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Somehow I woke up in the room I'm renting in one of the inns closest to the labyrinth.
It is very early, as the sun is just rising over the horizon.
'I don't remember anything that happened last night, but my head hurts terribly… I should check to see if Deirdre is the same. If she is, we can only ask Ozy....'
Azur seems to have been affected as well. I don't remember what Ozy gave us, but surely it was some kind of strange drug. That alone would explain Azur being the same as me.
'Agh. The last thing I remember is going to his store... Everything that happened after that is a blank.... When I see him, I need to say a few words to him.... This time he was out of line....'
Going downstairs to the inn's dining room, I notice that there are already four people there, in addition to the innkeeper and her daughter, who appear to be uncomfortable with the presence of visitors.
All four are demons and are conversing while seated at a table. Three men and a woman.
When they see me coming down the stairs, their conversation suddenly stops, and the four of them stare at me.
'This is very strange…'
Puzzled, and with my head still a bit foggy from sleep, I use my ability on them.
[Rion Manafago]
[Tellurius Gravitational Mage]
[Khan Flesh Mage]
[Yun Sorceress]
They are all tall, pale, and thin, as is normal for those of their race. Rion and Khan have purple hair and eyes, while Tellurius has hair and eyes of an inky black that seem not to reflect light. All three men have a total lack of expression on their faces.
But the one that strikes me the most is the woman. Her hair and eye color are the same as my mother's, a deep blue color that my mother once told me was called azur. And her face also has certain resemblances.
Suddenly Azur, who was drowsy on my shoulders, feels threatened in front of so many singularity users and becomes alert.
'Hmm… It seems that only the woman has a common class.... The name of the men's singularities and their inexpressiveness don't give me a very good feeling'
This situation is too strange, but I don't want them to think I'm intimidated by them and their looks. So, after pausing for a second, I continued down the stairs as if it were a normal day.
As I do so, I go about preparing my armor and weapons to quickly equip them from my inventory if necessary.
'Luckily, I don't normally take off my rings to sleep.... So, if the going gets rough, I can keep them at bay with my magic while I equip the rest of my gear.'
When I finish going downstairs, I sit down at one of the tables to wait for breakfast to be brought to me, trying to ignore the stares of the demons.
But, as soon as I sit down, the woman gets up from her table, and sits down in one of the chairs near mine.
"Your mother's name was Shui, and she was of our race, wasn't she?" she asks with a haughty expression and voice, without greeting or further explanation at the bluntness of her words.
"Yes. Why do you ask?" I ask, intrigued at the mention of my mother.
"And your father Rufin." she says, this time with a statement rather than a question, and I notice what sounds like arrogance in her voice.
"Yes." I say, growing increasingly surprised. "But you still haven't told me what you want or who you are..."
"I already figured that, with that eye color and that name, you had to be Shui's son. Your hair is black, unfortunately, but I see it has blue highlights.... It seems that the saying is true that greatness is hardly ever completely erased by filth.... I understand you're staying here, right?" she says, wrinkling her nose in disgust, and my irritation begins to win out over my curiosity "Could you invite us somewhere more private? I want to talk with you about things regarding your mother."
"Yes, of course. But first, I want to know what relationship you have with my mother." I say firmly, determined to refuse if she doesn't actually tell me something real and stop beating around the bush.
"Ah" she says with apparent annoyance, as if she thinks she's explaining something obvious "I'm Yun. Shui was my sister. I thought you'd deduce that from looking at my hair and eye color? Our family has a very particular shade of blue as a trait. A color befitting a family as ancestral and important as ours."
"I... I didn't know I had an aunt," I say, stunned by the surprise, and my feelings finish placating Azur's caution.
'I didn't know anything about my mother's family.... Why wouldn't she have told me she had a sister?'
"I see..." she says in a dismissive tone, but then radically changes her tone and, looking at me eloquently, continues, "Well. About talking somewhere more private..."
