I arrive back at the castle after a few day journey. I took my time getting back to clear my head, but I arrive home before all the others. I have a stack of progress reports awaiting me so I simply get to work as soon as I arrive taking no time to rest.

It appears all groups completed their objectives. All targets had been eliminated and losses were minimal. I know missions like these are supposed to take months of careful planning, but when all evidence is false and very blatant, it doesn't take very long to get the job done, and since most of the targets were legitimately innocent people they had no preparations for attacks of this kind. This meant planning was easy, especially since the kingdom has had a long period of peace.

I and all the accountants and scribes do the paperwork and file everything away and strangely I was left with nothing to do and no one to deal with. It's almost a good feeling, for all of two hours before I get bored. I check all the progress reports to find that no one is expected to return within the week as they all plan to stay behind and "clean up" after themselves or whatever that means.

I then decide to go find something fun to do, not anything productive for once. I think I deserve some time to go screw around. Just as I'm about to leave the castle Ginessa storms in. She roughly grabs me and asks,

"Where do you think you're going without an escort?"

I shrug and say,

"I'm gonna go find something fun to do."

She scowls and says,

"Okay, but I'm going with you. You spent far too much time alone... without being observed."

I simply shrug and leave the castle with an armored paladin woman following me closely.

I only bring my little sword and a small pouch of silvers as saddle up and head toward a nearby town.

I ride for a few hours and come across a medium-sized town. It's big enough to have stone walls but has dirt streets. It's a farming town with a nearby river powering the many mills. I enter the town closely followed and go to find something to kill time. I ask Ginessa for any ideas, but she is utterly unhelpful only requesting to attend a church service and then calling me a heathen because I don't wanna.

I make the executive decision to go into a pub. I'm a little hungry and who knows what kind of interesting things might be going on in there.

We enter and it's mostly empty aside from two tables where some local farmers are enjoying some drinks. I find us a table and the cute barmaid comes and takes our orders. I ask simply for her recommendations and leave it at that. The place is cramped, smells of greasy food, and the other two tables are getting a little rowdy as the booze continues to flow. I lean back in my chair and enjoy the atmosphere. Ginessa looks uncomfortable here and I ask her,

"Place to low brow for someone as refined as you lady Ginessa?"

Her cheeks get a little rosy as she puffs them out in indignation and she replies,

"I can't believe a woman of my stature and skill has been assigned to watch over such an... an unrefined barbarian such as yourself. I would think after getting a taste of the high life of our most wonderful noble society you would never wish to be seen in a place like this."

I laugh as the barmaid brings me a beer. She sets the clearly shitty wine in front of Ginessa. I thank her and take a long drink of the room-temperature fluid. I cringe at first but quickly get used to it. Ginessa clearly doesn't enjoy her drink but I reply to her,

"Well, the high life you described has overall been rather unenjoyable for me. Yeah, the food is sometimes decent but you can't really enjoy yourself, gotta keep an image or whatever. Too much work for me to do all the time.

Back at home, in the land of the barbarians, as you call us, there were only two bars in the entirety of my home city. They both were holes in the wall, literally carved out of a mountain, all they were was long rooms with a bar that could seat a few dozen people. Everyone enjoyed them, from the Voivode to the unnamed workers. No one is too high and mighty to head down to the bar and enjoy some beers with the boys."

She shakes her head as I finish my beer, the barmaid comes back to take my mug and I ask her politely,

"Pardon me, but if you could I would greatly appreciate it if you set some beer over a fire for me."

She looks at me in confusion for a moment and I explain,

"Where I'm from we drink beer, mead, and ale hot out of a big cauldron."

She shrugs and I hand her one silver for the extra trouble. My next mug is full of steaming beer which I gulp down happily. It's very much a learned taste, but during winter, especially on the mountain and out in the desert, a nice hot stein of mead or beer warms the soul. The rather poorly made beer here tastes all the better with nostalgia as the secret ingredient. Ginessa looks disgusted by me.

The food arrives in all its greasy glory. All of it appears to have been cooked in some sort of oil and then place on top of a large bowl of soup. If I remember correctly pubs and taverns of this era have a soup that's always going and a single pot can last potentially years if they keep adding more stuff. I am excited to taste what this one has to offer.

