Saintess? Not Anymore! I'd Rather be a Destroyer-Chapter 61 - 48: Gein

Aurianna’s carriage sped through the busy and maze-like roads. The carriage rattled up a slope leading to a road in the sky. Aurianna gazed out of the window to look upon Sandeph’s city. In the middle of the kingdom was a large castle with four rhombus emeralds floating at its top and surrounding it was the rest of the bustling city, almost as grand as the citadel of Pei city itself. The city had many roads that climbed into the sky, much like the one that Aurianna was ascending. The roads helped to reduce the congestion that the city was known for, this congestion was mainly due to the travelling carriages of rich individuals who had constant meetings with investors and business partners who were keen to jump on the rapidly developing city.

"After Sandeph conquered the Drumel kingdom, it was finally upgraded to an empire. The Capital Dialor never ceases to amaze me." Shialor commented and Aurianna nodded.

After several minutes of awkward silence in the rocking carriage, they finally reached the large emerald gates of the citadel, guarded by over a hundred knights who donned platinum armor. The magnificent metal shone under the bright sun, the metal was obviously polished every day. The horses pulling the ornate carriage trotted toward the great gates and were reigned in. A pink ball with an eye in the middle floated up beside the carriage. It hovered by the window and appraised Aurianna intensely. The ball blinked and then flew back towards the knights calmly, they nodded and the gates were pushed open for Aurianna.

After more quiet and uneventful driving, the carriage reached the entrance to the castle and Aurianna climbed out of it and stepped down onto the ground. Shialor stepped up beside her before they continued their trip into the castle. Several knights were on station outside of the castle, each one straightening up at the sign of Aurianna passing them. A man dressed in green robes exited the castle’s grand doors and shuffled toward Aurianna and Shialor.

"My Princess." He greeted, providing her with a courteous bow. "Where would you like to go, Princess Aurianna Vanluad?"

"The throne room!" Aurianna demanded and the man nodded in understanding.

A magic circle appeared underneath her and Shialor’s feet, causing her to be teleported before a wide double door made of a dark and rich black crystals that was inlaid with yet more emerald. The knights before the door pushed the doors open. Aurianna stepped into the throne room and looked around its interior. Same as always. Sitting upon his throne at the opposite end of the room was King Girsal who lounged in his throne and resting on the armrest beside him was concubine Iona.

"Hi dearest father," Aurianna greeted with a light bow before she stood up straight and smiled at him.

"Aurianna," Iona scolded with a stern voice. "Formalities."

"Fuck off." Aurianna spat.

She glared at Iona distastefully, making sure that she knew just how much she hated her. Iona glared back but King Girsal raised his hands, ordering them to cease their pettiness.

"You know she doesn’t care about that stuff Iona." King Girsal stated dryly.

He then looked at Aurianna and smiled;

"So have you completed your mission?"

"Of course I have." Aurianna confirmed, beaming at King Girsal.

She rubbed her fingers, looking at him expectantly with a mischievous grin plastered across her face.

"Why must you always have money?" Iona sneered,she frowned at Aurianna.

"You know how I love money, dearest aunt Iona," Aurianna replied.

Iona glared at Aurianna and King Girsal laughed lightly.

"Leave her be, and do give her some money." King Girsal ordered.

Iona sighed and disappeared from King Girsal’s side and reappeared before Aurianna in an instant. She tapped her ring twice and a bag made of golden cloth appeared in her hand. She placed her hand inside and removed a platinum coin. She reluctantly handed it to Aurianna and scoffed as she snatched it away.

"You should learn how to do stuff for the kingdom without asking for payment," Iona berated coldly.

"Are fucking serious?" Aurianna asked with a crazed look.

She placed her hands behind her head, stretching the muscles in her stomach and sides.

"I’m no good Samaritan. I always have a cost for my hard work."

"Tch, you’re just like your mother." Iona clicked her tongue.

"Unlike my mother I actually work hard for what I want." Aurianna glared at Iona before walking away.

She looked over her shoulder and smirked at Iona.

"By the way, thanks for the money." Aurianna teased.

Once Aurianna was out of the throne room her innocent smile turned into an annoyed look.

Shialor stared at her nervously and asked;

"Is something wrong princess?"

"Yes, the old guy who ruined my day!" Aurianna answered. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Her annoyed expression quickly melted into a malicious grin as she thought of all the ways she could punish the "old guy."

"Ronald, Jenna, Klark, Remi!" Aurianna called.

Four knights in golden armour appeared behind her and knelt down.

"Yes master!" They all responded in sync.

Aurianna turned towards them and gave them a smile. She clasped her hands together, and surveyed her personal knights with pride. Pride that she could have her own underlings.

"I’d like you to escort me to the adventurers guild!"

"Why princess?" Remi asked, before quickly adding; "If I may inquire?"

Aurianna’s expression turned sour as her thoughts were thrown back to the event that was causing her such bother.

"That’s because some old jackass called Gein knocked down my carriage this afternoon and thinks he can get away with it. If anyone can just knock down a princess’s carriage and walk away, it would question the respect people have for their princess!"

She placed her hand on her chest evidently chuffed with her own superiority.

"Luckily enough I spotted his adventurer’s badge, he’s from the Emerald Guild owned by father."

