Royal Princess of Blood

In the morning, after getting a good amount of sleep, I immediately left my room. Last night several minutes after making sure that the place had been cleared, I immediately went to sleep. I was so tired that I just had to sleep, everyone understood that. I used the demon's room. It was actually a surprisingly clean room. Unlike the others. At least he had the decency to be decently neat.

Speaking of the demon, I was fortunate it wasn't as strong as the one I faced before. An imp with no wings, huh? That may indicate he was the weaker kind. It really made the fight easier using my blood. Seeing the new trick I had been practicing worked was extremely satisfying. Now, I had something that could certainly give me a great advantage. Basically a potent poison exclusive for demons.

Anyway, when I got out of the room, I discovered Nira was sitting down on a chair. How sweet of her to keep me guarded.

"Good morning, Nira."

She stood up. "Good morning, goddess."

"Everything peaceful?"

"Yes."

I nodded. She followed me outside, and I took in the fresh air. I looked around curiously, looking for two people.

"Where are Miyako and Satomi?"

"Um, they're burying bodies."

"Bodies?" The bandit bodies were still at the corners where we left them, not even touched. The bandit corpses that were from the keep were also just put outside last night. "Whose bodies?"

"The slaves…"

"Huh." I honestly didn't expect that. The idea never even came to my mind. Well, maybe because I just didn't care about those corpses. "Since when?"

"Just about a couple of hours before you woke up. They just finished bringing out the bodies."

"Out…? Lead me to them."

I followed Nira. As I did, I looked around at the aftermath of what we just did. Well, just numerous dead bodies. We might need to clean up some of the bodies right in the open before eating or anything. It would be a bit nasty to eat while surrounded by blood dead bodies. As for the rest, we'd be leaving tomorrow morning, anyway. We should still have plenty of time before they start rotting.

But wow, we did a pretty good job. Although I have to save Miyako and Satomi's asses in some parts. But that was fine. Understandable, they were not as good as me in this field.

This place actually looked pretty good during the day. Those bandits did pretty good work, which must have taken years. Buildings made of stones and wood.

Nira and I exited through the side door, and immediately I saw Miyako and Satomi working. They had dug several individual holes and had started placing bodies into them. The corpses of the bandits' captives, the slaves.

When I arrived, I paused and looked down at the bodies, then at Satomi, who was inside a hole, and Miyako on the surface. They gently placed a man's corpse in the hole.

"You've been working on this early," I said.

Miyako turned towards me and smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning. I didn't expect you would do this."

Miyako smiled slightly. "Well, yeah… It must be done."

"Why?"

Miyako kneeled beside one corpse, looking at her with a sad expression. "They deserve to at least be respected in death."

"... I see."

"I couldn't sleep last night, thinking about them. The terrible state they were all left behind. That's why I have to do this."

It would seem seeing the bad state of those slaves really left a mark on her. Could I take it that she had not seen something as bad back on their home island? But at least she was taking it well. She just wanted to do something decent for the victims.

"I know they do not have laws here to protect the slaves," she continued. "But to think this is what they do…"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"This is only one of them," I said. "One of the many scenarios."

She turned towards a familiar corpse. "You saved her."

"... Yes." She was only among the girls I saved on a whim.

"Where?"

"She was once a slave of the bandit leader I mentioned I killed, along with several others. But I left them with the city authorities… I did not expect I would see her here."

And I even warned those people to treat them properly, even asked the bureau to look over it. I was certain that they would finally end up fine. But it would seem that was a misleading thought. What a waste of effort. Now I was wondering what happened to the others… Could they have ended with the same fate?

"What could have happened? How did she get here?"

"We may never know."

"What about the others that you saved?"

"There are many possibilities. But again, we may never know."

She closed her eyes. "It must be terrible to discover that a person you saved ended up in the same place as before."

I glanced down at the corpse. "Terrible indeed. She was robbed of hope." I formed a sad and disappointed expression.

She had it, I gave it to her. But it was all for nothing. What a shame. The heartbreak, the disappointment, the despair one must feel to be returned to the hell that you just escaped from… What could have happened…?

I mildly shook my head. Whatever, it wasn't that big of a deal, anyway.

"You should get to it. I'll clean up some corpses back at the fortress and prepare some ingredients for us to cook."

