The two Fiends left the room. Xard then showed her around the rest of the headquarters building. They met a woman named Deborah who seemed nice enough, and then after looking at the various amenities, they went to the restaurant. Even though she’d just eaten, they still got her a drink and a snack while waving kindly at a few people.

While the restaurant was mostly filled with townsfolk at this hour, there were still more Fiends than Senli had ever seen in her life. Well before today, she had never actually met another Fiend besides herself.

After they made it outside, the girl had to pause for a moment to stop and take a deep breath. The fresh air was so refreshing, especially having been kept in tight storage for quite some time. And the mountains simultaneously took her breath away, since she’d never seen any upclose before.

They got into a golf-cart and Xard zipped her around the compound showing off the various facilities while talking about their day-to-day lives—a proper tour guide. It was all interesting, and given different circumstances, Senli may have even been quite enthused to visit if offered the chance. However, something just felt off about the whole situation.

Was this a cult? It was really starting to feel like a cult. Maybe she’d fallen asleep in front of too many true-crime shows after long days of cleaning, but there was certainly something weird going on here. A compound in the middle of nowhere with an unscrupulous amount of funding and self-sufficiency. Not to mention that everyone seemed far too chipper and happy with their lives—unnaturally so.

It was all quite suspicious, and the more she saw, the less she felt like she’d really belong. And to top it all off, something very disturbing and cultish occurred right in front of her very eyes. Drim Drazah, the deity they all seemed to worship—possibly cult leader—was doing something quite sketchy to two women behind a building.

It was hard to surmise, but he was certainly touching them strangely. And they obviously didn’t like it either, their faces scrunched in discomfort. “What the hell is he doing?!” she blurted before her rational thinking got the better of her.

“Huh?” Xard looked over to see what the fuss was about and chuckled a bit. “I can see why you’d think that’s weird. He’s just draining the life out of them.”

“Ha! So he is an evil cult-leader god!” Senli was proud of herself for finding definitive proof, and also regretted that her mouth was definitely getting her in more trouble. Probably not the brightest idea to spout such accusations to someone who was most likely a devoted zealot.

“You really have a strange impression, don’t you?” Xard looked at her with bewildered eyes. “They’re giving it up voluntarily. We Fiends and Lessers produce too much of the stuff, so Drim absorbs that excess and redistributes it where it can do some good—usually hospitals for patients that need that extra boost to make it through.”

“Hmm, alright,” Senli still eyed the alleged good-guy suspiciously, but she’d drop it for now. If she wasn’t being lied to, it meant she really was at least safe from everything else she’d seen. Yet, she still couldn’t quite let herself relax.

🌱Don’t talk badly about our master. He’ll be the one to save Rathe from disaster. Such slander you spout, we won’t accept. Watch your mouth, or watch your step.🌱

Well, the odd feeling at least had an explanation now. It seemed every blade of grass here was under Drim’s watchful eye since she was met with a harmonious threat. Even if these people weren’t crazy cultists, the plants sure were. Still, it oddly comforted her having found the root cause of why she was so off-put by the place. Maybe it was something she could actually live with.

But then another absurdity came her way. “Is this the girl who can talk to things?” a well dressed man approached and accosted them. After Xard introduced her, the man ignored him entirely and got right up in Senli’s face. “Roque Personson at your service!” He then handed her a business card. “Whatever you need, I can get it. That’s the Personson guarantee!”

“Now then, if you wouldn’t mind me asking for a little favor. I have this coin, you see,” Roque pulled out a coin unlike any she’d ever seen. “It’s not currency in the traditional sense, more a device that helps me find money. However, even though I know it’s capable of it, there seems to be a block in place that prevents me from using the coin to access bank accounts directly. Would you be so kind to see if you can garner some insight as to why?”

🪙This man drinks it down like honey, he shouldn’t be allowed any more money. Listen now, I’ll make it clear. If he gets access, the world should fear.🪙 The coin seemed vehemently against the idea, and Senli relayed the message as she heard it.

“I see,” Roque stared daggers at the coin for a moment before stowing it in his pocket. “I guess we just need a little more quality bonding time. Thank you for your assistance.” He then sauntered away.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Xard seemed to be able to tell how weirded out Senli had been by the recent occurrences, so he promised to show her something pleasant and hopeful. They drove right past the apartments which he said they could stop in later so she could look around at everyone's living conditions. Then, they stopped at something Senli hadn’t expected.