"So what are your plans, princess?" Klark asked with a grin.

"I’m going to make that jackass regret ever playing Hero," Aurianna said with an eerie smile, causing everyone to tremble a bit.

_________

In a tavern, some people try to strike up a conversation with one another, while others can barely speak a word between eating the guild’s much praised food that had people always coming back for more.. Almost all of the stools at the bar were occupied by individuals clad in adventuring gear; swords in their scabbards and thick gambesons making up the majority. Despite the cramped feeling, everyone in the bar felt nobody seemed to mind more company.

In front of the bar, a man constantly threw back glass after glass of wine and sat on one of the stools. his face was flushed red and he hiccupped from time to time.

"Buddy, if I were you I would leave this Kingdom immediately." the bartender said cautiously.

The balding man walked over to the man and leaned his elbows on the bar and continued to polish a wooden mug.

"Why should I?" Gein announced boldly.

Gein spoke loudly in his drunken stupor and it turned the heads of many of the other guild members. The surrounding people whispered amongst themselves. News spread fast in guilds such as the adventurer’s and there was not one person who did not know of the incident involving Gein. Gein noticed the hushed talking and turned to face the rest of the bar, the scrapes and clinks of cutlery had completely ceased. Smoke wafted from the crackling hearth which caused someone in the back corner to cough.

"That’s right!" Gein called out to them all. "I’m not scared of some bratty and tyrannical princess. Sounds like an undeserving bitch to me."

Gein skulled the rest of his glass of wine and turned his back to the crowd who continued to gawk at him in disbelief of his stupid tenacity.

"She’s not any Princess, She is Princess Aurianna Vanluad." a woman blurted out nervously. "The cruelest princess of the Vanluad princesses. How do you not know her?"

"I just arrived here a week ago with my party." Gein stated dismissively.

"Well your journey better end here boy, if you want to live." The bartender nervously advised as he turned to wipe some cups on a shelf. "Aurianna is known for holding grudges against people who go against her."

Gein swivelled on his stool and looked at everyone confused and annoyed.

"Why are you all so terrified of a little brat?" He asked, his voice wavering slightly.

"Watch your words!!" A person warned from a corner.

"Well that little brat handles bandits like toys and dismantles them ’til they’re unrecognizable," a man in the center of the room huffed before he gulped down his drink.

"I heard barely any noble lady wants to be her maid. Because most of the maids that entered her mansion were brought out dead," a woman added and everyone nodded. She continued, "Rumors have it that doing any small mistake was enough to get you killed. But the pay is great, that’s why people still try their luck."

"Is it that bad for me to stay here?" Gein asked, feeling a bit scared.

"Well, just hope she forgets about ya, if not you’ll end up getting us all killed," the bartender said before going to another man by Gein and serving him a drink.

"Why don’t they punish her? Isn’t your king known to be respectable and wise. Why does he have such an unruly daughter?" Gein asked.

"She’s not the only one. All his children are cold hearted and have a dangerous aura around them. They just aren’t openly cruel and crazy like Aurianna," a woman sitting in between two of her comrades blurted out before continuing to drink with the two ladies.

"But princess Venassa and Helto are angels," the lady beside the woman added.

Gein looked more confused "But shouldn’t they punish her?" He asked.

"Well if not for Princess Aurianna, we locals would be terrorized by bandits and pirates in the rural parts of Sandeph." a man wearing a straw hat said.

"I can’t just leave here like this." Gein whined but quickly adopted a determined look "This Kingdom is soon to grow into something bigger and better and I wanna grow alongside it."

Everyone seemed to admire Gein for a moment, they smiled at him and he smiled back. He was a dreamer, the kind that would never run out of energy for his cause.

"Well, your funeral young man!" A person called out, killing the mood.

_______

"So this is the adventurer’s guild. The Emerald Guild of Sandeph," Aurianna gasped as she got down from their carriage and admired the large building before her.

Aurianna had to crane her neck backwards just to see the top of the building. She ignored the passers-by who were looking at her. Some blushed while others gossiped about how she looked like an angel.

"Princess, do you know who adventurers are?" Shialor asked excitedly.

Aurianna looked at her with a blank expression before answering;

"Nope, no idea."

"Well It’s a job people do to protect their kingdom and cities," Shialor declared proudly, "You know, those dungeons outside the kingdom that release monsters?"

Aurianna nodded. She did not actually want to know what Shialor had to say for herself, she just hoped that going along with her would make her be quiet quicker.

"Adventurers go there all the time to kill monsters and extract precious parts of their bodies." Shialor explained, obviously excited about the idea of adventuring. "They are then traded to vendors who represent the kingdom. The vendors use it to help in the development of new technology. So basically adventurers put their life on the line all the time to fight monsters, and also bad people..."

"You’re such a chatterbox," Aurianna gave Shialor an annoyed look before walking away.

"Princess (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)," Shialor cried.

She sighed before following Aurianna and her entourage of knights in golden armor.

Once Aurianna entered the building she was greeted by a guild hall that was just as grand as the guild’s outward appearance. Inside the large hall there were statues of warriors who wore a variety of clothes and weapons. The halls were filled with people chatting, walking around and searching for quests.