Royal Princess of Blood

Hartwin glanced at Mayumi, who was letting out a long, satisfied sigh. Both of them and Velar walked down the street, while the others were riding on the carriage ahead of them. Mayumi was so full that she just had to walk as they went.

"That was so good!" Mayumi said as she patted her stomach with a wide smile. "Although it was pretty expensive."

"That's expensive…?" Hartwin murmured.

She directed a baffled look at him. "You mean it's not expensive for you? Are you actually rich?"

Hartwin awkwardly chuckled. Maybe it was expensive for her because she was once a mere villager. Things in cities tend to be more expensive compared to those outside of it.

"I am not rich. Actually, it's not even completely my money."

"What…? Then whose money was it? Velar's?"

Hartwin shook his head. "It was one of my friends'." Or, to be precise, it was Estelia's. But he felt it was a bit shameful to admit that.

"Wouldn't they get mad you used their money?"

Hartwin tried imagining it.

Yeah, she wouldn't mind.

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

As long as it was for a practical and reasonable reason, she wouldn't get mad. Although, thinking about it, perhaps she might raise an eyebrow for spending the money on treating some strangers. Well, as long as he didn't spend too much, it should be completely fine.

"... If you say so." Mayumi casually looked around with a smile. "I have never seen buildings this tall. It must have taken a long time to make them." There were buildings three stories high, made with either stones, bricks, and metals, and wood. "You came from beyond our island, right, Hartwin?"

"Yeah."

"I'm curious how your cities look."

"Well, in one city, it's bigger than this place. More vibrant, colorful. Although it didn't have as many people with weapons."

"Why?"

"... Because there was no need for most people to be armed. Normal people."

Mayumi glanced at him with an intrigued gaze. "Life is safer there, then? That most people do not need to be armed."

"Yes."

"That sounds wonderful. Would be nice to see it."

"You can always go out there."

Mayumi smiled. "Sure… For a visit, perhaps."

"In my opinion, life will be overall better there than here." No dangerous monsters all over the place, law and order was better. Environment was full of life. Compared to here where everything was almost dead, and people and the environment were harsh.

"Might be. But this is home, Hartwin. Perhaps it may get better eventually…"

"You really think that?"

"Wouldn't be bad to hope. And I would like to see that."

"Hm." That may be hard, change. But it was not impossible.

"And if things get better, I wouldn't mind visiting your cities. Maybe we'll meet again there somewhere."

Hartwin smiled. "Sure. I'll be looking forward to that."

After asking around, they found the place where the refugees were staying. It was a large district with wide two-story buildings consisting of numerous rooms. They must be dorms of some sort for the refugees. From the looks of it, the city was prepared for such an occasion. There were numerous people on the ground who must be refugees. There was a large tent with personnel sitting by desks.

The group got out of the carriage and, with Mayumi, went there to talk with the staff. Hartwin and Velar stood back by the carriage and waited for them to finish.

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Hartwin looked around, and he saw a particular shop. They were hammering on metal, crafting tools or weapons, from the looks of it. It was then he noticed someone was cutting on a piece of wood, shaping it into something.

So they have someone that can woodcraft. Hm.

He glanced at his own lute, and he formed an idea.

Sometime later, Mayumi returned to them. "Apparently, we have to wait for someone to show us our rooms."

"With this many people, I'm surprised they have rooms left," Velar said.

"That's what I thought. But apparently, they try to give work to people as fast as possible so they can go and find somewhere else to live."

"Wow, they actually take the matter seriously, huh?" Hartwin expected less from a place like this. But it would seem he made a mistake. "You still have a bit of time, Mayumi?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Come with me."

She tilted her head curiously. "Um, okay…"

Hartwin led her to the smiths' shop.

"What are we doing here, Hartwin?" she asked.

"Making something for you."

"For me…?"

One of the people in the shop approached Hartwin. He was quite dirty from all his work. But he seemed to disregard how he appeared, not caring at all. "How can we help you?"

Hartwin greeted him with a friendly smile. "I see you also do some woodwork."

"Yeah."

"I would like you to make a musical instrument like this." He handed him his lute.

The man received it and scrutinized the lute. "An instrument? Hm, wouldn't be the first stringed instrument we'd make. Hm, but this is not from here…"

"No."

