Chapter 9: A Princess from Kou

"Aladdin!" Vulpi calls. "Bahamut, carry me to where Aladdin is."

Bahamut flies to where Aladdin is. Once the dust disperses, Morgiana carried Aladdin, Alibaba and a few men on her back to safety.

"Are you okay?" Morgiana asks as Aladdin turns to her.

"Thanks, Mor-san." Aladdin says. "You saved me."

Alibaba lifts his body and looks around.

"What about everyone?!" He asks.

"They're fine." Morgiana reassures him and Alibaba sighs in relief. "Thanks to Sinbad-san, no one seems to have died. Everyone went to cover when Sinbad-san yell out to warning." Morgiana stands up and looks at Ugo. "But… he's…"

"Aladdin!" Aladdin and Alibaba looks up and sees Bahamut flying closer to them as Vulpi rides on his back.

"Vulpi-nee!" Aladdin calls.

Vulpi jumps off Bahamut and she immediately hugs him.

"I'm so glad that you're all right."

"Me too." Aladdin says and Vulpi turns to Bahamut.

"Thank you, Bahamut. You can return."

Bahamut turns around and shoot up to the sky and he disappears. Aladdin, Alibaba, and Vulpi turn to Ugo in the crater.

Hey Aladdin, what's happening to Ugo-kun?" Alibaba asks. "It looks like he's acting on his own."

"I don't know." Aladdin says as he shakes his head. "This has never happened before."

Then a shadow overhead Ugo.

"My, my, what's with that monster?" A girl's voice says and everyone looks up and sees a large carpet flying carpet carrying an army, four men and a young girl. The young girl has pink eyes and long, dark pink hair, which is pinned up with her golden large pin and she wears a long, elaborate dress. "It seems you've been bullied my cute Judar-chan harshly."

"Looks like he got through by the skin of his teeth." The man besides her says.

"His injuries are rather severe." The pink-haired girl observes. "Ka Koubun, you'd better heal him properly. We can't have him die."

"I understand, Princess." The man says. "He's our precious priest, after all."

"Sin!" Ja'far says.

"Yeah, they're from the Kou Empire." Sinbad says.

"Kou Empire?!" Aladdin exclaims.

"And they are using such a large magical item." Sinbad thought. "They're not ordinary people. Who are they?"

Pink aura glows again from Ugo's fists.

"What? Does that monster still want to fight?" The princess says as the aura gets brighter. "How interesting. Very well then, I shall be his opponent."

"Please be careful, Princess." The man, Ka Koubun says.

"It's okay. Just leave it to me." She grabs her pin and pulls it out. "You should concentrate on healing him."

"Yes."

The princess puts her pin in front of her as her hair covers her eyes.

"O spirit of sorrow and isolation I command thee and thine vessel." An eight-pointed star appears on the pin. "Using my magoi, bestow great power of my will. Come forth, Vinea!"

A water dragon appears and coils around her.

"She has a djinn metal vessel?!" Sinbad exclaims.

"Here I come!" The princess exclaims as the water dragon surrounds her into a water sphere and Ugo jumps up before grabbing the sphere, subsequently, evaporating the water. "It's hot! You're evaporating the water I've collected! Just die already!"

The water goes to her pin and it transforms into a sword and her arms also transforms, having scales on them.

"What the hell is that?!" Alibaba exclaims.

Ugo land on the ground and jumps again to attack the girl as the girl dives down and pierces Ugo through him and she lands. For a moment of silence, Ugo bursts and goes back into the flute, much to Aladdin's shock.

"No way…" Vulpi trails off.

"How was that, Ka Koubun?" The princess asks.

"Simply amazing, Princess." Ka Koubun says as water flows out of his fan to Judar's body.

"How's Judar-chan doing?"

"I performed some emergency first aid, but I'll need a proper facility to completely heal him."

"Then let's get going."

Suddenly, a fire ball shoots near her head and Aladdin is on his flying turban as the rukh gather on his staff. Aladdin shoot at her, but the girl is already on the carpet.

"Aladdin!" Vulpi shouts.

"What do you want?" The princess questions. "We were just saving our friend from a monster that attacked him."

"No!" Aladdin says. "Ugo-kun was just fighting to protect everyone. Your friend's the one that started the fight!"

"I see. Then you're the master of that monster, right?" Aladdin flinches at her question. "Those people below are your friends too, right? Enshin, Entai, Engi. Kill them all."

Three large men jump down to where the Balbadd's people are.

"What are these guys?" Alibaba asks.

