Noah appeared in the deserted cave in some corner of the twentieth level of the Moonhowl Labyrinth where his monster business partner Black Mist cat clan resided.

Several Black Mist Cats stood before him holding the ropes in which several bound monsters struggled and growled in madness, gazing at the delicious looking human in front of them.

“Thanks fellas. I appreciate your help, Verrly. And I am sorry to trouble you all when you are so busy with the Keepers matters.” Said Noah, nodding to the Cats.

“This is no trouble at all, Master. With how much the White Mastiff Spirit family under fire from the government after the Grey Scaled Kobold disaster they are in no position to complicate our lives with their pestering. We have some level of freedom for now.”

“Is that so?” Said Noah walking over to one of the bound monsters that tried to snap at him and placed his palm on its back. A few moments later a black film-like barrier enveloped his hand and the eyes of a monster widened in shock. Another moment later loud screams of pain sounded from its wide open maw.

“Yeah. Labyrinth Lords can’t have another Keepers family disappear right now even if the amount of our input is very small. After the disaster, the other monster families were greatly scared. Even with all the investigation underway, no one still gave an answer why it happened. So there are several crazy theories that are now circulating. One of them is that the Labyrinth has some kind of sickness or epidemic, maybe even cursed, and it is quite possible that if other families are relocated here they would just be wasted and go berserk. The other Keeper families inside the Labyrinth are keeping away from each other in case another one of us here is infected as well. So we don’t have much trouble from other clans as well. 

“Oh…I see.” Said Noah thoughtfully as the monster he touched slowly turned to ashes from his degenerative touch, while all its vitality and mana were stolen from it. “Maybe we really should make it look like a disease so that no one ever bothers you?”

“We’ll have to carefully consider that, Master. If you scare the government too much, they’ll most likely decide to close down the whole Labyrinth and bury us all in it to solve the issue.” Said Verrly.

“Damn. You’re right. That’ll be even less productive.” Said Noah as he started to dissolve the next monster. As he finished the second monster he stood for a few seconds checking his status before looking back at Verrly.

“Ok. With this level, I would need another batch just like this one.” Said Noah pointing at the monsters.

“Will do!” Said the Cats bowing and immediately disappeared from the cave, leaving only Noah, the bound monsters and Verrly.

“Is there something you wanted to say, Verrly?” Asked Noah.

“If I may, Master?” Said Verrly.

“I value you all as my good partners and will listen to you any time you want to talk.” Said Noah.

“I was wondering if…if you are going to recruit some more monster families?” Said Verrly with a bit of hesitation.

“Yes. That was the plan. Why do you ask?” Asked Noah turning to look at the Cat Warrior.

“I…” said Verrly hesitating once again.

“Please. Speak freely, Verrly.” Said Noah, noticing that he was contemplating whether he should say it.

“I was wondering if I may nominate one clan in particular. I know you would weigh it in the usefulness, but if you could at least give them a consideration and check if there is any usefulness for you, Master.” Said Verrly, bowing his head.

“I see. Who do you have in mind?” Asked Noah.

“Pale skinned Goblins from Grass tooth clan in the Stone Root Labyrinth ruled by the Black-Gold Gingseng Spirit Family.”

“Stone Root Labyrinth? It’s in the Eastern Region. Near the Capital, right? Why them?” Asked Noah, surprised.

“We had some dealing with them in the past. Before their and our relocation. We were once in the same southern region and had quite a good relationship, but…” Verrly went silent as if choosing his words carefully.

“I don’t understand your hesitation, Verrly. I will check on them first thing just because you spoke up for them. But why do you hesitate?”

“Well…they are Goblins.” 

“Yes, I heard. But sentient. Just like you. What’s the problem with that?”

“I see. Master, it seems you don’t know, but Goblin Keepers are…not in good regard in this Kingdom lately.” Said Verrly.

“Why?” Asked Noah raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“There was an incident with one of the most prestigious Guardian families that served humans for many generations. They started as keepers far back in the past and advanced into Guardians. They were very highly esteemed. However, the Hobgoblin Lord ruling their clan was found kidnapping and murdering women for many years. It was a big deal of a scandal among higher class nobility but also among commoners. Adventurers got involved and so on. The secret of monster families almost got out to the masses. Scandal reached the Central Cathedral’s ears and to placate them the Royal family made a demonstration out of goblins.”

“Many goblin clans suffered regardless of whether they broke any laws or not just because the Kingdom needed to make a statement in front of the Church. As a result many Goblin clans lost their higher class members and even fell from Guardians to Keepers. Other monster families, afraid to be implicated together with them, ostracized all goblins. Because of that goblin families downgraded from prestigious to pariahs in this Kingdom. The event is quite recent and still fresh in everyone's memory. So Goblins are still greatly looked down on.”

