Milleia
"Hm–♪ Hmmm♪ Hmmm–♪ Haaa♪"
The soft humming of a girl echoed inside a carriage.
The carriage was a large one that could welcome ten people. Lucky was the driver as the ten seats were taken. He was going to get good pay for today. He was driving a mana carriage and he still had to repay the credit he borrowed.
The people inside his carriage were all going to the [Central Celesta Station]. Today, one thing was surprising to him. It was the fact that all the ten people inside the carriage were happily talking to each other, which was quite weird as they were strangers just a few minutes ago.
It all started when a really pretty blue-haired girl entered the carriage. She was the last passenger and she barely caught up with the carriage that was going to depart. She arrived late, which angered the others who were in a hurry, but as if my magic, with a few words, she became friendly with all of them. It wasn't anything planned. It was just the way the girl was. A cheerful and amazingly beautiful girl.
What was even more surprising was the uniform she was wearing. A blue skirt reached her knees, a white blouse with a ruban-type bowtie and a blue blazer. No one could mistake that uniform and the golden wings engraved on the blazer. The uniform of the Royal Eden Academy.
When her co-travelers asked her about that, she unexpectedly answered modestly. They expected the girl to boast a little even though she was a commoner, but she did nothing like that. She just narrated her journey until there and how she was accepted to the prestigious academy. She was explaining with exaggerated gestures which pleased the few children in the carriages who looked back at the girl with sparkling eyes. Even the adults felt enthralled by the liveliness of the girl. Her light-pink eyes were always shining and transmitted joy to all of them.
"Hmmm♪ hmmm♪ The girl was singing in the forest happily and right at that moment booh!"
The blue-haired girl, Milleia, imitated a tiger with both her hands.
"A tiger appeared!"
"""Ah!"""
The boy and the two girls hid snuggled into their mother's chest.
"Rahhhh, the girl was scared and could only run away! Dadam! The tiger jumped and appeared in front of her!"
"Wahhhh!"
"Hum! But at that moment! Out of nowhere jumped a man-ouch!"
When Milleia jumped, her head hit the roof.
The children giggled when they saw Milleia holding her head painfully.
"B-But at that moment!"
Milleia patted her head and continued her story.
"A man jumped!"
"A prince?! It must be a prince, right!"
"Yeah! I'm sure he will save the princess!"
The two girls shouted excitedly.
"Yes!"
Milleia grinned and acted like a prince unsheathing his sword while touching her mask like a man suffering from eighth-grade syndrome.
"Stay behind me, Princess. I will save you, said the masked prince."
"""WOOOOWWWW!"""
The children's excitement reached its peak. The girls wished they could marry a prince, while the boy wanted to be like the prince in the future.
"Bam! With a slash, he chased away the bad tiger and saved the princess!"
-Clap! -Clap! -Clap! -Clap!
The whole carriage clapped for Milleia's prestation.
"Thank you, thank you."
Milleia bowed like a gentleman, putting her right hand on her chest.
"Hey! Big sis! Did the Prince and Princess get married in the end?!"
"Hm? Yes!"
Milleia, who didn't think about the rest of the story, nodded to please the children.
"I-I also want to marry a Prince!"
"Me too!"
"I hope I can be like him…"
The children were lost in their own world.
Milleia smiled satisfyingly and sat back.
She was tired after speaking for several hours.
The ambiance was really joyful. It would have been good if it continued like that until the end, but unfortunately not.
-Ahhhh!
The carriage stopped abruptly and everyone in the carriage lost their stance. Thankfully, no one was injured.
"What happened, Sir?"
Milleia knocked and asked the driver who was hidden by the wall separating him from them.
The coach opened a rectangular window and replied.
"B-Bandits!"
"!"
The entire carriage fell into panic at his words. Bandits were the worst nightmares of travelers like them. Even more for families with children.
"W-What?!"
"Are th-there guards around…?!"
