Chapter of Demon Desires: Lily’s Abode and a Registering Incident

Karen and I had to look around a little to figure out which one of the wagons belonged to Lily. They all looked the same: Black, black and even more black. Sure, they belonged to the Black Guards, but their obsession with black was sometimes a little worrisome.

Not like I had room to speak, wearing black armour and residing in a black wagon.

Fortunately for us, though, there were ways to distinguish the wagons. Each wagon had a symbol painted next to or on the door. And for the literate, there was also text beneath it as a bonus. In Lafrian… or rather, Akkian letters as well as Aldreighan letters. And amazingly, not in black. Shocking.

“Nn, this one should be it, no?”

“That’s what it says, at least.”

After looking around and asking the one or other odd mercenary, we found ourselves in front of one wagon. On the door was a small plate with a cutesy picture of a wolf-like animal resting. Beneath it were the equally cutesy letters “Little Lily’s Kingdom”. Yes, that’s what it said. Really.

“‘Little Lily’s Kingdom,’ huh…”

It was like a sign on a door to a child’s room. I couldn’t help but smile, reading it.

“Well, at least we found it. Nn, should we knock or…”

“Of course, we should, Yumi.”

“Nn…”

If she had headaches, she wasn’t going to appreciate that, though. I knew from experience. Well, but it wasn’t like we could just storm in like it was nothing either. Karen was right about that.

“Guess we should make sure not to knock too loud, then.”

Karen gave me a confused look but I didn’t bother to explain it now. Maybe it was better she remained oblivious to the suffering of a hangover victim.

I  softly knocked on the door, just loud enough that someone hopefully would hear it. And just as I hoped, the door opened a few seconds later, revealing Rina.

“Ah, Big Sis! Lil’ Sis!”

She raised her voice in delight, smiling at us. Why did I try to be quiet again? Right, because of the source of the groaning coming from behind Rina.

“Rina. You shouldn’t be too loud while Lily isn’t feeling well,” said Karen.

“Ah, don’t worry, Big Sis, she’s not in pain because of that anymore.”

“... She’s not?”

“No.”

I was confused. An explanation would be appreciated.

“Come in!”

“Okay…”

“Nn… Sure.”

Karen and I, both of us rather confused, entered the wagon. I managed to spot Lily immediately as she sat on the edge of her bed, holding her head. She probably saw us coming in since she lifted her free hand as a greeting.

“Lily, you okay? Uhh, guess there’s no need to ask that actually. Doesn’t look like it.”

I asked out of reflex before realising that it was superfluous to do so. She wouldn’t be holding her head like that if she was fine.

“Maybe you should lie down in bed? Drink something?”

“I’m… fine… Yumi… Just give me a moment.”

“Nn…”

I exchanged a curious glance with Karen before looking to Rina for help. The latter just shrugged her shoulders though. Apparently, all we could do was wait for Lily to… recover. Not like I could imagine that happening anytime soon?

Well… I guess we can wait a moment at least…

Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to look around. This was the first time we had entered Lily’s little abode, after all, so I  was quite curious.

My first impression was that it was… messy. Chaotic, even. Dozens of swords were displayed on the wall, others were stuffed inside a barrel. Something that seemed to be an old plush toy was put on a shelf on the wall. There was an open dresser, filled with clothes, some of which were spilling out or laid out on the desk next to it. Apart from the clothes, there was a small box on the desk, filled with cute accessories. I had never seen Lily wear something like this, so I was a little surprised.

These are cute, though. I’m sure Lily would look good with them.

Continuing next to the desk, in the corner, there was something like a mannequin without legs, arms or head, wearing Lily’s armour. I was sure these armour-wearing props had an actual name but I couldn’t recall what it was. Next to it was a sole staff, rather out of place among all the swords. It had a mana crystal placed in it, making it look like a stereotypical magician’s staff. Though it couldn’t be quite so stereotypical, considering I never had seen a staff like this before.

It’s probably a magic tool anyway if it has a mana crystal. I wonder what it can do.

Between the staff and the bed was a small nightstand, with another plush toy, this one looking rather new, as well as a magic lamp and a mug with water. On the opposite side of the bed was another desk, though it might be better called a workbench. Or maybe a maintenance bench? Her large Zweihänder was placed on it, wrapped in a cloth. The scabbard was there as well plus a small bottle with a cloth. It smelled like oil.

“Having fun looking around?”

“Nn, I do. How should I say it… It’s got character.”

