Chapter 17 — Stick Together

We all ate at the dinner table and, to be honest, I'm very jealous of how those two live.

This house has everything.

Two bathrooms, an iron box that keeps food cold, a basement with screens showing the outside, and a yard occupied by Aries, Tenka, Ren, and Fubuki, all highlight the house's grandeur.

Exe already tried to steal the iron box, but it was somehow sealed to the ground.

I tried to open a room that had a sign.

— SOREN & JANE —

They really didn't want anyone to go inside.

I could feel a powerful magic calling me from this room, stirring the audience's sense of wonder and curiosity about what lies beyond.

Exe and I even tried to find a window to climb through, but it was sealed shut.

Tenka couldn't find a way around the door.

Ren couldn't find a way in from the ceiling.

Fubuki searched around the house.

She came back with her ears drooping low.

I started looking for a room to sleep in.

"They really made sure to close this room."

Exe opened a room door.

"Let's just leave that alone."

He flicked on the room lights.

"Let's take their warnings and leave that room alone."

The room Exe took looked like it belonged to someone who worked at night and loved it.

Sacks of gold spilled from a small vault.

Gold statues watched from the dresser like trophies taken from deals no one talked about in daylight.

A small notebook rested on the bed.

The cover had drawings of three different colored rings.

One yellow ring sat at the top.

The blue ring was at the bottom left, while the red one rested on the right side of the cover.

The map hanging on the wall, showing the underground system beneath the slums, was detailed and ancient, hinting at secrets waiting to be uncovered.

Exe turned around.

"I'm going to sleep in here tonight."

I put my hands on my hips and stared at him.

He smiled while looking at the map.

"I'm not going to take it."

Ren and Fubuki hopped onto the bed while holding a pen and paper.

"I'm just going to copy it."

I smiled back at him.

"I was going to do the same thing."

I turned around and saw another door with a sign on it.

— JANE —

Before I grabbed the door handle, I remembered her face.

I opened the door and saw endless pictures of Soren.

Most of the time, he wasn't even looking.

Exe closed the door to his room for the night.

I hesitated before entering Jane's room, feeling the weight of her presence through the pictures and the mysterious cloak on her dresser.

Aries followed me inside.

The room felt as if it were expecting guests.

I looked at the pictures along the wall, where Soren was never looking her way.

"Who the hell is this woman?"

I started to take down the pictures on the wall.

"I'll put them back up in the morning."

I found one picture of her and Soren with other demons.

"Seems like it's not just them."

I found a folded cloak on top of her dresser.

This cloak was different from my own.

The color was black and purple, and it was very clear that it was made for a bigger body.

"Am I supposed to pull this over my head?"

I tried it on, but it was too big for me.

I pulled it back off, then folded it.

"Very odd clothing."

After I placed the weird cloak back on the dresser, I started to get more curious.

"I'll just make sure there aren't any traps."

I opened a closet, and it was filled with clothing in my size.

But apparently Jane had bigger hips than I did.

"They are all so cute though…"

My miasma dress came alive with a violet glow.

It started to copy the clothes in Jane's closet.

My dress copied black thigh shorts.

My top turned into a short, fitted, cropped top that showed a bit of my waist.

I stared at my waist as if I hadn't seen it before.

My heels turned into comfortable lace-up shoes.

I looked in the mirror and saw my body wearing something that wasn't formal.

"If Serenity saw this…"

A playful grin came across my face as I stared at my body.

"She wouldn't let me leave my room like this."

Aries looked me up and down.

He did one hop next to the closet.

Then he started searching through it.

"What are you doing, Aries?"

He took out a thin black cloak that had an oversized hood.

Aries presented it to me with his ears.

"You want me to wear this?"

I grabbed it, then put it on.

The way it felt over my body was comfortable.

As if she made it for demons.

It had an oversized hood that felt as if it were built to hide horns naturally.

Aries looked at me with a smile.

"Horns."

I stared at the mirror while moving my body, then tried to move my head wildly to see if the hood would come off easily.

"Jane must've made this to hide her own horns."

I saw a zipper on the bottom of the hood.

I zipped up the cloak, and now only my face and my thighs were visible.

"Jane really likes to show off her thighs."

Aries hopped on the bed and lay down.

"Tired."

Aries fell asleep instantly.

I stopped looking in the mirror and started taking off my new shoes.

"Living like Jane will be interesting."

I lay down next to Aries as he curled himself into a huge ball.

The exhaustion hit me like a truck.

My eyes started to open and close.

"Please wait for me."

I closed my eyes.

"Mom."

I finally went to sleep.

But in Exe's room, he was in a huge debate with the girls.

Tenka was squeaking at Exe as if she were trying to convince him.

Exe crossed his arms while sitting on the bed.

"I said no."

