“I’ll do ten for you every day. Since I’ll be here for the next few days, that should take care of a good number of your wounded for you. Next time, make sure you bring people that are actually dying,” the prince said, grin deepening as he stepped over to Charlotte and looked into her face. Charlotte tensed up at the obvious indication that he had seen through their cautiousness. “When I say I’m going to do something, I mean it. I said I would heal ten people, so I will. There’ll be no underhanded trickery from me. Relax.”
The prince’s smile brightened, taking on a hint of madness.
“I care for you people, truly I do.” And then that ghastly color deepened. “So get better soon and start working on the autonomous zone. You’ve got a battle to prepare for.”
With Liliana at his side, the prince took his leave with a riotous laugh.
Once he was gone, Charlotte finally realized she had been holding her breath. She gasped, sucking in as much air as she could.
The retinue of civilians left the castle. Those who required support or stretchers on the trek to the castle could now make the trip back on their own two feet. It should have been cause for celebration, but a heavy, bitter atmosphere hung over them.
“What a monster...” one of the men muttered once they were a fair distance from the castle. Turning back in a daze, they looked up at the pitch-black flags fluttering above Evaloti Castle in the light of dawn.
It had taken the demonic army a mere three days to overtake the capital of Deftelos. And now, those present had no choice but to recognize the reason behind that feat.
“That was what we were up against...?” Tafman murmured to himself, echoing the heaviness weighing on all of their minds.
They were supposed to rebel against that? Still, they had more than enough resolve to fight back against the demonic kingdom. The animosity between them hadn’t weakened in the slightest.
But...just for today...they couldn’t dismiss the need for rest.
†††
A few days had passed since I started healing the people of the autonomous zone. Something must have had them worried since they didn’t bring a single person whose life was actually in danger on the first day. But ever since then, they’ve only brought those knocking on death’s door. So now it felt like I was really making a difference. With ten being healed per day, a sense of liveliness started to be breathed into the city. I also “leaked” information about Transposition and Liliana so they would understand just what kind of a threat they were dealing with when it came to the demonic kingdom. All in the hope that they would start to make headway toward their eventual rebellion.
“Do you really think they will rebel? Are you sure your actions thus far haven’t already broken their spirits?”
Well...they certainly did seem a little shocked...but I doubted that would be enough to make them surrender. I needed them to be a bit tougher than that! Them being privy to this info didn’t change the fact of their enemy’s strength. If they started to chicken out, I’d light a fire under them myself. That was the whole point of all this healing I was doing.
“Your Highness, in regard to you healing the people of the autonomous zone...”
On that note, it seemed Nichar, my night elf official, held some opinions on that matter. It was always a pain wading through the way he always beat around the bush. But in short, his point was that if I was going to spend so much time healing humans and beastfolk, then I could dedicate more to healing night elves.
And that was something I was firmly against. Who the hell would want to heal a night elf? Though those were my feelings, I couldn’t express them outright. I had expected a little bit of pushback from my subordinates though, so this would be a good opportunity.
“The people of the autonomous zone were given to me by His Majesty the King. In a sense, they are my property. Even if it costs me personally, that slight expense makes sense to ensure my property is kept in good working order,” I declared quite brazenly. “But Nichar, you night elves are first-class citizens of the demonic kingdom. I can hardly consider you property. Of course, if you were willing to abandon those rights and become citizens of the autonomous zone, I suppose I could consider it.”
So, how about it? Feel like becoming my property? Huh? What do you say?
I laid the pressure on thick, and Nichar quickly backed off.
“Um, Your Highness. Do you mean we could swear loyalty to you and serve as citizens of the autonomous zone at any time?” Tavo asked after listening in on the conversation Nichar and I were having.
“Yes. I suppose I’d have to run it past my father first, but I doubt he’d object.”
“Is that so...?” With a word of thanks and a bow, Tavo stepped out, apparently deep in thought. Though the hobgoblins had been permitted to keep their standing within the kingdom thanks to my advice to the king, it was as unstable as ever. I wondered if Tavo was considering becoming one of my citizens as a means to obtain protection should he lose his job with the kingdom.
Well...if it came to that, I could accept it. I’d feel bad for Claire, but despite looking similar, hobgoblins weren’t as much of a threat to humanity as goblins were. In fact, historically speaking, there were many cases of them being persecuted by humans due to being viewed as no different from ordinary goblins. There were some parallels between them and Garunya’s white tiger beastfolk.
If they were willing to coexist with us, I’d allow it. As long as they were willing to relinquish their desire for revenge.
As usual, I had my bloody training session with Virossa later that day. Afterward, Yavka came to speak to me.
“Your Highness, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”
“What’s wrong? Did the autonomous zone’s citizens notice the vampires?”
“N-No! Nothing like that yet!” She hurriedly shook her head, sending her golden pigtails to and fro. She seemed pretty panicked at the thought...and wait, did she say “yet”? Oh well.
“Good. If they raise their guard against you, it’ll make it harder to get any blood from them.”
My stance was that as long as the humans weren’t aware of it, I would turn a blind eye to the vampires’ blood-seeking behavior. I was expecting a certain level of self-control and reason from the vampires. Luckily, there hadn’t been any cases of people found sucked dry yet. Yavka must have done a good job in her selection of those with restraint. So far, at least.
“So, what is it then?”
“Fifth Princess Spinezia will likely finish securing the rest of Deftelos’s territory shortly. I have received word that she intends to make a stop at Evaloti on her way back to the castle. One of my men overheard her saying as much, and I figured you would wish to know.”