Mainly a sword character. But it was still a nice room. How to say it… You could immediately see that this was someone’s personal room. It was full of private items. A little chaotic but… I still liked it. To be honest, I was even a little jealous. Compared to this, our room was almost barren.

“Is that a compliment?”

“I don’t know. Could be? Anyway, are you feeling better already?”

I stared at Lily who had seemingly recovered from her headaches.

“Mostly… Just… reeling a little bit from the treatment.”

“Treatment? Wait, don’t tell me… You asked Wendl…”

“You got that right… And I tell you, I regret it. I’m never going to do this again.”

“...”

Should I be impressed, astonished or just plain dumbfounded? I wasn’t quite sure. It felt like a mix of all of them at once.

“Why did you ask him then…”

”Because I don’t want to be left behind.”

”Oh…”

That was surprisingly… relatable. I might have done the same if I hadn’t felt any better by now… Emphasis on might.

“And I didn’t think it’d be this bad…”

But now that she had experienced its horrors first-hand... Just another reason for me to never ever do this.

“But I guess I am feeling better now. The headache is gone. Still feeling like a warox rammed me at full speed, though.”

“Nn, that doesn’t sound like a feeling that a normal person can survive.”

A warox was a massive creature. If such a mass rammed into a normal person there wouldn’t be a single intact bone left in them. They’d become my kind.

“When are we going to leave? Now?”

“Mr Greyward will call for us.””

“I see. Not now then.”

Lily sighed in relief. It would allow her a little more rest, after all.

“I guess I’ll lay down a little more…”

Saying so, Lily let herself fall on the bed, grabbing the blanket and making herself comfortable. Doing so also revealed that the was a third plush toy that had been hidden beneath the blanket. Alas, I could only see it for a moment because it immediately disappeared under the blanket again. Needless to say who was responsible for that.

“Yumi? Why are you smiling?” asked Karen.

“Nn? Nothing, nothing.”

Karen tilted her head in confusion and behind her, Lily was averting her gaze, likely having guessed why I was smiling. I mean, how could I not smile? It was too cute.

“If you say so…” mumbled Karen.

“Nn.”

No point in making things more difficult now.

It didn’t take all that long until we were informed that Greyward wanted to enter the city. Lily that time, Lily felt significantly better already. In fact, she was just as energetic as she usually was. That treatment sure was effective. Although, quick and painful was its motto. I disliked the painful part even if it was quick, so I still wouldn’t try it. Even if I was a little jealous that Lily was already back to normal while I was still feeling just a little ill. Even then! I wasn’t jealous!

“Haaa…”

“Something wrong, Yumi?”

“No, everything’s fine. Everything’s fine…”

“...”

Greyward raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t say anything further. How considerate of him.

Anyway, the four of us together with Greyward and three other mercenaries were walking towards the gate. We had stopped some distance away from it but it was still just a short walk. The guards at the gate saw us coming and visibly tensed up.

“Lily, I’ll leave those three to you. Get them registered and meet up with us at the town square. We’ll go ahead first.”

“Leave it to me!”

Lily puffed out her chest, trying to look reliable.

“Karen, if this idiot does something stupid, don’t hesitate to scold her.”

“Understood, Mr Greyward.”

“Papa?!”

Guess she didn’t look even half as reliable as she thought she would. Greyward chuckled before facing the gate. He addressed the guards in a clear voice.

“I’m Johnson Greyward! We’re from the Lomerian Dragon Knights. We’ve come seeking entry to secure supplies.”

I was confused for a few seconds about why he introduced us as part of the Dragon Knights, which was true for Karen and me but not necessarily for them. Then it dawned on me that the Black Guards weren’t technically around anymore. They had joined the Dragon Knights after all.

At least, I wasn’t the only one confused for a few seconds, judging from the faces of the three men with him.

As for the guards, they exchanged a look with each other before one of them stepped forward to receive us. Or more like, question us.

“Are any of you registered?”

“Five of our group are registered. The others are in Aldreigh for the first time.”

The guard let his gaze wander over us before nodding.

“Do you have any additional identification on you?”

“We do. Here.”

Greyward handed him the same badge that he had shown to the border guards. And just like with the border guard, it surprised the man.

“A temple mark?! Sir, you are associated with the temple?”

“In a way.”

“... I understand. You can pass. As for the ones who need to be registered, please stay with us a little longer.”

“Thank you.”

