After a few hours of receiving the letter, Clara went off to work to continue her investigation.
"I didn't get to investigate yesterday because I cleaned up the office." Clara thought.
"It angers me that they hardly do any work there, the village needs a strong system to function..!" Clara grits her teeth.
"But thankfully, the state of the village makes it so that work is easy. I can integrate my work while I investigate."
Though as Clara was mindlessly walking, she accidently bumped into someone.
Their belongings dropped in the floor and Clara quickly noticed. She hastily grabs her stuff and arranged the other person's items.
"I'm so sorry! I was spacing out! Forgive me for being careless!" Clara says as she bows, holding out the item to the person.
"Oh, hey. I've seen your face before." The Person spoke in a mature voice, almost like authority.
"Ah!" Clara stands up and sees a tall yet beautiful woman.
Her eyes are sleek with brown irises, her bright blonde hair is pinned up neatly into a bun. She wore glasses as well, and her posture is elegant and graceful.
She is a woman that's deserving of awe, even Clara was enamored. But she was more shocked to see her, as she knows this woman.
"S-S-Secretary!?" Clara says in shock.
It was the Mayor's Secretary, Nohala Ocultar.
"You're our new employee, I caught a glimpse of you working in the offices." Nohala says as she takes her belongings back.
"Clara, right? You're a hardworking one. Such a shame, your talents are wasted in the town hall. Nothing ever happens around there." Nohala says as she smiles softly.
"I-It's been a dream to work in such a place, so I feel right at home there. But I admit, it's disappointing..." Clara says with a chuckle.
"Nohala Ocultar... I barely know anything about her but I see her with the mayor all the time. If anyone knows what's going, then it's through her!" Clara thought.
"Say, how about I treat you to some hot coffee?" Nohala says.
"Take it as a little reward for your hardwork. I'm going to town hall after drinking a cup, so I might as well bring you along." Nohala turns around, though she kept her eye at Clara.
"Are you interested? I won't force you if you don't want to."
"I'll join you, ofcourse! It's an honour to be with the mayor's secretary." Clara says.
"Don't flatter me. This job is nothing compared to the bakeries here." Nohala chuckled before she starts walking.
Clara chuckled slightly before tailing her behind. Though she glares at Nohala with determination.
"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do in the future, Miss Ocultar. In order to save this village and free Pan, I have to put you as my top priority target..." Clara thought.
"The Next Step of my goal begins!"
Meanwhile, near the Knight Barracks.
Pan is sneaking her way inside, as she's in her floursack form. She's making her way to enter the prisons.
"I don't remember much when I was taken to the prison. But I know the prison is near the barracks." Pan thought as she rolls from bush to bush.
"My goal here is to find Viktor Malvado. That bastard told them about me, and put the Baker in danger. I'll make sure to give him a good scolding before I ask questions."
Pan made her way into the barracks, though with her masterful control over her flour body. She snuck her body into one of the Knight armors and posed as one of them.
"Phew, I'll just have to fit to size." Pan says before a knight walks pass her.
"Heya boss." Pan waved.
"Uh, hey..." The Knight awkwardly waves back and Pan quickly walks away.
"These guys are bums. I feel like they're just wearing these armor and not actually trained to be Knights." Pan thought.
She then sees a downward staircase to a cobblestone doorway with iron bars.
"Iron bars? Now that's a prison." Pan then looks around to see if there's any other way to get inside.
She then sees small windows from the prison underground. Small gaps of air and sunshine for the poor fools below.
Pan quickly made her way to one of them and went out of the armor, she then begins to search for Viktor this way.
After a few minutes of searching, she finds a large group of people in prison cells. She's gonna try her shot there.
She morphs into one of the cells and turns into her human flour form, exerting her presence.
"Alright! Which one of you is Viktor Malvado!?" Pan asked with great authority.
The hooded prisoners backed off in fear, whispering and muttering to themselves.
"The monster that defeated Viktor..!" One of them said.
"I-I thought she got executed..!" Another said.
"These guys are scared shitless. Which one of them is Viktor though? If anything, he should comply and come to me quietly." Pan thought.
"Y-You..." One of them stood up, weakly gripping on the iron bars.
"Nevermind, he's ready to fight." Pan thought before facing the hooded man.
"I've been suffering... In this prison cell..." The man walked over to Pan, limping.
"I hoped to find freedom and happiness when I told them about you... But no, you're still alive..." The Man stumbles weakly before grabbing onto Pan's arms.
