I knocked on the door, and after a voice told me to come in I opened the door.

  “KYAAAA!!”

  Eh? The girls started to freak out...

  “P-please don’t hurt us!!”

  That’s...

  “I-I’m sorry!”

  I said while bowing down my head, if it weren’t for some lucky circumstances I would’ve raped them, or something worse.

  “Eh?”

  Everyone is dumbfounded, why is everyone so afraid of me...

  “For now I fixed everything with the piggy so you’re free to go, and I’m sorry for the troubles I caused you”

  This is a lie but whatever, I’ll fix it with piggy ter.

  “R-right...”

  “What do you pn to do with your freedom?”

  “W-we don’t know...”

  “Well, you’re free to do what you want, as long as you don’t break the w”

  “O-of course!”

  ...

  Ok...

  They’re petrified, what can I do now?

  “Umm... I’ll, Uh, let you stay here for the night, think about it carefully and answer me tomorrow ok”

  “O-ok!”

  Hmm... What an unsatisfying answer, I’ll let them rest for now.

  Oh right! The female knight! I forgot about her, I’ll feel bad if she died, so I might heal her wounds or something, if I can of course.

  “Oi! Piggy!”

  “Y-yes?”

  “Where’s that female knight?”

  “D-do you want to finish her off!?”

  “What? No! I just want to see her that’s all”

  “She left a bit ago”

  “With those injuries!? Is she gonna be ok?”

  “Our healers stopped the bleeding, we advice her to stay here since she lost so much blood, but she just picked her sword and left”

  “And you let her?”

  “W-Well...”

  “Sigh... as long as she’s ok, then leave her”

  I feel kinda bad for her, seeing that it was my fault, it just crossed my mind that if she died it would be my fault, then again being crippled for life is also not a small matter, maybe I should help her out...

  “Is she coming back?”

  “You really want to finish her off!?”

  “I’m telling you I'm not!!”

  Maybe I can restore her limbs or something...

  *groooooowl*

  Dammit my stomach...

  “D-do you want to have lunch early?”

  “I-if you don’t mind”

  “R-right”

  This got awkward, but it’s not like a meal is gonna satiate my hunger, if only I could have some blood and-!!

  Idea!

  “Hey piggy”

  “Y-yes?”

  “I have a favor to ask of you, if you comply I’ll forget the fact you kidnapped those girls”

  “If there’s something I can do, then just ask away”

  First time I saw the piggy doing puppy eyes.

  “Could you get me a piece of steak”

  “Of course! Steak for lunch is not a problem”

  “No, you don’t understand, a piece of ‘raw’ steak”

  “Raw... is it?”

  “Yes”

  ...

  ...

  Man today has been quite awkward, what? Did you think I would ask the piggy for his blood? No way, disgusting, that’s not blood that’s rd, I’ll die of a heart attack from all the cholesterol.

  And I thought that maybe eating a piece of bloodied steak would help me to satiate this bloodthirst.

  “H-here you go”

  Said the piggy in the dining room while a servant pced a raw steak on a ptter in front of me.

  “Right...”

  I used the cutlery and took a bite.

  !!

  Tasty!! It’s so good!! The mushy and slightly tender texture is so good, I can feel my tongue dancing while the juicy piece of steak slides down my throat.

  “... wow you really ate it...”

  “Shut it! Who gave you permission to sit here to eat with me?”

  “S-sorry, I was just curious as to whether you would actually eat the steak or not...”

  Why do I feel embarrassed about this? It’s just a piggy watching me, why do I feel so self conscious...

  “But why did you ask for something like this?”

  Now he thinks we’re friends or what?

  “It’s nothing, I need blood to sustain myself, it’s either this or attacking people”

  “That’s! It’s ok, I’ll provide as much raw meat as you ask, please don’t attack me!”

  “Who would attack you?, you’re disgusting”

  “I-I see...”

  He looked relieved... What's wrong with him? I just insulted you.

  “Then that expins why you would ask for those prostitutes...”

  “Eh?”

  “Isn’t That why you asked for them? You wanted to drink their blood”

  “T-the reason isn’t any of your business! Can I really suck the blood of a prostitute?”

  “I mean, I know a couple of nobles, especially from the demon realm, are hemophiliacs, so although rare, it wouldn’t be unheard of”

  “Then I can get blood as long as I pay for a prostitute?”

  “Sure... That is if she agrees, unless you want to force her...”

  This guy...

  “T-Then again! It wouldn’t be right! But yeah! You could g-get one for that purpose”

  He got scared when I pced my gaze upon him.

