To Mary's pleasant surprise, it started snowing as they were approaching Grangold. She and Heinrich played in the snow for a while, though they weren't able to have as much fun as they could have – for example, Mary couldn't take advantage of her monster anatomy to throw many snowballs at once – because of their proximity to the city. After half an hour of this, they were satisfied and moved on.

Grangold was noticeably smaller than the other cities that they had encountered – it covered less area and the buildings were shorter on average. It was still an impressive sight, especially due to the layer of gleaming white snow that covered everything. The people were notable as well. While there was a lower percentage of monsters than in Sabasa or San Ilia, they were still fairly common and all kinds of races could be seen, including beasts, slimes, insects, and dragons. Many of the people, human and monster alike, wore the long robes of mages – fitting for a city known for its magical research.

They found a pub near the edge of the city, this one named "The Tragic Lovers". The odd name was, according to the bartender, apparently due to an old story: there once was a pair of lovers in this city, an arachne and a human man who was a soldier of Grangold; their relationship was a forbidden one as the arachne clan was an enemy of Grangold at the time; one day, the soldier went off to battle and was believed to have been killed; the arachne was stricken with grief and committed suicide by poison; however, the soldier was actually alive and returned, only to jump off the city wall to follow his love into death. The site where he landed was supposedly where this pub was eventually built.

Mary sincerely wished that she hadn't heard this macabre story. It actually managed to put her off her appetite.

After ordering lunch, they sat down and listened to the surrounding conversations.

A group of merchants expressed their relief over the resolution of the water shortage in Sabasa. While the city had increased its imports of food during the shortage, it had decreased its other imports and most of its exports, resulting in a net loss for all parties involved. Now that this issue had been resolved, the economy all over the continent was improving. Mary and the rest of her group were happy at hearing this.

The same merchants also mentioned plans to expand trade with Hellgondo. This had been limited in the past by the difficulty of travelling to and from the northern continent – with ships unable to make port there, the only ways to transport cargo were to use the narrow undersea tunnel or to have it carried by a flying or sea monster. Some proposed expanding the tunnel, but there was concern over the possibility of cave-ins. Others proposed the construction of a proper port on Hellgondo's coast, but this was not only difficult in a technical sense but also faced opposition from some monsters, who believed it would weaken the continent's natural defences against military attack.

Following on from this, there was also discussion about the North Sea Temple, located just off the Gold Coast to the north of Grangold. It was the seat of power in the northern seas and any plans to expand trade would need to consider it. Relationships between Grangold and the North Sea Temple had been cordial in the past, but recently they seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. The situation was complicated by the simple fact that humans and most monsters – including freshwater monsters such as Frog Girls – could not personally visit the undersea temple. This included Heinrich – Sylph's power couldn't pull breathable air out of water, although it might be possible if he had the water spirit Undine – so the two of them wouldn't be able to visit in the near future.

Then there were the recent movements of monsters in the region. The scarcity of resources in this dry land meant that many monsters had to adopt a nomadic lifestyle to survive. Last week, one such group had stopped a half-day's march from Grangold. Normally, this wouldn't be cause for concern – indeed, the city merchants often looked forward to the opportunity to trade with the nomads for the items they found or crafted during their travels. However, this particular group made the city guards increase their patrols and the rest of the city stay indoors at night. The group included monsters who were known to have been exiled from their original homes, and its leaders were the Nereneids – a family that was infamous for its casual disregard for the Monster Lord's laws.

An hour passed. Once they had heard everything that they were likely to, the two of them left the pub and moved on to the marketplace.

-ooo-

At nightfall, they found an inn and rented a room. Once safely in the privacy of said room, Mary decided to bring up something that had been bothering her for a while.

"Okay, I know you've been worried about something ever since Succubus Village, and I have an idea of what it is, so please tell me what it is. It's not healthy to keep personal issues bottled up like that. In exchange, I'll tell you one of my own problems, how about that?"

Heinrich blinked, then smiled. "Thanks. I've been talking to Sylph and Gnome about this over the past few days, and – well, it has to come out sometime." He took a deep breath. "Okay, so it has to do with the Lilith Sisters."

"What did they – " Mary began, then she growled as a series of nightmarish images entered her mind. "Did we – did we not make in time? Did they – "

"No, that – that didn't happen, you did make in time," Heinrich said quickly. "It's just – even so, I can't stop thinking about it. It's not like I haven't been approached in that way before, such as by the captain of those scylla pirates, but that was just a few words in the middle of battle. It was those sisters who were the first to actually capture me, and – and – "

"And they said they would break you, make you their plaything," Mary finished. "They would make you enjoy it."

