instead, what sprouted between the two of them was a peculiar kind of friendship.
Rook had few friends.
Born into House Notos and dragged by his father's foolish judgment into the faction backing the second princess, he had been appointed guardian knight on account of his similar age, and had spent his days in rigorous training.
There was no one he could call an equal—only those who looked down on him and those who looked up.
Even Sylphiette's predecessor, the guardian mage Derrick, could hardly be called an equal when considering the gap in age and experience.
Among all of this, Sylphiette was the only one who could truly be called his equal.
She was, for him, perhaps the only real friend he had ever had.
--- Behind this growing friendship with Rook, Sylphiette was also deepening her bond with Ariel.
However, the very first exchange between them was anything but gentle.
At the time, Ariel was an extreme sadist.
A girl who felt excitement at the act of hurting others.
This stemmed from having been nearly assassinated numerous times during her childhood, but that is a story for another time.
At first, Ariel would order the maids attending her to clean the floors completely naked, and strike the young page boys with her riding crop.
She was, in a word, a bully who preyed on the weak.
Of course, she gradually learned to conceal this perversion, but within the court it was already common knowledge.
Ariel had initially targeted only the weak, but over time she lost interest in them and became drawn to the "strong."
The thrill of watching the "strong" bow before her power and position, unable to resist.
That was what began to excite her.
Rook did not measure up.
He made no effort to show Ariel his strength.
This was rooted in his feelings toward Ariel, but we will set that aside.
The same was true of Sylphiette's predecessor, the guardian mage Derrick.
Neither of them ever showed any strength to their mistress, Ariel.
They were nothing but obedient.
They showed no mental fortitude, no defiance—and that meant they were not to Ariel's "taste."
That said, it was precisely because they were not to her "taste" that they were able to fulfill their role as bodyguards.
And Sylphiette?
She had killed the Terminat Boar in a single blow with silent-cast magic.
She was working desperately hard in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, following unfamiliar customs.
She was exactly Ariel's type.
Her magical skill.
Her young age.
Her snow-white hair.
Her long ears.
Her single-minded earnestness.
And the fact that she apparently had a man she was interested in.
All of it was to Ariel's taste.
Ariel's taste, yes—but even Ariel held herself back at first.
After all, Sylphiette had saved her life.
She was her savior.
Ariel still remembered the terror of facing the Terminat Boar head-on.
If the guardian mage hadn't shoved her aside, Ariel's head would have burst, scattering brain matter everywhere.
If Rook hadn't shielded her, her chest and abdomen would have been separated.
And if Sylphiette hadn't been there, both she and Rook would be dead.
The Terminat Boar was nothing like a goblin.
It would not spare a woman because of her sex or attempt to violate her.
It simply tore and devoured.
Her life had been saved. As a proud member of the Asura royal family, she had to repay that debt.
But those feelings gradually dissipated.
Every day, Sylphiette ate her meals with visible delight.
Every day, she lived with all her might.
"This is the most delicious food I've ever had"—Sylphiette would say, thanking Ariel.
In Ariel's eyes, Sylphiette looked impossibly happy.
Of course, Sylphiette had her own worries—she was naturally concerned about her parents, about Rudeus and his family.
But at the same time, Sylphiette was aware that she was "being protected by Ariel."
And that showed in her behavior.
Seeing that attitude, Ariel began to think.
Maybe this was okay.
Maybe she didn't have to hold back anymore.
That misunderstanding led Ariel down a path of outrageous behavior.
One evening, Ariel barged into Sylphiette's quarters wielding a royal-grade dildo that was a specialty of the Kingdom of Asura.
A dizzying, pink-tinged night.
No one could defy royalty.
Sylphiette's virtue hung by a thread.
Or so one might have thought—until Sylphiette fought back.
She retaliated against Ariel, who came at her with wild, crazed eyes.
She fought back in a half-mad frenzy.
Sylphiette had learned etiquette and manners.
But she possessed no particular reverence for royalty.
And Lillia had given her a fair amount of education on matters of the bedroom.
She understood that she was being assaulted.
