"From today onwards, this little girl will join the guard team as a newcomer. If there is anything she doesn't understand, teach her well."

In the temporary camp of the guard team in Haixi Town, Uncle Shanyan, the captain of the guard, pointed at Tiran with an expressionless face in front of the guards who stood in two rows.

"Captain, what happened to the injury on your face?"

Someone couldn't help but raise their hand and ask the question that everyone wanted to know.

Shanyan's square face was all purple and blue, and it looked like he had been beaten up.

Although they didn't like this guard leader who always wore a serious face and lectured them, Shanyan was indeed a powerful and formidable swordsman. At least none of the guards here could defeat him. Moreover, when he first arrived at the guard team, almost everyone who was dissatisfied with him had been beaten up after a fair fight.

How could someone like him get beaten up? Who is this audacious?

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask! Didn't I emphasize it on the first day you are here?!"

Shanyan glared at the guy who just asked the question, and his shout scared everyone below, causing them to shiver.

"Besides, the preparations for the ceremony will begin the day after tomorrow. Everyone, get energized! Familiarize yourselves with the venue and ensure safety! Understand?!"

"Yes—" lazily prolonged response.

But Shanyan was used to it. After grunting coldly a few times, he turned around and walked towards the gate of the camp, leaving Tiran facing the other guards.

This uncle, he still holds grudges? Really, wasn't it him who said he wanted to fight me?

Tiran felt exhausted. Finding a job was so troublesome. At times like this, she really missed the carefree days with the Dragon Sister.

Aya worked hard while she took care of the expenses. What a perfect life.

Not knowing her whereabouts, Aya sneezed and suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

That's enough for the sentiment. She still had to face it.

The princess turned around to face the guards who were staring at her and decided to introduce herself first.

"Um, I'm Tiran, a temporary member of the guard. Then... I just beat up that uncle over there?"

In her impression, to be accepted quickly in a team like this, she should have some achievements. That uncle was said to be quite formidable, so defeating him should count, right?

... What?

This was almost the inner monologue of everyone present.

The way they looked at her suddenly became strange. It seemed they didn't quite believe her?

While Tiran was thinking about how to make them believe her so as not to leave the impression of "this person likes to boast" from the beginning, the uncle Shanyan, who had walked to the camp gate, suddenly stumbled and turned around to glare at her fiercely.

But after glaring at her, he didn't say anything and just turned around and left?

Now, even those who were initially doubtful believed her.

Although Tiran had her back to the gate and didn't notice Shanyan's reaction, the expressions on the faces of the group of guards in front of her clearly showed various degrees of change.

Most of them were surprised and admiring... Hmm, some were even fearful?

Hey, guys... and girls, is there something like a beginner's tutorial here? Although I've managed to get this job, that Uncle Shanyan didn't say a word about what I'm supposed to do. Does he want me to slack off?

Tiran couldn't stand being silently surrounded and observed by a group of people. She felt like some newly discovered species.

Fortunately, someone finally broke the silence.

"Can't you guys be more proactive?" With a sigh of resignation, a person from the back row pushed through the crowd and came up to Tiran.

Her black hair, tied up in a ponytail like a girl in a martial arts novel, and her samurai outfit that Tiran had already seen on Shan Yan...there she was, the textbook example of a girl warrior!

- If nobody understood and everyone present was acquainted, the princess would probably jump up and call her that.

"Don't mind them, they're just surprised that you beat up Shan Yan, the strongest swordsman in town. That guy, I tell you..."

The girl smiled warmly, casually draping her arm around Tiran's shoulder while using her free hand to push through the crowd. "Move aside! Don't block the way!"

"Hey hey, Miss Soya, you're so sneaky! It's such a waste for you to monopolize a beauty that rarely comes by, isn't it?" someone joked.

The girl turned back and made a face. "Who told you guys to be so hesitant? You're useless when given the opportunity."

The so-called campsite was actually a closed courtyard with a two-story wooden building. In the center was a relatively spacious open space where the guards gathered. After leaving the crowd, the girl warrior led Tiran up the stairs in the middle of the building.

"Ta-da! This is my room. If you don't mind, you can stay here with me."

After reaching the second floor, the first room on the right was the girl's room. The layout was that of a standard four-person room, but it seemed that only the girl lived there.

"Well, since there are no girls in the guard team, I consider it a privilege."

The girl crossed her arms, looking pleased as she hummed a few tunes. "By the way, you must have heard my name earlier. I am Soya, a wandering swordsman with no surname. Nice to meet you!"

Having a roommate made it easier to get familiar with the environment. Perhaps it was because of the rare occurrence of having a roommate, Soya seemed unusually excited. While helping arrange the bed, she chatted non-stop about her own experiences, finally giving Tiran a relatively complete understanding of the place where he was.

This small town was located on the coastline of the Dawn Island Country, surrounded by mountains in terms of geographical location. Taking a boat to other major towns was the fastest means of transportation. Fishing was the main economic pillar in normal times, but during the annual festival at the transition of spring and summer, it would attract a large number of tourists.

Because of this, the guard team in the small town was completely overwhelmed during this time.

- Originally, there were only about a hundred people maintaining the daily public security in this fairly peaceful town, but when the festival arrived, both the disorder caused by the influx of tourists and the arrangements for the venue made the workload of the guard team skyrocket.

Shan Yan had also considered increasing the establishment, but the existing manpower was sufficient for ordinary times, and the festival only occurred once a year. Spending a large sum of money to expand just for these few days would be a waste.

"So we found us-"

Since direct expansion would be a waste, the best option was to hire a group of temporary helpers. Allocating a sum of money each year to recruit dozens of people for these few days would perfectly solve the problem. In order to attract people, the guard team offered a considerable reward, but it was not worth mentioning compared to the budget for expansion.

"As for me, though I'm not from this town, since I have this opportunity, I don't mind earning some travel expenses."

Soya picked up a large basin of water and poured it over her head, rinsing off the foam on her body.

For Tiran now, everything else was secondary. The most important thing was indeed to take a shower. The dry and sticky feeling on his body after the seawater dried was really uncomfortable.

The public bathroom of the guard camp was hung with a sign that read "No Entry", but it was occupied without any hesitation by two girls.

"Ahh... I'm finally alive again!" Tiran poured a basin of water over herself, washing away the foam. After wrapping herself in a towel, she used a towel to dry her wet hair, letting out a comfortable moan.

"By the way, Tiran..." Shuye hadn't encountered a name like Tiran from the Western Continent before, so she stumbled a bit while pronouncing it. However, fortunately, the princess's name wasn't something strange like Aya, so it was relatively easy to remember.

"I still don't know where you're from. Neither your name nor your appearance... I guess you're not from the Sunrise Kingdom, right?" Shuye asked curiously.

"That's right..." Tiran was taken aback by the question. She hadn't thought about how to explain her origins yet. "Actually, I'm from the Western Continent. I came here because my ship had an accident."

"An accident?" Shuye widened her eyes in surprise. "But the weather has been fine recently, and I haven't heard of any storms nearby. And... the Western Continent? Is it overseas?"

"Probably?" Tiran wasn't very good at geography, but she did know that the known Western Continent and the neighboring island countries didn't have a place called Sunrise. So she could only place her hope on Shuye. "Do you know how to get to the Western Continent... or the Eastern Continent will do?"

"Well, I haven't really looked into foreign matters." Shuye lowered her head, pondering. The strands of hair stuck together in folds, resting on the curvy line of her chest, causing the princess's eyes to become fixated.

Subconsciously, she lowered her head to look at herself and realized that the princess's gaze, which could easily look straight ahead to her toes, became sharp in an instant.

Damn it!