In the end the situation was defused and The Oracle ended up stepping out on the king’s recommendation.
The king explained that with all the losses today that The Oracle is not in the best frame of mind for any controversial discussions.
His choice of word is what intrigued me most.
Controversial.
His lack of disdain as he said it proves to me that he sees things differently than most.
Not that he seemed up to such discussions himself, his face was pale and there was little light in his liquidy blue eyes.
The remaining soldiers and adventurers that survived the initial monster horde are all currently patrolling the city for more demons.
If one is to be found I will be contacted immediately and sent out.
Right now we are waiting in the safe house that is the acting headquarters for the kingdom and this sudden war.
“I am sorry Lua, I should not have challenged The Oracle like that… I put you in a difficult position.”
Sera, who is seated across from me, mumbles over and over begging for my forgiveness.
I personally don’t have much of a problem with her actions, they were just too early for my plans.
I keep trying to explain that to her but I can’t find the right words.
My own quirk of never wanting to lie really makes expressing my feelings without giving too much away rather difficult in this moment.
“I said don’t worry about it, I had wanted to say something similar. Though, I may have tried to be more tactful. Wait, no, ugh, that came out wrong.”
Seeing my struggle, a melodic voice helps me out from the side.
“What Lua is trying to say, Sera, is that she agrees with you about allying with the elves and dwarves. And that you didn’t cause her any real problems.”
Alice, who is seated at the table beside me, smiles gently as she explains my thoughts in a more comforting way.
“Right, that!”
For my enthusiasm towards my girlfriend, I receive a wry and slightly disappointed glare.
I can see out of the corner of my eye that Sera has a smile of her own for the first time since the battle as she watches over me and Alice.
Yes, I know. We are adorable.
Likely sensing my thoughts, Alice’s glare turns a bit harsher.
While our little comedy act is playing out, Randall and Agera scooch into the booth, still in their full armor.
“So, what is the plan now?”
Agera, ever the one to read the room and ignore it, breaks up the happy little scene.
I sigh and grab my drink from the table.
Alice decides to elbow me in the side for my attitude, and I am forced to quickly end our flirting and focus back on the far less fun topic we had started before we sat down for a break.
“Well, for now we are on standby in case a demon is found. They seem to have disappeared right after they finished causing all this chaos though…”
Everything is going to plan so far, aside from Sera’s outburst that is, and now all the demons should be hidden away again.
I do hope they all manage to stay out of sight so that I am not forced to head out and harm one of them again.
The demon I took down is not the only one to be defeated.
It seems that two in the Divine Theocracy managed to get done-in before escaping.
I will need to look into that later.
As I start to get the conversation rolling, Sera develops a rather dour look on her face.
“That demon… It said they are here because of our sins. What do you think that means?”
A grunt and rumble of armor comes from the side as Randall smiles in a self-deprecating manner.
“Humph. Could be anything, humans are rather sinful creatures.”
I can’t help but agree with that statement, this list of things I hate humanity for is long.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The same sad smile on Randall's face finds its way onto mine.
Creak.
“Well, that is not something I expected to hear from a paladin of the Divine Theocracy.”
The whole group that had been rather lax in their alertness because of their position in the safe house all jump at the sudden intrusion.
Heads quickly whip around to the entrance to the bar room.
Standing in the doorway is the leader of this nation.
King Agustus du art Alcott.
“Your majesty!”
Sera attempts to stand up and kneel, but is quickly waved down by the king.
“I would like to join in on this discussion if possible. Oh, and Miss Hero, I apologize again for the earlier incident. The guards should know better than to react like that.”
As the king speaks, I eye the guards trailing behind him.
As far as I can tell, they are the only guards that had kept a cool head during Sera’s outburst.
And his own personal guards.
This guy is smarter than he looks.
My demons had been watching him for a while and several reports show that he has some controversial views.
The king of Alcott has apparently proposed several laws that would improve the lives of and reduce the abuse of slaves.