"You're in no condition to fight, stand down, Viktor." Pan says seriously.
The man scoffed then chuckled, gripping her tightly.
"Fight..? I have no intentions of fighting you..." The Man's chuckled turned into weak cries.
"Huh?" Pan was confused.
The man then suddenly looks up at Pan, revealing them to be Viktor but he doesn't look the same.
One of his eyes were covered by rags, dried blood seeped through and his once elegant hair and personality was all but gone.
"I wish you to free me! They've done worse to us than what you did!" Viktor pleaded, tears running down from his remaining eye.
"What?" Pan was shocked to see him in this state.
"I thought they'd help me but no, they punished us for losing to you! And that punishment is removing one of my eyes..." Viktor then drops on his knees, crying.
"My power of foresight is gone..."
Pan looks at him with uncertainty before looking at the others.
"Then, they must be the Monster Hunting Knights." Pan says.
The Ex-Knights looked at her with fear, though Pan was curious about something. Or rather, she was dreading to know a horrible truth.
With haste, Pan uses her flour explosions to release a gust of hair to reveal remove the hoods of the other Knights.
And there, the truth she was afraid to know became reality. Her eyes widened in shock.
"All of them... They had one of their eyes removed." Pan says in fear.
They looked at Pan with fear but most of them just suffered silently from pain and shame.
"Why? I'd understand if it was only you, Viktor. But why did this happen to the rest of you?" Pan asked in utter disbelief.
"They failed their jobs... Its only natural..." Viktor responded weakly.
Pan was unsure what to do now. In one hand, she wants to berate and even punch Viktor for mentioning her to the higher ups, and in turn, Princess Lalahon.
But in the other hand, none of them deserved to have this kind of mistreatment over a failed job.
"Tch... You guys really suck." Pan says before she transforms into her dough form.
Quickly, Pan destroyed the wall behind her, freeing everyone in her cell. Then she unlocked all the other cells as they crowded towards the exit Pan made.
"I'll free you in one condition. You and all of your Knights will follow my every command, no objections." Pan says to Viktor.
"Y-Yes, yes! Just get me out of here!" Viktor says desperately.
"Alright, just get out of the village, run to the forests. I'll meet you back there." Pan says before picking up one of the cloaks and facing the Knights coming her way.
Viktor and his Knights looked at her with uncertainty but without anything else going for them, they obliged and ran from the village.
Pan made sure that their tracks are covered, and she fought her way out. The Knights stationed there were outmatched by her monstrous doughy strength.
After a few minutes of fighting, Pan made it out of there without being known.
Viktor and the rest of the Ex-Knights gathered around the forests. Pan regrouped with them and made sure they had had energy for today.
With her water and her bread skills, she gave them delicious loafs of bread and water.
"A-Amazing! I know I'm just starving but this bread is unlike anything I've tasted before!" An Ex-Knight said.
"It's so fluffy yet not chewy! Food made by the goddesses!" Another said.
Pan smiles at their enjoyment though Viktor didn't look as enthusiastic. In fact, he looks reluctant.
Pan took offense to this, he was being stubborn and still sticking to his ideals of killing monsters. He doesn't want to eat food made by a 'monster'
"Hey, you dimwit." Pan called before marching over to grab his collar.
"You either let go of your stupid ideals of killing monsters, or I'll throw you back in prison."
"G-Gr... I-I can't eat food made from filth..! It goes everything with what I stood for..!" Viktor says nervously yet he was stern.
"Then open yourself to change, Viktor! Your twisted ideals of killing monsters and believing that humanity is superior will get you killed!" Pan says angrily.
"Believe it or not, these monsters you hunt are capable of thinking for themselves. And the numerous goblins, Orcs and other creatures have a home!" Pan continued.
"W-What're you saying?" Viktor was shocked, so are the other Knights.
"You say that these low-lives are on par with humans..?" Viktor couldn't believe it, he won't believe it.
"Tch... You're stubborn. That's a trait that I like in a person, but your stubbornness lies on the wrong side." Pan let's go of him before turning around.
"I'll show you then. Remember what we agreed on when I freed all of you. Follow me, and don't think about anything else." Pan commanded before she started walking.
The Ex-Knights had nowhere to go and since Pan atleast showed them mercy, they followed her without asking a question.
But Viktor was reluctant, why would he follow what he believes is a monster?
