POV: Darius

Therese has finished interrogating all the 'witnesses', I have no idea what for. I have already admitted to my doing, this is just a waste of time.

Now it is my turn to get interrogated.

She places the truth gem on the table and then sits down.

"Okay, commander", Therese sounds even more pissed than usual, "let me summarize what I've learned about your little stunt. You have assaulted one of our captains because you suspect she's working for a 'Vampire Progenitor' of all things. ...and said assault almost killed her, by the way. Are you out of your mind!? Who would believe such a fairy tale? There is no proof, that progenitors ever existed and any story that mentions them ends with them getting wiped out!"

"He admitted to being one!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Darius! He just lied to you to intimidate you. There is no way such a weak vampire could be a lord or even a progenitor."

She is defending the monster, so he HAS taken control of this fortress already...

"Weak? What is wrong with you! I've tried to [appraise] him and only got question marks back! That proves beyond a doubt that he is strong enough to be what he claims to be!"

"What? Darius, have you really lost it? Both Chloe and I have [appraised] Jared without issue, he hasn't even reached level 5 yet."

"But I've clearly seen-"

"No, Darius, you're just overworked and clearly need rest."

"I need rest? You need to come to your senses, Therese! He has got to have you under his control or something. The Therese I know would NEVER take the side of a vampire!"

She just stares at me completely baffled.

"No, I... I'm not taking his side. All I'm saying is that he isn't nearly strong enough to warrant using our last banishment crystal."

"Then explain to me why I couldn't see his stats! No one in this fortress is even close to as strong as I am! So how could you see his stats but I couldn't? That doesn't add up!"

We both stare speechless at the truth gem. It never ceased to shine green the whole time.

"That indeed doesn't make sense. If both of us say the truth, what is going on then?"

I don't understand what is happening anymore.

"Listen, Therese. I, I don't know how to put it. But everyone was acting suspiciously, I thought I had no other choice. I'm not proud about what I did, but I saw no alternatives."

"...maybe we have. *sigh* What is done is done now. He won't come back, so we'll never be able to confirm the truth. Maybe that is for the better..."

I get a bad feeling while she says this.

"Here's what we'll do, Darius. You go back to the hospital until the doctor releases you properly. Take that time to clear your thoughts and think about how you'll apologize to Chloe. She has been through a lot, so please don't treat this lightly, she... isn't in a good place mentally."

"Right, I understand-"

"Then when you're out again, we three will sit together and talk everything through. As for the witnesses, I've already ordered them to keep silent about the whole situation. Though, that won't stop rumors from spreading. Well, you know the drill."

"Yeah, thanks, Therese."

"As for your duties once you've recovered-"

"-we'll talk about that later."

"...indeed, grab the gem, we need to hurry to the mansion! A new lord may be great news but I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why? Wasn't there a rumor going around about a 'Lost Child' arriving, maybe they found their way here?"

"That is... too much wishful thinking. With how badly the last few days went, I don't see us, me, deserving such a reward."

"Fine, let's just go. We can discuss our further path of action once we've ascertained the new lord's character."

"Agreed."

We hurry over to the 'Lord's Mansion', grab a few more soldiers on the way and order the rest to stay on duty. They may deserve to know who our new lord is as much as we do, maybe even more so, but we can't neglect general safe-keeping.

In front of the mansion is a huge crowd of people, I can see nothing of the new lord, too far away, nor can I hear anything, it seems their speech was over just when we arrived. I can only see two figures enter the mansion and close the giant door behind them.

"Therese, follow me. We have a duty to fulfill."

"Indeed."

We force our way through the crowd to the mansion's door.

I take a moment to prepare myself, then knock.

"This is commander Darius speaking, I demand an audience!"

After a moment, the door opens and reveals a winged woman who glares at me. Is she an angel? Is the new lord really the one sent by God?

---

POV: Jared (a few minutes earlier)

After leaving the slums, I change my uniform back to its original shape, minus the insignia. I can worry about creating my own later. The only symbol I can come up with at the moment would be something with a bat, and that is too on the nose for my taste. And I may still end up needing to join a thieves guild or something to get out of the open, so that effort is not worth it right now.

On my way to the destination, I get the idea to hand Maria a real sword since her spirit sword doesn't have stats on it.

"I'm sorry, my liege, but I cannot use this. The notification says, that my kind can only use special spirit equipment."

"Well, it was worth a shot. We could have used those bonuses to attack and defense, but if the system is - again - stacked against us..."

"May I stay outside for a while? I would feel better if I knew you have a guard at your side."

