"Pssst...eyyy... you paisan?" Arek said in a stage whisper, furtively looking into the Dialogue Window where Cecil lived.

"Si." Cecil replied in the same exaggerated whisper, slowly peeking out, "I am a Ceciliano, I am a paisano like a you."

Arek quickly bowed his head and turned away, his mandibles frantically clicking as he tried to suppress a laugh.

"A hide-a these a for a-me. I'm a come-a back-a for-a it-a soon-a." Arek said as he slid guns into Cecil's Dialogue Window.

Cecil obliged, taking in the assortment of guns and ammunition. The shrimp man and slime were looking left and right as if watching out for witnesses, ignoring Siria and Ingrid who were watching. The latter recognized the reference and quickly put her cup of coffee down, scrunching up her face as she tried her hardest to not have her coffee come out of her nose.

"What's so funny?" The elf said as she saw Ingrid trying not to laugh.

***

The Dialogue Window, a mobile portal in a rectangular shape, led to a room where Ingrid's slime familiar Cecil lived, its true nature was still a mystery to everyone, including Cecil and Ingrid herself.

The space that Cecil occupied was like a generously-sized renaissance or late medieval-era bedroom, with all the comfy accouterments that came with it. Straight out of a video game background, Cecil once thought. A balcony opened up but there was no way he could exit past a certain point. A barrier seemed to be in place, covering the edge of the balcony railings, the windows, and even the few doors that led further inside the castle this room seemed to belong. The sun stayed at a pleasant bright morning 24/7, and the crowds beyond went on with their business. No amount of waving and shouting from Cecil or anyone could attract any attention.

The best theory he and Ingrid had was that he was inside a sort of virtual world; a construct of the real world outside. That was the best explanation as to why nobody paid him heed or tried to enter his room from the doors. And the room looked like this belonged to an active household, someone should have come in already but it had been several days now.

Cecil was unable to leave the room through the Dialogue Window completely, a part of him had to remain inside and not even his ability to split himself worked, although he had no problems splitting himself while inside the room. People from the outside found that they could only fit half of themselves. Non-living objects however, had no problem coming in or out of Cecil's Room, as he and Ingrid found out when she tried feeding him on their first day in Teragalia.

However, it seemed that it required Cecil's consent to pass through; it did not have to be spoken, by simply thinking of it, Cecil could allow passage of objects through the Window.

Another thing Cecil could control with his mind was the position of the Dialogue Window itself, although this could be overridden by Ingrid. With this, the slime familiar had effectively gained not only free movement, but free flight, though he was required to stay within a certain distance, Any attempt to go farther would "rubber band" him back to his default position near Ingrid's right shoulder. From his side, the Dialogue Window that opened up the "Real World" could also be moved around by his thoughts alone, allowing him to manipulate it as he wanted,

In some ways, Cecil had not only regained movement in the real world but also got extra, due to being able to fly around. But in other ways it was a step down. The Dialogue Window couldn't phase through objects, though fortunately it was essentially just a flat piece of A3 paper but that still was a step down for a slime that could ooze through oddly-shaped cracks. Still, if all he needed was to peek through said cracks then it shouldn't be a problem to him.

***

From the time Ingrid summoned this Window, she had left it on, and yet it produced no drain to her Mana at all, not even when Ingrid and that Fire Elemental were punching each other out for hours and sent both into a week-long coma, Cecil was still partying and going around and that's when found that he could also Recall himself back to Ingrid.

Seeing Ingrid passed out with a big stupid grin on her face was rather bittersweet. Hardly a month ago this girl gave herself up for her friends and Cecil knew that he wouldn't let himself live it down if he didn't jump in with her. Now she was reconstructed (as far as he could tell), permanently in her Star Lily form, maybe this room he lived in was also a reflection of what he wanted so much, to be of more help to her than in the past.

He wasn't the strongest familiar, that honor belonged to Macy, Star Rose's Kyuubi Fox that if push came to shove could transform into a more menacing creature that tore through lesser SEEDlings; Melrondia's rank-and-file minions whenever she needed to buy time for the real SEED to manifest.

