September 17th, 1556 ME
Village of Clearsky
Elise Maxwell
"I've read the village guard's report of the monsters." I laid out a paper with several crude drawings labeled with short descriptions on it to the village elder. The old woman slowly looked over the sheet of paper, her eyes widening, no doubt startled by the amount of monsters they had found on their patrol. They had lost five men already to the monsters, which was why they had called me here. Floria insisted that I help them, and I was not one to turn down the offer.
"Three Alraunes, a pack of werewolves, an Arachne, and a Mantis… How terrifying. Are you sure you can deal with the threat, Miss…" The lady trailed off as she struggled to remember my last name.
"Maxwell. Elise Maxwell." I completed her sentence for her.
"Ah, thank you, Miss Maxwell. As I said, do you think you can handle the threat?"
"I'm not alone. You've met Nikolas, right? He'll be accompanying me on my searches outside the village. With him on our side those monsters should be relatively easy to take care of."
"Ah, yes I have! He's quite the popular figure amongst the village folk." The village elder pointed outside the window. Nikolas was standing in the middle of a crowd of villagers, telling them stories about one of his missions as a hero, before he had met me. The crowd cheered for him, some of the villagers even offering to have him over for dinner. However, something else caught my eye.
A boy, who looked to be about fifteen years old, was sitting on a bench far away from the crowd, studying Nikolas intently. He had creamy brown hair that covered one of his eyes. His skin was pale and covered with dirt and the occasional scar. He looked thin and haggard, as if he hadn't eaten in days. Every now and then when Nikolas wasn't talking he would look down and scribble something in his notebook.
"Who is that?" I asked the village elder, pointing at the boy. The old lady's expression darkened and she let out a mournful sigh.
"That boy? His name is Kenton." The village elder shook her head. "The poor lad, his mother was… well…" She struggled to find the words to describe what had happened. "Corrupted. Into an Arachne. When the guards chased her out of the village, she took her husband with her. Chief God save that poor soul."
"Why does he look so malnourished? Are you not feeding him anything? Does he have any other family that can take care of him?" I asked, raising my voice.
"No. He doesn't have anyone else that can take care of him. Everyone's too busy nowadays. People have been too afraid to leave the village walls recently. It's not uncommon for people, mostly men, to go missing when they venture into the forest. It makes getting supplies from outside the village very difficult. That's why you're here, to make the forest safer."
I nodded my head. "I see. Then, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Yes?"
"Give that boy a home once I'm done clearing out all the monsters. And find someone to take care of him." I grabbed my sword and exited the village elder's house.
Three days later
"That's the mantis dealt with." I panted. The monstrous insect had been incredibly difficult to deal with. Her ability to seamlessly blend in with the forest made her a nightmare to fight against. Nikolas had it easy with the Alraunes. At least once he found them, they wouldn't move towards him. I backtracked to a clearing that me and Nikolas had agreed to meet at once we were done, and sat down against a rock waiting for him to return.
A few minutes later I heard a twig snapping behind me. I jumped up and drew my sword, nearly cutting Nikolas. "Relax, it's just me."
"Sorry. I'm just… very alert right now. The mantis had me on my toes the entire fight."
"Well, you won. That's what matters." Nikolas patted me on the back. "The Alraunes were simple to take care of. Them being immobile is a blessing. For me, at least."
"Good. So that's three out of the four monsters dealt with. All we're missing is the Arachne. Did you happen to see any webs in the forest?" Nikolas asked, scanning the forest around us.
"No. It's possible they could be in a cave somewhere. Talk about tedious." Nikolas looked up at the sky, and seeing that it was getting dark out, stood up and began walking towards the direction of the village. "We should probably start heading back to Clearsky before it gets too dark."
About forty minutes later we arrived. Everyone seemed to have gone to bed already, with only a few people milling about on the streets. One of them being Kenton. The teenager looked away once we noticed him.
"Poor guy." Nikolas shook his head. "Everyone's too busy to take care of him. Maybe he would have a better life in Floria-"
"Quiet." I interrupted him. Both of us listened intently, hearing what sounded like rhythmic tapping. "Do you hear that?" As I looked towards Kenton, I noticed an abnormally shaped shadow around him. Looking up, there was an Arachne laying on a rooftop right above him.
"Get out of the way!" I shouted towards the boy. Kenton looked at me with an expression of confusion before the Arachne grabbed him with her silk and began crawling away. Kenton let out a cry of fear before the human half of the spider-like creature put a hand to his mouth.
