“Come and look, then,” the monster tempted them.

Nothing would happen if they didn’t go, and they were already dead anyway, so the former Humans simply swallowed their fears and stepped out into the sunlight. Their eyes had yet to adjust from their formerly dark and cold environment, so they raised their arms to shield them. After a moment, their arms lowered and they blinked at the bizarrely harmonious scene before them.

Lush fields--inconceivably lush fields--spread out before them for quite a ways. They thought the plants were swaying in the breeze, at first, but then they realized that there were small green Goblins moving through them, picking weeds and vegetables and occasionally removing rocks from the soil. A few Orcs and Fomors stood nearby. The former Humans tensed, thinking they were slave overseers at first, but it became apparent from where their eyes were glaring that the guards were there to protect the Goblins and food.

The tall, and admittedly somewhat pretty, Orc variant started walking toward the heart of the city, so the spies continued to observe while moving. From there, nearly every step they took revealed a new building, and most of them were built magnificent, large, and of some rare metal or stone. They got a close look at the crystal palace they’d only been able to glimpse the top of. Just as grand as the castle itself was the large and long stairway leading up to it, guarded by two statues of some kind of Orc-Angel hybrid, with wings oddly positioned at their hips.

As they kept going toward the West, the buildings became less grand, but the number of Monsters walking about increased greatly. All around, women were crafting various things, such as clothes, armor, pots, baskets, and so on. Some Monsters who weren’t working were hanging out in the shade along the sides of the black crystal road: practicing simple spells; reading from and writing on stone tablets. Once, they saw an earth golem walk by, pulling a wagon filled with more stone tablets.

With wagons, golems, workstations, and loafers, and the occasional Fomor, it was quite the crowded place. They didn’t have to experience any discomfort, though. The crowds naturally parted for them on account of their guide. The noise increased, though, as many people smiled and called out greetings in a strange language. The Orc Lord smiled back, and returned some words they couldn’t understand.

“That’s right,” she looked over her shoulder and went back to using Human language. “If you’re going to be living here, you should start learning New Orcish. Any Orc will understand you in your native tongue, but you’ll have a hard time communicating with the Goblins or Fomors without it. Well, most people start by learning regular Orcish, since it’s simpler.”

They reached the end of the crowded area, and the Orc Lord stopped her feet, raising a hand to her chin. “What else would be good to show you?” She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “This city still has a small population for its size. The North and South districts don’t have much going on yet.” She turned around and smiled, “But you can see, right? I have more than three Species and five Races living together peacefully, and they’re building things up instead of tearing them down. Do you know why?”

The spies who were willing to be expressive shook their heads. It was nothing new for Orc Lords to have their subordinates make things, but their reason had always been to support war efforts. This aberrant had already told them that she wanted to avoid war. They couldn’t understand her thought process at all.

The giantess smiled unhappily, “It’s because I was born in a tiny village that didn’t even know to wash their newborns; where nobody wore clothes to protect themselves from the elements, and where there was no way of stockpiling food for the winter.” She raised an eyebrow, “I was born in a dirty, low-class dump. I could have died of disease before being old enough to crawl, and if things stayed the same, another ten generations down the line we would be living in the same shitty conditions. That’s doubly true if the person meant to lead us rushes off to war and gets herself killed and her city razed. I just had to ask myself: after there have been so many powerful Orc Lords, why was I still born under such poor conditions? It’s because my predecessors were too war-hungry. I won’t be like them.”

It was a very inspiring speech and all, but war was going to come to this creature whether she wanted it or not, and she would obviously fight when the time came. Some of the former Humans may have believed her intentions, but they didn’t think they were achievable. Nobody spoke up, of course. If the Orc Lord was reluctant to go to war, it was better for the descendants. They could take their time to prepare and secure the first strike for themselves.

Too bad they themselves would now be seen as enemies during that strike.

***

I think I started to get my intentions across to these people. Now if I can learn about Human politics from them, that would be very helpful.

There was a small matter I’d put off in order to give them this tour, though. I thought to check on that first.

“By the way, you mentioned something about a last resort? What was that referring to?” I looked at the dark-haired spy who’d stood consistently at the back of the group.

The man shrugged. “Just that he was planning to sneak some Rangers into the expedition group the Sartiella Knight sisters were forming. They would serve as protection both on the way here and the way back.”

I tried to keep my expression from changing, but some shadows slipped through. “Sartiella Knights are coming here? Doesn’t that mean a war with Humans has already started?”

He shook his head. “Their goal wasn’t you. They wanted to hunt down some Demonic Beasts or something. I don’t think those people even know you exist yet.”

I recalled the story I’d fed Elianora and breathed a sigh of relief that the strong, or at least influential, people wouldn’t be passing by Babylon without an invitation.

