"Should we send them over young master?" the voice asked.
"Yes, Granny Nuna. Send them over." I replied.
The woman I was talking to was Granny Nuna. Granny Nuna is our head maid and the one who practically raised Dad since his mother wasn't around much. She is also the one who raised the former patriarch, my grandpa.
She is over 140 years old and has raised the 3 generations above mine. She is well respected and trusted by everyone in the family as most of the elders were at least half raised here.
"Alright. Give a couple of moments for us to bring them over. " she replied.
"Okay." I said.
After my friend had kidnapped all the relatives who were involved in attacks on Eina over the years. He gathered them all up from every corner of the empire all in one day. He then teleported them outside of my estate.
For safety reasons, We could allow any teleportation circles to be drawn inside our estate.
Once he sent them over, Garnny Nuna and my masked unit would bring them in.
They would then be sent to a room where they lay the only teleportation circle that was allowed and worked on our estate.
A magic circle that is the only way in and out of our mountain sanctuary. The entire cavern has no entrance or exit. I don't know how our ancestors found or made this place.
The relatives will be sent over using the magic circle.
"Let's go bring them here." I said to Elina. She nodded and followed me back to the room where we were drinking tea.
We stood there for a couple of minutes talking about our wedding plans. Soon a green magic circle lit up in front of us.
It blinded us for a couple of seconds as we shielded our eyes with our arms. We blinked and adjusted our vision.
The glow had appeared and on the ground were 2 dozen people sprawled out. Their hands were cuffed in front. Their legs were also cuffed.
They were completely still except for the movement of the belly which lets us know that they were still breathing.
"Let's get to it." Elina and I grabbed 2 bodies each. One of with each hand.
It was an easy task for both of us who had built up our bodies over the years. I may have lost my mana but I didn't lose my muscles.
It took some time but were able to drag them all to the the ritual circle that Elina drew.
After we were done, we looked at our work.
The bodies sprawled on the floor were mostly middle aged or old men. There were a couple of young men but there were no women.
That's because usually only males inherited noble titles. The exceptions are only made when the only option for the heir is the female, like in Elina's case.
Since the women didn't have anything to fight for, none of them targeted Elina. Their brothers, or husbands may have been a threat to Elina but they weren't. This is why she decided to spare them.
She also would not want to purge entire families. The branch families of the Zocraten clan need to continue as they bring consistent revenue. The women left alive could maintain the income streams for the clan.
"I'll wake them up." Elina declared as she walked to the bodies and started slapping them in the face.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
She didn't hold back as every hit made their heads jerk violently. It doesn't take more than a single slap to wake a person but she would continue to hit them a couple more times.
I looked at Elina's eyes as she continuously slapped her enemies back to life. The look in her eyes was one filled with deep rooted malice and resentment.
I could tell with how fiercely she was hitting them that she had suffered a lot. All those years of constant assassinations must have taken a toll, no matter if they failed.
Stuff like that is usually traumatizing especially for a child. I'm at least glad that she turned out sane.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
Right now she was taking out all her accumulated stress and anger on these people. I feel like this is indeed a healthy way to cope.
I have seen how Celes often looks when she is out on her murder sprees. A similar look was in Elina's eyes. A look that tells me she is enjoying the pain of her enemies screams.
"Ahhhh!"
"Why!!"
'Gahhhh!!"
"Stooooop!"
"Please stop!"
They begged and screamed for her to stop but Elina ignored them. She had a smile on her face that felt like the smile of the devil. Their faces were starting to bleed with how often she was slapping them.
They soon realized that their pleas were useless. They turned to me and begged. I just stood there and watched. What was happening had nothing to do with me. This is Elina's battle.
After about 15 minutes of incessant screams, their voice had gone soft. It looked like they were losing their energy. It made sense since the cuffs restricted their mana and weakened their physique.
These artifacts are usually used by the army and government for capturing prisoners alive, leaving them unable to move anything but their heads.
They looked like little worms as they wiggled around in pain.
"Haaa..." Seeing that their voices had gone weak, Elina finally relaxed. She took a couple of steps away from them and came to me.
Her face was usually bright while the smile made it glow even more. It felt like an invisible layer of pressure had been lifted on Elina.
She took deep breaths to relax.
"That wasn't enough." She says once her breathing exercise had ended.
I was surprised. My Jaw almost fell but I caught myself. When did she become so cruel, not that it matters.
"I've got a knife." I offered, taking one out from my back pocket.
She looked at me puzzled and said "How many things do have in there?"
It seems like I'm carrying an awful amount of things on me. It is just a habit from when I didn't have a storage artifact. I feel more comfortable when the important stuff is directly on me.
"Whatever, I'll take it." She doesn't give me the time to clarify and takes the knife.
She went up to the first man she had slapped and stabbed him in the knee.
"Arrgghhh!!!" he howled in pain. The energy in his voice had returned as the first drops of actual blood were spilled.
Hmm, that reminds me. This guy is the one who has a Westnut farm on the border. His name was Corren Zocraten. Next to him is his son Fredward. they are...were one of the richest Zocratens aside from the main branch due to the immense value of Westnuts.
