Pov Rakan:
Everything in this place is crazy, there are so many races living here like Werewolves, Ghouls, Nymphs, Arachnees, Lamias, Hobgoblins, Ogres, Orcs all are Demis or monsters that are living in the camp nearby and even some others that are the ones that live in the mansion.
This place itself is also strange, a small Dungeon without monsters, from what I heard master Zenos is the Dungeon Master of this place, among the many surprises I found here one of the biggest was finding Prince Ivan Trigan who should have been dead for decades.
I talked to Ivan and he more or less explained to me about this place and the various things here, he also told me that they plan to build a city here, this was more of a surprise for me, a city within a dungeon, only a madman would think into something insane like that.
But at that moment while exploring the forest I checked into a beautiful lake with a waterfall where I saw a beautiful red-haired woman, she didn't look human.
"Good morning, I don't think we've met yet." (I)
"I know about you Rakan the Mage."
"How do you know me?" (I)
"Layla and Nix come to visit me often, they've told me about you and what's been going on lately."
"Looks like Zenos is making another one of his plans, I'm really happy to see what he's been up to."
"You know my name, but I still don't know hers." (I)
"I still don't have a name, at least for now."
"But you can call me Guardian, that's what the people of the village have always called me." (Guardian)
"Why don't I see you at camp?" (I)
"I prefer to stay away, I like quiet places like this, plus I'm giving a space to see what Zenos is doing from afar." (Guardian)
"Why do you need to do that, it doesn't look like he's hiding anything from anyone." (I)
"I'm just trying to get a better understanding of him, so I have to try to be impartial, so I walked away so I wouldn't be too friendly with him." (Guardian)
"Are you testing him?" (I)
"Yes, I have to be sure how much he cares about those around him and the way he does things." (Guardian)
"So far I've liked what I've seen, he can be a bit unpredictable, but he's going out of his way for the people of the village, and I like the way he treats his enemies." (Guardian)
"What do you mean by that." (I)
"Maybe you don't know, but Zenos is a very strange person." (Guardian)
"On the one hand, he is friendly, kind and even kind to those around him." (Guardian)
"On the other hand he is hard on himself, he is always pushing and training, he gets lost in the things he has to do and forgets about himself if there is no one to pull him back to reality." (Guardian)
"Also he can be a real monster when dealing with enemies, he knows when to be cruel, brutal and decisive." (Guardian)
"He didn't seem like someone that complex, what I saw was someone easy and even carefree, he didn't seem like someone cold and cruel." (I)
"That's exactly what makes it so weird, people can just see the surface of it, few people can see what's hidden at the bottom." (Guardian)
"I only started to understand these things after talking to those closest to him, especially Diana, she has a very interesting story of how he saved her a second time." (Guardian)
"…" (I)
This woman was easy to talk to but I felt like she was also getting the information she wanted from me, I don't know why someone like her is here but she gives me a reassuring feeling for some reason.
I spent some more time talking to her, she told me the things master Zenos did in the mountain range, I didn't know such incredible things had happened there.
The conversation was very good, but soon a Lamia who seemed very strong appeared, I've met her before, if I'm not mistaken her name was Sapphire and she was the leader of the council from what I heard.
I didn't want to interrupt any conversation that the two would have, so I said goodbye, managing to understand a little better about this place, I've only been here for two days and I already feel like I'm in paradise, the people are nice and fun, the food is delicious and they have a great collection of books that entertain me a lot.
The only problem I might see is the wild way the camp people dress and the way they are liberal with their sexuality, but from what I've learned that's the way they are and I'm going to have to get used to it.
After being taken by surprise once, now I always keep an eye on my surroundings, I found that this way of living can be a lot of fun and I can see that it also helps in training people.
But those who have been designated as my subordinates seem to be having a hard time, the women are getting a lot of proposals from the male Orcs, Ogres, and Hobgoblins.
But the women refused all proposals for the most part, save for one woman who seems strangely interested, but the men are all exhausted every day, they have been begging me to learn detection spells and defense spells to defend themselves from the women of the camp.
Ogre women seem to find it interesting how human men are more fragile than Ogre men, the problem is that all women in this place are very high-level Demis, men who don't become strong can meet their end here, the same can be had for weak women too.
Seems like being kidnapped by women is a common thing if you're careless, even the two Dark Elf sisters were taken by a Lamia from what I heard, none of them are really hurting themselves, besides this has become an incentive for their training and studies, I think which I understand why they keep it that way.
But I think I'll talk to the Alchemist in charge to make birth control potions to prevent unwanted children from being born, this should solve a future problem, I'm surprised no one has thought of it until now.
———-
Pov Zenos:
After Elsaris and Nix returned I was hugged tightly by Nix who didn't want to let go of me and preferred to carry me in her arms, it was a little humiliating for me.
"Come on Nix, let go of me." (I)
"No, I've been away for two whole days, so I won't leave the master for the rest of the day." (Nix)
"Let her go, it's quite common for Fairies, Spirits, and Familiars to like being around their contractors, if I'm not mistaken the contract you have with Nix and Layla is stronger than usual, so I can imagine her reaction might be because of that." (Elsaris)
"You've returned Elsaris." (Samira)
"Sister!!" (Elsaris)
As we were walking Samira appeared from afar and waved at us, then Elsaris screamed and ran out to hug Samira, she was talking about Nix and soon after does the same as her.
———-
In the middle of the afternoon I gathered everyone for a meeting, Elsaris told me what they discovered during the Demon's interrogation, I thought the others should know too since they are more connected to this continent than I am.
After everyone was gathered in the hall I let Elsaris lead the meeting to explain everything to everyone, during these two days I had already told everyone everything I knew about the Makari Kingdom.
"During the interrogation, we were able to confirm everything Rakan had ever had and we also discovered important locations for the Makari Kingdom." (Elsaris)
"But most importantly, we discovered the reason why they always rebuild the capitals of the Realms they conquered, even though there was no need to do so." (Elsaris)
"They're rebuilding the city because they're building a big magic circle to cover the whole city." (Elsaris)
"What kind of magic circle?" (I)
"We don't know, the Devil didn't know either." (Elsaris)
"Do you know something, Rakan?" (Ivan)
"During the 20 years I was forced to work for them, I worked countless spells and magic circles, but I can't think of any that need to be that big, they wouldn't say anything to a slave either." (Rakan)
"You said that one of the strangest things for the Makari Kingdom was that you were attracting people to migrate there, you were doing it to the point of wreaking havoc on neighboring Kingdoms to attract more immigrants." (Vanessa)
"Are you insinuating that they might be willing to make some kind of sacrifice on a grand scale?" (Érica)
"That's my guess, this seems to fit in with the information we have at the moment." (Vanessa)
"We have to identify the magic circles somehow." (Érica)
"If I know what the magic circles are I can know where to start looking, I'm sure I can find some clues, but first I have to know which magic circle they're using." (Rakan)
"We have to know more, the best way to do that is to find out who rebuilt the cities." (I)
"Elsaris, do you know where this man called Leonardo is who was responsible for rebuilding the cities?" (Irina)
"Yes, he's in the former capital of the Third Kingdom they conquered, it looks like he's trapped in the Duke's mansion who is a Demon too." (Elsaris)
"So we already have our next objective." (I)