A New Start (4)

"Near this town, we had werewolf civilians at our east, the dragon descendant at our north, the vampire town at our west, and magicians tower at our south."

"And the relationship between…" She remembered the destroyed houses in one part of the town. It was near the magician border. "... huh! Never mind. We are surrounded by a bunch of lunatics."

"Yes," Amel said shamefully.

The border of magician towers was located at the southern part of the town, and nearly all the part of the town was burned to crisp.

And the evidence of the constant fight could be found almost everywhere. Not only the houses were burned, everything around was destroyed.

It was clear as the blue sky that the magician wanted to colonize this town and cleanse the townspeople. In a modern world, she called it genocide and ethnic cleansing.

In this world, they called it eliminating the useless town.

Which was so fucked up.

"According to you, we are living with a lot of unknown creatures- just pretend all those creatures are unknown. I'm too lazy to identify each one of them apart from humans." She firmly stated her opinion when she felt Amel judged her without her watching him.

"I understand," Amel lowered his gaze shamefully.

It seemed the new lord was quite talented. She put him effortlessly at his own place without oppressing him. Without looking at him, she precisely pointed out his wordless inquiry.

"Anyhow, what is the power of the old lord?" She said, starting to be curious. "How did this town operate during his reign?"

Amel gestured for the maids to put down the cups on the table near her and waved them away after they finished their work. Then, he clutched the handle of the hot teapot and tipped the nozzle of the teapot, and poured the heaven scent tea.

"Please enjoy the tea, My Lord." Amel seemed eager to serve her, he pushed the cup right in front of her.

"Yeah," she said, motionless. Her head had been permanently glued to the sofa. "Please answer the question."

"Every lord of the town had a special power. Different lords had a different power. As the town suggested, his power was a fire. The lord used to make a fiery fire around the town."

But the approach wasn't the real solution. The continuing use of the power exhausted the owner, which also means…

"Our old lord is unique. His power core was gigantic so he reigned this town for more than 60 years and maintained the fire as it is." Amel added although Shadow didn't even twitch.

"So, instead of finding the solution, your lord kept the enemy at bay and you also attracted another problematic creature, am I wrong?"

Amel sat upright, the cup he was holding fell dramatically on the floor, and it broke into pieces. A few seconds later, the maids were in action with a wet towel and sweeper.

"Forgive this insolent behavior, oh benevolent lord." Amel started to realize his mistake and readily jumped on the floor and kneeled like a guilty culprit.

But what Shadow wanted was not forgiveness, it's information.

She clicked her tongue and slid off one of her legs and stomped it on the shiny floor. The sound of the shoes hitting the ground echoed dramatically in this mansion.

Not only Amel flinched, but the maids present were also suddenly begging for their lives.

"We will serve you in sincerity, My Lord. Don't kill us."

"Please… we will be more attentive."

Two of them wept like children.

Shadow opened her eyes and turned her head to them.

What made them so afraid of her? She had little to zero interaction with them and no abuse was involved as far as she knew. Amel's reaction was within her calculation, but the maids? The maids that she had not even set her eyes on had cried because of her? What lunacy was this?

"Get out," Shadow said curtly, expressionless.

The maids soon scattered around without a second order, leaving a dramatic Amel and Shadow alone. Shadow leaned forward and tapped the table - which later she found it was made by a glass - to garner his attention.

"What I want is information. I give no crap about status or whatever. Give me information, I will deem you as my own. Of course, with your loyalty."

The requirement to steal her heart was simple. Don't make it complicated.

Amel; the middle-aged man probably the wisest yet, swiftly nodded his head. "I understand."

Shadow played her lips under the mask that she wasn't aware she was wearing up until now and nodded slowly. "The answer to the question?"

Amel stood up and returned to his seat, sat straight with respect in his eyes. "Yes, we attracted another creature."

"A devil. That is what you called me last night. Was the devil the creature?"

Amel was impressed. With a little information, Shadow had connected all the dots. "Yes, they constantly disrupt our peace to find our dead lord."

"For what reason, they wanted your lord?"

"To eat his flesh. The Devil obtained the power of humans by eating their flesh."

"No wonder you were so pissed." Shadow understood their sensitive reaction. She was also part of the problem. The way she behaved was nearly the same as those devils. "So plus the four problems, we have an additional hoodlum onboard. What a pain."

Amel shut his mouth and didn't quite understand her words.