"I'll take care of this child." The princess says. "You three, kill the rest of the trash."

One of the men breaks the building, causing the people to run away.

"What the hell are these guys?!"

"Save me!"

"Stop him, Masrur!" Sinbad orders and Masrur stops the man as Masrur makes a dent on the ground.

"He's as strong as Masrur?" Sinbad thought. "Then she must be…"

Another man jumps around quickly and about to attack Morgiana, but she dodges it.

"He's too fast for me to see clearly!" She thought.

The man stops behind her by the wires from Ja'far.

"Morgiana, work together with me to protect everyone!"

"Okay!" She replies.

"Everyone, get behind me!" Aladdin yells as he grasps his dagger and draws it out. The third man quickly attacks him with his sword as Alibaba deflects each attack.

"You seem to possess some skills with the sword." The man says and he puts his sword in front of his face. "Let's dual."

"This guy's strong!" Alibaba thought.

Vulpi looks around if she could help anyone subsequently, her eyes land on Aladdin who is on the ground with the princess in front of him.

"Everyone seems to be having fun." She says. "Guess I'll get serious too. O spirit of sorrow and isolation. I command thee. Cover my body. Infuse my body." Water from her sword arm starts to cover the princess' body.

"Wh-what's with this person?" Aladdin says.

"Transform my body into a great djinn, Vinea!"

Before the water envelops her body, Sinbad grabs her hand, causing the water to retreat to her arm.

"Please stop, miss." He tells her as her arm and her sword turns to water.

"What are you doing?!" The princess questions and notices her arm and sword are turning back to normal. "My djinn equip is…?!" She then drops to the floor.

"I believe you're a princess of Kou Empire, correct?" Sinbad asks and the girl looks at him.

"Wh-who are you?"

"I am Sinbad… Sinbad, the king of Sindria."

When she sees Sinbad's face, her face turns red.

"Y-you're that King Sinbad." She quickly realizes that Sinbad is still holding her wrist. "How long are you going to hold my hand for, you insolent man?!" She says and snatches her wrist back.

"My apologies, Princess, but we are both people of rank and status. We should not be fighting in a place like this."

"B-but that child…" Sinbad turns to Aladdin as Aladdin picks up his flute.

"Aladdin, could you please put down your staff?" Sinbad asks him as Aladdin breathes out heavily and puts his flute to his chest. "It's okay. A djinn won't die from an injury like that. Your friend's still alive. It isn't like you to get so worked up."

Aladdin looks at his staff, causing the rukh to stop gathering.

"Princess. I'm visiting this country on some business. If you are as well, then I'd like to meet with you at a more appropriate place."

"I-I understand. Everyone." She puts her pin back into her hair.

"Ah, what is it?" Ka Koubun asks.

"We're leaving." She quickly walks to the flying carpet.

"But Princess…"

"We're leaving now!" The princess turns around and points her finger at Sinbad. "Listen, it's not like I'm leaving just because you told me to, got it?!"

Later, the princess and her men get back on the carpet and leave the area as the people watches them.

"They left…" Alibaba says.

"We're saved."

"We need to treat the injured!" Alibaba exclaims.

Aladdin looks at his flute where the eight-pointed star was at.

"Ugo-kun's star disappeared." He thought and Aladdin sends his magoi to his flute. "I need to give Ugo-kun more power!"

~Later~

The Injured people were move to a safe place and Sinbad helps putting the bandages to the injured.

"Sin." Ja'far calls as he walks toward him.

"Hey, how are things?" Sinbad asks.

"Fortunately, No one seems to have died."

"I see. Let's focusing on helping the injured. We need to regain the semblance of order."

"Excuse me…" Morgiana voice out and Sinbad turns to her. "I've gathered the cloth for bandages. The water's being distributed to everyone."

"Thanks." Sinbad says. "You should get some rest as well."

"No. I'll keep on helping the injured." Morgiana walks away to help the injured.

"Morgiana's a good girl. She's both kind and steady."

"Yes." Ja'far agrees. "She cares for the people around here and works hard."

"Are you okay?" Morgiana asks to one of the injured.

"Yes. Thanks."

"I'm so useless." Morgiana thought as she wraps the bandage around the injured man's arm. "I couldn't do anything. Even though I wanted to help those three out before going back to my homeland, I…"

Meanwhile, Vulpi is frantically looking around, searching for Aladdin.

"Aladdin, where are you?" She thought and sees group of people are gathering. When she runs to the people, she's sees Aladdin on the ground with his flute in his hand.