From what I can tell, he is genuinely against the discrimination. And despite the extreme opposition from the nobility, he has tried to push some reforms through anyway.
I wonder how he feels, knowing that all the most vocal of the nobles that rallied against these reforms are now dead.
This might be a perfect opportunity to get a new ally for the Hero.
“I don’t mind you joining us. But please keep in mind that we will be speaking freely here. Meaning anything goes, no matter how against the norm it may be.”
The king straightens out his black chainmail armor before sitting down with a very subtle smile.
“I am perfectly fine with such an arrangement.”
The rest of my team looks a bit wary, but there is a hint of hope in their eyes as they look at the king.
I lean back in my seat with a mischievous grin forming only in my mind.
Now that there should be no more interruptions, I can get right to the heart of the discussion.
----------------------------------------
Sweltering heat of a tropical forest bears down on the adamantine reinforced walls surrounding a strange glowing golden chair.
In this golden throne sits a portly man, his arms bound with chains and his body secured to the chair.
Standing off to the side a woman wearing a dark maid outfit stares off into space.
A complaining voice trails into the room.
“We ready to start yet?”
In the entrance to the room stands a man wearing a horribly out of place suit that would fit a yakuza gangster but has no place in this world.
Despite the humid heat filling the room, only the chained man seems to be experiencing the temperature.
The maid and the gang member have not a drop of sweat on their brows.
Not bothering to look over at her brother, the maid continues to focus on the empty space while she answers.
“Sec, just be patient. I need to finish cataloging the test subjects and filling out the data before we move on.”
The gangster just casually waves his hand, not caring for the fat screaming pig tied to the chair.
“I know, I know. I am just excited to see what happens.”
The aforementioned pig shouts louder and louder, but his words never reach the two demons; A wall of wind magic, created through several enchantments, keeps his voice from annoying his captors.
Finally, the demonic maid stops taking notes and refocuses her eyes on the golden throne.
Thick plates of Adamantite adorned with numerous Mana Cores shift and glow as she punches in numbers to a floating display.
“Ok, I have recorded all his data. Let’s begin.”
A wicked grin warps across the young girl’s face as she reaches out and presses her hand against the chair’s controls.
Suddenly, a black collar with veins of gold snaps out and wraps itself around the captives neck.
The pig squeals louder and starts to shake.
With a calm and vicious smile, the maid looks down on the man as she reprimands him.
“Please hold still, this machine is a replica and therefore we are not entirely certain how a miscalculation in position may affect the results. That is something we plan to test later.”
Pure dread fills the swine as he struggles even harder, but before he can fight anymore, he goes limp.
“And why didn’t you just do that in the first place?”
Trickles of mind mana wrap around the human’s mind and his eyes glaze over.
“Because I wanted this to be a baseline without magic. Sadly his movements were already a problem so I decided it was not worth it. I will have to get the baseline from a more calm subject.”
The demon maid sighs as she looks disappointedly over the man in the chair.
“Ahhh, I see. Well, we have plenty of guinea pigs after the raid of the cities. This one was a slave trader right?”
“Yes, a rather arrogant one at that. Still spouting about how we ‘don’t know who is backing him’ and ‘the nobles will never let us get away with this’ even after being caught. I wonder if he failed to realize that we are demons?”
Both demons scoff at how ignorant a single human can be.
Clink.
The chair’s collar suddenly clicks and snaps off the man’s neck.
“Oh, looks like it is done.”
“Heh, now to see what happens when we toss him back into a city.”
“I too am ever so curious as to how the people under The System will react when they see him disconnected.”
The sharply dressed demon pats his katana before walking over and dragging the fat slave trader out of the room.
“I’ll toss him into the outgoing pile and grab the next on this list.”
“Good, we need to finish this up quickly before the chaos subsides.”
Prim turns to the now empty chair in the silent room and sends a message to her lord.
[Disconnection of the first subject was successful. Everything is moving on schedule, my lord. Prepare for Phase 3.]