Royal Princess of Blood

Below Bakin as he soared through the sky was a barren wasteland. It looked more desolate and barren than Shinoroa overall. You could see nothing but rocks and dry soil, where the air was rough, not a sign of nature anywhere. Different manners of creatures, dangerous ones, crawled on the ground, big and small. Creatures that were akin to lizards, or those that slither, or crawling small critters with hard shells and stings on their backs. All dangerous creatures, might as well be called monsters.

In a general sense, this was a dead land, utterly. Not even a slight remnant of the gods’ grace was left. This was the true forsaken, as were the beings that lived in this misbegotten land. No, would they truly be forsaken if they were never accepted to begin with? No, there could have been a chance. But such a thing never came to be.

Bakin desperately wanted to rest, his wings were sore, his body was strained. But he was almost there, no stopping now. The city of demons was finally in sight. He flew straight to the castle, flying over the shabby homes of the demons below. As he went by, he noticed a line of humans in chains. There were merely a dozen of them. And next to these humans were a couple of giant demons.

These giant demons were bulky, with dark red and black skin. At a glance, one could quickly tell how fierce and violent they could be. Their fists and feet could crush humans too easily. They were the Ravagers. It would seem they would be taking those humans. As for what they were going to use them for — well, in simple phrasing, it would be bloody. Ravagers were violent creatures, what sort of other amusement would they use the puny and soft humans for?

Upon reaching the castle, Bakin landed right before the gate. Bypassing it would only bring trouble upon himself. He had to announce his arrival formally. Such a thing may be surprising for demons, but those in the castle were high-ranking demons, and business had to be at the least somewhat formal. Not doing so, well Bakin was a mere simple imp, he might suffer a terrible punishment if he didn’t act appropriately.

He faced the dark-winged guards at the gate entrance. The guards were wearing full armor, even covering their faces, with metal spears in hand. They shifted their weapons to block the path, stopping Bakin.

“Hold! What’s your purpose here?” one guard asked sternly.

Common demons that were not staff of the castle were not allowed to enter ‌the castle without official business. To be honest, this strict, orderly, and formal kind of thing they had going annoyed the hell out of Bakin. It almost reminded him of the arrogance of humans. But alas, he had no time to dally around.

“I’ve come with an urgent report. This cannot be delayed.”

“Who are you, anyway?”

“... I’m Bakin, an imp closely influencing the politics of Tobunoa island. I need to enter the castle and give my report, it’s important. I need to…” He paused for a moment. He couldn’t just go straight to saying that he’d need to speak to the dread lords. Extreme fatigue had clouded his mind that it impaired his judgment there for a moment. There was a proper step to this. “I need an audience with the dread lord Trigel.”

Trigel was the imp Dread Lord, and to whom all imps would answer to. It was only natural that he should speak with him first and foremost.

“Mention my name, he knows me.”

The pair of guards glanced at each other. “We’ll need to verify and see if he’ll allow you entry. Wait here.”

Of course they’d make me wait here, fucking bullshit.

It was utterly frustrating. “You better hurry the fuck up.”

The guards frowned. “Fucking imp, be patient.”

“I’m serious, you damned crow. Better be quick, or you’ll regret even delaying me a second longer.” He took a step forward, directing a strong glare at them. He decided not to mention the crucial information to these two, they were insignificant to the matter. Furthermore, Bakin knew the information he had was not something to be spread and leaked out ever so casually.

One of the guards left and entered the castle. Impatient, Bakin aggressively sat down on the soil. At the very least, he’d have a small rest while he waited. A few minutes later, the arales returned.

“He’s waiting for you in his office.”

“Finally!” Bakin abruptly stood up and entered the castle. He gave the winged guards a stern look as he went.

He had been here a few times to speak with the imp Dread Lord, so he knew where to go. Bakin may be a common imp, but his influence on Tobunoa was great. It was in the demons’ best interest to maintain control over the islands. Therefore, in a way, Bakin was a valuable individual. Furthermore, he was also tasked with looking after Rytus and his team and preparing their means of travel. So Bakin was a bit involved in the operation of retrieving the young goddess.

After navigating through the castle halls, he arrived before a door. He knocked on the door.

“Lord Trigel, it’s me, Bakin.”

“Come in.”

He opened the door and stepped inside, then closed it. Trigel was sitting at his desk, leaning back. The moment he saw Bakin, he raised an eyebrow.

“You look like shit.”

Bakin sighed. “I flew all the way here.”

Trigel leaned forward. “You serious? What you have to say must be important then.”

“Yes. Straight to the point, the young goddess is on the archipelago.”

Trigel’s eyes widened. “Then Rytus is finally back?”