"Not sure, I have [Stealth], you don't, but... ah, stay."

"Thank you, my lord."

A few minutes later we arrive at our destination - the Lord's Mansion. I can't take it over yet, at a minimum I'm lacking the drink it wanted. But maybe I can at least stay inside for a while. If not... I will flip a coin; heads, I head back to the military and try to force... something; tails, someone in the slums will get the short end of the stick and lose their home. I don't like either option but I have no other ideas than those three.

Okay, that is not completely true, I could try and ask Lucia if I could stay with her, but with her [Undead Bait] skill this can only end in tragedy.

"Hey, are you awake?"

"Hmm? Ah, little one, you have returned. Who is the new friend at your side?"

"My name is Maria, faithful servant to lord Delacroix, it is a pleasure to meet you. Mister, uhh... I'm afraid I don't name your name, sir."

"Don't worry your pretty head about it, I don't have a name. At least none I recall."

"I take it little Elly is also still around?"

"Sure she is. Give me a moment."

I exchange my two summons.

"Elly, say 'hi', this time in person."

"Yeah, hi. We talked already last time."

"Interesting. It looked like you have picked up summon magic, but Elly has existed before? How does that work?"

"We had... a bit of an accident, right, Elly?"

"I already told you, I am sorry... I didn't intend to harm my new sister..."

"This sounds like it would be a longer story."

"Yes, it would be, but sadly I'm a bit tight on time. I need to find a place to stay soon... some stuff happened."

I may be already pushing my luck but wasting the time but now I'm here...

"I know that I don't fulfill all of your requirements, but could I still stay here for the time being?"

"Hmm... which requirement do you think you are lacking?"

"I gained water and summoning magic, so I should now fulfill the requirement of knowing at least six magic types, but I didn't manage to get my hands on some beer, neither shops nor monster drops yielded some."

I don't really want to take the mantle of fortress lord, I'm not the leader type, but the people here need one such lord. And I seem to be the only one here able to claim the mansion. So, lacking this arbitrary item is convenient for my conscience. I can only say I tried, I checked all shops I found, have slain thousands of monsters for the chance to get it via random drop, but none of that worked out. I tried, I did my best, it was not enough, don't blame me!

"I don't mind, you can stay. There's still a lot of time left."

"You can just give me the beer at a later date."

"What? What have you done!?"

This isn't what I've wanted. I just wanted a place to stay for the next few days.

"Is it not obvious? I have accepted you."

As he starts to explain, I enter the mansion and look around a bit.

"You may not meet the exact requirements, but those are just a subjective trial anyway. The one that has to make a judgment is me, and me alone. I have seen that you put in the necessary effort. Last time, you mentioned that you have doubts about taking on this position, but despite that, I can feel that you care enough about the people. I have faith that they will be in decent hands with you."

"This feels like cheating. Apart from me, no one can bargain with you mansions about those details."

"Ha~ha, that is where you are mistaken. We mansions can speak the common language, just some of us choose not to. In my case, I see it as part of the trial. Originally, I just wanted to see a lord with the 'Arcane Linguist' class, one of my favorite elite classes if I had to admit, but my first lord admonished me for having too narrow a taste."

"What's so special about it?"

"Hah, let me show you!"

I don't see the appeal. It starts similar to the wizard class, the last skill gives three affinities more eventually, but just like with wizard it also explicitly disallows the elements I would want the most. And an extra language... are there even any? My 'World Navigator' title should give three but the last went to waste since there aren't enough languages in the world.

Maybe this is more helpful if you don't have the Elly language cheat?

How many affinities do regular people even get? Well, it doesn't change for me, that this class would be a waste.

"That's... an interesting class. Not what I would need the most right now, but emm, interesting at least."

"I suppose it isn't for everyone."

There's a commotion to be heard outside. I guess the announcement of my takeover wasn't only for me.

"Jared, there are a lot of people gathering in front of the mansion!", Elly is audibly excited.

Guess it is already time for my debut as the new lord of this mess.

"I guessed as much. Come, let's get this over with."

I step outside with Elly at my side. I see that a lot of people are crammed together on the street. I hear a lot of murmuring.

I gather my courage to start talking, "I actually wanted to give this address at a later time after some preparation but if you're already all here...
Anyway, as you may suspect, starting five minutes ago, I am the new lord of this fortress."

In the distance I hear some people talk, "Wait, isn't he the vampire that was with us?"

"Silence, Allen, you fool! Don't provoke him!"

Was that 'our' Allen? The other voice might have been Kay, not that I could hear it very well over all of that noise.

