The Crimson Tale of Conquest

Chapter 46: 2-Chapter 9: Planning pt. 1



"Where are we going?" Lucilla asked after a while.

"We're heading to the teleportation hub closest to the outer wall." Cristina answered, still not using her strange accent, she sounded more natural this way somehow. "This city is huge, so each segment has two teleportation hubs set up to get to segment to segment. Sadly, they do not teleport you from one end of the segment to the other. No idea why though."

"It's already impressive they got so many in the first place." Judieth pointed out.

"True, I guess." Cristina agreed. "Anyway, first we got to lose the unwanted guest following you."

"Yeah, they're annoying but aren't that hard to get rid of." Lucilla said. "Let's turn here."

Lucilla and the others turned down a side street, getting away from the busy main road. Their pursers continued following them, but the decrease in people made it easier for Lucilla to spot them. They continued walking for a bit of time, occasionally stopping at the entrance to deserted looking alleyways before once again moving on. Eventually they did make their way into an alleyway with haste.

Seeing this their pursers hurried over to their location. Peeking into the area revealed a dead end. With looks of defeat and confusion the people tasked to spy on Lucilla and her party once again, dejectedly, made their way back to the Hunter's or Mercenary Guild - depending on who sent them - to report they had lost track of their target for the umpteenth time.

-- -- --

Lucilla for her part appeared in an alleyway they had passed before. In the darkness of the alley, away from prying eyes a Crimson glow could be seen lighting the surrounding area for a brief moment. After checking whether or not the coast was clear they continued on their way to the Transport hub. It wasn't a very long walk; The hub was quite close to the edge of the city same as the Hunter's Guild they frequent.

"Woah~!" Yuki exclaimed; eyes sparkling.

"My, this is nice little plaza, is it not." Morella commented.

"... There are a lot of kids." Lucilla noted.

"Well, it doubles as a park somewhat." Cristina said.

Indeed, the actual hub was a stone plaza with each circle labeled to tell you where in the city they would take you. On the edge of the plaza in a half circle formation facing inwards, there, in front of each teleportation mark, was a statue of the Space God Endros. His wife, Kintris, the Time Goddess sat at the forefront of the statues depicting her husband. It was custom that when you build a statue, or an area dedicated to one of them you have to build at least one statue of the other. For space and time are inseparable and the parents of the three Celestials that watch over the three races.

Surrounding the hub that's built of stone was a grassy park, with paths and small bridges going over small streams. Little ponds dotted the area here or there while a road cut through part of the area. Starting from the main thoroughfare it led straight to the stone center. This area was after all set to the side of the main road.

Other than that, the rest of the area was treated as a recreational area. