"So, what are you doing here?" The demon asked.
Pol panicked for a second. So many emotions were going through her fear, anger, confusion, arousal. It was a lot to take in.
"Err, you know, I simply came to warn you." She said meekly, staring up at the demon and dark elf who had so easily captured her. What is this whip made of? She wasn't even able to loosen it because it's so tough.
"Warn us of what?" The dark elf said, staring her down fiercely. She was actually more afraid of this one. The demon didn't seem like he wanted to kill her, but the dark elf was ready to end her at any point.
"Arbor Mala, he's really dangerous and you guys are on the edge of his territory. You need to go now." She said, clearly they'll understand now.
"What the hell is Arbor Mala?" The demon said, looking confused.
She sighed inwardly, not brave enough to sigh out loud. What was the name the adventurer gave it? Oh! Hold on, maybe they know where the seven adventurers are!
"One of the brave adventurers who came here in the past named it Zy'tl Q'ae. In fact, are you aware of their whereabouts? They promised to come back and kill Zy'tl Q'ae, but it's been a long time." She said, her voice getter sadder and sadder by the end.
"Adventurer? The ones that came thirty years ago."
"Years? How many moons is that? There were seven of them, and they were really strong. They tried to fight Zy'tl Q'ae, but what they fought was only one of his branches. They promised to return and end him!" She felt tears well up in her eyes again. No, she couldn't cry here, not now.
Maybe at night when she's alone.
The demon put a hand to his chin and thought. The dark elf still stared her down, ready to strike. It was making her really nervous.
"It wasn't the group from thirty years ago. They had multiple parties, a lot more than seven. Do you live in the Northern section of the forest?" The demon asked.
"Yeah?"
"Are you familiar with a herb that can treat any illness?"
Her complexion paled. If that's what they were looking for, she needed to get them to leave. They might wake Arbor Mala.
As she considered deceiving them, their gazes grew stern and sharp. A terrifying presence engulfed her, and she feared for every fibre of her being. An invisible pressure grew, pushing her down.
The pressure was gone, and she released a breath she didn't know she was holding.
She can't lie.
"I know where it is, but you can't go. You'll wake Arbor Mala! And then he'll destroy the world!" She said, The dark elf was unfazed, but the demon's eyes grew serious about her warning. Good.
They exchanged glances, it was like they were communicating with just their eyes. Woah! That must be some true love ability. Maybe one day she'll be able to do that with someone.
Hopefully, she could really use someone.
Just to talk to. Someone who'll listen, who she can listen to, who'll hold her at night and mess her up good. Just someone she can love and who loves her.
Is that so hard?
"Show us" Oh, they stopped eye talking.
"What?" she asked hesitantly, not liking where this is going.
The whip loosened, and the dark elf unbound her.
"Take us to the herb and to Zy'tl Q'ae," the demon commanded.
She was afraid of that.
"Please, understand that it's extremely dangerous. Only the Seven adventurers had the power to hurt it." She pleaded, but they were unmoved by her cries.
"That's all the more reason for us to check it out." The demon said, his hand disappearing into a black hole and pulling out a fancy ring?
He put it on and just like that, she couldn't even sense that he was there and she was looking at him. The dark elf's presence disappeared as well.
"Don't worry, we have ways of staying hidden, so your World Ender won't wake up. Besides, we're plenty powerful ourselves." He said with such confidence that she believed him. That display of pressure earlier helped with that.
She gulped and took a deep breath before leading the two people she just saw having sex to the most dangerous enemy in the world.
The Treant that's killing the forest, that's as strong as the Dragon Lord's.
-
Pandora's Actress looked out the window of the tall building she had constructed in the capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom.
The people she hired constructed it quickly. She thought it would take a month or two and that she would have to provide skilled magicians. However, the people of this world had some skill with building using magic.
Most likely out of necessity, considering the abundance of threats there are for humans. She could have still presented the skilled magicians, but the impact wouldn't be there if it's something they could do easily.
She wants to make something so annoying or inconvenient or outright impossible, easy with her magicians. She just needs to wait for the right moment.
For now, she'll settle for looking out the stained glass window at the humans coming in and out of her store, sitting on a comfortable white cushioned seat and drinking a bottle of Nazarick's finest gin.
The auction went splendidly, with Marquis Revan purchasing the Resurrection Tablet, providing more than enough for her to get her department store running.
Looking out, she saw a noble couple looking around in shock and disgust at the surrounding adventurers. It's become a common prank to send nobles to the 'wrong' entrance.
The store had multiple levels, and it assigned the first few floors to the commoners and adventurers while dedicating the upper floors to the noble clients.
Cheap mass produced clothes, literally giant batches made in seconds by the Nazarick tailor, one of her many doppelganger subordinates transformed into.
Above that were weapons, starting with the cheaper options and the closer to the checkout, the higher priced and better the weapons. An effective tactic to make adventurers see a better weapon and go for that instead.
After that is armour and clothes made for adventures. They have some lined up but provide a forging and tailoring service for those that can afford it.
Cheaper if they provide their own materials, they can make it very specialised. It's the most commonly taken by high tier adventures.
One floor after that is the consumable store. Potions are the main selling point. The look of pure sadness on the alchemist's face when she asked them for the blue potions common in the New World made her feel incredibly guilty.
But they can't help it. The Minor potions of healing that the people of the New World call God's Blood need to look special by surpassing the inferior options.
The floor after that is empty for now. After the magicians reveal, she wants the floor to be a magic workshop for items and scrolls, people can buy and recharge for a cost.
Then it goes onto the Noble floors. The Nobles and their own entrance using the multiple elevator systems she implanted to make them feel special.
Technically, anyone could use it. Her guards won't stop anyone that isn't up to no good, and there's interior ones for anyone entering the first floor to go straight to any floor they want.
But making the Nobles feel special is the best way to take their money.
The Nobles floors are mostly for clothing or accessories. A floor for women's clothes, including tailors, and the next floor is the same but for men. There were hair salons above that which have given rise to some curious trends.
Apparently, her people were a bit too skilled, so now Nobles were going around with some ridiculous hairstyles trying to be fashionable.
That was all she had room to build. If she went any higher, she'll have the tallest building in the capital which would cause her to have some unneeded enemies who pride themselves on their building size.
Considering the announcement of multiple building projects soon after, she opened her shop. Someone else is going to try and claim the title.
Did she start a building war?
Looking at the papers next to her about a group called eight fingers, she couldn't help but smirk as plans formed in her mind.
Pandora's reputation has grown, and she's the talk of the town. It makes sense the underground world wants a piece of the action.
This performance will be long and grand and she can't wait until act two starts.