He touched the string. "The string is not metal."

"Yeah, you might need to find some animal or a creature's gut for that." Or in this place, maybe from some monster.

The man contemplated for a moment. "... I suppose we can do this." The man nodded. "But you'd need to leave this instrument for the time being so we can study it."

"Oh, I don't mind. Can this be done in at most a week?"

"In a rush?"

"Basically."

"New thing, rush work… This gonna cost you."

"That's fine." Hartwin slowly brought the man away for a private discussion. They talked about the price and the man asked for some things about the workings and materials on the instrument.

Meanwhile, Mayumi looked at them with widened eyes, speechless. Confused about what he was doing. She glanced at Velar, looking for answers to her unspoken confusion, but he merely shrugged his shoulders.

A while later, Hartwin handed out some coins to the man before returning to Mayumi with a proud smile.

"What was that about?" Mayumi asked.

"A gift, a parting gift for you."

"... For me…?"

"I had the smiths to replicate my instrument. So you can have your own. You can keep playing anytime you want."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. Although it is going to take a while. But don't worry, the man knows you."

Mayumi's eyes blinked as she slowly took a deep, trembling breath. Unable to contain it, her eyes suddenly moistened. "Y-You would do that for me?"

"Yeah. It's not always that I encounter someone interested in playing music."

Mayumi's smile widened, and she jumped at Hartwin and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Hartwin!"

Hartwin slowly hugged her back. "You're welcome."

"You've done so much for us, for me. I don't know how I could repay you."

"Ah, there's no need for that."

She closed her eyes, cheeks crawling with tears. "Still, thank you. You're the best person I have ever met."

"T-That's an exaggeration."

Mayumi chuckled. "Well, right now, it is a fact. Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Mayumi looked at him with eyes shining with joy, a bright smile radiated on her face. And then she leaned forward, giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek.

***

Hartwin and Velar walked down the street in search of a place to stay for the meantime. The bard placed a hand on his cheek, he was quite surprised that she did that.

"So, you gave her a gift. You've grown attached to her," Velar said.

"She's a nice person. She deserves to receive something good, at least."

"... And quite expensive too…"

"Uh…" Hartwin looked away with a stiff smile. "W-We'll be fine. Still have plenty."

"They were supposed to be funds for our long travels, you know."

"Y-Yeah…"

Velar let out a sigh. "I don't have a problem with it. But you might have some explaining to do to the others."

"I'll… I'll pay it back, eventually. Hehehe…"

"Yeah, whatever, but you'll do the explaining to her."

Hartwin slouched. "I know…"

"Anyway, I think we should find an inn somewhere near the city entrance. But if the princess is already here, how would we even find her?"

"... Isn't she a pretty good tracker or something? Maybe she can find us."

"She's… Last I saw her track someone, she tortured a bandit."

Guess she can't torture anyone this time…

"Maybe if you hadn't left your lute, you could have played in a public area. That would have gotten some attention."

"... Huh, didn't think of that. But if it's Estelia, she should be staying in some inn somewhere."

"So we should ask around?"

"Yeah. And we should also find Taneva. He's with the Cursed Children. With them, searching for the princess will be a breeze."

"That thing was powerful. We're not even sure if they can catch up so soon."

"Those three can't die. So I'm sure they'll arrive, eventually."

"Hm. At any rate, we should find a place to rest. I'm tired. Let's think about it tomorrow."

Eventually, they found an affordable, yet decent inn to stay. After paying for a single room with two beds, they asked for Estelia. However, there was no one staying there that fit the description for both Estelia and Nira.

Once they climbed up to their room, Hartwin plopped down to his bed and laid down, thinking. "This city looks interesting. You know I travel because I want to see new places. New stories everywhere."

"This must have been a treat, then."

"Yeah, aside from the dangerous monsters all over the place. Anyway, we should tour around the city."

"Sure."

"We should rest up, big guy. We haven't had a good straight sleep since we got separated from the crew."

"... Yeah… I just hope the princess comes soon. I had not done my duty for a long time. My job was supposed to protect her…"

"... Yeah."

"So much for being her knight…"

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. There's nothing we could have done."

"But I hoped I did."

… Indeed. But that fight… was way beyond our realm.

One where they would be vaporized the moment they step into it.