He wasn't the best in magic or whatnot, so he took up what Ingrid Blair left behind and used her old firearms to help her out, not content to sit on the sidelines. He never told her but ever since Melrondia had upgraded her SEEDs and thus rendering high-caliber rounds useless, he had been slowly training his Mana on all three metrics; Potency, Capacity, and Efficiency, but it was too late. Ingrid Blair had died before his training could reach fruition.

That Red Moon night when he and Arek were atop the city hall's towers, sniping away at key targets; Cecil found a lich shielding his minions with a barrier. He focused his Mana into his rifle, willing the flow to enter the magazine and into the slugs. He pulled the trigger and watched as the shield shattered and the lich disintegrated as the bullet pulverized its skeletal head. The feeling fueled him and in the heat of the moment, when the Red-Moon tainted monster assault was beginning to wane, he urged Arek to charge into the fray guns blazing. He didn't tell Arek, but during his action movie hero stunt, Cecil was channeling his own Mana into him. He saw the shielded monsters flinch then bleed, then collapse as the consecutive rounds started hitting harder and harder. As the exit wounds blew off their bodies, the Mana Burn set in.

It felt good watching that.

***

"I'm surprised with that portal magic of yours, Ingrid. Where did you come up with these ideas?" Siria asked as she sipped her coffee.

"It's a cliche in my world, there's usually a spell called 'Status' or something that brings up a Window displaying information about yourself. When I arrived here, the thought belatedly came up to me and well, here we are. A window opened up but instead of information about me, I see Cecil."

"That's quite fascinating Ingrid, you know, you should enroll in the Magic Academy, maybe you could refine-"

"No!" Cecil spoke up "Don't even think about it, Ingrid! We're not doing any of that Hogwarts slash High School drama in OUR Isekai! No!" He stuck out a tendril with a wagging finger. "No! Bad MC!"

"What Cecil said." Ingrid shrugged "besides, I'm looking for a way home and or confirm if Melrondia is here, and even if I wasn't neither Cecil or I tolerate people hiding behind artificial status or peerage. Especially Cecil, he gets pretty violent when someone pulls rank,"

"Violent?" the adorable-looking slime squeaked "I'm being practical! We're trying to save the world there and some stuck-up snot-nosed brat was making donkey noises about some non-issue." Kinu, who was nearby, laughed when he heard the word "snot-nosed", as insulting one's impaired sense of smell was hilarious to all dog-like Kobolds.

"Yes I know, Cecil" Ingrid replied. "But you could've done what I did and just walk past them, you didn't need to do MMA on them...but it was funny to watch." Ingrid gave him a thumbs up.

***

Over a late lunch at her home (Ingrid had upgraded from staying at the stables to buying a house with the reward money), Ingrid introduced the latest member to the The Whales adventurer team: Siria Bluethorne. She had soft-resigned on her job as the Guild receptionist (participating in the town defense also went a long way).

Also discussed was the mission that Guild Master Tibbles (a name that Ingrid still finds too funny) "volunteered" them to take.

"Huh, I thought a Demon City meant a stronghold for some bad guys." Ingrid said, after some explanation from Siria, it turns out it wasn't what she thought.

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

Turns out that "Demons" are simply people who have been exposed for too long to the ambient energies of a Rift. A permanent portal where various monsters from unknown worlds are pulled from.

"So based on what you're telling me, this 'Rift' seems to draw in various creatures, corrupt them, then turn them loose on Teragalia?" Arek said as he digested this information.

Siria nodded "Our Sages cannot confirm exactly WHY this is the case, or why people who have been turned into Demons merely experience a change only to their appearance but nothing more."

"What about long term effects?" Cecil asked."What's the longest someone has been living in a Demon City?"

"Families have been built on Demon Cities, some stretching for several generations now. The Demon King of Teth-Odin, where we're going, has lived there for all of his two hundred and fifty-two years." Siria replied.

"That's the guy who asked the Guildmaster to send us over, correct?" Ingrid asked.

The elf nodded "After a Red Moon, the Rifts tend to have more and more monsters pour out of them, Most Adventurers go down into the Dungeons to clear out monsters anyway but a Red Moon means that there'll be far more of them down there for several days. That's why the Demon King is calling for all Adventurer Guilds in the area to send a team over and help... as well as for adventurers to help themselves with the windfall, provided we're good enough."