While Ginessa looks squeamishly at the food I dig in grabbing the duck leg by the bone and taking a bite of the rich flesh. It's good. Very much not healthy food but it's damn good. All the meat is fall off the bone, and there is no need for salt or anything as the melted fat, and whatever oil they cooked in makes the skin crispy and the meat juicy. The soup is of unknown content, but there are hunks of bread and some vegetables in it. I taste rendered fat in the broth, but there are no meat chunks aside from those added afterward.

Ginessa picks at her food trying to eat it with some form of manners, but without any silverware aside from a wooden spoon to eat the soup she is failing to eat much. This is in contrast to me who really doesn't care. The Stella Coyote largely eats most of our food if possible by hand, and most of our specialty dishes are on a stick very much like a kebab or corndog. We also use the bone in meat as handles making cuts similar to those of tomahawk pork chops, but from the various game, we find around us. This meal feels just like home and fills me with a nice and warm feeling, and that's not just because of the hot beer.

I finish my meal rather quickly as I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I wait around drinking more as Ginessa slowly comes to terms with what she has to do. She removes her armored gloves and retrieves two handkerchiefs from a bag she wears on her hip. She tucks the rags into the wrists of her armor before slowly picking up the meat to eat it.

Despite the full stomach, at the rate I am drinking, I feel the edges of my vision get a little bit blurry as the alcohol catches up with me finally. I start slowing down and request the maid not to put any more on the burner as I'll finish up what's left before leaving. Eventually, Ginessa finishes and replaces the rags and metal gloves. She then asks me, probably trying to take advantage of my being a little buzzed,

"So Isa, what was it you did while I wasn't watching? Did you further conspire against the church?"

I give her a smile and reply,

"Oh yeah, lots. I walked up to my main man the Demon King because he accepts random visitors as you know, and I told him about this annoying paladin named Ginessa."

She shifts her weight forward in an almost defensive posture. I see a small bit of worry in her eyes. She asks,

"What did you tell him?"

I mentally am left reeling, I thought I put so much sarcasm in that last statement to where it was damn near dripping with it, I came here to be entertained, and this is a rare opportunity to fuck with someone. I give her an evil laugh and reply,

"Oh... I told him everything. "

She tenses up more and asks,

"Like what...Fiend?"

I smile wide and remembering how much of a prude this woman is, I say in a low voice,

"Oh... I told him exactly about you. About a little paladin woman who despite her armor has a very lustful body underneath. I described how your hips curve, your cute little face, and of course those two assets you wear on your chest."

Her face grows red quickly and she pulls herself back in offense, an arm across her chest, which is completely hidden, and not at all noticeable, underneath the full plate she wears. She then asks me,

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"Is this true you... you... the lecherous monster you... you demon?"

I take a long drink before setting the mug down hard. I sigh now looking at her in pity. Poor stupid girl. I then say to her,

"No. It is not true. I was messing with you because you are very dedicated to the idea I serve the Demon King. To be honest I never heard the term "Demon King" until that big announcement ceremony where the hero was revealed.

What did I do while you were not watching my every move?

I got work done. I destroyed multiple strongholds of the supporters of the Demon King... or were they just regular heretics. I can't remember. All I know is that Duke Hasslerouge gave the command and I followed. "

She drops her hand but is still a little upset with me. She then says with fake calm,

"That... that is very good. Now, why would you describe me in such a horrible way, even if it were for the sole purpose of... messing with me?"

I laugh finishing my last beer and setting the proper amount of money on the table. I reply after gasping with beer foam still on my upper lip and with a wide smile,

"Well because it is true."

We leave the pub, Ginessa with her arms crossed and face bright red and me laughing with a new black eye. Although she isn't anything impressive in the strength department, especially in comparison to say, Violet, the metal glove really hurts, especially slamming into your eye.

We walk through the town, and I'm still giggling like a retard. I keep telling my best jokes to Ginessa, but she doesn't get many of them or finds them completely unfunny. Well, half my jokes are from my old life and contain references she absolutely wouldn't get, but I find myself funny. I guess at some point I lead us into the bad part of town or something. Two surprisingly well-armed men step out from behind a building and stop us. I can tell they are either thugs for some gang or mercenaries. They ask us rather politely for our coins and I tell them to check up their own asses. I feel pretty confident since I have a trained paladin in full armor with me, who has a sword. I look over at Ginessa who looks rather disturbed, she has her hand on the hilt of her sword but isn't drawing it.