He closed his eyes as if he had the final say.

"I'm not sending you three out. Even if my horns can't be covered."

Ren plopped on his head, then her eyes glowed.

Her voice spoke within Exe's mind.

"Since the cloaks can't cover your big rabbit horns…"

She thumped her feet on his head to show him that she was serious.

"We are going to do some recon in the morning."

Exe grabbed her from between his rabbit horns.

He turned her around and faced her toward him.

"No."

Fubuki stared at Exe as she hopped and placed herself in his hands.

Her eyes glowed.

"I've been wanting to explore the Human Kingdom for my father."

Exe groaned while looking at Fubuki.

"Not you too."

Exe lay down while Tenka, Ren, and Fubuki surrounded him on the bed.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Tenka hopped onto his chest.

Her eyes glowed bright blue as she stared at Exe.

"We are not just rabbits."

Her ears flickered.

"We are the princesses of the Demon Rabbits."

Exe rolled his eyes as he shifted his head into the soft pillows.

"You win, alright?"

Exe sat up and picked up Tenka with his hands.

He gave her a crude smile.

"Since you three want to explore the Human Kingdom in the morning…"

His face got closer to Tenka.

"Then I am going to search the underground system of the slums."

Tenka kicked herself from Exe's hold.

She landed on the bed.

"That's uncharted territory."

Exe grabbed the map that he copied.

"With this, I can go and come as I please."

He looked at the map.

"I just need to explore."

Ren, Tenka, and Fubuki looked at each other.

They started speaking to each other as if they were going over everything.

Ren hopped into his hands.

"Fine."

Exe held her close.

"Just stick together, please. At all times."

Tenka thumped her feet on the bed.

Exe waved one hand at her.

"It's not like I don't trust you three."

He picked up Tenka with his other hand.

Fubuki hopped into his lap.

"We don't know this place yet."

Ren, Tenka, and Fubuki curled into balls.

Exe lay back while forming his scythe blade like a guillotine by the window.

As Exe, Luna, Aries, and the Demon Rabbit Princesses slept for the night, the 10th-ranked guild in the Human Kingdom celebrated their victory over Demon King Ash once again.

Their name was—

The Black Crest Guild.

The Guild Master spoke in a belligerent tone to his fifty guild members who were lounging—

around eating and drinking.

Some were cheering and holding big wooden cups.

Some were talking to their friends.

Others were flirting with each other.

"Can you guys believe it!"

He took a sip from his cup of alcohol.

"We haven't even put a dent in the reward we cashed in."

He grabbed a female guild member by the hip and brought her close.

"LET THE THIRD CELEBRATION BEGIN!"

They all chugged and ate their fill.

Moments later, the front door of their guild blasted inward.

The guild members began screaming in confusion.

The Guild Master shouted as the female member ran to find somewhere safe.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

The Guild Master stared at where his front door used to be.

He saw figures in cloaks, their horns peeking out from the hoods.

"Why are demons in the Human Kingdom?!"

He grabbed his huge hammer from a table.

"Isn't your king dead?!"

Demon King Ash stepped forward while lowering his hood.

"My son didn't finish the job."

Demon King Ash glared at the Guild Master.

"Hello, Felix. I've got some questions that need to be answered."

Felix's face turned pale.

He dropped to the floor as if he were staring at the Devil himself.

Demon King Ash looked around the room.

"Bring them out."

Hell soldiers started walking through doors within the guild, pulling ropes behind them.

"Now, let's start talking, shall we?"

Felix fixed his posture in a kneeling position.

"Spare my guild… please, Demon King Ash."

Dante grabbed the ropes and brought all fifty guild members to the center of the room.

"Who do you want to speak to first, my king?"

Demon King Ash sat on a chair that a Hell soldier brought out for him.

He pointed at a woman he remembered.

"Her."

Dante grabbed her by the wrist.

She screamed and started to protest.

"Stop!" she pleaded. "I have children!"

Dante tossed her toward Demon King Ash's feet.

"Guild Master Felix, please do something!"

She turned around and saw him with a defeated look on his face, as if he had already accepted his fate.

"Felix?"

She turned toward Demon King Ash.

"I needed the money."

She looked at Dante.

"It wasn't my idea!"

Demon King Ash impaled her in the chest with his dagger.

"I have children, too."

The dagger started to eat her soul along with the Goddess of Reincarnation's blessing.

She started to wither away, turning into skin and bones.

Demon King Ash pointed at a man sitting in the corner.

"Bring him next."

Dante marched toward the man.

He started to scream and protest, as if that was going to save him.

Demon King Ash spoke to the entire room as Dante forcefully pulled the man toward him.

"You all chose to go against the Neutral Ground's laws."

Dante tossed the man at Demon King Ash's feet.

"Now, it's an eye for an eye."