Cecil spoke up after a pause, his expression quite amused as he looked at Ingrid for a while. "Siria...you said a dungeon?"

The elf nodded "Yes, a dungeon. Normally you'd think of a prison and in a way it is. But for monsters, we usually have Goblins and Dwarves construct a network of labyrinths to keep them contained. Sometimes the frustration of not finding anything to prey on can cause the monsters to start fighting amongst themselves. There's also quite a number of secret passages adventurers can take to quickly navigate around, and there's also traps for the monsters but... well, it's not unheard of for some adventurers to spring them by accident.... okay, what's so funny, Cecil?"

Cecil stopped his giggling "It's just that, in our world, that's usually the most cliche thing in adventurer stories; a maze-like dungeon full of traps and monsters, simply existing to give the heroes in the story something to adventure with."

"But here, it makes sense." Ingrid sat down after shovelling more lunch into her bowl. "You got a portal deep underground and it's bringing more and more monsters up to the surface, so what do you do? First you build an outpost for adventurers to regroup and supply themselves, then you build a city with a garrison. Then you build a labyrinth to funnel the monster's movements, traps too when possible, you hire adventurers or put a tollbooth into the dungeons and you have a good running economy."

"Has anyone tried to shut the Rifts, Siria?" Arek asked, wondering why nobody yet has mentioned this obvious question.

"We can't. We can't even expose ourselves inside those Rift Worlds for too long, something about it causes one to have a lethal case of Mana burn if you do. An arch-mage has once tried to put a seal around a Rift but that caused the Great Flood when a huge amount of monsters poured through after breaking the barrier. The best choice is to just build a dungeon and send people regularly to keep their numbers down."

After some thought, Cecil spoke up "I have a feeling that even if you close one rift, you'll just open up another one, then that'll mean a lot of time and money relocating or building another Demon City atop it."

Siria pointed at Cecil approvingly. "You're correct. That is the consensus of the arch-mages as far as Millarna has told us."

***

A few hours later, The Whales; consisting of Ingrid, Cecil, the Kobold brothers Kinu and Kvaris, and then Arek and Siria were on a wagon heading to the Demon City of Teth-Odin. Ingrid was discussing tactics with her group, with Cecil insisting he should be considered part of the group's muscle.

"Ingrid, if something happens to you, I don't know if I can leave my tethered spot, so if you're gonna yolo yourself again, at least count me in." Cecil reasoned, prompting Ingrid to pull him in for a prolonged head pat.

"Arek you're our porter. Cecil's right, although his Room can be used as an improvised Item Box, it's best we keep most of our vital supplies with you; food, medicine, first aid, etc. Pack heat, but for now, keep it to self-defense, no heroics, okay? If you really want to shoot something, make sure it goes down, not make it angrier."

"Yes'm" Arek replied in assent. his upper pair of arms cradling an assault rife, while he kept a Gulan pistol belt near his lower arms, constructed for his species' ergonomics. Like most shrimp-like Gulans, their upper pair of arms were their primary manipulator limbs, though they had the same proficiency with their lower secondary pair, unlike other species who tend to have a dominant-sided arm.

"Kinu, Kvaris, you're our lookouts, when fighting commences, stay with Arek, he's got all our food." The two wagged their tails. "If you sense anything suspicious, no matter how minor, you let us know, alright? Now, I want you two to alternate, one will scout ahead and one will be the rear guard."

As the two of them then started to do what was probably the equivalent of Kobold rock-paper-and-scissors, Ingrid then turned to Siria.

"You'll be my number one, that's second-in-command basically. If I'm not around or disabled, you will take command of the team given your experience in adventuring. Now..." Ingrid paused, clapping her hands to make sure everyone was looking at her.

"With exception to me and Cecil, the four of you should retreat when things get out of hand. If the situation becomes untenable, you will run. Cecil and I have already died once, so we're not that afraid to push a little harder, but that doesn't mean you four should follow. In my world, we have a saying "an army crawls on its stomach" so Arek here carrying our supplies is the most valuable member of our team. If he is injured badly you guys must retreat to the surface."

