A summons to the queen

Once in the mess hall, I start collecting the bread and start preparing food for both myself and my girlfriends. As I am about to finish eating and take a plate of food back to our room, one of the servants comes to me.

“Sir Darx? A message has come in for you. It is from the palace.” And she presents me with a letter.

I take the letter from her and quickly read it. It is from Harold and he says he has an update on Livia. I am to report to the palace so we can discuss what to do next. I remember how last time I was at the castle, Livia became the first person who was able to get into my dream and see Ophelia. Perhaps they have figured out where she is. If so, I can finally save her.

“Thanks for bringing this letter.” I tell the servant. “I will be going there after I bring this food to Kiara and Amelia.”

“I am sorry, sir Darx. But the messenger informed me the message was urgent.” The servant says. “You should go as quickly as you can.”

“Right then.” I sigh. “Could you then bring this plate to my room, where Kiara and Amelia are waiting?”

The servant smiles and says, “Certainly.”

Alright, at least this way my girls won’t be going hungry. Time to head off to the castle.

I am able to keep a hood over my head and made it through the city without getting recognized. Once at the castle, the guards guide me to one of the living quarters where I meet Lilith and Livia. Lilith is in her usual maid outfit, while Livia is wearing a dress that I would expect a lady of the court to wear.

“Darx, welcome.” Lilith greets me as she gets out of her chair. “How have you been?”

“The last few days could have been better.” I say. “But I am quite fine right now. How about you?”

“Well, I have been able to spend a lot of time conversing with my mom.” Lilith says. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without you. Thank you for that.” She then gives me a small hug as well as a kiss on the cheek.

I then look over at Livia and notice she is doing a lot better than last time I saw her.

“And what about you, Livia?” I ask. “I take it that you are feeling better as well?”

“Much better.” Livia answers. “I have been eating well, and some clerics have come by to give me some healing. Just a few more days, and I should be strong enough to fly again. Though I fear I would be better off staying in the castle, rather then take a flight around the city. Only a few people in the castle know there is a demon among them. I don’t think it will be good for your queen’s image if it was discovered she is harboring a demon in the castle.”

That is true. With the threat of war from the new Demon King on the horizon, I feel many people would declare all demons as suspicious, simply because they are demon. Regardless the circumstances.

The door then opens, with Harold coming into the room.

“Darx, thank you for showing up on such short notice.” Harold says.

“The message said it was urgent. So I got here as fast as I could.” I tell him. “So, what’s up?”

Harold walks up to the table Livia is sitting at and mentions Lilith and I to take a seat.

“We are actually having a combination of several problems all happening at the same time.” Harold announces. “I am sure you have noticed the church proselytizing your ‘greatness’ these last few days?”

I roll my eyes and sigh. “Don’t tell me about it. I really wish they would stop.”

“They really seem intent on pushing that message, though.” Harold warns me. “We fear they are trying to undermine the queen’s rule. That they are trying to use you to install you as the new king while hoping to use you as a puppet.”

“I would never support that.” I protest. “The queen has done a good job leading this country. I couldn’t even think about where to begin leading a city, let alone a kingdom.”

Harold shakes his head with a concerning expression and says, “I’m afraid the church is not going to care. If you as their puppet king means them having more power, then so be it. But don’t worry.” He quickly adds. “I may have a solution. How about you go on a big quest.”

I cock by head and say, “Sure? But what kind of quest? And is it really a good idea to do questing with demons gathering at the border?”

“The idea is to free Zaine.” Livia announces. “In your dream, she has been asking for you to save her, right? And I have a strong feeling we will find her in the demon kingdom. The only way you will save her, is if you go there.”

“And in the meantime, you will not be here in the capitol, where people can see you.” Harold continues. “And you know as they say. Out of sight, out of mind.”

I take a moment to gather my thoughts. So they want me to find and save the woman I’ve been dreaming of for so long, like I’ve been wanting to do for a while. While at the same time, the people of Riledo slowly start forgetting about me.

“Yeah, I can see being a good idea.” I say. “But I how would I go about that? I mean, I don’t know anything about the demon lands.”

