The captain writhed and struggled to be free, but was unable to escape at all. While the tip of the dagger was still embedded into his flesh, Estelia contemplated the technique she was intending on practicing. Imagining and planning its process.

“Let’s see. How should I…?” She manipulated the blood to flow into the tip of the blade. Their movement was utterly slow, but at least they were moving. And then she forced the blood into the man’s body. Her eyes widened when the blood entered the small wound.

“Would you look at that, it worked.”

The man was slightly bleeding still with the wound open, but the blood she injected into him should now be flowing into his bloodstream.

“See? Wasn’t so bad. You can let him go now.”

Velar let go of the captain, and he dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. He must be a bit shaken by what happened. Estelia felt he was just overreacting.

Estelia crouched in front of him and stared at him with emotionless eyes. It was completely different from just a moment ago.

“This is merely the beginning. Do not think I am such a compassionate girl that I wouldn’t go far for what I want.” She turned towards the other prisoner. “It’s your turn to offer your blood to me.”

The man was hesitant, but he had no choice. And he slowly stepped forward and extended his hand towards her. He kept glancing at the dagger in her hand, or rather, to the hilt she was holding. Estelia realized what he was thinking.

“You want it? You want to fight?” she said. “Go ahead. Give it a try.”

He paused for a moment, and his face crumpled in conflicted thoughts. But in the end, he looked away. And presented his hand towards her. Suddenly, Estelia grabbed his wrist and stabbed her blade through his palm.

“AAAAGH!” the man screamed in pain.

“Ssssh. Keep your voice down.”

“Mmmm—gghmm…!” He bit on his lips until they bled.

“This is why you don’t even think of stealing my dagger.” She pulled out her dagger, blood was already attached onto it.

Once she released the man from her grasp, he collapsed on the floor as he held the wound in his hand. His hand was bleeding to the floor as he silently cried in pain.

Estelia returned to face the captain. “Hm? You still haven’t started talking.” She shallowly stabbed the blade into his leg.

“S-Stop! Please!”

Blood began to be injected into the wound.

Hm. I need to really have plenty of practice in doing this. If I face a demon again, I won’t have time to slowly move the blood. Injecting must be instantaneous.

“Huh. I sort of imagined you’d be convulsing right now,” she said with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“W-What?”

“Never mind. Guess you’ll have a different reaction.” Or the amount of blood was not yet enough. “Now talk.”

And with that, the captain immediately started talking about his organization. But of course, as he did, Estelia kept injecting him with blood through non-fatal wounds. But he was not the only one subjected to this, she too later turned her attention to the other two.

As she listened to the captain’s explanation, she grabbed some blood from him. Then she started lightly stabbing the other prisoner. She was still far from proficient in using this technique. There were limitations. The moment the blood lost physical contact with her blade, she would completely lose control over it.

That was why she opted to give more force into the blood’s movements. Like propelling them. She first had to get used to the routes she designed for the blood. If she made a mistake, the blood would end up splashing around its front. Like what happened with one just now as she exerted more force into the blood.

This wasn’t easy by any means, but it wasn’t too hard either. It was just a matter of getting used to it. As she tested it on the other man, whom she stabbed into the hand, she inflicted a bigger wound. Piercing her blade a little bit deeper. And injecting blood into his flesh was easier. When it was just the tip, the blood had a small entry point and path to move through. But when it was a little deeper, she didn’t need to focus the blood’s movement on the tip. In conclusion, she shouldn’t try injecting blood with just the tip of the blade. Better to really dig her blade into the flesh.

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But in a usual fight, she would usually dig her blade deep into the enemy when stabbing. So perhaps she didn’t need to stress on that part too much. Piercing the entire blade was the best option she could do.

And I was hoping all would be good with just the tip in case I’m in a tight spot. Oh well…

But what about slashing? Slashing was quick. So she doubted she could inject some blood. But for now, she should get used to this current method of stabbing and injecting before anything else. Better to master one technique than none at all.

It took a long time before the captain was done sharing his knowledge, and at the same time, Estelia stopped. The prisoners had several stabbing wounds in their bodies. And all of them being cauterized by Estelia already. She didn’t want them to die of blood loss. And cauterizing them didn’t take a toll on her, as she only had to use a small ball of flame.

Estelia observed them. They had started to breathe heavily, intense sweating, shortness of breath, and so weak. It totally wasn’t because of the stabbings, but was because of the blood she injected.

