The marine soldiers guarded Cain and his friends until they reached the castle gate. The king awaited them there with a bloody cape. “What happened here?” Cain asked.

“Just had to do some hands-on work, it’s nothing special,” Baltos replied with a smile.

Cain approached Baltos, he can see the sweat dripping from his forehead “Things seem to have taken a harder turn than expected. We will go rest, you take care of everything else and we can discuss the details tomorrow. Is that all right?” Cain asked.

“Took it from my mouth, I’m old and my back is already hurting. See you tomorrow.” Baltos agreed, the day was almost over and he wanted to rest.

Cain and the rest were then guided to their rooms, the king seems to have given Cain a room in the middle of the princess quarter, he even left the keys to their rooms on his bed. ‘This man is trying hard, but they are safe in my hands.’ Cain grabbed the keys and threw them on the desk.

The room looked amazing, wooden floor and stone walls. A big balcony to the side with glass windows and a few flower pots. The bed was big enough to fit at least four people and was covered in silk sheets.

The desk had multiple rare books about magic and history that seems to have been taken from the royal library. The king must have had this room specially prepared for Cain.

Cain stretched his arms before opening the closet, inside were sets of royal garments. They looked like what prince Cassius was wearing, the king must have used his sons as a reference.

Knock! Knock!

Cain looked toward the door, “Who is it?”

“But a humble maid, sir white mage. I came to inform you that the bath is ready.” A voice replied.

“I never asked for one, who did?”

“It’s lady Alice sir, she said that you need one.” The maid replied.

‘Do I smell that bad? Probably I should take it.’ Cain thought.

“I will be coming soon. Also, calling yourself a humble maid will give people a false sense of security.” Cain said. From her voice, he can tell she was a bit old, probably one of Baltos’s original maids.

“I’m talking to you sir, not some nobles or someone whose status can hold. Here I’m but a humble maid.” She replied. The maids who directly serve the king usually had enough political power to rival the queens.

The maid then quietly walked away, leaving Cain to prepare in peace.

After Cain got ready, he headed out toward the bath. But instead of heading to the one that the maids prepared in the princesses’ quarter, he turned and headed toward the prince’s bath. He could smell it, if he went in he will most likely find the princess bathing there.historical

‘Sorry I want no problems with my wives.’ Cain’s thoughts as he moved away.

After reaching the bath, he found it being used. “Can I get in?” Cain asked.

“Isn’t it Cain, please do come in!” It was Cassius.

Cain entered, washed well, and then headed inside the bath. Cassius was in the bath resting with a relaxed face.

“You seem to have been exhausted,” Cain asked sitting beside him.

“It’s been a long day you know..” Cassius told Cain what happened today. Especially about him being grounded for the next week for owning a harmless spider.

Cain listened patiently and then asked. “Care to tell me about your friend here? I have never seen such a case.”

“Ah, you mean him? Sadly he can only talk directly to my head but he is greeting you. His name is Duda.”

“Nice to meet you, Duda, care to give me a detailed report on how you became detached from the main body of the aboleth?” Cain asked, with this information he might find something helpful.

“He says..Nice to meet you, Cain, care to give me a detailed report on how you’ve been born?” Duda gave Cain the same question he got.

‘So he can’t answer that. But if he is smart enough to make a joke then he should be fully sentient at least.’ Cain thought and laughed.

“I like you, Duda. Seeing you makes me think that there is still hope in this rotten world.” Cain said.

“What do you mean?” Cassius asked with a puzzled face.

“This world is unfair, cruel and everyone is abusing their power. To see a spark of hope revolting against an absolute command is refreshing.” Cain smiled, even though neither Cassius nor Duda understood what he meant.

..

In Hell, Morena opened her eyes after getting resurrected. That was true, people can’t be permanently killed in hell as the place is designed to make them suffer forever. “That bitch! What was she?” She growled in rage.

The entire lair she built has been crushed to the ground, and all the devils that serve her have been turned inside out. She wouldn’t lose like this even to her sister, who was that monster.

Morena stood and stumbled to a big rock in her human form. “She felt human, looked human, and even only had the stats of a human. Yet why could she do all of this, it makes no sense!” Morena was struggling to comprehend what happened.

The first thing is that all their weapons and armor disintegrated, then no matter how much they threw at her, it just bounced back with a loud metallic bang.

Even Morena’s breath got deflected with a single arm swing. The only thing that stayed in her head was the woman saying “You blacks can make steel rust, and on top of that you increased my workload!” Before proceeding to punch the life out of everyone.

..

Back in the castle, Mary was in the princess’s bath with the rest of the girls and some of the princesses waiting for Cain to arrive. Sitting in a chair and slowly swinging her legs, she started at Sofia and then jumped at her.

“Say, does this mean I can join?” Mary asked with a smile as she grabbed Sofia from the back.

Sofia stayed silent for a moment, she couldn’t find an answer as all of this was her fault.

“Selena and Marina already didn’t care, Alice and Gracie had just accepted. That only leaves you, come on say it!”

Thanks to Sofia’s carelessness, Mary got the chance to shine and save Cain’s life. Now she asked for their approval as a payment. Since the majority have agreed, she was already pretty much in. But Mary wanted to get the perfect approval score.

Sofia finally gave up, “Fine, you got my approval.”

Mary smiled, and she finally got a step further. Literarily pulling their husband for Hell was enough for them to allow her to join.

“I got the tough Sofia to accept me, hehe!” Mary giggle.

“Move away from me then, give me some space!” Sofia unleashed her wings and tried to push Mary. For a moment she felt as if she was pushing a wall then Mary’s body was pushed.

Sofia thought about it for a moment. “I felt a massive amount of resistance for a moment.” She said looking at Mary.

“You shouldn’t try and push people with your wings as they grew. Since they haven’t completely emerged, putting strain on them can sometimes restrain blood flow. It’s written in the guild’s guide to races, I will send it to you later.” Mary said, quickly giving a convincing excuse to Sofia.

“So I shouldn’t do that?” Sofia flapped her wings gently before taking them back in. Her body worked strangely.

‘I should get ready’ Mary thought, everything was going according to her plan.