The six of them reached the castle.
It had twelve circular towers with sharp spires coming out of them, and its style was very clearly, gothic.
They went into a large hall with many people waiting in line to speak to the acting lord.
The acting lord was sitting on a throne at the far end of the line. Shu tried taking a peek at who is the acting castle lord, but he could see nothing over the mountain of people who were standing in his way.
Then, a speaker stood before the acting lord's throne and said.
"Sorry to all those waiting. The acting lord is taking a break. Please wait in your spots or come back later."
All the people in front of them sighed in disappointment, and most went out of the hall.
They waited for a few minutes before someone else entered the room.
It was a female angel with fair skin, green eyes, and long brown hair.
She sat down on the throne and smiled a devilish smile.
"Guards, please ask everyone except the six in the back to wait outside this room."
The angel said, and the guards complied with zero resistance. In a matter of seconds, everyone except for them was outside the hall, and the doors were closed.
"You six! You are quite a peculiar bunch. A Redfox, a stone monkey, a half-demoness, a nobleman, a temple knight, and a simple peasant girl. Why are you here?"
Her devilish smile widened.
She was undoubtedly waiting to hear what is it that they would answer.
They thought of answering her question, but something about this situation was weird. They were truly and utterly petrified, unable to say a single word in front of this person, who had an aura of true strength.
"Is your reason for being here to pay a debt? To save your people? To fulfill your duty? To find a family member? Answer me."
As she listed the answers, her voice echoed in the large room, and Shu could feel all his hair shivering and cold sweat traveling down his body.
"Well, what is your answer?"
She asked again.
"The demon god tasked us to..."
Dam started answering but stopped as he saw her disappointed expression.
"You, little red fox, what is YOUR reason for coming to this city?"
The angel said with a cold, fierce expression.
"My god gave me life, and I'm here to pay my debt to him."
Shu answered. The words came to him naturally, and he said them without thinking of the consequences.
"And what does your debt have to do with this city?"
The angel asked with a curious expression.
"He told me to come here and speak to the city lord."
Shu answered, not so sure what he should say.
"Oh really? Okay. And you, peasant girl, why are you here?"
The angel asked with a judging expression. Mary felt like she was being scorched by the look in the angels' eyes.
"I'm here because I have made a deal with this Redfox family member to guide him to his destination, and in return, he will help me find my father."
Mary answered, and the angel looked at her with a dissatisfied expression.
"After what SHE told me, I was expecting more from you, though with her as your master. It should have been expected. Though you are even plainer than her."
The angel said with disappointment.
Mary was curious to know who is the "SHE" the angel mentioned.
Suddenly, the doors to the hall opened, and blinding purple light swept the large room.
They couldn't see who it was, but after a few seconds, they noticed that it was a man at a height just a bit over the average, with two goat horns and one of his horns was broken. After another second, they could even notice the colors, white hair, and glowing purple eyes. It was Danniel, the demon god.
When Shu saw him, his eyes brightened, and he felt great relief. There is no way that his patron god won't help him.
"Sweetie, I think you went a little too hard on them."
Danniel said, and his expression was different than any expression Shu had ever seen him make. It was full of amusement like usual, but it was also full of love.
"Danny, why did you have to come here now? We were just getting to the good part."
The angel said.
"You two know each other?"
Dam asked in confusion.
"Well, of course, she is my wife."
Danniel answered, and they were all stupefied by the thought of the demon god being married to an angel and by how scary she was. Which one of them was the actual demon?!
"Well, everyone, please say hello to Emma, my wife. And now, I shall explain why I asked you to come here."
Danniel said as he walked deeper into the hall.
He stepped facing the throne, and Emma stood up to let him sit.
He sat down on the throne. He slumped to one side and looked at the six "children" with an amused expression.
"Antony asked me to meet him not far from here and try to negotiate something to stop the chaos."
Danniel said.
They all felt a feeling that was not as overwhelming as they did expect it to be something similar, but it was also not underwhelming as it wasn't anything simpler than their expectations. They were simply whelmed.
"Well, since you are finally here. Tomorrow, I will have Chaos brief you on what you are supposed to do."
Danniel said, and it seemed he had finished explaining the situation for the moment, but then Emma coughed twice.
"What is it?"
Danniel asked her in confusion.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Emma asked with an expression that made it clear that this was painfully common.
"Hmmm..."
Danniel thought, and after a few seconds, she sighed.
"You didn't tell them about the city lord."
The angel said, and Danniel's face seemed enlightened.
"It's okay. I will tell them after the meeting. It will make the win feel better. For now, please show them to the dining hall."
Danniel said with a big grin.
Emma nodded and then told them to follow her.
********
They followed Emma through a large hallway on the left of the throne room. And towards a large wooden door.
As they got closer to the door, the door opened on its own, and the light went out from the inside.
When they entered the hall, they saw some familiar faces. An old lion-looking beastman with a golden mane and black eyes. A somewhat old-looking man with a large physique, greying black hair, and grey eyes. A middle-aged man with greying black hair, a beard, a muscular figure, and emerald green eyes. And a few more familiar faces were all waiting for them.
