Cho turned around and invited her with a grand gesture into the town. What Reli saw was not what she had expected. Houses, streets and many Demons buzzing around. She even saw what seemed to her like families walking around, enjoying themselves, greeting others, laughing and just being merry. From the description Cho had given her on their way, she had expected little to no Demons. Maybe some military for the Demon King or blacksmiths and tailors, yet there were Demons everywhere that seemed like family to each other enjoying taverns and other entertainment.
Having thought that the Demon King would rule in a horrible and oppressive way under which the would Demons be in constant fear and suffer, this was a pleasant surprise for her. The thought that she may not need to escape and could live here like the other Demons popped into her mind.
“Looks good, doesn’t it? We will register you quickly, then you will swear loyalty to the Demon King, be put under my jurisdiction and afterwards we search for a nice place for you to stay,” the Oni explained as they walked through the streets, “You will start to like living here in no time. It’s not as wild and barbaric as outside.”
Walking through the streets, Reli could make out buildings similar to the temple she had seen, a huge circular open building and many more things she could not understand and since she only got glances at them while walking around, she was not able to use ‘Identify’.
After a while in which Reli did not stop being surprised by all the Demons being happy and enjoying themselves, the two of them stood in front of a large fenced yard with a building at the end. The yard was filled with uncountable Demons, mostly Larvae but some evolved forms as well. Reli could see some Hellhounds and Puppies, a few Aradeva and something small green with pointy ears which her skill said was a Goblin. Reli even saw one Minotaur standing in a corner talking to a Subbubus. There were Lamia, Gorgons, Chimera and many more different Demons Reli had not seen before. It was fascinating to see the sheer amount of different species.
While she tried to take everything in, Cho led her towards the building at the end of the yard, not minding all the Demons that were around.
“This here is where every new Demon will be checked and registered. If they are strong enough or have a rare skill, they will be allowed to live freely as long as they swear loyalty to the Demon King and do good for us, easy isn’t it? You will be required to share your status so we can be sure of how strong you are. Normally you would need to wait till someone from the registration fetches you and brings you in front of an inspector, but since I am here I will just hasten up this process by a little bit,” Cho explained with a wink of his eyes as he opened the door leading inside, “Is the idiot that’s responsible here?! I want this to be over quickly! I do not have much patience or do you want me to turn this building into rubble?!”
Everyone inside looked at Cho. At first, they seemed as if they wanted to throw him out like some crazy lunatic, but then they recognized him. The mood shifted and some small flying Demon in a light blue dress approached the two. While flying it left a trail of bright sparks behind that made her four tiny wings and body shine. Her blond hair reminded Reli of the Human Prince in Um’ra’s memory, although hers was reaching to hips.
Pixie:
Small and agile flying Demon. Extremely capable in regards to magic.
Highly intelligent. Specialized in ‘Illusion’ and ‘Creation’
If bored they like to play pranks.
“Sir Cho! It is an honor to greet you here! It has been way too long, was it 30 years?” the Pixie asked with a playful smile on her face.
“40, if I remember right Elvina. And I am here for business, not pleasure. So cut that sarcastic crap, you know exactly how long it has been. I brought you here with me back then,” Cho answered coldly, surprising Reli in the process, “I still am mad at you for leaving, better make it quick.”
“You know full well that it was not me that wanted to leave! Since there was a vacancy as ‘Head of Registration’ after Espen died, the Demon King demanded for me to fill it in. You do know how valuable ‘Analyze’ is if someone does not cooperate,” Elvina retorted, then stole a glance at Reli, “So that’s your newest edition? The first since me, isn’t it? She is cute, I will give you that. You still only take Demons you think are cute? You know they need to be strong as well in your position, do you? Ah, whatever, it’s not as if you would listen to me, you never did. Let’s go into the back, it's way much more quiet in my office. Millton! MILLTON! Ah, there you are. Bring us something from the good stuff into my office. Quick! Don’t you dare embarrass me in front of Sir Cho! This way you two.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
A Kobold who was Millton rushed away as fast as he could as soon as he heard the words of Elvina trying to fetch whatever it was that she had demanded.
