Vanilla blew some dust off the old countertop. The Pocket Castle was as large as it was empty, which was a good thing for the young, entrepreneurial vampire. Right next to the entrance were two rooms perfect for a shopkeeper and an innkeeper.
Teeny already took the inn, not that I wanted it in the first place… Hehe, having competition is a good thing. My shop will take all the consumers! And once I've cornered the market, I'll expand my monopoly worldwide!
"Hehehe… Then I will have all the power in the world…" Vanilla smiled. "But first… I need to get more products."
The vampire finished setting up her stall. For now, she had little to offer her main customer, the Hero Luka. Sure, she could sell to the other residents of the castle, but Luka was always going to be her most reliable and frequent customer. Being a hero came with a surprisingly stable flow of income.
He has more money than one would expect… I'll be sure to offer him some good products for a fair price. But to do that I need things to sell… Right now all I have is a few medicinal herbs…
The door to the castle creaked open. The hero and his companions entered, along with someone new, flying above them. "Who… what is that?"
Mini flew inside. "So big… But it looked so small outside! How is that even possible…?"
"It's just how it works, I guess," Luka said. "Magic is like that. You can take any room you want, there's plenty to go around. Oh, right, I should introduce you to everyone."
Vanilla and the other bandits approached the newcomer. The vampire was able to get a closer look at her now. She was a phoenix, a very young one, around the same age as Vanilla herself. She was small but quick and energetic.
"This is Mini," Luka announced. "We met her while exploring. I hope you'll all be as welcoming as possible for her."
Lime approached the phoenix. "Puru~, my name is Lime! Welcome to the Pocket Castle!"
"T-Thanks!" Mini said, smiling.
"Come with us," Papi said. "We'll give you the tour! Over there you'll find the storage area. That door there leads to a cellar underground where we keep all the stuff we find while adventuring, and over there is where our rooms are. And over there is where we..."
Luka walked back out of the castle as Mini was being shown around. Sonya, Ilias and Alice followed him. "So what's next? Go tell Amira the good news?" Ilias asked.
"You already did!" The person in question said. "And I already told you that a rabbit girl was spotted in Pornof."
"Eh? You've been here the whole time? I must've been subconsciously trying to forget that you exist…"
"Tch… Rude." Amira shook her head, which was difficult considering it was so close to the ground. "Anyway, I'll hang back here while you guys go on ahead. Good luck!"
"You better make yourself useful," Ilias said. "Go gather information or something… Well then, let's get going. Pornof was southeast of Iliasville, if I recall what the signs said correctly."
Luka nodded. "It is but… I've always avoided that village. I've heard odd things about it… Anyway, we need to pick two more people to come with us. We tried to take the bandits last time but they were all soundly defeated, even Papi. Besides, they deserve a break. Mini just got here so… How about Lime and Bunni?"
"Like they're gonna be much help. Let's just go with us four." Alice suggested. "No offence to either of them, but we need strong monsters to help us fight. Mini and perhaps Papi are the only ones really worth the hassle of taking right now."
"Hmm, I see your point… Fine then, let's just go." Luka said, using a harpy feather to teleport out of the castle and into the Ilias Temple.
Luka looked through the book of jobs. Not many of them interested him, besides the hero and swordsman categories, that is. There was a huge variety of options. Dancers, Mages, Thieves, Merchants, Cooks, Nurses, and that's just to name a few.
Well, I'm sure someone else will make use of them. They can choose their own jobs, I'll stick to these simple ones…
Jobs were an odd concept to the young boy. The system was supposedly set up by the Goddess Ilias herself. Many complained that they were an overly complicated and outdated system, but it remained popular among the adventurous types.
"Ilias… if you really did set this whole job system up, how come there are jobs curtailed to monsters in it?" Luka asked.
"Hmph. Do you really know so little? You're just as dense as I remember…" Ilias sighed. "When I created the system it was initially just for my heroes, and it was just like that in my memories, but you humans and your pesky meddling ruined it after I disappeared. You must've added onto my system and made new jobs… Truly despicable, my system was already perfect."
"I call it innovation," Alice remarked. "You should be glad, I heard the system even includes jobs for angels nowadays. Now then, I think we're all done here. Let's get moving, Amira said White Rabbit should be just a bit southeast of here."
