CHAPTER 9

The guards brought us to the Freelancer League. It was still quite loud even at this late hour, as shouting and obvious merrymaking was going on inside. On the walk over, I was able to get a good look at the buildings and found that while the craftsmanship might be lacking compared to the civilization I came from, nanotech and all, it was masterful in its own right.

The builders had managed to get the most bang for their buck by using some advanced construction techniques. Or at least that was what Echo reported to me. I honestly had no idea. It looked like stone and wood had been pressed together with mortar. For someone like me used to metal and glass, it felt archaic.

“Here you are. Even as Demon-kin, you should still be able to find a place to stay for the night. Remember to register in the morning.”

“Thank you. We will do so.” The guards nodded to us then left, heading back toward the gate. I repositioned Imperia on my back and looked at the door to the Freelancer League. “I hope the translation spell works until we get settled for the night.”

“Should have a couple of hours left. I might not be able to cast magic right now, but I can still understand its flow.”

“Really? That’s good.” One less thing to worry about for the moment, I pushed open the door and walked inside. Argos attempted to follow us and I motioned for him to stay. I didn’t want to start a panic inside. “Wait here. I’ll make sure you get you situated.”

He whined but sat on his haunches. Moving into the building, I was happy to see a few other demon-kin among the rabble. They might have looked the bandit part to a tee, but I wasn’t going to judge someone on their fashion sense. Casting my sight around, I found what looked like the reception desk.

A pretty woman that looked to be in her twenties turned to look at us. She had blue hair and long ears. Most likely an elf. I cleared my throat once I was closer. “Good evening. I was hoping we could get a room for the night. We have nothing to our names.”

“Freeloaders. You’re allowed one night for free, as per regulations. After that it’s the street or the guards.”

“Understood. We’ll take you up on that if you don’t mind.”

“Room… seven. Here you go. No food.”

“Thanks! Also, I have a deamon outside. What’s the procedure for him?” When I was looking around I found a few people had beasts with them, but they were all much smaller than him.

“Type?”

“Umm, a DireCreg?” I replied not sure if that was what she was going for.

The receptionist’s eyes grew wide. “Seriously?!” the rest of the room grew quiet as well and I looked around nervously.

“Yeah. I sort of bonded with him a few days ago. I really don’t feel comfortable leaving him on the street by himself yet, so if I could take him up to the room. That would be great.”

She bit her lip. I assumed that guests must have caused problems in the past. It didn’t help that I wasn’t paying for the night. “Fine, but I will call the guards in the morning if there is damage!”

“Of course.” I adjusted Imperia then moved back to the entrance to call Argos in. He got halfway before his rear got stuck in the door frame. It took a bit of wiggling to get through. I worried when I heard some creaking from the door. I heard gasps and whispers from the gathered people but ignored them. I took the key from the receptionist and made my way down the hall after she directed me.

Imperia snorted once we were out of earshot of the common room. “To think they are impressed with something like him.”

“I guess the world has changed then,” I replied.

“I command hordes of Direcregs. They wiped entire cities off the map in a single night.”

“And now you’re riding on my back like a child.”

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She grumbled but didn’t say anything else. Once we reached our room, I laid her on the bed. A look of pure delight formed on her face. “A bed! Yay!” she exclaimed sounding like a child getting a new toy.

Looking around, there wasn’t much to the room. Other than the bed, there was a writing desk and chair. A window looked out on the back alley behind the Freelancer League. Echo hopped off my shoulder and flew over to the desk. Argos had been such a large sensation that no one seemed to care about him.

I sat on the end of the bed. Imperia was already breathing lightly. Once Argos managed to get through the door, he crawled over the bed, barely missing Imperia’s head with his paw, and laid down in the corner of the room. There wasn’t any room to move, but at least he managed to fit.

“At least we found civilization.”

“It appears similar to the middle ages of Earth and a few other civilizations the Federation has found over the centuries,” Echo commented, his drone looking out the window.

“Do you have their language?”

“Affirmative. There were nine hundred and seventy-six languages that had similarities. I will need more data on dialects, but we should be able to communicate. Writing will require a few samples.”

