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Unfamiliar Zero
Chapter 6
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There was already a generous amount of freshly cooked food prepared and waiting for them when they arrived at their destination. Even Louise's place had been set with everything arranged perfectly, as if he she had been expected to show up all along. She recognized the location as the same room that she had first dined in with the two ladies of the Black Fortress. Had that really only been a few days ago? It felt more like a whole month had passed since then.
They settled into their respective seats, though the one for Lady Jade was empty this time and Louise couldn't help but eye the unoccupied chair. Lady Elena apparently noticed her gaze and she briefly explained that Lady Jade was busy with something and was therefore unavailable. What exactly the lady warrior was busy with, the vampire did not say.
"Oh, and don't worry," said Lady Elena, "Bartho cooked the meal for us today, not Lady Jade. So you can feel free to eat to your heart's content." She did not bother hiding her amused grin at her own words.
Louise was relieved to hear that, having not been fond of Lady Jade's cooking, though she said nothing as she simply nodded her head and dug in. Sure enough, she found the food to be delicious, and far more exquisite than the simple meals that Bartho had been feeding her this whole time. It made her miss the meals they served at home, or even the Academy.
They ate in silence for a while, Louise losing herself in the enjoyment of a truly wonderful meal that more than filled the gnawing hunger in her gut while Lady Elena appeared to find it humorous to watch. Louise became gradually aware of the woman's unflinching stare between bites of food as the minutes passed, and she was quick to get a hold of herself and act the part of a proper lady, despite her current lowered status. She was slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten her manners so easily at the dining table.
Finally, once Louise finished with her meal, Lady Elena spoke.
"Well, my dear, you appeared to have worked out quite the appetite today. I'll be sure to relay to Bartho your clear enthusiasm for his cooking. Though I wonder what I should say to Lady Jade about your reaction to finding out this meal was not in any way her doing."
Louise's face turned almost as pink as her hair and she tried to say something in her defense, but ended up fumbling for words. She somehow imagined Lady Jade skewering her on the end of her spear and cooking her in anger.
The vampire queen smiled, showing her perfectly white teeth and her sharp fangs. "Oh little Louise, you can be so adorable when you're all flustered. I really could just eat you right up, and I'm sure Lord Kaji would forgive me eventually. . ." She sighed with apparent longing at the thought as she put a hand up to her own cheek.
Louise fidgeted in her seat. Even though such a remark no longer elicited outright fear in her, having gotten used to hearing such things from the lady the past few days, it still made her more than a little uncomfortable. Partly because there wasn't really any appropriate response to such a statement from her position, which meant she could say nothing afterwards.
That annoyed her to no end, though she of course would never let that show. It struck Louise that perhaps it was possible the servants back in Tristain had such thoughts and feelings about their noble masters too, and that troubled her. She had never really considered before how the servants felt about how they were spoken to and treated.
"So now that we've eaten our fill, we can move on to more important matters. Tell me dear, what kind of magic do you practice in your world?" asked Lady Elena, leaning forward in her chair and resting her elbows on the table, hands clasped together.
"M-Magic?" Louise said, wondering where this conversation was going.
"Yes. You did say you could do magic, right? And that you studied at some academy of magic? What did they teach you over there? I'd really like to know."
"Y-Yes, my Lady. You remembered correctly. I. . . know about magic, and I was indeed studying at the Tristain Academy of Magic. So. . ." Louise rubbed her arm nervously as she thought of what to say. "Where should I begin?"
"The basics, of course," said the lady.
Louise spent the next few minutes explaining the basic principles of how magic worked according to how she understood it and what types of magic the people of Halkeginia could do. It was all essentially elemental magic, though there were some spells that didn't necessarily run on specific elements and so were more like general class spells, such as teleportation or item levitation. Or even basic cleaning like getting dirt off clothes or surfaces. However, the vast majority of spells in use were affiliated with specific elements.
The four main elements associated with magic were: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. And there was a fifth element, classified as the Void, though it was incredibly rare for anyone to be able to cast Void magic and it hasn't been seen in centuries. Then she went over the classifications of the different shapes that defined the class of spells and mages.
There was dot, line, triangle, and square. The number of sides corresponded to the number of elements that a mage could competently wield, as well as the number of spells mixed into one. So a square class spell would have four separate spells inside it, each one could be different or they could also all be the same. For instance, a fireball spell at its most basic would be a dot fire spell, but combining the incantation for two dot fire spells would produce a stronger fireball and upgrade it to a line spell.