“I see. I did not know. I mean I heard of that scandal with the Noble family kidnapping women. It was right here in the Western region, right? But I did not know there was such a big story behind it.” Said Noah with surprise.

“So why you suggest this clan?” Asked Noah shrugging.

“We had been dealing with them in the past and were on quite good terms. Their clan chief was quite reasonable and they were always law-abiding fellas. Even more so than any other monster family. What happened to them was quite unjust in my opinion. They have not committed any crime themselves and always followed rules, but after that scandal many clans were relocated to other places. And worse living conditions. They were not excluded. We heard that in their new place they aren’t treated well. Maybe even worse than us here.” Explained Verrly.

“What did you hear about them?” Asked Noah rubbing his chin in contemplation.

“Pale skinned goblins are usually smarter than normal green skinned ones, even your human writing and calculus or math as you call it are understandable for them. And with their small size, they are more dexterous with their hands than humans. Their handicraft was always in high regard. They had many shamans in the past and had an incredible heritage of magic enchantment sigils. Even magic guilds consulted with them sometimes.” Said Verrly sadly.

“Because of that the Labyrinth Lord where they reside now is treating them like slaves. They are laboring entire days, and don’t get any pay. All their products are sold by the Labyrinth Lord family, and they get nothing, not even basic living necessities. And even then they are still forced to fill the usual Labyrinth quota. Their clan was starving for a long time and slowly degrading, with many members simply dying from hunger or going crazy and being killed by adventurers while attacking people like normal monsters out of madness. If it’s possible we’d like to help them.”

“Interesting. I will definitely check on them. We might need good hands when we open our business.” Said Noah, nodding thoughtfully. “If they are useful to me and agree to work for me, I promise to treat them fairly. Thank you for your honesty, Verrly.”

Verrly bowed deeply before leaving the cave to hunt down more monsters for Noah.

*****

William was slightly surprised when the call was answered in barely a few magic crystal blinks, more over the one answering was Evelina. It made his heart fill with warmth.

She was waiting for his call. Even though she sounded unperturbed while speaking to him, she must have been anxious for his call the whole evening. It was also clear from her voice that she forced herself to sound calm as he felt some strain in her voice, with occasional high-pitched sounds in her tone that she quickly theatrically covered with a slight cough.

This brought a smile to Williams mouth. A warmth filled his heart, giving him a new burst of confidence. He shouldn’t have had any doubts. It was clear how much she cared about him, even though she masked her eagerness.

They did not talk long; Evelina knew that he must have sneaked away from the party and could not spend much time talking until he would be searched for. Her voice purred from the listening set of devices transmitting her joy and delight. She sounded truly loving and incredibly excited with their talk. No doubt she felt eager to have more than just talk, so she called for an end of the call to not make them both too overexcited and unable to sleep. 

They said their farewells and said their promises to meet tomorrow. William proclaimed his love once more before moving to end the contact but then heard something from the device that made him freeze, with his hand still holding the listening device at his ear.

Williams' mind did not seem to want to process the information. Doubt and disbelief filled his thoughts, sending his mind spiraling. His eyes lost focus for a moment as he was overwhelmed with what he heard.

“Nnnghhh, noo wait, I... let me…ummgh put the piece down." Whispered barely audible Evelina’s voice. Then came the short ruffling sound followed by the solid object clattering sounds.

“Don’t worry. I put it down for you.” Said a very familiar male’s voice now loudly and clearly.

“Ughhh, you are so mean. You should have let me finish talking to him…”

“I could not wait. Your pussy just feels so good, slut.” Said the male voice.

“Aaaah. Oh, yes!” Moaned the familiar woman's voice.

“You like it? Like my cock inside you? Is that what you wanted the entire time you spoke to that loser?”

“Yeees! Oh, yes. Fuck me. Fuck me Keneth. Make my pussy feel good. I could not wait to end this dumb call. That annoying loser made me suffer without your cock. My pussy wants it. Give it to me hard….AAAH. Yes. Mmmm.” Sounded what was clearly Evelina’s voice, yet it was at the same time absolutely unfamiliar. A voice that William has never heard from her. Lustful voice.

William stood in silence unable to move a muscle. His mind struggled to comprehend it while tears as rivers ran down his cheek.

Was it his fiancé? Was it really his beloved Evelina? What was she doing? Did she…? With Keneth? 

The world shattered for William. He wanted to scream and shout his agony but held his mouth closed with his other hand. He needed to hear it. Hear everything that was there to hear. He needed to know for sure.

The smile on Lily’s face behind his back ceased as she sensed something very, very wrong. The posture of the man in front of her has changed. Where previously she saw a confident nobleman, now stood a broken and shattered miserable man. Man whose whole world crumbled in front of him, and he could do nothing to stop it or mend it back together. It seemed as if the fire of life went out inside his eyes.