With Axel flying through the air, he covered a distance of roughly 125 kilometers in just a few minutes. But that wasn't the problem.

The girls, who had seen Axel leave in a rush earlier, gathered together to welcome him, worry etched on their faces. But as he landed, all their gazes shifted to the foreign object on his shoulder.

"Sir Axel, that is...?"

"No way! Is she the empire's princess...?!"

"Oh no... Husband is into kidnapping princesses now?"

They reacted with a mix of shock and curiosity. Concerned they might misunderstand the situation, Axel quickly tossed the woman off his shoulder onto the grass. A pained groan, oddly mixed with pleasure, escaped her.

"Ahh! Being manhandled like this... I like it~!" the foreigner gasped between bated breaths.

Her face was pale, primarily because, after flying at such high speeds, she had been deprived of oxygen for a while. It wasn't enough to knock her out, but it made her feel lightheaded.

Of course, she didn't even notice that there were more people around now; she was simply voicing her true feelings.

Ignoring her, Axel turned to Arianne, who was looking at the woman in disgust.

"Arianne, take her to the prison under the castle. We're keeping her for now," he instructed.

"Y-Yes, Sir Axel!" She saluted promptly before complying.

She lifted the woman with one hand, carrying her just as Axel did—over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Following his instructions, she dashed back to the castle, heading to the underground prison, about to jam her into a prison cell.

After Arianne left, Axel sighed in relief, but the questioning was far from over.

"That woman—she's the empire's First Princess, Sophia Alcott, right?!" Eve rushed to Axel's side, tugging at his clothes in panic. "Why was she with you? Where did you go? How did this happen?!"

This situation felt akin to a man caught cheating. However, Axel had a clean conscience. He was clear of any wrongdoing!

"Actually..."

And just like that, before things escalated, Axel explained everything to the girls.

He had gone to "save" the troops poised to attack them, albeit too late. To ensure they continued their march, he confiscated all their extra equipment and most of their food and water. Princess Sophia was merely a hostage he took to compel the soldiers to continue their death march.

Even knowing they were discussing their enemies, some of the girls still displayed pity in their expressions. Eve, in particular, shed tears upon hearing about the loss of over four thousand of the empire's soldiers... Almost as if she's imposing a heart-wrenching scene from her past onto them.

"Shouldn't we just let them go back?"

After hearing his explanation, Beatrix raised a question.

"Based on what you said, there's no way the Empire's troops could handle us anymore. When they arrive here, they're likely to be worn out and hungry, not in any condition to fight."

Previously, they had planned to neutralize the Empire's troops who came to attack by capturing them and using Ria and Nina's Obedience Curse to turn them into slaves for labor. However, now there were only about two hundred of them left.

With so few remaining, they believed it wouldn't matter much at all.

"I agree," Axel nodded, but then sighed. "Unfortunately, this is for the best."

Ria tilted her head, curious as she asked, "Really? Why...?"

Before she could hear Axel's explanation, Nina chimed in to elaborate on his decision.

"You should study more, Ria..." she said. "Their original goal was to invade, right? If they stop midway, realizing it's dangerous to enter our territory, their numbers will likely increase as they resume their march."

Although that would take two to three months more to implement at best, it still posed a threat.

This time, Sophia had only brought physical troops, which led to their decimation by the Gargoyles. If they retreated and returned, they would surely bring more troops with them, including mages this time. With sufficient numbers, they could handle any threat that came their way.

More numbers mean increased risks. Increased risks mean larger expenses for repairs after their kingdom gets damaged... Especially the farmland that was just starting off. That was their main concern.

But even if it came to that, none of the girls believed their Axevaria Kingdom would lose!

Fenrir's presence alone ensured their victory, regardless of how many enemies approached. Furthermore, they and a large portion of the Valkyrie Knight Order possessed stats far above those of ordinary people.

They were now so strong that they couldn't fathom losing in a direct confrontation!

"Exactly," Axel agreed. "And that's too troublesome, so we should just capture them all and use them as hostages to deter the Empire from threatening us."

Although he wasn't certain how valuable the first princess was, he thought it should at least keep the empire at bay, avoiding any useless scuffle.

"Master..."

At that moment, Fenrir appeared by his side, her gaze turned toward the sky to the east.

"It seems we have visitors," she said casually.

"Visitors?"

Axel felt a surge of curiosity as he followed her gaze.

Then, he saw it.

In the distance, a speck of a black dot in the sky was moving toward them at an alarming speed.

Though it was still too far away to discern clearly, his extraordinary stats allowed him to identify the figures: about a dozen, flying in a delta formation.

"What's that...? Dragons?"

"Dragons...?" Beatrix frowned for a moment before realization struck her. "Don't tell me... The Wyvern Troops of the Empire?!"

Upon hearing her guess, Axel's worry deepened.

Their arrival was just too timely. It had only been a few minutes since he left the decimated army behind!

'Did someone contact the Empire about the situation? Or does that princess have an artifact that sends SOS signals?' Axel pondered—and he was spot on!

"Should I shoot them down?" Fenrir asked.

She was aware that they were currently in an unofficial state of war with the Empire. Threats from the sky posed too great a risk to allow them to approach.

"No, I'll go meet them first," Axel replied, shaking his head. "If a significant figure is among them and we kill them, a full-blown war would ensue."

After all, it was a princess who had been "kidnapped"; it wouldn't be surprising for a prince or even the king himself to come to her rescue.

"Then I'll send you to the outer wall, Master," Fenrir said—

"Wait! I'm coming with you, Sir Axel!"

Eve interjected, her voice rising in insistence.

"Me too, husband! I'll come along!"

Even Teruria raised her hand, eager to join.

Axel paused for a moment but then nodded. "Alright. If it's just the two of you, it should be fine."

With that decided, the three of them stood together.

Then, with Fenrir's assistance, they "warped" through space and arrived at the top of the easternmost wall, 1.5 kilometers from the center.

Axel raised his gaze once more, watching the enemies approach. Given their speed and formation, the Wyverns would arrive in a minute.

The final minute before the war situation would change forever.

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