Of course, she was grateful to Ariel.
But that and this were entirely separate matters.
Sylphiette used magic to inflict near-fatal wounds on Ariel.
If Sylphiette herself hadn't been able to use healing magic, it would have become a grave incident.
In fact, it nearly was one.
Rook, drawn by Sylphiette's screams, came rushing in.
What he saw was a battered, torn-up Ariel and Sylphiette in the process of healing her.
The person he was supposed to protect—the second princess—was in shreds.
Rook instantly grasped the situation: Ariel's bad habits had resurfaced.
At the same time, he realized this was bad.
No matter what, he couldn't shield everyone.
If Ariel gave a single order, he would have to behead Sylphiette.
He understood this on a gut level.
Rook wavered.
Should he save himself and kill his friend? Or take the gamble and protect her?
But his dilemma proved unnecessary.
"So... being hurt like this is actually quite nice, isn't it...?"
Ariel had awakened to a new perversion.
The royals and nobles of Asura were all possessed of peculiar tastes.
Masochism was no exception.
And so the entire affair was settled as if it had been nothing more than a game.
Since Ariel, the "victim," had shielded Sylphiette, the "perpetrator," the whole thing was considered perfectly natural.
Ariel never again attempted anything like that assault on Sylphiette.
That said, in any normal circumstance, one would expect Sylphiette to feel repulsed and keep her distance.
And yet, strangely, from that day forward, Sylphiette began to sense a feeling of trust from Ariel.
Having been rejected by her peers since birth, with her only friend being the unusual boy named Rudeus, Sylphiette's own young age and lack of secondary sexual development also played a role in dulling her sense of danger.
Or perhaps she was simply disarmed by the unguarded affection directed at her.
The catalyst may have been twisted, but a thread of friendship was woven between Ariel and Sylphiette all the same.
From that point on, they gradually grew closer as friends.
--- Things began to move roughly a year after the Displacement Incident.
No—things had already been moving.
Far before Sylphiette knew of it, indeed from the very day of the Displacement.
It started with the reckless claims of Lord Liston.
He had taken what was essentially a random occurrence and broadcast it as though it were the work of the First Prince.
He believed that without someone guiding them, magical beasts could never have appeared in the royal palace.
And the target he chose to blame could be anyone.
There were countless ways to frame an innocent person.
However, once it became clear that no human hand had been behind it, the situation was quite different.
He had attempted to use a calamitous disaster to tarnish his rival, and the First Prince's faction launched a furious counterattack.
Using a calamitous disaster to bring someone down.
That was something most nobles did.
But Lord Liston had miscalculated.
The fact that he had attacked the opposing faction before the disaster was even confirmed as natural in origin became his undoing.
He had left an opening.
Darius, the Senior Minister and leader of the First Prince's faction, seized the opportunity and struck at Lord Liston with everything he had.
Lord Liston's prestige collapsed.
He lost most of his territory and was demoted to a mid-level noble.
His fall dealt yet another blow to the already-weak second princess faction.
Senior Minister Darius attacked the second princess's noble supporters with relentless ferocity.
Powerful nobles lost their influence one after another; others defected. The second princess faction disintegrated.
With her key backers gone, Ariel had effectively lost her path to the throne.
But Ariel's charisma was extraordinary.
She was popular among the common people, and if left alive, she was certain to become an obstacle.
Darius urged the First Prince to send assassins to finish her off.
All her powerful allies had already been subdued, and she had no soldiers left to protect her.
A brother, sending assassins after his sister.
Securing the throne of the Kingdom of Asura meant surviving this kind of political struggle.
The current king had claimed the throne in exactly this manner.
There were no forces left to defend the second princess faction.
There were no political measures to prevent the assassination.
Ariel's life seemed to flicker on the verge of extinction.
But the assassination was stopped.
By Sylphiette's hand.
She had turned the assassins back.
It was a life-or-death battle.
If she had not been Rudeus's student, If she had not known about silent-cast composite magic and shockwave-based high-speed movement, If she had not watched him do these things up close and asked him why he did them, If she had not listened to his theories and logic and imitated them, If the opponent had not underestimated her because she was a child— Sylphiette would have lost her life.