Heinrich nodded slightly. "It reminded me of those bandits all the way back in Noah, the ones who ended up captured by insect monsters," he said. "Even though I know that they were horrible people, the way you described them, I – I was afraid of becoming like that. I was afraid… of betraying you."

"How can you – that's ridiculous!" Mary said. She reached out and grasped Heinrich's hands firmly. "Even if – even if that had happened, that wouldn't be your fault! That's like – that's like saying that a murder victim 'betrayed' their loved ones by getting killed!"

"I know – and Sylph and Gnome said the same thing to me," Heinrich replied. "Still… I don't know how to handle this kind of situation. Back when I was growing up, whenever I was taught anything about the victims of monsters, they just treated them as being as good as dead."

Mary closed her eyes briefly as she considered what to say. "Okay. Listen carefully. I also didn't learn much about this topic when I was young – I always thought of the world as one of sunshine and rainbows, where everyone could get along." She smiled ruefully. "But I learned more over the course of this journey, by reading books and talking to all sorts of people. I still can't claim to be an expert, but – "

"I'm not sure if anyone can really be an expert on this," Heinrich said. "But I still want to hear what you have to say."

"Thanks," Mary said. "Now, the main thing to remember is: rape is not sex. I know that might sound weird, since it goes against the technical definition, but that's how it is. Sex is when everyone wants it to happen, when everyone gets to enjoy it, and rape is the opposite of that. When a person chooses to rape someone else, whether to degrade them, to produce a child or for their own enjoyment, that's not sex, it's a crime, just as much as theft or murder are. Someone who is raped did not do anything wrong, they are not dirty, and they have every right to keep living as they want."

Sylph and Gnome appeared, floating on either side of Heinrich.

"Do you get it now?" Sylph said. "I might not be all that smart, but I do know that this kind of stuff isn't the victim's fault. Please, cheer up!"

Gnome slapped Sylph, then said, "It might be difficult to just cheer up… but, remember that you can always talk to someone else, if you're ever worried."

"…Thanks, everyone," Heinrich said. Then he looked at Mary and asked, "So what were you planning to tell me?"

Mary jumped. She had actually forgotten about that and didn't like the thought of revealing her secret in this situation. She said, "Er, well, I don't want to make this about me, I was trying to – "

"Come on, you were the one arguing that personal issues shouldn't be bottled up," Heinrich said.

Mary sighed. "Okay then. I'm worried about, essentially, losing myself when I get angry. It first started back in the Noah region, when I incinerated those insects along with their captives, and – "

" – And you started worrying about it again after you buried the Lilith Sisters and laughed about it," Heinrich finished.

Mary nodded. She sat down on the bed and buried her face in the pillow.

"That's – hey, it's not that bad!" Sylph said. When Gnome gave her a threatening look, she quickly added, "Okay, so it is a bit of a problem, but you know it's a problem, and you're talking to other people about it, you're already on the road to solving it!"

"If you're concerned about controlling your anger… I can teach you techniques for meditation…" Gnome suggested.

"I can give you some advice on based on my experiences with anger," Heinrich said. "I used to go out into the forest and deliberately think of the things that made me angry, then devote myself to sword training, so I could let it all out in a way that wouldn't hurt anyone. That helped me stay in control when I did get angry."

Mary looked up and smiled. Rather than using words to thank them, she used several tentacles to pull the other three into a slightly awkward hug.

-ooo-

The next morning, Heinrich was wandering through the streets of Grangold alone – well, as much as it was possible for someone with two spirits in his head to be alone. While looking around at the various sights, he spotted something that caught his interest. He spent a few moments thinking, then stepped through the door of the carpenters' guild hall.

The guild hall was filled with large and rough-looking men. Just a year ago, Heinrich would have been shaken by a sight like this. He had spent his childhood being looked down on by such men for his short stature and slight build. Now, however, he knew that not everyone was like that. Now, he could hold his head high and go about his business confidently.

Heinrich examined his surroundings with all of his senses, both normal and magical. There were exactly sixty seven people in the building right now, across its three floors and fifty two rooms. Most of them were in the middle of business: discussing projects, ordering tools and supplies, grumbling over personal issues. Heinrich located one particular carpenter who was leaning against a wall and not doing anything at the moment.

"Excuse me, can I ask you a question?" Heinrich said, approaching the carpenter.

"Didn't you just do that?" the carpenter replied. "Heh, anyway, go ahead."