  “I-I don’t think you’ll have a problem with the money, but i would recommend you to get a concubine”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “Well, a concubine is usually higher quality, and as long as you pay her properly, she’ll not get any other clients, the front pay is way more expensive, but seeing that you need it for meals, it’ll probably be cheaper in the future to keep concubines than hiring prostitutes every time you need one”

  “Of course...”

  What’s wrong with me? Taking the advice from the piggy lord? Today has been a rather weird day...

  “I-if you wish I could arrange a couple of concubines for you”

  “Hmm... but on the condition that they agree to get their blood sucked, on top of their regur job, if you force a single girl into this, I’ll beat you to a pulp”

  “O-Of course!”

  And just like that, the rest of the day passed by, and I’m lying on the bed, thinking.

  Ok, in actuality I’m so hungry I can’t sleep, so all I can do is ponder on my empty stomach...

  I can’t believe I did that to the poor female knight, yet looking at her arm and leg on the floor, spilled in a puddle of blood, I couldn’t help but salivate...

  Ahh... I wonder if Miss Knight will let me suck her blood, I know she would probably refuse, but...

  Maybe if I help her recover her limbs...

  Ah! It would take more energy from doing that than the energy I would get from her blood probably!

  Hmm... I id down while my stomach growled angrily.

  ...

  ...

  It’s a new day, and I went to see those poor vilge girls. They seem to have calmed down from yesterday, as I’m having an honest talk with them.

  “And what will you girls do from here on?”

  “W-we don’t know, but after talking with everyone, we decided to let you decide that for us...”

  They don't sound too convinced, but whatever.

  “Do you know how many people suffered the loss of their homes from this war?”

  “I don’t know, but I’d say quite a few”

  “Hmm... then how about forming another vilge?”

  “Eh?”

  “Yes, a vilge for the refugees”

  “B-but...”

  “I don’t see a problem, I’ll arrange the plot nd, hell, I’ll help with the housing and farmnd, but the condition is that after a year, once you can catch your bearings, then you’ll pay taxes and contribute as any other vilge”

  “T-Then we don’t have to pay taxes!?”

  “For a year, also your current debt will be cleared, but if you fail to pay up after this year, then, well, I’ll see if that happens”

  A couple of girls look scared, a few others have a fre on their eyes, but everyone seemed to agree with this condition.

  “And remember, the vilge will be for refugees, meaning that any refugees you know of, or can help me locate them, will be send to said vilge to help it grow”

  “Of course!”

  “Great, then I’ll get on it, as for you girls, starting tomorrow, start gathering or locating any friend from your past vilge or other refugees and such, I’ll arrange with the piggy so you don’t get into problems, is this alright?”

  “Of course Midy!”

  She bowed herself and everyone followed suit.

  “As you know, this is my town now, and no citizen will suffer like this in my watch”

  After saying such strong words, I left their room, I could feel the happiness and joy from that room after I left, this looks to be going well, after fighting over the piggy, and by that I mean threatening him thoroughly, I set everything into motion, I’ll just overseer this from time to time.

  ...

  ...

  And it’s afternoon, I had what I felt was an entire cow worth of raw meat, so I actually feel ever so slightly full, it’s more like I had a very light meal, like just a small appetizer for the entire day, but it’s still food, so it calmed me down a bit, the piggy, of course, couldn’t find any concubine for me, but said that he would keep looking, he was covered in sweat and almost crying when this happened, so who cares.

  ...

  *sniff*

  This smell, it’s the female knight!, I wanted to talk to her so I followed her scent, and saw her enter the office that the piggy uses to do whatever the fucks he does.

  I’ll just eavesdrop for now, since I’m bored, and don’t feel like barging in like that.

  ...

  “Yes, Heather, can I help you with something?”

  “Un... I know I’ve been id off from the guard knights but...”

  “You can’t come back, you can barely stand up!, you’re officially dismissed”

  “Of course...”

  I can feel sadness in her words...

  “T-Then about the pension...”

  “Eh!?”

  Heather said very timidly and the piggy answered with quite the fury...

  “W-Well, it was part of my contract that I would receive a pension in case I was id off due to injury...”

  “And you dare expect me to give you anything after that pathetic dispy of yours!? Not only were you useless! You have the audacity to ask for a pension!?”

  “B-but...”

  “Besides, the contract stated about injuries received on duty”

  “B-but I fight because you ordered me to do so...”

