Royal Princess of Blood

Travel to the shores was still going as fine as ever, which I was quite pleased about. In fact, I didn’t have to do much; things were pretty chill. Like we were under a premium service or something — which was the case actually. I did pay a good sum — basically all my fucking money. As our convoy was guarded nicely, I didn’t have to worry about fighting monsters myself, nor get too worked up when one arrived.

Therefore, I could take it easy all the way. And my taking it easy meant I could just stay in the carriage and sleep all the while. Spending all that money was just worth it. For my case, nothing was more important than resting! Things were looking pretty bright.

Currently, it was nighttime, and we were camping. The transports were all lined up. I glanced at the wagons that contained the slaves, watching the smugglers hand out a large plate of dried food into the slave containers. Each ‌of them had one plate filled with food, meaning they would have to share the contents. I had no idea whatsoever how many there could be inside, nor did I care. But that food was in no way enough.

Although my crew, those from the continent, did not find the treatment of fellow humans quite pleasing. I noticed Velar frowning as he stared at them, Hartwin looking away and shaking his head. They were treating those people like animals. How horrid. But because of my telling them to disregard it, they were not doing anything about it, nor confronting the criminals.

Although those two were handling it better than Miyako. Miyako almost looked like she was choking not confronting them about it. She must have wanted them to treat them a bit better than that. Well, even if she tried, I doubted they would actually do anything about it, nor comply with whatever she said.

I took a bite of the cooked meat and chewed gently as we all sat down by the fire. This was actually nice, camping without having to worry much. I glanced at Miyako, who was still quite bothered by the criminals’ actions, ignoring her food. I imagined every wild shit that happened had been piling up in her mind.

I resisted the urge to sigh.

“You’d better eat while it’s hot,” I said casually with a small smile.

“Ah, right…” She slowly bit into the meat.

“Still bothering you, huh?”

She mildly nodded, her face conflicted. “... I’ve just been thinking… about where these are headed.”

“What about it?”

“... They’re going our way… Just thinking about it… it feels like some of these ‘products’ are going to Nishinoa. And they’re right in front of me.”

Well, it wouldn’t be surprising if that were the case. That was why there were smuggling operations from here to Nishinoa in the first place. Not like they were always smuggling people. It was the products. It was possible that these products that we came along with were heading to Nishinoa, going to ride our same boat.

“Might be. So?”

She frowned. “So…?” She seemed surprised I had even said that. As if I didn’t care, or it didn’t matter at all. Well, for the time being, that shit didn’t matter.

“We signed up for this. What they’re transporting we must disregard. Leave it alone.”

“... I know… It’s just…” She lowered her head, seemingly frustrated. “We’ve been working hard to get rid of these operations on Nishinoa. Destroyed their narcotics, freed the illegal slaves. Dismantling their bases, arresting and killing these criminals.” She glanced at the criminals. “But no matter how much we did, we just couldn’t get rid of them completely.”

“... You’re not taking them out from the roots.”

“And here I am, the roots within my grasp. At least one of them. I can trace it to its head. I’ve met their leader. And yet, I can’t do anything about it.” She clenched her fist. “They ruin my island, bringing their horrid substance, bringing people unnecessary suffering. Crush one, and another pops up, like bugs.”

Wooooah.

I didn’t expect she would be this mad about that. Just pure resentment. I expected she would be more chill about it. But I supposed after everything that had happened to her recently, she wouldn’t have much patience left.

Still, at least I’m confident she won’t do anything foolish.

“Hm…” I bit on my food. “What makes you different from the other islands?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, laws for slaves for starters.”

Miyako fell silent for a moment, thinking. “... The lord before was perhaps that kind. The slaves, despite their status, are still our people, people that just have something to pay for. We don’t like seeing them suffer and treated inhumanely. That was why the laws to protect slaves were made. We hope to make things better for everyone… But it’s not so easy, after all.”

“With the way your island is structured, it would be hard to enforce those laws.”

“... I suppose.”

“Well, we got to start somewhere. A drastic change won’t occur in a day.”

She smiled slightly. “Has there been a drastic change done to your kingdom?”

I shrugged. “I have not always been involved in politics, up until recently at least. Always leaving it up to my brothers and parents… For drastic change… Well, there is one I can think of… Which I actually caused.”

“What is it?”

“Are you familiar with another kingdom’s political structure?”

“Tell me.”

“Well, there is a king and a queen above all. Then there are what we call Nobles below, rulers of lands or territories granted to them by the monarch. There are dozens of them. And there are also nobles that live near the capital without lands of their own.”

“So they are like governors?”

“Yeah, I suppose. But way fancier.” I smiled humorously. “It’s a bit more complicated, but that’s the gist of it. Anyway, we discovered traitors among them, under the paycheck, or given a promise by the Empire that’s trying to invade us.”

“They would still be tempted by the wealth offered by another country? How terrible.”

“Uh-huh. So I suggested something that was quite resource intensive, but I believed the only way to rein in these fools.”

“What did you do?”

