Royal Princess of Blood

When we toured around the city yesterday, it was not very thrilling. I'm the kind of person who would rather appreciate beauty, as how I would adore my beauty. If there was no beautiful scenery to be found in a place, or nothing interesting to be seen, I'd rather not waste my time. Even more so in my foul mood — it was like I was a patient in a fucking hospital here. I felt like shit.

Anyway, there was something a little bit interesting about this city. It was more prosperous than I had imagined. There were many jobs, from the looks of it, and a lot of products for sale. There were also many businesses. I would not have expected something as major as this from a city in this archipelago.

And from what I heard from Hartwin, this city was pretty open in taking in people from their own island. They even had their own district to accommodate them at the start. From then on, the government would find jobs for them to take, so they could contribute to their society and city. Although it would seem they were a bit too crowded. Just slightly. Nothing too bad. Of course, I would never know how true that would be.

The local economy was growing nicely. Although it was largely different from the first city I walked into on this island. Furthermore, things were more in order here. I was actually missing the shitty chaos I saw in Mahana. But of course, there were still some mini-fights and disorderly people here. It was just way better than Mahana.

At any rate, I didn't last long when touring. I felt tired just by walking — the moment I did, I decided to come back to the inn shortly thereafter. I could still have kept going, but it just wasn't worth it. So, like a good patient, I returned to have a rest. Although I was a patient without a doctor.

At the moment, as I woke up late in the morning, I hung around the inn's outdoor eatery. Taneva was nowhere to be seen again, he must have left early. It was good that he found something worthwhile to do rather than annoy me.

Velar and Nira were with me.

"By the way, how's your progress on your holy magic?" I asked Velar.

"It is going well, as per Taneva's words. We had to stop our practice when it was just me and Hartwin though."

Of course, they might have to conserve their energy for that.

"This island has plenty of surprises. Like the demon I mentioned that was secretly leading the bandits pretending to be human."

"You beat him easily though."

"Demons are powerful, but just having holy magic gives you a tremendous advantage." It was almost like Superman with kryptonite. "My technique of injecting my divine blood into them is super effective." Too fucking effective, which was good. A poison attack against demons, basically.

"I might need to face a demon to test how strong my holy magic has truly become."

I leaned back in my chair and glanced at the surroundings. "You might not even need to look far. If that demon was playing human, then it wouldn't be far-fetched to say that there are more lurking around, playing or controlling things in the shadows."

And they were hard to find as well once they shapeshifted. Even Taneva would not find it easy. The imps in particular. That was their purpose after all. Hard to detect as they blend and infiltrate human society. What would their worth be if they got easily discovered?

"Controlling things in the shadows… I expected they would outright rule this place."

"Demons are basically monsters. And if you're a monster, it is better to rule the nation from within the shadows. People love their freedom, even if it is an illusion. Without that illusion, they'll face resistance."

Whether it was an illusion of freedom to the normal populace, or to the country leaders themselves. They'd go along with everything as long as it seemed like they were in control. It was easier to rule the world that way — the hidden tyrants.

"So something like that happens, huh…?"

"It happens to everyone, no matter how high of a standing you have."

It happened often on Earth. I had faced shadow organizations like that a couple of times. Well, the organization I belonged to might as well be counted among them. And these shadow rulers had not only powers because of their money, like how many people assumed it to be. Many people believe corporations rule the government because of the riches they have, but no… not all the time.

Sometimes, it's just as simple as fanaticism to a belief, cults. Even those at the top could belong to those things, or that those fanatics were just sneaky enough to directly or indirectly influence those powerful figures. Fanatics I disliked facing, they're too crazy for me.

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"I'm thinking the demons are the reason the archipelago and people are like this. Crude, in constant conflict, divided amongst themselves. Perhaps that is the point, that they'd be against each other. Even tried to make the techniques that hurt them disappear. Like that blood art my recent friend could cast."

I surmised that, perhaps far in history, the demons gradually lessened the value of that blood art. And in time, fewer and fewer people came to use it. Then eventually lost the knowledge of how to properly use it. But it would seem such art was not too easily erased, as it still persevered even now. Only in a crappy quality.

"The demons are more clever than I thought," Velar said. "They made this archipelago their playground. Moving it in the direction they so desire."

Indeed. However, they may not be as organized as we thought they were. From the way I could see it, they might just be sending people and get the result that they want. The method didn't matter. Basically just releasing a monster into the wild and letting it do whatever it wants.

"And they're patient…" Likely came along with eternal life. "Even the imps waited for the assault on my home before they came and snatched me."

