When Tiran returned to the team, everyone looked at her with slight surprise. More accurately, they were looking at the maid next to her, who was holding a large stone ball.

Mimi closed the book and jumped down from the carriage, dragging her injured leg to stand next to Aya, staring at him skeptically. "Hey, what strange thing have you brought back again?"

"What do you mean 'again'..." Aya sighed. "I must be really terrible in your eyes. Besides, this thing wasn't something I wanted to bring back." He glanced at Tiran as he spoke.

In the end, unable to let go of this strange stone egg, she had made her younger sister, Shoudoulong, carry it back again.

"Your Highness?"

"Ah... I did ask Aya to bring it back," Tiran casually intertwined her fingers around a lock of hair, "It's the spoils after defeating the siege-level beast. It's a waste not to take it."

"We'd rather not have such a bizarre-looking spoil." Mimi frowned. "Your Highness, it would be better if you just throw this thing away."

"Hey, hey, don't do that. It was hard-earned spoils. Isn't it too wasteful to just throw it away?" Tiran clasped her hands together earnestly, her posture making it seem like Mimi was the princess.

"In that case, let Your Highness personally keep this spoil. Our cargo wagon is already full."

"No problem." Without hesitation, Tiran agreed.

Aya blinked his eyes, suddenly realizing something. "Hey, hey, wait a minute! You're not planning on making me carry this thing all the way, are you?"

...

Although the process was a bit tumultuous, in the end, they successfully defeated the siege-level behemoth thanks to the overpowering strength of their princess. The mission was completed perfectly.

Robert, the knight, was filled with gratitude towards Princess Tiran. Although Tiran requested that her identity as a princess should not be made public, as an honest knight, he distributed all of the mission's reward money to the mercenary warriors who participated. The remaining fifty thousand gold coins were handed over to Tiran.

Faced with this situation, Princess Tiran, who always stepped in to help the oppressed, could not possibly refuse... Oh, sorry, she accepted it without hesitation, without even politely declining.

"I say, are you really that short of money? You're a princess of a whole country, it seems a bit beneath your status to do this," Aya sighed as she sat on the hotel bed, holding the stone egg.

Tiran casually put the gold card into her chest pocket and confidently replied, "Of course I'm short of money! The castle's exclusive account is directly connected to the treasury and can only be used for castle maintenance and daily expenses. I can't use it without a legitimate reason. And besides, I usually have to buy things from Roger, so the expenses are quite high!"

"Roger... the sketch artist?" Aya remembered the artist in the city of Beacon and all the strange things kept in the castle's secret chamber by the AI named Ai-chan.

"What sketch artist! He also makes exquisite figures!" Tiran said seriously.

"What's the difference? They're all vulgar things... huh?" Aya murmured, and the next moment, the cold edge of a sword was already at her neck.

"Don't say that, or I'll kill you," Tiran said viciously. "This is a belief. Do you understand?"

"Under... understood. By the way, if you're that short of money, why don't you go and hunt a few magical beasts? You can easily defeat beasts of the level of siege-level behemoths, so it shouldn't be difficult to earn hundreds of thousands of gold through bounty tasks, right?" Aya raised her hands in surrender.

"I'm busy most of the time, okay? I don't have the time," Tiran added.

Busy? Busy with reading sketchbooks and playing with figures?

"Also, it's tiring to run around outside," Tiran added.

"Is that the real reason?" Aya laughed.

"Oh, by the way, one more thing. Don't tell Mimi about my secret stash of money," Tiran said, paying no attention to Aya's disdainful gaze, as she suddenly remembered.

Given the personality of that maid, she probably wouldn't allow the princess to have such a sum of money privately. Once discovered, the most likely outcome would be confiscation.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door was knocked, and the voice of Robert, who had already left, came from outside.

"Your Highness, I almost forgot, tonight there will be a small celebration at the Lord's Mansion in Solotu City to celebrate the successful siege of the mountain giant. The Lord of the City has sent an invitation and hopes that you will attend."

"A celebration?"

...

Indeed, it was a celebration. In order to avoid large-scale panic among the people, the siege plan of the siege-level behemoth was carried out secretly and not publicly announced. However, the officials and nobles in the city were aware of this. With a major threat eliminated, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.Upon learning that the one who finally defeated the mountain giant was not the extermination group, but a powerful knight encountered on the road, the lord of the Solotu city immediately became interested.

"Ugh, I hate crowded places the most."

On the terrace of the second floor of the lord's mansion's banquet hall, Tiran, wearing a full set of armor, leaned weakly against the railing.

"If it weren't for you insisting on going to see the excitement in the first place, none of this would have happened, right?" Aya stood by, looking exhausted, as if she had just finished a 50,000-meter race.

This is really troublesome. Not only do I have to deal with a group of annoying guys, but I also have to wear a full set of armor to prevent my identity from being exposed...

"Wearing armor to attend a banquet is absolutely foolish!" Tiran was a little overwhelmed, squatting on the ground, holding his head.

"If anyone should complain, it should be me complaining! You just need to stay silent and pretend to be cool, but I have to explain for you. By the way, why did I have to come with you?"

The initial plan Tiran and Aya discussed was for Tiran, a wandering knight acting aloof, to fend off the idle guys who approached them. Although this plan was quite successful, the problem was that there were always some noble youths whispering and burning gazes occasionally fell on Aya.

Fortunately, Tiran, as the hero who killed the mountain giant, forcefully intervened and resolved the situation. After toasting to the Lord of the City, the two quickly escaped from the banquet hall.

"If you find it so troublesome, why didn't you just refuse in the first place?" Aya drank the wine in her cup in one gulp and, like Tiran, leaned her whole body against the railing on the terrace.

"It's not easy to refuse something like this. Otherwise, Robert will have a hard time."

"Oh, when did you become so kind?"

"Kidding, when has this princess not been kind?" Tiran snorted twice.

"I really didn't see that." Aya sweated profusely. Maybe he encountered a fake princess. Maybe Tiran had a sister who looked exactly like her, and she mercilessly swung her sword at him, then tied him up and took him home to train him in various ways?

"Let's not talk about that. Do you have any clues about the stone egg that the mountain giant exploded out?"

"The inscriptions on it look somewhat familiar, seems like some kind of Magic circuit or something. Thinking back, that mountain giant had automatic repair capabilities and could even fire a grid cannon. Maybe it's not really a mountain giant, but a Magic puppet created by some alchemist."

"Huh? Are you humans so bored? Creating something to attack yourselves?"

"Who knows, maybe the puppet went out of control or something? But come to think of it, the cores of Magic puppets are usually made from precious Magic materials. It should be worth quite a bit of money. Why don't we go back and find an opportunity to sell it?"

"Are you obsessed with money..." Aya covered her face, and when she put her hand down, she realized that Tiran had already run off somewhere.

The figure of a noble youth who had just engaged in conversation with him appeared by the door leading from the banquet hall to the terrace. He was pleasantly surprised to find Aya alone on the terrace and vigorously waved at her as he approached, intending to push open the door.

Aya remained silent for three seconds, then ran away with her head down.

...

Someone once said that life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what flavor the next piece will be, because usually chocolates, this magical food, do not have labels, so you have to taste them yourself to know the flavor.

Likewise, no one knows what will happen in the next second.

So, when Princess pushed open the door to her room...

In the room, the stone egg, which had been neatly placed on the ground, was smashed in half, and whatever should have been inside was taken away, leaving only a layer of stone shell.

Tiran was so angry that her hands were trembling. How dare someone steal from the Silver Valkyrie! This is unacceptable! I have always been the one stealing from others... Ahem, ahem!

"Who the hell did this?!"