[Milleia]
"Hm–♪ Hmmm♪ Hmmm–♪ Haaa♪"
The soft, cheerful humming of a girl drifted through the interior of the carriage like a gentle breeze on a summer afternoon.
The carriage itself was spacious, large enough to comfortably seat ten people. Today, every single seat was occupied, which meant the driver was going to make good money. He needed it, too. The mana-powered carriage he was operating wasn't cheap, and he still had a hefty loan to pay off. Every fare counted.
What surprised him most today, though, wasn't the full load.
It was the atmosphere.
All ten passengers—complete strangers just an hour ago—were chatting happily with one another. Laughing. Sharing stories. It was unusual. Most trips like this were quiet, awkward affairs where people avoided eye contact and kept to themselves.
But not today.
And it all started when 'she' climbed aboard.
A blue-haired girl, breathless and flushed, had caught the carriage just as it was about to depart. She'd been the last passenger, and at first, the others had been annoyed. They were in a hurry, after all, and her late arrival had delayed them.
But then she smiled.
And somehow, within minutes, the entire mood shifted.
She wasn't pushy or overbearing. She was just... warm. Natural. The kind of person who made you feel like you'd known her for years even if you'd only just met. Her cheerfulness was contagious, spreading through the cabin like sunlight melting frost.
What made it even more remarkable was the uniform she wore.
A blue skirt that fell just to her knees. A crisp white blouse with a ribbon-style bowtie. A fitted blue blazer with golden wings embroidered on the chest.
The uniform of the Royal Eden Academy.
Anyone in the Celesta Kingdom would recognize it instantly. It was the mark of the elite, of the future leaders, knights, mages, and nobles of the realm. Students who wore that uniform were considered national treasures.
When her fellow travelers asked her about it, she answered with surprising modesty.
They'd expected her to boast a little, most commoners who made it into the academy couldn't help themselves. But she didn't. She just told them her story simply and warmly: how she'd worked hard, how she'd been assessed by a visiting professor in her hometown, how she'd been accepted.
She spoke with animated gestures, her hands dancing through the air as she narrated. The children in the carriage watched her with wide, sparkling eyes, utterly captivated.
Even the adults found themselves drawn in, smiling despite themselves.
Her light-pink eyes shone with life and joy, and somehow, that joy spilled over onto everyone around her.
"Hmmm♪ hmmm♪....the girl was singing in the forest happily, and right at that moment—booh!"
Milleia suddenly raised both hands like claws, her face scrunched into an exaggerated snarl.
"A tiger appeared!"
"Kyaa!"
The three children, two girls and a boy squeaked and dove into their mother's arms, peeking out nervously.
"Rahhhh! The girl was so scared, she could only run away! But then—dadam!—the tiger leaped through the air and landed right in front of her!"
"Wahhhh!" the children cried out.
"But! At that very moment! Out of nowhere, a hero jumped—ouch!"
Milleia's head smacked into the low ceiling of the carriage as she tried to demonstrate the leap.
The children burst into giggles, watching her rub her head with a pained expression.
"B-But at that moment!" Milleia continued, still patting her head.
"A man jumped down from the trees!"
"A prince?! It has to be a prince, right?!" One of the girls shouted excitedly.
"Yeah! I bet he'll save the princess!" The other girl chimed in.
"Yes!" Milleia grinned wide.
She stood tall, miming the motion of unsheathing a sword with one hand while touching an imaginary mask on her face with the other, her expression serious and dramatic, like a hero straight out of a storybook.
"'Stay behind me, Princess,'" she declared in a deep, heroic voice. "'I will save you,' said the masked prince!"
"""WOOOOWWWW!"""
The children's excitement exploded. The girls clasped their hands together, eyes shining with dreams of marrying a prince one day. The boy puffed out his chest, clearly imagining himself as the hero.
"And then—BAM! With one mighty slash, he chased the wicked tiger away and saved the princess!"
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
The entire carriage erupted into applause.
Milleia bowed deeply like a performer on stage, placing her right hand over her heart with exaggerated elegance.
"Thank you, thank you," she said with a grin.
"Hey! Big sis! Did the prince and the princess get married in the end?!" One of the girls asked breathlessly.
"Hm? Yes!" Milleia answered without hesitation, nodding enthusiastically.
She hadn't actually thought that far ahead in the story, but she wasn't about to disappoint them.
"I-I want to marry a prince too!"
"Me too!"
"I hope I can be like him when I grow up…" The boy murmured dreamily.
The children drifted off into their own imaginations, eyes distant and full of wonder.