The four of them nodded and the group delved into discussing individual tactics. The Kobolds were very agile and quick on their feet, opting for their swords and shields to close in on enemies. Despite their habitual back and forth bickering the two brothers fought like a pack, possessing great coordination with each other. Just like wolves, Ingrid thought to herself.

Siria turns out to be a sorceress, Academy trained. Ingrid had sparred with her to see what she was capable of and felt relieved that magic users weren't the type to spend a few seconds charging up a spell; leaving them open to attack.

As it turns out, this wasn't the case for Siria; she used magic wordlessly from her own Mana Pool, could also "nudge" her Staff's energies with her Mana to have it fire off a spell of its own, all the while chanting to a third spell. It was, as Arek said; like having three guns on three dominant hands.

In addition, Siria was proficient in using it as a weapon, and not just as a bludgeoning tool, she demonstrated using an enchantment to sheathe a large portion of it's length to function as a blade; essentially functioning like a greatsword, or affix a swirling maelstrom of energy to the end so it could work as an oversized high-speed grinder. While not as good as fencing as a dedicated fighter, she could stand her ground if needed.

***

"What's wrong with your sister? Why is she no-, Oh what... A hyoo-mun? Dunno what that is, anyway, pay up four silvers each." Said the purple-skinned orc who was growing a pair of horns on his head.

"Don't get too cocky now!" he added, before barring another group of adventurers trying to get in the town.

Like the guard, Ingrid and Cecil noticed that many of the inhabitants had their skin turn a hue of purple and had horns growing out of their head. "The number one theory for most sages is that it's a defense mechanism of the body as it reacts to the energies of the rift." Siria explained as they walked through the crowded market, already full of adventurers looking to stock up for their journey.

"Huh, that explains why the horns seem to have a little more mana radiating from it than usual." Ingrid said in revelation. "Is it harmful if they get removed?"

"It doesn't" Kvaris answered "you'll just grow it back, if you live outside of a Demon City for too long then they'll just lose your Demon appearance, a lot of aristocracy here as a result try not to stay out of town for too long and try grow their horns a little more... to show off their lineage."

"Doesn't sound like travelling will be fun for them." Cecil thought out loud.

"You have ten years give or take before you lose all traces" Kinu explained, though he was simply parroting what his father mentioned back when he and his brother were pups. "...and then you'll have to grow it all back with time."

At Teth-Odin's Adventurer Guild "Jormungandr", the Whales received a briefing from the higher-up Adventurers, informing them of the situation. A detailed map of the dungeon was shown, highlighting dead-end mazes for monsters to get lost in and eventually starve, areas riddled with traps, and even secret rooms containing either a network of tunnels to use as a shortcut, or a bunker for adventurers to rest in.

A few sections of the map showed burrows of formidable creatures native to Teragalia, among them were a colony of giant ant-like creatures that preyed on what monsters they could subdue. According to the Jormugandr guildsmen, they were pretty intelligent enough to leave adventurers alone but did not hesitate to attack if provoked.

Cecil and Ingrid looked at each other with a look that said "heeeere we go..." as the lecturer mentioned wandering undead, "...now if you encounter any, please be sure to use a restorative spell on them and their equipment. Despite what they tell you, these Grudge Bearers need help every now and then, like anyone else. We all gotta help each other...yes, uhh.. Cecil?"

Cecil lowered his tendril "sorry, me and Ingrid here, we didn't know much about the undead... you say these Grudge Bearers are on our side?"

The lecturer paused wondering why he didn't know, then she noticed that the slime was beside the strange creature that was probably the "human" or Greater Fae everyone's been talking about,

"Yes, the Grudge Bearers are those restored to life by the Rift's energies. Outwardly they're walking skeletons but over time we've managed to put them in armor and give them better weapons. They don't speak nor do they express any interest in returning to the surface.

As their name suggests, it seems that they're pretty bent on wandering the labyrinths and killing every monster they see. It's safe to assume they've retained and even honed their fighting abilities from their previous life."

Cecil quickly wrote it down. "Anything else we should NOT attack?"

***