"Can I speak?" the woman stuttered as she got to her feet.
"Freely," Blanc nodded, offering his hand for balance.
"Is my Lady okay?" the woman asked, looking towards the woman sleeping on the ground, surrounded by corpses.
"Lady?" Blanc muttered, wanting to ask for more details before Velakia spoke in his stead.
"She is exhausted, but unharmed," she replied, "Honorable of you to ask about someone else after all you have gone through."
"It would make no difference if she got harmed," the woman shook her head, "Killed or hanged comes with death either way."
"Who is she? And who are you all?" Blanc wondered, trying his hardest not to make the women uncomfortable by looking at their half-naked bodies.
"My Lady is the only daughter of a merchant family, and we are her servants. My name is Zoe… sir," the woman replied, looking away.
"Thank you, Zoe," Blanc smiled, nodding lightly with his eyes closed, "And how has the daughter of a merchant family caught the eye of Blood Elna?"
"I'm not sure. We were ordered to take her somewhere outside the Domain, to safety." Zoe explained, "But we were followed, and…"
"No need to explain further," Blanc said to her, seeing her get emotional.
"What now?" Velakia whispered in Blanc's ear.
"We bury the bastards, and wait for the woman to wake up," Blanc explained, "We cannot let them walk out of here half naked and expect more bastards not to try something."
"Do you not want to harvest them?" Velakia asked, surprised.
"Who? This filth?" Blanc muttered, shocked by the question, "Their Vita is tainted, and I will not taint my soul and body with such manner of creatures."
At which Velakia grinned, "Good."
An hour later, after throwing and burying the bodies in a hole Blanc had dug out with the help of Lendros, they returned to the group of women who stood around a fire made by Velakia and Tahreni, warming their exposed bodies.
A bit of distance from them stood the sleeping lady, still passed out from exhaustion, although her complexion was getting better.
"Anything worth taking off of them?" Velakia asked.
"Nothing worth carrying to a nearby city," Blanc shook his head, "They traveled quite light."
"Well, that's a pity," Velakia sighed.
"Do not worry," Zoe replied, "The Head of the Family will reward you for what you did for us."
"We did not do this for rewards," Blanc sighed, taking a seat in the grass, near the fire, "Anybody hungry?"
"You cook?" Zoe asked, surprised, "You do not look like you cook, sir."
"How do I look then?" Blanc chuckled lightly, looking through his bag for all he needed to cook a warm meal.
"Someone important," Zoe replied, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I-"
"Blanc, we do not have time for this," Velakia said, interrupting the woman, "We've saved them, now we must be on our way."
"We are way ahead of where we should have been," Blanc replied, taking things out from the bag, "A dinner's worth of delay will not change that. With that said, is anyone hungry?"
All the women they rescued nodded sharply.
"If it's not too much to ask, could you make some for our Lady as well? She will not have the energy when she wakes up," Zoe bowed lightly.
"Of course, no need to bow for a meal," Blanc said to her, before turning to Velakia, "How about you three? Still refusing me?"
Velakia looked towards Lendros, then to Tahreni, before finally giving in.
"Fine," she sighed, "But if it's not good, I will throw it on your head."
Luckily for Blanc, when he packed the supplies, he assumed he would cook for all of them, so he had plenty of food to share, which he made sure to take out of his bag as he grinned at Velakia.
"A fair challenge," Blanc said, "One which I accept."
As Blanc was finishing dinner, a light moan came from behind the women, where the sleeping lady was.
"My Lady," Zoe and a few of the women turned quickly, seeing her slowly opening her eyes, "Hm?" the lady muttered, her voice raspy, "Zoe?"
"Yes, it's me," Zoe nodded as she crouched next to her, trying to help her up from the ground.
When the sleeping lady got up, she looked around, seeing where they were, the manner her servant's clothes looked, and who stood near the fire, unbothered by her presence.
She locked eyes with all of them, stopping for a longer moment when she met Blanc's gray eyes.
"What is happening, Zoe? Am I dreaming? Where are the men who followed us?" the lady asked.
And Zoe opened her mouth to answer, but Blanc was quicker in his reply.
"They are somewhere behind us; worms should have found their bodies by now," he said, stirring the food inside the pot, "You are half a day away from leaving Blood Elna's Domain, and, from what I know, you are not dreaming."
Zoe went and whispered in her ear for a few seconds, perhaps telling her all that had happened while she was out of it.
"I see," the lady muttered, getting up with Zoe's help, "You have our deepest gratitude, sir, and I will make sure you are rewarded properly for it."
"You can reward me by first telling me your name," Blanc replied, turning towards her.
"I am Olivia, daughter of Alfred of the Rotunda Merchant Company," the lady replied, doing a small curtsy, "If I could have the name of you, sir, as well, that would be great."
Since Velakia had so kindly mentioned his name in front of the women, he couldn't lie.
"My name is Blanc," he said.
Olivia remained silent for a moment, searching her memory for where she had heard that name before.
"Blanc… Blanc…" she whispered, repeating it as her eyes grew wider with each repetition. Her gaze fixed on the man's distinct hair and eye color. "Blanc, as in Blanc of Noble Blood Denegis?"
At that, the rescued women all turned to look at him. They could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Yet everything made sense, power no commoner could wield, and the unmistakable features that marked the lineage of Blood Denegis.
"I knew you were important," Zoe muttered while looking at the man who was cooking for them.