I Was The Hero, But I Woke Up as a Phoenix Princess! – Chapter 18

Chapter 11 Vist City
As Ig saw Verafia beside him suddenly pique her interest, a cold sweat broke out on his body.
Ig knew that this young lady absolutely did not just say it for the sake of saying it.
As the phoenix of Blazing Flame, eating a human seemed no different to the girl than him grilling a pigeon last night.
“Um, Miss Verafia, although these few thieves have committed the great crime of robbery, according to the kingdom’s laws, their crime is not punishable by death…”
“Then what do you suggest we do!”
Verafia crossed her arms and frowned, seemingly unhappy that her suggestion was rejected.
“Well, miss. After all, this is within the kingdom’s borders. Even if they are thieves, if they were to be discovered dead by accident, with your status, it would surely stir up a commotion…”
Ig said, bracing himself and earnestly persuading.
The young man was still quite afraid that this phoenix young lady, who looked as pure as white paper but was actually as spoiled as a human noble daughter, might casually kill him too in a moment of excitement.
“Moreover, I think these people must be wanted thieves by the kingdom. If we can escort them to Vist City, we might even get some reward.”
“This… Since Ig, you’ve said so, I’ll listen to you this time.”
Verafia thought for a moment, then said somewhat unwillingly.
As Ig let out a long sigh of relief, the girl pouted her eyebrows again and glared at him fiercely.
“However, when sending these three people to Vist City, you will carry them alone!”
The smile on Ig’s face turned awkward. But since it was something he had anticipated and they were not far from Vist City, the young man silently agreed.
Afterward, the process of stripping the spoils from these three thieves, who had been knocked out by a punch from the young lady, began.
“What is this? So poor, yet they dare to rob! Not a single silver coin on them. They’re not even as well-off as your guards, Ig!”
Hearing Verafia’s voice, which expressed even greater dissatisfaction, Ig could only shake his head helplessly.
What coins could these petty thieves, who couldn’t even afford storage items, have on them?
Ig suddenly touched something hard. He was startled and searched the thieves, finding a stone that seemed to flow with a streak of bright scarlet blood.
This is…
Looking at the small stone in his hand, which looked like ordinary jade, Ig felt a trace of surprise.
The young man hesitated for a moment, then aimed it at his eyes, preparing to use his innate skill, “Appraisal.”
Suddenly, a slender, fair, jade-like hand snatched the stone from Ig’s hand.
“Miss Verafia!”
Ig was startled, but saw that this mysterious phoenix maiden was looking at the stone in her hand with a seriousness he had never seen before. His heart couldn’t help but move.
“Does this stone have something special about it?”
Verafia did not reply immediately. After a while, Ig saw her slowly lift her delicate face from under her hood.
In the girl’s scorching golden pupils, there flowed a solemn ripple that Ig had never seen before.
However, the brief glimpse seemed to be an illusion. In an instant, the expression in the girl’s pupils returned to how Ig knew her, the phoenix young lady who liked to tease him. The girl stuck out her tongue.
“Of course… but I can’t tell you.”
After speaking, because she had no storage item, Verafia simply tossed the blood-patterned stone back into Ig’s hand and said,
“However, out of concern for my servant, this young lady suggests that you’d best not try to use your ‘Appraisal’ on it.”
Verafia had known from the beginning that Ig’s talent was “Appraisal.”
Ig looked at the girl in front of him, confused.
“You ask why?”
Verafia tilted her small face, her slender hands supporting her cheeks.
“Well, how should I put it? If the owner of that drop of blood is still alive, and you dare to pry with your current skill, there would only be one outcome: See that big tree over there? ‘Crack!’ Your sea of consciousness would suffer a similar fate. If he’s dead… well, the outcome doesn’t seem to be much different.”
“I see… Thank you for the reminder, Miss Verafia.”
Although he had some doubt about the girl’s words, Ig naturally had no reason to risk his own life.
As per her request, Ig honestly stored the “blood-patterned stone” in his storage item for the time being.
“However, where did this blood-patterned stone come from?”
Through effective “physical means” to reawaken the fainted thieves, and under Verafia’s fierce threats, the bandit leader was terrified and confessed everything.
“Duke Lansiat Territory, Rubiel City? What kind of place is that.”
Verafia’s scorching golden pupils were slightly confused, showing incomprehension at these unfamiliar place names.
“Miss, the Duke Lansiat Territory is a territory that the kingdom rebuilt and consolidated fifty years ago. It’s not far from here, about ten days’ journey northwest from Vist City.”
Hearing Ig’s explanation, Verafia nodded as if she understood. A thought burned across her golden-flame-like pupils.
…
After the small ripples caused by the thieves and the “blood-patterned stone,” Verafia and Ig resumed their journey to Vist City.
Not long after, Vist City, as the largest city on the western frontier, its deep black and towering solid city walls fell into the girl’s sight.
“Ig, take these three guys to get the bounty! Then we can enter the city.”
Seeing that they had finally reached their destination, Verafia’s mood seemed to improve.
Hearing the girl’s orders, Ig wiped the sweat from his forehead, panting, and dragged the three thieves he had laboriously pulled along to a nearby location to negotiate with the guards holding spears at the city gate.
After briefly explaining the reason, the spear-wielding guards readily agreed, compared the photo with the magic crystal, and paid him a reward of five bright silver coins.
The guard then smiled at Ig.
“Speaking of which, young man, are you preparing to enter the city? If so, please let us examine your identification.”
Ig was already prepared for this. He handed his all-black and blue, gold-bordered identification to the other party.
“Young man, you are from the south… Wait, you are Young Master Ig of the Landischofen family!”
Although the guard did not know the specific identity of this young man named “Ig,” and the Landischofen, a newly rising marquis family, was located in the southern territory, Ig, as a noble offspring, was someone he could not afford to offend.
Ig clearly enjoyed the guard’s shocked expression.
The young man proudly looked back at Verafia behind him, thinking that although he had to become this phoenix young lady’s servant due to Lord Lothel, he was still a person of considerable status in human society!
However, upon seeing Verafia’s indifferent yet slightly mocking expression, Ig felt as if he had been doused with ice water, and his self-esteem was once again greatly hit.
“Young Master Ig, the lady behind you…”
The guard also noticed the girl behind the young man, who, despite wearing a simple mage’s robe, could not hide her noble aura. He made a guess and tentatively asked.
Ig had already prepared his answer for this question.
“Guard, this Miss Verafia is from the Empire. She came to Vist City specifically because she was interested in the Kingdom’s Fleur-de-lis festival. Can I vouch for her?”
Since Vist City had been a hub for exchange between various countries and races like elves and dwarves since its founding, and the current situation on the continent was relatively peaceful, there was not much scrutiny of foreigners.
Seeing that Ig was willing to vouch for her, the guard nodded and smiled.
“With your guarantee, there will naturally be no problem. Miss Verafia, could you please take off your hat? For foreign guests visiting the Kingdom for the first time, we need to record your appearance with a magic crystal photo.”
Ig also looked to the girl beside him for her opinion.
“So troublesome.”
Verafia complained, but she nodded her delicate, fair fingertips pulling down her hood.