"Pornof…" Ilias shuddered to remember the village. It seemed fate had been cruel to the small goddess in that Pornof was one of the few memories she still retained. She had burned the village to the ground and smote all its inhabitants after she first saw the village and its grave sins. Worse than even mating with monsters, they were simply sick in every conceivable way. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly excited to visit it.
"Have you heard about it before?" Luka asked.
The goddess nodded. "Unfortunately, I have… Say, how about for this one mission, you and Alice just do it on your own and return with the information?" She suggested. "I fear I'd be assaulted in a village like that one… Sonya and I will stay here and ask around for any information on White Rabbit."
Luka was surprised. Ilias normally protested whenever he and Alice spent any time alone, but here she was suggesting, even insisting on it.
Can this Pornof place really be that bad? I've heard some rumours about it before but… Well, it would explain Ilias' odd behaviour.
Whatever, there's no getting around it. We need to investigate Amira's lead. Plus, I've heard there's some fine metal in a cave near the village. Some upgrades to our equipment would certainly be nice…
"Alright, we'll go," Luka said. "Sonya, make sure Ilias doesn't get herself into any trouble. Ilias, don't annoy Sonya. Alice, you ready?"
The Monster Lord nodded, smiling smugly as she and Luka walked away. Ilias' face dropped as she realised her mistake.
"W-Wait!" She shouted, catching up to them. Sonya ran after her, trying to do as Luka asked.
"Eh? What is it?" The hero asked.
Ilias quickly stammered out a response. "I-Instead of you and Alice going, Sonya should go with her. Luka, you should stay with me."
Luka looked confused. "How come?"
"Well… You see…" Ilias took a second to think. "Sonya could… Sonya would be more effective than you. Pornof is a place that treats men as competition. Trust me on that… Sonya and Alice together should be enough to get all the information we need. And Luka… You need to learn my skills, badly. I can spend the spare time we have here teaching you."
Alice frowned. "Not a chance. Luka already made his mind up. Besides, he's my servant. I won't have anyone else by my side. Uh, no offence, Sonya."
The priestess sighed. All she wanted was to send Ilias and Alice to Pornof together and stay here and train Luka herself, but she knew they'd only end up hurt, or worse… Her skills as a healer were necessary in case they got into a fight they couldn't handle.
This is why we got all those other companions… But we can't really trust any of them to go out and accomplish this mission on their own, especially considering all of them are on the young side.
"It's fine," She said. "It's already a good bit past noon. If we want to get there and back without using a harpy feather, we better head soon."
Luka was unsure. He didn't really want to go to Pornof either, so staying with Ilias was fine with him. Along with being trained by her, he could also check out what that key he found does. For some reason, he could feel the key calling to him, telling him that it unlocked something in this very temple, which piqued the young boy's interest.
The key itself looks otherworldly... Lots of strange things have been happening to me recently, from Ilias appearing at my baptism to another Ilias demanding that I accompany her on an adventure around the world, and meeting the Monster Lord herself on top of all of that… This key being able to magically communicate with me isn't really that far-fetched in comparison.
"Hmm… Well, if Alice is fine with it, then I don't mind staying here. Oh, you should probably take the Pocket Castle with you, in case you need anyone's help."
"What!? No way, I'm not going to that den of perverts for no reason!" Alice exclaimed. "H-How about we all just go together, like normal?"
"We could… but this is a pretty small mission. Besides, even if White Rabbit is there, she'll probably just escape again." Luka pointed out. "We'd really only be going for the ore, and we don't need all four of us to collect that."
Alice shook her head. "No, she won't get away this time. We'll be ready for her, and we're a bit stronger than we were before. If we can capture her and force her to unseal me, then I can take my throne back with ease… Oh, and I'll help you find your father after that."
"It's not gonna happen," Luka said. "Here, take the castle and go. If anything happens, use one of the harpy feathers to get out of there."
The Monster Lord sighed in defeat. "This totally blows…" She grabbed the miniature castle and slithered off in a huff. Sonya followed behind as Luka wished them both luck.
Perfect… Ilias rubbed her hands together menacingly. Now that she's gone, I can give Luka the training he so desperately needs…
"Poor Alice… We should get started on that training we talked about earlier, but first, there's something I need to check out around here, and it has something to do with this key." Luka said, holding said key up.
"What key?" Ilias asked. "Where?"
"Eh? It's right here in my hand!" The hero said. "Ilias, did you get much sleep last night? What am I saying, of course you did, I could hear you through the wall…"
Ilias looked shocked. "A-Are you saying that I snore!? Never have I ever heard such insolence! You must've been hearing that damn snake, or the priestess."
