"Hmm...?" Souta slowly opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He recalled that he visited the red light district last night.
He looked over and saw two busty blonde elves sleeping at his side. One wasn't enough for him as he went wild yesterday night. He still recalled how did it without care about the elves.
"...I got carried away." He muttered before he stood up and wore his clothes.
He picked up his things and hung the vajra sword at his waist. If Saya was awake he was sure that she would complain about why he brought her in this place with him. Souta couldn't help but revealed a smile while recalling that scene in his mind.
He then placed a few coins on the table and left. He contacted Yuko and said that he was on his way towards the inn.
...
Souta was stretching his body while walking towards the inn. He got stronger after he promotes his class yesterday but he couldn't bring out the full power of the Battle Mage class as he couldn't use any mana.
This lowered his battle prowess to a certain degree. He couldn't even coat his fist or body with mana to strengthen himself.
"I wonder if I could get my hands on the spring of life there," Souta muttered as he turned his head in the direction of the huge castle at the center of the empire.
If he could get his hands on that famed spring of life then he was sure that it would regenerate his damaged mana pool.
Souta knitted his brows and rubbed his chin. He was pondering if he should contact princess Alea or not. Maybe, he should trigger those large-scale quests and completed it to raised his favorability towards the Eternal Empire. The problem was that he couldn't easily complete those quests. Even if he triggered it, it would take a month or two before he could raise the favorability of the royal family to the point that they could reward him a drop of spring of life.
No, no, his strength wasn't enough to complete those quests. He would easily die at the hand of those high-rank criminals in the Eternal Empire.
He should be content with the mana potions.
Suddenly, a voice sounded behind him.
"I see... So you want to get the famed spring of life in your grasp, great leader of the dark force."
Souta turned his head and saw princess Alea with her butler. He nodded his head at her as he didn't deny that he wanted the spring of life.
"Even though you're the great leader of the dark force, I, Princess Alea of the Twilight Blood Moon, didn't think that you could acquire such precious things. At the very least, you needed great achievements or impressed me before you could get the precious spring of life." Princess Alea said to him in a strange tone.
Souta listened to Alea's words but he felt the butler's gazed on his body. He felt a chill run down on his spine. He suppressed himself to look at the butler.
He could understand the feelings of the butler. The spring of life was a rare treasure of this empire. Not anyone could get their hands on it, even the nobles of this empire couldn't get it easily. They must receive the permission of the emperor or else they won't get it no matter what they do.
The Spring of life was the spring at the roots of the ancient tree at the center of the Eternal Empire. It was very potent and natural healing water. It could even regenerate missing limbs and enhanced their fighting strength. It could also cure poison and curses.
In terms of effectiveness, it could rival the high-grade holy water of the True God's Holy Kingdom in curing poison and curse.
So it was natural to feel wary of Souta when he knew that Souta wanted to get the spring of life.
"It's just a whim. I don't think I could get the spring of life with my condition." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Hehe, just like the saying know your limits... The spring of life is too much for a person of your status." Princess Alea said.
It sounded arrogant but Souta knew that she was right. He doesn't have status and power so he couldn't get the spring of life. If he had the power then there's a chance that the royal emperor would give it to him just to curry his favor.
There's another method to get the spring of life but the risk was much higher than sneaking inside the royal palace of the Eternal Empire.
"I know." Souta opened his arms with a helpless expression. If he was strong then he wouldn't care about the spring of life. For weak creatures spring of life was valuable but for the strong creatures, it was the same as normal water. They wouldn't feel anything upon drinking it.
"Oh, great leader of the dark force may this princess ask a question?" Princess Alea looked at Souta.
"Tell me." Souta slightly knitted his eyebrows as he looked at Alea in the eyes.
"Tell me, why do you want the spring of life?" Princess Alea said to him with her princess facade. She emitted the aura of nobility, a true princess.
'It seems that she's also wary of me after I mention the spring of life.' Souta thought while looking at Alea. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why do you want to know?"
"You don't need to know the reason. So will you answer my question or not Souta?" Princess Alea replied to him. Her usual tone changed and she directly called him in his name. The aura of a princess was overflowing. It feels like she was a different person.
'This is the princess that everyone knew.'
Souta looked around as he felt the space around him closed. He glanced at the butler and saw him isolated this place using his mana. This butler had the power of an A-rank adventurer. He was powerful considering that he was just a mere butler but what could he expect from the Eternal Empire. The Eternal Empire was a powerful country that could rival Hebrei Kingdom.
Even the butler and maid from the royal palace of Hebrei Kingdom had the power of a B-rank and A-rank adventurer. It's not surprising at all.
The butler closed the space so that they could avoid eavesdropping. It was to prevent information leaks.
Souta sighed after a while. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said, "I want the spring of life to recover my mana pool. You can check my condition if don't believe me."
There's no point in lying so Souta said the truth to the two.
Princess Alea glanced at her butler and the butler stepped forward in response.
"Please forgive my rudeness." The butler said before he placed his palm on Souta's stomach. He poured his mana while closing his eyes only opening it after a few seconds.
"Princess, it's true. His mana pool is severely damage. There's not a single speck of mana inside his body. The least he could do is to control the mana in the air." The butler said before he stepped back. He wondered what Souta did to caused his mana pool to become like that.
Before they could ask what happened Souta already opened his mouth, "I drank the monster potion and it damaged my mana pool in return."
Princess Alea and the butler were stunned when they heard his words. In this era, only a few people would dare to drink the monster potion.
They believe his words as they knew that drinking a monster potion could damage a person's mana pool. It was the effect of borrowing the energy of the monster.
"How about you come with me? I'm sure that Lumilia and the rest will be glad to meet you." Souta said as he changed the topic.
"Hmhm... Great leader, I, Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon, will gladly accept your proposal." Princess Alea turned back to normal. The oppressive feeling around her also disappeared.
Princess Alea could rival those B-rank adventurers while her butler rivaled the famed A-rank adventurers. These two alone could defeat the group that he brought into this empire including him.
Souta could fight Princess Alea if he could use his mana sadly his mana pool was damage. He had the power of a weak B-rank after he advanced his class to Battle Mage. He still could fight veteran B-rank like the Guildmaster that helped them in fighting Deadly Sins or the Guildmaster of the Fersch Dukedom branch.
Souta and Princess Alea arrived and they saw that Bryan and the rest were outside the inn. They already wore their equipments.
"Oh? Souta and the princess!" Bryan exclaimed when they saw him and Alea walking side by side.
Lumilia and Lynn looked at Alea who was walking at Souta's side.
Yujin looked at Souta and sighed, "I think another trouble will come. I shouldn't join this party."
Alice who was at the side saw the look of the two. Her mouth unconsciously curve upward. She didn't know that she slowly lowering her guard against her comrades. She was getting closer to them without her noticing it.