The next day, they brought some timkik clothes for me. Those were nothing special, but were neither the rags most slaves wear. I did get accustomed to the nightgown Mun-Hee gave me, so I insisted on keeping it. I really loved the way the lower part clung to my body. She didn’t have any complaints, quite the contrary. I think she liked the idea of me wearing her clothes for some reason.

I also noticed something very strange. I realized that I find Mun-Hee’s presence very soothing, which is the exact opposite of how I felt about her just a few days ago. Even though, rationally speaking, she was still someone who I shouldn’t put my trust in. Yet, I found myself at ease whenever she was around.

I’ve realized this because, whenever we’d go to bed, I’d fall asleep right away. That never happened to me before. It’s not that I had some trouble falling asleep. I just don’t remember ever falling asleep mere moments after landing my head on the pillow.

At first, I thought that she may be using some magic on me, but later I realized what was really happening. I don’t know how or why, but I started liking her scent very much. It’s not that she had some specific smell, it’s just that … I can’t really put it into words. I’d put my guard down as soon as I’d smell her close to me. I swear, she even started looking prettier than before. I think it was her scent getting to me because, when I’d see her from far away, she wasn’t anything special. But once close, I’d find her pleasing to look at.

And I was never into females before! Therefore, her story about not being a demon is a fat lie. I bet she has a succubus or two somewhere in her lineage. And even though her people may not be the demons themselves, I started wondering if they could conceive a child with a demon. After all, the differences between her and the other demons are minor at best. She’s just not as big and intimidating as they are.

And I was yet to see a young, pure-blooded, demonic female.

Speaking of which, I was really glad I received the spell of non-conceiving before coming here, even though there were no timkiks nearby. Who knows, maybe these demons can breed with the other races. The last thing I needed was to end up with a demon-spawn in my belly.

Anyway, the demons decided that I should get educated first, before assigning any duties to me. Somehow, they consider studying to be a duty on its own. I didn’t bother correcting them since I liked the idea of being fed for doing nothing.

But, just like with everything else related to these demons, it wasn’t that simple. Yes, I was getting educated for free, but now I had to learn a brand new tongue, its writing, and new math.

Yes, not only the numbers, whole new math.

Eric put it upon himself to teach me. If I understood Mun-Hee right, that wasn’t one of his duties, but he chose to do it in his own free time. I don’t know why though, although I quickly realized that he really loves teaching for some reason. Some demon he is.

In the evenings, we’d gather as usual. Every single evening. As if it was some kind of a ritual for these demons. And all we did was talk. No getting drunk, no sexual tension, just talking. Can you imagine how boring that is? The demons are supposed to have no inhibitions whatsoever, and yet these ones acted as if they were monks.

Out of all the possible demons, I had to get the scholars. Well, at least I was safe, even though Mun-Hee still insisted I should stay as far away from their males as possible. All this boredom made me want to do the exact opposite, but it was way too early to defy anyone.

Until finally, they took me to a different room this time. It was as big as the one we always gathered at, but there were noticeable differences all around. Especially some big, chaotic thing on the wall whose purpose I couldn’t guess for the life of me. The only thing I knew about it was that looking at it made my head spin.

And there were far more demons there. They sat on everything you could put your ass on, including the tables. That was the first time I’ve seen demons act in an ill-mannered way. Soon enough, I realized why.

These demons were clearly not the scholars. I thought Mun-Hee and her friends were loud, but these guys were ten times worse. They acted like dwarves in an inn.

All of them were males. Tall, broad shoulders, huge muscles. You could find a regularly built demon here and there, but most of them were built like Jens. In fact, a few of them were even bigger than him! They wore almost no clothes at all. The upper parts revealed their arms and collarbones completely, while the lower parts stopped at their knees. Still, that didn’t bother them in the slightest.

As we made our way through the crowd, I started realizing why Mun-Hee was so insistent. These weren’t well-mannered, well-educated demons I’ve dealt with until now.

These ones were the real deal. They stared at me as we passed, sizing me up unabashedly as they elbowed each other with glee all over their faces. They talked excitedly in their tongue and, even though I didn’t know the meaning of those words, it was obvious they were very pleased to see me.

I didn’t really mind, I’m used to it. And I was certain that none would dare to do anything with Jens nearby. However, Mun-Hee had a deep frown on her face. I expected her to lash out at them at any moment, but she kept quiet instead. I took that as a sign that these demons weren’t as understanding as their educated brethren.

