I hear some shouting from inside the house, but the chant is already finished, "Teleport!"

My destination is the warehouse permanent anchor. I'm heartbroken, but Helen's message and the lack of any followup by the other party members was a huge hint that something was amiss. Helen wanted me to come inside straight away for some reason. Waiting at the door gave the initiative to them.

I create Sepal again and possess the fairy puppet. Then 27 SP to raise Shadow Stealth to level 10. I cast invisibility on both me and Petal and we fly back to the house.

I was expecting a commotion. But not dishes flying.

And the one throwing the tableware at no target in particular is none other than Helen, "Why did you have to turn him back! He is weak! Fragile! You just trampled over his heart!"

> "Tehe! What a refresing point of view. She is right, you know? You are awfully weak emotionally speaking."

>

> "C'mon, I am not even a year old yet."

Hilde chides her daughter, "Heart? That is a murderous monster that has just trampled over half the town! How many people do you think just died? And to think he was responsible for throwing you in jail and making us move north! I had a life in Mirfield! Friends!"

Azelinus joins his wife, "I don't know what he intends to do, but he also forced you to murder Julius, can't you see? It is too dangerous. I'm glad he spared us, but we can't allow you to see that... thing anymore."

The sentry totem shows that Bertramus and his women are in the nursery room upstairs. Leaning against a wall in the kitchen is Zahariel and Marcy. Her eyes are bloated from crying. In the bed there is someone... It is Soren. I'm grateful for Petal to pick her up from that roof.

Helen replies, "You are distorting things. This is not what happened. You know the Guild Master wanted to sacrifice me for a long time, father. All that he did was to use that incident as a pretext. Grendel had no involvement with that. I asked Marcy to make you move north to spare you from the trouble that was going to follow my escape from jail. I escaped on my own, with my own powers! And only later we met again. All that he did was to fight back all the shit this world has been throwing his way!"

Azelinus won't concede, "Don't you see that he used his evil powers on your mind? To change the way you think! Run away from this madness while you can!"

Helen shrinks and Hilde continues with the scolding.

"You can't believe how scared I was when I answered that door. That monster could eat me at any moment! Just like he did with guild master Kareena and the soldiers!"

I'd like to retort that I did not eat any people this time, but I can't just blow my cover. I keep Sepal-me near the roof and listen without moiving.

Helen stomps his feet and defends me, "He did not eat them!"

"You have no proof!"

That is it. You want proof the soldiers were not eaten? Have one, right here. Out of the item box, Colchester soldier A's corpse. Splat.

> "Wow. Such finesse. I'm amazed."

>

> "How would you go about it?"

>

> "Dunno. Maybe walk in and talk like a normal person. Oh, wait. We are not persons. You monster, me fairy. I knew giving you the bodies was a bad idea."

>

> "That is not helpful. How would you solve this problem."

>

> "I would, like, walk in with puppy eyes and shed a lot of tears then beg for forgiveness."

>

> "I can do a pretty realistic puppy impersonation."

>

> "Literally, I guess. Silly macho male hero can't do puppy eyes."

Azelinus jumps backward and hits his back on the counter. "What the! What is this, where did this come from?"

I can see a faint smile forming on the corners of the mouths of both Zahariel and Marcy. Marcy looks up and I can swear she spotted me as her gaze focus on our location. Helen deadpans, sighs and steels herself.

"Mother, in your opinion, is this corpse eaten?" Helen asks very angry.

"How did this end up in my kitchen? I know! Is that thing here?"

Azelinus looks around and upwards, but his gaze does not lock on my spot like Marcy's, "Beowulf. If you are there, show yourself. Or better yet, please leave and don't hurt my family. I'll give you the gold I earned from the honey. I don't want it."

I cast an illusion. A status window with the sayings, "A monster needs no gold, and I have enough honey to fill seven wagons right here with me. Just keep it. But I want one thing in return for them."

And I fill one wall of the kitchen with honey barrels.

"What is it that you want?"

"I want you two to save this afternoon for me and come with us to see one thing. You will be back before dusk, unharmed. I can assure you it will be a sight unlike any in this world."

"It doesn't seem like I have any choice in this matter."

"But you do. You can ignore my offer, but then I'll make another kind of offer to another person in this room. You are free to choose. Some choices have a bigger cost than others though."

"Will you dare steal my daughter away from me?"

"As if I could. Helen goes where she wants to. My job is to pave the path she walks with golden bricks."

He shrugs and his shoulders slump a bit. He closes his eyes for a bit and addresses his daughter, "Helen, do you trust this monster?"

And she answers without batting an eye, "With my life, father. I love him. Marcy and Zahariel would answer the same thing." She raises one hand with the palm downwards.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The two leaning against the wall move forward and join their hands to Helen's. Azelinus shows no hesitation and puts his hand there too. He glances at Hilde. "Come, Hilde. Let's trust Helen on this one. If my own daughter leads me to doom, then I don't want to keep on living anyway."

Hilde also joins hands with Helen. I cancel invisibility and fly down to touch all five hands.

But Petal warns us, "Who is going to, like, watch over MissFluffyTails?"

Zahariel pulls his hand back and volunteers, "I can stay behind and watch her."

"Thank you, friend."

"Teleport!" I had to do two jumps because my job is locked at this stupid system one.

Straight to the Willow Hill permanent anchor. Upon arrival I broadcast a telepathic message, "Attention all minions. Every single inhabitant is to rank up and like up for inspection. This is not a drill. Everyone exploring the dungeon will also be expelled at once! Participation is not optional."

I see Helen making some focused face with her eyes closed. I think she is giving orders to her own crew as well.

I dismiss the possession, and a fairy lands on each one of my knees. "Do not fear what is to come. There is not a single living soul here that would hurt you."

And there they come. The goblins, the monkeys, the flame fist tribe, Kochurearc, Mittens, Caramel and her bees, Emory and the rats, and Shraaizar. Of the current inhabitants, only the brainwashed Ranna didn't come.

"Stop without entering the square!" I command them in the monster language. And they all comply.

The only one that entered was Shraaizar. She bows and says, "We the inhabitants of the monster settlement of Willow Hill are very honored to receive the father and mother of our Queen Helen. You are mossst welcome here. Know that there is not a single shred of hostility toward you two. We are grateful for raising such a splendid lady as our Queen Helen."

And she fucking aces it. Wait, queen?

Azelinus turns to me, "Boy, show me your true form."

"Of course." I can see Marcy panicking a little because she knows I just triggered humanization a few moments ago. But I just dismiss Sepal and call Atlas, possessing the colossus clone instead of transforming myself. I got a knack to make the puppet use clothes from the item box right after being summoned. "Is this enough?" I ask with the thunderous voice of the colossus troll.

He scratches his chin, "The legend of the monster nation is not a myth then."

Sorry, come again?

"Probably a mistake. This is not the legendary monster nation, just a place to keep my companions safe. Willow Hill was founded just last winter. There is much more world outside the area of the thirteen human towns. I am sure there are other monster settlements out there. I met an orc village with about three hundred orcs once. They even had a king and a hybrid prince." Marcy grimaces. She doesn't like to be reminded of the orc horde.

He fearlessly goes straight to the point, "Are you a hybrid?"

"Me? No. I am something else entirely. I am an 'otherworlder'. A soul of another world that was brought to live in this one. I was a human back in my former world. And I got several unique powers upon my reincarnation here, one of them the ability to transform into a human. It is true that the monster instincts are present deep inside me, but I do my best to keep them under wraps. Unfortunately what happened earlier today was too much. I mean, getting beheaded is surely something that could make someone very angry, don't you agree?"

There are some mixed reactions to my last statement. Pride, admiration, astonishment from the monster side, and a little bit of terror from Marcy and Helen. Azelinus remains cool and calculating.

"We heard the squirrel girl mumbling something like that in her sleep, but... you were beheaded? I know you are almost unkillable, but not even cutting off your head?"

"I do not think even if they cut me to pieces. I do have the weaknessess of trolls regarding fire and acid, but I have also trained myself extensively to resist them."

Azelinus stops for a while to ponder over what he is experiencing. "I'll take a moment to speak to your... citizens. Is that fine?"

"Sure. No creature in this settlement will even think of hurting you."

> "No biting, Shraaizar. And no playful fireballs either, Kochurearc."

>

> "Spoilsssport."

I sit down and the three females go on their own to the Hill House leaving me alone. Not alone. Petal is here with me. After some quarter hour Azelinus goes to the house and brings them back.

"Can you come down here, son?" I kneel and bring my head the lowest I can. "Yes, there. Now please open your mouth. Stop now. Let me try something." And he puts his arm inside up to the middle of the forearm. Hilde gasps in terror, and Helen holds her. "Helen, stay quiet. Don't tell him."