“No. We’ve heard nothing from Rytus and his team. But the young goddess is currently on Hokunoa and moving.”

“Rytus didn’t arrive at the designated point?”

“No, none of them did.”

Trigel placed a hand on his chin. “But the young goddess is here. How did you find her?”

“An imp overseeing a criminal organization gave me the info. The young goddess was seeking transport to Nishinoa.”

“‌Wait,” he frowned in confusion. “She’s going further in? Why?”

“... I was hoping you would know.”

“I have no idea! But that aside…” He stood up, pondering and restless. “You think something happened to Rytus?”

“I think so.”

“... Something must have gone wrong. That girl is a goddess in the first place, she must have done something beyond our expectations. Don’t tell me you lost her.”

“I ordered the imp who gave me the info to keep tracking her. But not yet attempted to attack her in any way.”

“Good choice. Best we be careful, or we’ll spook her and lose sight of her completely…” He walked over to the window. “At least she’s here. Rytus did his job halfway. But… why is she going to Nishinoa? Something’s up, I can feel it.”

“What are we going to do?”

“... We’re talking about the single person we desperately need right now. We’re so close, Bakin. So close.” Indeed, they were so close to finally continuing on their purpose of existing. “We can’t let her escape. But we need to report this to the Administrator. And he might know something as to why she would go to Nishinoa.”

“... Of course. We’d also need to gather the other dread lords, no?”

“The Administrator is most important. I know you’re exhausted, but can you still go on?”

“... I desperately want to rest, but yes, I can still go.”

“We need to talk with the Administrator. So let’s go to the library.”

Bakin nodded. And thus they left the office and made their way to the library.

“By the way, Lord Trigel, I had the imps on Minainoa prepare for dispatch. In case we need them to move out immediately.”

“That’s good.”

A while later, they arrived at the library. It was a large room with numerous shelves filled with books.

“She should be here,” Trigel muttered.

The person Trigel was searching for was the secretary of the Administrator. It was difficult to request a meeting with the Administrator directly, and the proper way to achieve that was to speak to his secretary.

They walked around the library until they found someone sitting ‌on the floor with books in front of her. She was wearing a dark suit with a gray shirt underneath. She wore dark pants and dark boots. Her eyes looked through a pair of round glasses, but those were merely for show. For fashion.

Her short yellow-green hair was loose. To the sides of her head were furry, elongated, and triangular ears, almost resembling those of a wolf. But they were nothing as frightening as those, they were droopy and softer looking, giving an innocent and adorable look.

Bakin remained behind Trigel, taking care not to be rude or anything. She was the secretary of the Administrator, he couldn’t risk offending her in any way. Trigel walked up to her.

“Miss Arin, you seem to be in trouble,” Trigel said.

The petite girl slowly looked up at him and shook her head. “Just deliberating which one to read.”

“Is it necessary which one to pick?”

“... Yes. I’m particularly interested in all of them, but I have to choose wisely where to spend my time.”

“I see. But I’m afraid that you’ll have to set those aside for now.”

Arin frowned. “Why?”

“We’d like an audience with the Administrator. Like, right now.”

“... What’s with the rush? He is not one you can just summon anytime you want.”

“It concerns the young goddess we hope to retrieve. A matter that must be put to his attention immediately.”

Upon the mention of the young goddess, Arin quickly stood up. “What about her?”

“She’s on the archipelago, but free. No news on the team that was supposed to bring her here.”

“That’s troubling in a way. If she’s free, I’m surprised you even found her.”

“Apparently, she’s going to Nishinoa.”

“She didn’t return to her home after being freed?”

“Do you not know why?”

“... I’m not sure… But if she’s determined to go deeper into a dangerous place like Shinoroa, then it must be essential to her. And that is troubling… I’ll bring the Administrator. In the meantime, please wait at the desks.”

With that, Arin left.

“... I’ve been wondering, she doesn’t seem like a legit demon. Is she even really a demon?” Bakin said as he glanced in the direction where Arin had left. “What kind of demon reads books, hm?”

“Is the answer to your question important?”

“... I’m just curious what’s up with her.” The thing about her was that she didn’t exactly give off the vibe and behavior of a demon. She was not aggressive, violent, rude, or cold, or something nasty. She was just normal. “It would be nice to have an answer.”

Trigel sighed. “Don’t ever bring up that kind of question or curiosity to her. She won’t like it. As far as we’re concerned, she’s one of us.”

“Do you know the answer, though?”

“Yes.”

“So, not telling me?”

“No, it’s none of your business. Best you set aside that thought and never bring it back.”

“... Right, right. I’m just gonna sit down, I’m tired as fuck.”