Chapter 46 – Noble Interests

Reina flew through the air.

It wasn't the first time she'd flown. Never this much and never really for fun, but she did fly. Sort of. She usually only hovered in the air, and it was to fight monsters and get stronger. This time was different.

This time, Reina flew with Reina on her back. She was so excited that she screamed the whole time. Reina also said she wanted Reina to take them back down, which didn't make much sense. They'd barely flown at all.

Reina just decided to let Reina enjoy their flight a little bit longer before she took them back down. When Reina landed, Reina jumped off her back and started to hug the ground. It was very strange for her to do that. She even chastised Reina for flying like that. Reina was the one who wanted to fly on Reina in the first place, so what was the problem?

~Forging Legends~

"Guh…" Reina groaned as she woke from her sleep. "That was weird."

The dream she ate was…well, she recognized it, just from a different point of view. It was when Kuromo was large enough to ride and she excitedly—and mistakenly—decided to go for a ride, only to immediately regret it. The dream wasn't as deep as some of the other times, since she didn't think of her other self as 'Mother', so she had some semblance of her own personality.

It wasn't all that surprising that was the memory she got. She'd been around him for all his life, and was clearly the most important person to him.

The dream did, however, bring up one thing on her mind: how did Kuromo even fly? She knew about physics and biology, and that was the problem. There was no way Kuromo's bones were hollow. He was far too heavy for that. And his wings weren't nearly large enough. Still, he flew through the air.

The same could be said for Goalith, and even Lola. The brother was huge and his wings didn't seem like they could actually carry him, despite how big they were, and Lola wore armor. Meru seemed the most likely to be able to fly, but still.

…Maybe Reina didn't know physics as well as she thought. Then again, there was magic in this world, and these were just dumb thoughts. She was allowed to have them after…

"Heavy…" Being more lucid now, Reina found something weighing her down as she lay on her back. Kuromo's head was laying on her chest, it easily covering her whole torso.

She was sure Kuromo had gone to bed in his human form. He must have changed sometime during the night. Hopefully he thought to take off his shirt, or Reina would have to take another one from her item drops.

"Kuromo? Let me up." She patted the side of his head, stirring him from his sleep. He shifted slightly, opening one lazy eye to look at her from the side.

"You should sleep a little more, Mother." He let out blearily. "We walked all day yesterday."

"We've done more than that before." She reminded him. The days training with Grim or hunting monsters easily came to mind.

In response, Kuromo changed forms in a puff of smoke, moving his body from the floor and snuggling up to her. Since they were close in height, it didn't have quite the same effect as it could have in terms of cuteness. More importantly, he was once again without his clothes, making her want to separate from him even more. Except for that hat. That stayed on his head.

"Rest a little more, Mother." His head, resting on Reina's arm, tilted up slightly. "Please?"

Reina was about to refuse, but Kuromo's body was once again much more honest than his words. His wing had draped itself over her like a blanket, in addition to the blanket that already covered her.

"Alright." She gave in, and gave his head a pat with her free hand. With a blanket between them, and him not being easily exposed to her at this angle, she could tolerate it. "Where's your shirt?"

"On the table." Funnily enough, Kuromo used his tail to point. The shirt was just within sight, not folded, but not in a ball. It was laid flat.

"Huh." She was happy she didn't need to pull out another one, and she learned a little bit more about her…son's sensibilities.

And so, they continued to rest in bed. It gave time for Reina to think things over. There were two big things on her mind.

The first—being a literal big thing—was Goalith. His arrival gave Vyrdrun the distraction needed to kill Sabien. She'd gone over that in her head before as they traveled yesterday, but she realized she never thanked him. Yes, he was an enemy, but showing up how he had did help a lot.

But that wasn't all. After all was said and done, Reina didn't even think to ask for help getting to Hascain. Would they even have helped her? Probably, since Derdir wanted her to fight in the Waves. But would she owe them for it, something even before he transported them? Even if she thought to ask, it might not have been worth the price.

Or, he could have just said no. His father could want this to be a test of sorts. Reina suspected that might be the case, since Derdir didn't simply pop up and abduct her, like she knew he very easily could have. That was a line of thought she didn't want to consider all that much, considering she had a party she'd grown close to…

Reina really had to figure out how she felt about Derdir and his family more. They were still evil by any definition, but most of his children she met were…personable, she would say. Murderers, of course, but they answered to Derdir, their father, who may very well have saved all of them from fates much like Lola and Luka/Goalith. Thoughts for later.