"Yes, it is as you've said, I am a vampire. So, what of it? Does it stop me from doing this job properly? I don't think so! I am specifically here to help you, to get this situation back under control. We may have a few... differences in food choices or how much we appreciate a sunbath but aside from that our interests align."

I look into the masses, some show signs of fear. Understandable. I'm really not cut out for giving spontaneous speeches.

"Any other questions?"

After a moment, one man speaks up, "What all will change for us?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I still need to find out what options I all have. Eventually, I want to improve our defenses against the flood, end the food shortage and reclaim the slums, but I can't promise anything right now. I don't know yet which laws I can change or something. Anything else?"

I wait a bit, but no one else asks anything, so I return to my new home.

No riot, no dead people, can I take this as a win? Someone outing me as a vampire was less than ideal, but they would've found out eventually. At least in a decade or so when I haven't aged a bit.

"Wouldn't it have been wiser to show them that you are a 'Lost Child', Jared?"

"Might have been, but I don't want to. I'm still not sold on them really liking 'Lost Ones' as much as people have told me. Even if, I hate the idea of only succeeding because some god gave me his blessing. I want at least some success out of my own power and by my own choices. It doesn't have to be all the way, but at least let me be my own person for a bit. I'm not just a goddamn tool!!"

"While I understand that desire, I still think you should prioritize your success rate over your feelings."

"You are right, Elly, probably. I, I might fix that once I have found out what I can actually do as a lord and make an official announcement of my plans going forward."

"I interpret that as a promise then."

"Fine, do that."

knock knock

"Elly, can you check what they want? I'm not in the mood for visitors right now."

"This is commander Darius speaking, I demand an audience!"

"There's your answer."

"Fuck. Right... guide him in if he is really willing to talk and hand his weapon over while we do that. Hey, uh, mansion? Do we have a room suited for negotiations?"

"On this floor, the one room in the back. If you want some privacy away from me, you can use the rooms on the upper floor, I can't look into them."

"You heard it, Elly. Guide our guests there."

"Gotcha."

While Elly receives our guests I check out the mentioned room. It has a big table in the middle and eight cushioned chairs around it.

Soon, Elly brings Darius and Therese into the room.

Darius hasn't yet noticed who he is talking to before he starts, "I thank you for graciously taking your time to - wait, you!?", he gets visibly angry. Therese tries to hold him back.

Darius grabs me by the collar, about to do something stupid.

"I would refrain from that if I were you, Darius. No matter the result, you would do more damage to this fortress than I ever could."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you kill me now, the law enforcement will claim your life as well. And from my point of view, the people need us both, me as the lord to get the fortress back into shape and your leadership for the military to keep them safe from the flood."

"...", he lets go of me, very much upset that he can't get rid of me.

"I heard you wanted to talk, then let's talk. You will have to excuse me, I just settled in minutes ago, so I don't have any comforts to offer yet."

"...yes, let's."

Note to self, try to employ some fae as the reception. If they are as messed up as in our old myths, their word trickery would be binding and that might help the next time someone is less than willing to just settle for talking.

"Just take any seat. You too, Therese. Say, you wouldn't know what happened to Chloe? The last time I saw her, she was pretty devastated."

"That was all your fault!"

"Darius, calm down. He is just trying to get under your skin."

"Grr..."

Looks like Therese has Darius pretty much on a leash here.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"No, I won't ignore this topic. How are you here!? I have definitely used the banishment crystal on you! How can you be BACK?"

"It wasn't that hard, just had to kill a bit over twenty thousand."

"Twen-twenty thousand innocents dead... B-but you were only gone for a day!"

"Yeah, I took my sweet time."

Darius is distraught. Does he seriously think I killed that many people? I mean, monsters are weird, and I don't know what their deal is yet, but calling them 'innocent' goes too far. Probably.

"Please stop joking around, Jared. Darius is already in a foul mood. I am not much better myself."

"I'm not joking. His stupid gem sent me back into the dungeon and I had to fight through over twenty-two thousand monsters, I stopped counting. Even had some less than pleasant reunions."

"..."

"Come, Therese, take out the truth gem. I know you have one with you, that is like your whole schtick."

"Don't treat me like some one-dimensional character."

"But you have one with you?"

"...but I have one with me, yes... how did you-"

"Because that is the one constant between every meeting we two had. We never talk like normal people with each other, it is always only with the presence of that gem. Because you don't trust people."

"Am I that predictable?"

"Seems like it, and could you reboot that drooling idiot? You wanted to talk and I don't really feel like talking to a wall."

