Hiiro took a sip of the tea brought to him by Aria's butler. He had heard the entire situation and the theory Aria had. He watched her depressed figure off to his side as she rubbed her thumbs together with clasped hands to help mitigate her anxiety. They were sitting on the ground of the office with their backs resting against a large oak desk. His thoughts revolved primarily around how this situation might affect Lapis. The woman beside him held a gentle and forthright personality driving men to assist her through protective instinct alone. Hiiro was no different in that regard. In fact, in his heart, he held her slightly higher as she managed to remain true to her beliefs and chase after her ideals even when surrounded by such a degree of corruption. In the end though, his loyalties laid with Lapis, the only person who remained true to the end with him. He gauged how she would react if he brought this news back... Probably ambivalent if he read her personality correctly. He knew she was someone who wanted to help those she could, yet remained distant so as to not draw attention and danger to those same people.

He struggled internally at her predicament. Her goal was to stop the war if possible and explore the continent after, yet from what he saw so far, this world might be crueler than the one they left. Inside his mind, he started simulating various options and after following them to their conclusion, he summarized the costs and benefits.

[Option 1... I convince Lapis to help find the maid. I doubt Lapis will fail but the problem is what happens if we find her. If the maid is dead in a back alley way, will this woman blame Lapis and accuse her of the crime since she managed to find her? Assuming the maid is alive, and we find her, it would put the Countess in our favor if we chose to make a move later on. From what I was told though, the rank of Countess is rather low in this world, is it worth exposing Lapis' abilities just to gain the favor of a mere Countess? Well... Regardless, Option 2 then. We ignore the Countess' plea for help and the maid is later found dead. While we would have had no part in it, the ire of the City Mayor might lean towards Lapis for refusing to help. Considering she already built a house nearby, that would get in the way of her plans. Assuming the maid was still alive though, it'd be no harm - no foul and Lapis' abilities would stay hidden.]

As he mused through his thoughts, he noticed the young woman had fallen asleep beside him while crying. Her tear stained face rested against his shoulder. As the warmth of her slowly seeped through his clothing, he felt the options suddenly fall away leaving only one option left. As he lifted his head towards the ceiling, he realized once again how much of a softy he was internally.

[Well, I'll just let Lapis make the final choice after explaining everything. Knowing her though... I'm in for a rough future...]

The butler, Wilfred, rounded the door and caught the sight of his master asleep against the side of the young man from earlier. His eyes met the boy straight on and in response, the boy moved a single finger to his lips as he exposed an innocent smile. Whispering with a bit of power, the young man requested from the butler.

"Can you bring a blanket? I think this is the first sleep she's managed to get in a few days. I'd like to let her rest if possible..."

Wilfred nodded his head and quickly went to retrieve a blanket. Hiiro returned his gaze to the ceiling with thoughts on Lapis.

[I bet she's going to be pissy tomorrow now that I skipped dinner and stayed out all night.]

Resolving himself for the future scolding, he smiled to himself and waited for the blanket to arrive.

***

The ground rapidly passed beneath team Satyr as they rushed to intercept the invader. In his arms, Kelvin held Zeena, much to her joy, as her fatigue had yet to dissipate. While enjoying her situation openly, she kept enough of her sanity to point the team in the direction of the Demon. It was moving somewhat slowly through the forest indicating it hadn't yet found the archaeology team. The news filled the team with a sense of relief, but it did little to hamper their rush. As they dodged around trees and leaped over the various roots, rocks and fallen limbs, Zeena continued to point them in the proper direction. The sensation of the intruder grew in strength as they neared it and even George managed to sense it.

His ears perked up and his sense of smell caught of whiff. Although he found the enemy, he somehow seemed confused. Seeing the emotion on his friend's face, Kelvin inquired.

"What's wrong, does it stink or something?"

"No.. It's... weak. Were Demons always this weak?"

They rounded a bend and caught sight of the Demon. It wore high end clothing but the running through the forest damaged it quite a bit. As they got closer, they realized the Demon didn't even seem to notice their approach and instead was panicked and fleeing in whatever direction it found easiest. The confusion spread to the other members while Kelvin gave his orders to surround the creature. He released Zeena, much to her dismay, and quickly took to the trees, passing the Demon over head and landing on the ground in front of him.

The Demon halted with a tumble and scrambled to turn around, but Silas had already cut his escape off and held his Katana out threateningly. When the Demon looked around to find an escape, he realized all routes he could take were cut off. He was trapped. The fear was evident on his face and he collapsed on the spot shaking. As Kelvin walked up to him, the Demon scrambled backwards only to slam into a tree trunk and come to a halt. He shook furiously as the members closed in on him.

As he got closer, Kelvin started making out interesting details of the Demon. It didn't have any horns, yet its hands appeared more like claws than fingers. Its skin was rough, nearly reptilian in nature, and its eyes were slitted vertical. He watched its throat as its Adam's apple rose and fell in nervousness. Seeing the creature in such a despicable state, Kelvin bent both his knees and rested himself on his heels before talking eye level with the Demon.

"Who are you?"

The flicker of understanding swept across the Demon's face. Even Kelvin could tell it understood what he said. A grin inched up the side of his face as he realized the Demon was terrible at concealing information. He asked once more and Silas followed up by sticking the edge of his blade near the Demon's neck.

"Who are you? I won't ask nicely again."

"T-t-t-t-t-t-torqusss!!"

The Demon stuttered and slurred, but Kelvin was able to grasp its intent somehow.

"Torqus, is it? Why are you here?"

"I-I-I'm running away!"

"From who?"

"T-that vile Demon!!"

The Demon spat out the phrase filled with hatred. The emotion clearly rippled across his face as his muscled scrunched up and his slitted eyes narrowed.