And, of course, the other thing on her mind was Maria. Reina had gone and done it. She'd broken up with Maria. She broke up with the woman…the girl she loved. The girl who loved her back. The girl who…she did unspeakable things with.

That one night. That wonderful, horrifying night. Before, she wanted so badly to remember everything they did. Now that she knew the truth about Maria, her brain decided to reveal bits of those memories to her. The worst part, though, was how her mind tortured her with it, replacing the Maria of back then with how the girl looked now.

"Maybe there's a spell to erase memories…" The idle thought was quickly discarded. The only thing that would do was make Reina feel better, to throw away her guilt. And then…they'd go back to doing those things.

No, wrong memories. She shouldn't forget that Maria was a child. She should forget that first night they made love…

Reina didn't want to lose either of those memories.

Deciding she'd rested enough, Reina shook Kuromo awake, though he hadn't actually fallen back asleep.

Once out of bed, Kuromo quickly got dressed with his tunic. Reina was thankful he had some sense of modesty, even if it was only from her wanting him to wear something. Reina left her armor in the room for now to eat in comfort.

In the main area, Grim was already there, some food from yesterday on a plate in front of him. He took a bite out of it before he returned to sharpening his cleaver.

"Morning." He greeted the two of them.

"Good morning." Reina returned.

"Mister Grim." Kuromo's greeting and nod got a glance from Reina and a smirk from Grim.

"So, Grim," Reina simply filed that little tidbit away as she took a seat next to him, "I didn't ask before, but there won't be any problems with you in my party, will there? Being a Hascain noble in Lespax?"

"Unlikely." Grim continued working on his blade. Kuromo scooted a chair closer to Reina on her other side and sat on it before Grim went on. "While the distance and lack of sea routes makes travel more difficult, Hascain's resistance to the Keston Empire is well known. I don't expect fanfare, since Hascain did capitulate, but there shouldn't be any issues."

That made sense. Reina recalled the king not really wanting her to go to Keston. The same was true about Hascain, likely since it was part of the empire, even if only for a few years. He helped her anyway, mentioning how it was for the good of the world. Reina hoped Grim was right.

Reina realized something else important. "What about when we go to Hascain?" Since that was their next destination, she felt it a good opportunity to start learning more about the country.

"I'd say somewhere between how Keston first treated you, and then during their Wave." Grim said.

"Please be serious." While Reina could appreciate a joke to lighten the mood, she wanted to know what they were in for.

"We'll be fine." Grim sighed, then continued with a smile. "You're the Totem Hero, so no nobles are going to pick a fight with you. Plus, you have a minor noble with you, who just so happens to be an apprentice of the Cleaver Hero. Even though he's a shaman, Vyrdrun will be considered under your protection. Likewise, Maria…"

He paused to give Reina a questioning look. "I don't know who her family is." Reina decided to respond to what she assumed he was asking.

Grim shrugged. "Well, I only figured out as much as I did because of the emblem on those shields." He gestured to the ones hanging above the fireplace. "Unless they're well-versed in international politics, I doubt anyone would recognize her."

Reina was not well-versed in politics. Not at all. Those symbols meant nothing to…well, no, that wasn't right. They did look a little familiar.

She thought back on where she saw something like those before. It was only once, but that day was filled with quite a bit of excitement, and she was hyper-focused at the time. The Cathedral of Unity in Keston. Specifically, where the meeting with the high priests took place. It was on a banner that was next to the current emblem of Keston.

Still, Reina didn't really know what that meant. It might have been an old symbol of Keston, or from a powerful vassal, or any number of things. What it did mean was Maria's family was somehow connected to Keston, which didn't actually tell her anything. A lot of nations were part of the empire, and any number of noble families could still be loyal.

"Anyway," Grim continued on, "most of your major political interactions will probably be with either Duke Balta, my lord, or Duke Alfred, the one with an archmage as a son-in-law."

"Archmage Virimos?" Reina asked to confirm. Grim nodded in response. "What about the king or queen?"

Grim shook his head. "Dead. Only the princess is left."

"Wouldn't that make her the queen?" Reina asked.

"Not until she marries. The same would be true for a prince in Hascain, in case you were wondering." Grim said.

