During the two-hour trip, Caeldaemos learned several things about Mari.

She was born in a town northwest of Hallibrush. The town was small, and it was the domain of Viscount Pauli. Due to the greed of the noble, things could have been better in the town. Her parents scraped by, by working difficult jobs. Sadly, when she was six, her father died in a mine collapse. Her mother tried her best to provide for Mari but ended up working herself to death a year later.

Mari didn’t have any relatives in the town as all of them had abandoned the city to go to another domain. They made it out before the viscount instituted a ‘Leaving Tax.’ Mari barely survived being a homeless orphan, stealing what she could from the corrupt people of the domain. She eventually got good enough that she began helping others. Other rogues like her joined in on her cause, and things improved for the people. But ultimately, things came to an end.

The viscount had his soldiers raid Mari’s base, killing most of them and enslaving several of them. The men were sent to work in a mine the noble kept secret. He didn’t want to have to pay taxes to the royal family for the profits he was making.

Mari was used as a tool by the viscount to spy on people so he could have the leverage to extort Tress from people. He would also use information gained to arrest anyone who opposed him. Mari hated having to do it, but the collar forced her.

“I’m sorry, Mari,” Caeldaemos said.

Mari smiled warmly at him. “It is okay, master. I find that you are far more worth serving. Even when this collar comes off, I will continue to serve you.”

“Thanks. The next time we get to Galgalake, we’ll stop by Central Hall to report what he had done. Did he have children?” Caeldaemos asked.

“He did. They were just as bad as he was. They would whip me for any reason, and I don’t want to go into detail about what they did to Orelia. They were so horrible to her. Thank you for helping her.”

“If any of you want my help, you need only ask,” Caeldaemos said.

“I think I am beginning to see why they love you so much. You are starting to make my heart waver, master.” Mari teased.

Caeldaemos laughed. “I think I am good with just the three.”

“I’m sure if you asked, Orelia would happily join your harem. Wait… if those three can barely handle you, you would probably break her….” Mari had second thoughts.

“Yeah… I ain’t touching her.” Caeldaemos replied, knowing full well that even if Orelia didn’t break from sheer ecstasy, she would become far worse than her current worship of him.

It wasn’t long until they arrived at the gate of the town of Flower. It looked like the town was experiencing a boom in economic profit. The wooden walls were being upgraded with stone, and guard towers were being built.

Caeldaemos knew that the profit they were getting was from the nearby dungeon they were mining. He felt a pang of guilt that he was there to stop their mining operation, but perhaps he could get more information to placate his guilt.

A guard came up to the truck. “Oi! I heard you have several bandits locked in the back?”

“Correct, sir. They attacked my party, and we convinced them to give up. I swear by Io.” A silver haze rolled over Caeldaemos’ body.

“Io? Eh, whatever. Pull off to the side there and open it up.” The guard ordered.

Their caravan pulled off to the side, and Caeldaemos hopped out.

The guard had them wait for a bit until several guards arrived. A woman in armor approached Caeldaemos. The closer she got to him, she seemed to blush.

“G-Good afternoon, sir. I was informed you captured some bandits.” She said, clearing her throat.

“Yes, ma’am,” Caeldaemos replied.

“Ańa. You can call me Ańa. Your name is?” The woman said.

“Captain?” One of the soldiers was confused by her actions.

“Uh, okay… Dame Ańa. My name is Michael.” Caeldaemos opened the back of the truck, showing the slightly roughed-up bandits. He and Listamati were going by the names Lisa and Michael.

The guards had the bandits climb out individually, checking their identities.

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“Captain. These bandits are the Black Boggers.” The guard reported.

“Really? Michael, your party has defeated a large thorn on our side. You have my… gratitude.” Ańa seemed to really have the hots for him.

“That is interesting. I hope there is a reward.” Liara slipped in and hung on her husband’s arm.

“Truly. It was difficult work, facing so many of them.” Listamati took his other arm.

The two ladies smiled victoriously at the captain, who seemed upset that a man she was interested in was taken by two women no less!

A few guards scoffed or spit on the ground, calling Caeldaemos a ‘Lover of Beasts.’

Ańa recovered her dignity. “I see. I only see twenty here, and the leader seems missing.”

“We killed eight of them, the leader included. I swear by Io that we burned their corpses to ashes and buried them in the forest.” A silver haze rolled over Caeldaemos’ body.

“I see. You will be rewarded for this. It will take us a bit of time to tally up the reward. Come by my, I mean, the knight quarters tomorrow afternoon to claim your reward.” Ańa quickly said and headed back toward the town.

“Was that really necessary?” Caeldaemos asked, putting away the truck and pulling out his cycle.

“I refuse to let a harlot try to move in on my man,” Liara stated.