"A Demon is running from a Demon? What Demon are you running from? Does it have a name?"

"D-don't fuck with me!!! That thing is your ally!"

The curious looks he saw from the people surrounding him made the Demon nearly question himself for a moment. His fear subsided slightly after realizing there were no Fairies amongst the group before him. Kelvin read his change in expressions to the tee.

"Hey... Do you want to survive?"

"O-obviously!"

"Then it's about time you told us why you're here. Leave nothing out. Start from the beginning."

As the sun dipped deep into the horizon and the moon scattered its light across the land, team Satyr listened to the story of horror from the Demon.

"It was all going so well... So well... We were winning! We were fucking winning until that... that... that THING showed up... It even killed General Zannon! Oh... Oh my poor General..."

***

Walking into the room, the man backed off slightly and covered his mouth. The stench of urine and fecal matter overwhelmed him for a second, but he soon regained his senses and continued further in. He found his partner stabbing his knife repeatedly into the calf of the woman as he thrusted into her. Slapping the man's shoulder, he called out for a shift change.

"Yo, toss the knife to me. It's my turn."

"Giv' me a sec. I'm alllllmost there... Ahhhh. Oh yeah! Alright bro, she all yours. I can't get a rise outta her anymore, good luck."

"I've always liked a good challenge. Oh, leave your belt with me. Gotta make sure she wont die, know what I'm saying."

"Hahaha, yea! Hav' at it bro."

The man climaxed then got up to leave. He left the knife dangling from the stabbed calf with blood pouring from it. The woman no longer held the block of wood in her mouth, She had long ago let it fall out. Her body was racked with so much pain, she no longer knew if she were conscious or not. Her right calf was beyond repair and looked like someone sliced at it repeatedly. She could see bone and shredded meat sticking out from her skin, yet the lack of pain and blood at the site made her question if it was even her leg. If she had even a little bit more strength, she could have lifted her leg slightly and would have realized the previous man had tightened a belt around her thigh cutting off the blood flow to the leg. Without the blood, the wound stayed oddly fresh and the smell of iron hardly mixed into the air.

The new man walked up to the woman and slapped her face repeatedly until her swollen eyes regained a subtle light in them. He could tell she was conscious, but it was obvious her mind was probably broken already. He smiled at the thought of him being the one to break her entirely. As she looked towards the pane of glass, the woman turned her eyes as well. Behind the glass, the room lit up revealing the shadowy figure who had watched her for the past two and a half days. She recognized the man and instantly knew her fate. He sneered back at her and gestured to the man who started laughing.

"Hahaha! I guess you're still in there, huh? Well, I'll fix that for ya! Don't you worry."

He pulled off his belt and tightened it her chained arms. He pulled until the belt torn into her skin ensuring it was as tight as possible. The new pain from her arms hardly registered with the woman. She had been left dangling for so long, her wrists were already showing bone where the shackles ate away at the skin. Despite that, there was no blood. Her arms had been raised for so long, the blood no longer pumped into them turning them a pasty white. Rather than pain, all she could feel was a numbed tingling sensation around her arm. The man took the second belt and tightened it around her other arm as well. Ensuring they were as tight as possible for a second time, he lifted the knife to the woman's face. He reflected the flickering candle light from the room into her eyes to draw her attention to the blade and slowly moved it to her left arm.

Her eyes opened wide in terror and realization, but her voice was long removed from the violations of her throat. Her voice box had swollen and she could hardly breathe, yet she still attempted to scream. The man whipped his arm rapidly across her lower arm, tearing the skin and muscle from it. The chunks of flesh and meat thwacked against the wall and pane of glass as the man on the other side watched with a massive smile across his face. Every slash tore more and she watched as her slender arm became nothing more than reddened bone with dangling flesh. The man struck the base of the knife against the bone fracturing it and dropping the woman off balance. Her torso swung to the right as her mass redistributed itself. The lack of pain terrorized the woman more and she no longer knew if she was alive or dead. Seeing her features contort, the man moved to her other arm. He slashed at the skin and the meat as he did previously and shattered the bone once more. As she fell to the ground, the woman could only stare in shock at her two limbs dangling from the chains above her.

The blood, which had for so long been denied to those extremities, started to flow back towards the belt. She felt the numbness slowly fade and in its place, a searing pain unlike anything she had ever felt before. Unable to scream, she released gagging noises and threw up on herself in the process. Undisturbed by the sight, the man only laughed again then moved on. He lifted the woman's torso and slowly started thrusting into her while forcing her to remain staring at her dangling arms. The light that had flickered earlier in her eyes slowly faded and her thoughts halted entirely. The woman wasn't dead in the traditional sense, but her mind had finally, fully, snapped.

Seeing the light fade from her eyes, the man behind the glass smiled widely before leaving the room. He no longer needed to stay and watch. He felt it was plenty enough to send a warning. As he walked out of the room, he passed the door the woman was still being raped in and only issued his orders for the men to continue as they pleased. The men were no longer on his time line, they could take as long as they wanted. He left the room behind eager to see his victim and her reaction.

***

After the blackness of the night, the planetary star encroached on the horizon spreading the first hints of its light in every direction. The rays cast across the sky slowly reached the top of the buildings in Profectus City and with it, the warmth of a new beginning. Asserting itself further into the sky, the light reached into a particular window at a particular estate. It bounced off the blinds and blurred into the environment as ambient lighting. As the light faded throughout the room, specs of dust floated in the air reflecting minuscule amounts of light across two bodies seated next to each other.