Reina recalled a few stories like that. "Then, wouldn't I meet with her, too?"

"Well…" Grim trailed off. Reina waited for him to speak again. "Princess Angeline isn't exactly in a strong position politically."

"How so?" Reina didn't think she would be able to understand the underlying reasons, but it was better to have an idea of what was going on.

"A few of her actions put her in a bad light with the nobility." Grim said. " Raising a commoner wizard-turned-archmage, Blackwood, to nobility, who then went on to be friendly with Gromnar. Knighting a mercenary, a commoner, only to imprison him later, and then release him again. That led to a whole other mess. She officially recognized my nobility, which she only did to get some political favor from Duke Balta in exchange for having her reputation lowered with basically everyone else."

Reina easily saw a pattern here. The nobles really cared about commoners raising themselves up.

"Oh, and of course she…" Grim trailed off again.

"She what?"

"Well, the princess had…let's call it an 'illicit affair'." Grim said vaguely.

"Grim, after what I learned about Maria, I need to know what that means." Reina remembered how he said people were adults at 15. If this 'illicit affair' was about something like that…

"Her cousin." Grim said. "The prince of Laleah.

"Oh…" That would explain it.

"That by itself wouldn't have been so bad, if it didn't ruin her engagement to the king of Ostrington."

"What?" Reina looked at Grim like he grew a second head. "But…that's incest."

"Between cousins?" Grim raised an eyebrow.

There wasn't much to say in response. Reina knew it was fairly uncommon in Japan, though it happened more often in the past. Here there didn't seem to be any issue with it.

Another thing Reina decided to file away. "So, the king found out and called off the marriage?"

"Worse." Grim shook his head. "Ostrington attacked Laleah. Those two countries were often in conflict, and the nobles of Laleah had been getting more antagonistic with the ruling family. At the time, there were whispers of a revolt, possibly wishing to join with Savia. The marriage was supposed to help prevent all that, making an alliance with Ostrington and establishing Laleah as a strong sea trade partner to compete with Savia and give less incentive for the nobles to rebel. Can you guess what happened next?"

Reina thought about it. Her geography of this world wasn't great, but Maria…she'd helped her learn and remember a great deal. Laleah was south of Savia, and Ostrington was south of Laleah. With the setup Grim gave her, it was easy to deduce.

"Savia joined in the war." Reina said.

Grim nodded, then added, "And Hascain now has to pay a toll to pass by Savia's new sea territory. Well, we did, but I'm sure recent events changed that."

No doubt he was referring to the sacking of Savia's capital.

"But why? If that was going to happen by doing nothing, why didn't Hascain get involved?" Reina asked.

Grim shrugged. "I wish I could explain it all to you. I only recently became an esquire at the time, and the politics behind it all still confuses me."

"Even though her cousin was the prince? If they married instead, couldn't that have, I don't know, combined countries or something?"

"Like I said: politics." Grim said like that explained everything.

Maybe it did. If the prince's family was prominent in Hascain, removing their influence could be good for some others…like Duke Balta and Duke Alfred. Maybe that's what it boiled down to, after considering any and all other aspects of it.

Reina really didn't want to, but it was looking like she'd have to learn even more about politics in Hascain. She was hoping for a more surface-level explanation, that that alone would be enough. Then again, if she understood Keston more, maybe she could have avoided issues there.

That wasn't to say she would have approved of the templars attacking that town during the Wave. If she'd known more about Keston, maybe she could have planned differently. Maybe she could have sent the templars out to fight the monsters instead of 'defending' the town. Maybe she could have gotten more adventurers to help…like those two Demon Lords…and Meru…

More and more, Reina could see how unprepared she was. That was going to change. The same thing wouldn't happen in Hascain.

The only problem was her biggest source of information about Hascain's innerworkings was Grim, and he was under Duke Balta. Anything he said could be to further his lord's ambitions. Would that be a bad thing? If what he said was true, the princess probably couldn't hold her country together forever. Someone would take over. It was just a matter of how peaceful it would be.

If Reina sided with Duke Balta, that could make things easier. That would be two heroes he had a connection with, since the Cleaver Hero taught Grim. Would it be better that way?

Reina just didn't know. She needed another opinion, one from the outside. Like Maria…

Interrupting her thoughts, a door behind her swung open. "Good morning, everyone~!"

