“If I may?” Thessia said. So far the dryad had listened quietly. All eyes turned to her. “This is the part where I entered the story. Amaya and Lucy came to me with Minerva, who had been affected by mind control magic. We discovered a larger plot where the Inquisition is altering bodies to permanently enslave people. Josef is an alchemist who is helping us. Hopefully we will find a better solution. Amaya can break the spell, but it needs high tier magic and the binding could be reactivated if Minerva was captured again.”

Alister and Lynn listened intently. I was unsure how much of this they were processing. There was just too much information coming in and it was all rather insane.

“As a high priestess of Sylphania I decided to offer help. As will our church, this is not something our goddess takes lightly. The Inquisition confronted us and we retreated from the capital. We are on our way to the Dominion and will try to find a solution from there.”

“This led to a civil war.” I added. “The Inquisition was exposed and they are now trying to overthrow the Emperor, as far as we can tell. There is also a demonic cult in there creating some havoc.”

“So you can slay another demon lord! Can I come with you?” Ben asked.

“No. No demon lord slaying.” Lynn responded sternly.

“This is a lot to take in…” Alister said.

“Mom, dad, would you come with us?” Lucy asked. “I am not just here to visit you. The civil war is coming. Soon they will start conscriptions in the village. We have some land. We have a lot of money. We can even take the entire village.”

“Hold on a moment. You mentioned being a countess before. You are now a noble? With land?” Alister asked.

“Yes. We helped the Dominion and got a county and a title. I am now Lucy Delphinium, by the way.”

“It would be best if we left the Empire soon but we can certainly spend a day or two here. You can sleep on it tonight. In the meantime, we will invite the villagers to come with us. We will make sure they get a place to stay and an opportunity for work in our county.” I said.

“I am not going to lose Lucy again! If we have to leave here, so be it.” Lynn responded.

“The village has not been the same since the old baron died. I am more than happy to move. But I think Lord Blake will not just let us go…” Alister added.

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Lucy smiled viciously. “Oh, that won’t be a problem. Emma mentioned something about Blake. It sounded like he is causing trouble. We should have a word with him.”

“You should not go, everyone says he is mean to girls.” Ben sounded concerned.

“Don’t worry, your big sister will teach him a lesson. I even have a great friend to help with that. She is called Shani.”

Should I introduce her? Since Terath had joined us I had summoned Shani at least once a day. And despite the absence of any slaughter she seemed to enjoy her time with us.

“Shani is an elemental lord and a friend. I will summon her.” I announced.

Lucy’s parents looked confused. I suspect that they had no idea what an elemental lord was. As I completed the spell Shani appeared, and looked around curiously.

“Ohhh…” Ben sounded awed.

“Oh? This is new. Who are you people?” She asked. “Did you finally get rid of lazy? They are much cuter than lazy. Big upgrade.”

“Terath is still around. Probably napping somewhere nearby. But those are Alister and Lynn, Lucy’s parents. And the little one is Ben, her brother.” I pointed at them as I made the introductions.

“Aw, you have such a cute family! We should celebrate! I could get some blood!”

“Why would you need blood?” Alister asked.

“It’s a Shani thing, ignore it.” Lucy said.

I ignored the elemental’s comment. “Anyway, this is Shani. She is rather powerful and… enjoys combat a lot.”

“Are you going to spank the mean baron?” Ben asked.

“Mean baron?” Her scythe formed in her hands. A mean grin, showing way too many teeth formed. “Show me the way.”

Alister and Lynn looked alarmed by her change. Ben looked even more impressed.

“So cool! Can you summon other things? Can you do magic?”

“I certainly can do magic! Let me just…”

“Stop.” I intervened. “Don’t blow up the village, or anything important here. It’s fine to show off a little but be careful.”

“Of course! I will pick a location where nothing important gets harmed!”

A small cloud formed above. From it a lightning bolt appeared and struck the earth about 100 metres away. Then the earth moved. A head emerged from the ground.

“Hehehehe.” Shani was laughing.

“You hit Terath.” I pointed out.

“Nothing important was harmed.” Shani responded.

The earth elemental looked at us, shook his head and sank into the soil again.

I sighed and proposed a plan: “Ok, back to the baron. We should split up. Maybe Iris can talk to the villagers and ask them to come with us. She wanted to recruit more people anyway. Josef, Thessia, Elandru and Terath should stay as well. Lucy, Shani and myself will go to the castle. That leaves Lily and Minerva.”

“I would like to accompany you, my ladies.” Lily said. “And I would suggest Minerva stays here to help Iris and provide additional security.”

“I wanna come too!” Ben said. “I want to see the mean baron get spanked!”

“Out of the question!” Lynn insisted.

“You are a bit too young.” Lucy said. Ben pouted.

“It would be a great experience for him! A family trip! We should bring everyone!” Shani suggested.

I shook my head. “No. This won’t be a good place for a child.”

“Are you sure you have to go, Lucy? You only just arrived…” Lynn said, looking worried.

“It’s ok mom. I will be back in time for dinner. And if you see the castle explode it’s going to be our doing. I am really strong now, don’t worry.” Lucy smiled reassuringly.