Stretching her toes, Aria nuzzled closer to her pillow. She complained internally about her hard bed, but the soft pillow was enough to hold her down. Her mind slowly woke from its daze and started considering the oddity of the thought she just had. She stretched her feet once again and realized she must have fallen asleep with her clothes on. Opening her eyes, she saw the blanket laid over her and thanked Wilfred internally. She lifted herself off her pillow and looked around to see she had fallen asleep on the floor.

"Huh?"

She froze. To her side, a young man she knew well was sleeping silently with his head rested against one of the posts on her desk. His black hair fell across his face evenly and she was even able to make out the subtle details of his ear. She looked at his ear lobe and thought its faint extrusion from his ear was somehow cute. As she observed his black hair, she raised a hand to brush it slightly. She felt the soft sensation and smiled lightly thinking it was similar to a cat she once owned in her youth. As her eyes drifted across his face, she froze once again after landing on his nose. No, she wasn't engrossed in his nose, but the sight that lay beyond even that. Past the young boy she was petting and smiling lovingly at, even further past the desk he was laying against and once again, even further across the carpet lay the problem. She locked eyes onto a maid that had come to check up on the two and it was obvious the maid saw too much. The maid's face was overtly crimson and the moment they locked gazes, she averted the stare with swimming eyes.

That was all it took. Just that moment to break Aria from her dreamlike trance and body slam her back into reality. The maid noticed Aria's complexion alternating from pale white to crimson red and she felt for a moment, her life was in danger. The maid quickly bowed and ran off squealing with a terribly hidden smile. Aria sat transfixed on the location the maid once stood until a movement from her side broke her free. Hiiro slowly woke from his sleep yawning and stretching his legs and arms. He slowly looked around before locking eyes with the woman next to him.

"Good Morning, Aria. Feeling better?"

"G-good M-m-morning... W-w-why?"

"Huh? Oh... You fell asleep on my shoulder and since I felt it would be a shame to wake you up after seeing the shadows under your eyes, I just let you sleep. Don't worry though, no one else knows I'm here, so no one should call into question your honor or anything like that."

"O-o-oh... O-okay..."

Hiiro reached out to the desk and used it as a brace to lift himself up. He stretched once more trying to remove any kinks he felt around his body. Stretching out a hand to Aria, he gave her a questioning look. She was dazed by the sight for a second but slowly realized his intentions and reached out to grasp his hand. He pulled her to her feet and continued to stretch himself. While stretching, he spoke out.

"I think you should talk with Lapis and request her help with your maid. Her magics are practically at the level of cheating. If anyone can help you, she can. I'll bring it up with her when I go back, but keep in mind that the final decision is up to her. Next time you see me today, I'll have her with me."

"Will she help me? I can't understand how it'd help her any..."

"That woman... is soft. You two remind me of each other somewhat. She once held a role far higher than you, yet she held far less power. I think this city has the closest environment to what she's been searching for. You're in control of the city, perhaps you can use that as leverage?"

Aria looked up at Hiiro, but he quickly turned his back to her and started walking away. As he exited the door, he left behind parting words.

"Remember. Gods, Devils, Angels, Demons, Fairies, Beastmen, Elves and Humans are all intelligent... for the most part. They will all move for their own desires. The trick then, to have them move for you is to realize that desire of theirs and hold it ransom. Do it correctly, and you may end up with everything you ever wanted. However..."

He turned back to look straight at her. His deep black eyes drew her in and she felt the pressure in the room skyrocket.

"Do it poorly, and you will lose everything. Remember who both your allies and enemies are. Don't mistake the two when negotiating."

He turned his back freeing the woman from his grasp and left the office. Regaining her wits, she leaned against the desk to catch her breath. She reviewed everything he said and took it to heart. At the door, Wilfred entered with a steaming towel and cup of water. As if he was completely ignored, he watched his Master rush around the desk and quickly pulled out a document from the drawer. While approaching her, he glanced down at the parchment and his eyes opened widely.

***

Kelvin sat in silence across from the Demon. His pale complexion mirrored by his teammates. The Demon sitting across from him seemed no longer nervous with the team, but was riding high on emotions after remembering the battle. Kelvin turned his sights to George to get his opinion. Unresponsive. Kelvin looked in the direction of Profectus City. He knew that upon return, he probably wouldn't be able to take Zeena on that date he promised and instead noted their next destination. As they sat in silence, Kelvin turned his attention towards the Demon once more.

"Hey, how strong is General Zannon?"

"Huh? Foolish Human! He could wipe you out instantly if he wanted to!"

"That's not what I'm asking you lizard brain."

Pulling his sheath from his belt, Kelvin walloped the side of the Demon's head.

"How strong is he compared to the other power houses you Demons got?"

"How should I know?"

"What?"

"I don't serve them. I serve General Zannon only! Why would I care about his rivals?!"

As if they attacked his pride directly, the Demon quickly cut off all talks of the other Demon Generals. Kelvin suspected he truly knew nothing about them though, since the Demon wore its emotions very obviously across its face. From watching the Demon's eyes alone, Kelvin felt he could beat it in poker or old maid. It seemed a terrible liar.

"Well... You're going to be coming with us anyhow."

The Demon gasped upon realizing once again that he was surrounded by his enemies. Retelling the story only served to distract him, but he started shaking once more.

"I-I-I can't! I must return to the Demon Lord and report this!"

"Oh.. Speaking of... How did you get here anyways? The mountain path should have funneled you straight into Profectus."

"I made it through after they moved everyone inside. I was able to sneak around them."

"That fancy magic that killed your Master's summons didn't hurt you?"

"Now that you mention it... Not really. It felt like rain when it hit, but only General Zannon's creatures were in pain..."

Zeena went wide eyed at the realization.

"Cognitive Selection...?", she muttered under her breath.