"No, I'm pretty sure it was you," Luka said. "Anyway, I need to go look for a lock or something… It definitely opens something in this temple, but what…? Let's check this floor first… Or perhaps upstairs would be better…"
"I already told you, there is no key!" Ilias repeated.
Luka ignored her as he looked around the temple. Inexplicably, he knew it was not on the ground floor. He felt it in his bones. Moving upstairs, he checked around once more, his eyes stopping on a metal door. It seemed out of place, otherworldly, even. He approached it cautiously.
Ilias watched in amazement as Luka walked in front of a plain wall, lifted his hand, and then stopped moving.
…What the hell is he doing?
The goddess tapped the hero on the shoulder, but he remained as still as a statue, his breathing barely even noticeable. "Luka? W-What's wrong?"
Ilias walked in front of him, waving her hand in front of his face to no avail. She tried various methods to get him to respond; Slapping him, pushing him over, threatening him, tickling him with her feathers, all unsuccessful.
W-What happened to him!? I… What do I do? What could've caused this… Is this this world's Ilias' doing?
I suppose I have no choice but to wait until he reawakens… But who's to say how long that'll take?
It was almost pitch black. Luka stepped forward cautiously. The ground was anything but stable—floating stones hovered above an endless void, dipping slightly with each of his steps. Though the stones were close enough together to avoid jumping, crossing the gaps between them was still unnerving.
What is this place? I opened that door and… Huh? Where did it go?
The hero turned, but the way inside had closed. He felt around for the handle, but had no luck finding it.
Did I fall into a trap? Crap…
Luka shook his head, doing his best to compose himself. He crossed the floating stones carefully, restoring his balance after each step with a wave of his arms. Eventually, a surface that didn't dip graced his feet, finally giving the boy some much-needed relief.
"Ah… I heard of your coming, Hero Luka."
Luka jumped in shock, nearly falling off the edge of the rocky platform. He quickly shifted his weight over to safety, causing him to fall flat on his face.
"…Ow." The hero pulled himself back up. "W-Who goes there?"
Someone stepped out of the darkness—A tall, red-haired woman with a dark cloak covering most of her body, leaving only her face visible. Her eyes were a deep violet, staring directly at the young hero.
"I have taken the name Reaper in recent times." She said, her voice as cool as snow. "You are the Hero Luka, invited here by White Rabbit without my consent…"
For some reason, Luka felt a bit guilty. "Oh… I'll just go then."
Reaper revealed a large scythe, so dark the hero couldn't even notice it against the void, but he could hear it slicing against the air. "No… There may yet be advantages to this early contact. Hero, I'm sure you are confused… Honestly, I was never very good at explaining things, neither is White Rabbit."
Luka agreed. White Rabbit and Reaper were clearly interested in him, but for what reasons he had still yet to be told. Nothing made sense anymore.
"But I assure you, you are more significant than you realise. You'll learn more as you progress, but for now, just know that there is much for you to do, besides finding your father. For this, you'll need to be far more powerful than you are now."
Reaper stepped back into the dark. "You may visit me again. Simply walk through that door once more, and you'll be transported here. I bid you farewell, young one."
In the blink of an eye, Luka was back in the temple. He was staring at the door, the key still in his hand. "What the… How did I…?"
"You're finally back!" A familiar voice shouted. "Took you long enough! Do you know how long I've been waiting? What the heck happened to you anyway!?"
"R-Relax," Luka said, looking at the goddess. She was cross-legged, sitting against the wall, her legs dangling over the edge, kicking against the air.
"I will not relax," She said, standing up. "Tell me what happened! Normal people don't just suddenly go unresponsive and stare at a wall for five minutes!"
"Eh? What do you mean? I just went inside that door…"
Ilias struck her forehead with her palm. "Let me guess, you used the key to open it?"
The hero nodded.
"Great, the hero I rely on has lost his mind only a few days into our journey. You'll be brain-dead before we get to Iliasport at this rate…" The goddess sighed. "Come on, let's just get going already. There's an empty field I spotted earlier suited for training just outside the temple."
The hero followed behind, his mind still trying to piece together what happened earlier.
Who is that Reaper person really? She said White Rabbit invited me to that place, but she didn't say anything to me… And how come I'm so important? I'm just a novice hero…
She said I can come back whenever I want, so I guess I'll ask her then.
