As Rodderick made his way through the bustling streets of Dorhem, he found it wasn't difficult to locate the inn. It seemed to be quite popular among the townsfolk, as everyone he asked was able to give him accurate directions. When he finally arrived at the inn, he was greeted by a towering three-story building with a large wooden sign above the entrance. The sign, spelling out "The Drunken Lamia," seemed to shimmer with a faint magical hue, changing color before his very eyes

Rodderick had heard of magical items before, but this was the first time he had seen one in person. "So magic can be used like this too..." he whispered in awe, unable to tear his eyes away from the mesmerizing sign. He shook his head, trying to snap out of his reverie, and approached the inn.

As Rodderick pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the inn, he was immediately struck by the bustling atmosphere within. The interior was vast and packed with people, the scale of the establishment far surpassing that of the Golden Goose in Eldham. Everywhere he looked, there were tables filled with patrons, and he couldn't spot a single one that was empty. But it wasn't the crowdedness of the inn that caught his attention - it was the numerous servants who were busy delivering meals to the customers.

Women with serpentine lower halves and humanoid upper bodies dressed in maid outfit carried food trays to the many tables. The crisp white aprons and frilly black dresses covered their bodies, while their long hair was often styled and adorned with ribbons and bows. As they moved about, their tails swayed behind them, completing the look of a traditional maid. The inn name should have tipped him off, but he never expected humans to be comfortable eating with demons around them. It was an incredibly bizarre sight.

Upon closer inspection, Rodderick noticed that all of the demons wore the same type of necklace - a metallic object that shimmered with a faint, colorful glow. It was clearly a magical item, like the sign outside. He wondered if it was being used to control the demons, like Athena who was bound to Edeus. But he didn't see her wearing anything like this, which led him to wonder if it was because Edeus was powerful enough to control her without the need for magical objects, or if the necklaces were simply there to give the customers a sense of security.

“Riiiiicky~ Over heree~”, Ember called out to him, which finally broke Rodderick’s focus on the demonic servants, she waved at him from a nearby table beckoning him to come over. Across the table Edeus was sitting with her also looking at him.

Rodderick rushed over to them and took a sit next to Ember. “Hello, it’s been a while", he said wearing a smug smile on his face.

“It was three hours top”, Ember answered putting a strawberry on her mouth.

“Yes, but three prosperrus hours”, He nodded maintaining his self satisfied attitude.

“Prosperous”, corrected Edeus.

“The point is!”, Rodderick stood up from his sit and slammed the table with both his hands, he then took the a mud cup from under his clothes and raised it high on the air.

He was dying to show off to his mentors.

“Earth, become a sword for me!”, Suddenly, the cup began to shake and vibrate, it’s form gave up melting away and assuming the form of a blade. It was rough and jagged, its surface rugged and textured like the surface of the earth itself. The hilt was formed from the cup's handle, now elongated to fit the Rodderick's grip perfectly it didn’t look sharp and was probably useless as a sword, but that wasn’t the point.

Edeus's eyes widened in surprise as Rodderick, who had been struggling to control the earth for the entire day, suddenly succeeded in manipulating it with ease. Despite the fact that Edeus had previously confirmed that the earth was resistant to Rodderick's will, it seemed that mere hours of practice had been enough for Rodderick to overcome this obstacle. Ember also looked shocked, her face a mask of disbelief.

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"Well done, Ricky!" Ember exclaimed, clapping her hands together in delight. "You're an earth mage!"

Edeus cleared his throat and composed himself, offering his congratulations to Rodderick as well. "This is a truly impressive achievement, Rodderick.” For a mage to master an elemental magic that does not favor them in just two days is an extraordinary feat, perhaps this boy had talent, just not the conventional kind. Rodderick was filled with a proud sense of achievement that displayed on his face, he could savor their praise forever.

A lamia slithered to their table and gently placed two plates in front of the magic duo's table, carefully setting two plates down before them. She then turned to Rodderick, bowing her head slightly. "Would you like something to eat as well, young child?", Rodderick sat back down, putting the earth sword to rest at his side and looked at the demonic maid. Now that he was able to take a closer, he couldn't help but notice the scars and bruises covering the demon's skin.

Of course, demons and humans wouldn’t be able to coexist peacefully. These demons weren’t there on their own volition, and the humans who captured them only felt hatred and contempt towards their kind. It was to be expected that they would be mistreated in a town bordering the front lines, a town that was on a constant state of warfare.

“Child?”, the lamia tilted her head, unsure if Rodderick had heard her.

“I…”, he couldn’t come up with anything, he had frozen in thought.

“Bring him beets soup”, Edeus who noticed Rodderick’s shock ordered for him.

“Understood”, the lamia bowed again and left the table.

“I’m sorry Rodderick, maybe this inn wasn’t a good choice, you must be scared after what happened in the mud hut”, Edeus looked at the kid with concern, however, Rodderick shook his head.

“No, it’s not that. I just felt bad for her, they must be really sad working here”, Rodderick looked at the girl slithering away, as she was moving she was stepped on and used as a makeshift floor by one of the inn's patrons. The woman twitched for a second, but kept slithering as if nothing had happened.

“You feel bad?”, Edeus rose an eyebrow and looked at Rodderick confused, it seems he had misunderstood the child’s sentiments. “They are demons, Rodderick, they are here because they were at war with the people of this town, think of this as their punishment, they are lucky they are alive”.

Even his teacher felt that way, it made him feel like the odd one.

“Do you hate Athena?”, Rodderick asked, trying to find some common ground.

Athena was scary, but he didn’t really hate her, she bore no bad will towards him, well, maybe she did, but she hasn't harmed him so he couldn’t get himself to hate her.

“Hate her? No, I’m just indifferent to her”, Edeus answered closing his eyes in thought, he never really thought about it before.

“You are too young Ricky, that naivety will get you killed in the battlefield, kihihi”, Ember cackled on the side.

Perhaps he was, he hated the demons that took his parents lives, but he didn’t feel the same about demons like Athena or these lamias that had no ill will against him.

Rodderick sighed, leaving his thoughts behind. He had something else he needed to tell his companions.

“Edeus, Ember, I know where the prince is”, Rodderick looked at Edeus expecting him to be shocked by the revelation, however, he seemed to be distracted, looking past Rodderick instead. “Yes, I do too”, he answered. His answer surprised Rodderick, who followed Edeus’ eyes and turned around.

Behind him he saw two people approaching, the bald old man he saw earlier in the afternoon and the young boy wearing a hood who met him at the downtown house.

The boy sat down next to Rodderick, the old man stood behind him arms crossed.

“Hello Edeus, I wasn’t expecting to see you so far from the capital”, the child said lowering his hood and revealing his bright red hair that reached his neck in length.