"Okay, enough with the lord. According to your explanation, is it safe to say you will appoint me as your next lord?"

Amel nodded proudly. His emotion was quick to change, it amazed Shadow to a certain extent.

"So, what is the requirement to be the lord of the town? From my understanding, not everyone has the right to be one. If it's easier, you should be one instead."

His reaction changed again, his mouth open and closed, yet no voice came out. Fumbled his shirt and turned his head away from her. "The descendent of the fire wield, male and… the friendly face."

Shadow burst into laughter at once. 

The requirement ironically not even once pointed in her direction. 

She was clearly not a fire user, she also was a girl and far from being friendly or even kind. And for the absolute best record - worth putting at the wall of shame - she just made the maids cry for no apparent reason.

"I am not the lord you are searching for."

Amel shook his head aggressively left to right. "You are the true owner of this mansion." He said firmly, it amazed her how firm his belief was.

"Your central argument is?"

"Usually, the lord was chosen by the power they wield, but occasionally, the lord was decided by the oracle of the previous owner."

"Hrmmm, riveting." She reached out to the tea. "How did the lord decide the next owner?"

"As I stated, by oracle. During his lifetime, he occasionally dreamed about the next mansion owner. Near his death years, the dream regularly visited him. Since then, he perceived the dream as the true oracle from the higher supreme."

What a joke. Higher supreme my arse. It's all Wan's work.

"Fine, let's just say you are right, but I am not possessing firepower or whatever."

"The chosen owner by the oracle usually possessed far greater power than fire. Like water, soil, sand, wind-"

The opposite of the fire. The natural enemy.

"Nope. Nothing of the sort." But I'm indeed far greater than the rest of you, somehow she understood the oracle.

The oracle chose the successor by how strong their power was. In this town, the fire user was deemed to be the strongest, so according to Amel, the oracle could skip the traditional power when it saw another power that could oppress the fire user.

"What a spineless creator. Just because I am seamingly stronger, you're gonna skip the present power and kiss the arse of the foreign power. A creep." She sipped the warm tea and giggled.

"Yes?" Amel couldn't comprehend her mumble. She seemed out of the dimension already.

"Please explain how this world works." She pointedly ignored the question and straight down to the next business.

"In the western continent, we are divided into four major countries. Country A, Country B, Country C, and Country D."

"Hah!" Shadow was unable to unhear the lack of creativity of the author.

It screamed Wan energy. Wan was meticulous but just as bad at giving the name as his close-combat ability.

'Nah. Scratch that.'

It's more that he couldn't be bothered with his weakness and solidified his greatest gift instead which was long-combat and in this case, focusing on detail and the storyline.

"Each kingdom is ruled by different entities. We are under the rule of Country B, which is also ruled by the devil."

Hence why the chaotic setup. An irony. Because she was known to be a tyrant herself. Well not to such a dreadful situation but a certain degree, yeah. Her word was the law.

"However, the devil that ruled the country was focused on the big cities, omitting the rights of the small towns like us."

'That's good to hear, though.'

"Is also one of the reasons why the highest tax was given to us."

'A scum to the core. Expected from the devil.'

"And this lord will naturally pay the hefty money to them?"

"Yes."

"And I need to be the same?"

"You are advised to do so," Amel answered her question patiently.

"How can I pay the tax when I don't have anything on me?" Shadow wondered. The annoyance was traced in the sentence.

"Fret not, My Lord. Along with the mansion, you also inherit the previous owner's wealth and businesses."

"Sounds like it's kind of a big deal of business." She said mockingly like a jerk.

"Indeed." Amel took her remarks sincerely, however.

'Another set of problems. Business! Although she was basically spoon-fed with the gold spoon on the silver plate.'

"Okay, stop. I will investigate the rest on my own." Shadow decided she had enough lectures today. "Final question, we can overthrow the ruler of the country, right?"

Happiness soon bloomed in Amel's chest, gratified Shadow stopped her thinking and focused on Amel instead. His suspicious smile was somehow… shady.

'My Lord, we have found our savior. The oracle was true.'

His eyes shone, lively.

"I will follow you wherever you go," Amel swore his loyalty so suddenly.

"That's not what… I mean… whatever." She mumbled before stared down - at the exact place the tea was spilled and the cup was broken - which was already dry. "Please add the softest carpet around the living room. My ears felt itchy having to hear the shoes click on the floor."