A mage didn't have to say any magic incantations out loud, but they at the very least had to think the correct incantations to invoke the magic. Then to a certain degree, they could control how the magic unfolded with their thoughts. Knowing the proper incantation meant being able to cast any spell, though Louise also explained that all spells required willpower, and the stronger the spells and the more elements involved, the greater the willpower cost in order to cast it.
Mages were all born with a different amount of willpower, and through training they could expand that reserve of willpower to a certain extent, but if a spell required more willpower than what was available, the spell would fail and the mage would pass out from exhaustion. Casting too many spells drained willpower and could force a mage to pass out from mental and physical fatigue.
Furthermore, emotional state and general energy levels, such as whether someone has had enough rest, had a big impact on the potency of spells as well. That also meant that if two mages of equal skill were to face each other, but one had a good night's rest while the other stayed awake all night, the mage who had rest would have the advantage.
She also mentioned that magic could be stored in items, like rings and armor, and that mages could only wield magic if using a wand or a staff of some variety. Finally, she added that the ability to tap into magic in order to wield it was entirely hereditary, with the nobility of every country being the only mages. It was impossible for anyone outside of noble bloodlines to wield magic.
"Is that so?" Lady Elena sounded surprised and then peered at her closely. "So that means you're a noble then, I presume?"
"I. . . uhh. . ." Louise mentally cursed herself. She had gotten so caught up in explaining what she knew about magic that she had forgotten that she was trying to keep her noble birth a secret.
The Night Queen thoughtfully tapped her elegant chin with a finger. "That would explain why you were rather abysmal at menial tasks and physical labor."
Louise laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.
"But just so we are clear, my knowing that you are nobility from another world doesn't mean there will be any change to your situation here," Lady Elena said.
Louise nodded, unable to help feeling somewhat disappointed. She had expected as much, though the slim hope she had that revealing her noble heritage might earn her some kind of benefit was now officially thrown out the window.
"I will say that your world's understanding of magic seems. . . a tad too simplistic. A crude interpretation, to be quite frank. And while I don't doubt that it works, magic is so much more than what you've described. I am actually rather disappointed, but I suppose that the system of magic you were taught is to blame for that. For example, there are far more elements than the five you've described, such as dark magic, light magic, blood magic, and so forth."
Lady Elena continued to speak. "Willpower must refer to what we call mana here in this world, and you are correct in that everyone has their own pool of mana within them. Expanding the pool is definitely possible through training, as well as through rituals or items, however, it's also possible to tap into the magic that surrounds us and inhabits everything too, so mana isn't necessarily the be all, end all, of being able to cast spells, though the ability to do so is beyond most people. And results may vary depending on how powerful a person is to begin with, what kind of spell is being cast, as well as the amount of magic permeating the environment they are in."
Louise nodded, unsure of what to think just yet but soaking in all this information anyway. After all, she had seen for herself how different the magic seemed to work in this world, and how much more powerful Lady Elena was than anyone she had ever encountered before. Not to mention the others who she had met so far. She could certainly accept that her own understanding of magic was far inferior to theirs.
"Going off of that, it's also foolish to think that you even need a wand or staff to cast magic. Sure, I will admit that it certainly helps a lot, especially for newer magic users or for more complicated spells, but with enough training and sufficient discipline, you should be able to cast spells easily enough without needing the aid of a magical focus all the time," explained Lady Elena. She lazily held a palm out in front of her and a small ball of red-orange flame flashed into existence a few inches above it. The ball grew slightly larger, and then suddenly turned into a bright blue flame, then larger still as it turned into a dark purplish-black flame.
Then she wiggled her fingers around, and the ball danced and then stretched into a whirling column about ten inches tall over her hand, before she closed her fist and the flame extinguished itself. With a casual flick of her hand towards Louise, a gust of wind suddenly came out of nowhere and blew against the shocked girl, ruffling her dress and blowing her hair all over.
Louise raised her arms into an 'x' shape in an attempt to shield her face, but thankfully the gust of wind abruptly stopped and the air settled down as if nothing extraordinary happened to begin with.
"Then there are types of magic that aren't affiliated with any one specific element at all. Such as summoning magic or conjuring magic, to name a couple. You can even send blasts of concentrated raw magic at someone if you don't have a particular spell in mind, though it's a very inefficient use of your mana to do so."