"Okay. See you."

I returned to the fortress with Nira. Upon arriving at the front of the keep, I started dragging a couple of corpses. "Let's put them in a far corner somewhere, Nira. Just somewhere they'll be out of sight."

I wouldn't want to look at a corpse while eating. It would certainly bother everyone, would take out all the fun. Even if you knew they were nearby, like just behind a building, it might ruin our appetite. Therefore, to have the most peaceful time, get them out of our sight! Considering that I have naturally weak strength, I had to use a tiny bit of Physical Enhancement.

We found a far corner and I just yeeted the corpses. I let out a sigh, and got several more.

"Goddess, you should leave this to me."

"Hm? You sure?"

"Yes. This is unnecessary work for you, considering your health."

I smiled and patted Nira's head. "Okay. Then I'll prepare the cooking stuff."

As I made my way back to the keep, I looked up at the sky. The clear blue sky, it was looking to be a good day. Perfect for an outside dining. I searched for the kitchen in the keep, it didn't take long. Upon seeing the place, I involuntarily groaned. The room was a bit of a mess. But to be honest, I expected much worse, so that was a bright side.

I checked what ingredients were available. They had a basement, and inside were some meat. Judging from the look and smell, they were still fine. They were stored in a good environment. And then there were some ugly-looking fruits, and some vegetables… I guessed…?

When I saw the ingredients, I realized I was not too confident about this. Um, Taneva was the one to cook our food mostly, then closely assisted by Hartwin. Y-Yeah, I didn't get to cook much of anything. I know it's bad! But not that bad. I watched, okay? I watched. So it's not that bad. I was not completely useless…

But… I was still concerned about fucking it up.

I checked up the room some more and found the spices, powders and some small leaves. There was also some cooking oil.

Fried food or soup?

Fried was of course pretty easy. However, I would like to eat something new.

I should ask Miyako for help.

Pretty sure she would have some knowledge about the local delicacies. But first things first.

I returned to the kitchen and checked the big pot. Yeah, this was going to need cleaning, the cooking spoons too. So I brought them outside to the well after picking up some scrubbing tools and towels. I pulled up the well bucket filled with water and started cleaning the hell out of the pot.

I wanted to clean it as much as possible. Amidst all that, I brought the pot and the metal cooking spoons by the small cooking spot the bandit used. I poured water into the pot and threw the spoons in as well. Afterward, I lit up the fire with magic and placed the pot on top of it.

A way to remove whatever bad bacteria or grime stuck on a pot was to boil it with water. You know me, I like things that are clean and sterilized. I wouldn't want to get whatever sickness or a stomach ache amidst my travels. I was sick already, no need to add another on top of that.

Once the water started boiling, I waited for a few minutes before I brought it out of the fire, and waited again for the pot to cool down. As I was about to pour out the hot water, Miyako came up to me.

"What are you doing, Estelia?"

"Hm? Making sure the pots are clean and safe to cook on." I poured the steaming water on the ground.

"I see."

"Where's Satomi?"

"She's helping Nira with the bodies."

"Oh." I rubbed the inside of the pot with a cloth. "Well, I'm also almost done here. Next, is cooking."

"Any idea on what to cook?"

"Uh, right. About that. I was meaning to ask for your assistance." I paused and turned towards her. Her clothes were quite dusty. "I'm not familiar with the ingredients. Maybe you could do something about those? Maybe cook some local delicacies?"

Miyako smiled widely, a hint of excitement in her eyes. "Sure! I have a few in mind! I know you've been wanting to eat something delicious, so I'll do my best!"

I smiled back. "Thank you. I'll be helping you, nice to also learn some new dishes."

"That is an excellent idea!"

"Where should we cook?"

She looked around the area. "Hmmm. Here outside should do. I like the cool air."

Indeed, nothing beats cooking outdoors. It's just more peaceful and more liberating.

"Sure. But before that," I pointed at her clothes. "I think we should take a bath first and wash our clothes. There are plenty of spare clothes inside the keep we can use for the time being."

Miyako looked down and formed an embarrassed smile. "Yes, I suppose."

"The other two should also bathe after us." We couldn't leave the place unguarded.

"So let's go check some clothes first?"

I nodded. "That imp we killed has pretty clean clothes we might use."