The Pixie flew in front to the back of the room, waved with her hands and a yellow portal appeared at the wall.
“If you -” she began but could not finish her sentence as Cho already pushed Reli through the portal.
“Impatient as ever when it's something he wants,” Elvina said as she shook her tiny head.
As Reli stepped through the door she saw a scene that could have been straight out of Um’ra’s memory. She froze in place because she had not expected something to be in Aver. A lush forest, birds that sang, and even a river could be heard in the distance. Just in front of them was a small white pagoda with a table and chairs in the same white. On the table was even a small table and chair with the perfect size for the Pixie. It was surreal.
“Seems like it’s something your addition has not seen before. That’s -” Elvina tried to explain what was happening
“An illusion, nothing more,” the Oni rudely interrupted and sat down.
“Urgh, no sense for dramatic. You want this over quickly, I guess? Sit, sit, make yourself comfortable,” the Pixie said towards Reli who quickly sat down next to Cho, “I guess this brute has already told you, you need to share your status, right?”
“Uhm… yes, Cho already told me,” Reli answered unsure of the dynamic between the Pixie and the Onit, “Here.”
Reli opened up her fake status and Elvina looked over it. She was a little nervous since the Pixie had ‘Analyze’ and she did not know if her ‘Skillforgery’ would hold up to it.
“Oh! You found a real gem here, Cho. Poisondragon, haven’t seen that one before, as rare as it gets. Dragons are a powerful addition to us. ‘Identify’, useful, useful. Sadly no skills from her species yet, but she’s still young and can learn them when she levels up,” the Pixie said more to herself than to anybody else as she waved with her hands again, “You need to be careful, otherwise I will steal her from you.”
Elvira generated two wooden plagues, each one with the fake status Reli had presented to the Pixie. One plague slowly floated towards Reli and fell onto the table right in front of her.
“Don’t you dare,” Cho pressed through his lips.
“Fine, you know that was a joke, right? I would not demand it from her, but if the Demon King would put her here, I would not complain. Okay, got everything we need. Keep this on you at all times, it is needed as identification. While I highly doubt that it will take a long time before you will be recognized on the street, being a Dragon and having ‘Identify’, it is still a rule to have it on you. So you two want to tal-”
“That’s all, Thanks Elvina,” Cho said and stood up immediately, “But we will go now. I want to bring her to the Demon King directly. You know how impatient he can be and he should already know I am back. You coming, Reli?”
“Uhm, yes!” Reli replied surprised, jumping up from her chair.
The two of them left the room as the Pixie kept looking after them, seeing how Cho ruffled Reli’s hair, this time to seemingly calm himself down.
“He used to do that to me. I miss it,” said the Pixie sullen to herself, “If only I wouldn’t have this skill. Millton, you were too slow, but thanks for the meat. No, don’t look at me like that, it’s alright, Cho didn’t want to stay, again. Well, come share it with me.”
Once outside, Reli could no longer contain her curiosity. She sprinted in front of Cho and spread her hands apart, stopping the Oni in his path.
“Do you hate Elvina?” Reli asked directly.
“No, I really like her. Haven’t you seen how adorable she is with her tiny wings? And when I patted her she always flapped her wings like crazy. She was really the cutest thing ever,” Cho answered with a sad smile.
“Then why were you so mean to her?” she wanted to know.
“To make it easier for her,” the Oni replied, “Look. She and I, we worked really well together. Brain and muscle kind of way. I am useless if it comes to magic and she is useless when it comes to strength. We were a perfect duo. We had fun working together. It was a great time. But then Espen died suddenly and the position needed to be filled. With her skill and brain, there was no better choice than her. Everybody knew that. And to make it easier for her I try to be mean to her so that she doesn’t regret that she needed to take on that position.”
“So you are doing it for her. You’re a good guy,” Reli answered with a heartfelt smile on her face, “You won’t have to do something like that for me, understand? We will keep being friends, no matter what happens! And I think Elvina would like that too.”