After Muriel finished devouring the entire horse, leaving not even bones behind, she slowly stood up and began searching the bodies of the mercenaries scattered around her. She was looking for any spare coins or useful items. She found both: a pouch containing nearly fifty silver coins and a map of Veridia with a marked route to Oviliea. It was convenient for her, as she didn’t have the skill to create three-dimensional maps. With these discoveries in hand, she walked over to Lilith, who was sitting on the ground at a distance.
For Lilith, seeing a person’s head explode so vividly right before her eyes for the first time left her unsure of what to feel.
"Hey, Lilith, are you alright?" Muriel asked.
“Huh?! Oh, yes, Lady Muriel. I just… I’m not sure how to feel about what just happened,” Lilith stammered, startled, before softening her voice as she continued.
“Is that so? Sorry about that. A child like you shouldn’t have to see two people die like that.”
“I’ve seen people die before, Lady Muriel, but I’ve never witnessed anything as… violent as what you did,” Lilith explained, trying to clarify so Muriel wouldn’t misunderstand.
“Oh, you mean it that way? I thought after the tournament in Senwara, you’d already be scared of me,” Muriel replied.
“What about the remaining mercenaries who are unconscious? What should we do with them?” Lilith asked, attempting to change the subject as she glanced at the mercenaries lying on the ground, having been tossed around like ragdolls by Muriel earlier.
“Hm… maybe they’ll wake up in an hour or so. Not sure. But that guy who got torn in half? Pretty sure he’s dead for good,” Muriel said nonchalantly.
“Where did he go? And what about the person driving the carriage earlier? ” Lilith hesitated as she asked, though she was beginning to realize the answer before she even finished her question.
“I ate them.”
“I see… my apologies for asking,” Lilith responded quickly.
“You stop asking me things midway next time. I don’t mind,” Muriel replied before wrapping her tail around Lilith’s waist again. Spreading her wings, Muriel launched into the air.
Muriel flew at the same altitude as before but took charge of directing their path toward Oviliea, her speed slightly faster than earlier. Lilith looked down, seeing mostly forest below them. Freeflame and Dragon Candle were strapped to her, and she could feel their magical energy slowly seeping into her. She thought it might just be her own magic trying to absorb the power from both weapons, merging it for more efficient use.
After nearly an hour of flying, Muriel noticed the city walls ahead, about five hundred meters away. She ascended higher to get a clearer view of the city.
Oviliea, from above, looked like most large cities in the western continent. It was surrounded by walls, and the city had a port for the river running through it that widened into a lake north of the city. Muriel took the map out again, noting that following the river south would eventually lead to Senwara.
"A lakeside city, huh? But this place is far from the sea. Why would they even need a port like that?" Muriel remarked as she began to descend after finishing her aerial survey of the city.
"The port is for slave ships traveling upriver from the sea," Lilith replied, her voice tinged with a somber note as memories seemed to replay vividly in her mind.
"Syra-fucking-dammit..."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Forget it. Wait—how old are you again? Ten? How do you remember things like this so well?"
"I'm twelve, Lady Muriel," Lilith replied with a faint, sheepish smile. Come to think of it, she had never told Muriel her age before.
"The reason I remember is... I once saw people being dragged off a ship like that. It’s something I can’t forget no matter how hard I try," Lilith explained further.
"Don’t worry, Lilith. Once we’re done with our business in this city, no more slave ships will ever dock at that port again," Muriel said with firm resolve.
After finishing her words, Muriel tilted her wings downward and landed in the forest near the city. From there, they would proceed on foot. Upon reaching the ground, Muriel transformed her appearance, donning a dark uniform and making her wings, horns, and tail vanish. Her outward form now resembled that of a petite, ordinary woman.
As both Lilith and Muriel wore the uniforms of the Darkwarden organization, they were granted entry into the city without so much as a single question. Muriel felt disgusted every second she wore the uniform, knowing it was crafted from Arachne silk. No matter how refined the material was, it still repulsed her.
Once inside the city, they encountered numerous slaves. Muriel couldn’t help but think the general populace had been reduced to servitude, while the city housed only wealthy nobles eager to own slaves.
Then, something unusual caught Muriel’s attention—a strange scent she vaguely recognized. She grabbed Lilith’s hand and began following the scent quickly.
“Lady Muriel, is something wrong?” Lilith asked, unable to suppress her curiosity as she observed Muriel’s focused demeanor.