As they entered the room. Mary froze after looking at a specific man. Thomas also froze and looked at his daughter.
They both walked closer to each other, trying not to cry. They stood there and looked each other in the eyes for an entire minute.
"I missed you."
Mary broke the silence. But they both still just kept looking into each other's eyes.
Thomas stopped their weird staring contest and looked in Shu's direction.
"Thank you for your help."
"No problem, a deal is a deal."
Shu said jokingly with a big smile.
"Dad..."
Mary said with tears accumulating under her eyes.
"Well, I will give you two privacy."
Shu said and tried going away to give them space, but Mary grabbed his hand tightly.
"Mary, what are y..."
He started asking her what the issue was, but as he turned his face toward her, he could see her face full of tears.
Thomas looked at his daughter and thought of what he could say.
"I missed you too."
Thomas said and hugged her tightly.
After a few seconds, Mary's gripe on Shu's hand weakened, and she released it.
Shu went away to give them the time they deserved.
"It's been so long. What have you been up to?"
Thomas asked his daughter.
"Sorry, Dad. I can't answer that."
Mary said while still holding him.
"Fine, that's expected. By the way, where did you get that new sword?"
Thomas asked after he saw that she had her old sword that looked like his sword in design and a new one that he had never seen before.
"It is a gift from Shu. It's his ancestral sword."
Mary answered and didn't even consider what the implications were.
Seeing her happy expression and the shift in tone as she mentioned Shu, Thomas stopped the hug and seemed to have killing intent swirling around him.
"That damned fox, I'll kill him."
Thomas mumbled and turned toward Shu.
"Dad, what is it?"
Mary asked in confusion, but before she got her answer, her father dashed in Shu's direction.
He swiped his sword at Shu's back, but the young beastman had already seen this possible future and grabbed the sword's blade between his palms mid-swing.
"Thomas, whatever you think it is, I can assure you it's not true!"
Shu said, desperate to get the man to listen to him.
"Then you're telling that you and M..."
Thomas started saying something Shu knew would create problems in the future, so he kicked Thomas in the leg.
Thomas started pressing more weight onto the sword, and Shu walked back slowly towards the door.
They kept walking like this until they exited the room, and the door closed behind them.
"Can you tell me what the issue is?"
Shu asked Thomas to explain the issue.
"What did you do to my daughter?!"
Thomas demanded an answer as he pulled the sword back and thrust it at Shu again.
"Mary? I didn't do anything to her!"
Shu argued while dodging the sword thrusts.
"I thought we were friends, but you didn't even ask for my blessing! And now you are lying to my face?!"
Thomas shouted in anger.
"Can you please tell me exactly what you think is going on?"
Shu asked for clarification on the current issue.
"You and Mary got engaged during the last three and a half years."
Thomas claimed confidently.
"No, we did not. We are not even dating!"
Shu shouted back.
Thomas swiped his sword at Shu, and Shu evaded it and turned to a side corridor.
"Then why is YOUR ancestral sword tied to her waist? Why does she look and sound so happy when she talks about you? Why did she hold YOUR hand tightly when you two entered the hall?!"
With every single thing Thomas listed, he swiped his sword toward Shu.
"MY ancestral sword is tied to her waist because the family head told me to take the sword and that if I don't use swords, I can just give it to a friend who does," Shu said while knocking Thomas's sword trajectory to the side.
"I don't know what you are talking about when you say she looks happy when she talks about me. She usually has an embarrassed or annoyed expression when we are together." Shu added, and Thomas's expression seemed disappointed somehow, "And she held my hand because we are Friends, and she needed emotional support." Shu argued and evaded Thomas's attacks.
Suddenly, Shu only saw one option for the future, he was on the ground, and Thomas was standing above him, panting heavily, with the sword's point placed against his neck.
In a matter of seconds, Thomas placed a foot in Shu's way, and the scene from his mind had become real.
Clap Clap Clap
Danniel appeared out of nowhere and started clapping his hands slowly.
"Little-tsundere's father against Little-tsundere's love interest. This is one interesting battle. But I'll have to stop it. Little Shu and Little-tsundere are not in a romantic or sexual relationship."
Danniel said, and Thomas felt embarrassed.
Thomas placed his sword back in the sheath and helped Shu stand up.
"Sorry, Shu. I really thought that you betrayed our friendship."
Thomas apologized.
"It's okay. You can say I could sort of see that this would happen."
Shu said.
"Come on! What are you waiting for? Let's get back to the party!"
Danniel said and summoned a glass of wine in his hand.
The three started walking back to the hall from the side corridor, Danniel looked at the two mortals and chuckled that they didn't notice the utterly embarrassed person hidden behind one of the pillars.
Mary ran to stop them from fighting, but the more intense their words became, the more embarrassed she was, and in the end, she couldn't do anything.
"Are you okay?"
Emma asked Mary.
Mary was startled at the angel's sudden appearance since she didn't hear her coming.
"If you need to vent, you can tell me anything."
Emma said with a kind, motherly tone and a beautiful expression that made Mary understand why would that bast... Danniel would want to marry this angel, but she was also left with a question. How did he make her say yes?!