The two men, now mad at us, and threatening us with various violent and sexual crimes start approaching with weapons drawn. I ask Ginessa politely,

"Well... you're the paladin, go ahead and dish out some justice in the name of the goddess or whatever."

She whispers to me through gritted teeth,

"I can't."

I shake my head in confusion sobering up pretty quickly with this realization. I ask,

"Now why the hell not?"

She says quietly,

"A paladin's sword has an enchantment on it that won't allow it to be drawn against someone who isn't evil. Despite these men having bad intentions I am unable to draw my sword both by honor and literally until they actually commit the crime. We are trained to accept an evil done against us and are expected to suffer through it before returning divine justice. I highly doubt I'll be able to do so with what they intend for me..."

I sigh as one of the men grabs me by my collar. He raises his sword to skewer me as the other violently grabs Ginessa. I say to her,

"Your divine justice sounds pretty bullshit. I mean, isn't it a crime to threaten people and approach them with weapons?"

She shakes her head with now slightly teary eyes. I feel a little miffed at this and grab the wrist of the man holding me. I take a step back and just barely dodge the stab which gives me a little cut on my arm. I then pull the arm past my body and step to the side. I put my shoulder on the back of his shoulder while pulling his wrist up. This straightens his arm completely.

With my Russian arm bar locked I use my free arm to grab his far armpit and I pull it toward the ground while circling around him backward. This makes him fall forward some and he catches himself with his sword hand. With his weapon on the ground, I stop my movement and circle toward his head and wind up my leg before smashing him in the face with my knee. I feel something crack as I do this and he falls away from me and holds his face. I release him as he lies on his back shouting in pain while holding his face. I kick him firmly in the ribs making him curl up in a little ball. I kick his sword away and it clatters against the wall of a nearby building. The man who has Ginessa doesn't seem to know what to do. I say to him,

"Alright, let her go. It's not fun anymore. Walk away and get your buddy and piss off."

He frowns and says,

"You won't get away with this. Our boss is gonna gut you and we're gonna have some fun with this girlie here."

I shake my head and say,

"Naw. That ain't gonna happen. "

This confuses him as I approach quickly. He pulls Ginessa close but doesn't hold a weapon in his hand at all. Clearly, he is intent on doing bad things to her. I get within arms reach and pull Ginessa hard toward me. This causes both of them to stumble forward. The man releases his grip to catch himself, but what he catches is my elbow onto his nose. He screams with lots of profanity as it begins to bleed profusely. I grab his arm and pull him into a punch. He goes backs up out of my grip and throws a punch toward me. It's wild and I duck it easily and get behind him. I wrap him up around the waist and begin lifting. He isn't wearing any heavy armor, just a large leather armguard, and a leather cuirass. Once he is in the air instinct takes over and we go backward. I arch my back as I throw the man into a brutal suplex. He lets out a loud grunt of pain as the back of his neck and shoulders slam against the dirt street.

I release him and get to my feet. He stays in that position groaning. His dick and eyes stare at one another and his toes touch the ground past his head. He isn't dead or paralyzed, but he won't be feeling good for a few weeks. I dust myself off leaving the two groaning men on the ground. I approach Ginessa gives me a nod of what appears to be thanks before her eyes go wide at something behind me. I turn around just in time to take a hard punch to the nose. I feel blood start streaming out of it, but it isn't broken. I blink the stars out of my eyes and see three more men. Two are dressed similarly to the first two on the ground, but the third is clearly the boss. He looks fairly big, but he has metal armor, simple chainmail with a singular pauldron on his left arm. None have weapons drawn, probably because I don't. They also look pissed, but clearly more so I beat their boys rather than losing out on a prize.

The leader looks me up and down for a second before his eyes go wide and he yells at the two men on the ground,

"That's one of those fucking noble kids and a paladin you dumbasses! Why would you even try to attack them?"

I laugh and say to the man,

"Ayup. Now, who are you lot?"

He shakes his head, his shoulders dropping. He then replies,

"I guess there is no sense in lying. We are the local crime of this little shithole town. Used to be a mercenary company but fell on low times, had to diversify."

I nod and ask,

"I'll forgive your men and walk off, I think you'll punish them better than I could, but what kind of crimes do you handle if I may ask?"

He shrugs and replies,

"A little of everything. You know, to make up for my men's poor decisions I'll give ya one of my stocks for free. We have some slaves that we acquired... not exactly through legal means. You get any of them for free."

