Chapter 81

Sep 05, 2023

“This is indeed odd.”

Orka Fipellion’s forehead creased as he frowned into the expanse before him. He had been tracking the poison butterflies all the way through the Frederica Plains and had yet to detect any sign of their habitat thus far. He had searched by combing over all the likely areas they were likely to build their nests several times, but the only demon monsters he had happened upon were a few ghouls and ground warts.

The butterflies had only reappeared before Orka once when he had last spotted them flying over the Pedelian fortress wall. It was as if their destination was the Blue compound, which made things all the more suspicious in light of recent events.

Since he had first espied the butterflies a few days prior near the Emerald Lake, he had followed their trail until he came upon a group of people who appeared to belong to the Pedelian clan. Not wanting any trouble for having entered foreign territory without permission, Orka had avoided them. However, if the butterflies were indeed coming from the Pedelian compound, he supposed it may have been wiser for him to have introduced himself while still out in the plains in order to gain the necessary permission to enter their territory at present. He felt he had allowed the opportunity to search for the nest without complication slip away unnecessarily.

Before he had finished that thought, however, he began to shake his head. No. It’s still too early to assume anything. I could be mistaken about the butterflies’ movements.

“Orka?!” A voice from high above broke through his ruminations. Then almost immediately after, a person gently landed in front of him.

“Pandora?”

His older cousin had dropped down after spotting him from high up in the blue sky. Although her hair was a lighter blue and her skin a darker complexion than her younger cousin’s, she was also a Fipellion demon tamer. Her demon monster Turobe, who she had been riding on overhead, was flapping its black wings while circling above them.

“So it IS you. What are you doing here?! Especially with everything that’s been going on lately.” Pandora had been in search of demon habitats when she’d happened upon her cousin’s trail by chance. The fact that it had been leading toward the Pedelian compound only gave her more cause for concern. Both worried and perplexed, she had decided to track Orka down.

“What do you mean? What all has been going on?” he asked looking unabashedly bemused.

Pandora, on the other hand, stared at him with a rebuking expression before condescending to elaborate. “Haa... You always were the last to the party.”

She explained to him the events that had transpired between the Agrece and Pedelian forces based on the information she had gathered.

“My, my... Is that all true? How remarkable.” Orka rubbed at his chin while in contemplation. “Then again, the Blue Master did always seem to be biding his time.”

His tone indicated that he was hardly surprised by the news he had seemingly been the last to learn. “Between how over the top the Black Master behaved all the time, and how conspicuous and arrogant he had been acting recently, it was only a matter of time.”

“You have a point there.” Pandora nodded along with her cousin’s surprisingly apt assessment.

“Honestly, the only reason our clan and the others ever put up with him was because of the need to trade for their clan’s demons. It wasn’t like he was going around fostering friendly relationships. If it hadn’t been for that— Ugh! I would have killed him well over a dozen times.”

“So is the Agrece mansion empty now? I’d love to go see if there’s anything useful left in their demon farm.”

“Don’t bother,” Orka said. “I already dropped by and there was nothing but a gaping abyss.”

“Really?”

“There were still some people wandering about though. One of them was especially feisty. He almost got me when I lowered my guard.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing that there wasn’t much to gain in light of what Pandora had revealed, Orka’s interest in the fate of the Agreces was cooling fast. Knowing full well what would whet her immature cousin’s appetite, Pandora decided to throw in another bit of information slyly.

“There’s a rather interesting side note though. Wanna hear it?” As if divulging some sort of conspiracy, she told him about the woman Cassis had taken back with him to the Pedelian’s territory. Although his interest in Lante’s fate had been tepid at best, Orka’s interest in the woman was visibly greater, albeit still acute.

“Is all that true? Cassis Pedelian really took her with him?”

“Yup! At least according to my faithful cutie here.” Pandora tugged on Turobe’s wing to make the creature come down, then stroked its head appreciatively.

It was clear that Orka found it unbelievable that the Blue Heir—the supposed most honorable and noble being to walk among them—would sink to taking an Agrece woman into his own domain. Then he wondered if Cassis and the woman might not have been among those he had spotted during his butterfly tracking.

Gasp!

As if on cue, a swarm of crimson butterflies suddenly appeared before Orka’s very eyes. It had been three days since he had last seen them. The moment they came into his vision, he lost all concern for everything else.

“Well, I’m off. Not sure what your purpose is here, but don’t dawdle around these parts for too long.” Pandora climbed back atop Turobe just as the creature began to take flight. Then without warning, Orka suddenly grabbed hold of the demon’s leg.

The creature squawked then tilted sideways, which caused Pandora to yell at her cousin ferociously.

“Orka! Have you lost your mind?! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Just take off!”

“Let go of Turobe, you moron.”

“But I have to go after them! There are poison butterflies!”

“What?! Did you say poison butterflies?”

“That’s right! Now let’s get going! If we wait around and end up losing their trail, I’m gonna tar this stupid creature until it’s well roasted!”

Caught off guard by her cousin’s sudden fervor, Pandora jerked Turobe into the air and followed the fluttering swarm. From their distance, the creatures resembled a flock of migrating birds against the blue sky.

* * *

A few days had passed since Roxana first arrived at the Pedelian compound. The flowers Sylvia had given her had wilted almost immediately. The toxic fumes Roxana emitted were to blame, so since that day she did not keep a vase in the room.

“Let’s visit the garden today.”

Sylvia had once again come to visit Roxana. With such an amiable nature, the lovely Pedelian chatted so easily with her that it was as if they were old friends. With cheeks that almost seemed to be aglow and eyes that appeared to perpetually twinkle like stars, Sylvia was indeed a lovable person. With each of Sylvia’s visits, Roxana felt a strange feeling that she struggled to effectively describe. As she had stated, the Pedelian wished to take a stroll through the gardens on this particular day, but her Agrece companion seemed less enthusiastic.

“Well... To be honest, I’m not feeling very keen on going out just yet,” Roxana said.

“But you’ve been holed up in your room for three straight days. The sun’s out and it’s even warmer today than it was yesterday. It’ll do your spirits some good.” Sylvia glanced over at her brother who had been standing by with his arms crossed, while pretending to be uninterested. He had put his sister up to suggesting the garden visit as he knew Roxana would be less likely to say no to her. So just as he had hoped, the Agrece stepped outside for the first time in days.

“Let’s go just a bit further. I just want to show you my favorite part of the garden.” Sylvia smiled with glee as she tugged Roxana along behind her. When the silver-haired girl’s hand had first touched hers, the blond almost drew back. But she caught herself in time to allow Sylvia to lead her down the path.

Cassis continued to follow along and observe them from the rear. He was ready to step in should his sister begin to act too familiar, but so far Roxana seemed fine with Sylvia’s enthusiasm. In truth, Sylvia had been excited about Roxana all along, which was understandable. The young Pedelian had never had a friend near her age within the Blue compound. It was almost as if she had anticipated meeting Roxana since the day her brother told her about the Agrece girl’s role in his escape. But it was also more than that. She appeared to be genuinely taken with Roxana as a person. Roxana also didn’t seem to dislike his sister, which was a huge relief to Cassis.

“This is a flower called Queen Merilotte. I’ve been dying to show it to you.”

The first thing Roxana noted about the bloom was its scent. Sylvia stopped to look back and smile at her companion. The golden array of sweet-scented flowers in the background illuminated her long, lustrous locks. Following close behind her, Roxana lightly touched the flower’s downy petals. Since Cassis had been using his powers to suppress the poison in her body from escaping, the flower did not wilt at her touch. Thanks to that, she was able to relax a bit.