…Should I tell Ilias about this? She is the goddess… I'm sure she'd be able to make sense of it.
Ilias shoved the doors to the temple open with a great effort. It only took Luka one hand to keep it open as he walked through.
Or maybe not… She has enough to worry about right now. I'll keep it to myself for now.
"This should work," The goddess said. "Last time I showed you the very basics of this technique, and you barely ever got them down."
Considering his ancestors, using a simple skill like this one should be a breeze… And yet…
Ilias shook her head. Complaining wouldn't help anyone. She'd have to work extra hard to hammer the techniques into Luka, but she knew it would be worth it in the end. If she can properly cultivate his power, and have control over him at the same time, restoring her own power would be easy.
And this time I'm with him in person. Asserting control over him would be easy… if it weren't for that damn Monster Lord. The sixteenth continues to be a thorn in my side… But she's not here right now, which means Luka is all mine.
Luka followed Ilias' example. Angels fought with elegant, precise strikes at the enemy's weakest point. Humans were weak, slow, stupid, and inelegant, Ilias explained, so copying an angel's technique would be difficult, but not impossible.
"Your size is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Being small means you weigh less, so you should be able to get behind your opponents and hit them where it hurts, but you'll always be at a height disadvantage. You'll have to work hard to get around these hindrances."
Luka nodded. "But… Monsters mostly fight with pleasure, not swords. How am I going to get around that?"
Ilias shrugged. "There isn't much you can do in that case. You'll just have to dodge or endure, which is easier said than done. I am well aware of your… immense weakness to pleasure, so I may permit some pleasure resistance training in the future, depending on the circumstances."
"Pleasure resistance training? What's that?" The boy asked.
How stupid can one boy be…? Is this Heinrich's doing?
"We can discuss it later. For now, get back to training. Keep your body low, your stance wide, and your sword raised. Swing your sword with your whole body, put all of your power into it."
"Gotcha," Luka emulated her swings, and though he was far from what Ilias wanted, it was a lot better than last time.
"Perhaps you're not so hopeless after all… Your instincts aren't terrible, and you clearly have some natural talent. One-on-one training seems to be far more effective than the two-on-one training we tried before. From now on, only one of us trains you per night, got it?"
Even though it should really only be me training him. My techniques are far beyond anything Alice knows, but I'm sure Luka wouldn't see it my way.
"Uh, well… If you think that's the best way then…"
"It is the only way that makes sense. Training more than once per day along with our usual adventuring would leave you too exhausted to learn anything." Ilias explained.
"I see," Luka said. "Then let's get back to training, no point in wasting all this time talking."
Ilias smiled gently. "Correct. Now, do as I have instructed. Raise your shoulders! Be flexible! Move like the wind, stand firm like the earth, let your mind be as clear as water, and fight with fiery fury in your heart!"
"R-Right…" Luka did as she told him, feeling more and more confident as he went on. After it was all done, Ilias said his movements needed sharpening, along with just about everything else that was important to fighting.
Haah… Ilias was right, I feel exhausted already… But compared to Sonya and Alice, I have it easy. I wonder how they're doing right about now…
"Ugh… This place is more than just a den of perverts. It's the epitome of everything wrong with humanity…" Alice said, looking around her in disgust. Though Pornof physically didn't look different than any other village, besides the poor landscaping and waste management, though not quite as bad as the Nameless Slums, its residents were truly one of a kind. Alice kept her distance from them as she slithered by.
"The rumours don't do it justice," Sonya said. She had already been pounced on by one of the villagers when they entered the village, or she would've been if not for her club. The man was left unconscious in the middle of the path, a warning to all others who would dare to attack them.
"Back when I still had my power I considered visiting this continent, to see what the humans still living under Ilias' tyranny were like, but I'm glad I decided not to now. My view of humanity would've been forever tarnished." The Monster Lord remarked. "Let's just find that rabbit and get this over with."
Sonya agreed wholeheartedly. The sooner they could get out of here, the better. "Let's ask around."
The man they chose to question was the least perverted looking one in the whole village, which of course meant he was still a huge pervert. "Ahem…" Alice called out, keeping her rapier close at hand, just in case. "We were wondering if you had seen a rabbit monster around here. Purple hair, average height, annoying."
The man paused for a second. He looked them both up and down. "…Yeah, I think so. She went behind that Inn."
"Thanks," Sonya said.
"N-No problem…" He said, staring at the girls as they left. When Sonya turned around to give him one last look, the man had disappeared.