In the end, Sylphiette survived.
She teetered between life and death for three days due to the poison used by the assassin, but by sheer luck, she pulled through without any lasting aftereffects.
Through this, the name "Fitz," belonging to Sylphiette, became widely known throughout the palace.
Some had heard the rumors of a genius boy, but many dismissed him as either a fraud or a paper tiger.
After all, guardian knights and guardian mages had existed since ancient times as bodyguards to royalty, but the vast majority were merely second or third sons of powerful nobles, serving as decoration.
When assassins were sent, they were expected to protect the royal and die nobly in the process, after which the parents would put on an elaborate show of grief—"Our son fought bravely and fell in battle!"
The royalty would then send a commendation to the noble family, strengthening their bond.
They were, in essence, sacrificial pawns—props for show.
But Sylphiette was different.
Though lacking in real combat experience, she was a mage of genuine power.
Darius himself had shown visible alarm upon hearing the report of the assassin being repelled.
The assassin that had been sent was no ordinary operative.
The First Prince's faction grew wary.
Ariel and her people, in turn, were terrified.
They realized that as long as they stayed in the palace, they would eventually be killed.
They had few allies left.
Including powerful nobles, only a handful remained at their side.
An assassin had openly appeared in a royal's chambers, and no one held it accountable.
Rather, no one even treated it as a problem.
Pilemon Notos Greyrat, the leading noble of Ariel's faction, concluded that this situation was checkmate.
"Please flee, Princess Ariel. If you stay here, you await only death."
"And what am I to do if I flee?"
"I am on good terms with Darius. I will infiltrate the First Prince's faction and weaken them from within. Your Highness should build up strength in a foreign land, gather allies, and when the time is right, return. Then we can rebuild."
Pilemon was a shrewd man.
For him, Ariel becoming queen was by far the most profitable outcome.
While keeping that path open, he had also ingratiated himself with Darius to ensure that even if Ariel died, House Notos would survive, positioning himself so that he could come out on top regardless of which way the winds blew.
Ariel knew none of this.
But it was clear that if she stayed, she would be killed.
Following his advice, she decided to flee to a distant foreign land.
There, she would build her strength, bide her time, and wait for the right moment.
Several destinations for her studies were proposed.
Major powers like the Dragon Kingdom and the Millis Holy State were among the candidates.
But Ariel chose the north.
She set her sights on Sharia, the Magic City of the
Its famed Magic Academy—one of the great magic universities of the three great magic nations.
In other countries, few would be willing to lend aid to Ariel, who had lost the political struggle in the great Kingdom of Asura.
No one wanted to pick a fight with a monstrous nation brimming with abundant resources.
But this university, where people of all races from across the world gathered—perhaps it could serve as a foothold for her restoration in the Kingdom of Asura.
Ariel had not yet given up.
On living.
And on the path to becoming queen.
It was not merely what the nobles told her.
She understood her own destiny, born as a member of the Asura royal family.
"Sylphiette, I'm sorry."
Ariel was well aware that there was no reason for Sylphiette to accompany her on this journey.
Sylphiette's name had already been almost entirely cleared.
The name of
Sauros, who had naively come to the royal capital unaware of anything, had been executed through the machinations of Pilemon and the second prince's faction.
At this point, the whereabouts of Philip and Rudeus were still unknown.
But judging by Sauros's testimony and the devotion Ariel had witnessed, Sylphiette was innocent.
She was merely a victim of the Displacement Incident.
"...Now that it has come to this, I believe you should be set free. But please—I ask you to protect my life. You are the only one I can rely on."
"I ask the same of you. My sword is still unpolished. I cannot say with confidence that I can protect Princess Ariel to the end."
Ariel and Rook bowed their heads to Sylphiette, someone of far lower station than either of them.
For her part, Sylphiette wanted to go search for her family and for Rudeus on her own.
But over the past year, she had come to consider them friends.