For those who weren't as well versed in advanced magics as her, such a thing like targeting only the enemy sounded natural for high level magics, however reality is different. When invoking magics with massive ranges, it's nearly impossible to select who to damage by friend or foe designations. The mana required to tag each person would be astronomical. Typically, most people see long range annihilation magic, and so the target for destruction is obvious, but from what the Demon described, it sounded as if something of similar destructive abilities hit the entire battle field and yet only the shadow creatures were destroyed. The stronger shadows seemed to be hurt, but they weren't killed.

As her thoughts spun about the magic, an idea suddenly hit her.

"Hey, Demon! Did that magic she invoked hurt any of the plant life or structures around her?"

"N-no. Everything looked fine, like I said... Only General Zannon's summons were hurt."

Zeena laughed in a deflated manner. If she were correct, the creature called Lapis broke apart the summoned monsters' mana signature and tailored the magic specifically for them. Such a thing is considered impossible by normal standards. The mana cost isn't high, nor is the difficulty of performing such a feat. What makes the matter so astonishing is how she deconstructed their mana signature, then embedded that signature inside another advanced magic and take only seconds to accomplish it. Such a feat was impossible even with Companion Orbs. With her mind slowly concluding her train of thought, she felt confident in her assessment that the woman from before was one of the many Legends she was supposed to find in her travels.

She felt around her pocket for a piece of paper and etched some specialized runes into it. The paper folded itself and a bundle of mana slowly formed around it. Wings sprouted from each side and the bundle launched itself into the air. As she watched it take off, she lowered her attention back towards those currently staring at her and her actions.

"I have something I need to tell you all."

***

Lapis woke abruptly from her sleep to the smell of a crackling fire. Her nose easily picked out eggs and bacon with a hint of butter cooking together. She rolled from her bed, landing on her feet and ripped her clothing off. Her house wasn't yet complete and so the bathing room hadn't been installed. Despite her efforts, she wasn't able to rush the construction for fear it would destabilize the foundation of her future home. She neared the edge of her house and opened the door bathing her naked body with the rays of the sun. The warmth of the light that passed onto her made her smile. She exhaled and watched it turn to fog before her eyes, then dove into the lake before her.

The fall weather was cold enough to cause chills and the air cold enough to kill any creature unprotected during the night, yet the water surrounding her house maintained its warmth. Steam was easily visible around the site as it gently rolled across the surface of the lake. During her house's construction, Lapis made sure to analyze the ground it rested on. The deep waters and caverns that it ran through to meet the ocean suggested there might still be flowing magma near the site. Luckily, it took little effort to find one. By etching a series of holes into the walls of the magma tube, Lapis was able to create a natural flow of water where the surrounding cold water would flow into it from below, and the magma tube would heat the water, forcing it up through the tubes she created to the surface of the lake. As the warm water became less dense, it was naturally displaced and flowed nearly vertical pulling the colder water below it to replace it. She essentially created a geological siphon that heated the water.

As she swam through the water, she rolled over splaying her silver hair and watch the remnants of the night sky get consumed by the morning light. The sight of the consumption somehow caused her heart to ache. She tried to escape from the feeling tumbling into the water once more and dove to its depths. She curled into a ball allowing the colder waters of the lake to numb the feelings she'd been trying to keep inside her. Recently, her memories of Marie and her death would replay themselves inside her mind. It had been less than a week since her death, and Lapis had yet to properly mourn her friend's passing. Choosing to remain in the colder depths for a while longer, Lapis tightened her grip and maintained her curled shape.

***

I arrived back home within a decent amount of time and slipped through the opening in the cliffs. I could tell from the smoke at the center of the lake that Zirco had at least started making breakfast, but the man himself was no where to be found. I walked down to the edge of the lake and stepped up onto the outer ring. The mist laying across the lake granted an eerie feeling and I could see it tumble over itself as each step I took whisked the low lying dense fog up from its settled state. I stepped onto one of the primary bridges that spiraled in to the main house. As I walked, I could see the sunlight creeping across the lake consuming the low lying fog in the process.

Having walked for nearly five minutes straight at a decent pace, I finally arrived at the inner house and stood at the main door. I somehow felt pressured and couldn't bring myself to knock on it...

[Wait.. isn't this my house too? Why do I have to feel like a husband who cheated on his wife and had to sneak home?!]

Though my thoughts declared my innocence and logically broke it down, I somehow couldn't shed the nervousness enveloping me. I brought my hand to the door taking a deep breath and prepared myself.

"Are you going in?"

"Huh...?"

The soft voice brought me crashing back to reality. Slowly turning around, the visage of a beautiful woman wielding a pair of azure eyes and porcelain white skin was suddenly there. Her silvery hair laid over her shoulder and with a tilted head, she had a curious expression plastered on her face.

"H-how long were you there?"

"Since a while ago... I was taking a bath."

She answered me without a hint of embarrassment. Honestly, I wasn't sure where to plant my eyes. I treated the woman before me like a friend, yet her lack of mannerisms kept thrusting such an alluring body straight at me. I felt as if she were testing my 103 plus years of patience. Apparently not interested in my frozen state, she walked past me into the house and grabbed a light red dress from the makeshift closet. Over the past few days, we were able to sell off some of our hunted prey to the town making a small fortune on the more rare materials from the wolves. I only hoped Zirco would lay off the mass huntings he'd been participating in. It was a mystery to me if the ecology could even support the number of kills he brought back.

I exhaled briefly and moved to follow Lapis into the house. Moving towards the fire, I sat beside it while gazing outside one of the holes in the wall. We had yet to implement any windows, and so although the house was nearly complete, that only spoke for the frame and walls. We haven't yet furnished the house either. In my daze, I failed to notice Lapis approach me. She bent over and sniffed me before showing a curious look.