It would seem I injected some incompatible blood into them.

As she had expected, of course, but she didn’t care about that. To her surprise though, none of them had a seizure. But they could be dying already, considering how much foreign blood she injected them with. If they were tough, though, they could perhaps survive.

Velar placed a hand on one man’s forehead. “He’s basically boiling. Did the wounds cause this?” he asked Estelia.

“This is why, Velar, you don’t inject blood into your body that isn’t yours.”

Best don’t get in contact with blood at all. On the skin was fine, but to the eyes, mouth, and such. No way. People have plenty of diseases that could kill you, you know.

“Is that how it is? Why?”

“That’s just how it is. Which is quite apparent.”

“Are you actually sadistic?” Taneva suddenly asked.

Estelia frowned. “I am anything but sadistic.”

“Really?”

“I’m just giving them their punishment, that is all.”

I’m not sadistic. I actually enjoy killing rather than inflicting suffering.

And that was without a doubt.

Seriously.

“And it’s necessary for my experiment, in preparation for facing another demon.”

“... Hm. Remind me not to piss you off.”

“Are they going to die now?” Velar asked.

“Fifty-fifty chance they’re going to die to what I did to them. It depends on how tough they are.”

“Y-You’re a monster…” the captain forced those words out.

“I’m the monster now?” The princess crouched in front of him. “Haven’t taken a look at yourself?”

“You’re the b-bigger monster.”

“That is just insulting. What I did was not for an evil cause. What I did was just.”

“... This is just…?”

“Let me tell you a story.” Estelia stood up and walked over to grab a piece of cloth. “There was a father who was a good working member of society, living decently, they could buy what they needed, and buy what they wanted. It was just him, and his young daughter. And despite the challenges in life, they were happy.”

She slowly rubbed her dagger clean.

“But one day, someone broke into their home. The father was working that time, and you know what he saw when he returned home?” She paused and turned towards the captain. “He found his own daughter dead, drenched in her own pool of blood. And she was without clothes.”

She returned to cleaning her dagger.

“Can you imagine what that father could have felt? I can. Disgust, hatred, and fury… The authorities were sent to find the culprits. But what would the authorities do once they captured them? To throw them into prison? Just that? No, it just wasn’t enough for the father. And thus, he called for an angel of death.”

Estelia put down the cloth and caressed the dagger.

“He offered everything he had to the angel. To find the sinners, all of them, and make them suffer the most intense of suffering. But the angel said: My job is not to inflict pain, but to take life. And yet, the father did everything to persuade the angel, and in the end, the angel accepted.”

Estelia sheathed her dagger and stared into the captain’s eyes.

“Shortly after that, the angel found the sinners. And thus, it did as requested. It cast unto them what could have been the burning fury of its contractor. The sinners screamed, begged, and cried. And eventually, the voices all died out. None of the sinners remained, every single one was gone. And once the angel brought the news, and described what it did, the father’s eyes lit up, and he was pleased.”

Estelia smiled.

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say, Captain?”

The captain didn’t respond, and only lowered his head.

“Is that a true story?” Velar asked, he seemed to be interested.

“It’s true for some, I guess.”

“Hm. What a dark and cruel tale.”

There’s a lot of fucked up things in the world.

“At any rate, now that you guys have listened to the story… Do you know where we’re heading next?” She looked at her own allies, then at the three prisoners.

It took a while for them to realize, but when they did, the eyes of the captain and his friends widened.

“That’s right,” Estelia said. “In the end, those culprits died after their suffering.”

“N-No wait!”

Estelia ignored them and turned towards Velar. “Tie them individually, and prepare to tie them up to something heavy. Ask help from the others if you must.”

“... Wait, are we…?” He seemed to have realized what she was intending on doing.

“Yes.”

“... I see. Very well. Give me some time.”

Estelia and Velar left the cell and locked it. The three prisoners tried to crawl and ran towards them, but they were slower and weaker, being sick and all. They clasped the metal bars and reached out to the princess.

“Please! Have mercy!”

“I’m sorry for everything!”

“I’ve regretted everything! Please forgive me.”

They shouted and cried. But the princess ignored them.

“Bring them up when you’re done. I’ll be waiting there,” she said to Velar. “What about you, Taneva, care to help him?”

“Want me to?”

“You want to?”

He frowned. “... Fine. I’ll help Velar.”

Estelia nodded.