They were a bit odd, and her relationship with them was different from what she had with Rudeus.
But friends were friends.
Friends she could count on one hand.
"Alright. I'll protect Princess Ariel."
It may have been at this moment that Sylphiette truly became the princess's guardian mage.
--- They departed the Kingdom of Asura under the guise of studying abroad.
Their departure made it look as though they had fled the country in terror of assassination, abandoning everything behind.
Which was half true.
The First Prince, for his part, sent yet more pursuers.
He understood the danger Ariel posed.
Her charisma could be enough to win over even the Magic Guild.
Among the university's students were also the sons and daughters of Asura's nobility.
Though they were mostly second and third sons with no claim to inherit, there were countless ways for such people to become heads of their houses.
There were also royals and nobles from other nations and other races.
If Ariel, possessing extraordinary charisma, were to forge deep ties with foreign powers and return...
The First Prince's faction thought this, and launched attacks that went far beyond what was necessary.
The pursuit continued until the princess's party had crossed the borders of the Kingdom of Asura.
The remaining nobles had provided fifteen retainers, but with each ambush, one more fell.
The attack at the border crossing known as the "Crimson Dragon's Maw" was especially vicious.
Nearly ten swordsmen, supported by mages and healing priests, had been lying in wait.
All previous attacks had been nothing but preliminary maneuvers for this ambush.
But this kill formation was shattered by Sylphiette's hand.
The combat techniques Rudeus had developed using silent casting proved effective.
Sylphiette had not neglected to train her body even while carrying out her bodyguard duties.
At times, under Rook's guidance, she had also practiced with a sword.
By this point, her body had begun, ever so faintly, to be clad in a thin layer of fighting spirit.
And once they passed through the "Crimson Dragon's Maw," the attacks stopped completely.
By then, the retainers—excluding Sylphiette and Rook—had dwindled to just two.
The First Prince's faction did not have the nerve to send assassins into a foreign country beyond their reach.
Their ultimate formation had been broken, and if they couldn't eliminate their target within their own borders, they certainly had no confidence in doing so abroad.
That said, this was a miscalculation on the First Prince's part.
In truth, had they launched just two or three more attacks, the odds of Ariel being killed would have been quite high.
With no retainers willing to put their bodies on the line for the princess, Sylphiette alone could not possibly have held them off.
But it was undoubtedly Sylphiette's combat ability that led the First Prince into making this error.
From there, they made their way to the Ranoa Kingdom.
Five people, unaccustomed to traveling abroad.
Two retainers remained.
Elmoa Bluewolf.
Krissine Elrond.
Both were young girls.
The middle-aged retainers who knew the ropes of travel had already perished.
Their arrangements were poor, travel took far longer than expected, and winter arrived midway.
Wary of pursuers, they pressed on despite the villagers' warnings and nearly perished in a blizzard.
Looking like easy prey, they were ambushed repeatedly by bandits and magical beasts along the way.
But they repelled every attack.
Beyond that, countless other hardships awaited them.
When they finally arrived at the Magic City of Sharia after countless twists and turns, the bonds between them had grown stronger than ever.
They were comrades.
--- Sylphiette and the others enrolled in the Magic Academy.
The Academy and the Magic Guild welcomed the Asura royals, promising them treatment as special students.
But Ariel refused.
She chose to mingle with the ordinary students, building relationships and connections through interaction with her peers.
Ariel had calculated everything meticulously.
How could she gain power in this place?
Simply resting on her status as Asura royalty would not accomplish her grand ambition.
She had to use her pieces wisely.
First, Sylphiette would serve as bodyguard, the role of displaying Ariel's "strength."
Rook, also a bodyguard, would not display strength but rather his warmth, his relaxed demeanor, his approachability.
Ariel herself would serve as the symbol—an object of admiration and aspiration.
The two retainers, Elmoa and Krissine, were to operate in the shadows.
Sylphiette's disguise would continue as it was.
When serving as Ariel's bodyguard, it was more convenient for her to present as male.
However, emphasizing the element of "mystery" was highly effective in projecting "strength."