"I'm looking for advice on – well, I guess this isn't really the right place to ask. Anyway, I'm working on a – a small piece of woodwork, for personal reasons, and – "

The carpenter held up a hand. "You don't have to say any more, I get it."

"Wait, how did you – "

"Put it this way – you're not the first person to think of doing that. Though I'm pretty sure you'll do a better job of it than I did – anyway, if you go to Grangold Castle and head north on the main road, then take the fifth street on the right, you'll find a little shop owned by an old woman called Rosa. This kind of thing is her specialty."

Heinrich thanked the carpenter and left the building. Following the directions, he first went to Grangold Castle.

The castle was located at the very centre of Grangold. Surprisingly, it was larger than any of the castles that Heinrich had seen before, despite the city itself being smaller than the other three capital cities on Sentora. The walls were decorated with statues of various people, whom Heinrich presumed to be important figures in Grangold's history. There were eight separate towers, the tallest of which seemed to reach even the clouds in the sky. A massive gate was set into the castle's outer wall, dozens of people streaming through it every minute.

Not having any business in the castle itself, Heinrich walked around it to get to the north road. He soon found the shop the carpenter had recommended: "Rosa's Fine Crafts". It was a small shop, barely wider than it was tall. The sign was old and visibly worn down by exposure to the elements. Still, Heinrich wasn't the kind of person to be discouraged by subpar appearances.

Upon stepping through the door, Heinrich found himself surrounded by chaos. There were all sorts of trinkets, piled and stacked up on shelves without any sense of organisation. In addition to wood carvings, there were small paintings, pressed flowers, even a few small stuffed animals. There was so much of everything that it actually blocked the view of the back of the shop. If it wasn't for his additional senses, Heinrich wouldn't have noticed the other person in the shop.

She was an old woman, with white hair that was as untidy as everything else in the shop, a wrinkled face bearing an enigmatic expression, and a body so hunched over with age that she was a head shorter than Heinrich. She wore ornate spectacles and a faded blue robe. Overall, she gave off the impression of an old witch straight from a fairy tale.

The woman approached, saying, "Hello, I am Rosa, the owner of this shop. How can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Heinrich," Heinrich replied. "I'm here because I'd like your advice on – on a gift, one that I plan on giving to someone who – who I'm in a relationship with."

"A romantic gift, hmm?" Rosa said. "That really takes me back… you might not believe it, but I used to be quite the pretty little thing back then… there were lots of men lining up for a chance to see me – " she looked at Heinrich and blinked. "Wait, you – oh. Interesting…"

Does everyone but me have the ability to read minds? Heinrich thought.

Well… just now, you jumped a little when she talked about her past, so… Sylph explained.

"How many?" Rosa asked, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "Three? Four?"

"T – Two!" Heinrich said. "It's complicated, alright!?"

Heinrich shuffled his feet nervously. He had thought about this issue a few times over the past few weeks, but still had yet to come to any conclusion. He tried discussing it with the spirits – being unable to bring up the topic with Mary – but the "obvious solution" they suggested was something he couldn't quite agree with.

"Well, it seems you have quite a lot to deal with," Rosa said. "Tell me about it and I'll see what I can do to help you…"

-ooo-

Mary sighed inwardly. It seemed that, no matter where she went, she always ran into some kind of problem.

After thanking the person she was talking to, Mary returned to the street. Today was the third day they had spent in Grangold. The sun was setting and the temperature was dropping rapidly, so there weren't many people around at the moment. She sent a telepathic message to Heinrich, telling him to meet her at The Tragic Lovers.

Mary arrived at the inn first, with Heinrich arriving a few minutes later. They returned to their room and Mary explained what she had heard.

"Did you hear about that merchant caravan that got lost on the way to Grangold?"

"I did," Heinrich said. "From what I heard, everyone thinks it got lost in the snow. It's not usual for people to be travelling at this time of year."

"It seems that they wanted to be the first with a major cargo from Sabasa. Anyway, my point is, while the snow is a plausible story, I think the real cause is something else. You see…"

Mary fell silent, long enough for Heinrich to ask, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure if I should say this," Mary said. "It's the kind of issue that we might not be able to do anything about. Because of that, it might be better to just – "

Heinrich held Mary's hands. "You can tell me," he said. "We're in this together."

"…It's the monsters who are camped near Grangold right now, the ones led by the Nereneids," Mary said. "Among monster nobility, they have a reputation for the worst of crimes. Everyone knows that they kidnap, kill and eat humans on a regular basis… but no one can ever prove it. And they know everyone knows that, and they're proud of that! Even when I was younger, I couldn't stop myself shivering around them. I was warned on multiple occasions – most recently by Lilith and Lilim – to never get involved with them on this journey. The point is, I think they're the ones responsible for the merchants disappearing."