Jens approached a small crowd that gathered in front of the chaotic wall I mentioned before. I really don’t know how else to explain it. This big thing took a large portion of the wall, and it constantly shifted very, very fast. It looked as if some strange paintings were constantly falling through it at high speed. The paintings were very similar, although I could notice some subtle differences in them. Looking at that thing made me nauseous, so I looked away.

I turned my eyes to the group gathered in front of it. They were all in a merry mood. A few of them held some cylinder-shaped things, but most of those were on the table in the middle. Under that table, I noticed some black and white, squarish thing. Dim, blue light shone out of it.

After a brief talk with Jens, a few of those demons dispersed, but the crowd remained. One of them gave something he held in his hands to Jens.

Then, I noticed someone waving in front of my face. Turning my head, I saw a big demon, as big as Jens, trying to get my attention. But, instead of staring menacingly or lustfully like the others, this one smiled at me the same way Mun-Hee does so often.

He extended his hand towards me, holding something alien in it. I don’t really know how to describe it properly, it was some white thing with prominent but very dull horns, and it had many circles on it. It shone the same dim, blue light that shone from the box under the table.

He pushed it towards me gently, expecting me to take it. Uncertain of what to do, I looked at Mun-Hee. She nodded her head with a reassuring smile.

I took the thing carefully, holding it gently with my fingers. That drew a chuckle out of the big, friendly demon. He took it out of my hands, rotated it in a different direction, and then took my hand with his free hand. He guided my hand to one of the horns, arranging my fingers around it. I finally realized that I was supposed to hold the horns firmly in my hands. He did the same thing with my other hand.

It was a very strange sensation. As he guided my hands, I realized that his touch was very warm. The horns themselves radiated incredible warmth. It felt as if those were sitting in the sun for most of the day. It was a pleasant yet somewhat unsettling feeling because I didn’t look forward to holding some heated, demonic horns in my hands.

I also noticed that the horns were incredibly light, much lighter than wood. You’d expect bones to be heavy, but that wasn’t the case.

After giving me yet another gentle smile, the big demon walked away.

“Snirba!” Jens called out to me. He was sitting on a sofa in front of the shifting wall, motioning for me to join him.

So I did. Even though the sofa was big, I made sure to sit right next to him.

“We get fun now. Play game. I learn you.”

“It’s teach.”

“I teach you,” instead of getting angry at me for correcting him in front of everyone, he smiled with gratitude.

“What’s with all this smiling? And how is it that the biggest, most intimidating demons are also the most reasonable ones?” I wondered, “I guess that’s because they don’t have to worry about the other demons ruining their day, since they’re strong and all.”

“You con troll person like this,” he talked as his hands fiddled with the circles on the horns, “make him jump, do things.”

“What person?”

“One on the … wall.”

“Oh, you mean the one on the falling paintings?”

“Uhh … yes …”

“Sorry, but looking at it is making my head spin. Do I have to look at it?”

“You … feel bad looking at it?” Mun-Hee asked.

“My eyes just can’t handle how fast those … paintings are falling. Are those paintings in the first place?”

“Pain things?” She eyed Eric uncertainly. He was the one who understood timkik tongue the best at that moment. He learned a lot about it in the last few days while teaching me their tongue.

He responded in the demonic tongue, making Mun-Hee realize what I was trying to say.

“No, no, no pain thing. That is …”

She struggled to find proper words, but Jens was faster.

“Ohh, aj si!”

“What?”

“She … she have no human eyes.”

“No shit.”

“No, no, no.”

He started explaining something in their tongue. I’ve never seen him that passionate before. He gesticulated wildly, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. It looked as if he was describing that one perfect girl he got to spend some time with.

Others listened attentively, including the warrior demons. Even they looked curious now. The conversation eluded me, but the change in everyone’s behavior was evident. The warriors didn’t give me the suggestive looks anymore. Instead, they stared at me as if I was some kind of curiosity.

Which is strange because that’s exactly how I expected it to be from the start! Why was everyone looking at me as if I was one of their own in the beginning and got curious only now?

“Soo … she not can play?” Eric got the conversation back to the timkik tongue.

“Not. Mind not understand what eyes see. Can not make sense from it. Not only this. She can not use any displej.”

Mun-Hee looked at me with such pity, as if I’ve lost a family member.

“Wait … wait,” I slowly started realizing something, “Is this thing magical in nature? Is that why my mind can’t make any sense of it? I’ve heard the mages can sense, see, and feel things normal people can’t. Is this it?”

Then I finally got it:

“Are you telling me you’re all mages here?”