On the third day, Reilanis woke up exhausted, annoyed, and, above all, frustrated. She still felt some of the arousal from the night before, but she had neither the time nor the strength to do anything about it. She had a bad headache, she was extremely irritable and worst of all, she still didn't know what to do about the current situation.

The only thing she managed to do that day was to read the books that talked about the Queendom of Agrilisa.

Although the exact date of its foundation, the reasons, and the name of its first ruler are unknown, we know that there was an event of catastrophic proportions in the Porlean Sea, causing a significant number of people to migrate westward, entering the central lands of the continent, and settling on the banks of the Berkho River.

This is when the records get confusing. Some talk about several people of different races coming together and creating the first city north of Berkho, where the mining town of Gansial now stands, east of the Sacred Forest of Fogthorn.

Others mention that the first city was built in the middle of a huge forest that joined Cedarstone, Alderleaf, and Saltrot in a gigantic forest, but that the years ended up turning it into what is now a large valley surrounded by these 3 forests.

No one knows for sure how it started, what we do know is that it began as a patriarchal government. It was not until about 500 years ago, when that time King Milfron Dermas Khün, who had had only daughters, decided that he would hand over the throne to his eldest daughter, princess Jenastia Arlena Khün. From that moment on, it was decreed that princesses, and not princes, would inherit the crown, a decree that was highly appropriate at the time, seeing that Jenastia, her daughter, and granddaughter had achieved more than satisfactory governments.

Unfortunately, the last 160 years had been a great stain on Agrilisa's history. Queens Maria Niette Khün, and her daughter Margret Lasia Khün, imposed their selfishness and greed on the high nobility, causing a degradation of the economy and a huge increase in corruption and organized crime.

The governments of both turned the cities of their country, especially their capital, into nests of criminals, where the only way to survive in relative comfort and peace was to have connections with the high nobility or to swear unconditional loyalty to the queen.

Albert Zieglier, the nephew of Queen Margret, who abandoned his name and his country, embarked on a journey in search of power and allies, to save the country that was rapidly falling into ruin.

After years abroad, Albert returned with a group of high-ranking adventurers who, upon hearing his story, decided to help him in his quest. Together with them, he developed a plan to convince his mother, several other nobles and a group of rebels to stage a great coup d'état and place his mother on the throne, returning the country to its former glory. Needless to say, that plan was more than successful, overthrowing Queen Margret and placing Svenia Lerga Khün as queen.

It took the new ruler and her son, who would be hailed as a hero, about 25 years to give a minimum of stability to the country, dismantling large mafias that ran wild and ruled the underworld of the capital. They captured and executed huge groups of bandits that were doing their thing in the rest of the cities, and eliminated most of the corrupt nobles loyal to the former Queen Margret, freeing Agrilisa from the disease that was killing it.

It is in modern times that, thanks to the efforts of Queen Svenia, new, stricter laws were enacted for the nobility, laws that protected the common citizen, and others that helped to lift the economy of the Agrilisa Kingdom.

Currently Albert; now Count of Leipfborn, has retired to administer the territory of Tsalano, south of the capital Ayan, leaving his third daughter, Princess Riloine Aleria Khün, in the care of her mother, hoping to make her an advisor to the next Queen, her older sister, Crown Princess Louise Sera Khün.

"At least this gives me an idea of what the princess does, though it doesn't help me as much as I would have liked."

While the information in the books about Agrilisa's history was full of important information, almost none of it was useful to Reilanis.

The Oni rubbed her temples, tired from reading so many books and coming up with almost nothing that would help her think of real countermeasures to deal with the storm that was coming.

From the Laraef Empire's side, the only countermeasure she could think of was to attack first. Whether she would risk investigating one of the nearby villages, completely clear the entire nearby region of bandits, or extend the dungeon territory and use the monsters as a deterrent to intruders. The problem with those options was that they would attract far more attention than they could afford. And they might even end up being a better excuse for them when they tried to kill the princess, making them the best scapegoat for the empire.

The only thing she seemed to be sure of was that Agrilisa did not represent an immediate danger, and her real enemy was Baron Astor Miraleiquis, his family, and the soldiers of the Laraef empire.

Exhausted from another day of reading books and not finding anything very useful in them, she went to bed, hoping that this time, she could get some rest.
Reilanis woke up the next day, the fourth day alone, feeling just as tired as before. She began to notice that, after all, even if she didn't sleep with someone by her side, she really needed the company of her family. Seeing that there wasn't much she could do, she decided to leave, heading for the outside of the dungeon. If she had to make plans to protect the place, there was someone she needed to talk to first.

Once outside, she walked to a nearby clearing and in a loud voice began to call out to Orpheanus, who didn't take long to appear.

A large mass of earth and rocks began to emerge from the ground, growing in size and taking the shape of a giant gorilla made of stone, with plants and moss growing all over its body. It spoke in a deep, slow voice in response to the Oni's call.

"RED.WOMAN.NEED?"

"Orphy. Sorry, there may be trouble in the forest soon."

"TROUBLE?FOREST.DANGER?

"Yeah. Humans, well, those pesky guys. You know how troublesome they are."

Orpheanus only produced a sort of grunt, like rocks crunching together. A sign that he was annoyed.

"I know, I don't like this either, but there are... well, too many of them. We have no choice but to be careful."

"AGREED.FOREST.LIVE.NOT.LOSE.HOME."

