Royal Princess of Blood

It was morning, and we were just about to leave. Beside me was Miyako, and in front of us were the pile of bandit corpses that Nira and Satomi shoved into a corner. Before we leave, I thought there was something we should do.

"We can't just leave this many corpses out in the open," I said.

"Indeed, this amount might bring diseases through the air."

Even the foul might reach far.

At any rate, no matter what, it was just not good to leave dozens of corpses to rot in the open. We could leave them for the monsters, but when would that be? Beasts might get picky and won't eat rotting flesh.

I held out my hand and released a stream of fire. I shifted my hand, spreading the flames all over the corpse mountain. Once the fire had spread and blazed finely on the corpses, I stopped. We watched the fires grow, and I nodded.

"That should do it."

Miyako slowly turned her head at me. "Your abilities truly are diverse."

"I suppose I am just a fast learner sometimes."

"Are a lot of people on the continent like you? Have a lot of abilities."

"I don't think so. The people on this archipelago are stronger."

"... You mentioned that. But it's hard to believe seeing you."

"When you meet my other friends, you'll see. You'll give them a hard time, that's for sure." Although, my crew was a bit more special than the norm… And that included both Velar and Hartwin.

"Will I even meet them?"

"Well, we are meeting at the capital, so there's a chance."

Miyako nodded. "... Fire looks good. I think we can go."

"Yeah."

We left the burning corpses behind and rejoined with Nira and Satomi. All our things were up and ready.

Miyako leaned towards Nira with a smile. "Are you ready, Nira?"

Nira slowly averted her eyes away and merely nodded.

Miyako dryly chuckled. "Not yet, huh?"

Nira had yet to warm up to her, whatever happened. We exited the fortress gates and traveled down the road, heading towards this island's capital city. And I was feeling a bit more energetic, pleased by what I had done. I actually got something good to eat.

As we went, Miyako glanced back at the fortress. "Can't believe I achieved something like this. With just the four of us. And you did something like this before?" She turned at me.

"Yeah. It was a job I took to kill a bandit leader."

"And that's when you saved Nira and those women. I'm actually surprised you accepted that kind of job."

"... Well, I was getting paid for it. If it's assassination, with good money, I might just take it." I chuckled as if I was joking. "Although, I was looking for something to do at that time."

"I see. At least there was something good that came out of it, like what happened this time. We stopped some bad people…" She formed a small smile.

"... Indeed."

***

"Woah!" Hartwin frantically ran backwards, a large beast coming at him.

It was a large, bulky, four-legged beast, gray in color. It had a single large horn above its nose. Its hooves were large and intimidating. And the way it ran was incredibly threatening, despite its size, it was unexpectedly fast.

At the last moment, the bard jumped to the side, causing the monster to crash against a stone wall. Debris flew all over from the heavy impact.

"Velar!"

The soldier stepped in and did a heavy, vertical swing, cutting the side of the monster's body. But, Velar looked surprised, and he quickly leaped away, as the monster howled loudly. Hartwin was baffled.

"What the heck was that?!" he shouted.

Velar pointed his greatsword at the monster. "Its muscles are thicker than I thought. It almost locked in my sword."

Stolen story; please report.

Locked in…? Does he mean its muscles could have clasped it? Wow, crazy.

"Then hit harder!"

Velar groaned. "Got it. Distract it."

"I know, I know."

That was always the plan, but that didn't mean that Hartwin was ever comfortable with it. Never, considering the kind of monster they were facing. One hit from that thing would instantly crush him. He only survived because of his reliance on his own nimbleness. If it was Velar, he might survive a few direct hits from it. However, Velar was the only one that could land a heavy, powerful hit. Leaving Hartwin the responsibility to distract it or garner its attention so Velar could strike.

With a flourish of his rapier, Hartwin rushed at the monster while it was facing Velar. He slashed its legs several times before it turned towards him, as if in annoyance. Hartwin paused and anxiously backed away.

Letting out an angry howl, it charged towards him, its legs stomping violently on the ground. Hartwin frantically started running away. He ran in circles as he searched for a wall he could use. However, it would seem he couldn't use the same technique anymore. That was because it was closer than before. If he stopped, it would get him.

He glanced at Velar, who was coming his way.

Better hurry!

Velar's sword glowed, and he swung at the enemy's body. As it hit the beast, he unleashed a magical slash at the same time. Blood burst out as a deep wound was cut open. However, the monster was still standing, now its eyes looked even more enraged.