  “Such a vulgar way to speak to your lord! Just so that we’re clear, you’re not being id off from the service that you dispyed, you’re being fired for your incompetence!!”

  This piggy... and here I thought he was starting to turn over a new leaf. I can feel despair and anger in the female knight, I can hear the blood boiling in her body, and the small gritting of her teeth...

  “B-but milord! I beg of you!”

  I can’t see what’s happening, but if I were to guess, she’s kneeling down, or more like she dropped to the floor.

  “I!... I need the money! Please...”

  “Out of my sight!”

  I could only hear her swallowing her sorrows.

  “Y-Yes...”

  She said in a meek voice, on the verge of crying... I feel like shit really, but this gives me an idea!. I left and walked a bit away from the office.

  ...

  ...

  “So I heard you were id off”

  I said to the knight on her way out of the pace, maybe I should have picked my words more carefully, it was obvious that I was waiting to ambush her.

  “Demon!”

  Heather was using her sword as a crutch to walk, but immediately pulled it out of the sheet and prepared a stance while standing on one foot.

  Not only was her posture quite amazing, the fact that she’s standing in one foot, and holding that huge sword in her non dominant hand it’s a testament to her ability, it angers me that the piggy called her useless, she’s the strongest person I’ve met in this dream, seeing that she was the only one that was capable of doing more than paper cuts to my body.

  “Rex, I have no intention to fight you”

  It wasn’t clear, but the stumps where her arm and leg were started to bleed slightly from her movement,not only making me feel a bit hungry again, it also looks like she hasn’t healed completely, and this is more apparent when you see her flinch in pain ever so slightly every second.

  “What do you need from me Demon!”

  “I have a name, call me Marisa”

  “Hmpf!”

  That was both a noise to berate me, and pain combined.

  “Would you kindly put the sword away, I have no intentions to fight, besides...”

  I closed the gap between her and me in an instant, appearing in front of her.

  “You’d be dead where you stand if I wanted to end you”

  “Urgh....”

  Ah! I feel so nice bullying her, but that’s enough, now it’s making me feel awful from her pitiful look.

  “Fine...”

  She pced her sword back, and continued to lean on it.

  “I want to talk to you, is that ok?”

  “No”

  “Don’t be so cold”

  “If there’s nothing else you want from me then-“

  She was gonna start walking when I interrupted her mid sentence.

  “Ah... and here I thought to have a nice talk with you, Well that’s a bummer, but I have a thing I want from you”

  “Hmpf!”

  I stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.

  “Could you show me to a nice restaurant?”

  “Eh?”

  “Pretty please?”

  I said while using a bit of force on my hand.

  “F-fine...”

  And so we both walked out of the pace.

  “Now, what’s your favorite restaurant?”

  “Eh?”

  “Yes, I want you to take me, not to the finest pce in town, but rather, the pce that you can say ‘this is my favorite restaurant, and I go here to eat every time I can’”

  “Why do you-? Fine!”

  She pointed to a restaurant on the corner of the street.

  “There!”

  “Miss knight, I absolutely loathe liars!”

  I released a murderous aura and Heather froze in pce, was this too much? Are people that scared of me?

  “So, that’s your favorite restaurant?”

  “N-no...”

  ...

  ...

  After a while of walking, we arrived at a little inn, with a just as small restaurant on the side.

  “H-here...”

  She’s not lying this time.

  “Then let’s go”

  “Eh?”

  “Of course I want you to come with me, I don’t know the menu or anything”

  After groaning a bit, the dy knight entered with me. This pce is quite humble, is definitely not a pce in the slums, but it’s not top notch either.

  “Ah Heather!”

  A waitress rushed to her, and looked with concern in her eyes.

  “What happened!?”

  “I-it’s Nothing, Just an accident at work...”

  “Sigh... we told you it was dangerous! Why didn’t you listen to us!?”

  “Sorry...”

  The look of concern in the waitress is quite real, I can see Heather is quite a loved person.

  “And who may she be?”

  “Hello, the name’s Marisa, a pleasure to meet you”

  “Hi! Umm...”

  “Oh, I’m a friend of Heather~, I came here to have dinner with her, since she’s now dismissed of the knights”

  Heather is looking at me with a face of pure anger...

  “I see! Isn’t it great to have such friends? I’ll prepare our best table for you two!”

  “Thanks”

  Good thing the waitress is as much of an airhead as she is kind.

  And so we followed the waitress inside.

  “Then what will you order?”

  “I wonder”

  I said nonchantly.

  “Ah, we’ll make your favorite dinner Heather, extra special from the chef, is that ok?”