“Sent agents into their households.”

Miyako blinked in surprise. “Agents? Literal agents?”

“Yeah. Right into their homes, to watch their movements and whatever else.”

“Did these nobles know?”

“Of course. These agents’ presence was not hidden whatsoever.”

“... That’s an interesting strategy.” She chuckled. “I imagine they were mad about it.”

“Yes, they were. But they can’t do anything about it. It was essential to maintain control.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I mean, how else was I going to maintain control over a vast land with varied lords? If we apprehend all the traitors, which would be a lot, that might destabilize the kingdom. It was good to have shown an example out of them, but we had to be careful. Even for punishments if they were discovered, their entire family would not be punished.

Miyako stared into the dark distance. “I wonder if I could do the same. There might be governors out there who are acting quite foolish.”

“Depends on how much control you hold on the island overall. You wouldn’t want to start a rebellion or civil war.”

Doing such a thing, especially in this place where order may matter little, would be quite volatile. I mean, look how easy it was to cause a civil war in Hokunoa. You’d never know, someone might be willing to overthrow Miyako and her family out there. They had to make sure first how much control they truly had over their island. My recommendation, which I would not say, would be to just execute some of those that might rebel against you. As an example.

“Yes. I wouldn’t want the things happening here to happen back home. But I do hope I’d have everyone’s back when the time comes. When I make my goals known to everyone.”

“You will face a lot of criticism, insults, or whatever else. Just be prepared and do not falter.”

“... Yeah.” She nodded.

After finishing up our dinner, I walked away alone, just into my little secluded corner, letting the food get digested. It was nice to sleep right now, but you shouldn’t really sleep while full. It would be quite a bad experience.

I glanced up at the sky.

What I liked about this world was the sky. So clear and pretty. And new. Different layouts and stuff. There were even light dots that were not blinking, which I assumed to be nearby planets.

Huh, I wonder if there is astronomy here or something.

I meant a place where they took such a thing seriously. Like back on Earth, there were geniuses dedicated to such a thing. I knew of no such things back home. A shame, would be interesting to see how different the cosmos was here.

What manner of planets would there be in the solar system? When I become a god, maybe a couple hundred years down the line we get to invent spaceships.

Gonna switch genres from fantasy magic to sci-fi space adventure with magic! Hehe, I’m kidding. It would be interesting though… Gonna conquer some alien motherfuckers. Like some tall blue smurfs that love nature, and bring humanity’s hammer upon them. Human supremacy, baby! Gonna bring some democracy!

Well, a good thought before sleeping. Looking into the future…

Hm, but thinking about it, perhaps it might not be a good idea for humans to advance too much. Else, they’ll stop believing a god exists or something. Now we can’t have that. They might start resisting or rebelling against me for some reason if I show myself or throw my authority over them. Humans could get pretty rebellious, even if you give them all the convenience in the world. Always making their own problems.

Tsk tsk tsk…

Maybe a sci-fi setting was never on the menu. A shame.

After some time, I returned to my tent. It was time to sleep. The accommodation was pretty nice here too. Had some proper sheets and pillows. Paying them that much money was truly worth it.

I fell asleep.

I slept for some time, but then I was roused slightly from my slumber, sensing something was afoot. I was pretty sharp when danger was around, and I felt danger when I sensed footsteps nearby. They were footsteps that you wouldn’t expect right now.

They were strangely quiet, as though they didn’t want anyone to hear them. I frowned under my blanket.

Ah, fuck this shit.

I already had an idea of who they could be. At any rate, I got up with a displeased expression. If I notice the problem, we should start fixing it immediately. I would not like it if we lost all our security details. There was no way I was gonna lose my right to chill around. Having the guards was essential for the sake of my mental health. I ain’t suffering because of a manpower shortage.

Just as there was a person that came up in front of my tent entrance, I swiftly moved. I had no guard at this time. I let Velar sleep and rest, as I was reliant on the criminal guards. But, them coming after us this far was a surprise. They were people that these criminals couldn’t easily deal with.

I pulled out a dagger and pushed the enemy down to the ground and stabbed my blade into his neck. It was a person in dark clothing. A ninja.

Dammit, I thought we were done with these guys. Like, come on.

At some point, we had to stop dealing with these motherfuckers. I already wrecked them badly, and they were still coming after us? Fucking hell.

Here for revenge or something? Fine then little ninjas. Let’s get this over with.

How many more ninjas do I have to kill for them to learn their lesson? Fuck it, kill most of them, or all of them!

I poured magic into my palm, and a ball of light ‌formed. I threw it high into the air, and it exploded into a bright flash of light, brightly illuminating the surroundings. This sudden occurrence surprised everyone in the area, even the people who were after us. People in dark clothing were all over the area, revealed by the bright light, clear as day.

“We’re under attack!” I shouted. “Ninjas!”

I was getting sick of these guys. But I’d give them what they want.

The chance to get their revenge, but ultimately failing.

But I had enough of playing in the same field.

Let us play under my gracious and divine light.