That was… incredibly fast. That badge really had quite the authority behind it, huh? But a temple mark? They had a temple here?

“Karen, don’t forget to show them the mana passes. Lily, I’ll leave them to you until they are registered.”

“Yes, Mr Greyward.”

“Sure, Papa!”

Greyward nodded before thanking the guard a final time. He led the other three men and entered through the gate, disappearing from our sight moments later.

“I assume it would be you three that need to be registered?”

The guard looked at Karen, Rina and me.

“Yes.”

“Follow me then. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”

The guard led us halfway through the gate before entering a small door, barely noticeable in the wall. The whole setup reminded me a lot of that time in Larfas, where we had to be registered as well.

“Take a seat there. Sir Greyward mentioned you have a mana pass? Did you by chance get registered in Lafria?”

“Yes. We did in the capital.”

“That makes things easy then. The process is pretty much identical. May I see the pass?”

“Here.”

Karen handed him the two mana passes, one for me and one for Rina.

“Mm… Yes, these seem to be legitimate. Then, let me register these two first. Then… Uhh… Miss… Rina?”

He glanced from the mana pass several times up as he read it with some trouble.

“Yes, yes!”

“Someone’s energetic, huh? Sit down here, please.”

The guard motioned for Rina to sit down at a table while he sat down on the opposite end. In his hands was the same kind of magical tool we had seen in Larfas. The one that poked your finger for a drop of blood.

“Please put your finger here. It’ll hurt only for a short moment.”

“Mm… Ouch!”

“Yes, I got it. You did well. Show me your finger.”

Rina did as she was asked to, showing him the finger that was still bleeding a little. The guard’s hand hovered over her finger, glowing softly. A second later, the finger had been healed.

“Ohhh! Amazing, it’s gone!”

“Ahaha. This much is nothing.

The guard laughed, pleased by Rina’s praise.

“We still have one other thing to do, so stay here for a second, yes?”

“Okay!”

With a smile, the guard took out a tiny vial containing the blood from the magic tool and put it into a small holder. This was a bit different from what I had seen in Larfas. After that, he took out a few writing utensils.

“I’ll need your name, sex and age as well as your occupation if applicable.”

“Rina, female, sixteen years old! Uhh… I help out at the mercenaries!”

“Hahaha! Helping out it is.”

The guard chuckled again as he wrote down everything. Did he really write helping out?

“And that’s it. Thank you for your cooperation. Please wait while we register the others.”

“Okay!”

Rina vacated the seat and came back to us, grinning.

“I’m done!”

“Nn, you did well, Rina.”

“Hehe!”

In the back, the guard was still filling out a few things before calling out to us.

“Then, next would be Miss… Yumi?”

“Nn, that’s me.”

“Please take a seat.”

After I sat down, he presented me with the magic tool. I put my finger on it and felt a tiny prick.

“Great. Show me your fin— Oh, it’s healed already?”

The guard’s eyes widened a little in surprise.

“How unusual. Well, I got what I needed.”

He retrieved the tiny vial from the magic tool only to be surprised again. And admittedly, I was surprised, too. The supposedly red vial was faintly pink.

“... I guess there are all kinds of people in the world.”

“Nn.”

No, I didn’t know about this either! Why was it pink? Was everything about me going to turn into that colour?

“No matter, as long as it has the mana it should work, probably. We’ll figure something out if not.”

“Nn… I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He was… surprisingly accepting of this.

“Now then: Name, sex and age, please. Plus occupation if applicable.”

“Nn. Yumi, female, twenty-two years old, mercenary.”

“... And there we go. That’s all. Thank you very much. Please return to your seat.”

“Got it. Thank you, too.”

“You’re welcome.”

I returned to the others, welcomed by a few surprised gazes.

“Yumi… I didn’t know… that your blood…”

“I didn’t either, Sis. Trust me, I’m just as surprised.”

I was pretty sure I had bled here and there before already. And I never noticed anything odd there. But at some point, that apparently had changed as well…

“The last one, please.”

“Yes, I’m coming.”

Karen smiled at me before going to sit down with the guard.

“As you lack a pass, I need to ask you a few questions. But since Sir Greyward bears a temple mark I’ll omit what I can.”

“Okay.”

Oh, so the mana passes really helped us out.

“Name, sex, race and age, plus occupation.”

“Karen, female, demonkin, eighteen, mercenary.”

“Where have you lived before?”

“... Arkesta.”

“... The Empire, huh… Couldn’t have been easy.”