  “N-“

  “Really? Thanks! I’ll have what Heather is having, but a regur one please”

  “Of course! Two special house steaks coming right up!”

  “Oh and bring us a nice wine as well!”

  “Of course!”

  Heather's face is looking quite pale.

  “I!”

  “It’s ok, I’m paying today ‘Heather’, so enjoy the food”

  The painful and pale expression from her face lightened up after I said I’m paying, I have enough money from that piggy’s pce. As well as the money my ‘mother’ gave me.

  “Then... Why did you bring me here?”

  “Here’s the wine!”

  The waitress pced the bottle and two cups on our table.

  “Thanks”

  After the waitress left I poured a gss of wine and gave it to Heather.

  “I want to hire you”

  “Eh?”

  “Un, and I’ll pay you double of what that piggy paid for you as a knight”

  Her face expressed joy for a second but it then became grim again.

  “W-what kind of job do you want me to do?...”

  “It’s simple”

  I said while I picked my empty gss.

  “I want you to be my concubine~”

  Heather then froze up for a second, then tossed her cup of wine in my face.

  I swiftly catch every drop of it in my empty gss.

  “You shouldn’t waste such a good wine”

  “Go to hell!”

  “I’m guessing that’s a no?”

  “Of course!”

  “Sigh... ok, that’s a bummer since I heard you needed the money”

  “You! You were eavesdropping!?”

  “Oh don’t bme me, my ears are very sharp”

  I pointed to the guys on the opposite side of the restaurant.

  “See those guys, they say they’re gonna invite those 2 girls out to ‘have some fun’”

  Then I pointed to the window, in a house in front of the restaurant.

  “And a girl inside is scolding his husband for arriving te at night”

  “That’s...”

  “If you don’t believe me, the people in the street next to this one started to ‘do it’~, we can go there so you can see for yourself”

  “N-no Thanks...”

  She was amazed by my hearing, honestly me too, my senses are way too sharp to be honest.

  “So I didn’t eavesdrop on purpose, even so I’m amazed that you need the money since your father is also working in the pace”

  “Eh!? My father died almost 5 years ago!”

  “Really? Then your brother?”

  “Don’t have one...”

  “...y-your son Then?”

  “Stop pying tricks on me!”

  “It’s not a joke! There’s a familiar of yours working in the basement of the pace!”

  I smelled him before, they smelled like father and daughter, I learned about this when I was with that farmer and her daughter, and I’m 100% sure it’s a he, there’s a lot of family in the pace employees so it didn’t raise an eyebrow, but now I don’t understand.

  “Y-you say there’s a familiar of mine working in the basement?”

  “Un, it has that familiar smell in connection with you, and he’s male, of that I’m sure”

  Her face turned bitter...

  “You don’t seem to be lying...”

  “I’m not, I swear on my name”

  “Then...”

  “Do you want to check it out?”

  “Eh!? But...”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna ask anything in return since it peaked my interest, I’m gonna check it out myself, but if you want to come-“

  “Can I!?”

  “Of course”

  I can see fmes in her eyes, never seen her with such determination before...

  “I was pnning to check after coming back from this dinner, but I’ll wait for you tomorrow morning, don’t leave me waiting for long”

  “Of course!”

  This got lively all of a sudden, then the waitress brought the 2 ptes of food to our tables.

  “Ta-dah! Enjoy your meal”

  Oh! Quite the nice looking pte, it has nothing on the pace meals, but it’s not shabby either. I looked at Heather and her eyes were shining looking at this steak.

  So cute!! Why is she so cute all of a sudden!? Ah! Why did you stop smiling and go back to a grim expression?

  “A-aren’t you gonna eat?”

  She’s just looking at her food, not even touching it...

  “I’m not hungry... maybe I’ll ask for the waitress to pack it and take it home”

  She’s lying.

  “Won’t it get cold?”

  “A bit but...”

  “It’s for someone else isn’t it?”

  “Eh?”

  “Spill it, why, or rather for whom are you taking this food to?”

  “I...”

  “If you tell me I’ll buy another one for you to take home, so just tell me and start eating”

  “R-really!? You would do that?”

  “Un!, but no lying, you know I hate liars”

  “Right! It’s for my sister...”

  Well, she’s not lying, I can tell that much.

  “Right...”

  “...”

  After hesitating a bit, Heather started eating.

  “...so why did you ask me for such an outndish job?”

  “Well, there’s not much you can do like that, besides you wouldn’t be a normal concubine”

  “You sound like an old geezer on a paid date...”