"What's up?"

"Did you sleep with that woman? I can smell her on you."

"What are you, an animal?"

She only smiled in reply to my retort.

"So? How did the meet go? Considering you stayed for so long, I assume your plan did not go smoothly?"

"You'd assume right."

I exhaled deeply as I considered where to begin. The woman causing me this worry sat comfortably across the fire before me, her eyes locked onto the cooking plate of food with her desires plastered across her face. I watched her wings twitch at each crackle in expectation. The sight seriously made me wonder why I was so nervous.

"When we meet the Countess today, she is going to ask you for a favor."

"Should I accept it?"

"I'll leave that up to you. In the end, I'm only going to get involved when schemes are involved. That woman is similar to you in that she chases what she wants directly. I feel she's trust worthy enough."

"I assume there are repercussions for each choice... Well, if you think she is trustworthy, I will hear her out in earnest."

"Yeah... That would be best. I have a feeling you two would get along."

"Did that feeling start before or after you copulated with her?"

"Huh...?"

The innocent face that asked me that wasn't contorted in the slightest of embarrassment. This woman I swear...

"Has anyone ever told you that you lack even the most basic mannerisms?"

"It can not be helped. I was raised in a poor environment after all. Everything I learned about manners was taught to me by... Marie. Do you intend to dodge my question? That is twice now."

I saw a strong emotion flash across her face before it corrected itself. It'd be obvious to anyone what emotion it was considering where she paused at. She didn't appear to be ready to talk about it though so I moved on.

"I didn't have sex with her. She passed out from exhaustion and ended up using me as a pillow."

"..."

"What's that face for?"

"I feel sorry for whomever you choose to marry in the future. If they ask you if you went gambling, I feel as if you would reply something along the lines of 'No, I only donated my money to an otherwise legitimate organization.'"

"I didn't sleep with the woman! Fucking hell... She looked exhausted and ended up passing out. A woman of her age shouldn't be overworking themselves."

"You are quite the doting father figure, are you not?"

"Well, I can't really deny that... It somehow feels different though... Regardless, After breakfast, should we head over?"

"That is fine. The magic circle here should be fine if I top it off before leaving. Our house is almost complete, Hiiro!"

The bright smile laden with pure joy somehow eased the taunt strings in my heart. Is this what it's like having a daughter? Regardless of the foolish thoughts in my mind, it seemed she was having fun even though she was obviously still haunted by the past. She's quite a tough pickle...

***

Wilfred stood before the servants of Countess Sugimoto's estate. He slowly walked down the line observing each one carefully and fixing any minor discrepancies he found. The servants all held a stoic face and emitted an aura of professionalism. When he was satisfied with the group, he broke them into teams and sent them off. The estate itself was already cleaned with extra care in preparation for the dignitary's arrival, but the food and music for lunch still needed to be prepared. He issued his commands and performed a final check with his Master.

"Countess Sugimoto, all preparations for Empress Fardom's arrival are complete. The lunch menu and accompanying music are still being prepared, but there is no issue with the reservations nor ingredients. Is there anything you'd like me to prepare otherwise?"

"The other matter... Have you prepared it?"

"I have. Sir Demarkey gave his approval."

"I see... I guess the rest is up to me, then. You may leave. Please wait at the front for Hiiro and the Empress. They should be here momentarily."

"As you wish."

Wilfred bowed once again before leaving the Countess to her study. Aria was sitting in her chair looking at the three documents she had splayed before her. This was her ammunition for the coming battle. Too little information was known of the Female Fairy known as Lapis, however there were hints if one looked hard enough. Although the trio arrived only three days ago, their quality of life dramatically increased in a short period of time. Investigations of what they bought while in Profectus and from who they returned to for secondary sales revealed habits, preferences and monetary wealth. She could extrapolate the Empress' desires slightly with that information. She knew the pair was also building their own house outside the city and so could leverage that. Her primary information though on the woman came from Hiiro. She understood the young man's personality to a certain degree and she could tell he wouldn't be friends with someone uptight with formalities. Her mind recalled many of the key phrases she heard from him that hinted towards how to deal with the Empress and one in particular stood out.

["You two remind me of each other somewhat."]

Aria didn't think Hiiro said that accidentally. He was too composed during the entire exchange and left immediately after. The only thing she could think of was he left hints for her to follow up on. Deciding to believe in that, the ammunition in front of her represented the items that Aria believed would spark her own interest as well as a backup that involved supplying resources. She was struggling to hold back on the deals as she didn't want to mix personal official official matters, but she smiled wryly after realizing the entire situation was focused around her own feelings. She spoke out loud to herself to help ease her guilt.

"I'm not cut out to be a leader, am I...? Here I am meeting a dignitary and yet I'm throwing away the official functions for a personal favor... Should I step down?"

Lost in her monologue, time passed shortly and a knock resounded at her door.

"Countess Sugimoto, Empress Fardom and Hiiro are at the front gate. They are being escorted in now."

"I understand."

She lifted herself from her desk and moved to the door. The young maid seemed surprised when her Master suddenly opened the door. The maid followed as Countess Sugimoto descended the stairs into the main lobby. When she arrived at the main entrance of the estate, she found three other maids waiting by the door ready to take any luggage or clothing from the visitors. Countess Sugimoto stared hard at the pair of doors still closed. She fought to hold down her expectations and continuously reminded herself that there was no guarantee she'd be able to convince the woman to help. She heard a knock on the door before it slowly opened. Wilfred bowed while holding one of the two doors opened and gestured to the company he led to enter but Aria's eyes were glued to Wilfred. His countenance was clearly strange. His complexion looked terrible and he was slightly sweating. Her eyes returned to the party entering the door only for her own eyes to widen.

