Chapter 69: Feral Humans…

(Marinkia’s POV)

Upon my lonely journey to the last city, I came across something very interesting… It was a caravan of humans. Of course, lacking anything that would identify them as livestock, they would seem to be completely feral.

Old Woman: “Who might you be, girl?” She asked.

Marinkia: “Marinkia.” I answer.

At her words, the rest of them all brought out their weapons and pointed them at me. In swift movements, I disarmed them all. As I kinda wanted information, I didn’t kill them. Yet…

Old Woman: “Not killing us? Not only did my group attack first, but girl, aren’t you one of those new humans?” She said with a confused expression.

Marinkia: “I am. And you’re right, my kind doesn’t really feel any empathy for humans. But I needed you all alive, as I need information from you.” I answer.

Old Woman: “Information? What is it that you wish to ask of us?” She replied.

Marinkia: “Where are you going?” I ask.

Old Woman: “We’re just traveling with no aim, girl.” She answered.

Marinkia: “Here is a rule for my people, old lady. We can tell when someone is lying. You’re lying. And, if I want to, I can force you to tell the truth. Please do it willingly.” I say with an annoyed tone.

Old Woman: “…We’re going to a specific, old district. There, undead with intelligence live. And, they keep humans alive until they finally eat them. A terrible fate, but far better than dying off in some abandoned city, or in the barren wasteland.” She explained.

That’s kinda what I expected… Aw… I wish it was something more interesting. Even worse, the woman was telling the truth this time. Eh, it’s not like I can’t just let them go, but I don’t want. I guess that I am being petty since they attacked me.

Who else would be best to confide in for what to do other than one of my mothers, Krul? As such, I called her. But my call was never picked up, oddly. Weird… Krul has never missed one of my calls before… I guess Anna, being basically the second in command at this point, would be the next best person to ask.

Anna: “Princess Marinkia? How rare of you to call me.” She said after answering the call.

Marinkia: “I’ve called you before, but you never pick up. In fact, it is far more rarer that you picked up my call, Anna.” I reply with a smug tone.

Anna: “…”

Marinkia: “Anna, I came across a caravan of feral humans. What do I do with them?” I ask.

Anna: “Skipping right to business? Anyway, are they all female?” She asked.

With her question, I looked around at the frail old woman, and then the rest of the caravan. They were mostly covered in garbs to block out the sun, but they were all women. Yeah, yeah. I know. Old woman? What the heck? It wasn’t like she was close to death. This woman most likely just preferred to look like this. Aging is a dead thing, even for humans, you know.

Marinkia: “All female.” I answer.

Anna: “Mark them all.” She suggested.

Marinkia: “Why?” I reply with a confused tone.

Anna: “While you were away, it wasn’t like I wasn’t working hard. A few days ago, I managed to make a vaccine that gets rid of our need to eat humans.” She replied.

Marinkia: “…”

Already? If you asked Anna to figure out a way to stop the sun from going out, she will probably find out a solution in just a few years, I swear. If you know that, you should understand that Anna is the richest person in the world now. Well, Krul is far richer, but she is our ruler, so it doesn’t really count. Even my new pension doesn’t come cross to the amount of Credits in her bank account…

Anna: “Shocked by my genius? You should be!” She gloated.

Marinkia: “…”

Now I was speechless for another reason. Anna is a major sore winner, you see. I bet that she will gloat about this discovery for the next twenty years, at least. Ah… my head already hurts in anticipating her future gloating…

Anna: “Anyway, enough of me gloating. Mark them all. I am curious on if they were all evolve fast like with Ava. I have just sent a few agents to go pick them up. So just mark them and leave. They cannot escape us.” She explained.

Marinkia: “Agents?” I reply.

Anna: “I have access to Krul’s private military, you know.” She gloated.

Marinkia: “…I do too.” I reply with a pout before hanging up the call.

Of course, I had this talk where the human caravan can clearly hear me. It saves me explaining why actions and stuff, which saves me time. Not like time was that valuable to me, though. I just wanted to go home so that I can get pampered by my wives and mothers, as well as pamper my daughter.

Marinkia: “You’ve heard it. I will mark you all and then leave.” I say with a loud tone.

Old Woman: “What would be the point of doing so? Sorry, but we are confused…” She asked.

Marinkia: “I am a new variant of us Numens. I do not eat humans, and I am a mix of our two types. That being mates and hunters. Basically speaking, I am the next step for my kind, as the normal Numens were the next step for humans.” I explain.

In fact, I will surely get credited with that discovery of Anna’s. It was most definitely my new blood that gave her the information needed to make a vaccine. Ugh… Just remembering all of the biological materials of mine that Anna convinced me to give her gives me shivers… Will I get another pension for this?…

Old Woman: “What happens if you mark us?” She asked with a nervous tone.

Marinkia: “Are you dense? You will turn into my specific variant. The sample size is very low, that being only one other person. But either you will turn into an undead, or into a Numen.” I answer.

Old Woman: “If we survive… then what?” She replied.

Marinkia: “Please stop being difficult. You will regain the right to live. No longer will you be livestock, and you will also be given reparations for being treated as livestock.” I explain.

A Few Hours Later.

Death, or being turned into a zombie, wasn’t that bad of an outcome, it seems. All of them would rather me mark them than continue to live like this. I understood, so I went through the long effort of marking well over fifty disgusting humans.

This wasn’t me being racist, either. They were disgustingly dirty. To the point where I had to clean and disinfect each arm that I marked. Numens were sturdy, be we still got sick. With that effort done, I left the caravan after ten agents showed up. In truth, this was an experiment. How it will turn out… I won’t know for a while. I do have a queen to kill, after all…