"Aladdin!" She exclaims and picks him up. "Aladdin, open your eyes! Aladdin!"

"Vulpi!" Alibaba voice calls as she looks up and sees Alibaba and Morgiana running toward them.

"Alibaba-san, Morgiana, Aladdin is…" Vulpi trails off and they look at Aladdin.

"Aladdin! Hang in there, Aladdin!" Alibaba exclaims.

"Take the flute!" Sinbad tells them. "Take away his flute!"

Alibaba, Morgiana, and Vulpi looks at the flute and notice it's glowing. Later, Aladdin is brought to bed and Ja'far his examining him as Vulpi, Alibaba, and Morgiana look at Aladdin worriedly.

"He's severely weakened and barely hanging on." Ja'far says. "It's a very dangerous state for him to be in."

"No way." Alibaba says in disbelief as he, Morgiana, and Vulpi look at Ja'far.

"He used too much magoi." Sinbad informs them. "Magi can use the infinite magoi that surrounds us, but that's only is he has the stamina to use it."

Alibaba remembers the when Aladdin was exhausted in Amon's Dungeon.

"Still, this is way worse than last time." Alibaba thought.

"Aladdin exhausted himself to the point where he could no longer get the rukh to gather magoi for him." Sinbad continues. "As such, he had to use up his own magoi, and using up your magoi means losing up your life-force. If he's out of magoi, then even if he is a Magi…"

"That's just how much Ugo-san meant to him." Vulpi says as her body trembles as tears are forming.

"Vulpi's right." Alibaba says and he grits his teeth.

"Alibaba-san, Vulpi-san." Morgiana calls.

Sinbad looks at both Vulpi and Aladdin before he looks at Aladdin's flute.

"But the eight-pointed star hasn't returned to the flute." Sinbad thought and looks at Vulpi and Alibaba again.

"Anyways, we have to let Aladdin rest." Vulpi and Alibaba look at Sinbad. "In this condition, he'll be probably out cold for several days."

Alibaba leaves the room and Vulpi sits on the bed looking at Aladdin and holds his hand.

"Aladdin…"

"Vulpi, can I have a talk with you later when I get Alibaba?" Sinbad asks.

"Ah… yes." Vulpi answers and Sinbad smiles before he leaves the room to get Alibaba. Soon after he left the room, she and Morgiana hears the people voices outside of the room and they go to check what is going on. They see a soldier standing in front of the carriage that belongs to the palace. The soldier is a large man with a strong build. He has long hair, a beard with no hair on his chin, and a wrinkled face. He wears a robe with a sash tied around his waist, a sword on his left side, and armor on his right shoulder.

"Barkak?!" Alibaba exclaims when he sees the man and runs towards him

"Young master!" The soldier, Barkak, calls and spreads his arms.

"General Barkak."

"I could barely recognize you! Hard to believe you're that small boy I trained so long ago."

"Why're you here?" Alibaba asks and notices the door from the carriage is open and a man hesitantly looking out the door. The man with black eyes and long hair, which he ties with a ribbon. His attire consists of purple royal dress with yellow sash.

"Sahbmad nii-san." Alibaba calls.

"Alibaba, you're amazing." Sahbmad says. "Leading a large hand of thieves from a hideout like this. That's really amazing. It would be impossible for me. Even now, it's the same… When there are a lot of strangers, m-my legs starts shaking uncontrollably…"

"Sahbmad nii-san."

"Young master, the deputy king came here to tell you something important." Barkak inform Alibaba and walks near the carriage. "This is enemy territory for us. Please try to understand that the deputy king is risking his life by coming here."

"Well, if it isn't Sahbmad." Sinbad says.

"U-uncle." Sahbmad stutters.

"Well done. I'm impressed that you came out to a place with so many people. Ahbmad didn't send you to meet us, did he?" Sinbad asks as he walks toward Sahbmad.

"Y-yeah. I need to apologize for putting your life in danger."

I see. So that's how it was."

"Huh?"

"I thought it would've had to be a fairly central figure of authority, since they'd had access to so much information. The person that leaked the information on the army, and the fact that I was targeting the Fog Troupe was you, wasn't it?"

"I-it was Sahbmad nii-san?" Alibaba says.

"You didn't know?" Sinbad asks him as he turns to Alibaba.

"I-I had no idea…" Alibaba trails off as he looks down.

"It was because Alibaba was joined them." Sahbmad tells them. "If it's the Fog Troupe that Alibaba's a part of, then… I thought that they'd be able to save this country."