The crackling of magical energy filled the air as two magic circles shone on the ground behind her. Then two beings emerged from the magic circles, each one sporting a pair of short, leathery wings. They were small and humanoid, though certainly would never be mistaken for human. Their heads looked like a cross between a crocodile and a monkey. Their skin was mottled gray, their ears large, sharp, and pointed, and they had small snouts with mouths filled with tiny fangs. Two small black horns twisted out from their skulls. They had red eyes with slit pupils, and a sinister air hung about them. As they materialized they began to beat their wings to stay aloft, long thin tails almost equal to the length of their torsos hung loosely behind them. Their hands had four digits, three fingers and a thumb, each one ending in a sharp claw of pure black.
Louise's eyes went wide at seeing the two creatures. She had forgotten to mention to Lady Elena that summoning magic did exist in Halkeginia, but it wasn't really classified as a branch of magic that was commonly practiced. In fact, normally such magic was used only for summoning forth familiars to serve the mages. The thought of it reminded her of her own failure at that particular type of magic, and it was that failure that somehow brought her here in the first place.
"I'm not sure if you've seen these creatures before, but they are what we call imps," she said as she gestured towards the winged beings behind her. Their salivating mouths hung open, revealing their sharp teeth and thin, lengthy forked tongues. "They are low level summons that can generally be used for menial tasks, or to harass and distract an opponent. Though they are weak and can be bothersome to use since they're not exactly the smartest creatures and can be rather temperamental at times."
Lady Elena snapped her fingers and they promptly disintegrated into dust before that too dissipated into nothingness. "Well, I suppose that's enough of a display on my end. Now I think it's your turn," she said, looking expectantly at Louise.
"M-My turn?" Louise stuttered, not anticipating that she would have to put on a demonstration too.
"Certainly. I think it's only fair you show me some of the magic you've learned since I've shown you some of my own. Wouldn't you agree?"
"R-Right. Of course. That makes perfect sense," Louise said with a nervous laugh. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow. "But, about that. . . maybe it's uhh. . . not the best idea. . . to do it in here. We'll need some more space. . . And besides, I don't have my wand and. . ."
Lady Elena abruptly got to her feet, slapping her palms on the table and leaning forward, startling Louise who nearly fell out of her chair. "I know just the place! I've been meaning to do a check down there anyway, and you can grab your wand on the way too, so this would work perfectly. Now come along." She spoke with some excitement then promptly strode out of the room, leaving Louise to stare after her for a moment before scrambling to follow.
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The chill air felt damp and heavy against her skin, making Louise shiver. She was still only wearing her maid outfit, which while now fitting comfortably snug to her petite frame thanks to Bartho, unfortunately did little to keep her warm. Not that she had anything warm to change into anyways, and besides, keeping warm wasn't exactly important these days given the comfortable temperatures she normally worked in.
However, at that moment, the young girl wasn't anywhere she normally worked and was actually several levels below the surface of the earth after following Lady Elena's descent into the lower levels of the keep.
Louise was well aware that the keep was a massive structure, but to her surprise it was even larger than she thought now that she knew it even extended underground. The grand spiral staircase that ran through the center of the keep continued downward into the dark depths of the earth even deeper than the level that they eventually stepped off at, and it made her wonder just how far down it went and why.
As was the case in the floors aboveground, the torches, sconces, and braziers that lay dormant for untold years all magically roared to life as they approached, and kept burning after they passed, illuminating the otherwise dark halls of the underground. Cast in the light of the magical fires, the stonework was evidently impressive, and the two of them passed many detailed carvings and statues depicting warriors, beasts, and places that were all mostly unrecognizable to Louise. The amount and quality of work that went into carving these halls into the earth was beyond impressive, and Louise could only marvel at the sights.
"If you're this impressed with these silent halls, I'd love to see your reaction when you see the ancient underground cities of the dwarves themselves," remarked Lady Elena. "We had our own dwarves build this place beneath the Black Fortress, which is why it's so masterfully done, but even I have to admit that it pales in comparison to the extraordinary wonders they've accomplished in their stone kingdoms beneath their mountains."
Dwarves.
Louise knew the word. It was used to describe people born with deformities that stunted their growth, leading them to remain small in stature compared to normal humans. They could be old, and yet still be no taller than a child of twelve summers in some cases. She didn't think she could be any more impressed with the quality of the stonework, architecture, and construction of these underground halls, but she imagined that the race of people known as the dwarves in this world were somewhat similar to the dwarf people of her own, and the fact that they could build something so grand was truly astounding.
"Lady Elena, these dwarves you speak of," she said. "They are a people of small stature?" She wanted to know for sure.
