The same Demi-Dog man slowly nodded, and he then asked, “Why… why don’t you send some of those Monster Tamers of yours to help the Oomans’ and Demis’ countries? Goddess Cinna knows how badly we need help!”

“You heard those men and women who left. Demons are filthy, and there is no way most Oomans would ever accept our help. Also, it’s not our problem. We took care of the Monster problem in our lands, and if Oomans and Demis can’t, it has nothing to do with us.”

The man gulped and said, “But… such power over Monsters… You could do so much… You could save so many people…”

“Go say that to the Ooman rulers and Nobles. They are the ones who are selling all the Magical Crystals the Alliance mines in our mountains. Why don’t they offer for free the crystals to arm their people against Monsters? And why did the rulers of Demi countries accept that stupid agreement so many years ago about delivering to the Alliance supplies and troops so that they could keep on fighting at the mountain range?”

“How… how do you know about all that?” The Demi-Dog man asked, completely surprised.

“You have no idea the power we hold, child. You saw how easily I breached your defences in that laughable campsite of yours last night. With the same ease, we could obliterate every Ooman and Demi country if we wanted. You never questioned why we Demons never attacked other countries? Or why is no one sure if we even exist? We chose to leave you guys alone while you were leaving us alone. The fights at the mountain range only started when the Ooman Alliance went there. You may not remember that because you were not even born at that time, but I am older than any Ooman or Demi in the World, and I remember perfectly. In fact, one of my ancestors voted to let the Oomans be. It was a very close voting session. If the votes in favour were not enough, you wouldn’t even be alive now.”

No one spoke anything for several minutes, until a woman, the Monster Tamer, who spoke with Meryda on the previous night, asked, “If you went after that girl at your table, are you going to use her for something? Considering her absurd powers, couldn’t it be that you Demons are afraid of her because she would win the war for the Oomans?”

“Well, some members of the Dark Eight talked about finishing her off, but most of us decided to invite her to come to our country and see how we live. Well, the Fae also spoke in her favour, and even our ancestors seemed to be intrigued by her.”

The serious Fae spoke while taking a sip of the juice in front of her. “Actually, we didn’t speak in Meryda’s favour. We kind of threatened you guys. But we suppose that part would probably ruin the scary image you are aiming for, so pretend you didn’t hear us.”

Demon Manananggal sighed and said, “You could have kept your mouth shut.” While looking around, she continued, “Obey our laws and get used to your new life here. In case any of you miss your families in your countries, I would advise you to forget about them. By now, news that you disappeared in the mountain range is already reaching them, and they will be informed that you died. There is no other way here. Either you accept your new life, or you will become Drake’s food. For millennia, we have integrated Oomans and Demis into our society, and no one ever escaped our country for all those years because the Drakes were the only way to leave, and you know that no Ooman or Demi could ever tame one. Even by sea, it is impossible because of all the sea Monsters. For sure, you have already found out how developed our country is, just by this hotel and the rooms where you rested before coming down for breakfast.”

The same woman, the Monster Tamer, spoke, “Yes… the absurd size of this City, the height of the buildings, the fresh, clean water coming from the taps activated by crystals… the lights… Heck, even this food! The quality of the glass and the plates! I never saw such high-quality ceramic, and I once stayed in a Noble’s house for a few days! How is all this possible?”

“Because our people value life more than wasting time in wars, that is how. We have a lot of smart people always figuring out ways to improve things, and new inventions appear almost every day. Some of those inventions are useless, while others are extraordinary. Having Magical Crystals at our disposal opens up endless possibilities, but still, there are people thinking about creating things that don’t need Magic to work. But I have already spoken too much. I am a firm believer that seeing things is way better than hearing about them. In a moment, some people will arrive, and we will divide you into groups. You will follow those guides on a visit to this City where you can see for yourselves all the possibilities that exist for you to have a happy and fulfilling life. If you don’t want to stay in this City, there are several others spread along our country, with a few villages and even solitary farms where farmers cultivate products for them to sell in the nearest market. Feel free to choose what path appeals to you most, speak with everyone you want, and enjoy your new life. We may never meet again, because I have several duties to attend to and my time is limited, but there are plenty of people living in this country who can help you with any question or difficulty you may find while you get used to how things work here.”

The entire room went silent until Meryda asked, “What about me? Can I also visit the City? Or do we have to leave for that capital you told us about?”

“We have time. Not much, but we do. If you finish eating, we can leave.”

Meryda nodded and got up, with her father and the Fae going with her and her three Monsters at her side.

