Lucia's anger could not be easily contained by just killing the demon but I still managed to keep her calm despite her fiery anger almost burning the surroundings.
"Lucia! Keep your calm down. The demon is dead and I can't afford you going berserk all of a sudden due to the things being done by your fian-" Before I could even finish, Lucia corrected me.
"Master, Alberto is not my fiancee. I would rather sink into the sea than get engaged to that bastard ever—no wonder the demons are now labeled in a bad light. It was due to that guy. My intuition about him was not wrong but how did Dad even make that mistake and pass the throne to him? I am quite sure other demons out there are more reliable candidates than him!" Lucia couldn't believe the new knowledge she got from.
"So that means this Alberto guy is now the king of the demons. Then what happened to your dad?" I asked.
"Well, that's what I am trying to learn too but now that I have killed the guy, I don't think I will have any chances to ask him any more questions. I am sorry about that, Master. It would have been a helpful asset for us to get more information about the demons but then I ruined it."
I shook my head and pat Lucia's head. "It's fine. You just got too angry and you have yet to control your temper which is why you did something like that earlier. You shouldn't be afraid of doing that again, Lucia. But make sure to at least control that temper of yours. There are times when having better control of your anger can yield good results. Getting yourself angry to the point you can't think straight can even drive you crazy."
Lucia bowed down, totally feeling regret for her actions," I apologize, Master. My anger has clouded my intention to help and it only cause you trouble. I will try to do better judgments in the future."
I nodded in response. And not only should control the same anger issues as well, but also myself. And I needed to control the impulsiveness I can feel as well.
But for now, let's forget all about that. With the demon gone, the only remains of the demon that wasn't burned were his head. To ensure that it won't rise up as a vengeful monster in the future, we have to burn it and cleanse it from the mortal realm, destroying all signs of the head and turning it into ashes.
We immediately went and joined with Pandora who was currently helping the girls get some proper clothes and clean up their wounds to ensure that they won't get infected. Seeing that most of their wounds and gashes are big and a bit painful to look at, I grab a few Splash HP potions and doused them with it, curing them from the wounds that they got in the process.
"You all are safe now, don't worry too much and be at ease. How are you all feeling right now?" Pandora asked while channeling her voice using the skill [Holy Voice], a skill that reduces Panic and Confusion debuffs, allowing users to fully recover from them and think straight in the process.
As a result of Pandora's skill, the girls cried. Only the beast woman didn't cry but I can tell that she was holding back her tears, she is just keeping it all in. As for the others, they didn't hold back and continued to cry out their feelings.
"Please, help us! The village has been attacked by demons!"
Lucia frowned and grit her teeth in anger. But she controlled her anger and kept it with her instead of allowing her temper to beat her emotions.
"Calm down and tell us what happened. We will listen. There is no rush. Please, we are here to help."
And so, the girls started retelling the incident of the recent attack.
The village was a bit far from the Capital but they can still be considered as a part of the Capital's jurisdiction. However, because this village is a bit smaller, it's not that much of important to the Capital whether the village exists or not. It might be due to that reason that the demons decided that this village is something they can attack. One night, when the whole village has fallen asleep, the demons took advantage of it and attacked.
The teenage girls were captured in the process. The beast girl helped to fight back but was overwhelmed by the demons so in the end, she was also among the captured girls. They didn't know what happened in the end to the village and now they are begging us to help out and find out the fate of the village.
Pandora looked at me and Lucia. Lucia sighed and although she wasn't responsible for the actions of the demons, Lucia decided to show herself properly to the girls. When the girls saw Lucia, they shuddered in fear, and the beast woman who is just listening to everyone immediately leaped up in front of them and bore her fangs to Lucia, ready to attack while keeping to observing Lucia's actions.
"Calm down everyone, she is not one of the demons that captured you. In fact, if not for her, we would not be able to help you all. Please don't fear her, she is on your side," Pandora continued to use her [Holy Voice], allowing them to calm down a bit. But it didn't fully calm them down. Still, it does help out.
"I am the Princess of the Demons, Lucia, however, I didn't know that the demons have decided to abandon the path of righteousness and decided to destroy the humans. Although I am not part of the people who captured, orchestrated, and cause everyone's grief, I am here to apologize for all of the transgressions and violence that the Demon Race that has done to you all."
"Are you sure that you are not just deceiving us? Demons are all natural liars and we don't want to be fooled by a demon again," the beast woman still had her guard up.
"I know. I know that even if I apologize, that won't give you the necessary trust you all wanted to have. However, we will be helping you all return to your village. We will hunt down the enemies who decided to ruin the village and destroy what they are trying to do. And as the princess and the one who has seen all of the violence the demons have, I will ensure that the demons will no longer make this kind of work again."
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As a result of that night's situation, the next morning, I asked Almira to head to the nearest village to the northeast. After seeing the female villagers who were with us the whole night, Almira decided to control the mansion to walk straight to the village.
When we arrived, we escorted the girls down the walking mansion and we head to the village which still smells like it was still burning. Contrary to our expectations, the village didn't get fully destroyed. Some of the villagers managed to hide and trick the demons that they are dead, escaping from the wrath that demons bring.
The villagers started to cry when all of the captured girls returned. However, their reactions when it comes to the Beast woman started to sour and all of the remaining villagers started to become a mob.
"You filthy beast woman! If not for you staying here, we wouldn't have been attacked! Due to your stay here, all of the misfortunes started to pile up on us! You don't belong here!"
"That's right! Get out of here, you monster!"
I was surprised when this is happening. I thought the girls that we rescued would help the girl as it was clearly shown before that she was too protective of the girls during the appearance of Lucia but seeing the treatment she was getting, I felt something bad. Like a bit of anger? Was it the sense of betrayal from the people? I don't know.
Then, one of the girls who we rescued suddenly shouted at us. "Those guys are also colluding with the demons as well!"
After hearing this, the people started to get angry and they started to flock with their weapons held in their hands, they are ready to drive us out of there. Not only the beastwoman was betrayed but also us. Although we saved them from the demons? They paid us with contempt.
I wasn't sure what to do as the villagers are now aiming their weapons at us when all of a sudden, Pandora who was keeping herself quiet the entire time pulled down her sword and a holy ray appeared before her, which then revealed multiple golden chains shining up in the air.
Even without moving, Pandora controlled the chains in a quick manner and attacked... the weapons. She didn't fight the villagers but she disarmed them by crushing all their weapons in a split second. She is still smiling but she is clearly not happy right now.
"I am calm enough right now but who would have thought that our kindness would have been paid with malice instead? It seems the demons were right of raiding you all when all of your behavior is like this."
She then turned her back and pat the beast woman's back while turning back on them who were stunned by the sudden chain attack.
"May karma give justice to those who are wronged."
After saying those grim words, she left with the Beast woman. I followed her while looking at them. Although it would have been fine if we did some violent actions in the process, I guess their karma would be the one who will handle the rest.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om