"Get a torch, I'll chase them!" I told Nikolas before dashing towards the monster, sword drawn. All eight of the human half of the Arachne's eyes met mine, before she began to jump from rooftop to rooftop, with Kenton fully wrapped up in her silk. The Arachne quickly left the village's walls, heading into the forest. I quickly cast a night vision spell on myself and pursued her deeper in.
Just as she was about to get away, a glowing knife shot out of the darkness and embedded itself in the Arachne's thorax, causing her to drop Kenton. A muffled shriek came from the package as he hit the forest floor. Nikolas ran up to help him only to narrowly dodge one of the Arachne's legs.
"Leave my son alone!" It screamed at him. Nikolas didn't grace the monster with a response, instead drawing his sword. The hero expertly blocked the spider creature's attempts to reach Kenton, giving me time to free him. I quickly cut through the silk and grabbed the scared boy. The Arachne let out a roar of anger, but Nikolas used the opportunity to cut one of its legs off. She screamed in rage, and retreated back into the forest. Nikolas chased after her, leaving me with Kenton.
"Thank you so much… I thought she was going to eat me…" The boy whispered, his voice hoarse.
"No problem. You should stay inside when it gets dark out. You never know what could be out here at night." Nikolas walked out of the shadows.
"I lost her. We'll have to come back tomorrow to see if we can find her. At least the kid's okay."
"C-Can I ask the two of you a question?"
Me and Nikolas looked at Kenton. "Of course."
"Why did the monster sound like my mother? The priests told me that when a human woman monsterizes, all traces of their lives as a human are erased. So why do they still sound like her?" Kenton asked. I noticed tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.
"Well… They're right. The monster is just mimicking your mother's voice. Don't be fooled." I explained to him. It was a common, yet disturbingly effective tactic for more intelligent monsters to imitate the voices of loved ones so that they could lure them into a trap.
"So, is she really dead?"
"I'm afraid so, kid. At least the mother you knew of is gone."
Kenton looked down at the ground, trying not to cry. "What about my father? Is he still alive?" I looked at Nikolas, not knowing what to tell him.
"If your mother captured him, I believe he suffered the same fate as she did. Loss of humanity." I explained. Kenton began crying quietly. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. I wasn't good with kids. Nikolas sighed and gently took his hand, leading him back to the village.
The next day
"The monster presence outside of Clearsky has been neutralized. You have nothing to fear now." I declared to the village elder. "As promised, you'll be giving the boy we talked about yesterday a home and someone to take care of him."
"About that… He wanted to talk to you two." The village elder turned towards her bedroom. "Kenton! Come out." Kenton entered the room, sitting next to the old lady.
"I've been thinking long and hard all night. I want you to train me. I want to become a hero just like you guys." Kenton stated his wishes clearly.
I was taken aback by his request. "Um… Usually the only people who can become heroes are people who were born in high places. For example, Nikolas here was the son of a minor noble. Plus, being a hero isn't exactly easy. Quite the opposite-"
"Usually? Does that mean people like me can become heroes?" Kenton asked excitedly. Nikolas looked at me with an expression that screamed "Poor choice of words".
"There have been some cases-"
"That settles it then! I want you to train me!" Kenton said eagerly. Both me and Nikolas looked at each other, stunned.
"Listen, no offense, but I don't think you're fit to become a hero. It's difficult work, and I mean difficult. There's a big chance of you dying, or getting captured by a monster. The town guard would be a better choice for you." Kenton made a sour face and went back to the village elder's bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
"He's passionate, I'll give him that." The village elder said after a moment of silence.
One week later
"How far away are we from Floria?" I asked Nikolas.
"It should take us another week to get back home. The Order really needs to find some faster methods of transportation." Nikolas answered, looking at the map.
Our short conversation ended prematurely when I heard the crunching of leaves coming from behind us. Both me and Nikolas drew our swords and whirled around, only to see Kenton. His skin was even dirtier than the last time I saw him, as if he had been outside for too long.
"What the hell? How did you get here?"
"I followed you here…" Kenton panted out.
"For a whole week?!" Nikolas exclaimed. "Didn't we tell the village elder to give you a home?"
"Yes, for a whole week! I managed to catch a few animals to cook and eat. Plus, look at what I bought from the blacksmith!" Kenton held up a shiny but plain looking iron sword. He demonstrated a few surprisingly okay sword strikes for us. "I've been practicing, see!"
"...How much did that cost you?"
"My entire allowance."