"And I don't plan on letting that happen either. For now, can you ask the dryads to keep an eye on the edges of the forest? Especially the areas near the human villages. They're doing strange things there and I don't trust them at all."

"AGREED.DRIAS.WATCH.RED.WATER.NEVER.NEAR."

"Thanks, Orphy."

Before Reilanis could continue the conversation, a small being no bigger than a goblin, similar in appearance to a small person made entirely of wood, with a moss coat covering its body, along with a helmet made of a mushroom cap, ran towards them, stopping next to Reilanis, who was looking at it in surprise. "A spriggan? They don't normally wander far from their nymphs... What's that one doing here?" a bad feeling formed inside her.

The small being looked nervously between Reilanis and Orpheanus, but quickly made up its mind, and began to speak in a strange language; like swaying trees and leaves moved by the wind, towards the giant rock golem. By the way he talks, with urgency in his movements, the Oni could tell it was bad news. In the end, Orpheanus produced sounds like rocks hitting each other, then turned to Reilanis, who waited impatiently and nervously.

"RED.WOMAN.MOUNTAIN.LITTLE.SISTER."

"Miriam!!!? Orphy, what happened to her?"

"WOUNDED.DANGER.LIFE."

"Take me to her, now!"

Without hesitation, Reilanis jumped on Orpheanus, who immediately began to "swim" across the land, with the little spriggan leading them through the forest. They sped along the path to the foothills of the mountains. After a while, in the distance, they caught sight of a red cloud of flying monsters, circling a space in a clearing just off a path leading up the mountain.

"Red wyverns? What the hell are they doing so far from their territory?" Red wyverns were a much smaller variant of the common wyvern, barely larger than an eagle, but much more agile and deadly. They live in huge communities, similar to flocks of bats, and inhabit mainly the high mountains, where they nest on cliffs. Finding such a large group so far from their territory was strange and worrying.

As they got closer to the place, Reilanis managed to spot the girls defending themselves with everything they could from the flying pests that were surrounding them. But something caught the Oni's attention, there was someone on Elisa's back. Miriam, unconscious, was being carried by the blonde. Anger seized Reilanis, who immediately pulled her Kanabo from her inventory and prepared to fight.

"Orpheanus! - she called with fury. - I'm going to get rid of those things, protect the girls."

"AGREED."

The golem replied in his slow voice, but the tone he used, carried the same fury as the Oni.

When they finally arrived, Reilanis prepared to leap with all her might and prepared her weapon for use.

"ELISA! Get away, now!"

Reilanis shouted her orders as she launched herself high in the air aiming to land where the 3 girls were surrounded. Elisa, who was relieved to hear her Master's voice, grabbed Neminah's hand and started running in the direction she came from, straight towards Orpheanus. Just when they had gotten far enough away, Reilanis struck with full force with her Kanabo, like a meteor smashing into the rocky ground. The impact sent large chunks of rock flying in all directions, hitting the swarm of wyverns and smashing a good number of them to pieces.

Dust rose in a huge cloud, covering the surroundings, while debris, blood, and vermin flesh fell like rain on Reilanis, a Reilanis who was absolutely consumed with rage. This outburst was triggered by a detail she noticed while making sure Elisa and Neminah had moved far enough away. Miriam, her cub, her precious girl, had her body wrapped in bandages that had been dyed completely red. Worse yet, she had a missing arm. What kind of situation had happened on their journey for her to end up like that?

To find out what happened we must go back a few days into the past, to the day the 3 girls set out on their hunting mission.

 

10th day of the 6th month of the year 423, the second era of Ascension.

The boundary of Cedarstone Forest, on the way to Torias Massif

 

Led by Miriam, the girls advanced quickly through the forest to the path at the foot of Massif Torias. In this small clearing, Miriam stopped and faced her companions.

"Listen, according to what Vi and Mom said, this is where the monster territory begins. I don't have a damn clue what we're going to find up ahead so let's get in formation at once. I'll go to the front since I'm the only one who can attract everyone's attention. Nemi, behind me, Elisa, you bring up the rear."

"Why should I go in the back?"

The blonde's question, while valid, had been said with a rather prickly tone, something that obviously didn't sit well with Miriam at all.

"Because I'm the leader and I say so."

"Miriam, that's not a reason."

"Tch, fine. It's because Nemi is the most important in our group, we have to have her in the most protected place."

"The most important?"

"You don't even know that? Ha, I can see why mom chose me as the leader so easily. - Elisa gave her a dagger-throwing look, incredibly annoyed by the irritating comment. Still, she decided not to answer her. She would act like she always does, like the adult she is. - Nemi is our healer. Even if we both have physical strength and powerful magic, we are doomed if we don't have a way to recover. We could use potions, but there is a limit to the amount we can carry and if we drink too many we will have the toxin of life. Healers are the central pillar of a group."

"Hmm. I guess you really know your stuff."

"It would be a nice compliment if it didn't come from you. Anyway, we'll advance that way, with me in front, until we meet some monster. It's still pretty early, so we'll advance until Veldor is high in the sky. Nemi, make sure you stay close to Elisa, I'll attract the monsters so it's safer if you stay with her, got it?"

"Y-yes. I won't stay away from Eli."

"Good. Let's go."

Without much more to say, the 3 of them advanced into the mountains, along a stone path winding up the foothills. Moving briskly along the path, thus began their first day of hunting and leveling.