"My! Countess Sugimoto! What a wonderful pleasure it is for you to greet me at the door yourself!"

The potent perfume wafted in with the wind striking the nose of every individual in the room. The man's gaudy clothing was matched only by his exaggerated gestures. The maid beside Countess Sugimoto paled on sight at the Marquess. From the edge of her vision, Aria noticed her reaction and suddenly understood. The maid knew they were expecting the Empress soon and a carriage pulled up in front of the estate. Since Wilfred went to welcome the guests in, she immediately assumed it to be the wrong party...

[What a blunder.], was all that passed through Aria's mind. She didn't blame the maid though.

She had, after all, asked they notify her as soon as possible. Her mind slowly recovered from the surprise and her face contorted into a political smile from habit.

"Marquess Tabor. It is a pleasure to see you this fine morning. May I ask your business?"

"Oh? I'm just here to check up on my soon to be wife."

"Marquess Tabor, I've mentioned this before, however our marriage is not yet finalized. Please refrain from visiting my estate for such superficial reasons. It will cause rumors calling into question my honor."

"It's fine, it's fine. Everyone already knows we're to be wed anyhow. Oh, speaking of rumors though. I hear you're missing a maid. Have you found her by chance?"

Aria froze and her political smile cracked. The Marquess chuckled to himself after seeing the response he had hoped for. Recovering herself slightly, Aria replied in earnest.

"We... have not yet found Lady Delphi."

"What shame, such a beautiful woman to be missing. This City seems to get more dangerous every year."

"...Yes."

Struggling to hold herself calm, Aria's gaze slowly became tainted with hatred. Her initial theory she hoped was wrong seemed to be true after all. The man in front of her was the culprit. The man beside the Marquess caught the flickering hatred in Aria's gaze and shifted his weight drawing their attention to his sword. The Marquess chuckled and put his hand up. Moving closer to Aria, he pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear.

"Make another move and you'll end up like your favorite maid."

His sneering visage seared itself into her vision as he pulled away. He dramatically turned around on the spot placing a hand to his chest and the other into the air.

"My lovely Countess Sugimoto! What a shame you're so busy today. I shall take my leave though it wrenches my heart so!"

The Marquess turned to leave but slowed to a stop before exiting. He turned around once again with a grin stretched across his face.

"I hear the slums are dangerous, my lovely soon to be wife. Please refrain from wandering around."

He turned to leave once again dismissing Wilfred's escort to his carriage. The group watched the two leave and Wilfred closed the door with a sour look etched into his face. Aria dropped to her knees with tears of frustration building. The servants around her picked up on the innuendo and knew the fate that most probably fell the missing maid. Although weak, Aria issued her orders.

"Send men to the slums... to search for Lady Delphi..."

"...Yes."

A depressed reply answered her back. As Aria remained on the ground, her servants didn't move either. Only Wilfred moved to execute her order.

"So that's the man responsible for the missing women?"

"He is as bad as you described..."

The two voices surprised Aria. A playful soft voice she was familiar with and a smoother mature voice that held a sense of responsibility rang out from behind her. Aria and her servants looked up with surprise at the pair leaning over the railing. With her butterfly like wings flapping slowly, Lapis soaked in the entire encounter.

***

[What a man...]

It was the only thought that went through my head after listening to the Countess and Marquess exchange false banter with each other. Hiiro and I had to sneak into the estate after we saw the butler escorting the Marquess, but I never expected to catch such a degree of evil in the open like this. We watched as the man left the estate leaving behind an obvious message. I was hardly able to hold my voice in during the exchange.

"So that's the man responsible for the missing women?"

Hiiro seemed to ask himself out loud beside me, but I certainly had to agree.

"He is as bad as you described..."

I saw Aria and her servants jump slightly before turning to face us. I could see the tell tale signs of fury in her eyes, but the sorrow housed in it appeared more potent. Clad in a frozen armor with lightning running through it. It felt as if a single touch on the girl would cause her to shatter.

[Hiiro was not wrong. This girl certainly seems similar to me in ways...]

Moving from the second story balcony, I descended the steps keeping my gaze locked onto the Countess. I positioned myself in front of her and dropped all pretenses I was originally going to use for negotiation. The man himself sealed his fate and pushed me into this girl's arms.

"What do you want from me?"

She didn't even hesitate.

"Find Lady Delphi... please."

The earnest desire and concern convinced anything within me that was hesitating. I began kneading mana and forming a magic appropriate for the search. Searching the entire City if I did not have a clue would be a simple matter, but the source of the kidnapping was here. I stretched my arm out and turned my palm for the sky. The kneaded mana I collected slowly gathered into my palm glowing dimly green. I finished constructing the magic in my mind and overlaid it across bundle of mana. I injected a little bit of my own reserves to invoke the magic, but after the invocation it consumed the mana in my palm to complete itself. Small green butterfly wings sprouted from each side of the bundle of mana and started flapping. The small entity lifted from my palm and started moving towards the door.

I moved to follow it only realizing the woman had yet to move from her spot. Turning back to her, I spoke my mind.

"Your maid is almost certainly dead at this point. This creature is going to lead us to where Lady Delphi rests at. Do you intend to stay seated there?"

[What honest eyes... Am I this easy to read as well?]

I turned my gaze to Hiiro who continued to remain silent.

[Is he leaving it entirely to me?]

"I... will join you!"

The Countess quickly got to her feet and left a message with her servants for Wilfred when he returns. She quickly followed up behind me. From the corner of my vision, I saw Hiiro subtly smile.

[What a doting parent...]