Still, like the others, he had nowhere to go. Viktor goes with the others, and Pan leads them somewhere special.
A few hours later...
"Huh?" Viktor's eye widens with shocked, and so the other Knights.
"W-What is... This place..?" Viktor was the most shocked out of all of them.
Pan has taken them to the safe haven she knows. The Goblin Settlement.
Immediately, the goblins greeted Pan with great joy. Pan was happy to see them as well, they weren't harmed or anything.
"Hey! Liit-Liit! Maikli!" Pan called out, and the two quickly approached her.
"You return! Me happy! Very happy!" Liit-Liit says.
"Pan brought other humans! More friends!" Maikli says.
"Yep, that I did." Pan smiled.
"WHAT!?" Viktor and his Knights shouted in unison.
"You have to be kidding..! You expect us to coexist with these... Filthy creatures!?" Viktor muttered to Pan.
Pan then quickly grabs his head, clutching it painfully.
"I'd watch my tongue if I were you, Viktor." Pan says with a joyful yet menacing face.
Pan let's him go before facing the Knights, hands on her waist with authority.
"Listen up, you ex-monster hunting Knights. You're criminals now, not swords of the crown, mayor, or whatever guy, animal, God you worship. From here on out, you're no longer on par with your 'superior' human race." Pan declared.
"From my point of view, you only have two choices. One is to return to civilisation as a criminal, hunted for the rest of your days and being shamed for it. Or you can opt for the 2nd option, and that's to live with these monsters as their equals and their teachers." Pan says with both authority and calmness.
Viktor and the Ex-Knights are very unsure but she was right that they can't go back to the society they once knew. They're criminals now, but Viktor disdains monsters.
"These monsters aren't out for human blood. If anything, monsters have morals and standards. Just like us humans, they're capable of compassion and cruelty." Pan continued.
"The goblins you see before you are curious for human knowledge. You have my word that they mean no harm, treat them with respect as they will with humans."
Liit-Liit then tugs on Pan's clothes, catching her attention.
"Hm? What's up, Liit?" Pan turns to him.
"You see, Pan. There's been big development!" Liit-Liit says happily.
"A development? What did you guys do?" Pan kneeled down, looking at him curiously.
"More monsters come to village for human knowledge..!" Liit-Liit answered.
"What?" Pan says in shock.
Liit-Liit then turns to his goblin comrades and gestured them to call.
The goblins then called for the other monsters, who appeared from the trees to reveal themselves.
It was a band of orcs, they didn't wear any battle armor and looked skinnier than the average orc.
"Orcs!?" Viktor and the Knights were on their guard.
"Orcs, huh?" Pan approached them, the goblins walking aside.
The orcs looked nervous, they weren't sure what to think of humans as they killed their kind as well.
But their curiosity to know more made them braver than any other orc.
Pan smiles before she starts conversing with them, in their own language, which was Dipangkaraniwan. The goblins, orcs and the Ex-Knights were shocked.
"She spoke their language..! She really is a monster..!" An Ex-Knight said.
"Did she lure us here to be food for them..? To be sex slaves..!?" An Ex-Knight said.
Viktor looked even more on guard, he disdained Orcs the most.
But Pan quickly reassured the Orcs that the humans she brought will help this settlement. And she walks back to Viktor and the others, pointing at them.
"All of you will live here from now on, and you will teach these monsters how to speak and read our language. And you will teach them what you know about humanity." Pan commanded.
The group went silent, they're scared and unsure of the monsters right in front of them.
Pan sighs before looking down, she then picks up Maikli and presents them to the group.
"Look, he's a goblin boy. He wants to become a scientist just like his goblin dad. He learned how to speak pangkaraniwan for the sake of that dream." Pan explained, the Ex-Knights just stared at her and Maikli awkwardly.
Maikli just waved at them with a cute smile.
"Hello." Maikli said politely.
Even so, they're not that moved. The boundary between humans and monsters hadn't closed.
"Alright, touch him." Pan said.
"Touch his cute lil head and see for yourself, that the monsters you slayed are capable of life."
The Ex-Knights got even more nervous, she sounded demanding. And Viktor wasn't going to touch any filthy monsters, he took a step back as an instinct.
The monsters are waiting for anyone of them to accept the boy's existence, Liit-Liit especially. Pan was determined that just even one of them feels this reality, it'll turn their views of monsters around.
The tension rises in the settlement, a fight could break out or chaos may happen. But it all ended when one of the Ex-Knights walked forward, despite their great belief against monsters.