Reina turned in her seat, and there she was. Maria. Back to how she looked before the rain.

Her dress was once more filled out completely. Her hat no longer oversized on her head, violet hair spilling down her back. The slit on the side of her black traveling robes showing off her long, beautiful leg. Her clothes hugged her body, from her wide hips to her generous breasts—

Reina had to jerk her head to the side. Maria was able to recast her spell and make herself older again. This changed nothing.

As Maria walked into the room, Reina saw Vyrdrun duck under the same door to join them.

"So, what were you talking about?" Maria asked seductively, resting her hand on the back of Reina's chair as she leaned forward, showing off her chest more.

Reina wished she didn't dress like that, with the top of her breasts so exposed. She wasn't really sure how to react. Maria seemed so…normal. After last night, she thought Maria would still be upset.

"Politics." Ignorant of Reina's plight, Grim responded. "In Hascain."

"Oh?" Maria slid her hand along the back of the chair, earning a low growl from Kuromo. She placed herself on the seat next to him, leaning on the table, despite the glare he was giving her. "About the nobles vying for the throne? Or the Forever Princess?"

"A little of both." At Maria and Vyrdrun's arrival, Grim set his cleaver against his chair.

"The what?" Reina glanced at Maria, then quickly turned back to Grim.

"Oh? You didn't get to that part~?" Maria cooed. It felt like her voice was right next to Reina's ear, even with Kuromo between them.

"No, but that was probably next." Grim said. "You see, a popular rumor going around is that Princess Angeline can't have children. With how long her affair with her cousin went on for, and some discovered letters between them indicating the level of their relationship, it's believed she's infertile."

"Oh…" Reina could see another piece of the puzzle. If the princess couldn't have children, that would explain why one of the dukes didn't try offering up a son—or grandson, since she didn't know how old they were—to marry the princess.

"It's truly terrible, isn't it?" Maria asked. "To be unable to have a child with the person you love. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Her words stung. Reina knew Maria wanted children someday, and even seemed like she might give that up to be with her. And here Reina was, pushing all that aside all for…no, she was doing the right thing.

"That's important for human nobles, isn't it?" Vyrdrun asked as he took a large seat for himself. "More than normal humans?"

"It is!" Maria nodded. "Forging bonds through blood to strengthen their houses. I truly pity her. Her desire for love waring against her duty and the interests of her house fulfilled, and she ended up with neither."

Reina could tell what Maria was doing. She may have acted like normal, but Maria's words were clearly intended to be little shots at Reina. And Reina couldn't do anything about it. She was the one who decided to end things. Maria was within her rights to complain about it, be mad, or even…

"Hey, Maria?" She hadn't put it together before, distracted by seeing Maria again, but she realized something important. "Why was Vyrdrun in your room?"

"Hmmm~?" Maria looked at her like she was eyeing up her prey. "Why, to sleep with me, of course."

"He…" Reina gazed at Vyrdrun, but his neutral expression told her nothing.

"I still have a contract with the Fire Spirit, you know." Maria went on. "It gets cold at night~."

Reina knew. It was thanks to Kuromo and her Dream Eat contract that she didn't have to deal with that. And she knew that sleeping next to Vyrdrun didn't mean anything. Nothing at all. Maria herself had brought up how shamans were sterile. Vyrdrun, of course, was acting like a pseudo-parent to Maria, even if he was only a year older than her. But Gromnar aged differently than humans, so that…

She knew she was letting her mind babble to distract herself from the idea of Maria being with someone else. Reina wasn't going to complain or rise to the bait. She made the right choice, even if Maria couldn't see that.

"Right." In the end, Reina simply responded with a slight nod. "Well then, we should get ready for today. Are you feeling better now, Vyrdrun?"

"Much better, but not yet at my best." He nodded.

"Then we might get there in the afternoon." Reina hadn't bothered to start eating before, too focused on her talk with Grim. Kuromo, however, had already helped himself. She decided to as well. "We'll leave right after breakfast."

"Okay, Reina." Maria happily said as she grabbed her own food.

Reina stilled when she heard that. It felt like a knife was twisted in her heart.

Why did that hurt so much?

Maria almost never called her by her name. It was always 'Boss'. Reina had grown accustomed to it, even liked it. But now…

Why did that hurt so much?

