Ariel decided to leave Boreas Castle.
After staying at Boreas Castle for a long time, Ariel finally achieved her goal and met the legendary blacksmith Muramasa.
After hearing Muramasa's words, Ariel finally realized her current problem and understood what she lacked to become a king.
To get what she really needed, and even meet Muramasa's condition to get his help.
Ariel made up her mind. She wanted to return to the capital and find the answer to the question Muramasa asked her, to find the real reason she wanted to become a king.
Facing Ariel's departure, the Boreas family was undoubtedly relieved.
They had long felt strongly uneasy about Ariel's long stay.
After all, as a princess, Ariel's very existence drew the attention of many people and forces. Many people became very interested in the Boreas family because of this, bringing a lot of unnecessary trouble to Boreas.
If she wasn't a princess, the second princess of the Asura Kingdom, the Boreas family would probably have kicked her out long ago.
Of course, although the adults' attitudes were complicated, Eris's attitude towards Ariel was very normal.
For Eris, Ariel was just a princess with an interesting personality, and she often bothered Shirou, which made her very unhappy.
Now that she knew Ariel was leaving, Eris naturally supported it and couldn't wait for her to leave quickly and stop getting close to Shirou.
And seemingly knowing what Eris was thinking.
Ariel didn't leave directly on the day of her departure. Instead, she ran to the Boreas family's training ground and asked Shirou, who was training Eris, "Shirou, are you interested in going to the capital with me?"
"What?"
Shirou didn't expect Princess Ariel to say such a thing suddenly.
Shirou, who was originally relieved that the princess was leaving, immediately showed a confused expression.
Before Shirou could answer, Eris suddenly stood between the two of them. Although she was shorter than Ariel, Eris still didn't back down and said, "Don't joke around, Shirou is one of us, there's no way he'll be taken away by you!"
"Oh? When did Shirou's last name become Boreas?"
Ariel said with a smile, as if she had already figured out Eris.
"This..."
Eris couldn't say anything when she heard this and couldn't argue with Ariel's words.
Ariel smiled and continued, "For Shirou, going to the capital with me is definitely better than staying in the Boreas family! In the capital, you can meet more important people, have a wider stage, and I can even introduce you to the Water God, so the Water God can teach you swordsmanship."
Ariel made a proposal to Shirou that was very attractive to normal people.
Ariel had obviously been thinking about how to win Shirou over for some time.
Although it was impossible for a blacksmith of Muramasa's level to be easily poached, Shirou was just an ordinary swordsmanship teacher. She thought that even if she poached him, there wouldn't be any problems.
At least Ariel herself was confident that she could offer a price that would tempt Shirou.
However, before Ariel could continue to offer prices, Shirou spoke first, "I'm sorry, Princess Ariel, I don't plan to go to the capital with you. No matter what conditions you offer, it's all the same to me. I have no intention of getting involved in the struggles between nobles, I just want to protect the people I want to protect."
"Protect the people I want to protect..."
Hearing Shirou's words, Ariel suddenly froze.
Because she suddenly remembered what Muramasa had said to her before. As if she had been enlightened, a lot of ideas floated into Ariel's mind.
For a moment, she looked at Shirou with regret.
She wanted to win Shirou over even more than before, and even wanted to forcibly keep him by her side.
But Shirou's attitude was very firm. Ariel was very good at recognizing people. She could tell at a glance that someone like Shirou wouldn't be swayed by things like benefits, wealth, or status. He wasn't the kind of vulture that could be easily lured with bait, but an eagle that was destined to soar in the sky.
"I understand, but even if you don't want to come with me, we're still friends, right?"
Ariel gave Shirou a deep look, her expression seemingly unchanged, but in reality, her mind was filled with turbulent waves.
"Of course."
Shirou smiled and nodded.
He still had a lot of respect for Princess Ariel. If she could really ascend the throne, it would definitely reduce the number of evil people like Darius.
If Shirou didn't know that he still lacked enough ability, he might have really thought about how to help Ariel and provide her with assistance.
However, he was far from enough now.
Not to mention anything else, the Water God Reida alone was far from an enemy that Shirou could challenge right now.
If he wanted to realize the justice in his heart, he had to further improve his strength!