The Night Queen stopped walking and turned to her. "In terms of height, yes they are a very short people, but while they are normally at most five feet tall, they are usually quite stout and far stronger than they appear. They resemble humans and tend to naturally live longer than humans, though not by much. The vast majority of them inhabit the deep tunnels and caverns beneath the many mountains of the world. Similar to what you can see here." She waved her hand around.
"What are they like?"
"Hmm. . . They are renowned for the works of their hands, particular with metals, stones, and jewels, and they normally live underground within their own kingdoms and clans. In fact, it is not uncommon for some of them to never see the sky for their entire life. Like any other race, there are some who are loud and some who are quiet. Others who work hard and still others who are lazy, and so on. . . But I suppose you could say that they generally tend to be proud, stubborn, quick-tempered, traditional, brash, and blunt."
Like she had felt with the lycans, Louise very much wanted to meet the dwarves and see them for herself. She was particularly interested in watching them work, thinking that it must be a fascinating sight to behold such master craftsmen. "Are there any still here?" she asked, looking around as if she might catch sight of one right then.
"I doubt it, but that is what we are going to find out," said Lady Elena with a smirk, then she resumed her walking.
Not long after, they emerged into a cavernous hall with a high ceiling held up by dozens of massive stone pillars. The square pillars were lined in perfect rows in front of them, each one intricately carved with the exact same symbols and designs. Louise estimated that each pillar was about fifty feet tall, and she marveled at how the dwarves could have built this place with such precision and attention to detail.
"I believe that this is the central plaza. Supposedly, it is located at the heart of the mountain, whatever that means, but I wouldn't know for sure since it all looks the same to me," said Lady Elena. She glanced at Louise, who was marveling openly at the plaza. "To be honest, they were still carving this out the last time I was here, so just like you this is the first time I'm seeing this place. Quite a sight, isn't it?"
"It's amazing," Louise said softly. "You left before they finished?"
"Indeed. I was one of the last of Lord Kaji's loyal servants to leave the Black Fortress, but I eventually did once it became clear that he was not returning anytime soon," she said. "When I left, the dwarves who remained numbered only a few, but they were hard working and skilled at their craft, and they vowed to finish the city that Lord Kaji had approved for them to build beneath the Black Fortress so that one day their kin might return here. It appears that they did finish, or at least made significant progress towards that goal. At the very least, they appeared to have completed significant portions of what they planned, like this plaza, and even the grand staircase was extended farther down than I remember."
"It really is something," Louise said in awe. "I wonder how long it took them to build all of this."
"Probably a few decades at the very least, considering how few of them were left to do the work," guessed the vampire queen. "In hindsight, I probably should have checked on them before today, but I had a lot of things to deal with on my own the last couple of centuries and I forgot about them until recently."
"And it looks like they're all gone now," said Louise with a frown. She ran a hand against the smooth, cold stone of one of the pillars, tracing some of the designs carved into it with her fingers.
"I suppose this is a good enough spot," Lady Elena said as she raised her arms up to her sides.
A rush of magic washed through Louise and she glanced at the lady with surprise. Her eyes widened at seeing what appeared to be shadowy figures writhing and circling around her, accompanied by the sound of something like wind rustling through leaves or ruffling sheets of cloth.
"Go forth and search every corner of these underground halls for any dwarf who still lives," the Night Queen commanded. Tendrils of shadow shot out in all directions before dispersing entirely, leaving them alone and in silence once more.
Louise gently shook her head in disbelief. The more strange magic she saw from the woman, the more she wanted to learn it. If Louise was a failure in learning magic in her old world, and the knowledge of magic in that world was considered rudimentary by Lady Elena, perhaps here Louise would actually be able to learn proper magic. Perhaps things would finally turn out differently for once.
"What were those things?" she asked.
"Shadow fiends," replied Lady Elena. "It will take them a little while before they come back to us." She turned around and settled her gaze on Louise. "More than enough time for you to demonstrate some of your magic while we wait. This should also be ample space for a demonstration too, so there's no need to worry about that."
Louise rolled the wand she was holding in her right hand and nodded slowly, feeling the smooth wood against her fingers. There was no escaping it now. She raised her wand, making sure to point it away from Lady Elena. She opened her mouth, hesitated, and then said, "Lady Elena, my apologies, but. . . maybe you should take a few more steps back?"
Lady Elena looked at her skeptically, then took one small step back. She planted her hands to her hips. "Go on. Quit stalling."