The three of us followed my summon as it flew slowly. Our pace was no greater than a relaxing walk, but from the pressure the Countess behind me was giving off, I could tell she wanted to arrive if even a second sooner. We rounded a bend entering the main shopping district of Profectus City. The hustle and bustle of the district had finally returned to normal since the battle. Merchants were utilizing the primary roadways to reach the center plaza where the bulk of the shopping district resided. The central plaza was characterized by its large fountain at the center most point of Profectus City. Surrounding the fountain, an extremely thick stone road spread out covering the entirety of the ground. Lined up along the edge of that plaza, various businesses were selling their wares.

I was able to recognize many of the stores Hiiro and I visited the day prior. We purchased everything from new clothes to cooking utensils to help furnish our house with. The creature leading us took a sudden right just before we reached the central plaza taking us into an alley way. While glancing around, I caught sight of Hiiro focusing quite a bit. He must have also noticed those keeping an eye on us. Was it the same group as last time? After soaking in the feeling for a bit, I could only conclude the Fairies that have been stalking us for the past few days were still there, but another group seemed to have their eyes on this now too. Our surroundings slowly deteriorated until it became a struggle to even walk without stepping on trash.

[The slums, is it? That man has a terrible disposition to pick a place like this...]

We continued further into the slums and now the alleys were full of trash but also included rotting miniature houses. Dwellers of the slums lived here. It was far enough from the proper City center that guards would rarely monitor the area. I saw a few spotters take off running in various directions as well. There must be a few crime syndicates residing in this area. After passing a few houses, we ended up exiting the main city and at the edge of its first defensive wall. As we walked the inner wall, a shack in the distance showed signs of life. Men started running out from it. By my count, I saw at least twenty disappear into the alleyway entrances nearby. My summon continued its path and before long, we knew the final destination. After arriving at the entrance of the shack, my summon suddenly evaporated, releasing whatever mana it still had left into the environment.

As I stood before the door, my keen senses registered a variety of smells hinting at the story inside. I held my spot at the door and refused to budge for a moment.

"Empress Fardom? Is... this...?"

She wasn't even able to finish her question. Turning my head I replied.

"Lady Delphi is here. Hiiro, restrain the Countess. Please allow me a moment to... clean up."

Perhaps he understood what I meant and pulled the woman to the side. I continued into the room and lifted the trap door. A gust of wind brought with it the potent smell of Human waste and rot. I kneaded a bit of mana and invoked a conversion magic onto my surroundings. The smells slowly became faint as the magic compressed and reacted with the molecules creating crystals on the surfaces near me. I moved down the stairs into the basement only to find a large room filled with leftover clothes, alcohol, and gimmick items for entertainment. I invoked the magic once more across the room crystallizing the smells and sanitizing the room. At the far end of the room, I saw a secondary doorway and moved to it. As I closed in, I noticed my magic was unable to keep up with the conversion and the potent smells reached me. Crystals formed along the door frame as I moved through. A long hallway continued in front of me with various inlets spaced evenly. For every step I walked down the hall, the potent smells crystallized along the floor, the ceiling and the walls. The many crystals grew to nearly 20cm in length if I walked too slowly and so I continued at a decent pace to the innermost room. As I passed each inlet, I analyzed it and if nothing was odd, I sealed the room with an earthen wall.

The deeper I progressed the tunnel, the thicker and longer the crystals around me started to become. The conversion rate of my magic was extremely efficient, so I knew the greater growth meant the source was nearby. Almost at the end of the tunnel, I turned into the second to last inlet.

***

Countess Sugimoto had her eyes locked onto the entrance of the shack. She was waiting for the okay to immediately leap into it, but her patience was quickly running out. Hiiro kept his eye on her, but could tell she was itching to rush in. He caught a sign of movement from the edge of his vision and mistakenly dropped his guard against Aria. The Countess used the lapse in concentration to rush into the shack. She quickly descended the stairs and ran through the primary room crushing a series of crystals in the process. She entered the tunnel and rush down it dodging the crystals too large to simply force her way through. Every room she checked was sealed off at the entrance until she arrived near the end of the tunnel. She rounded the bend and saw Lapis kneeling on the ground. Her large wings were spread out blocking Aria's sight, and Aria knew instinctively what that was.

Not wanting to be protected, Aria moved to see her maid. She was clearly unprepared for the sight. Laying on the ground, she saw her favorite maid, Roxanne Delphi. Each of her four limbs were missing and her body was badly bruised. Tightened around the amputation sites were a mixture of belts and rope.

"s... o..."

The woman clearly was missing her clothes and her chest was shredded as if someone had neatly cut it repeatedly. The numb sensation of shock prevented her from passing out at the sight, and she ended up instead looking away only to see the rest of the room. The room was covered in massive discolored crystals.

"Tess... Moto..."

She saw the remains of a pair of limbs encased in crystals dangling from a pair of chains attached to the ceiling. In the corner of the room, she was able to somewhat make out the remains of the woman's legs. Tears poured from her eyes at the mere thought of what her friend went through. She had thought she would find a corpse, but even she hadn't thought the Marquess would take things to such a degree.

"Aria!"

A powerful slap ran across Aria's face and she turned to face Lapis. The woman held a kind gaze in her eyes, but she was somehow terrifying for being able to remain calm in such a situation. Even Aria knew, how couldn't she? The site was cleaned up before Aria arrived. The scene must have been far more horrific and yet the Empress before her was calm. Those calm eyes gazed sincerely at Aria and helped her calm down. Aria tried to reply, but her dry throat cracked her voice.

"Wh-at... is... it?"

"Lady Delphi is still alive."

The words that should have delighted Aria only drew more tears. Lapis tried to remain calm, but she could tell from her tone there was a caveat. As she listened, Lapis knelt back down to the dismembered woman.