Unfortunately, they used their wealth to hire assassins to kill Elina many times in the past. Even though there was no concrete evidence, we know it was them. As for how we know, that's a secret for later.
Oh well, I need to go to the western border when I have time. I heard that the Westnuts are pretty tasty and sweet. Risa would probably like them. I also know this guy collects exotic trees. I want a couple for my backyard that I was going to expand soon.
As I was lost in my thoughts, quite some time had passed. Elina was having a blast carving apart her foes. She would go for their joints first and then their limbs.
She would do it slowly and methodically so they wouldn't die so quickly. It was quite a gruesome sight as blood was splattered all over my lovely, future wife.
We needed to quickly finish this and get her a bath. She needs to keep her flawless skin and golden hair in perfect condition. Our wedding was coming up and I couldn't wait.
Dammit!
it seems that I'm too excited. I do a breathing exercise of my own to relax my nerves. I have to be careful not to get carried away.
After I had calmed down, Elina had finished her venting.
"Here." She handed me back the blood soaked knife and I put it back in my pocket.
She then turns to the gruesome sight that would make most grown men vomit in repulse.
The eerie smile was still plastered on her face as she started to channel her mana.
Vroom!
The magic circle that had been tainted in fresh blood glowed red.
Kree!
It made a creepy noise that I had a hard time understanding. It seemed like a scream of satisfaction but also had a yearning for more.
Hearing it, Elina took it as a sign to begin chanting.
"OH BLOOD GOD VARNUS, RULER OF THE THIRTEEN BLOOD MOONS, LORD OF THOSE WHO FEAST ON BLOOD, KING OF THE BLOODY ABOMINATIONS, I OFFER MY KIN TO YOU!"
At the end of her words, the circle glowed even brighter.
[HAHAHAA!!! THE DIVINE VESSEL OF HELENA IS OFFERING ME SACRIFICES. THIS IS A DAY I NEVER THOUGHT WOULD COME. SEEING HOW SINCERE YOU ARE CHILD, I'LL ACCEPT YOUR OFFERING.]
A deep, genderless voice sounded. It had an ominous tone to it and was marred by a static like noise. The voice felt powerful and soul shaking yet somehow felt natural.
"No! Spare us!"
"We are family!"
"Forgive us!"
As soon as the sacrifices had come to their senses from the blood god's voice, they started to beg for forgiveness one last time. Their hypocritical pleas disgusted me.
"Family? Hmph, you lot are far from family. My family only consists of my parents and Emily." Elina looks at them with disgust.
She then turns to me and continues "And of course, my soon-to-be husband and his family."
We don't get to hear their screams much longer as the energy in the magic circle churns. It envelops the sacrifices in a bloody gel-like substance
And then...
PLOP!
The noise ends as they burst into pure blood. Not a single chunk of life is seen. All there is left are the streams of blood in the blood colored gel.
Even that vanishes as the gel and its contents are sucked in by the magic circle. The magic circle itself fades out of existence, leaving not a trace of its presence behind.
All signs of what happened in this room are gone, except for my bloody knife and blood on Elina's body and clothes.
[HMM...THIS WAS A FAIRLY SATISFACTOR MEAL FOR MY SERVANTS. SINCE YOU OFFERED THOSE OF YOUR BLOODLINE TO ME, IT IS A BETTER BLOODLINE THAT YOU SEEK. THIS GIFT IS FOR YOU.]
The voice of the blood god that was originally so strong, started to weaken little by little as every word was spoken. On the final word, the god's voice was faint.
In the place of the magic circle, a crimson diamond the size of an adult's head appears. It glitters in the light from the mana lamps. Its glistening is something that eyes find strangely attractive yet inherently dangerous.
Elina confidently walks up to the gem and picks it up with both hands it. She carefully scrutinizes it. She nods her head approval and comes back to me.
"Let's go home. I have to clean up and get rid of these clothes."
"Yeah. We have to rest well today. Tomorrow is the start of our journey." I say. She nods and we both walk back to the first room.
I activate the teleportation magic using a switch that is in the room and send us both back home.
Granny Nuna was waiting there for us. She had an aged face with many wrinkles. Her originally black hair was now mostly grey. Only a couple of strands of black hair remained. She was wearing a modified maid dress.
It as different from the rest of the maids as she was their leader. her hands were resting in front of her as she stood with grace.
Her wizened, golden eyes look at me and Elina with worry. It must be the blood that was splattered all over Elina.
Once realized it wasn't her own blood, she sighed in relief.
"Come with my young miss. I will have them prepare a bath." she said while approaching us. "Give me the knife young master. I will get rid of it."
"As expected of granny. You found it." I said jokingly taking the knife out of my pocket. I was planning on keeping it as a memento of one of Elina's best moments.
"You are still too young to hide things from me." She proceeded to chuckle and I chuckled in return. we both had a nice laugh and I handed the knife over.
It was a good way to lighten the mood after what we had done. Granny asked no questions about anything as there was no need to. Some things were better left unsaid. Even I didn't ask Elina what the crystal she got was.
If she needed to, she would tell me on her own. Sure I was curious but that won't overwhelm my trust anytime soon.
The three of us swiftly exited the room. Elina went with Granny and I went back to my room. I had to continue teaching Risa as I promised.