The guard’s gaze became sympathetic.

“How long have you been a mercenary?”

“A little over a month.”

“Oh, still a newbie. Are you a magician?”

“In training, I suppose.”

“Oh, that’s great. Magicians are always welcome. Okay, last question: Have you committed any crimes in the past?”

“...”

Karen fell silent. The guard immediately noticed it and narrowed his eyes. But before Karen could try and explain, lie or whatever else, his expression mellowed out.

“Let me rephrase that: Have you committed any crimes in the past month?”

“No.”

“Mhm, good.”

The guard nodded, satisfied. Karen was staring at him, perplexed by his actions.

“Uhm, why did you…”

“You lived in the empire. I know life sometimes necessitates us to do things that aren’t viewed favourably by others. Plus, you strike me as an honest girl, didn’t even try to lie. Though, your expression is so easy to read anyway. But just so you know, if you do anything untoward in Aldreigh, you’ll find life becoming very difficult here.”

“Understood. I’ll remember that.”

“Good.”

The guard nodded before presenting the magic tool to her.

“Then, if you could.”

“... Mm!”

Karen flinched when the needle poked her but she didn’t cry out.

“Okay, good. Show me your… Is it common nowadays that girls heal in an instant?”

“Uhhh… I don’t think so.”

“I hope so. Quite the odd group of girls you are.”

“Ahaha…”

We could only smile wryly at his comment. He wasn’t wrong, after all.

“Okay, I’ll need to get these tested. If there are no problems, you’ll be free to go soon. Just wait for a little here.”

“””Okay.”””

The three of us replied in unison. The guard chuckled again before taking out the vial of the magic tool and putting it in the holder. He picked up the holder and put it into a small box on the wall. After confirming it was inside, he sat down again, leaning back in his chair.

“So, your group is looking for supplies here in Melfin?”

We were a little perplexed at him suddenly addressing us. Lily recovered first and replied to him.

“Yes, we are.”

“Mmm… That’s probably going to be hard… “

“Is it because of that explosion?”

“Oh, you heard about it?”

“Only a little. That it was related to the expansion project or something.”

The border guard couldn’t exactly tell us a whole lot either.

“Yeah, that. Thanks to that, we don’t have a whole lot to spare. You might be better off travelling to the next town.”

We’d probably return if we couldn’t find anything, though.

Just then, a small bell echoed in the room.

“Oh, it’s done. Well, let me check.”

The guard stood up again, checking the contents of the box. He pulled out a small piece of paper from the box, reading through it. His expression turned into one of surprise, then annoyance.

“Is something wrong?” Karen asked him.

“Mh? Well, a little bit.”

He scratched the back of his head, looking over at us.

“Miss Rina, Miss Karen, you two have been in Aldreigh before?”

The reaction was immediate: Rina tilted her head and Karen clamped up.

“It’s illegal to try to register anew when you’re already in the system.”

“We… We were registered?”

“You were.”

This… was bad, wasn’t it?

“Miss Karen, family name erased, exiled nine years ago. Reason: Unknown.”

They knew. This was really bad.

“Miss Miria, family name erased, exiled nine years ago. Reason: Unknown.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Lily tensing up and slowly taking a stance.

“According to  a new Aldreighan law established four years ago, exiling anyone below the age of fourteen is now strictly forbidden.”

“... Uh?”

“What?”

“Eh?”

We froze. All of us.

“Therefore, the exile has been determined as unjust and is henceforth withdrawn. Congratulations and welcome back.”

The guard clapped his hands as he congratulated us.

“Judging from your reactions, you didn’t know you were registered. Guess that’s why you had the guts to try and register again. Well, it worked out for the better anyway.”

“Uhm… Mr Guard, what is the meaning of this?” asked Lily.

“The tool registers and records mana signatures. We check any new registrants on crimes they might have committed in the past in Aldreigh. Any crime is registered in it, so we know immediately when someone tries to trick us. Not without its faults and half the time, it doesn’t even work properly, but it’s better than nothing.”

He shrugged his shoulders with a sigh.

“Either way, I’ll need to send a report to the central office and inform them of this matter. They might start an investigation but seeing how your family names were erased from the records, I wouldn’t bet on it leading to a result. Must’ve been someone influential to do this. Not to mention that it was still legal at the time so even if they figure it out, there won’t be any consequences apart from a reprimand. Not that I could ever understand how you can exile children. Disgusting.”

“Is… Is that so?”