"She is still alive, though... I do not believe she will ever recover mentally."

"..."

Lapis turned to face Aria. It appeared as if she was hesitating on something.

"It's not your choice, Lapis. Ask her properly."

Hiiro arrived behind the two and kept his distance at the door. He could understand the situation without even seeing the woman's body itself. The evidence splayed across the room itself was enough to make him grimace.

"A-ask m-me... what?"

Steeling herself, Lapis spoke unapologetically and as bluntly as possible.

"The Human who once existed as Roxanne Delphi is dead. Her body is in this state and can be mostly restored, but her mind is different. Even the standard physiological responses are failing. I have seen this once before... my brother ended up in the same state. I had tried for years to help him recover, but he was entirely non-responsive no matter what I did."

Lapis hesitated once more before continuing.

"Under normal circumstances, I believe you should put Lady Delphi to rest and would advise that..."

"B-But?"

As if catching on to the meaning behind her words, Aria pushed for an option to let her friend live.

"I can restore Lady Delphi's body, but her mind will forever be destroyed. By utilizing the remnants of her that still exist and linking it to her memories, I can fill in the portion that died and create a pseudo personality that resembles Lady Delphi... You must understand though, it will not be Lady Delphi, and I will change her appearance to prevent you from mistaking her as such. I will not allow you to disrespect the dead."

"I-if she isn't Roxanne, t-then who is she?"

"She will be a mix of Lady Delphi and the persona I inject into her. I can not make this choice for you and I can not allow the new Lady Delphi to be free either. The persona I supply her will be loyal to yourself and I only. Please understand that is my condition."

Aria stared at Lapis intently trying to understand any hidden motives she might have. The numbness and shock still persisted and she was unaware she was even still crying. Perhaps instinctively knowing she was inhibited, her sights fell on the only person on-site she trusted. Hiiro returned her gaze and hid nothing back.

"In the end, my loyalties lie with Lapis. If you can trust me despite that, then as your friend I'll admit Lapis has ulterior motives. However those motives are anything but evil."

She took a moment to think about it, but her answer was already formed. Replying to Lapis, she started with the main question that ate at her.

"You said you'd connect the new persona to her memories. Do those memories include everything that happened here?"

"It does. I will not alter her memories. I explained that I would fill in the gaps, but the gap I am filling is only her persona. Her memories are the only part of Lady Delphi left. If I modify those, it will be the same as dirtying Lady Delphi herself."

She took another moment to consider Lapis' response. She knew it herself, but Lapis' reply didn't change her decision in the slightest.

"Do it, please."

A series of concentric circles immediately radiated out from around Lapis. She had already kneaded and constructed the magic required, holding back only in respect of Aria. The crystals covering the ground distorted the otherwise crisp magic circle. As they slowly rotated, Lady Delphi's body began to twitch. The wounds to her breast slowly closed as tendrils of skin and fat reached across the gaps and pulled the open gashes closed. Lapis snapped her finger and the four makeshift tourniquets snapped with a sickening thwack. The restored blood flow kicked out the clotted blood and the little pieces of rot that had started along the tears of skin fell off. The cleaned sites gradually bulged outwards until a sliver of bone started regenerating from where it was originally fractured at. Following the new bone growth, tendons, muscles, nerves, veins and skin crept after it. The eerie room was silent without the cries of pain displayed by the adventurers after the battle. Only a sickening throb and splattering slime noise resounded.

Aria watched in astonishment as her friend's body slowly restored itself to its original form. She watched as the blemishes and bruises inflected faded away leaving the porcelain white skin she was familiar with behind. As the limbs slowly completed, a slight twitch moved them when the nerves established connection back to the body's nervous system.

Lapis analyzed the naked body of the woman before her and after being satisfied with the results, started the second stage of the magic. The porcelain skin Countess Sugimoto was so fond of slowly darkened into a light brown mocha. Lapis continued her changed and adjusted the woman's eyes and well turning them a deep crimson. Since she had plans for the woman in the future, she modified the basic structure of her body as well by hardening her bones, enabling her to retract and elongate her nails, as well as boost her regenerative strength. For all intents and purposes, the woman was no longer Human, but something more.

Lapis straddled the woman's body and placed her forehead against the woman's. Kicking off the final stage, she injected mana straight into the woman and linked their minds. She felt no resistance at all which only boosted her confidence that the woman herself was mentally dead. She scoured for the remnants of personality that belonged to the body's original host and slowly gathered them together. She found very few, but there was enough to work with. Lapis kneaded more mana, plummeting the temperature in the room, and injected it straight into the woman's mind. She tailored the personality, the loyalty, her strengths, her weaknesses, and knowledge of her new abilities before sewing it into the vast gap left by the original host.

Lapis raised herself back up releasing the long breath she held in and with a smile across her face. The magic circle around them shattered with the residual mana dissipating into the air. Amongst the fluttering cyan particles, a pair of crimson eyes opened and adjusted its iris for the first time. The woman slowly checked she could move her body and attempted to stand. Aria watched in astonishment with tears flowing and rushed to hug the woman before her.

"Roxanne!"

"Miss... Aria..."

The soft voice of the woman resounded in the room and a smile broke across her face as well. After returning the embrace, Roxanne slowly distanced herself from Aria and took a knee.

"Countess Sugimoto, Empress Fardom. Please give me a name, even I know I'm no longer Roxanne Delphi..."

"Countess Sugimoto, the stage is yours. You know your friend best."

Lapis deflected the order to Aria who was stunned for a moment.

"A name... Ruby... Ruby Umare."

"Mmmm, Ruby Umare, is it? Congratulation on your recovery, Ruby."