“You know, most people would not dare to say something like that.” Lilith replied. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. Even a powerful ancient being, like her, had a soft spot for children. Or maybe it was because she saw Lucy as a peer, and he was her brother.

Ben looked confused. He did not seem to understand why asking her to be a maid was a big deal. Being a maid was likely an honour in his mind. In the end, Ben settled on just taking it as a compliment.

“I am very daring!” He said. “I used to be afraid of storms but they are actually my friends! A lot of scary things are!”

We arrived at Thessia’s tree, which looked unharmed. I saw a few trampled flowers but overall it did not look like a big fight had happened here. The dryad emerged from behind her tree and walked towards us.

“It is good to see you, my friends!” Then she looked at Lilith. “Greetings, queen of the succubi.”

“Greetings, high priestess.” Lilith replied.

I was surprised how cordial they were. Thessia did say that her goddess was not opposed to working with Lilith. Maybe I was still thinking too much in terms of my old world. I was not sure what I had expected.

“Did you encounter any attackers?” I asked.

“My tree gained some nourishment.” She smiled predatorily.

“Shani says you should not eat people. Just harvest their blood.” Ben remarked.

“Eating your prey is natural. Why would I waste their bodies?” Thessia responded.

An understandable stance from someone serving the goddess of nature. But not the best advice for a small foxkin.

“Don’t eat people, it’s wrong.” I said, then added: “Well, it’s wrong to eat your species or anything close to it.” A magical word complicates things.

“So, if a big sis turns into a fluffy fox she should not eat fluffy things.” Ben concluded.

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He actually made an interesting point. What if you were a magical creature and could turn into a humanoid?

“I guess you should mostly avoid eating intelligent creatures.” I said.

Ben scratched his head. “So we can eat stupid people?”

“Uh, no. That is not how I meant intelligent. More like, self-aware.” I clarified.

“What does self-aware mean?” Ben asked.

“Lucy, help me here!” I pleaded.

“You know, I did bite a few of the attackers in my fox form. I did not quite eat them but I certainly did taste some blood. It did not feel wrong…” Lucy pondered.

Ok, Ben was doomed.

“Well Ben, just don’t eat people. Listen to Shani.” That I recommended Shani as a moral guideline was probably not ideal. But hey, at least she did not teach him to eat someone.

“A fascinating discussion.” I heard Josef say. I had not seen him before. He must have been on the other side of the tree when we arrived. “It is very interesting how different creatures and cultures deal with such a topic.”

Then he looked at Lilith and bowed. “I greet you, queen of the succubi.”

“Greetings, mortal.”

“This is Josef, the alchemist working on a cure.” I said.

“I shall send you some of my servants to help.” Lilith announced.

“That is most generous.” Josef said. He was much more formal in her presence than in ours. I guess he was already used to us.

“Do you know why they attacked?” I asked Thessia.

“They were looking for something, or someone.” Thessia replied. “As far as I can tell, quite a few small teams were inside the palace. They were strong enough to overpower most normal guards but they did not strike me as elite assassins.”

“So if they were after someone it would be a normal person, not a warrior.” I concluded.

“Indeed. They might have sought knowledge. Maybe they were hoping to disrupt any progress we are making on countering them.” Thessia theorised.

“Do you think the dwarves are hiding something? Something the Inquisition wants?” I asked.

“Maybe. Any nation has plans to deal with calamities.” Thessia replied.

“Indeed. There is a reason why this world has not been overrun by demon lords. And it is not just because we are hard to summon. A well equipped group wielding tier nine spells can be dangerous. There are powerful artefacts, some even forged by the gods themselves. One should not underestimate mortals.” Lilith said.

“And it’s not like all powerful creatures are friends. If demon lords invaded, they would spend a lot of time fighting themselves. Archfey, dragons, kitsune, liches,... many other creatures would get involved.” I added.

“Yes, we do keep each other contained.” Lilith agreed.

“What is a lich?” Ben asked.

“They are mortals who became undead and wield powerful magic.” I explained.

“I bet they stink! I hope we don’t meet one.” Ben declared. “But I would like to meet a dragon. Do you think we will meet a dragon?”

“There are ancient dragons in those mountains but I do not think they care about this situation.” Thessia said. “Unless someone tries to experiment on them. If a large number of dragonkin is abducted…”

“Oh, I just remembered something.” I said. “We still have a lot of things from Beira’s lab. I am not sure if any of her research is important but it can’t hurt.”

We had taken everything, including the furniture. I just placed it on the ground. It was time for someone to make some use of it.