Both me and Nikolas stayed silent, looking at the boy with disbelief. Both of us had people asking to train them before, but nobody had been this dedicated. Nikolas was the first one to speak.
"I say… We give him a chance. We could use an extra hand around Floria. Heroes of the Chief God taking apprentices is common practice nowadays, Elise."
I quickly shook my head. "I don't do well with kids, Nikolas. And I'm not a good teacher, either. If he wants to defend Clearsky he should've joined the village guard instead of following us all the way out here." I turned towards Kenton. "Go home."
"Elise! You're passing up an amazing opportunity!" Nikolas scolded me. "The two of you could be unstoppable together!"
"No. Kenton, you need to go home."
"Just give him a chance, Elise! Come on!" I groaned in annoyance, shaking my head.
For an entire week, the boy followed us around. The only reason I hadn't grabbed him by his neck and dragged him all the way back to Clearsky was because Nikolas was always there to defend him, almost acting like a father figure to him. His constant requests for me to train him whittled down my defenses until…
"ALRIGHT! FINE! FUCKING FINE, THEN!" I shouted, slamming my fist down on the desk, startling both Kenton and Nikolas. "I'll train you! You think it's easy, huh? I bet you're going to be on your ass crying your eyes out after a few hours of hero training!" Kenton paid no heed to my warnings, instead pumping his fists into the air with a triumphant smile on his face.
And so I trained him. There were times where he fell so hard I didn't think he would get up. But he did. All his failures seemed to do was reinforce his will, making him train harder and harder. The boy grew on me, more and more. On his twentieth birthday, I took him to a church to receive the Chief God's blessing as a present.
I was so proud of him…
April 4th, 1566 ME
Floria
Elise Maxwell
"Ugh… Oh, Chief God my head…" I groaned out. My vision was blurry, but I think I was in my room. I struggled to remember what had happened before I had blacked out. My eyes refocused, and I looked around my room. All the candles had gone out, but I could still see. Empty plates with crumbs of food littered the room, on my bed, on my desk, on my nightstand, and even on the floor. Accompanying the plates were glasses stained with wine, beer, any alcohol I could get my hands on that the mamono hadn't touched. I lifted my head off my desk, seeing a puddle of vomit on the floor.
"Oh… Disgusting…" I slurred out. "Gotta cut back…"
I stumbled out of my chair and into the bathroom, splashing some cold water on my face to hopefully wake me up a little more. I stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was messy and overgrown. Bags had formed under both my working eye and my dead eye. My clothes were wrinkled and stained. I looked like a zombie. After spending some time combing my hair, I haphazardly threw my dirty clothes on the bed and got some clean ones out of my closet. I looked outside; Maybe some fresh air would help me feel better.
I opened the balcony doors only to get a faceful of rain. "Brilliant… Just brilliant…" I mumbled. I shut the doors and laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the thunder outside. It was strangely therapeutic. I wished I could just lay there forever and forget everything that was happening outside the safety of my own home.
The peace was broken by knocking on my bedroom door. Amias came in, her nose instantly scrunching up at the smell of my room. "Dear Chief God, this place is a mess… Elise, you need to take care of yourself better…" She uttered with genuine concern in her voice.
"I'm fine." I lied.
Amias glared at me. "I could count the amount of times you've left your room in the past week on one hand. On top of that, your room is a mess and you smell like you haven't bathed for days. You're supposed to be a hero of the Chief God, for fuck's sake! What would Nikolas or Suvina think of you right now? What would your parents think of you? What would Eryn think of you?" Amias ranted. She scooped up a broken glass off the floor. "That's not even mentioning your alcohol problem! Some of those goat monsters at the bar are more restrained than you! I know Kenton's suicide hit you hard, but this is no way to cope…"
"Nikolas and Suvina mean nothing to me! And don't you dare fucking compare me to a monster, Amias."
"I'm serious! Eryn is worried about you. I've been taking care of him, which is the job that you assumed the role of!" The mention of Eryn was enough to get me out of bed.
"Fine. What do you need?"
"I need you to get your act together, Elise. Also, you're going to need to stay out of your room while I clean everything up."
"What do you suppose I should do, Amias? I don't know if you noticed, but I don't have a job anymore. The enemies the Order paid me to keep out of Floria are now living in Floria. I failed as a hero." I exclaimed wistfully.
"Just go outside. Do something other than drink yourself to death. Maybe you could look for a new job." The maid continued to rant. "Oh, and take a bath. You smell awful."