Milleia smiled, satisfied, and sat back down in her seat.
She was tired. She'd been talking for hours now, entertaining the whole cabin. But seeing their smiles made it worth it.
The atmosphere was joyful.
It would've been perfect if it had stayed that way.
It didn't.
The carriage lurched to a violent stop.
Everyone inside was thrown forward, grasping at seats and walls to keep from tumbling. Thankfully, no one was hurt—just startled and disoriented.
"What happened, Sir?" Milleia called out, knocking on the wooden panel that separated the passenger cabin from the driver's seat.
A small rectangular window slid open.
The driver's face appeared, pale, sweating, eyes wide with fear.
"B-Bandits!"
Panic swept through the carriage instantly.
Bandits were the nightmare of every traveler. Especially families with children.
"W-What?!"
"Are there guards nearby?! Someone—anyone?!"
Milleia stretched out both her hands, palms forward, trying to calm the rising tide of fear.
"Calm down," she said gently. "Everything will be all right."
She crouched down and patted the heads of the crying children, offering them a reassuring smile.
"Please stay inside the carriage," she told the adults. "I'll handle this."
She reached for her sword, a plain, dull training blade she'd brought with her just in case. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
"Big sis…"
The children stared up at her with worried, tear-streaked faces as she moved toward the door.
"Don't worry about me," Milleia said with a confident grin. "I'm strong, you know. Just wait here. I'll come back and tell you more stories."
She pushed the door open and stepped out into the road.
Outside, the coachman stood frozen in front of a group of armed men.
"Listen to me, old man," the leader sneered, twirling a rusty sword lazily in one hand. "I want every single valuable thing in that carriage. Oh, and while I'm at it—I'll take the carriage too."
"Gyahaha!!"
His eight companions laughed cruelly, also holding their own weapons.
The coachman's face went pale.
That carriage was everything. His livelihood. His family's survival.
"W-Wait, please—"
"Enough, old man!" The bandit leader raised his sword and pointed it at the driver's throat. "Tell your passengers to get out. Now. Before I kill you."
"Stop it!"
Milleia leaped down from the carriage, landing firmly on the dirt road, her sword already drawn.
She glared at the bandits.
"Oh~" One of them drawled. "Look what we got here."
"A super-hot chick!"
"Damn, I've never seen a girl that beautiful before!"
"We'll get a high price selling her!"
"Let's enjoy her first, then sell her."
"You kidding? I'm already hard just looking at her!"
The men erupted into laughter, their eyes crawling over her body with open malice.
Milleia ignored them and stepped protectively in front of the trembling coachman.
"That uniform…" The leader muttered, his gaze narrowing.
He finally got a good look at what she was wearing.
The blue blazer. The golden wings.
His grin widened.
"Do you understand?" Milleia said. "I am protected by the Royal Decree of the King. Students of the Royal Eden Academy are considered vital to the future of the Celesta Kingdom. If you don't want to—"
"Ahahaha!"
The leader threw his head back and laughed.
"We hit the jackpot! Do you know how much a student from that academy will fetch us?!"
Milleia bit her lip, seeing that.
She was new to the capital. This was her first time here. Even for her entrance exam, a professor had come to her hometown to assess her. She'd heard that academy students were valued, but she didn't understand the dark side of that value.
She was too innocent.
Too trusting.
Her town had been peaceful. Quiet. Incidents like this were rare, and when they did happen, it was maybe five bandits at most—not nine armed, experienced criminals.
"You can't do this!" She shouted, trying to reach whatever humanity they might have. "There are children inside! Don't you have any shame?!"
"Pffft! Ahahaha!"
The men laughed even harder.
Shame? They'd done this for over a decade. They'd seen children before. Some of them had even killed children before.
"Enough, pretty girl," the leader said, licking his lips. "If you come quietly, I promise I won't be rough. Not for your first time, anyway."
Milleia's stomach twisted.
She abandoned any hope of reasoning with them.
She gripped her dull sword with both hands and steadied her breathing.
She'd fought before. She wasn't completely helpless. But these men were different. Dangerous. Willing to do anything.
'Ceatha'
She thought, placing her hand briefly over her heart.
'I need you.
She reached inward, calling for her contracted spirit.
No answer.
Her chest tightened.
Without her spirit, she was at a severe disadvantage. But she had no choice.
"If you don't step back," Milleia said, "I'll have no choice but to fight."
The leader smirked.
"I'm returning your words, lass."
He raised his sword.
"What's happening here?"
"...!"