"It's her, why did she walk up..?" An Ex-Knight said.
"Is she really going to..." Another muttered.
"Piedad..." Viktor muttered before gritting his teeth.
"You dare betray our code..." He continued.
Piedad, the young woman who walked up, who's left eye has been gouged out like the others, approached Pan, who held Maikli.
Without looking at her leader, she strengthen her resolve.
"What she said was right." Piedad says with her weak yet soft voice.
"There's nowhere for us to go. And the one you called a 'monster' offered as piety." Piedad's voice got stronger.
Pan smiled at her before offering the small goblin boy to her. Maikli waited with a dumb smile.
As soon as Piedad touched Maikli's head, her chest felt lighter before she opens her single eye to look at him.
"There you go. Now then, let me ask you." Pan says before she looks at Piedad's single eye.
"Does it feel any different?"
Piedad's eyes widened a moment before recalling her days of taking care of children and protecting them. Even though she fought against ferocious monsters, it was adamant to her the world wasn't black and white.
The warmth she felt on her fingertips felt the same as patting a human child.
Piedad then slowly carries Maikli, looking at him with shock but it slowly turns into a warm smile.
"Maybe a little small, but I feel no different here." Piedad answered.
Pan nodded before looking at the others, gesturing to them to approach the settlement.
With Piedad's brave charge, the other Ex-Knights followed suit to interact with the goblins and Orcs.
With Liit-Liit's help, he guided the Ex-Knights in translating what the goblin and Orcs said.
Piedad approached the other goblin children, her tall yet motherly figure attracted the curious young minded goblins. Maikli helped in translating for her.
Though Pan faces the unsure Viktor once more. Once a commander of a brigade of ruthless Knights now stands at a crossroad.
"Hey, Vik." Pan called and Viktor just looks at her in silence.
"I know you were once high and mighty about having the privilege of slaying monsters. Trust me, I hated your guts when you and your cronies tried to force Clara for any answer." Pan says.
"But I acknowledge your ability to fight for your beliefs. I'm just asking you to change that belief, believe in something better than violence."
Pan then reaches out her hand to him, his eyes gleaming with determination.
"I hate saying this, but I'm the champion of Liwanag. The Goddess of creation chose wrong in entrusting me the goal of fighting for her goal. But one thing right about her choosing me is that I know damn well that everything that lives, breaths and thinks for what they want deserves to do so." Pan continued.
"If you can believe in that, then you can become stronger than you ever were"
Viktor's eyes widened, he ponders her words for a second before sighing.
"I'll tolerate these monsters, for now... After all, this is the first time I've tasted freedom in a while..." Viktor then takes her hand.
Pan smiles before smirking evilly.
"Alright then, have fun!" Pan then throws Viktor towards the settlement.
Pan called out for the Orcs and goblins to catch him. Quickly, they caught him and started parading happily.
"H-Hey! Put me down you dirty- Tch... Y-You m-monsters!" Viktor pleaded but he was too weak to struggle out of them.
Though the once monster-slaying Knights now found solace with the creatures they used to slay. And in this day, Pan truly saw a future where Monster and Humanity can prosper.
Though she doesn't get too idealistic, as even in both worlds, there are people who wishes to annihilate each other.
"Liit-Liit, and Viktor. I entrust the both of you on forming this community. I'm gonna go now!" Pan commanded before throwing more bread onto the wagons.
"Yes ma'am!" Liit-Liit says with a salute.
"A-Agh... Won't let you down... Pan..." Viktor finally got let down and waved goodbye at Pan.
"Me excited to learn human knowledge!" Liit-Liit excitingly says before looking at Viktor.
"Ugh... Oh yeah? You'll have to learn how to speak our language first..." Viktor says before looking at Liit-Liit with a menacing look.
"And I'll make sure you suffer when I teach you!"
"Can't wait!" Liit-Liit says happily.
"Huh?" Viktor is utterly surprised.
"Come! Come! We prepare huge feast for humans and new orc friends!" Liit-Liit drags Viktor, who just follows.
Night time came and the Anihan Knights gathered at the prison, investigating what happened.
Though it's not just the Knights who were there, but 3 monsters with great physique and power.
They stood as leaders in the village, it was clear rhat the Knights weren't in charge.
One was an orc who was 8 feet tall, with 4 arms and scars all over her muscular body.