Amias sounds like my mother sometimes… Ariana, I miss you sometimes…
"Fill up a bath for me, please." Amias nodded her head and walked off. While she was doing that, I decided I was going to talk to Eryn. He deserved to see me after I had all but abandoned him in the past week. I knocked on his door, awaiting his response.
"You can come in, Amias." Eryn said from his room. As I entered the room, I noticed that he was sitting at his desk and reading a copy of that encyclopedia that the Wandering Scholar had mass-produced. Upon seeing me, he quickly put the book away in his desk drawer.
"Oh. Elise, nice to finally see you again." Eryn said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Amias told me about what's going on with you. I agree with her, you really need to get your act together. You vanish for two weeks, and then spend another week hiding in your room, drinking yourself to death. I know you and Kenton were close, but you can't let his death control you like this."
"...What are you reading?" I asked, not wanting to hear the same speech that Amias gave me from Eryn.
"Nothing." My brother said dismissively.
"Nothing? Because if I recall correctly, that book you were reading is an encyclopedia on monsterkind. Don't tell me you're planning on giving yourself up to one of those freaks. I thought you disliked them just like I did." I reminded him.
"What if I am, huh? Mother and Father's final wishes were for you to take me to a mamono realm and get incubized, which would get rid of the disease currently crippling me. The solution is quite literally outside our house, yet you insist on wasting money on mages that have barely made any progress on curing me."
"Mother and Father's final wishes are a final resort, Eryn. I still haven't given up hope that the mages can cure your disease. I will not be handing over my only family left to a monster who sees you only as a sex slave."
Eryn covered his face and shook his head. "They can't. And if you did some basic research on monsters you'd know that they treat their husbands very well."
"I'd trust the word of the Order more than the word of some random biased scholar, Eryn." I retorted.
Amias's voice came from downstairs, cutting our argument short. "The bath is ready, Elise!"
As I was leaving the room, I looked towards Eryn once more. "I've scheduled for a very talented healer to come visit you in a week. Be ready."
"Oh, joy." Eryn grumbled. I ignored his response and left the room. I ran back downstairs and into the bathroom, stripping myself and jumping into the bath. As much as I hated to admit it, Amias was right. I did smell terrible. I spent at least an hour just scrubbing myself to get rid of the odor. I walked out of the washroom feeling like a new person. Putting on my clothes and my eyepatch, I left the manor and began exploring.
A depressing atmosphere hung over the city around my manor. All of the shops and businesses were silent and unoccupied. A few monsters were milling about, staring at the barricaded windows and doors of the houses. I watched as an Inari laid down a steaming hot bowl of soup outside one of the barricaded windows with a note attached to it. I managed to get close enough to see what the note was saying.
I made this for you. I can tell you're starving. Please, come out and have something to eat. I promise I won't hurt you, we're not what you think we are. It hurts to see you waste away like this. -Leora
A combination of a gift and emotional manipulation to get a husband. How deceptive of you. I thought to myself as I observed the Inari sitting at a bench across from the house. Loud and aggressive banging came from next door, an Ocelomeh trying a more direct approach to getting whoever was hiding inside to come out.
"Open up! I know you're in there!" The feline monster shouted into the doorway. "Amaya's laws be damned, I will break down this door if I have to! Please, come out!" She didn't receive an answer. "Fine, then! But I'm coming back tomorrow! You better at least give me a few words!" The Ocelomeh growled in frustration and stormed off.
I tore my eye away from the scene and kept walking. Since nothing was open in this part of Floria, I had to take my chances with the mamono friendly part of Floria. As I walked, I slowly left the vaguely defined "anti-mamono" zone of Floria, seeing more and more single and married mamono out on the streets, and less single humans, male and female. I was beginning to feel out of place, like I had just stumbled into a meeting that I wasn't invited to.
Something caught my attention. One of Floria's many churches dedicated to the Chief God sat next to the main road, with its doors wide open. I recognized it as the church that had belonged to Jerald. It had undergone some massive renovations since I last saw it, its blue-white-yellow color scheme reminiscent of the Chief God's churches being turned into a menacing looking red-black-purple. I read the sign on the front door.
Welcome to the Church of the Fallen God
A morbid curiosity overtook me. During my missions I had barely seen any churches dedicated to the Fallen God, and when I did, I simply ignored them and moved on with the objective. Despite my mind screaming at me not to, I walked up the steps and entered the church. Immediately my senses were assaulted with the stench of sex. Monsters of all kinds and their husbands were ravaging each other on the floor, on the benches, and near the podium. I instantly noticed my body growing hotter by the second. I'd heard horror stories from the Order about the Fallen God; A dark, malicious entity dedicated to manipulating worshippers of the Chief God into being their slave. The words "Fallen God" were enough to cause a massive panic in smaller villages of the Order.