What the hell…? Where did he go…?
Sonya eyed the vacant spot where the man once stood suspiciously. She eventually gave up on spotting him, instead following Alice behind the inn, only to find nobody. "She must be around here somewhere," Alice said.
Sonya felt her shoes dampen as she walked over the wet grass, which was long overdue for some trimming. The same could be said for the vines which crept up the back of every building or the thorny bushes which pricked the priestess as she stepped over them.
"I don't sense her anywhere near us," Alice sighed, her voice heavy with disappointment. "What a waste of time. Let's get back to the main path and keep asking."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," A voice behind them said. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." He raised his hands at the sight of Sonya's wooden club. He was a scrawny, tall man, with clothes that were uncomfortably similar to what Uncle Lazarus would wear.
"Who are you?" Alice asked.
"Nobody important." The shrewd man answered. "I heard from an acquaintance that you're looking for a certain rabbit monster. Well it just so happens that I have information on where she can be found, for a price."
Sonya rolled her eyes. Of course. "How much?"
"It's not safe out here. Too many prying eyes… It's better to talk about this sort of thing inside. Come, I have a place not far from here."
Alice and Sonya had little choice. They followed the man through the back alleys of Pornof. Each one stunk of bodily fluids and sweat. The recent rains had not done enough to wash away the filth of the village, Sonya believed.
I'd hate to live in a place like this…
"Here it is," He said. "My humble abode. Get as comfortable as you like, kick off your shoes, and lay down your weapons. We're all friends here."
"We?" Alice said. "Who's we?"
"I myself don't actually know where this rabbit you're looking for is, or what she looks like. My friends, however, or coworkers really, do know." He explained, leading them inside. The house was as humble as the man claimed. It had a short ceiling, so low that even Alice could stretch up enough to touch it if she used the full extent of her tail. It lacked for furniture, but it did have a warm level of natural light, which Sonya approved of.
"And where are your friends…?" Alice asked.
"Right here," A man grabbed Alice from behind, covering her face with a white cloth. Sonya turned around, already swinging her club at him before her mind could catch up, but she was too slow. She too was quickly apprehended by the man who led them there. He covered her mouth too, and eventually, everything went dark. Sonya hid the floor with a thud, her club rolling onto the ground.
Alice opened her eyes groggily. She wiped the sleep away, letting out a small sigh as she looked around. Ever since her sealing, she had been scarcely able to sleep. She had lost so much in one day, something her mind seemed eager to remind her of.
"Huh…?" Alice looked up at the ceiling in confusion. Not from what she saw, but what she couldn't do. Her arms were tied up with rope, though her tail was free. She rose, squinting her eyes to see in the dim room.
Where am I…? I was… with Sonya? We followed a man then…
Alice spotted the young priestess easily, her ginger hair standing out against the wooden floorboards. "Wake up, Sonya. Wake up!"
Alice's shaking was futile. The priestess was bound in rope, around her arms and legs. Even if she could wake her, she wouldn't be able to do much.
"What happened to us…?" Alice reached for her rapier. No luck. Thankfully, the Monster Lord had other ways to cut rope. Over her time being powerless, she had learned how to control her power better, unlike before. She summoned a small amount of fire, just enough to burn the rope, though it was fairly difficult with her own hands bound. She pulled it off once it was severed, so it wouldn't spread to Sonya herself. She repeated this for her own rope and the one around Sonya's legs.
"Up already…?" Someone said. Alice recognised the voice. It was the same man who led them here. "Hm, and already free. Pity we didn't have a way to bind your tail without damaging the goods."
Alice created a large ball of fire. "Back off, human. You got lucky before, we weren't expecting that. It won't be the same this time."
"Hah, as if I'd get beaten by a kid." He laughed. "You're far weaker now, aren't you, Monster Lord? That's right, I knew who you were the moment I laid eyes on you. That Fateburn symbol of yours is one of a kind, and that complexion is wholly unique."
"Tch… So what is it you want with me?" She asked.
"Your mother has usurped your position, has she not? Well, I was thinking, if we took you hostage and ransomed you to your mother, we'd be set for life." He explained. "That priestess girl just got caught up in this by happenstance, but I'm sure she matters to somebody. We'll find out who and ransom her off as well."
"I should've known better than to trust a human from a village like this," Alice said. "This is your last chance, let us leave and I'll let you live."