Another was a hobgoblin, clad in dark armor with a black blade. His face wasn't seen but his ash-gray skin made it clear he wasn't human.
And finally, a wolf boy. He looked shorter than the rest of them, wearing tribal baggy pants with a wooly belt. He had a dark blue tail and his hair snd eyes are of the same colour.
They approached a single spot that's surrounded in darkness, they then all kneeled down to revel at their leader.
"Your majesty, there's no signs of who did this." The Hobgoblin said.
"Couldn't get a whiff of their scent either. Seems like whoever freed them knew to cover their tracks, even the scent of those prisoners." The Wolf Boy says.
"Rest assured, Princess. We'll find the culprits, post-haste." The Powerful Orc Woman says.
They then all looked up to see 2 fiery eyes. It was her, Princess Lalahon. Though her figure is still hidden in darkness, nobody knows what she looked like.
Atleast no human knows.
"Hm. It might be because of your inability to see magic, but... I can sense traces of magic around us." Lalahon says.
"Ah- Ofcourse, I didn't consider that possibility." The Hobgoblin said.
"Still, the traces of mana are so slim that my sensitive nose couldn't pick it up. The person who did this is either an expert or they used so little magic that the traces are all but slim." The Wolf Boy explained casually.
"It may be both. Someone who knows what they're doing, and knows when to use magic as slim as possible..." The Orc Woman explained.
"Hmm..." Lalahon began to think thoroughly, she assesses the situation as she scans her surroundings.
"I've felt this magic before."
Lalahon then throws something onto the ground. It was charred black and hard as stone.
The Wolf Boy sniffed it, he covered his nose in retaliation of the awful burnt smell.
"It smells like burnt bread." The Wolf Guy said before they all realized what this meant.
"Yes, my dear generals. I found this in one of the prison cells..." Lalahon chuckled.
"It may be possible, but the monster we executed weeks ago may still be alive..."
"Impossible, you burnt her body down to a crisp." The Hobgoblin says in shock.
"How can she withstand the power of our great princess!?" The Orc Woman says.
"Now, now. This is but a small oversight." Lalahon says calmly, this also calmed her generals down.
"So what if she lived? Her power does not surpass mine, let alone yours." Lalahon explained.
"But, that monster is still roaming around. And I no longer want to rise suspicious from the filthy humans. We have to stealthily gather her whereabouts."
Lalahon's eyes then rose taller, she now stood up before she releases a commanding presence.
"Nevfalta, gather a squad of your best assassins. Follow the Monsters' human pets, they are a human named 'Clara' and 'Crispina'." Lalahon commanded.
"Yes, your majesty." Nevfalta, the hobgoblin general, hurriedly left with great speed.
"Kagitingan, increase the number of your orc patrols in the forests." Lalahon commanded to the large Orc woman.
"Yes, your majesty." Kagitingan then stands up before making a mad dash outside the village.
"And finally, Kilat. Sniff out each monster settlement, village and encampment in my territory. See if that monster is hiding as one of us." Lalahon commanded to her last general, the wolf boy.
"But ofcourse..." Kilat smirks before a brief flash of lightning appears from him, and he was gone in a flash.
Lalahon sighs before she looks to her human servants, the Knights. She chuckles before glaring evilly at them.
"I have no use for you filthy humans." Lalahon says with a booming voice.
The Knights froze in place, their eyes shaking with fear as they felt the Princess' Bloodlust crawl up their spines.
They felt the air go warmer and warmer, the flames of inferno was crawling on their skin.
Until...
"Go to your homes. We have work to do tomorrow..." Lalahon commanded and the Knights took a sigh of relief.
They quickly arranged their item and left the scene. Lalahon briefly looks at the charred flour on the ground, scoffing at it before completely disintegrating it with her aura.
And the night was silent until the next day...
We go back to Clara, who was on her bed, arranging paper and documents.
When she went to work yesterday, she went on a search to find details about Nohala Ocultar. She's trying to find her involvement with any of the mayor's laws and events.
Though she was dumbfounded that she could only find mundane information. She sighs in disappointment before dropping on her bed.
"Not even a single clue..." As she lays her back in bed, a piece of paper drops down on her face.
"Hm? This is just an employee document, bunch of info and personal details..." Clara says as she lifts it up, but her eyes widened before sitting up.
"Wait, this isn't just ANY document..." Clara says in shock.
"This is Miss Nohala Ocultar's Document and personal information... And..." Clara gulps before looking up.
"Almost most of it are blank..."