"Welcome, young lady!" A voice came from right next to me. I whirled around, seeing a blonde Dark Priest about my height standing very close to me. "Have you come to learn about our beloved god?"
"Um…No, I'm just visiting-"
"Oh, but I can tell that you're curious about us. Why don't I take you on a tour through our new church." The Dark Priest gently grabbed my hand, to which I violently wrenched it out of her grasp. The succubus stared at me for a moment, before quietly gasping.
"Oh… You're one of the Order's heroes… How fascinating. Are you perhaps thinking of abandoning the Chief God's teachings for ours?" I began backing up towards the exit, regretting not bringing a weapon.
"Are you leaving already, young lady? It's rude to barge into our church and then immediately leave. Why don't you stay a little longer." Another voice came from behind me. Another Dark Priest, this one with white hair blocked my way to the exit.
"I just came here because I was curious about how the Fallen God's churches look. I'll be leaving now." I tried to push past the dark priest, but she kept blocking my path.
"Aw. But don't you want to learn more about us? We promise we're more friendly than the Order was." The Dark Priest playfully pouted.
"I doubt that." I shot back. Both of the dark priests looked insulted at my response. The first one shook their head.
"We're just asking for a few minutes of your time. We won't monsterize you, if that's what you're worried about. If you're not convinced, you can leave whenever you want. Do we have a deal?" The Dark Priest held her hand out for me to shake. I simply nodded, not wanting to touch them.
"Good! Come with us." The other one triumphantly ordered me. Against better judgment, I followed them deeper into the church. The sound of everyone having sex started to become deafening the deeper we went in, and the stench assaulted my senses relentlessly. "Now, what is your name, Miss Hero?" One of them asked as we were walking.
"Elise."
The first Dark Priest let loose a flurry of questions. "Well, Elise, do you plan on starting a family anytime soon? Or do you have anyone that you have an attraction to? How is your life currently? Are you feeling stressed?"
"...No to the first two questions. My life right now is fine. I am not stressed." I lied. The Dark Priest seemed to see straight through my lie, getting closer to me with a skeptical expression on her face. She put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to shudder.
"I can tell you aren't telling us the truth. Even if you lie to us through your words, your body tells us a completely different story. You have bags under your eye. You've been staying up late, which means you aren't getting enough sleep." The Dark Priest somehow perfectly described my life, despite how we've only known each other for fifteen minutes. "Do you have any friends, by any chance?" The succubus-priest continued digging.
"No." I hated Nikolas and Suvina now, and Kenton was dead. "I have my brother and my head maid. Those are the only two people I can trust right now."
Both Dark Priests looked disappointed at my answer, as if they were expecting something different from me. "Well. There's plenty of single men still in Floria. We just need to figure out how to get them to come out of their houses… Anyways, are you aware of the benefits that monsterization provides? You could abandon the stress of being human for a life of bliss and happiness. You wouldn't need to worry about anything anymore."
How unsubtle.
"I think I'll be leaving now." I turned tail and began to quickly walk towards the exit. I didn't wait for the Dark Priests to answer, nor did I look back to see how they reacted. After I left the building, I sprinted for a full three minutes to put some distance between me and the church.
Why did I think going into a church dedicated to the Fallen God was a good idea? Am I insane? I began feeling queasy, so I rushed to find a place secluded from the monsters on the main street. Hiding in a small alleyway, I bent over and vomited for the second time today. I wiped my mouth off and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. After a few minutes, I still hadn't calmed down.
Now would be the perfect time for a drink so I can forget what just happened for a few minutes. Part of me was scared that I was drinking so much, but I brushed it off. I wasn't addicted yet, so I could quit whenever I wanted to. I just needed one to cope with what had just happened.
I stumbled out of the alleyway and began looking for the nearest bar. I eventually found one not too far away from where I had been hiding. I threw open the door and sat down on one of the stools. My heart sank as I saw a Satyros as the bartender, bending her upper body onto the bar to tease one of the male customers. I began looking at the bottles that the goat monster had proudly displayed on the walls to see if they were monster-made.
The Satyros gave the man she was teasing early a seductive wave and headed over to me. "Hello, Miss!" The monster greeted me warmly. "I don't see too many human women around these parts anymore. Nice to see that they still exist." She joked.