Therese takes out a truth gem and punches Darius in the sides, which shakes him out of his stupor.

"Okay, Darius, what plagues you?"

"I... have doomed thousands of innocents to an undeserved death..."

"Since when are monsters innocent? Why do you grieve for them?"

"Huh? Monsters? I thought..."

"...you really zoned out early, huh."

"Let the manchild be. Now, explain what is going on here."

"I don't know what there is to explain. When I first came here, I wanted to lie low, just grow more powerful and gather information until I know what I need to do to take care of the main problem."

This... is hard to talk about. I don't want to tell them everything. But, I guess, I... I must.

"Trust me, this is something that must be kept confidential. I... I was sent here by your gods", so far the truth gem still shines green, "to help you", with that the gem turns grey.

That is weird... "Stupid gem, what is that supposed to mean this time?"

"I have no idea what to make of this either. Were you really sent by... him?"

"My dear 'master', I suggest to finally come clean."

"...yeah, yeah, you're right, Elly. *sigh* Well, what is the point of keeping it hidden any longer... Lucia already found out anyway... Here, watch."

I create the symbol of the 'Lost One' in front of me.

"Wha - how can this...", the two mumble around.

"There, happy now, Elly? I got some drooping idiots for my trouble."

"Maybe, that depends on what our absentminded guests think of the situation."

It takes a moment for the two of them to process what the symbol means.

Therese recovers first. Well, recover is a bit much. She is at least able to start throwing out a series of questions, "Are you for real? YOU are the 'Lost Child'? God sent us an undead? Is that why there were no life signs?"

She sinks her face in her hands.

"I'm afraid, it is the truth."

"How, why? Why would he not send us a regular human?"

"Do you have infinite amounts of steel lying around? No, likewise, god's resources are limited as well. Whatever it is they need to create a humanoid body, was allegedly exhausted."

"That is... duly, noted."

Darius is shaking, trying and failing to process what is going on.

"Why didn't you show us earlier?",  he asks, "that could have avoided so many problems!"

"Could have, but I was afraid, still am. I know nothing about the culture here, I was told that the 'Lost Children' are revered, but the people that told me that were not exactly trustworthy. Even tricked me before. Considering that track record, I was hesitant to easily believe it to be safe to reveal myself."

Darius stammers, "...if that is true, then I apologize. I... hadn't considered that. But for us, the 'Lost Children' are as important as God himself."

"Darius is apologizing? There is a first for everything."

"I'm not that uncouth, Therese!"

"Are you two done bickering?"

"Err... yes, we are.", answers Darius.

"Sorry, this is just a lot to take in."

"It is okay, I understand. Do you have any idea when Chloe will be back again? I'd like to continue this discussion with her present and you two look like you need some time to think about things and some sleep."

"That indeed we do. Chloe... no idea, the doctor just said she will be out for a few days."

"Got it, Therese. Also, could you please prepare a quick overview of the most pressing concerns regarding the fortress and deliver it by... let's say the day after tomorrow? We can talk about a proper appointment then."

"Yeah, sleep sounds definitely good... This was a lot to take in, and a new lord means a lot of extra paperwork, I mean aside from the extra stuff you requested."

"I can guess as much. Sorry, but that needs to be done, the sooner the better, Therese."

"Is that okay with you, too, Darius?"

"Honestly, I don't yet know what to think. I, I will first have to come to terms with almost killing a holy figure..."

"Yeah, our situation got quite out of hand... Well, if anything comes up, you know where to find me. I guess I'll be busy with administrative work, or at least research, and otherwise only get out for morning training and twice for decimating the flood."

"...understood. Take care."

"Alright, take care. Elly, can you please escort them out and return Darius's sword?"

"Sure, will do, Jared."

After my guests leave, I explore my new mansion a bit more, on the lower floor is next to the big meeting room a smaller office room, I guess this is where I will waste a lot of time. Aside from that, there is a kitchen and a small bathroom, including a porcelain throne - two rooms I don't have use for, personally.

Eventually, my way leads me upstairs to the rooms it supposedly can't look into. On the second floor, there are four rooms, the biggest one should be mine then, the other three can serve as guest rooms. On the third are seven smaller rooms, probably meant for the staff, and a storage room. I'm not sure what the point of the latter is when everyone has a personal inventory. At least there doesn't seem to be a notable size limitation with it. I have loot from over twenty thousand monsters in there.

After the survey, I go to my personal room and lie on the way too large bed. You could easily fit a whole family in it and still have room to spare.

I kinda wish I had someone to share this with.