Traveling in the carriage with the lord's daughter.
"So, what is your name?"- The lord's daughter is still afraid of us, she is talking from fear more than anything.
"I am Fumiko."- She muttered scared.
"I am Hikaru and she is Hana"- I pointed toward each one of us.
"So, Fumiko, you said your dad is sick right? So, how can he still function normally while being that sick, you told me he only has a few months left isn't that right?"- I tried to be more comforting toward her
"Not months, at most 2 weeks. Well, he wants to get the hunt for you 2 done as quickly as possible, he even wanted me to charm one of you to come with me to the mansion"- She looked away from us.
"Well, it doesn't matter, we have an offer that your father won't be able to refuse, you will see. It's a big offer, and he will overlook everything, maybe get him some medicine while we are at it?"- I smiled at Fumiko, this gesture just crept her out more.
"You would do that for me?"- Well, no, not really, only in a special where the lord is our puppet and we can manipulate him somehow into doing our bidding, that's the only way that I will try to cure him, I better go with the plan that Sia suggested.
"Hikaru, don't you think that you are making promises too quickly"
"No. Hana, listen, we need her on our side, the more the merrier"- The 2 of us spoke through the telepathic link.
"I don't know if I should trust the 2 of you with something like. I mean, you 2 are monsters after all. I don't know if I can trust an Orc let alone a demon"- Fumiko is still looking at us, she brought her hands over her face.
"Well, what makes us monsters so evil in the first place, the fact that we exist, I never understood this about humans. We are always evil when we haven't done anything. Listen here Fumiko, evil is more human than it is monstrous"- She peeked at me through a crack in her hands.
"My parents always told me that demons and other monsters are bad and that I may end up losing my life if I ever talk or meet 1 of them"- Fumiko mustered the courage to look me in the eyes.
"And you are going to blindly believe that? I do agree, some monsters are dangerous and you should stay away. But those like me and Hana, why should you fear us? You know why monsters like me and Hana might do evil things?"- I asked her with a smile on my face, I tried to reach my hand forward but she covered her head with her hands.
"No, I don't know, just please, don't do anything to me"- I place my hand on her hands and started to hold them.
"We won't. I will give you the answer. It's because humans like your dad are bothering and always demonizing us for the way we look or how we are labeled we are just as human as you are Fumiko. Think about it, if your dad and the king wouldn't want us dead and we would have lived a normal life here, would all of this happen?"- She took a second to think about it. It looks like this sentence shook her whole world and the way she looks at things.
"I guess I wouldn't"- She paused for a few moments.
"It's ok Fumiko. Hikaru, let's change places, I will deal with it for now"
Fumiko started crying and Hana allowed her to cry on her shoulder.
I don't know how old Fumiko is but she looks very young
!She is currently 22!- Wait, she is that old? Hana and I are barely 18 years old and she is 22 already and acts like that?
"She is 22 and acts like that? I expected more out of her if she was an adult. Does she have some type of condition of something that doesn't allow her mind to develop past 12 years old?"
"That's not a nice thing to say Hikaru!"- Hana berated me over the telepathic link
!She has a similar condition, she is a human with absurdly high magic reserves and that has an impact on her mind. Humans can't have huge mana reserves like you and Hana do and they get overwhelmed easily when it comes to the amount of mana they can handle, so the rest goes to the brain, it helps some brain functions like calculation and thinking but it stops mental age development or slows it down significantly!- Well that explains it.
A few minutes later we arrived at the lord's mansion, this mansion is huge, everywhere I can see decorations of any sort that I can imagine.
"Fumiko, where have you been? Wait, these 2? And you? You were supposed to kill them? What happened what did you do to Fumiko?"- The same man, the lord, now more sickly than when I last saw him waited for her daughter at the door of the mansion.
"Dad! I am ok. They are nice!"- The lord is pondering something.
"We have something to discuss with you, lord. We have an offer you won't be able to refuse. We will chat more in private"- They looked at me perplexed.
"What do you want with me, if this involves Fumiko? Fine, you win. Let's get in the house and talk things over"- He opened the door to the mansion and signaled the guards to be on high alert.
The interior of the mansion is just as huge as the outside of the mansion. The lights were of different colors in different room from what I can see, the rooms are separate but linked through the attic, and every room we passed had the same attic hatch, one of them were opened and I can't see any space between, that must mean everything is linked through the attic huh?
"Please take Fumiko somewhere else"- The lord had commanded the guards to take Fumiko, she is near Hana, the lord looks at her and me in disgust.
"I want Hana to come with me as well!"- Fumiko didn't budge and still holds onto Hana.
"Why would you want a monster to come with you dear, don't you remember what I told you about monsters my dear child?"- The lord caught a few drops of blood.
"Yes, most of it was fake. Hikaru and Hana are nice people, they didn't hurt me, they saved me from bandits, my carriage was attacked and the driver was killed and they wanted to hurt me, but Hikaru came in and killed the bandits and saved me. At that time I was going to speak with them just like you instructed me, if you didn't take this stupid request from the king maybe these things wouldn't have happened in the first place Dad!"- Fumiko screamed at her father, not letting go of Hana's arm.
"What in my the hell did you say happen? I can't believe that a monster is capable of compassion, they must have an alternative reason for this. Fine, you and your monster can go!"- Fumiko and Hana go to another room, the 2 of them can be heard playing or reading books.
"I am interested in your offer demon!"- The lord said in a threatening tone.
"Well, my offer pertains to one of your political rivals, another lord from a further away city from here that has been giving you trouble, I know a way to get rid of them. Are you interested now?"- He looked at me again and leaned in.
"Yes, I am. I know demons are good at killing and torturing, so what can you do? I might be willing to drop the quest from the 2 of you and say that you are too strong for my army"- He whispered to me. This bastard, I got him.
"Well, I won't torture him, torture seems pointless for this situation, just inviting him to dinner here and making it look like he chocked on some food is a good alternative, I have the exact method on how we will do that"- I whispered back to the lord.
"Oh, that sounds interesting. How are you going to do it?"- He asked curiously.
"Well, I have my methods, I won't say them right now, but I can assure you that he will die, you just have to invite him here, go along with what he says and agree with him and have good relations and then he will die by choking on a piece of food, how does that sound you?"- He looks at me a little skeptical.
"Well, sure. He lives in the City of Israel, it's 2 days by carriage away from here. I will make the preparations, you 2 will go there, invite him here, and then we will strike ok?"- His breath smells awful, and I can barely stand it, why didn't I notice it by now?
"Sure, we have a deal, tomorrow we will go on the trip and then carry out the plot to kill the other lord"- We shook hands.
"Well, you can take whatever you need from here. That bastard from Ikrel gave me this curse so if he dies the curse will die with him"- He is now laughing like a maniac.
I returned to Hana and Fumiko and spent the rest of the day with them. Fumiko started to get less scared of me, when talking to me she makes more eye contact and her tone less scared of me.