"Yeah…" I dropped a few coins on the bar table. "I'd like whatever can get me drunk the quickest. I've had a rough day and I'd like to forget the past fifteen minutes or so."
"Then you should try our special. It was imported directly from Royal Makai. Everyone absolutely loves it." The Satyros pulled one of the bottles off the shelf, the liquid contained within an eerie red. I stopped her just as she was about to start pouring.
"Anything not made by monsters?" I said.
The Satyros gave me an irritated expression. "Miss, the drink doesn't cause monsterization if that's what you're worried about. And all of the drinks in this bar were made by monsters, or their husbands." This situation felt very, very familiar. I shook my head in annoyance.
"Fine. I'll be leaving then." I grumbled, getting up and walking away. The Satyros sighed, irritated, before going back to the male customer she was teasing.
My itch for alcohol was still unsatisfied, however. I began bar hopping all over Floria, looking for any drinks that the monsters hadn't touched. I encountered the same problem at every single bar I had come across; Everyone loved mamono ingredients so much that they began to usurp normal ingredients.
A few hours later, I began heading back to the supposed "anti-mamono zone" of Floria. The quietness had originally disturbed me, but after my visit to the Fallen God's church and the Satyros bar I wanted some peace and quiet. As I got closer and closer to home I began feeling ashamed of myself. I hadn't accomplished anything, really. I hadn't even been able to get anything to drink.
I hate myself…
A few minutes later I had reached the anti-mamono zone. I passed by the Inari, now sitting on the bench eating the soup she made with a young man that looked to be in his twenties. Everyone gives in eventually, I suppose. The Ocelomeh was missing, instead replaced by a Hellhound knocking on the same door impatiently. Unlike the Ocelomeh, however, she didn't wait for a response.
"Fuck it! I'm coming in, whether you like it or not!" The Hellhound yelled as she kicked the door of its hinges. Screaming came from inside a few seconds later, then silence. I thought about intervening, but decided against it. The last time I had tried to intervene with a Hellhound and her husband, I had lost my eye. I wasn't looking to become completely blind.
Strangely enough, someone else tried to intervene. A Dullahan that was walking on the streets charged into the house, dragging the hellhound out by the scruff of her neck as she struggled furiously, clawing at the ground.
"Let me go! I was so close! You can't deny me this!" The black-furred canine shouted angrily.
"You can't be doing this. I know Amaya's laws may seem strict, but breaking into someone's house isn't the way to go about things." The blue-haired knight scolded the Hellhound. She pointed at the Inari and her soon-to-be husband sitting on the bench. "She managed to get someone to come out of their house voluntarily. Be like her."
"Be like her?! I don't have time to do all of that!" The Hellhound cried out as she struggled some more. "Let go of me!"
I forced myself to look away from the scene and continued walking home. What the hell am I going to tell Amias…
3 days ago, April 1st, 1566 ME
Nikolas Mason
King Emyr's Castle
The phrase, "Never celebrate too early" perfectly described the outcome of Floria's surrender to Mamono. The first few days were great. Mamono and humans alike rejoiced at the King's decision to allow mamono into the city. I had thought everything had gone rather well. But after about the sixth day, cracks had begun to show.
News of Floria's surrender had reached all around the world, thanks to fast-traveling monsters like Harpies and Ratatoskrs. And monsters all around the world saw it as an opportunity to get a husband. However, the mamono immigrants would be in for an unpleasant surprise when they arrived at Floria. All of the nice humans were taken, and all that was left were humans who refused to come out of their houses, and refused to answer the alluring voices on the other side of their door.
"We can't just revoke the law that prevents mamono from breaking into single men's homes… We promised King Emyr that anyone who didn't want to marry a mamono didn't have to." I explained to Amaya. The Lilim's wings and tail fluttered around as she paced around our spacious bedroom.
"I know, and I have no intention of getting rid of that law, but I just don't understand! They're starving themselves to death in their own homes, for Maou's sake! We offer them love and pleasure, yet they isolate themselves." Amaya cried out. The Lilim was obviously sensitive to the suffering of humans, like almost all monsters. "Nikolas, you were human, right? Why are they doing this?"
I shook my head. I loved Amaya, I really did. But her understanding of humans was skewed. She had naively assumed that the anti-mamono citizens would feel safe with the laws that she and King Emyr had put in place. Amaya had even arranged for married monsters to guard with high concentrations of anti-mamono citizens, making it abundantly clear that married monsters had no intent of having sex with anyone other than their husband, yet that hadn't done much either.