Karen stared at him, still in a daze. Her eyes clearly betrayed her feelings of confusion.

“Yes. Well… Either way, you needn’t worry. You’re free to come and go from Melfin. However, it might take some time before this information reaches other cities and towns, so you probably should avoid visiting them if possible.”

“Haaa…”

She was still staring at him, blinking. It was unknown whether his words actually neutered her ears.

“How long would it take?” asked Lily instead.

“Mhm, they come every two months… when was the last time… I think last month… I guess in two months the major cities should be fine. The more remote areas might need half a year.”

“That’s quite a long time.”

“Of course. They have to carry these things around on foot, after all. Would be nice if they spared a Space magician for it but, hey, what can you do?”

He slapped the wall where the magic tool was in.

“At least it works. Most of the time.”

No, thinking about it, wasn’t this whole system actually incredibly amazing?

“Anyway, just, err, tell those girls what I told you later. Whenever they’re back.”

“... I will.”

Sis, even the guard realised you’re completely out of it… Please snap back.

Unfortunately, she might take a while to reboot… I couldn’t blame her, though. The whole situation was just… too surreal.

“Anyway, I won’t pry into their issues. There’s another thing I got to take care of, though.”

The guard stared at the paper in his hand, then at me. What was this sense of foreboding I was having?

“Miss Yumi, you said you are twenty-two?”

“... Yes.”

“I see.”

He stared at the paper again… then at me.

“I guess it’s just the tool malfunctioning here. It says you are a grand zero years old.”

“...”

“Never seen that before.”

Yeah, would be funny if he had. Right?

“Eh, whatever. Even if it was true, it wouldn’t really matter.”

“I see.”

It didn’t matter if one was, err, zero years old? Good to know. But I was twenty-two, so it was not relevant for me, right? Right?

“With that, we’re done here. You’re free to enter the city. Take that door over. Don’t cause any trouble and you’ll be fine.”

“Understood, thank you very much.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll be writing my report now. And checking that dumb tool again…”

The guard sighed, shaking his head. We left the room, leaving him to his fate.

As we finally stepped onto the street of Melfin, Karen pulled on my clothes.

“Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“I didn’t dream that just now, did I?”

“Nn, that was real.”

“I see…”

Karen was shocked, to say the least. And who could blame her for it?

“It was… withdrawn? Just like that?”

“Seems so. Isn’t that good?”

“I guess so… But it’s just… so sudden.”

I hadn’t expected this to happen either, to be honest. I didn’t even consider that Karen and Rina might have been registered there already. They hadn’t said anything to it so I assumed they weren’t. But then again, they had been children. They probably wouldn’t have known.

“I guess it was. To be honest, I was worried for a moment there…”

“Me too…”

“I’m glad he was understanding.

Seriously, what would we have done if this hadn’t happened? We were extremely lucky.

“Mhm, even if, it shouldn’t have become too much of an issue. I could’ve always taken out the badge. The temple mark.”

“You could?”

“Sure. I mean, if that wouldn’t work, Papa wouldn’t have let us alone. He knew that it was possible this would happen.”

“Wait, he knew?”

Lily nodded.

“He warned me yesterday about it and that I should take the mark with me.”

What to say… We should give him our thanks later.

“Well, either way, it seems the guard was pretty kind. Not sure whether he simply didn’t want to get in trouble with the temple, though.”

I’d like to think he was simply kind, though. He didn’t seem like a bad person to me.

“Just… what the heck is that temple?”

They sounded like a pretty amazing place, after all, if they had so much authority.

“Mhm, well, explaining it in full might take a while. Simply put, they’re a little like the places in Lafria where the Spirits are worshipped. Except, the temple is a little more… How to say it… general? Casual? No… Well, they don’t really worship anything in particular. Anything is fine as long it is a magical entity or magic related, the Spirits included.”

“That sounds… broad.”

“It is broad.”

Lily shrugged her shoulders, smiling wryly.

“They’re important in Aldreigh, though. That’s why this badge, the temple mark, is quite effective for situations like this.”

“I see…”

And Lily and Greyward were both carrying a symbol of that temple with them. Just how the heck did they get those?

“Well, anyway, enough about those matters. We’re finally in Melfin so let’s enjoy ourselves a little! Come on!”

Lily pulled Rina and Karen’s hands dragging them onto the street. I hurried after them before they could get lost in the crowd.

Well, Lily is right… We’re finally here so let’s enjoy ourselves.