Chapter 82 – Floor 9: Part 3

It took the Reeve nearly a week to travel to the Lord’s manor to report what had happened at Reesh and another week to return with an escort. Better than the two dozen men he had at his back were the two people in a covered wagon behind them.

A young man and woman, they were the Lord’s grandchildren and were being trained in the ways of magic and warfare. To the public, the Lords and Ladies were paragons of light and virtue, the personification of the Ruling Elite.

But the Reeve had been around the Nobility enough to understand their true nature. They were violent and cruel, a fact that was hidden from the populace. If it wasn’t for the surety that they were dealing with a Demon, the Reeve would never have agreed to come back with them.

At least with the two in the wagon, the Reeve was sure they wouldn’t kill him without reason. Better the evil he knew than the unknown.

Truth be told, he hadn’t known anything about this pair. He was unaware that the Lord had Grandchildren, but if they were similar to their sire, then they would be nearly as bad as the Demons they claimed to protect them against.

The thought of facing the young man who had taken Reesh from him made him shudder with dread. The ease with which he had been subdued was something that only the Lord and those ‘Chosen’ were capable of.

Blessed by the gods with magic, longevity and superhuman abilities. It was their ancestors that had first driven away the Demons, and it would be the ‘Chosen’ that did so again.

“We’re here.” The Reeve shouted as they topped a rise next to Reesh. Located in a valley, the road twisted slightly as it descended, giving them a view of the town. While the escort stopped to allow the Lord’s Grandchildren to exit their wagon, the Reeve marvelled at the changes to the town that had occurred in only a few short weeks.

There was a mansion on a distant hill on the edge of town, a structure that rivalled the Lord’s palace he had just left. The town seemed intact. The Demon hadn’t burned it to the ground. The Reeve had expected bodies to be on display, burnt husks of houses and pools of blood.

Instead, people were still in the small gardens and fields next to their homes. Boats were fishing in the river, and he could even see workers building a new warehouse next to the dock. More of the townspeople were laying stones on the road in the middle of town, covering the muddy walkways with solid roadwork.

“What the hell is going on here?” The Reeve whispered in confusion. He had been told the Demons thrived on chaos and destruction, yet it seemed its ownership of Reesh had improved things in the backwater instead.

“Don’t be fooled. The scriptures tell us that Demons take many forms, and while some delight in torture and ruin, others take enjoyment in constructing monuments to themselves or building up areas of civilization in order to farm sacrifice to themselves.” The young man said, walking up beside the Reeve and assessing Reesh.

“As the farmer breeds cattle, so do Demons tend to their flock. You are looking at nothing more than slaves constructing their own cages.” The young woman added.

The Reeve nodded. Of course, the pair would know more than him about such things.

“If it even is the efforts of a Demon, Sister. Such a creature would never come to such a remote place as this. It is far more probable that we are dealing with a bastard child of a Lord too ashamed to claim him. We will subdue him and have him serve our Grandfather instead.” The young man said.

“As is only proper.” His sister agreed, and the Reeve felt a sense of relief from the ease with which they spoke of the Demon. The cost of having the brother and sister come to Reesh had been steep. They had requested over a dozen of the region's womenfolk for their grandfather’s personal use as servants.

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Although the Reeve knew what use they would actually have, the habits of the Lords and Ladies were not well known, but he was amongst the select few aware of the truth.

The true Demons were here all along.

“If it pleases the Young Lord and Lady?” The Reeve asked, bowing low and gesturing for the pair to follow him into town. They didn’t acknowledge his words. They set out on the path down to the town together. The young man wore a white robe, pristine in the sunlight and untouched by the mud on the road.

His sister had a long dress of the finest silk, so thin and flowing that it was like gossamer. Their hair was both as black as night and left long in the tradition of the Nobility. They were in their early twenties and unmarried, an oddity for anyone outside of the caste of Lord and Lady, where arranged marriages could take decades to decide.

The Reeve was unaware of their names. He hadn’t been made privy to it when he had been ordered to escort them to Reesh. The siblings only referred to each other as ‘Brother’ or ‘Sister,’ and even then they rarely spoke to each other on the trip.

He hastened after them, his footsteps flicking mud behind him as he ran.

He caught up to the pair just as they crossed into town. The locals were eyeing the trio warily. They knew the Reeve would have gone for help. He had announced it when the Demon first arrived.

But why did they seem more wary of what they were here to do than excited to be rescued from the clutches of the Fiend who now claimed to rule them?

His answer soon arrived in the form of Mayor Goodwin, who seemed to be calm and composed regarding their visit. She gave a deep bow to the siblings and a more shallow one to the Reeve. The Mayor wasn’t stupid; she knew the status of the young man and woman was far above all of theirs.

“Welcome to Reesh. Demon Lord Mathew is expecting you. He has asked that I bring you to him promptly.” Goodwin said, and the Reeve’s eyes widened at the declaration. Was the mayor serving this so-called Demon willingly?

“You wen-” The Reeve began, only to be abruptly cut off by the young Lady raised hand. His teeth clicked together, and they could hear him grinding them in anger. But he held his tongue. He would never offend the like of the siblings.

“Lead on, Mayor Goodwin. Demon Lord…Mathew.” The young woman said, the last part a whisper. The young man was quiet, and his eyes were trained on the mansion in the distance. The Mayor bowed once again and began to lead them through the town. The curious locals watched them as they traveled, but they were unwilling to follow.

The mansion took the Reeve’s breath away. It was beyond even the Lord's castle that he had visited only a week before. The wealth on display, the gold and silver inlaid furniture, the works of fine art and more left the Reeve speechless. Even the young siblings were affected by what they saw, and the Reeve caught a look pass between them.

‘Looks like this isn’t some Lord’s bastard out on a lark.’ The Reeve thought smugly.

The Mayor, unaffected by the mansion’s opulence, walked swiftly across the hall toward a throne at the far end. It had been blurred in some way, making the figure seated there hard to focus on.

The Reeve hadn’t spotted him at first; it was only after they had entered and the door shut behind them that whatever magic was at work dissipated.

“Lord Demon. I have brought your guests as requested.” The Mayor said, bowing much more deeply to the now rapidly unblurring figure than she had for the Reeve or the two siblings.

“I have asked that you not call me thought.” The figure spoke wearily, a tinge of amusement in his tone. It was then that the Reeve saw the Demon with the face of a young man again.

He wore a black coat with a red scarf obscuring his neck and chin. His dark hair was long, cropped at the neck and swept backwards out of his face. He was handsome, his features perfect and skin fair. The Demon looked to be even younger than the siblings, in his late teens or early twenties and untouched by the sun or harsh weather.

Mathew sat unconcerned with the identity of the visitors. He had one leg crossed over the other as he lazed in the chair and curiously watched the siblings.

The ‘Buzz’ hadn’t told him anything about the siblings, meaning they were likely weaker than himself. But there was something interesting about the pair. Aether swirled around them, and mana inhabited their bodies.

It was like he was looking at two Players of the Tower of Avarice, but that wasn’t possible. He could come to only one conclusion, a single hypothesis.

This pair, a Lord and Lady of this land, was related to players in some fashion. The villain in him crowed at the attention he was receiving, and he itched to act the part. But the desire to find the truth from his Truthsayer Blessing was nearly as strong.

He was starting to enjoy his time on this Floor.