"Trust father right now." She tells her doting mother. Hilde nods. I make an effort not to drool. There is mirth in Azelinus' face. What is going on?

"How is it, son?" Azelinus asks me. Oh, so funny! I can't speak with your arm in my mouth, you know? Silly father in law! I've been a fairy too long. I'm thinking just like Petal.

"Wow, did you know he can't speak with your arm in his mouth, right? Silly father-in-law!" Yeah, Petal delivers exactly the same line.

I weave my speechboard magic again. "What is this supposed to accomplish? If it is about eating humans, I don't indulge in such practices. And even if I did, I have dozens of freshly dead humans stored right now. I really don't have to hurt my dear Helen to feed myself."

Marcy facepalms once she finishes reading what I wrote on the board. Azelinus lets out a hearty laughter. Even mittens tilts his head curiously to my side. I guess he wants to ask for one or two humans and it looks like Helen is chiding him mentally.

"Also, can you please pull your arm away? It is embarassing, and I am not a lion. I am a creature capable of the same kind of complex emotions as any of you humans."

After a long and annoying while he pulls his arm back with a satisfied look. My jaw muscles were already hurting.

"That should do it!" He says with a smile.

"What is the 'it' that 'that' should 'do' exactly, tell me please? That was not exactly an easy pose to hold." I just sit down with a loud thud.

" 'Put your hand in the mouth of the beast.' It is an old merchant saying about trust," explains Helen.

I am pretty sure that was figuretive speech. What the...

"A merchant, son, is someone that puts his life on the line and his trust in his partners when he goes into the monster-filled roads." It fits the description of those potion-tossing merchants we met on the road. "Not only for the profit, but to fulfill the needs of the people!" He proudly boasts.

Helen tugs on his jacket, "Father, please!"

"Hold it, my daughter. He said you tamed a blood mantis, is that the one?" He points at Mittens.

"Yes, father, that one is Mittens. He was a blood mantis, but now he evolved into a Knight Mantis. Mittens, please come here."

Mittens comes, holds his left scythe at his back and the right crossed in front of him, the buckler-like protusion forward. And then he lowers his head as if kneeling.

Azelius reaches and gently caresses Mittens' crested head that looks like a helmet, "It is rumored that a monster's evolution is a reflex of its true nature. If that is true, Helen, you've made a murderous monster evolve into a guardian. I see..."

Hilde seems to have already read her husband's intentions, "Azelinus, you are not thinking of..."

"Daughter, you are already a 'monster bride', right?"

"Azelinus!" Hilde's reproach goes off into the wind.

Helen steps forward, "Yeah, I guess there is no use to hide it," she mumbles. "I am a proud monster bride. We even have the title to boast.  You heard Shraaizar the Naga: Marcy and I, we are the queens of this monster country. "

A title? It doesn't show in the list of titles when I check. And even those unable to be set as active show. Were they hiding that title from me?

"And you love this... person." Wow, thanks.

Her eyes and her body language don't betray her determination, "Yes. If you want the reasons, I can list them too but it would take too long. But just looking at the house that sits on the top of this hill should be enough."

Everyone's gaze shifts to the hilltop, even though we know what is there. Hilde gasps, "I didn't recognize. That is our house!"

Marcy opens up her 'I won' grin, "And he spent the last two seasons painstakingly hunting and bringing to justice every single man that dared to beat or hurt your daughter. I can assure you that there is not a single one alive now."

That is a good point, I guess? People seem to agree.

Azelinus relaxes his shoulders and puts his open hand in front of me, "I'm sorry to have doubted you, son. I hope your heart is as big as your stature, so you can forgive me."

I won't let him off the hook for cheap, if I can help it. Time to sink my metaphorical fangs in. "If you want to redeem yourself, father-in-law, I have just the thing. Become my minister of finance. Mirfield is in dire straits. People are leaving, and the coffers are empty. We need to save the town. Lend me your business expertise."

But as expected, the merchant drives a hard bargain, "You took our house. If we are moving to Mirfield, we have nowhere to live."

"That is a real bother. I hope you find the lord's manor good enough accomodations. If not, I think I could build a castle for you in four or five days."

He makes his trademark boastful laugh, "We don't want to impose too much. The manor will do. Right, Hilde?"