“We should try to get that done tomorrow. Should only need to visit a few shops. It would be great if they had a library,” I said laying back next to Imperia. I didn’t need to sleep, but I might as well when I had the chance. I was just glad my changed body could sleep. I usually enjoyed my dreams, though that was because they revolved around half-naked women usually.

~~~

A soft sensation drew me back to the land of the wakeful. I looked at my chest to see Imperia was wrapped around me like I was some sort of body pillow. Her chest was pressing against mine and either I had unconsciously wrapped my arm around her or she’d repositioned me herself, but my hand was enjoying a handful of amazing thigh and butt.

I couldn’t resist a few more squeezes to make sure this was real before I lifted my hand. I cleared my throat, but her breathing didn’t change. She’d slept for ten thousand years! How could she still be tired?

“Imperia. Imperia!” I said getting louder each time.

She finally groaned and looked up at me with heavily lidded eyes. “Ah. Lex. Good morning.” She immediately dropped her head back onto my shoulder.

“Hey. Hey. Wake up!”

She grumbled and sat up. “You make an amazing pillow,” she mumbled still half asleep.

I rolled up into a sitting position on the side of the bed. “Thank you, I think.”

Standing up, I stretched, my joints popping in the process. I checked my eye but it was still missing, the scorched flesh having already healed. There were Biuna that only possessed one eye, it was possible that the one that fused with me was one of these types. Or it might be something else altogether that was keeping my eye from regenerating.

A deep rumble echoed around the room, and I looked at Argos. He whined with his tail wagging strong enough to cause a breeze. “I know. We’ll get our business taken care of at the Freelancer League then grab some breakfast.”

I felt a tug on my arm. “I would be most pleased if we found something with a bit more… flavor,” Imperia said looking down at her hands.

“I’d planned to find some real food, but we might have to settle for protein bars until we earn some money.”

“I’ve scouted the area around the town during the night. I have the location of four Kesh dens,” Echo noted. Trust Echo to use our time efficiently.

“Great. That will make the hunt much easier.”

We walked down the hall to the common room from last night. A different receptionist was on duty but seemed to be expecting us as he waved us over. “Wow! A real Direcreg. Never thought I’d seen one that wasn’t trying to rip my throat out.”

“Are they that rare?” I asked casting a look at Argos. He acted like a giant dog to me.

“Well, actually no. They just move in packs of thousands. You usually don’t run into one or two, but three or four hundred at the minimum.”

“Huh. What’d you do to get thrown out of your pack?” I asked petting Argos on the head. He just tilted his head with his tongue hanging out.

“Do… do you mind if I pet him?”

“Sure,” I replied, and he started to reach out. “but don’t blame me if he takes your hand off.” The man stopped with a jerk.

“Maybe next time.”

“Okay. Can you help us register for the League, umm?”

“Seirus. And yes. I can.” He reached under the counter and pulled out some sheets of parchment. There were several that looked the same but written in different languages. “Which one can you read?”

“None of them,” I answered honestly.

“Very well.” He grabbed one that matched the writing in the room. He pointed to each entry and explained what information each needed. Five minutes later, Imperia and I were registered with the League.

“Thanks, Seirus.”

“You start at rank G. Complete pursuits to move up in rank. That board over there is pursuits in the area.”

“Got it.”

We walked over and Echo scanned all the documents and compared the language to the documents that we’d just filled out. It didn’t take him long before he had a grasp of the written side of the language. He translated everything for me in real-time, but I planned on having him teach it to me later.

I grabbed all the pursuits that dealt with the Kesh then went back over to Seirus. “We’ll take all these.”

“Are… Are you sure you want to take all these?” Seirus asked after looking them over.

“Why? Is there a reason I can’t?”

“No… it's just,” he looked between me and Imperia, “it isn’t a good pursuit for two women alone.”

I could only sigh in annoyance. It wasn’t my fault I had this body! “We’ll be fine.”

Seirus picked up on my mood swing and gave a sigh of his own. “Very well. You have a week for each pursuit.”