"That's… definitely a problem," Heinrich said.

The two spirits appeared.

"I say you should go ahead and investigate anyway!" Sylph said. "When you become the Monster Lord yourself, you're not going to just let people like that keep going, right? So you should – eep!"

After slapping Sylph, Gnome said, "If they can keep doing such activities… they must have considerable political connections…"

"They do, from what I've heard," Mary replied.

"In that case, you cannot do much…"

Mary lowered her head in disappointment. It was what she expected, but still it hurt.

"…openly, that is," Gnome finished.

The other three all tilted their heads in confusion.

"Here, I must do something I rarely do… agree with Sylph," Gnome said. "Even if it's politically untenable to deal with them openly… it's also not an option to leave alone people who flout your laws. They undermine the legitimacy of your rule and, if left alone… may attempt to overthrow you, or support others who do. They need to be dealt with."

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Heinrich asked.

"Monsters like these have power not just from personal strength… but from their appearance of being powerful," Gnome said. "By appearing to be unstoppable and invincible, they attract allies and discourage opposition. You must wear away at that façade… make them seem weak. Then their allies will abandon them and their enemies will be emboldened. That is the only way to break their power."

They all listened intently as Gnome explained her plan.

"It cannot be known that the daughter of the Monster Lord did anything. But by hiding in the shadows, you can still thwart their actions…"

-ooo-

Alexander gathered the last of the documents into a pile. Carrying them with him, he stood up and left the room.

While walking through a corridor of the Monster Lord's Castle, Alexander wondered whether he should continue working on the documents in his own time. On the one hand, it would mean less work for tomorrow – and as one of the scribes who served the Monster Lord, he was always swamped with work. On the other hand, it would leave him less time to sleep. James had criticised him on more than one occasion for overworking.

But if I – hm, if I just keep going, I should be able to finish half of them before going to bed – besides, if I leave it for tomorrow, I'll just encounter this same problem tomorrow. But first, I'd better talk to the others, see what their situations are like before I decide.

Alexander headed to a room where one of his colleagues, Argo, was still working. Argo was a scylla and she was moving all eight of her tentacles rapidly: signing, sorting and filing away documents. If he was honest with himself, Alexander was somewhat jealous of her ability to work so quickly and efficiently. Sometimes, he wished he had been born a scylla so that he could also –

Calm down, Alexander. You're getting too dedicated to the job again.

Clearing his mind of these thoughts, Alexander asked Argo about the current state of her work.

"Not good, I'm afraid," Argo said. "There's been considerable activity in Safina lately. It all started when the corpse of an ancient Sandworm Girl was found."

"I did see a brief mention of that, though I didn't pay much attention since it's not my area," Alexander said.

"Well, it's a major issue because she hadn't died of natural causes, there were clear signs she was killed by powerful magic," Argo said. "Nobody witnessed the actual event, so nobody knows how it happened and everybody is worried about what it means. There's half a dozen theories going around, most harmless, but then there's the one that claims the Sabasans are expanding to take all of the resources of the region, with the killing of the Sandworm Girl being their first move."

"What – that's absurd," Alexander said. "Even ignoring all of the other problems with that theory, to kill such a powerful monster would require an entire army – there's no way they could have done that with no one seeing them."

"You know that, and I know that, but people whose lives are at risk rarely think rationally," Argo said. "There are monsters banding together, preparing to resist what they think is a future invasion from Sabasa. Because of all this, I doubt I'll be sleeping a wink tonight…"

"I won't take up any more of your time then, good night," Alexander said.

Alexander left the room and continued walking, disturbed by this new revelation. Safina was a place he'd been interested in ever since he was a child, being a hot desert in contrast to the cold desert of Hellgondo. He was planning to travel there someday… but with this recent turmoil, that seemed to be out of the question for now.

Moving on, Alexander came to a room with another of his colleagues, a large blue slime called Helico. "Large" was the most apparent descriptor for her: she consisted of a humanoid body resting on an amorphous blob that was larger than most beds. Numerous pseudopods extended from this blob, which Helico used like a scylla's tentacles to assist her work. It might seem odd for a slime to be working with paper, but their race actually had precise control over the substance of their bodies – it was why they didn't leave trails of slime everywhere.

As it turned out, Helico didn't have good news for Alexander either.