I tense up upon hearing this, but I also see the opportunity to gain some extra hands and do the good deed of freeing some slaves. I reply to him,

"Lead the way... and hey if the slave is good enough then I might turn a blind eye to some of your... activities."

He gives me a wide smile showing some of his missing teeth. Ginessa has an unreadable expression as they pick up their comrades and begin leading us down an alley. I stay tense just in case this is still a trap. I whisper to Ginessa as we walk,

"Can you draw your sword? They are slave drivers?"

She shakes her head and replies,

"Slavery is allowed within the church. It's actually seen as a duty of the faithful to enslave heathens in order to convert them."

I sigh as we walk and enter a shack. Inside are two more men and on the far wall are three people chained up. All women. The light is dim inside the building and one of the men lights a lantern as the door closes behind us. I see the building is largely empty aside from some boxes and chairs. The slaves are chained over a bed of straw and I see a table with tools on top of it nearby. I approach the slaves and take a sharp breath in as one of the slaves looks up and asks,

"Isa?"

She stands up quickly and we embrace for a moment and trade kisses. This woman is my aunt. She was unable to earn her name, so I only refer to her as my aunt. She is my mother's sister and they look very similar, but my aunt was always on the more plump side. She worked as a cook for the Voivode. I can't believe I found her here. She speaks to me in the Coyote tongue,

" I can't believe it's you! I thought all of you died during the attack!"

I respond to her with a tight throat,

"I thought the same... and almost hoped for the same considering my mistreatment at the hands of the people of this kingdom. How have you been treated, Auntie?"

She shakes her head and replies,

"Not too terribly. My first owner used me as a cook. Nothing too bad... these men though... have treated me as you probably can suspect."

A feeling like a red hot metal rod being driven down my throat fills me as my grip hardens on my aunt. I ask her,

"Do you know the other girls?"

She shakes her head and asks,

"Why?"

I reply,

"I want to know how to respond because you will be free."

She smiles radiantly at me, her blue eyes sparkling in the dim light. I release my embrace and approach the table of tools, but make it look like I'm inspecting the other girls. I say to the leader man in his language,

"I will absolutely take the frontierswoman, but how much for the others?"

He approaches me with a laugh and says,

"Ah, she must've been an old lover of yours! The others are eight silvers each, think of it as a good deal for... friendship's sake!"

I fake a laugh as I stealthily grab the hammer on the tool table. I then say to the leader with fake amusement in my voice,

"Oh yeah, interestingly enough! That blonde woman is my aunt!"

I fake another laugh as his disappears for a moment and he goes to say,

"Oh my bad sir, I just thoug--- ACK!"

His sentence is interrupted by a hammer in the side of his head. I had slammed it into his skull while rotating, practically shattering his skull. As he limply falls I draw his sword. I don't know if he would've been a challenging fight, but it doesn't matter now. I had hoped to avoid any fighting during my day off. I had hoped to avoid raising my body count further, but at the end of the day, I found my family...

An hour later I return to the castle with my aunt and the other slaves in tow. I have the magical shackles released from their wrists and I assign them duties. After another long embrace with my aunt, she leaves for the kitchen to start getting familiar with it. She is one tough lady, already getting to work despite the situation, but we have as much time as we need to catch up later.

As I go to head to my room Ginessa stops me. She asks me,

"Why... why did you kill them so brutally? You could've easily just beheaded them... why... why so... brutal."

I still am a little buzzed so my decision-making isn't the best. I put one hand on the wall past her head and lean in close to her face. She stands there looking at me fearfully and growing red in the face. I say to her in a stern voice,

"I don't care about your bullshit morals... you touch my fucking family... I will butcher you... it's that simple..."

I stay in that position for longer than I should before heading to bed leaving the paladin against the wall. When I enter my room Mekare is waiting. I simply ignore her as she just watches me undress and flop onto the bed. She asks me,

"You need someone to warm the bed?"

I let out a short laugh and reply,

"Find me a hot ginger with green eyes and massive breasts! Then I might."

I laugh at my stupid demands and Mekare replies,

"Oh, you know full well I can make myself just that..."

I sigh and say back,

"No... I'm kidding. I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Mekare."

She doesn't reply as I roll onto my side and try to get some sleep. Despite the brutalities, I committed today...I'm happy I got some relaxation, and doubly so now that I found my Aunt. I'll have to ask her more questions, but for now... it's time for rest.