“I caught the scent of a half-elf. It’s familiar, but I can’t place where I’ve smelled it before,” Muriel replied, her steps quickening as she followed the trail.
The scent led her through narrow alleys between houses and out onto another street within the city. Finally, across the road, Muriel spotted Hari, dressed in casual clothes and carrying a basket of fruit as she browsed the market. Without hesitation, Muriel strode toward her in the middle of the bustling city.
"Hey, half-elf! What are you buying?"
"Huh… Mu—wait, huh?!" Hari stammered, startled as Muriel appeared out of nowhere, greeting her so casually. She nearly dropped her fruit basket in shock.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
In front of Lilith stood a half-elf woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. Her short black hair ended just at the nape of her neck, and her light green eyes clearly reflected her shock at Muriel's sudden appearance—so much so that Lilith almost laughed at her reaction.
Without hesitation, Hari reached out and pinched Muriel's soft, oddly elastic cheeks tightly, preventing her from saying anything. Hari glanced around nervously before pulling Muriel into a narrow alley, the same path Muriel had taken to stumble upon her earlier.
“How on Syra’s green Er Ciel did you two end up here? I thought you two were still in Listerok,” Hari asked in a hushed tone, releasing Muriel’s unusually supple cheeks. Her voice was low, as if worried they might be overheard.
“Oh, we’ve already been there. We’re heading back to Senwara and just stopped by this city to destroy it a little,” Muriel replied casually, pulling out Fumiko’s long knife to show Hari before slipping it back into her skirt pocket.
“What!? You went to Listerok and came back in just three days?”
“Three days already? Time flies,” Muriel responded indifferently, her tone contrasting Hari's alarmed demeanor. She seemed almost bored with the conversation, as though Hari's concern was unnecessary. Hari then turned her attention to Lilith, or more precisely, the sword and staff strapped to Lilith’s back.
“And you, those weapons.”
“Freeflame and Dragon Candle!” Lilith exclaimed proudly. “Crafted fresh from Lady Muriel’s own blood!”
“Hah!?” Hari looked even more bewildered as she listened to their words.
“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later when we have time,” Muriel said dismissively. “What about you? What are you doing here? If you’re here to buy slaves, I’ll kill you right here and now.”
“Are you insane? Syra no, of course not!” Hari snapped, her voice rising slightly before she composed herself. “I was born during the time when slavery was a thing, but that doesn’t mean I’m here to buy any slaves.” Hari sighed deeply, trying to calm herself as she processed the chaotic information being thrown at her.
“Good grief. Both you and your father—you two just love shocking me by pulling off impossible things,” Hari muttered, placing her hands on her temples, feeling as though the stress of over 650 years was crashing down on her and almost causing her brain hemorrhage.
“So? What’s next? What are you doing here, Hari?” Muriel asked, pushing at her slightly sore cheeks with her hands as if trying to soothe the pain.
“Two high-ranking members of the organization are in this city right now. I was just summoned to tag along,” Hari replied, glancing nervously over her shoulder, checking if anyone might be watching them.
“Who? The white-haired elf?”
“No, not Veenciel. Leon and Slyvif,” Hari answered, still cautiously scanning her surroundings.
“Slyvif?”
"The person who made the clothes we're wearing, Lady Muriel," Lilith answered Muriel. When she received her uniform that night, Lilith met Slyvif, the one who had woven the silk into the outfits she and Muriel were wearing.
"Fucking arachne..." Muriel muttered, and as the thought sank in, she suddenly vomited onto the ground below, her disgust so overwhelming that it manifested physically in a wave of hatred and revulsion at the mere idea.
"Lady Muriel, are you alright!?" Lilith was alarmed and quickly moved to support Muriel from behind.
"I'm fine... just thought of something I shouldn't have," Muriel replied, turning briefly to look at Lilith before fixing her gaze back on Hari.
"So? Where are the glasses-wearing freak and that vile, shameless, reprehensible, eight-legged thing staying in the city?"
"You don’t have to call Slyvif that. She’s not that bad of a person," Hari sighed. "Anyway, both of them are staying at the city’s palace. The city’s baron is hosting them warmly."
"The baron who governs the city... must be filthy rich from supporting this disgusting slave trade," Muriel said, her words dripping with hatred.
"You're not far off from the truth," Hari replied, rather sadly.