“Yet you welcomed Rana and Lisa?” Caeldaemos raised an eyebrow.

“They love you like I do. She just lusted for you.” Liara stated, climbing onto the back of his cycle.

He smirked, getting on. “I’m surprised all of you are not arguing this time.”

“We discussed over the last few hours and decided on a schedule.” She answered.

Caeldaemos laughed heartily, and they made their way into town.

Caeldaemos didn’t think it would be as bad as Orelia had said, but it was.

“I don’t want beast staying in my inn! Bugger off!” One innkeeper yelled at them.

“Sorry, but demis tend to make too much of a mess.” The next innkeeper told them.

Three of the four inns refused to let them stay, making Caeldaemos nearly angry enough to go full Demon-Lord on their town, but the girls calmed him down.

They arrived at the last inn. It was small and looked aged but not falling apart. Heading in, they found an old couple that ran the inn.

“Oh, welcome. Thank you for coming to Nesty Inn. I am Charlie Nesty, and this is my wife, Mable.” The old man smiled.

“Uh…” Caeldaemos was fully expecting to be run out, but the old couple seemed to have no problem with demi-humans.

Charlie laughed. “Every time, every damn time! Hah, hah, hah!”

Mable stepped forward to explain while her husband laughed his head off.

“Sorry about Charlie. This happens every time demi-humans come to our town.”

“Those idiots! Demis are no different than us! Hah, hah, hah!” Charlie continued laughing, gripping his stomach.

Mable shook her head and told him to go to the back and calm down.

“Again, sorry about Charlie. See, not everyone hates demi-humans. We here welcome your business. As Charlie said, you are no different than us. We keep our room clean, and breakfast is included with the rooms. For you, sir, it looks like you might need our biggest bed.” Mable giggled to herself.

“I would appreciate that.” Caeldaemos smiled at her.

“So well-mannered!” Mable stated. She followed up by going over the room costs and times meals were served and offered to tell them a bit about the town.

The lovely old lady took out a map and pointed out various shops that would have no issue serving demi-humans.

“If you want the map, it will be 20 Tress.” Mable gave a business smile.

Rana stepped forward, smiling. “We will be fine. Here is 20 Tress for the information. I noted everything down.”

Rana already had her golem mice mapping the town and noted the locations Mable told them about.

Charlie came back, his eyes puffy from crying and holding his side. “Oh boy, I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Thanks for that. Mable, tell you about the town?” The old man asked with a welcoming smile.

“She did. I am curious, though. It looks like the economy here is booming.” Rana commented.

“Ah. That’s because of the local dungeon. They closed it off for the Hero of Sylfaerune. Supposedly he found a big mine in the dungeon of high-quality mana stones. Their operation has brought a lot of business here, but….” Charlie seemed hesitant to say more.

“If you’re uncomfortable saying, that is fine. We don’t plan on leaving the area for a bit.” Liara said.

Charlie scratched his head. “Well, sigh, the people working the operation have been causing problems in town. I’m a social butterfly, so I talk to a lot of people and I hear a lot of things. I want to warn you guys that if you see people wearing blue and silver sashes, give them a wide birth. They will definitely bring your group trouble with how lovely you ladies are.”

“What about the local lord?” Listamati asked.

Charlie shrugged. “She’s been silent for weeks. No visitors go to her manor, and no one has seen her all this time. Her butler comes out every so often to resupply food, but he doesn’t talk to anyone. A lot of us have been worried about her.”

Caeldaemos noted to check out the lord’s situation.

“Thanks for the information. We are going to get some rest before checking out the town.” Caeldaemos thanked the elderly couple.

“Just remember what I said. Avoid the Silver Bloods.” Charlie warned.

Caeldaemos paid for the rooms, and they headed to their rooms to talk.

The large bed was just big enough for him and one other. Today was Liara’s turn, so she got to stay in the room with him. The others brought a few chairs in from their rooms and sat down for a meeting.

“What do you all think?” Caeldaemos asked them, wanting to rely on their greater world experience.

“We need to find out more about these Silver Bloods. If what they said is true, the group is linked to the mining.” Liara pointed out.

“The local lord should be the one dealing with them. Perhaps she has a connection with them?” Listamati brought up.

“I’m curious about the situation of the town. It looks prosperous on the outside, but something feels off.” Rana commented.

Caeldaemos thought for a bit. Thinking of things in a Gamer way, he thought of the best assignments.

“Lily, Mari. I ask you two to check out the lord’s Manor tonight. Gather what information you can. Lista and Orelia, I want you two to ask about the mining operation and see if the Silver Bloods are connected to them. Rana and Liara, you two will be with me.” He spoke.

Liara smiled over his proposal. “What shall we be doing, my lord?” She said seductively.

He snorted over her teasing attempt. “Us? I’m going to pick a fight.”