"Sahbmad nii-san…"

"Alibaba's always been able to do things that I never could. I wanted Alibaba to stop our brother."

"To stop Ahbmad?" Sinbad repeats. "You're the deputy king what could possibly make you aid a hand of thieves? What's Ahbmad even doing that you're so terrified of?"

"I am afraid of him… Though, what I'm truly afraid of is what he's attempting to do. But…" Sahbmad put his hand on his face. "I'm most afraid of not knowing how and why it all turned out like this!"

A moment of silence as Sahbmad cries and Barkak steps in front of Sahbmad.

"I shall continue from here." He says. "The abnormalities started right when the previous king was struck down by illness. That man came to the royal palace and presented himself as a financial advisor. At the same time, trade with Partevia was stagnating, and our country's economy was on the decline. He had prior experience with reviving a country's economy, so we decided to agree to his help. The banker gave us Kou Empire's paper money to us and said, 'Please use this to trade next time.' Just like he said, we could exchange those pieces of paper of various valuable goods and specialty products. The banker lent us as much fan as we desire. However, without us realizing it, Balbadd's economy became completely dependent on the fan. That was a trap that we failed to notice. Borrowing fan requires a payment of interests, but the value of fan fluctuates wildly. Things that you could buy for one fan yesterday suddenly cost two fan. Every time that happened, our country suffered serious loss."

"A silver coin has the basic value of the silver that it's made of, but paper money is different. After all, it's just piece of paper in the end." Sinbad says. "Only the country that makes them can guarantee their value. Going as far as to base your country's economy is just…"

"Our country also has draft notes that can be exchange for coin, but they don't replace actual money, and they'd be of no use outside the country." Ja'far says.

"Our debt has swelled enormously. To repay the debt we need to keep borrowing more…" Barkak adds. "However the banker will no longer lend us money freely. Our ocean boundary rights, land rights, and trade rights have all been attached collateral."

"No way…" Alibaba says.

"Thanks to that, our citizens have suffered. Continually rising taxes and the lack of resource. As if to cover up the voices of resentment, the king sealed the slums and abandoned all those that lived there. This place once used to be a prosperous port town."

Alibaba remembers when he came back after conquering Amon's dungeon, Cassim told him what happened after a year.

"Despite all that, the nobility in charge of governing the country had no sense of the danger. Their lives were going well, so they saw no problem. However, when fan was running out, the king decides to use the citizens' human rights as collateral."

Alibaba looks at Sahbmad who is terrified when he heard Barkak's sentence. "What do you mean by using the citizens' human rights as collateral?!"

"He wants to sell people." Sahbmad answers. "Selling Balbadd citizens to the Kou, Reim, and Partevia Empires. He wants to turn Balbadd into a slave production country!"

Alibaba and Sinbad widen their eye, Vulpi covers her mouth, and Morgiana glares at the deputy king.

"Nii-san uses money like water every day. He can't see anything else. The nobles and the bureaucracy just follow him in order to protect their own lifestyle."

"Deputy King!" Morgiana calls out and everyone turns to her.

"Morgiana." Alibaba calls.

"Deputy King, did you come here to tell us that so we could put a stop to it?" Morgiana asks as she walks towards Sahbmad.

"Y-yes." Sahbmad answers and Morgiana walks toward Alibaba and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's do it, Alibaba-san." Morgiana tells him. "We'll put a stop to that messed up plan!"

"Please help, Alibaba. You need to act now, before the signing ceremony."

"What ceremony signing?" Sinbad asks.

"In five days, nii-san will marry a princess of the Kou Empire. At that time, the contract to use the people of Balbadd as collateral will be also signed."

"In five days?" Alibaba says and Sahbmad runs up to Alibaba.

"Please, Alibaba! Stop brother!" Sahbmad pleads. "I… can't do anything to stop him."

"The situation speaks to itself." Sinbad says. "Could you let me handle this? I will ask Sindria's allies to submit a formal objection to the government of Balbadd. I'll definitely put an end to Ahbmad's absurd idea to sell his own citizens as slaves."

Alibaba sighs in relief as Sahbmad looks at him.

"But…" Alibaba looks at his half-brother and looks down.

"Deputy King." Barkak calls. "We must take our leave."

Sahbmad hesitates and walk back to the carriage as Barkak looks at Alibaba.

"Young master. I leave this to you."

"O-okay."

Once Sahbmad enters the carriage and Barkak sits on the front, he hits the horses, making them to drive back to the palace. After that, Sinbad looks at Alibaba who is watching them go back.