Reina did the right thing. She made the right choice. Maria was too young. She shouldn't be doing those sorts of things, being in a relationship with someone. Reina was correct in distancing herself from Maria. But still…

"Why does this hurt so much?"

~Forging Legends~

"Are you feeling better now?" Derdir asked, the back of his claw resting against Lola's cheek.

"Yes, Daddy!" Lola happily replied, her claw holding his.

The injury she sustained could have been worse. The ones who healed her knew what they were doing. Though, Derdir knew which one of the Spirit Forger's companions was responsible for that.

After returning home and being healed, Lola lay on her bed. She wore a comfy robe to relax in, as was the norm after they went through healing here. As part of her pampering—as Maphai had referred to it—Derdir was also seated next to her head on her bed as he remained in contact with her.

Aside from his own worry, it was only fair that he was next to her. The foreign hero was stronger than he expected. Truthfully, he didn't expect another one to be selected so quickly after Goalith killed the last one. It was something he would need to correct.

And it wasn't just Derdir who was with her. All of Derdir's children had finished their assignments and returned home, and were now with her.

Goalith and Aermith sat on the bed with her, the latter clinging to Lola's side. He was rather quick to become attached to her, though her personality more than helped that along. Goalith kept a hand on Lola's shoulder, shapeshifted to prevent any further injury, as unlikely as that was.

"You need to be more careful." Meruthia told her, kneeling on the floor behind Lola's head. She had part of Lola's hair in one hand and a brush in the other.

"I had to protect Big Sis." Lola responded, eyes closed and clearly enjoying her sister's brushing.

"You should have just grabbed the human and left." Maphai argued, arms crossed.

"I couldn't outfly that angel woman." Lola said back to her. "And what about Big Sis's party?"

Maphai scoffed. "What about them? Two humans, a dragon, and a young shaman. The death of the shaman would have been the only real loss."

"Come on, Sister Maphai. It's not like you hate all humans." Lola said, tilting her head slightly to look at her sister upside-down.

"What?" The air around Maphai grew cold.

"You think Big Sis Nora is nice, don't you?"

Maphai glared at Lola. Derdir already knew how this would end. Sure enough, Maphai just scoffed and turned her head away.

While it was true that his daughter hated humans, it wasn't universal. A human had to do something extraordinary to gain any amount of respect from Maphai. Nora had done just that. Even more, ever since she joined them, Nora had been an exceptional friend to Derdir's children, to one much more than the others. At times, she would even act like an actual older sister to Maphai.

Derdir knew how much Maphai needed that, though she would never admit it.

"She treat you well?" Maphai diverted her sister's accusation instead of addressing it.

Lola smiled. "Yeah! Big Sis was super nice to me. We played Somnium a whole bunch."

"That's good." Maphai stepped toward Lola's other side and patted her head. "I'll play a few rounds with you soon."

"Yay!"

Despite how she acted, Maphai cared about family just as much as her siblings. The biggest piece of evidence right now was the fact that Maphai was using a hand to pat Lola, instead of a claw. She never transformed into a more human form outside of hiding her appearance while near humans.

Nora wasn't the only human she was okay with. Maphai more than tolerated Derdir's nieces and nephew, though they never met in person. He considered them family, the children of a close friend long gone, so that was enough for her.

"She even wanted to protect me from Daddy." Lola added, as if that wouldn't upset Maphai at all.

"What?" Her voice grew even darker.

Lola continued without a care. "Big Sis thought Daddy was using me and wanted to save me. She's really nice. Oh, and she read my mind with Dream Eat."

This was the first Derdir heard about this. He knew the Spirit Forger had contracted that spirit thanks to his imp, but not that she already figured out how to use it.

"That little…" Maphai seethed, retracting her hand and shifting it into a claw once more, then clenching it. "If she tries that with me, I'll rip her head off!"

Lola giggled. "Don't worry. Big Sis knows you'll do that to her."

"Yeah, I warned her about that, too." Meruthia spoke up.

"Hmph!" Maphai crossed her arms and turned away. "Aside from her underhanded nature, did you learn anything else about the Spirit Forger?"

Derdir was interested in this as well, though he was fine with waiting. Lola would happily share whatever she learned, though he doubted it would be much. She wasn't nearly as adept at gathering information as…well, any of his other children, really. Only Aermith was less effective in that, but he had other duties to attend to.

Then again, Lola probably told the Spirit Forger more than what she got out of the girl. She and Meruthia could be rather…chatty, though Meruthia was far worse.

