The Girl's Past & Current Events

So it turns out both of his Companions were fellow Reincarnators.

Adrianna had been adopted by a Vampire Duke. He'd raised her like a daughter before she grew up and became his governess. She had developed well learning to manage his domain and affairs while learning Fire Magic and Spearsmanship under Luke albeit she was considered average at best in either. She did however excel in Potion Making. With the help of her former master, she was able to develop a brew that slowed her aging by decades. Thus, allowing her to serve faithfully without being turned by the Duke. Something he'd been **** to do though the Vampire never elaborated on as sadly Vampire Hunters had stormed his castle and slain him. They then captured Adrianna and after a lengthy "Cleansing Rite" as they called it that took months, they prepared to burn the former governess at the stake. Veshra had approached her right as the torch would fall and granted her the chance to serve a new master and the rest was history.

Chloe had come from simpler origins. She was the daughter of a Blacksmith and a Witch and an active adventurer. While she did take like a fish to water from her father's craft, she sadly didn't have her mother's talent for offensive Spells, though she did possess a massive Mana pool. The blonde had been living a rather humble life in her hometown assisting her father in his shop. Until a monster attack occurred while her mother had been away on a job with her party. While her home burned down Chloe's father had put her on a horse and together, they rode away from the carnage. Sadly, they'd been pursued by the beasts. Her father shielded her the best he could, but his injuries had been too much. He fell off the horse and Chloes' last vision of the man had been to witness him being devoured. As she slowly wandered the wilderness with a dying horse Veshra appeared and offered aid. Exhausted and hungry with no guarantee of finding her mother Chloe chose to serve the great serpent in order to survive.

"Wow. That's...just..." Darius tried to articulate his feelings and failed. What could he even say? While his circumstances were certainly less than ideal, he felt rather small compared to his two servants. The gangsters who'd begun pressing for money at least hadn't been directly responsible for his life spiraling down the drain.

"Alot?" offered Chloe clearly amused.

"Thats one way of putting it yeah."

"You needn't worry yourself Master Darius." Adrianna spoke as she offered him a glass of water from a pitcher by the bed. "These events happened long ago. There's nothing you need to worry for."

"Speak for yourself Adri. I wouldn't mind being comforted by our Master."

Adrianna gave the younger girl a pointed stare before speaking, "As his servants we shouldn't trouble Master Darius."

Before his very eyes the conversation had devolved into a debate on the pros and cons of going to Darius for comfort. The former human could only watch from the sidelines until he downed his water in one gulp and spoke as firmly as he could.

"So, you both have been living here the past 5 years? Just waiting on me to show up?"

"Yup." Chloe answered easily ignoring the fuming, Adrianna. "Scaley told us to wait in this mansion until you appeared. Although Adri decided to do more than wait."

The older woman coughed into her fist to regain her composure before explaining, "While rude, Chloe is correct. While awaiting your arrival I have been able to set up an extensive Intelligence Web. We have detailed reports on everything going on for the big movers in the open and behind closed doors."

Darius blinked in surprise, "How?"

"I simply helped the merchants improve their profits by networking them together." The way she said that made it sound so simple it hurt. Seeing the look on his face the brunette giggled before continuing. "It is a bit more complicated than that, but you don't need to concern yourself with the details."

Still, he supposed he shouldn't complain. At least they wouldn't be moving blind in this world. Since he hadn't woken up in the Kageno manor it was safe to assume that nutjob chunni Cid was out there torturing some bandits for their money. Meanwhile his harem of brainwashed sycophants was no doubt building themselves up to become an economic powerhouse while sticking it to the Cult of Diablos.

A free Intelligence Network was not a reason to complain.

"I've helped too." Chloe chimed in. "Thanks to my enchanted accessories we were able to get even more people in on our payroll. Best part? They don't even know it!"

That caused Darius to frown in concern. "I thought we could only have 5 pieces of enchanted mind control items?" There was no way Veshra could've let that slide. Not without heavy cost anyway.

"Not mind control silly master. Suggestion. They aren't easily made so I limit them to top priority custom pieces that only the Upper Nobility and Royals can afford." Seeing the somewhat skeptical look on his face the blonde took his hand in her own and spoke more gently than her usual boisterous flair. "Relax. Veshra hasn't said anything since I made them and all the accessories for the mind control are functioning 100%."

Seeing her sincerity for what it was and the logic behind her words the young vampire nodded before returning the smile with his own small quip as interest, "All in a day's work for the best Blacksmith/Enchantress in the world huh?"

"Damn right!" Chloe nodded back to her usual mannerisms. Her easy grin became a touch more heated as she leaned in towards him. "And since I've worked SO hard, I oughta get a big juicy reward right?"

"Chloe..." Adrianna sighed shaking her head in disapproval.

"If you just wanna watch Adri, feel free. I won't judge...much."

"I-I don't want to just w-watch!" the mature air that surrounded Adrianna crumbled to dust as she covered her mouth. A large blush overtook her face as she saw the pair of looks aimed at her. One grinning in smug satisfaction while the other was shocked at the outburst.

Shaking his head to get it back on straight Darius remembered where he was and why he was here. There was only one way to move forward.