Nodding, Louise took a deep breath and focused her mind on the incantation she wanted to use. A simple illumination spell. Nothing fancy. Her goal was to project a beam of light out from the tip of her wand. Easy enough, right? Her whole body tensed in anticipation. She rehearsed the incantation once more and then said it under her breath. Immediately she felt the magic course through her, then wildly flow into and around her wand, where it suddenly escaped beyond her control like it had done many times before. She had a split second to cringe before it happened.
BOOM!
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The floor vibrated briefly and Jade stopped talking as soon as she saw Lord Kaji hold up a hand. His eyes were closed as he relaxed on the cushioned recliner not far from her, looking very comfortable even after having listened to Jade recount all that had happened between the time he went into seclusion and the time she was placed into stasis herself.
"An explosion?" He said all of a sudden, eyes partially opening and glancing down at the floor towards the source of the disturbance. "Tell me, Jade, do you know what trouble Elena is getting up to right now?"
A frown creased Jade's delicate features. She had heard and felt the explosion too, faint though it was. "She is playing with her new toy, my Lord."
Lord Kaji settled his steady gaze on the beautiful warrior woman. "Explain."
With a sigh at the thought of Elena, Jade shifted on the couch next to the recliner and said, "Elena wishes to train that human girl with the pink hair. Apparently the girl can wield magic of some variety, and I think Elena suspects that she has something to do with your sudden return. Therefore, I believe she wants to study the girl and learn more about her and her magic."
"I see. That would explain her interest in the girl." Lord Kaji closed his eyes again and leaned his head back. "What do you think?"
"I think it's a foolish endeavor, my Lord, and a waste of Elena's time and efforts that could be better spent elsewhere. We all agree that the human girl is pathetically weak, so I think there's really no point in training her. What tangible benefit would that provide? Bartho currently has her working as a maid here at the keep, which should be more than enough for a simple little girl like her."
Honestly, since first setting eyes on the girl, Jade had felt nothing but contempt. The girl was weak and pathetic, and she had pissed herself in the throne room of all places. In front of Lord Kaji himself, no less! Such an act could not easily be forgotten, let alone forgiven, by the proud warrior. A part of her was almost sure that Elena was taking a liking to the girl simply to piss her off too.
Lord Kaji chuckled. "Judging by your speech, I take it you haven't interacted with the girl much since you got her settled in?"
"Not really, my Lord. We dined together once after that, but that is the extent of my interaction with her thus far."
"You shared a meal with her?" The Demon Lord sounded surprised.
"Elena was there too. It wasn't like we were alone," she added hastily, then as an afterthought added, "And I. . . I cooked."
Lord Kaji half-opened his eyes again, silver eyes sliding over in her direction. "You did what?"
Jade lowered her head, fidgeting as she glanced towards her spear standing upright by the entrance to Lord Kaji's chambers. "I cooked the food for our meal at that time, my Lord. In fact, Elena and that human girl seemed to enjoy it, since they ate it all."
"That might be the most surprising thing I've heard from you today," mused the Demon Lord. "I didn't think you could cook, let alone that you had any interest in it."
Jade could feel her cheeks warming as she looked away. "I was. . . trying to learn."
"Whatever for?" Lord Kaji asked. "Are you not my right hand? The commander of my armies? I would think such trivial matters as cooking to be beneath you."
"W-Well, yes, Lord Kaji. You are of course correct on all accounts, but I. . ."
"But what? Did you not just say that Elena's desire to train the girl was a waste of time and effort that could be better spent doing something better? How is it any different than you learning how to cook? We have properly trained servants for such things, or if not, we could surely acquire some easily enough." Despite his words, Lord Kaji did not appear to be disappointed nor angry about her foray into cooking. Merely curious. Though Jade felt embarrassed about the whole thing regardless.
She thought carefully of a good answer. "I am, first and foremost, your servant and right hand, my Lord. My duties extend beyond simply being the commander of your armies. As your right hand, I should be able to support you, to protect you, and to carry out your will at all times in any situation. I simply thought that adding cooking to my list of skills would help me serve you better and thus make you happier. Particularly in the event that there be no adequately skilled cooks available to prepare a meal befitting of someone of your stature."
"Hmm. . . is that the only reason?"
Jade went from pink to crimson. "Y-Yes, my Lord."
He eyed her for a moment, then shut his eyes once again. "Then I look forward to sampling one of your meals."
Jade blinked in surprise, unwilling at first to believe what she was hearing. A second later and a feeling of elation filled her, quickly followed by nervousness and doubt. Could she truly cook a meal worthy of the Demon Lord? She hated to think about it, but she knew she would need that damned vampire butler's help again. And in doing so, she would likely owe the red-eyed bloodsucker a favor, which would be annoying. She didn't like owing anybody favors. But it would be well worth it if the meal she ended up cooking for her master was one that he truly enjoyed.