Velar tried to pull back his sword, but to his surprise, the monster's muscle inside expanded and clasped onto his blade. Grimacing, he pulled hard to get it out, but he was struggling. To back him up and to keep the monster from doing anything to harm the soldier, the bard quickly stepped in and thrust his magic coated blade into the monster's neck. He blasted a piercing armament magic a couple of times before quickly pulling out his weapon before the monster could attempt to clench it.

The monster shoved its head forward, and Hartwin shifted his body backwards. At the same time, Velar had pulled out his sword, and he immediately dashed and thrust his sword into the monster's neck. The damage was deeper than Hartwin ever did.

The monster shrieked but, frighteningly, it was still standing.

"Hartwin, go for the eye!"

Hartwin wasted no time and moved in to attack, while Velar still had his weapon embedded in the monster. Garnering as much strength into his arm, and pouring as much mana into his rapier, Hartwin thrust and pushed the blade's tip into the monster's left eye.

The monster instantly raised its head before Hartwin could pull out his sword.

"Oh no…" He let go of the handle before it brought him along with it.

The rapier was stuck in its eye. The monster stomped its feet violently, and Hartwin had no choice but to move into a safe distance. He was useless anyway, he didn't have his weapon. Thankfully, Velar had done good damage to the monster.

He swung his greatsword at the monster, and it hit one of its front legs. The monster suddenly bashed its head at Velar, and the latter quickly held out his sword to block the monster's horn. A loud clang erupted as Velar was pushed back by the sheer raw strength the monster possessed.

But Velar kept firm on his feet and quickly charged at the monster. He dodged the monster's attack, and swung his sword horizontally at the monster's body, causing a wide tear on its flesh. The monster staggered and limped for a moment. Velar saw this as a chance to land a fatal blow.

Velar quickly moved in and slash the heel of its back leg. When it dropped on one leg, Velar stepped in right before its neck. He raised his greatsword above his head and swung it down the monster's neck as hard as he could. Blood splashed from the tear, but it was not fatally deep.

Velar poured more mana into his Physical Enhancement and kept on pushing down his sword. His arms strained as he cut through the rigid flesh and bone. He pushed and slammed down the blade as the monster squealed.

Velar groaned as he kept putting more strength into it. And a moment later, he cut through the neck bone. The monster stopped moving completely and dropped to the ground with a thud. Seeing that it was finally over, Hartwin let out a long, relieved sigh.

He approached the monster. "This is too difficult with just the two of us. Too dangerous." He pulled out his rapier off the monster's eye.

"Indeed." Velar grunted as he pulled out his greatsword.

They were avoiding monsters as much as possible, and they had left the dangerous mountain range. However, there were some monsters that were just hard to avoid, nor could they even escape them. Therefore, they had no choice but to face it.

But, even though away from the badlands, it was still too dangerous.

"Let's keep going. We'll rest later," Velar said.

"Right, right."

They went on to grab their bags that they left on the ground and continued on. As they walked, Hartwin gently cleaned his lute.

"It's a miracle my lovely lute hasn't been destroyed just yet. But that fight with the angel cut it close."

"Would be tragic if it got destroyed."

"Absolutely. We've been together since the beginning of my journey. It would be heartbreaking. And this was not cheap!"

"I see."

"Wanna hear some music?"

"... We should not make too much noise."

Hartwin let out a sigh. When their crew was complete, they could make all the noise they wanted. They could play on the road, even on a silent night. They could defeat any threat. But now, it was just different. The last thing they wanted was to invite a swarm of monsters.

"How far are we still?" Velar asked.

"Uh, hold up." Hartwin grabbed a map from his bag. "Let's see… Yup, still far."

"Are we going down the right path?"

Hartwin nodded. "Yes, we're using the right road."

"Good. I wouldn't want to end up somewhere we don't know."

"We'll be good, as long as the map is accurate."

"Just make sure you don't have that map upside down."

"Ha-ha-ha," he sarcastically laughed. "We're not falling for that classic, generic, comedic trap."

Which would seriously cause a problem.

As they continued on the road, the both of them suddenly heard screaming. It was coming from ahead down the road. The both of them glanced at each other and nodded. They rushed towards the noise and saw a carriage flipped to the side. Around it were people, scared and screaming at the fearsome monster standing before them.

Hartwin narrowed his eyes. There was one guy trying to drive off the monster, but it was not working. The rest of the people were unarmed. Overall, they looked like people that needed help.

"Velar, let's help them."

"... Are you sure?"

"Will it hurt to help?"

Velar glanced at the monster. "It will if it gets us. But it should be something we can beat."

"Then… Let's go."

"We'll be putting ourselves in danger, though."

"Is it bad to help people?"

Velar let out a sigh. "Very well. Let's help them out."