"Plansect Village," Helico said, sighing with frustration. "Just… that fucking village. Why did the plants and insects have to try and live together in the same forest, when their needs and wants are totally different? There's a perfectly good mountain nearby that would be better for the insects, why can't they live there? But no, they have to live together, and the rest of us have to put up with their squabbling and a stupidly named village."

"…I take it that there's trouble there again?" Alexander asked.

"Technically, I don't know – nobody here does, as we haven't received any communications from them in the past couple of months," Helico said. "Of course, that means that there must be something going on. For all I know, they're plotting to rebel or to commit mass suicide for no reason. I've tried bringing this to the Monster Lord's attention, but considering all of the other things happening right now, I can see why she hasn't done anything about it yet… Anyway, what's happening on your end?"

"I'm afraid I don't really have good news, either," Alexander said. "I've been in contact with our ambassadors to the Ilias continent. They were recently expelled from their offices there, with no proper explanation offered. And then there's the treatment of monsters… in the best case, they're forbidden from entering towns at night lest they 'corrupt the morals of the people'. In the worst case, the humans are forming mobs to chase down and kill any monsters who can't escape in time."

Helico's eyes widened. "Damn, that actually manages to be worse than what I have to deal with. But seriously, how did it ever get that bad?"

"That's the thing, it doesn't make any sense," Alexander said. "There hasn't been any change of leadership, nor have the monsters there done anything unusual. It's just… I can't explain it."

"There's never an end to our workload, is there?" Helico said. "I can never find enough time to have fun – and when I do have the time, it's hard to find a man who's okay with being slimed up."

Alexander merely raised an eyebrow at this comment.

"…Yeah, I suppose you have even more trouble with that," Helico said. "Still, you did succeed in the end."

"Though the journey there was still difficult," Alexander added. "Anyway, that's enough grumbling about personal issues. We'll never get things done at this rate. See you tomorrow."

After these two conversations, Alexander made up his mind. He would devote his effort to getting these documents done tonight, as the current state of affairs meant that there'd be an even greater workload waiting for him tomorrow. Alexander headed for his personal room.

Unfortunately, not everyone in the castle was so pleasant to deal with.

As he was nearing his room, Alexander heard a voice call out to him: a voice with an aristocratic air to it, of the sort that aroused disgust in listeners.

"Pardon me, but do you have a moment?"

Alexander slowly turned around. Approaching him was Rhea Nereneid, the younger sister of Thalia Nereneid. She had the same purple skin and hair as her older sister, but differed in that she expressed land-dweller instead of plant traits. Her lower body resembled that of a giant slug, with a muscular foot and a covering of viscous mucus, though it also possessed numerous tentacles of various lengths.

"Yes – how can I help you, milady?" Alexander asked, doing his best to keep the abject terror out of his voice.

Rhea simply smiled. "You see, it's surprisingly lonely in this castle. I was wondering if you would be willing to… accompany me for the night."

Alexander felt his heart stop in his throat. It wasn't likely that she would go too far and kill him, not in the Monster Lord's Castle… but from her family's reputation, even that wasn't certain.

"Oh, are you reluctant because of these?" Rhea asked, waving her tentacles around. "Don't worry, even if it feels uncomfortable at first, you'll definitely enjoy it – "

"Unfortunately for you, Rhea, he already has an appointment with me."

Both of them turned to see Dinah Fateburn approaching. Alexander could not suppress his relief.

"So I'm afraid you'll have to bear with the loneliness for a little while longer," Dinah finished.

Rhea didn't show any signs of anger or frustration. Instead, she smirked and said, "I'm sorry for trying to claim one of yours. I should have known that you would be interested in a man like this."

"Oh? And who was the one who just attempted to approach 'a man like this'?" Dinah retorted.

Rhea didn't say anything more. She turned and oozed away. After she was gone, Dinah led Alexander to the door of his room.

"Sorry about that," Dinah said. "It took me a while to track her down – she can be surprisingly stealthy when she wants to."

"No, I'm just glad for the help," Alexander replied quickly.

Dinah let out an exasperated breath. "Really, I should be keeping this from happening in the first place. Sometimes, I wish that I could be as carefree as – never mind. Good night."

Dinah left. Alexander bowed after her, then entered his room.

James was sitting on the bed. He stood up and said, "There you are, what took you so – wait, what's wrong?"

Alexander dropped the documents on the small table, with none of the care he usually took with them. He collapsed onto the bed.

"Don't tell me you're overworking again?" James said. "I keep telling you to take it easy – "

"It's not that," Alexander. "I – just what is going on? What will happen next? I don't know…"