“But I do.” Livia answers. “It is true that I have been in a coma for quite a couple of years, and imprisoned by Enzo a few years before that. I am sure a lot has changed. But I have a feeling the province of Mictlan is still where it is, as well as its capital city, Aztlan. And that Xibalba is still the capital.”

“As a matter of fact, Livia has taken the effort of drawing us a map of the demon kingdom.” Harold says. He then pulls out a scroll and unrolls it on the table between us.

This is interesting. I have never seen a map about the demon kingdom. Let alone one that is detailed like this. And even Zrephia is on it!

“The best way for us to cross is across the mountains here.” Livia says as she points at the mountain range at the bottom left of the map.

I believe I recognize it. Those mountains are to the north of Oidao, right?

“Why the mountains?” I ask. “Aren’t those mountains famous for their difficulty to cross them?”

“Yes, they are. They not only have difficult terrain but also a lot of powerful air currents.” Livia explains. “Which is why the demon army won’t be invading from there, they will be invading from across the river instead. So, if we enter the demon kingdom by crossing the river, we’ll me heading straight where their armies are.”

“Right, I see. So we are taking the difficult pass through the mountains to avoid their armies. Makes sense.” I say. “Or how about taking a boat across the western sea?”

“Demons have boats too, Darx.” Livia says. “And flying demons like myself patrol the coast. If we want to avoid the demon military, I’m afraid the mountains are our only path.”

“And once we are there, won’t we stand out?” I ask. “I mean, not you of course. But I don’t have horns.”

“Your guild member, Sister Helena, is a cleric with both healing magic and dark magic. She can combine those to employ mutation magic. Normally, this type of magic is forbidden, but in this case, she would be able to use it on you and allow you to grow a pair of horns. As well as all the party members you take with you.”

“A whole party?” I ask.

“Yes, this is likely going to be a difficult mission.” Harold warns me. “You will not just have to infiltrate some demon cities, but also brave the monsters that live there as you travel around, and eventually even liberate Zaine. Finally, you will need to get her out of there and bring her back to Riledo.”

Now that is a surprise. Why would Harold want her to be brought all the way here?

“Zaine is an important person to the demons.” Livia explains. “She is quite high up there in demon society. High enough that she can sway some of the dukes to turn against the new demon king. I am sure that the new guy was only able to rise to power due to her capture.”

“So, if Zaine is on our side, it may be possible for her to make half the demon army walk away from the war. Which will greatly increase our chances of winning.” Harold finishes.

That is indeed a very good reason to go and rescue Ophelia. Whom I guess I better start calling Zaine, as that seems to be her real name.

We talk a lot more about how to start this quest, until eventually, the only thing left for me to do is to gather my party. Harold stresses that I should only take those people whom I trust with my life. But he shouldn’t worry so much. I already have a lot of friends that I trust a lot.

I return to the guildhall where I find Amelia and Kiara. I explain them everything about my conversation with Harold and that we have basically been given a Queen’s quest that might save the kingdom.

“Oof. This is big.” Amelia groans. “This is the kind of quest I would expect to be given to experienced adventurers. I’m not sure if I am ready for something like this.”

“Well, if you are going, Darx, You can count on me.” Kiara says confidently.

“W-well yeah, obviously.” Amelia replies. “But who else is coming?”

“Well, Leona and Merlara both make good front line adventurers.” I say. “It would also be useful to have a rogue like Ari in our team and Sophie works well with her.”

“When it comes to a large party, it is never a bad idea to have 2 healers with us.” Kiara says. “I approve of Sophie joining.”

“I would also like to take Ryul and Shalia along.” I say.

“Good enough for me.” Kiara says. “Let’s go find them.”

We each go in search of our friends, but while we can find most of them, we somehow can’t find Ryul and Shalia anywhere. We ask around and eventually one of the other guild members says that she heard something about the two of them heading to the Pleasant Owl. That is an odd thing for them to do. The Pleasant Owl is gone. Did they not know the place has been burned down.

Merlara says it would be best for us to go there and find them. When we do, we can always find a different inn nearby and discuss our new quest with them over there.