But if that girl knew about it, she would have joined in, right? Just to come and visit again, even though I told her not to.

“Do you know if that expedition force has any magic casters in it?” I asked.

“You mean mages?” the dark-haired spy asked. “Of course. Lots of them.”

I sighed deeply and gave an apologetic look to the ten people I was now responsible for. “I’m sorry. There might be someone I know in that group, so I have to go make sure they’re doing alright. I’ll leave you with my father until I get back. He’s used to caring for people, so you don’t need to worry.”

They looked wary, but I took them to father regardless. I found him in the shade, providing water and encouragement to some very pregnant Orc women.

“Are they alright?” I asked, a tinge of concern in my voice.

Father nodded, “Yes, they just stayed in the sun for too long.”

“We can’t walk as fast as usual,” one of the women shrugged.

I sighed and spread out to quickly cool them off. “You need to take care of your bodies better. We lost too many unborn as it stands.”

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

I looked at father, who nodded in thanks. He could feel the cool air and see the women’s flushed faces returning to normal.

“Father, could you watch these people? They’re Living Dead, like Azza, so they’re very weak, but they’re still a little dangerous. Treat them well but punish them if they misbehave.”

“Hmph. Alright,” he nodded. “And what will you be doing?”

“There’s a Human expedition on Black Mountain right about now, supposedly. I want to make sure they’re safe in case anybody I know is with them.”

I would be going alone, of course, since nobody else could fly.

I showed my , which the spies were greatly surprised to see, and flew toward the Black Mountain. These wings were very fast, so I was there in only a few minutes. It took some searching, but I spotted a large group of people. They were cowering in fear as a Demonic Beast approached them. The thing was easily sixty feet long and was modeled after a Lynx. The intense Demonic aura it was emitting should have set my Holy spirits trembling, but I didn’t really feel any effect. Something to worry about later and be grateful for now.

At the front of the Human group, three armored women with drastically different builds stood with their swords drawn. They were most likely Rudan’s sisters: the Sartiella Knight sisters, but they looked quite worried. They could probably have used some help, but I took my time to scan their ranks first. I didn’t see Elianora anywhere, but there was a familiar face sitting in the back of one of the carriages, looking dead tired.

It’s that Human Cleric who was with that feather fetish girl, Runa.

As long as there was someone I knew present, I couldn’t just leave them to die. If word got out that I did that sort of thing, diplomatic relations in the future would become a nightmare.

Alright, fine. I made myself a nice steel short lance with earth magic and hurled it down at the Demonic Beast. I’d had all my stealth skills active, so it didn’t notice a thing and took the attack right in its back. Unfortunately, it still seemed able to move; the attack couldn’t penetrate its strong bones. I continued to create and throw short lances. It dodged most of them, occasionally firing some sort of purple energy from its mouth at me. I was able to dodge them all or block them with barriers, thankfully. That stuff looked ominous, and I didn’t want to get cursed.

The fight started to drag on, so I used a small barrier to fake getting hit by one of the energy blasts, then started falling. When the Demonic Beast let its guard down and turned to the offensive, I used earth magic to seal its movements for an instant and drove my short lance into its skull with all of my weight, strength, and falling force. I added , , and into the strike for good measure. The beast’s tough bones shattered and I ground its brain matter to paste with , using my weapon as a conduit. The steel short lance shattered, but it didn’t cost me anything. It ended up being a nice, easy fight from the air.

I examined my kill, wondering how I would transport so many materials back to Babylon alone. Then I realized that I’d forgotten where I was in the heat of the moment. I turned to the small army of Humans to see them looking on in stunned silence.

“Excuse me, did you just protect us?”

I looked at the short, white-haired Knight who spoke in a chilly voice.

“I’m sorry. Did you want to kill it yourselves?”

She shook her head. I noticed a small silver dragon-like thing curl around her neck and cuddle against her cheek. The girl stroked it thoughtfully. “No. That one was too strong for us. I don’t know what may have called it down the mountain.”

“A winged Orc,” the Knight next to her murmured. This one had short-white blonde hair and a modest figure. She chuckled, “I was told that I might see something like you here, but you don’t look anything like a Holy Beast to me, aside from those wings.”

“Oh my. She’s a Holy Beast?” the third sister, a woman with long blonde hair and an extreme hourglass figure raised a hand to her mouth in surprise.

I shook my head, resolving to be honest. “No, sorry to disappoint you. While I possess the Holy attribute, however faintly, I’m still a Monster. I stepped in because someone I’m familiar with seems to be traveling with you.”