"Now, I think we're done talking about what happened more than two hundred years ago, so I suppose it's time for you to report on our present situation," said the Demon Lord, moving on to the next topic.
"As you wish, my Lord," she said, bowing her head as she pushed aside all thoughts of cooking for now and focused on providing a proper report.
Jade began with the current status of the Black Fortress, which was almost totally empty save for the handful of them who resided in the keep and the hundred or so vampires who patrolled the walls and the forest beyond, sleeping in whichever structures they found most convenient or comfortable along the outer walls. Elena had apparently warned them not to stray any deeper into the fortress city, and they had obeyed that command without a fault. They were currently unaware of the Demon Lord's return.
Furthermore, it went without saying that they currently had no military and no workforce at their disposal. They didn't even have any creatures, magical or otherwise, that they could make use of at present, compared to the multitudes that once flocked to them before. Not necessarily that big a deal, of course, but if they were planning to begin another campaign of world domination then they would need to start building up their forces again soon.
All of the magic defenses of the fortress were still active and in place except for the protective wards that had broken down the night of Lord Kaji's sudden return. Currently, Elena's makeshift wards were in place, serving as a temporary stopgap until Lord Kaji could renew the wards himself, since his skill and power with wards was far superior.
Speaking of Elena, as Night Queen she ruled the largest population of vampires on the continent by far. Though there were certainly other vampire factions and independent covens out there, most of whom were apparently either hostile or at least cool towards the Night Queen for one reason or another. She had done well for herself in expanding Nifleheim's territory beyond the immediate area surrounding the city of the same name, and there was relative stability in the region and a healthy amount of trade because of it.
Nifleheim military power was also one of the strongest on a per unit basis, but their overall numbers were low and thus any heavy losses incurred would be a significant blow. Skilled vampires weren't exactly easy to replace. Not that they were easy to kill either, of course. Still, Elena's hard work in building up a vampire kingdom of her own was to be commended and was certainly going to be useful in the future. And Jade had tested the strength of their strongest fighters herself, and she deemed them to be more than adequate.
The other races that used to serve the Demon Lord were all still alive and well, though the borders between their countries had changed over time and there was certainly a lot of tension and hostility between many of them. The relationship between the vampires and lycans were at an all-time low and apparently there was a big war ongoing at the moment between the orcs, the trolls, and the beastfolk. According to Elena, there were a few decades of relative peace between all the races that served the Demon Lord before it eventually descended into wars over territory, resources, and the ambition or pettiness of their new leaders, as the leaders who had served the Demon Lord either died, lost their positions, or disappeared.
Despite all of that, Jade didn't anticipate it would be too difficult to get these factions to rally under Lord Kaji's banner once again, especially once they saw him in the flesh. There were some, especially among the long-lived races, who probably still remembered serving and living under the Demon Lord after all. Or had at least heard about it from firsthand accounts. And, worst case scenario, they could always force them to serve like they did the first time for many of them. After all, who would be foolish enough to refuse the Demon Lord?
As for their old enemies, they had all grown in size and strength since Lord Kaji's disappearance, although some now had new names for their countries. There were many in the continent that would likely be opposed to the return of the Demon Lord, but the biggest and most immediate threats were the human countries of the Acheron Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Ezira, the snow elven Realm of Lossëa, and the dwarven Kingdom of Velhammar.
Though of course, Jade was not overly worried about them. She believed in her master after all. In her eyes, there was nothing he couldn't accomplish if he set his mind to it, especially once they rebuilt his armies.
She finished her lengthy report by falling silent, awaiting any comments and questions that were surely coming from her lord.
"It seems that the world has changed a fair amount since I last walked beyond these walls," said Lord Kaji. "To be expected after so much time has passed, of course. Still, I am curious what it's like out there after so long."
"Does that mean you will be launching another campaign to rule over the world once again, my Lord?" Jade could feel her own excitement bubbling up at the thought.
"I haven't decided that yet," he replied honestly.
Jade tried her best not to look disappointed at that answer. "Oh. Then. . . what do you plan to do for now, my Lord?"
Lord Kaji was silent for a while, and Jade waited patiently. Then he sat up slowly and turned to face her with his silver eyes locking on to her emerald ones. A slow smile spread across his face. "I think it's time for me to stretch my legs a little."