Ariel and Shirou smiled at each other and parted ways.
Accompanied by Luke and Derrick, Ariel boarded the carriage prepared by the Boreas family and left the castle, heading back to the turbulent capital.
"Hehe, that guy finally left!"
Eris couldn't help but laugh when she saw Ariel leave.
She had obviously disliked Ariel for a long time and felt that this princess was too annoying and got too close to Shirou.
Since Ariel came, Eris hadn't even seen Shirou a few times except when she was practicing swordsmanship, which made her feel a little lonely.
Of course, Eris herself would definitely not admit that she was lonely.
"The capital..."
Shirou looked at the carriage slowly leaving, his expression instinctively complicated.
He knew that he would eventually go to the capital one day, but that would definitely be something that would happen a long time later.
At least, Shirou wouldn't take the initiative to go there until he had cultivated the Sword God Style to the king level, or researched ServantEmiya's Unlimited Blade Works and had the ability to fight the Water God.
And once Shirou set off for the capital, it would definitely be the time when the final battle began.
At that time, his unfinished battle with the Water God would be completely decided.
...
Since Ariel left, the Boreas family fell into peace and quiet again.
People's habits are really powerful.
Ariel had only been gone for less than a day, and most people had already forgotten what had happened before, as if Ariel had never been there.
Shirou also got used to it and returned to his daily routine of practicing swordsmanship during the day and forging swords at night.
Everyone thought that time would gradually pass like this.
But less than half a day later, an unexpected thing suddenly happened.
Ariel was kidnapped on the way back to the capital!
The person who reported this was Ariel's servant Luke. He rushed to Boreas Castle less than half a day after setting off, anxiously saying that just as they were about to leave the Boreas territory, they encountered a trap and an ambush. Derrick was seriously injured in the process of protecting Ariel, and although Luke was slightly injured, he was completely unable to save Ariel, causing her to be captured by assassins.
This event directly shocked the entire Boreas family.
After all, Ariel was captured in the Boreas territory. No matter how it happened, Boreas couldn't escape responsibility and involvement.
It could be said that the person who captured Ariel was too vicious.
Their actions not only captured Ariel, the second princess, but also pushed the Boreas family into a fire pit.
If Ariel was really missing, Sauros, the head of the Boreas family, might even have to apologize with his death.
This is the rule between nobles!
For a moment, faced with such an exaggerated event, the entire Boreas family was mobilized, even mobilizing all the private armies and adventurers, wishing to dig three feet into the ground to find the person who captured Ariel and rescue Princess Ariel.
Shirou was also surprised by this news.
But he didn't panic like the others, but thought about who had done this thing of kidnapping Ariel in the first place.
First of all, as a princess, Ariel had many enemies. The other princes all had the possibility of attacking her.
However, the old king was still alive, and the power struggle in this country hadn't become so intense that they were killing each other. He didn't think they would do it at this time.
Moreover, what Shirou was even more concerned about was why the murderer had Ariel captured in the Boreas family's territory.
They could have completely waited for Ariel to leave the Boreas territory before capturing her, which would not only have had a higher success rate, but also a lower risk of being counterattacked.
Thinking of this, the answer was almost obvious.
The enemy's target wasn't Ariel, or rather, the main target wasn't Ariel, but Boreas!
The other party was trying to frame Boreas, or even bring down the Boreas family, which is why they did this.
And the person who had such hatred for the Boreas family, even going so far as to kidnap a princess to cause trouble, could basically only be one person -
Darius Silva Ganius!
There was a high possibility that he was behind all of this!
Of course, even if they confirmed the mastermind behind the scenes, the current focus was still on the captured Ariel.
Once Ariel was really captured, or even killed, whether they could find the final mastermind or not, the Boreas family would not escape punishment, or even destruction.
Thinking of this, Shirou didn't dare to waste any time. He immediately found Luke and Derrick.
Compared to Derrick, who was seriously injured and unconscious, Luke still had his sanity at the moment, but his sanity was collapsing bit by bit with the fact that Ariel was captured.
"Luke."
"..."
Shirou came to ask him as soon as possible, but found that his eyes were dull, and he was standing there blankly, as if he had lost his soul.
He sighed silently for this, realizing that Luke had completely collapsed because of Ariel's capture.
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