Captain Anderson and the Bow Hero entered after she waved at Raphtalia to get up and open the door. Jessica and the Demi-human had been working on a decent training plan to get the Demi-humans used to operating in a squad with their Filolials. They'd made a lot of progress, and individually her dear demi-humans were incredibly powerful simply by virtue of their stats, but if they wanted to fight enemies like Glass, Naofumi and other Heroes they needed more than just that.

Jessica pushed aside the needless thoughts and nodded at the tired-looking men who entered the room, "Captain, Itsuki," she said waving at the chairs on the opposite side of her desk. A glance at Raphtalia ensured that the girl served them some refreshments she'd kept in a cupboard. Her solar was well equipped for long meetings.

It looked like they needed a pick me up.

"Princess," said Anderson hiding a wince as he took a seat. He was dressed in fairly simple clothing rather than his customary armour and she could see that his hair was still damp. She'd permitted them some time to clear up after their mission, but a lot had gone wrong if even her healers hadn't managed to harness his vitality to heal him. "I'm afraid to say that it was an ambush. Lady Risa was gone by the time we arrived. A small group of mercenaries had turned her mansion into a trap."

A glance at Itsuki got her a nod. Jessica frowned and sent a healing pulse at both of them, amplified by her Cane, both men looked like she'd injected coffee straight into their bloodstream. Jessica focused on a grateful Anderson, "Continue," she said. Raphtalia served some tea with biscuits as a snack and proceeded to stand behind the Princess.

Anderson took a deep breath, "Our approach was not completely expected," he said, "We caught them off guard before they could set all their traps, a team of ours found the slaves, but after they saw the Hero they decided to detonate the whole mansion. Sir Itsuki managed to disable the closest bombs and teleport all of us out, but some injuries still occurred...and we failed to rescue the demi-humans in the mansion."

Raphtalia clenched her fist and looked away from Anderson. Itsuki looked pale. He'd probably seen more than a little blood today.

Good.

"I see," she said, deliberately keeping her tone flat, "what of the rest of the towns in the vicinity?"

"I had three of my squads clear them, Your Highness. As commanded, they were informed of the crimes of their Lady and Sir Itsuki was kind enough to build the defences using his Holy Weapon." he said before pausing, "I accept full responsibility for my failure to capture Lady Risa."

Jessica waited. Ten seconds passed. Raphtalia was unfocused, but the males in the room kept their eyes on her. Ultimately, she sighed, "There was no failure here," she said, "It was to be expected that the nobles who profit the most from the slave trade would try to fight our actions. Your efforts are appreciated. We shall simply have to prepare properly for the next battle."

Captain Anderson smiled and relaxed for the first time since he'd entered the room. He nodded in place of a bow.

Itsuki stared at them both like they were aliens, but it was Raphtalia who spoke. "Princess, what about this Risa?" she asked. Her tone was bordering on rude. Raphtalia rage had removed all her inhibitions.

A raised eyebrow from Jessica and an angry look from Anderson had the girl duck her head.

She didn't back down, however.

Jessica was surprised to find that she was impressed, "The former Lady Risa shall be executed as soon as possible," she lied, "The hunt for her shall start as soon as I am able... I have a couple of very good ideas as to where she is right now."

Of course, the plan was to hunt her down and experiment on the woman and her servants. There was no point in wasting perfectly good souls and their fragile shells. Eclair had been reduced to a broken husk at this point. She truly needed more test subjects.

Raphtalia nodded, satisfied. Jessica dismissed Raphtalia, the Knight and the Hero, but Itsuki stayed in his seat even as the other two shuffled out of the door.

"Sir Itsuki?" she asked the tired-looking boy.

He opened his mouth but slammed it shut soon after. The poor boy looked at anywhere but the Princess.

Jessica waited. Heated the cold tea, winced at the loss of taste that must have occurred, and pushed it towards the young man. "It's ginger tea," she said, "I've always found it calming."

Itsuki studied the tea like it was poison. For a long moment, she expected him to do something reckless or disregard her because she was an NPC in his eyes. Instead, to her honest surprise, he took a sip before gently placing it back in the saucer.

"Why do they treat the demi-humans so badly?" he asked, his words pouring out of him, "The person who triggered the bomb was younger than me. She had a slave crest and the pain was so bad that when those bastards ordered her to blow us all up she agreed!"

Jessica sighed and took a sip of her tea to buy some time. Genuinely forlorn. She had expected this to occur. The plan was to shield his body but mature his mind as much as possible. Unfortunately, that maturation would require conflict and pain. This was one of the first steps.

"Fundamentally," she said, finding that Itsuki was staring at her intently, "It comes to a simple set of facts. Custom and the belief that demi-humans are different. To most of the people in this country, Demi-humans are little better than monsters. The Church teaches this, my mother and her vassals did little to oppose this pathetic line of thought to maintain their power and the previous Heroes who existed only exacerbated the situation by taking one side or the other."

"It's wrong," he said. The gemstone of his bow glowing in response to his frustrations.

"It is," she agreed, subtly preparing the Castle and her Cane to crush this boy if need be, "and it is something that needs to be corrected. Unfortunately, decades worth of social injustice cannot be solved by mere words. I am the ruler of this nation, but that doesn't mean anything if I give an order that no one will bother to follow. Force is needed. Will power to accept the horrors, work through them and fight for those who have been treated unjustly to ensure that they can live kinder lives." She paused, looked straight into his eyes, "You are doing exactly that."

He looked unconvinced.

Jessica walked around the table and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Itsuki," she said gently, "Get some rest. We can talk to some of the people you rescued. Speak to them and you'll see that you are doing a lot."

Itsuki broke eye contact. "Is it enough?" he asked. Vulnerable as she had expected to the downtrodden. He loved being a hero, but it was easy to forget that the reason he wanted to be respected and treated like a hero was that he'd always been disregarded.

"No," she said firmly, "it isn't. Not yet. There is a reason I've asked you and Motoyasu to help train those who are willing."

"You said it helps protect them," he said.

"It does," she said with a nod, "but it also creates a group of people who know the pain and humiliation of being chattel. Of having their dignity taken from them. They now have the strength to do something about it and remember that it is only because of us that they can fight. Give it time and we'll have hundreds of people at our side, fighting for justice."

Itsuki nodded.

"You are free to stop these missions at any time," she said, poisonous sympathy in her tone, "The aid you provide can come in many forms-"

"No!" he said firmly, then looked a little surprised at his vehemence and continued quietly, "I'll keep helping. I have to."

Jessica smiled and pulled him to his feet, "Let's go to the library," she said, "I found a very interesting scroll on a way to power up your weapons. Motoyasu has already tried it and it made him a lot stronger. I'm sure you can use it as well."

Determination blazed in his eyes and she led him outside her solar. Jessica was careful not to let her pity and glee show.

This was no hardened soldier. He was not distorted like she was. Death, slavery, cruelty and battle would take their toll on him. Itsuki could treat killing monsters and leveling up as a game.

It was harder to almost die due to a suicidal attack by a slave forced to do so and be apathetic.