In the northwestern corner of the compound was now a huge schoolhouse. Through the windows, it looked like there were a few different classrooms, an auditorium, and a lunch room. There was even a courtyard and a playground for the children.

Xard explained that on the other side that she couldn’t see, there were private dorm rooms for all the children they’d be rescuing and any others who may wish to stay there and attend schooling. If Senli were to accept their offer, she would also be placed there in the dorm master’s room.

Even though bringing her here certainly felt like bait, she couldn’t help herself from getting out of the cart and walking over to look around. Right on time, the school bell rang. She wasn’t sure if it was supposed to signal the start or end of something since it was still pretty early in the morning.

🏫Even though we’re done with learning, come tomorrow you’ll be yearning, back for more with passion burning.🏫 The schoolhouse seemed to answer her question for her.

A woman walked out of the building and headed over to them. “This is Andi Jaimess, a biochemist and the school’s instructor.” The woman looked very stereotypical from most teachers Senli had met in her life. Maybe a bit more stern, like she wouldn’t be walked over or take people’s zjik.

“Yes, and that is something I’d like to discuss with you all, Xard,” Andi seemed a bit frustrated. “Right now since we only have two students, it’s no real issue for me. But if we get as many new students as you’ve been saying, it will simply be too much for one person alone. Not to mention all of my other duties in the lab and tutoring the college kids.”

“Alright, I get the point,” Xard nodded. “We’ll see who we can get soon. If need be, we’ll have those who have some teaching skills assist you in the meantime.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Andi finally looked over to the other Fiend. “You must be the girl from the orphanage I’ve heard about. I look forward to having you as a student.” The teacher clearly wasn’t aware that things hadn’t yet been decided, but she wandered off before hearing otherwise.

A moment later, two small girls, assumedly the students, came out of the building. One of them rushed over to the two Fiends, the other quickly following in tow behind her. Senli quickly learned that they were Mazie and Bray, and that they wanted to play. Before she knew it, she was swept up into their pace and dragged over to the playground to have fun with them.

And that was how she spent the rest of her entire day. These two little girls were unscrupulous, well one more than the other—tugging on her heartstrings with each passing moment. Before she knew what was happening, she’d eaten lunch with them, played with them at their clubhouse, and then joined them for dinner at their apartment.

Even though she learned a bit more about their situation, after watching their small bodies trying to cook dinner, it became just how evident these children needed someone to help them in their day-to-day lives.

Xard had left them alone fairly early on in the day, departing with a smirk on his face.

This was entrapment, and damn was she being trapped. Shortly after dinner, she found herself unable to refuse their offer to stay when Mazie sobbingly asked if they were going to see each other again.

After departing from the girls, she met up with Xard to finalize things and was escorted to her room in the dorms. It was cozy and comfortable, more an apartment than a dorm room. Suspiciously, though, it was already decorated and filled with some of her belongings from her now destroyed orphanage. They’d even recovered the manager’s evil journal that she knew for certain had been taken as evidence.

Just how powerful and well connected were these people? She was starting to doubt that she ever actually had a choice to say no, regardless of how much they insisted otherwise. If she had actually tried to leave, they probably would have used more manipulation on her, or maybe some kind of mind control. But it was too late to turn back now.

“So are you like my manager or something now?” Senli asked when Xard was going to leave. “Should I expect regular check-ins and all that?”

“Uhh, no,” Xard quickly ended that idea. “You actually probably won’t see me around very much after this.” For whatever reason, that made her feel a little panicked and sad, but she didn’t let herself show it. “I’ll be back briefly when we bring those we save from the mission, but I’m heading out until then. Then after that’s done, I’ll probably be gone for a few weeks at a time.”

“But I’ll make sure to arrange for someone to help you get settled over the next few days and go over your duties. After that, you’ll mostly be on your own to do as you see fit. If you ever need help, though, you just need to ask. There will always be someone there for you, that’s just the kind of place this is.”

Senli was left to mull over those words as she reorganized some things in her room. All that was left was to decide what she was going to do with the journal. It made some sense to keep it for posterity—a memento of where she’d come from and what she’d gone through, along with a memory of all those she’d grown up with. Or maybe she’d just burn it.

Speaking of, she also had a conversation with the clothes she was still wearing, to see what they wanted to do in the future. 👚It’s best we part ways, our looks just clash. Let me return to Rathe, burn me to ash.👚