With the demons present, I was starting to think that trying to unite this archipelago would be a fool's errand. Realizing that, I pitied Miyako and her wish for things to change. If they weren't taken care of, might as well give up doing something good. They couldn't defeat them too, not without holy magic, which everyone was lacking.

In short, it was close to hopeless. It would be pretty difficult. However, if you cause enough chaos yourself, you might have a chance. But that's not a problem for me to think about. Once I leave this place, I wouldn't give a shit what happens thereafter.

"At any rate, we don't need to worry about that. Just practice holy magic hard, in case we face a demon on the way."

"Yes, of course."

It was then that Hartwin came to us. However, he was dressed properly.

"Hartwin, are you going somewhere?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go and visit a friend."

Well, we already knew which friend he was talking about.

"Oh? Checking up on her, huh?" I said with a blank face.

Hartwin slightly smiled. "Yes. We might leave in a few days after all. And maybe suddenly. Also, I wanted to check the progress of her skills. She's a fast learner."

"Uh-huh."

"Want to come along?"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't want to get in your way, bard." I flipped my hair.

He wryly laughed. "Your choice. I thought you might like to meet someone who's also interested in music."

"I'm shy, Hartwin."

He frowned, as if he had heard something baffling and absurd. "No, you're not."

"What…? I am."

What the fuck?

"You talk fine with people."

I briefly chuckled. "I guess that's what you think when you only see that side of me. But know the truth, I am a shy person."

"... Okay…?"

"Anyway, I won't last long touring around again. I want to rest as much as I can."

"If you say so. Anyway, got to go."

With that, he left.

Well, I wouldn't feel good seeing an instrument funded by my money held by a stranger. For my peace of mind, and everyone else's, I'd rather not meet her or anyone else.

***

Hartwin was humming as he walked down the street, heading for the refugee district. On his back was his lute. He was feeling quite excited about meeting her again after some time. Last he heard, she was performing on the street to get a little money while she waited for a job.

She may be a beginner, but she was good enough to play simple tunes. And rare as music as it was here, many people would be impressed by that alone. Some may just be interested in watching someone play, no matter the music. She was already starting small, which was amazing.

Even Hartwin started playing on some street corner, earning some money from the coins the people tossed after they were entertained. But sometimes, he was just playing for the sake of playing. The money was just a bonus.

Eventually, he arrived near his destination.

Hm?

But then he saw some people gathering on the side of the street. They all had worried and tense expressions on their faces. Hartwin was curious as to what was going on. And thus, he approached the crowd.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Someone was murdered."

"Murdered? Who was it?"

"It was some girl, but no one knows who. It just happened."

"Huh."

A girl was killed. Even though it may not be too surprising in a place like this, Hartwin still believed it was a terrible thing. Even more in the middle of a city.

He moved further into the crowd to look at what had happened and only had a glimpse of who had been killed.

But the moment he saw the dead girl lying on the street corner, in a small alleyway, Hartwin froze in place. His breath got stuck in his throat, and his eyes widened. He couldn't comprehend for a moment what he had seen, but the girl was familiar. The dead girl.

He slowly approached with heavy steps. A sense of dread and weight built up within his chest as his eyes were glued to the corpse on the floor, drenched with her own blood. He couldn't believe what he was seeing — like looking through a nightmare. He took a deep breath as he crouched down.

He extended his trembling hand and gently shifted the hair covering the young woman's face. The moment he saw her face, he gasped in shock and confusion. His eyes blinked several times as if he were trying to make sure what he was seeing was true. But it was.

"No…"

With trembling lips, he stared at the corpse. She had a stab wound in her abdomen. Her instrument was nowhere to be seen.

"Mayumi… Mayumi!" He gently lifted her head and placed a finger on her neck, checking for a pulse. If there was still life, even for just a little bit, perhaps he could try healing magic. However, there was no pulse. Still refusing to believe it was over, he cast what healing magic he could on her.

But he felt it; it was not working. He closed his hand.

Why?

He couldn't understand. Why did this happen to her? She was such a nice girl, with a dream she had only discovered. A talent that she just started nurturing.

How could this have happened?

Who would do something this cruel? She was a defenseless person, why kill her?

"Mayumi…"

He gently embraced her, he did not care about the blood that got stuck to his clothes. Tears started flowing down his cheeks as he stared into nothing with widened eyes.

I'm sorry… I'm sorry…

This shouldn't have happened. She didn't deserve this fate.

This cruel fate.