Aria followed Ulric as he led her through the forest in the middle of the night. The two of them had snuck away from the encampment while everyone else was sleeping— which was probably going to land the little demon girl in trouble. However, she was curious as to what Ulric had to say.

Especially considering that he was the first non-human Aria had seen, other than mama. It intrigued Aria. Especially when she remembered how emphatically papa had warned her against revealing herself as a demon to others. But when she questioned why it was a big deal, he had just told her it was because everyone else was a human, while she was not.

Aria didn’t understand the logic. She found it confusing. Why did it matter if she was not the same as everyone else?

There hadn’t been a problem with that in her family. After all, mama was a Leviathan, papa was a human, and she was a demon.

But neither mama nor papa could explain why this was the case to her. At least, not in a way she understood.

However, Ulric seemed to understand the reason. So that was why she followed him to hear what he had to say.

“You find it confusing, don’t you?” Ulric said in his tinny voice through his helmet as he led her forward. “You don’t understand why they hate you.”

“Um, I guess so?” Aria answered, tilting her head back. She did notice how the old lady looked at her differently after discovering she was not a human. While it didn’t really offend Aria in the least, she did find it odd.

“It’s because you’re different. Just like me.” Ulric continued, trudging forward.

Aria paused as she looked down at herself. “Is it wrong to be different?”

Ulric glanced back at her. “In the eyes of the ordinary, the special are to be feared.”

“I see.” Aria nodded slowly, before furrowing her brows. “Is that why mama hides her identity using that ring?”

Ulric just paused when he heard that. “She… what?”

“Oh, oops. I don’t think I was supposed to say that.” Aria scratched the back of her head. “Can you pretend you didn’t hear that?”

“...sure.” Ulric shook his head and continued striding forward. “But yes. This is simply a fact of life for us— for those who are abnormal. In this world of mostly humans, we are scorned and treated like we are mere monsters.”

Aria could hear the scorn in his voice. Even through the helmet. And while she didn’t fully understand why he felt that way, she did try to understand what he meant in the only way she could.

“So you’re saying that they hunt people like us because we’re not like them?” Aria thought about to all the times she went hunting for monsters.

“Something like that, yes,” Ulric answered.

“I get it now. That’s not very nice of them.” Aria harrumphed. “But if that’s the case, why does papa tell me I can’t kill them unless it’s for self-defense?”

Ulric raised his helmeted head. The helmet gleamed in the moonlight. “It’s frustrating, I understand how you feel. At one point, all I wanted to do was hurt them back— for what they did to me. But… that’s not right. It’s not something you should do.”

“Why not?” Aria asked as she blinked a few times.

“Because then you’d be exactly what they think you are,” Ulric said as he sighed. “A monster.”

Aria tapped a finger on her chin. “But is that really a bad thing? To be a monster?”

If anything that wasn’t a human was a monster, she wasn’t sure if that was even a problem. Because as far as she could tell, humans were very weak and annoying. Except for papa. After all, papa was amazing.

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“Sometimes, yes,” Ulric answered as he brought her through a thicket of trees. “Other times, it’s better to be a monster, depending on the circumstances.”

“I see…” Aria wasn’t sure if she was completely following him.

However, she didn’t question it, because her attention was drawn towards the mouth of a cavern up ahead, right by the side of a small hill. She saw light coming from inside— torches that illuminated a campsite.

“Where are we going, by the way?” Aria asked as she looked back towards Ulric.

“You said you wanted to go hunting, right?” Ulric said as he glanced back at her. Then he looked back towards the campsite up ahead. “Well, this is the same bandit group that tried to attack you and your family just a few hours ago. How do you think they’ll react when they see us striding into their camp?”

Aria’s eyes widened in excitement. “You don’t mean…?”

And Ulric removed his helmet, giving her a toothy grin. “Today, let us be monsters.”

***

Stilzar sighed as he leant back on his chair. These last few weeks had seen a downturn in travelers passing through the area due to the looming threat of war between the Kingdom of Viletta and the Empire of Julin. Which was bad for him. After all, he was in charge of a hundred men, and without any travelers in the area, he wouldn’t be able to keep them all fed and happy.

As the boss of the Iron Brigands, Stilzar had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Not because he actually cared about what his men wanted— absolutely not, they could all suffer as long as it didn’t affect his bottom line. Because Stilzar was more than just a bandit, he was also a businessman.

A shady businessman who partook only in underground black market deals. But a businessman nonetheless.

But that was besides the point. As long as his men were fed and happy, they’d listen to him. If not… well, they’d try to oust him. Which was very much a possibility.

While he was still decently high-leveled at Level 138— very much stronger than even his second-in-command who came in at Level 105, let alone everybody else in the Iron Brigands— they still heavily outnumbered him. All it took was an attack in his sleep, or perhaps a drop of poison in his drink, and Stilzar would be gone.

So the fact that travelers were no longer crossing through the area was troublesome for Stilzar all around. After all, he needed women to keep his men happy, food to keep his men fed, and whatever precious goods they could scavenge off the corpses of merchants and rich men to sell in the black market.

“At this rate, we’re going to have to relocate,” Stilzar muttered under his breath as he looked down at a map he had set down on the table before him.

The very idea of moving bases upsetted him. After all, he’d very likely have to contest another bandit group for their territory. Or even worse— he’d have to deal with a lot more patrols of guards in other regions.

And as a relatively small-time bandit group, Stilzar definitely didn’t want to draw the attention of the authorities to his activities. It was bad for business.

So moving bases was the last thing Stilzar wanted to do. Right now, he could only hope that all this talk of war would blow over in a month or two, and the Iron Brigands would be able to hold out here until then with what few travelers that passed through the area.

Raising his head, Stilzar called out to his second-in-command who was waiting right outside the door. “Oi, Rocky, get in here!”

The door swung open as a burly man strode into the room. “You called for me, boss?”

“Where is your brother, Ricky?” Stilzar scowled. “That incompetent fool should be back by now!”

“I don’t know, boss. I haven’t seen him since he left.” Rocky just placed a hand on his chin, clearly confused.

Stilzar sighed. What a buffoon, he thought, but didn’t vocalize his thoughts.

“I know you haven’t. That’s what I want you to go find him.” Stilzar explained, his voice leaking impatience.

“Oh… why didn’t you just say so!” Rocky snapped his fingers understandingly.

“Look, just go and find your fool of a brother already,” Stilzar snapped.

And Rocky drew back. “Got it, boss!”

The burly man ran out of the room, each one of his footsteps causing the wooden floorboards to creak. Stilzar rubbed his temples, watching Rocky go.

While Rocky’s… lack of intelligence was slightly annoying for Stilzar to deal with, it also made Rocky extremely loyal. As long as he was given food, he’d do anything, even kill babies. So Stilzar was more than happy to put up with Rocky’s stupidity.

Most of the time, at least.

Stilzar’s brows snapped together as he heard the stomping of Rocky’s footfalls echo back towards the room. Raising his head, he watched his second-in-command return mere moments after leaving.

“What is it now, Rocky?” Stilzar asked, masking the annoyance in his voice.

But Rocky just scratched the back of his head. “Hey, uh boss, why is there a little girl standing right outside our hideout?”

And Stilzar just frowned when he heard that. “What?”