  “Really? Sigh... the real reason is that I wanted your blood”

  “Eh?”

  “I mean that I need blood to sustain myself, even this nice meal won’t fill my stomach you see”

  “T-Then...”

  “I’m not a vampire I don’t think, it’s weird, but that piggy said that I could hire a concubine for this things”

  “I see...”

  Heather is lost in thoughts.

  “Then if you want my blood I can sell you some, no need for me to be your concubine”

  Hmm... I don’t know why Heather pissed me off for some reason, I mean, it’s completely rational, hell, it might be the best choice to accept but...

  “Do the full gig or don’t bother”

  I said in a slightly angry voice, it’s my dream right, I do what I want, besides, Heather is quite pretty, I’d lie if I say I wasn’t interested, and I won’t force her, but... I never said anything about not pushing her to take the job.

  “Sigh... you’re a weird one aren’t you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, we’re both woman”

  “So?”

  “F-forget it...”

  I had dinner with Heather, it was quite pleasing. After finishing I asked the waitress for another ptter and that she packs it for take out.

  “Thanks for everything...”

  “What!? So you do know how to be grateful!”

  It’s the first time that Heather didn’t berate me or talked to me in a cold and angry tone.

  “Ungrateful demon”

  We’re back to snder.

  “Anyways, I’ll go home now”

  “Great”

  “...don’t follow me”

  “Oh! I thought of helping you carry the food, how are you gonna take it back if you can barely stand?”

  “Don’t underestimate the former captain of the knights!”

  She picked the little wooden box of food with her hand, and used the sword as a crutch at the same time. It looks precarious, but she managed somehow.

  “O-ok... see you tomorrow morning at the pace then”

  “Right! See you then”

  And so Heather left into the night, guess I’ll go back to the pace, pff! Yeah right!

  ...

  ...

  I know she said to not follow her, and I’m not doing that, but I’m bored and decided to stroll through the city, the fact that I’m going in the same direction as Heather it’s just a coincidence.

  Eh? Why am I doing so on the rooftops of houses, and not the street, mind your own business.

  Heather finally arrived at a house, and from a pouch pulled a key and entered.

  I can’t see anything, but I can hear inside clearly.

  “I’m back!!”

  “Big sister!! Welcome back”

  “I’m back Ellie!”

  It’s a small house, it’s not poor or anything, if I were to say, it’s a humble home, but it looks like it’s starting to deteriorate.

  “I have a surprise!”

  I can only sense 2 girls in the house, besides Heather, there seems to be another child.

  “Waah! It’s from Panci's pce!?”

  “Un! Eat up”

  “W-weren’t we short on money?...”

  “Oh don’t worry about it, a friend of mine invited me there since I was retiring, she even paid for your pte”

  “Waa! Thank her for me!”

  I could hear her starting to eat the ptter of food her sister Heather brought, so we’re ‘friends’ now, huh?

  “Then that means that the lord gave you the pension?”

  “T-that...”

  Heather's good mood and happiness turned bitter in an instant.

  “W-Well, the lord was quite busy today, so I couldn’t see him, but I’ll go tomorrow”

  “I’m sure he’ll agree! Big sister worked so hard after all!”

  “Un... I’m sure he will...”

  Ugh... the sheer anxiety and despair in Heather it’s soul crushing, I can feel it all the way here...

  “You should go to sleep now Ellie, it’s quite te”

  “Eh!? I want to stay with big sister a bit longer”

  “You have to sleep properly, and I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning early as well”

  “Bu!”

  “But hey, I’ll come back early tomorrow, so cheer up, once I’m no longer working at the knights we’re gonna have a bit of free time for us!”

  “You promise!”

  “I promise!”

  “I can’t wait!”

  “Then let’s go to sleep”

  “Ne! Big sister, can we sleep together tonight?”

  “Oh Ellie, aren’t you too old for that?”

  “Pretty please!”

  “Sigh... Fine, you win my little spoiled girl, but just tonight ok?”

  “Ok!”

  The little girl seems quite happy, yet Heather only has feelings of bitterness and guilt. I can almost feel that Heather will break down crying at any moment...

  Even so, I’m interested about them, the little girl is, how can I say this, weak, that’s a given since from her voice I’m guessing she’s a child, but even compared to that other girl from the farm, she’s way weaker, even Heather that lost two limbs is way better compared to her, I can only wonder what happened... for now I returned to the pace to sleep for a bit...

  Joanne_carper