No face shown, no voice heard, unclear whether a boy or a girl.
An extremely powerful bodyguard who cast magic without chanting.
The fact that such a person was protecting the princess—that was what truly mattered.
It amplified the princess's presence.
And when you didn't know who you were dealing with, some would hesitate to make a move.
The two retainers' primary task was intelligence gathering.
Mixing in with the ordinary students, they collected subtle rumors, manipulated information—work as covert agents.
They would occasionally make contact through Rook's circle of admirers, bringing back intelligence.
Information on the Fittoa Region Search Party, personal details on enrolled students, the current state of the Kingdom of Asura, information on powerful adventurers in the surrounding area, and more.
Rook absorbed this information naturally, all while playing the fool.
Maintaining his approachable, easygoing persona as a fixture in everyone's daily life.
Though, being the womanizer he was, much of what he did wasn't really an act.
Rising to prominence in an unfamiliar land, among strangers with a completely different culture.
Mistakes were not permitted.
--- Gradually, Ariel began to deteriorate.
It was the result of maintaining her role as a symbol without a single moment's reprieve, in a situation where mistakes were not allowed.
She never had a moment of peace. Even the smallest incident chipped away at her spirit.
Still, she managed to hold together for the first few months.
Sylphiette served as her confidante, helping her vent her stress.
But then, a certain piece of information arrived.
An updated list of the deceased from the Fittoa Region...
In other words, confirmation of the deaths of Sylphiette's parents.
This hit even the resilient Sylphiette hard.
She had been pushing herself desperately all this time, but her parents' deaths were a blow she could not absorb.
It was the moment another hope was shattered.
She wanted to retreat into herself, to be alone—but the situation would not permit it.
Ariel was deteriorating.
Sylphiette was broken.
The two retainers, unaccustomed to this life, were in no condition to look after anyone else either.
The only one still in fighting shape was Rook.
He possessed the cheerful and bold temperament characteristic of the Greyrat family, allowing him to remain the same wherever he went.
The fact that simply being a high-ranking noble of Asura made women fall into his lap also contributed to his mental stability.
Rook decided that something had to be done about this situation.
But when he racked his brain for solutions, the only thing he could think of for cheering up a depressed woman was to hold her and comfort her.
He had no intention of holding either Ariel or Sylphiette, let alone the two retainers.
For Rook, these two women were special beings who transcended the boundaries of romance.
He agonized.
What could he do?
Then it suddenly came to him.
That genius boy who had once tamed the savage monkey of the Boreas household—he had apparently instituted a day off every seven or ten days to calm the beast's fury.
Even a hedonist like that boy understood that taking a break was important.
Once every ten days, let loose and have fun.
That was the idea—let off some steam.
Ariel fretted over whether this would actually work but ultimately agreed.
Sylphiette, too, wanted time to herself, so she consented.
But there was one concern.
Ariel was supposed to be a symbol.
If such a figure was seen letting loose and running around town every few days, what would others think?
Ariel had to remain a symbol.
She could not show the same side as just any girl.
She could not afford to destroy what she had painstakingly begun to build.
This concern was resolved by the existence of a particular magical tool—a transformation artifact that altered one's appearance.
It took the form of two rings: one green and one red.
The wearer of the green ring took on the face and hair color of the person wearing the red ring.
This was a secret magical tool passed down through the generations of the Kingdom of Asura.
It had been used to create body doubles for Asura's shadow guards throughout history.
Ariel and Sylphiette had also used it while fleeing within the kingdom, creating a decoy of Ariel to deceive the assassins.
That said, the tool did not alter height, build, voice, or eye color.
Under close scrutiny or during conversation, the illusion would be quickly exposed.
But it was sufficient for their purposes.
Using this, Ariel took on Sylphiette's appearance.
As "Fitz," she could now walk freely through the city.
During those times, Sylphiette needed to be somewhere secluded.
She chose a quiet library as her sanctuary.
As it happened, with her parents' deaths weighing on her, she also wanted to investigate that incident further.
And so Sylphiette and the others settled into their life at the Magic Academy.