The girls raised their eyebrows, and I made my way toward their carriages. The other Humans were all rather stunned still, so they quietly moved out of my way. When I reached Samael, he looked at me like he didn’t really see me. To jog him back to reality, I put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “Nice to see you again, Samael. I’ve changed again since last time. Do you still recognize me?”

His dark and tired eyes widened and his head frantically looked back and forth between the surrounding Adventurers. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on us, and he looked back at me in shock, choking on his words. “Vyra?”

I nodded and tears welled up in his eyes. “Why? Why did you save me when I was thinking about,” he trailed off and shed a few tears, hurriedly wiping them away with his sleeve. “I don’t understand. I can’t understand. Why am I supposed to hate someone so kind?”

I frowned at his unexpected response. The last time I met Samael, he was a curious and cheerful guy. It would seem his current tired state wasn’t caused by this expedition alone.

“What happened, Samael? You don’t seem like yourself.”

He choked back another cry and gave a shaky smile. “Apparently my friendship with you is a sin against the gods. I’ve been wrestling with my faith and guilt for,” he struggled, “for a while.”

“Is that so?” I pondered for a moment. “In my experience, people are lacking as conduits for the motivations of gods. I’ve even received a blessing from one of your gods, so I don’t think you have to worry about what any holy men have to say about fraternizing with me.”

He broke down and cried when I said that, but someone apparently didn’t care.

“Excuse me, but would you be the Orc Lord, by any chance?” It was the silver-haired Knight.

I resolved myself, as the leader of a young nation, not to hide. “Yes. I’m Orc Lord Vyra. And you are?”

She bowed slightly. “My name is Marilyn Sartiella, a member of the Sartiella Knight house of Andorin Kingdom to the west of here.” She rose and drew her sword from her hip. “It’s rude of me, but my position demands that I eliminate strong and intelligent Monsters with extreme prejudice.”

“You came out here for revenge, didn’t you?” I interrupted. “For your brother’s death.”

It was minute, but her right eye twitched at the corner. “How do you know that?”

“I was present at that time. I arrived too late to save him, though.”

“It makes no difference,” Marilyn shook her head and raised her blade, clearly preparing for a sudden dash.

“I still have his body.” The girl immediately froze all her movements.

“It was eaten by a vulture plant,” she glared.

“Don’t you know? The spell can return a dead body to its pristine state, as long as you have enough to start with. I’ve kept it preserved all this time out of guilt.”

The girl adopted a more casual posture, but she didn’t sheath her weapon. “Are you offering my brother’s body in exchange for overlooking your presence here?”

I smiled and shook my head. “If that’s all you want, you can have it, but I have something a little sweeter to offer.”

The other two sisters approached. The big-breasted one looked concerned, while the boyish one was fuming. “I don’t like the way you’re discussing my brother’s body so casually.”

“Forgive me,” I raised a hand and tipped my head in apology. “As a magic caster, I’ve already reached the point where I can make use of my Law Power. The ability to bestow life happens to be contained in there.” I nodded to their stunned faces. “That’s right. I’m offering to resurrect your brother. However, the procedure isn’t perfect. Before you accept, I’m obligated by moral virtue to explain the consequences.”

Marilyn sheathed her sword. “Go on.”

I smiled. “I cannot bring back your brother’s soul. It might be living a new life by now for all we know. Because of that, he won’t possess any skills or blessings on revival, nor will he be able to receive any. However, his personality and memories will be perfectly intact. His body will be a little weak at the beginning, but he will be able to train it and accumulate magic power to make it stronger. Lastly, he will change from a descendant to a Soulless, and his Race will change from Human to Living Dead. If anybody looks at his status, they’ll know right away, but there will be no visible difference. With those terms, do you want to have him back?”

“Yes.” Marilyn’s immediate response startled me a little, but the look in her eyes was firm. “Yes. I want my brother back. Besides hiding your existence, I’ll even offer you one other separate favor.”

“Marilyn?!” The boyish knight looked at her in shock and spoke very fast. “My answer is yes as well: I don’t care if my brother’s strong; it’s enough to have him around to talk to, but it sounds like he can become strong anyway if he works hard. But, sis, don’t you think that’s a little too much? As someone employed directly by the king, is it really okay to owe a favor to an Orc Lord?”

You have kind of a big mouth, don’t you?

Marilyn also shot a quick glare and the boyish sister realized her mistake. Still, the silver-haired knight’s promise seemed genuine, and her irritation was fleeting at worst.

“That’s two votes. And you, Miss Knight?”

“Since Marilyn seems determined, I’ll say yes as well.” She looked the least sure of the three, but she wasn’t about to change her mind either.

I nodded sagely. “Though it makes me a tad uncomfortable to lead such a large expedition force to my home, I suppose I’ll be guiding you to Babylon now.”