"If you do not let us enter and check the bodies then you will be starting a war!"

Belliza says "Ash, calm down! Don't do anything stupid!"

Marko says "Ash? You are Duke Ash?!?"

"Yes, I am."

Marko says "Ah, forgive me for not recognizing you! I was only recently made ambassador. Please, come inside!"

"That was a quick change in attitude!"

Marko says "I've been ordered not to interfere with you. You basically own a quarter of the Free Union already!"

"I don't know if I would go that far."

Marko says "I would! Money matters the most in my country and a lot of the biggest merchants owe you money!"

"I don't know anything about that, Pol handles all the merchant stuff."

Marko says "Is that so? Well, regardless, you may enter. Please, follow me, I will show you the bodies."

As I follow Marko, Borrik and Belliza fall in behind me to enter the embassy. It was obviously a very nice room before Lizzy went through it, now it looks like a disaster zone. This place, while grand and fancy, was nowhere big enough for Lizzy to move through.

Of course that didn't stop her, it probably didn't even slow her down much. From the looks of things it is about the same effect as driving a tank through the building. Marko leads us through what is left of a few rooms before we reach the bodies.

Marko says "They didn't look like this when I left!"

"Demons use illusion spells to appear human, the spell wears off after they die."

Marko says "My country has really been infiltrated by demons?!"

"It would seem so. These ten people, who were they supposed to be?"

Marko says "A trade delegation from the capital. They had all the proper documents and passes."

Borrik says "It sounds like they have infiltrated the capital at least."

Belliza says "It makes sense, when the war begins they will want a foothold. Having people in the country would make it easier when they reach the border."

"The demons are moving sooner than I expected. Unfortunately, that means they are already a step ahead of us."

Marko says "I have to inform the president immediately!"

"Do you have a method to find the demons?"

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Marko says "Well, no."

"Can you guarantee that they haven't infiltrated the high levels of the government?"

Marko says "Of course not."

"Then I would suggest waiting until we have a plan before you do anything."

Marko says "Alright, but it needs to be quick. I can only delay sending a warning for a short time."

"Okay, first, Belliza, can you run over to the cathedral and ask if they have a reliable way to detect demons who are under illusion spells?"

Belliza says "Sure!"

Marko says "What if they can't?"

"Then our second option is beastmen who have a strong sense of smell. Lizzy and I were able to find the demons by scent."

Marko says "Normally I would be against it, but demons are completely outside what I am prepared to deal with. In this case I will follow what you say."

"Don't worry, I will help the Free Union free itself from the demons."

Marko says "Thank you, Lord Ash!"

"Borrik, can you get these bodies taken over to the mage guild?"

Borrik says "Sure. Right away!"

"Marko, let's check the rest of your people to make sure no more demons are hiding among them."

Marko says "Okay!"

Following Marko I go through the rest of the embassy, but none of the others are demons. The rest of the building, which Lizzy didn't reach, is rich but tasteful. By the time I am done checking the embassy staff Belliza and Lizzy have both returned.

Belliza says "The church has a method, but it is only reliable only the lowest rank of demons."

"Okay. Lizzy, did you catch them?"

Lizzy says "Of course!"

"With the two I killed that makes a total of sixteen so far in Illium. This tells me that the demons are serious about infiltrating. We need to take steps to counter them quickly."

Borrik says "So, what's the plan?"

"First, Lizzy, go finish your sweep of the city."

Lizzy says "Okay." and runs off.

"Borrik, you are going to need to clean up after her."

Borrik sighs and says "Alright."

"Marko, how hard would it be to allow Lizzy to sweep through the Free Union killing any demons she finds?"

Marko says "Extremely difficult. The only one who could allow that would be the president."

"Would it be easier if it was a squad of beastmen?"

Marko says "Not really."

"Okay, what if it was me?"

Marko says "That would be much easier!"

"In that case it is going to have to wait for a bit, I still have things to take care of. Luckily, I doubt the demons are ready to do anything major."

Marko says "Then I am going to need to report on this situation."

"Alright, but just report on the ten demons in the embassy, nothing more. I don't want to spook the demons and have them run off."

Marko says "I can do that!"

Belliza says "What about me?"

"You are coming with me, Roddick loaned you to me."

Belliza says "Oh? What am I doing?"

"I will explain on the way."

As I am explaining about the ritual to Belliza we walk back to my area and head into Pol's offices. I am glad to see that there are guards on the door and the roof, there are also more guards inside. When we are led into Pol's office there are guards here as well, it looks like he listened.

Pol says "My Lord! What can I do for you?"

"First, I need an empty room. Second, I need to tell you about demon activity."

Annya says "Demons?!"

As Pol leads me to an empty room I start explaining about the day's activities. Then as I set up the ritual I explain the procedure for giving a beastman a mana core and the effects. Once the ritual is ready I tell Belliza how to activate it according to Core's instructions.

Belliza says "That is simple enough!"

Pol says "We are going through this procedure?"

"You, all your people, and all the guards. Over the next couple of days I plan to perform it on all the beastmen in the city."

Annya says "Didn't you say it takes about an hour each time? There are hundreds of beastmen in Illium right now."

"I am aware of that, but I am hoping to keep getting faster at the procedure with practice."

Annya says "Well, even if it takes days, it is a worthy endeavor."

"So, let's get started!"

Once the ritual is charged I start the procedure on Pol, it goes perfectly. Not having the image created by Yui makes it a little harder, but I manage. As soon as Pol is done it is Annya's turn, they insisted that they had to go through it before their people.