"Yes, did you find out anything?" Darvon spoke for the first time as he leaned against the wall.

He was by far the most reclusive of Derdir's children, almost never interacting with his siblings. That didn't mean he wouldn't make an appearance when one of them was injured. He just preferred to interact with nobles, learning their weaknesses and secrets. It was why he barely brought out his draconic side; one of the reasons, at least.

"I just asked that." Maphai glared at her slightly younger brother.

"And I want to know that, too." Darvon said matter-of-factly.

"You think Lola wouldn't answer me?"

"I think my desire is irrelevant to that."

"Hmph!" Maphai turned her nose up at him. "Why are you even here? Go play around with those important humans. It's what you're good at."

Darvon smirked. "That's because I can hide my bloodlust. You, on the other hand, can know nothing about someone and still hate them."

"You think I can't do what you do if I wanted?"

"I think you can't even resist the urge to strike me."

A loud crack proved Darvon right. He stepped back, holding his hand to his nose while glaring at Maphai. She, in turn, just sneered at him.

"I guess you do know everything." She taunted.

"Bitch…" Darvon twisted his nose, snapping it back in place.

"Children." One word from Derdir was all it took for his two children to stand up straight. "Darvon, don't provoke your sister. Maphai, don't strike your brother."

"Yes, Dad." Darvon turned his head away from both Maphai and Derdir.

"Yes, Father." Maphai did the same.

While they did care about family, they also sometimes fought like family, just more physically than most. Admittedly, Maphai did have too much of a temper. It was usually Goalith and Meruthia she got into spats with.

"Lola." Derdir looked back down at his second youngest. "What did you learn?"

"Oh! Something really cool!" Lola said excitedly. "That fire wizard, Maria. She's actually a girl!"

That was a very interesting bit of information. Derdir considered what that meant.

Meruthia stopped her brushing. "Did…Did we think she was a boy?"

Maphai sighed, turning back to the rest of the family. "She means that human is a child."

"Yeah!" Lola nodded. "She was able to age her body."

"Oh! Wow. That's pretty impressive." Meruthia started up again. "I saw how she fought in the Wave. She handled herself pretty well. Guess she's pretty good at magic."

"It's more than that, idiot." Maphai sighed.

"Hey!" Meruthia shouted.

Maphai ignored her sister's outburst and continued. "That human was able to manipulate the growth of her body to such an extent, and sustain it indefinitely. The Spirit Forger found a good companion, someone who will likely be an archmage within a few years."

"Huh." Meruthia shrugged. "Guess it's a good thing I saved her in the Wave."

"Huh? But you and Big Sis said you saved Big Sis in the Wave." Lola pointed out.

"Er…right…that's…" Meruthia slipped up.

"Typical." Maphai sighed again. She wasn't surprised or angry or even disappointed, like she knew Meruthia would go above and beyond what she was tasked with.

Derdir wasn't surprised or angry or disappointed either. In fact, he already knew about that.

Aside from speaking about things when she shouldn't, Meruthia had the bad habit of talking to herself when alone, especially about things she was nervous about. One of Derdir's imps overheard her, and he told Darvon, who then told Derdir. He wasn't mad at all. By the sound of things, her intervention would have been needed to keep the Spirit Forger alive after the Wave.

And saving this wizard wasn't a bad thing either. She was a good companion to a hero, who has yet to be a problem to his plans. While it would have been an interesting test to see if the Spirit Forger could have bested that transmogrified brat, having her in Derdir's debt was preferable, even if it was balanced out with her protecting Lola

Meruthia was pretty lucky in that regard, like finding that boy in Keston. He was already proving himself here. Additionally, bringing him was preceded by Meruthia killing a few dozen templars with no witnesses.

What's more…well, Derdir now had a growing interest in the young wizard. Her identity was a mystery up to this point, and now he had something more to go on. He would need to investigate her more, perhaps even up close.

"I think I would like to meet this young woman." No, he would definitely need to do that.

Author's Notes:

Foreboding!

Yep, Reina's suffering the consequences of her own actions and choices, and lack of knowledge. At least she's trying to fix some of that.

Another peek at the Demon Family, now including an actual interaction with the last of Derdir's children. Nothing like a near-death experience to bring family closer together. And I'm totally not setting something up at the end there. Nope. Not at all.