"Perhaps we need to visit this so-called 'anti-mamono zone' everyone is talking about. Maybe speaking to the locals would help." I suggested. Amaya nodded slowly. I walked up to my closet and pulled out my old Order uniform and armor, covered in scratches and smudges from everything that I had gone through. I had thought about burning it to symbolize the end of my relationship with the Order, but I had decided against it, instead keeping it as a reminder of my past life. Now, I was glad I had made that decision.
"What do you need that for?" Amaya asked, confused.
"The locals will be more receptive to us if we appear like authority that they can actually trust." I explained, taking off my casual clothing and replacing it with the Order's uniform. I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing red eyes matching Amaya's staring back. No good. They'll know I'm an incubus. "Amaya, do me a favor and change my eye color."
Amaya nodded and channeled her magical power, her fingers glowing. There was a flash of light, and my eyes were back to being brown, like they were before I was an incubus. "Good. You'll want to appear as a human too. Disguise yourself." As Amaya used her magic to disguise herself as a human, I tossed her my spare Order uniform. The Lilim stared at it, perplexed, before putting it on and looking at herself in the mirror as well. It was rather tight, and not tailored for a woman, let alone a monster.
"You still look beautiful, even in the uniform of your enemy. In fact, I think you look good in anything." I complimented Amaya. My attempt to cheer the Lilim up was successful. She smiled happily and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"You flatter me. Thank you, Nikolas." The now red-haired woman whispered in my ear. "Where is this 'anti-mamono zone' that you speak of?"
"It should be at the eastern end of the city, although it's not like it's a well defined area. The beginning should be somewhere around Ashwood Plaza. It should have a statue of the Chief God in the center." I recalled one of Amaya's guards talking about the anti-mamono zone. I grabbed my sword from a rack on the wall. "Take a weapon in case things get violent."
The Lilim walked up to the rack and took her weapon of choice; A mamono realm silver rapier, a popular blade amongst Lilims. And with that, we were ready. I opened the doors to the balcony. April had been incredibly rainy, and today was no different. The sound of rain hitting rooftops filled the air, along with the occasional clap of thunder. I reminded myself to check if there was a Ryu in the city anywhere.
"Ugh. I hate flying in the rain…" Amaya complained.
"Me too, but it's faster than walking. Let's go, Amaya." Amaya partially disabled her disguise, allowing her wings to appear. She grabbed a hold of me, and the two of us flew east. I looked down at Floria, seeing very few people on the streets. The bad weather, combined with the fear of monsters, was keeping everyone inside.
After a few minutes of flying, I spotted the statue of the Chief God. "This is our stop." I told Amaya. The Lilim nodded, slowly flapping her wings as we descended into Ashwood Plaza. "We should split up and meet back here in a few hours. Start knocking on doors and talk to the citizens, try and find out why they refuse to leave their homes. Other than the obvious…" I explained to Amaya. "Oh, and no monsterizing anyone that doesn't want it. Understood?"
Amaya nodded slowly, a disappointed expression on her face. "I wanted to be with you while we did this."
"I know. I do too. But if we split up, the two of us can get a better idea of what's actually going on." Amaya gave me a thumbs up and flew off once again. I began heading up to one of the houses, carefully stepping around the bear traps. I knocked on the door, which unsurprisingly didn't yield an answer from the inhabitants. "I'm human!" I shouted into the doorway.
I pressed my ear to the door to listen in for any voices.
"Marcia, Noah, hide! Someone is knocking on the door!" I heard faint footsteps coming towards the door.
"What about you, mother?! What if it's one of those demons?"
"It sounded male. The monsters usually take on a female appearance. Besides, I have your father's shotgun I can defend myself with."
"O-oh… Alright… Be careful. Please."
I peered through the tiny spaces between the wooden planks barricading the small window on the door, seeing a woman with oily hair wearing a strange bird mask slowly walk up to the door, holding a double-barrel shotgun. I backed away from the door as she got closer. There was the sound of planks being torn out of the wall, followed by the door slowly creaking open.
A few seconds later, the door flew open, the woman aiming the firearm at me. "Try anything stupid and I'll blow your head off!" She shouted at me. I held my hands up, allowing her to see the Order's insignia on my armor.
"Don't be scared. I'm not a monster." I tried to reassure the woman. She didn't seem convinced, circling around me with her gun pointed at my head. After one incredibly tense minute, she began heading back into the house.
"Stay right there. If you try to enter my house without my permission I will shoot you." The woman slammed the door shut. Thirty seconds later, she returned with a vial of water. She handed it to me and raised her gun at my head.
