“Well, it started off as just a few kidnappings. A weird occurrence, but nothing too out of the blue. Once in a while, a few scumbags try to run a trafficking ring. We usually catch the bastards before it becomes anything too major. But after we started getting reports of demon attacks on the outskirts of town I knew something was wrong.”

“During their first attack there were just a few of them, skinless beast type critters, chew your head off if you weren’t too careful. I dealt with them myself, they weren’t much of a problem. I thought that after killing them that would be the end of it, but I was mistaken.”

“The night after they attacked again, and this time they were double in number, it was like a plague. Every night me and a few of my men would take them out, and the night after even more of them would come back.”

“We soon realized that the number of residents that would go missing correlated with the number of beasts that would appear. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together after that,” said Ailre, before pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Sure, I can see why you assumed a demonic group had something to do with it. But what exactly led you to believe it was the Cult of Amaymon?”

“The bastards wrote his name in blood on the city gates after their fifth attack,” replied Ailre tidying up the documents on his desk before standing up to look out the window.

“The people of this town rely on me you know. Almost a quarter of the residents have gone missing, I can’t afford to let this continue any longer so I don't really have time to fool around. If you feel you can’t help us, let’s save both your time and mine and end this here.”

{Fine by me.} Is what Gray would’ve loved to say, had the specter not reminded him that finishing this mission was a requirement to prevent Alucard from hunting them down.

“You can lay your worries to rest, captain. I’m a specialist when it comes to demons, so if anyone can solve this, it's me,” lied Gray.

“Is that so? Then perhaps my sleepless nights may soon come to an end,” replied Ailre almost longingly.

“So what exactly have you done thus far? I’m not trying to question your hard work captain, I merely want to know what you've already tried so as to avoid re-inventing the wheel. ”

“Re-inventing the wheel?” The prase seemed to be lost on the old elf.

“We’ve tried just about everything we could. At first, we had the citizens report anyone they thought was suspicious, but that soon turned into a witch hunt after citizens started false reports based solely on petty disagreements. Then we tried having a town-wide search for anyone in possession of suspicious materials, but that proved useless as the culprits could just hide their things in already searched households,” explained Ailre exhaustion audible in his voice.

“And what about the demonic beasts? Do you perhaps have any of them locked up somewhere? We might be able to find a clue on one of them.”

“Locked up? I killed them on sight, I hadn’t even thought of finding clues on one of them. Gods, maybe the queen was right. Maybe I should retire and let someone else take this post.”

{If this old man mopes any more than he already has, I swear I’ll-}

“We’ll see where we go after we capture one of them. But putting all that aside, what do you suppose their goal is? Why are they spawning demonic creatures in this town?”

“Pfft, isn’t it obvious? They want to summon their god, Amaymon. And they’ll be able to do it too if they get enough sacrifices. They won’t stop here, after they completely take over this town, they'll spread to the rest of Elden,” said Ailre, as if it were blatantly obvious.

“Then if it's so serious why hasn’t the queen sent in more help? Excuse me for saying this, but I’m sure there are people more qualified to hunt down cult members than you.”

“I don’t know either,” replied Ailre, his eyes slightly downcast as he said this. Gray could tell something was up, and he didn't plan on getting himself killed just because Ailre decided to withhold some information.

“Look, I’m not going to help if you plan on hiding things. If you want us to solve this as fast as possible, I need to know everything you know.”

“Gray, have you ever wanted to protect something with your entire being, though it seemed as if there were always forces acting against you?”

Gray couldn’t tell exactly what the old man was getting at. Though he could tell that Ailre hadn’t slept in a while and was perhaps mumbling on due to sleep deprivation, so he decided to entertain the man.

“Yea. I was once tasked with protecting a high-ranking official, though because I’m from what they call ‘indecent blood’ the official refused my protection, which led to her death,” replied Gray, stealing the whole story from a web novel he had once read.

“I’m sorry to hear,” said Ailre sympathizing with Gray.

“I have a similar story, though for me it’s the entire kingdom.” After that, there was a slight pause, as if Ailre was thinking about whether or not to go on with what he had to say.

“What I am about to say is blasphemy towards the queen, though I am prepared to die if that means Elden will be safe. The only reason I am saying this to you is because I need someone inside Kalin to alert the higher-ups in case all hell breaks loose,” said Ailre, visibly preparing himself for what he was about to say.

“I believe the queen is working with the demons.”

“W-what?”

“My suspicions began the day the former king died. He and I were close, though I was weak when compared to the strongest warriors within the kingdom, he still chose me as one of his generals. The night before he died he told me that bad times were coming and that he had already failed us. Back then I didn’t understand, but after he was declared dead the following day I began to suspect.”

“His eldest daughter, the current queen, ascended the throne on the same day. She restructured the entire cabinet, stripping the king’s men of their titles and replacing them with her own strawmen. Soon after rumors that the queen had ordered the continuation of a few forbidden experiments began spreading. I can’t tell you exactly why I believe she is working for the demons, but I have strong reason to suspect so.”

{Damn you Alucard. Why am I being involved in all this? This was supposed to be an elimination mission, I was just supposed to kill a few people. Why is this old man telling me his whole life story? The queen could be fucking Amaymonn for all I care, why does this have to be so complicated.} thought Gray though he kept an outwardly composed demeanor.

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“Oh no, I’m shocked. I’m just trying to take all this in.”

{Shocked at my luck that is.}

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[System Information]

Mordesh

The Queen of demonic nature and magic arts, youngest daughter to the Grand demon Arshahet and ruler of the seventh circle of hell. She is the second youngest amongst the Eight High demons of the underworld, older than only her younger brother Amaymon. She is also known as the elf progenitor, though records of elf descendence have long been lost, and such claim is in dispute between her and the tree of life Yggdrasil.

She is seen as the most benevolent of the demon gods, in fact, a tribe of elves known as the drows used to worship her, and in turn, she gave them power. Though during the reign of the mad king, most of them died due to forbidden experimentation. It is uncertain why she allowed them to be wiped out, though her goals have always been uncertain. Like her younger brother she too has a zest for information and is sometimes referred to as the mother of demonic experimentation. She is known to be charismatic and cruel, and will sometimes expose her sadistic tendencies.

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