"Hm, I like your confidence. I suppose it would be hard to come to terms with your loss of power. I still don't get what caused that… Perhaps it has something to do with that rabbit you're looking for so desperately."
Alice had heard enough. She shot out a wave of flames, using them as cover to back off further. Without her rapier, fighting from range was the best option. She pulled Sonya back with her using her tail.
"Ouch," The man patted down his clothes, smothering the flames. "You still have some power left it seems. But I've been in a fair few fights myself, you know?"
The man revealed Alice's own rapier, holding it improperly. He'd clearly had never used anything like it before, likely more accustomed to using his own fists. Still, he had a weapon and Alice didn't.
The man sliced in a crude motion, missing the monster girl by a wide margin, thanks to her swift movements. The Monster Lord panicked, clumsily backing up as far as she could, before her back met the wall. The rapier came down fast, yet inaccurately, giving Alipheese a chance to dodge.
Damn…! If I get hit once it might be over… I need to take this guy down, and fast!
Alice ducked under another unseemly swipe. Tamamo would be shocked if she saw his swordsmanship. Speaking of, Alice had learned a lot from the nine-tailed kitsune—Namely how to use her own tail to her advantage. She grabbed the man's ankle, pulling him off balance.
The criminal fell face-first onto the floor. Alice summoned a relatively vast amount of dark power, laying the man below her to waste… Or so she thought. In reality, the attack was barely enough to singe his back, yet it nonetheless put him out of commission. She huffed in disappointment at her meagre power.
"Eh…? What happened?"
The Monster Lord turned to the newly awakened priestess. "Haah… Of course you wake up after the battle is over. This guy," Alice pointed to the man on the ground, who was groaning loudly with pain. "Kidnapped us and planned to take us hostage."
"Oh, joy," Sonya said sarcastically, standing. "Huh? Where's my staff and club?"
"Somewhere in the back," The lamia answered. She picked up her rapier. "Come on, let's get them and go."
The priestess rubbed the back of her head in pain as she searched. She must've fallen on her head when she was drugged. "There it is…" She picked up her club, which had been adorned with new cracks along its sides. Someone must've been using it. Her staff was in perfect condition, completely untouched.
"What do we do with him?" The priestess asked. "Are there some local guards we can report him to?"
"In this village? Not a chance… But he won't go totally unpunished." Alice shook a fairly large pouch of gold in her hands. "This should come in handy. Think of all the food we can buy now…"
Sonya laughed. "I'm sure Luka will be happy to hear it… But it's probably best we keep this from him. I know him well. He'd only blame himself for this little mishap."
"Hm… I agree but… You seem oddly unaffected by this." Alice pointed out as they walked outside. "Shouldn't something like this be scary for a girl as young as yourself?"
The priestess kept an eye out for the rabbit monster. "As young as me…? You're one to talk."
Alice looked a bit offended. "I am older than you! I'm 21, I'll have you know."
"21? Really?" Sonya didn't believe her but moved on anyway. "To answer your question… I probably would've been scared, when I was younger. But ever since my parents passed… Stuff like that doesn't really scare me anymore. Besides, I wasn't even awake for it."
"Your… I'm sorry, I didn't know." Alice said. "How did they…?"
"It was ten years ago now. I lived in a village in the north. I can't even remember its name anymore. I was… five years old at the time. My mother, Karen, heard of a landslide in a nearby village. She and my father ran to save the people there, as they were both prominent healers, but a second wave struck the area and ended their lives."
Alice tried to speak, but the words got caught in her throat. She had never dealt with something like this before.
Sonya kept looking around. "They had no one to look after me while they were gone so they took me with them. I watched as the rocks and mud fell on them… Lazarus found me a few hours later, sobbing. He took me in, letting me live with him in Iliasville until the locals made a house just for me, when I was old enough to live on my own."
Alice nodded. "I see. I'm… very sorry to hear that."
Silence ensued for a while, until Sonya finally found what she had been looking for. "There, is that her?" She asked, pointing at a rabbit monster.
"No, she has pink hair… But that probably is who Amira heard about…" Alice shook her head in disappointment. "Whatever, we've spent long enough here. Let's just head back and strangle some useful information out of that pathetic excuse for a lamia."
Sonya had no complaints. She and the Monster Lord left as quickly as they came. The trip was not a total waste of time. Their would-be kidnapper had a fair amount of money—More than enough to sustain them for the time being. Now all that was left was to gather some ore in the cave north of the village and head back to Iliasville before night fell.