"Yes, yes. Let's go upstairs," I say, hungry to have some information about a family I was unaware of until now, as I beckon to the innkeeper to tell her there is nothing to worry about.
The six of us went to my room. For, as the woman began to follow me up the stairs, her three companions got up to join us.
Once inside, I sit on my bed and offer the only chair in the room to my aunt, while her companions have no choice but to stand behind her.
When we are both seated, she begins to speak in a slow, calm voice "When we heard that your mother had died, we thought that, despite being of our family, she was no great loss to the empire, since she decided to abandon her duty to us to go off with some random. But who would have thought that a good-for-nothing like her could have a son like you? On the outside, you look human, but we already saw during your fight against the queen of this kingdom that inside you are a member of the superior race, ours."
When I hear her say those words, anger begins to boil inside me.
'I don't know what she intends by insulting my parents so calmly. But if she's trying to provoke me, I'm not going to give her what she's looking for. I need to calm down too… The four races are supposed to be allies against the orcs. Besides, even if I don't like her, she's the first connection I've found with my family....'
"I am here to talk about your mother's debts to the demon empire, and what you can do to eliminate them, so that your mother will not be remembered in the empire as the filthy traitor she is," says the woman, continuing with her exposition.
"My mother did not live in the demon empire," I say, gritting my teeth and making monumental efforts to keep my voice calm, as I sense Azur's curiosity, not understanding the reason for my efforts, when we could simply cast them out.
"But your mother was of the demon race. And, as such, she owes her life to the emperor. Furthermore, she was a member of one of the most important families in the empire, ours, so her duty to the empire was even greater." she says it in a condescending tone of voice, as if she is explaining to me that two plus two equals four.
"That still has no bearing on me, but... does that mean my mother was a noble?" I ask, as once again my curiosity wins out over my irritation.
With this, the woman begins to laugh shrilly "Oh, dear, no. Don't compare us to the absurd classifications used by your kind... As I was saying, your grandfather only allowed your mother to walk away because she was of no use at the time, but with you, it's a different matter.... And, although we cannot forcefully bring you to the empire since you are not a demon, due to alliance agreements, we can be very persuasive. Besides, if you don't come, the empire will forever see your mother as a traitor. So her honor and memory will be permanently sullied." she says with a condescending smile, as if that settles the matter. "Cheer up! You could even bring your pet with you. The one who is always following you around. I don't mean the draco, but the other one, the furry one."
After those words, Azur begins to growl menacingly. But the woman doesn't seem to pay him the slightest bit of attention.
'I'm surprised that this woman is from my mother's family when they have such different personalities…'
Her hair and eye color are identical to my mother's, which irritates me even more than listening to her words. And the similarities between her face and my mother's make me even sicker.
'With Azur, that attitude it's understandable. But treating Deirdre like a pet already gives me an idea of what kind of person she is…'
And that finished settling my internal struggle.
"Hmt, you can try to take me by force if you want to, because I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't care what the demon empire thinks of my mother, and my friend is no pet," I say, and as I feel that my partner is about to attack them, I comment, "Easy, Azur. They're already leaving"
"Azur! The draco's name is Azur.... and you say you have no relation to the empire!" she exclaims, looking at her companions meaningfully, and bursts into laughter. Since we entered my room, her companions have not changed their mask of inexpressiveness at any time, but now a slight smile appears on their faces "I see that my sister did not teach you anything.... But it doesn't matter. There's always time to rectify the shortcomings of a small, growing tree."
"I'd like to see you try. Get out of here!" I say, and pull my sword from my inventory, while at the same time equipping my armor, ready to force them to leave, if necessary.
However, none of the demons seem to react to my actions in the slightest.
"All in good time, my dear. We have no need to rush things unnecessarily, so you need not get defensive. We'll see each other another time, and that time you'll come willingly to the place where you belong.... But before we go, let me tell you why I laughed at you just now. Azur is our family name. I guess Shui must have been much more amused by your draco's name than I was.... Considering how much she loved our family," says the woman with malice, and with those words, the four of them leave the inn.