"Drink it." She ordered sternly. I did as I was told. It burned slightly, but it wasn't painful enough to cause a significant reaction from me. It was, however, a reminder that I was still an incubus, albeit one nearly identical to a human.
Holy water?
The woman seemed to calm down slightly, lowering her gun. "It looks like you're human. I apologize for my paranoia. With demons controlling the city, we cannot trust anyone without them proving that they are human first." She looked around nervously. "Come inside, quickly."
I entered the woman's tiny house. The interior was dimly lit with candles, with the few spaces in the wooden barricades around the windows barely letting in any light from outside. The woman locked the door and reattached the wooden planks. When she was done, she led me over to the living room. Her two children were nowhere to be seen.
The woman took off her mask, revealing a tired looking face. "So. Judging from that armor, you're with the Order." The woman remarked, hope in her voice.
"I am… A traveling adventurer. The armor is something I bought from a former Order knight." I lied. "Do you mind answering a few questions for me?" The woman shook her head.
"Go ahead."
"Alright. I had spoken to the King, and it appears that he had established several laws for the sole purpose of protecting anyone who doesn't want to be with a monster. I've been able to walk around safely outside without any monsters attacking me. Yet, everyone else seems to be scared to leave their homes. I don't understand."
The woman scoffed. "You trust that lapdog of a king? He's clearly being controlled by monsters! If I had to guess, those laws, if you can even call them laws, are filled with loopholes designed to be exploited by monsters. I wish we had escaped before that bastard sold us out… I hope that dragon he's with kills him in his sleep."
The woman got up from her chair, grabbing a scrap of paper from a nearby table. "I've been observing the monsters' behavior and taking notes on them." She tossed me the paper.
I read through the paranoid woman's notes. It contained basic information about monsters, like how they're only female, target men, and attempt to coerce women into monsterizing. Stuff I had known for a long time. I glanced at the woman's hand, noticing a ring on her finger.
"Are you married?" I already knew the answer to that question, but I didn't want to let the lady know that I was eavesdropping on her earlier.
"I was. My husband passed away during a carriage accident a few years ago. I have two children." The woman looked up the stairwell. "Noah, Marcia, you can come out. It's safe." A young boy and girl came down the stairs, approaching me cautiously. They seemed to calm down when they saw the Order's insignia on my armor.
"I see. Even so, you're still married. And your notes say that the monsters only attack single men. It should be safe to come outside."
The woman shook her head. "No. Just because I'm married doesn't mean it's safe. What if they try to monsterize me? If that were to happen, what would happen to my children? What would I do to them?"
"I've seen a lot of monsters in my lifetime. They never force themselves on children."
The woman sighed. "As much as I'd like to believe you, I can't risk them going outside." I glanced at Noah and Marcia. Their skin was incredibly pale, likely from a lack of sunlight.
"Alright. If none of you have been going outside, how have you been getting food and water?" I asked eagerly.
One of the kids held up a crude drawing. From what I could tell, it looked to be a man in a wolf mask along with a woman in a crow mask. The woman gently pushed the kid's hand away. "Let mommy handle this, okay?" She took a deep breath. "The man in the wolf mask… Everyone once in a while, he just… appears in our house. I don't know how he does it. All of the entrances are closed and barricaded. I didn't trust him at first, but he gives us food for a small fee. He can be rude and abrasive sometimes, but he's the only reason we haven't starved to death."
"What about the woman in the crow mask?" It felt insulting that our citizens were more trusting of creepy figures in animal masks rather than us.
"Her? She gives us money occasionally. For completely free. I don't know where it comes from, and I don't care. She's a lot friendlier than the wolf, but she barely speaks to us."
I nodded. So the wolf and the crow are feeding this family, but that doesn't explain how an entire section of the city is being fed. They're only two people.
"Are these two ever accompanied by anyone? Have you seen anyone else in animal masks?" I inquired.
"No. It's only ever them. If they have helpers, I haven't seen them."
"Right… Just one more question and I'll be out of your hair. I've seen married monsters in Floria's uniform enforcing the laws that you mentioned earlier. They seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the monsters here in check."
The woman let out a bitter laugh. "Married or not, we don't trust them."
"I understand." I didn't understand. "Well, that's all. I'll be on my way now." The woman got up from her chair and tore the wooden planks across the door off, letting me leave. Outside, the pouring rain had been reduced to a small drizzle.
I took a few deep breaths and began walking towards another house to repeat the process all over again.