Chapter 1559 (2/2)

Will the culpability lie with us if he behaves desperately and harms the princess…? Raymund thought uneasily. Better open with a strong front, then show empathy-

“Just give up and die,” DiOrtho said rather lazily as he began walking toward the kidnapper’s back. “Make this easier on all of us.”

Raymund twitched.

The kidnapper whirled around, a cloak covering his features. Meanwhile, the expression of the princess that was slung across the kidnapper’s shoulders brightened as she struggled and raised her head. “Thank god! Take that, you dirty immigrant. Aren’t my knights powerful? If you give me up now, I won’t have them torture you for so long! And your sister… well, I’ll need to see how I feel, but-”

As the desperation around the kidnapper turned to fury, he threw the princess down into the shallow water. Then he raised his foot to stomp on her head while she flailed around in the shallow water to find her bearings.

DiOrtho and Raymund moved at the same time. Water exploded.

DiOrtho reached to pierce into the kidnapper's head with his hand. Raymund smashed the kidnapper in the temple and caught DiOrtho’s strike. The muscles of both their arms strained as the kidnapper collapsed. Raymund let his breath hiss out through his snout. “Killing is prohibited.”

“Just gonna rip out the fuck’s tongue,” DiOrtho glowered. Then he glanced over his shoulder. “Pursuit will be coming. A mute failed kidnapper would leave fewer clues for the guards. The less they know about us, the better.”

“I’ll carry him,” Raymund countered. He reached down and seized the back of the cloak to lift the kidnapper. Obviously, his weight was negligible to the Vulpine, but he was still somewhat startled to realize how light this being was. He peeled back the soaked hood of the cloak to reveal a sharp-featured face that made it seem like there was some ratkin blood in the kidnapper. “Better not allow variant elements to remain at liberty. We must discover why he, too, wishes to kidnap the princess.”

“Bah, just more trouble,” DiOrtho shook his head.

It was at that moment that the princess finally managed to sit up and spat out a mouthful of water on DiOrtho. As the ram-demon’s eyes narrowed with fury, the princess blinked in confusion and frowned up at them. “What the hell sort of rescue is this, anyway? He almost killed me. Can you trash not even manage this properly? And after you already failed to protect me, too...”

“He dropped you in the lake, princess,” Raymund said rather lightly as he tossed the kidnapper over his shoulder. Then he raised an eyebrow at DiOrtho. “Shall we go?”

The princess stood up. She smiled sweetly at Raymund, but the effect was somewhat grotesque. For a humanoid… she was extremely poor-featured. Her lips were thin and her nose was large. “Heh. I don’t believe you heard me, sir knight. He almost killed me. And you were right there, and you didn’t do anything to prevent it. I cannot believe someone like you, a monster fuck half-breed, managed to become a royal guard. But it’s obvious from your failure here that it was a terrible mistake. Hehehe… so change your attitude, or I’ll tell my father-”

DiOrtho Vant, saint that the was, picked the princess up by the hem of her dress and casually flung her across the surface of the lake. The princess screeched like an owl as she skipped across the water in a series of tumbling splashes. She skipped four times before she slowed down enough to sink. With a refreshed smile on his face, DiOrtho leapt up and splashed into the water next to where she had gurgled to a stop.

He lifted her out of the water. “Say something like that again. I dare you.”

“RAPE!” The princess screamed as she struggled in DiOrtho’s grip. “Half-breed filth lusting after my flesh- gggrrhhhhh!”

DiOrtho dunked the princess's head underwater. Raymund looked toward the beach area, where there were a few cottages with extremely manicured lawns. From within a window of one of those cottages, he saw definite movement in response to the princess’ scream.

“We should go,” Raymund said quietly.

DiOrtho grinned over at him. “Maybe soon. But do we even know where we have to go? We’ve kidnapped- oh, wait.” He lifted the princess out of the water. She spluttered and spat. When it seemed like she was cognizant of what was going on around her, DiOrtho sneered. “By the way, we aren’t your royal guards. Wouldn’t take a shit gig like that. We are here to kidnap you too. Apparently, it’s a very popular profession.”

Then he pressed her face back under the water and turned back to Raymund. “Honestly, I never thought I’d get into political activism, but we are doing this country a favor by cutting out this cancerous cyst of a girl. So... Maybe I was a little hasty to try and rip out that guy’s tongue.”

“...to think, DiOrtho Vant could stray so near an apology...” Raymund said drily. Back toward the royal compound, he could see a group of guards gathering and beginning to head in their direction. A figure shot ahead of them, clearing possessing much more capability. “But we need to move. Pursuit is coming-”

Raymund’s eyes narrowed and he spun around as a threat approached from the opposite direction than the royal compound, but steadily relaxed as he saw it was Helen. She landed with a massive splash that drenched both Raymund and DiOrtho and grinned around at them. “Good job. You need to escape, but… heheh… I’ve taught you all you need to know about running, right? You’ll take that princess to the Southern Fang, which is the Southern-most mountain in the border region between this Kingdom and the Empire. There is a Fate Lighthouse there. Make the Princess get a Class.”

After a very uncharacteristic hesitation, Helen also said. “There might also be… some adjustments to your mission. I’ll let you know after she has a Class. Get to it, recruits.”