Demon Manananggal got up and said as she was leaving the room, making everyone still at the tables look at her, “I am sorry if you ended up here against your will, but you caused this the moment you joined the Ooman Alliance. By choice or by being forced, it doesn’t matter. You were there, fighting our Monsters who were merely protecting our borders. Over the years, hundreds upon hundreds of them died at your hands. Hundreds upon hundreds of Oomans and Demis died as well. All for a useless, ugly war caused by Ooman greed and arrogance. Forget about all the other countries; they don’t matter to you anymore.”

When the High Demon Manananggal left the room, all the Oomans and Demis in the room stood silent. Then the woman, the Monster Tamer, leaned back in her chair and sighed. “At least we are all alive. We could have died last night, but we didn’t. We could have been dragged out of here after being knocked out by the Magic of that chandelier up there in the ceiling, but we weren’t. My survival chances were slim in the mountain range, and I had already considered myself dead many weeks ago. This is a new opportunity for me. And I am not going to waste it. If any of you want to try anything stupid, don’t drag me into it.”

A middle-aged Ooman man looked around and said, “I am not buying this. I am going to stay quiet and pretend to agree with everything, and at the slightest opportunity, I am going to escape from this hole. Whoever wants to join me is free to do so. But I am not going to stay among all these… Demons…”

Several other Oomans agreed with them, and they started to make plans in whispers, making the female Monster Tamer sigh. When she looked up at the chandelier, she saw the lights in the crystal blinking, and in the next second, countless shots came from them, hitting every single Ooman who was plotting, knocking them out.

The hotel employees quickly grabbed them and took them out of that room, making the female Monster Tamer ask, “Where are you taking them? And why did the chandelier shoot that light that hit them?”

One employee, a Demi-Cat man, answered while looking around at all those questioning looks. “We have people listening to everything that is said in this room. We were expecting this to happen. It happened several times over several years. The High Demon Manananggal explained all there is to explain, but we all knew there is always a group that waits for her to leave and then starts plotting to escape. These people are going to be fed to the Drakes. We can’t trust them, nor will we risk leaving them roaming around, plotting in secret. All of you will be under surveillance until we are sure you can be trusted. If we find out you can’t be trusted, you will become Drake’s food. Prove to us that you are trustworthy, and you will live your lives in peace.”

Noticing that everyone was too surprised to even ask anything, he continued, “If a Demon or a Half-Demon was captured by Oomans, he would be executed immediately, and probably with a vast audience clapping and cheering, so don’t you even think that our methods to deal with dissidents are too extreme. My father was once like you, doubting everything after being captured, but then he found out that things in the Demon's country were just like High Demon Manananggal explained. My wife. Her grandfather was captured many years ago, and he also doubted, but after seeing things with his own eyes, he granted the Demons and the Half-Demons the benefit of the doubt, and he fell in love with a Half-Demon Demi-Dog woman.”

He turned back and helped carry out a fainted Ooman, while the female Monster Tamer grabbed a plate. “Like I was saying, if any of you want to try something stupid, don’t count on me.”

Outside, Meryda was walking next to that strange, beautiful woman with bat wings, amazed by all the people in the street, walking or riding strange contraptions.

There was something familiar about those weird long carriages, with several windows, full of people seated inside, but that was hovering a few centimetres above ground, with a rider seated at the front inside that strange vehicle.

Until she heard her father mumble, “A bus… a hovering bus… there are even bus stops!”

Meryda looked to her right, and there it was: a seat with a signal on a pole and a number. Several people were there, waiting patiently for that strange vehicle to stop, and when it did, they entered, and Meryda watched as the carriage was leaving.

Noticing how surprised Meryda and her father were, Manananggal pointed to a building on the other side of the street, right in front of the sidewalk where they were walking, and said while pointing at a sign over the front door, “That is a theatre. A famous company in this country is performing a play. A historical one, actually, about our distant past and how we dealt with the discovery of Oomans and Demis. It has a few artistic liberties, of course, but people say it is rather entertaining.”

Craydon slowly nodded, visibly stunned by everything he was seeing. And then he gasped. Right after that building, there was another with a massive entrance heavily decorated with engravings in the front arch, which decorated the massive wooden front door. While pointing at the sign on top, he asked, “I am seeing things, or that is a Gambling House?”

“It does. There are plenty of games inside where people bet money, and they have chances to earn quite a bit. We have very strict rules for those kinds of entertainment so that our population doesn’t get ruined by them and the house doesn’t scam people. We care about our citizens’ lives, and entertainment is a very important part of a happy life.”

“Indeed,” said Craydon in a whisper, unable to believe in all the wonders he was seeing.