Milleia stretched her both hands at her co-travelers to calm them.
"Calm down, everything will be alright."
She patted the crying children and reassured the adults.
"Please stay inside the carriage."
Milleia said and took her sword from her scabbard that was on her seat.
It was a dull sword she had taken with her just in case and she understood that she had done right by bringing it as it could serve her.
"""Big sis…"""
The children were worried when they saw Milleai opening the door of the carriage.
"Don't worry about me. I'm strong you know. Wait for me there, I will come back and tell you other stories."
She gave them a confident smile before climbing down.
…
…
Outside the carriage, the coachman was facing the bandits.
"Listen to me, old man. I want every single good present in your carriage. Oh yeah, while I am at it, I will take your carriage as well!"
A man wearing leather armor and a snarky grin said.
""""Ahahaaha!""""
His eight mates laughed at their leader's ruthless words.
The coachman's face turned pale at his words.
His carriage was his way of feeding his family and living. He couldn't lose it.
"W-Wait pleas-"
"Enough, old man! Tell them to get out of the carriage before I kill you."
The bandit leader raised his sword and threatened him.
"Stop it!"
Milleia jumped out of the carriage and glared at them.
"Oh~ look at what we got."
"A super hot chick!"
"You bet! I had never seen a girl that beautiful before!"
"We'll get a high price by selling her!"
"Let's enjoy her before selling her."
"You jest! I'm already hard just looking at her!"
The men laughed wickedly as they ogled Milleia from head to toe.
Milleia ignored them and went in front of the scared coachman.
"That uniform…"
The bandit leader finally got a good view of the uniform Milleia was wearing. He recognized it immediately. Rather, no one could mistake that uniform in the whole kingdom, and even fewer people for those living in the capital.
"Do you understand? I am protected by the Royal Decree of the King concerning the hopes of the Royal Eden Academy. If you don't want to-"
"Ahahaahah!"
Milleia wanted to threaten him by using her status as a prestigious student of the [Royal Eden Academy] since they were considered as jewels for the Celesta Kingdom for its future, but the leader bandit just laughed it off.
"We really hit the jackpot! Do you know how much a student of this academy will fetch us?!"
Milleia could just bite her lips when the man cackled at her like that. She was new in this capital. It was the first time she had come here. Even for the entrance exam, she was assessed by a Professor of the Academy in her own town. She had just a few ideas about how the students of the Royal Eden Academy were considered, but not the general idea.
More importantly, Milleia was too innocent for the Capital of Dorian. She was just a commoner who lived in a peaceful town in the countryside, far from the capital. Such ambushes were rare things in her town. Usually, she would just have to deal with at most five people and they were less 'intimidating' than the guys in front of her.
"You can't do that! Children are inside! Don't you have any shame?"
Milleia brought the children into her words in the hope she could instill pity in them, but she was wrong.
"Pffft! Ahaahaha!"
The men laughed their asses off at Milleia's words.
They had been doing such things for more than ten years and they did meet children but they had never cared about them. Some were even killed by them.
"It's enough, pretty girl. If you come on your own, I promise I won't be rough for your first time."
The bandit said, licking his lips.
Milleia abandoned any idea of convincing them anymore and prepared herself to fight. She had already fought, so she wasn't afraid of anything, but she doubted her abilities in front of men like them who were ready to do anything for their own selfishness.
'Ceatha.'
Milleia put her hand on her chest and uttered a name.
'I need you.'
She called out but she didn't receive any answer.
Without choice, she squeezed the handle of her sword with both hands. It was just a dull sword, so she was clearly at a disadvantage, but had to fight to protect the people inside the carriage.
"If you don't step back, I will have no choice but to fight back."
"I'm returning your words, lass."
"What's happening here?"
"!"
"!"
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[!] MILLEIA SOPHREN's PROFILE and REF ILLUSTRATION have been added in the [HEROINE] auxiliary chapter!