"Lead the way to the palace. I’d like to... play a little," Muriel said, lifting her head to look at Hari with a wicked grin.
"Before that, let me finish buying my fruit. You almost made me drop them earlier," Hari said, stepping out of the alley back toward the market.
"And those weapons of Lilith’s?" Hari asked, glancing at Muriel as they walked.
"I bled myself dry to craft them for her. It was exhausting. Even after eating a horse and two people, my magical energy reserves haven’t fully recovered yet," Muriel replied nonchalantly.
"Right... I won’t even ask where you got the horse and the people," Hari said, shaking her head before turning to Lilith. "Lilith? Traveling to Listerok with Muriel wasn’t too much for you, was it?"
"It was amazing, Lady Hari. Going to Listerok with Lady Muriel felt like my world expanded in so many ways," Lilith said with a smile as she ran a hand over her neck. The collar had been gone for three days now, but she still felt some lingering pain. Even so, it was far better than almost her entire life before.
"Is that so? Well, that's good then. Getting two weapons made of dragonblood steel like that—your kind of luck must be one in ten million," Hari said casually to Lilith as she continued picking out fruit at the market.
"Lady Hari, right? Do you know Lady Muriel's father? What kind of dragon was he?" Lilith asked, unable to hold back her curiosity after overhearing that Hari knew Muriel's father.
"A dragon? Oh no, Muriel’s father is human. To be precise, he adopted her," Hari replied, glancing at Muriel in case she wanted to say something.
"Muriel's father found her as an egg in the demon lord Merrion’s castle. From what he told me, he found Muriel’s egg in the treasure room and felt a strange connection to it, so he brought it with him."
"Yeah, papa picked me up when I was still an egg," Muriel interjected nonchalantly.
"Oh, I see. I thought Lady Muriel’s father would be a divine dragon or something, considering how talented Lady Muriel is," Lilith said, trying to hide the slight disappointment that her imagination of a grand, ancient dragon wasn’t true.
"If that were the case, I probably wouldn’t have ended up as a demon lord," Muriel thought to herself but didn’t voice it. She simply allowed a faint smirk to cross her lips.
"So, Lady Hari, how do you know Lady Muriel’s father?" Lilith pressed on, her curiosity now fully piqued. Hari, slightly startled by Lilith's sudden enthusiasm, hesitated for a moment.
"Ah… Peter, huh? It’s been six hundred and thirty years since I first met him," Hari said, pausing mid-step to delve into her memories. Despite the centuries that had passed, Hari never forgot a single detail—her memory was practically photographic.
"Back then, Alderia and all the kingdoms of the western continent united to overthrow Demon King Merrion, who had invaded from the north. Humans, dwarves, elves, beastfolk, and other races joined forces. Ah, it was something to remember. Now, all the kingdoms just sit around doing nothing," Hari began, but her story quickly veered off-topic.
"Ah, sorry for rambling. At the time, Peter and I were stationed at the same military camp. I was the second-in-commander of the unit. When I first met him, he couldn’t even read. But one day, the hero’s party of that era arrived at the camp. Peter and two hundred soldiers traveled across the central mountain range with the hero’s party and managed to defeat Demon King Merrion. That’s all I know—I didn’t go with them. If you want to know more, ask Lady Melania."
"Who is Lady Melania?" Lilith asked, unfamiliar with the name.
"The headmistress of the magic academy in Alderia. It’s right in the center of Lumina. After we finish dealing with this mess involving those filthy scum like Satoru, I plan to take you to meet her. She’ll teach you to control your magical powers better than anyone else in this world," Muriel explained, pulling Lilith closer to prevent her from bombarding Hari with further questions. Any more chatter, and they might not get anything done.
While waiting for Hari to finish shopping, Muriel looked around. Just as she suspected, most of the people in the city—even in the bustling market—were slaves. Many shopkeepers were slaves selling goods, and most buyers were servants shopping on behalf of their masters. The sight of hundreds of slave collars ignited a silent fury and disgust within Muriel. Her instincts screamed that this time, her feelings were entirely justified.
After Hari finished her shopping, she led Muriel and Lilith toward the palace atop a hill in the city. The guards at the gate, upon seeing Hari accompanied by two members of the organization, let them pass without a word. As Muriel walked, she glared at the palace with disdain. She slowly raised her hand toward it, her fingers curling into a tight fist as if imagining crushing it entirely.
"Changed my mind. Let’s burn it to the ground instead."
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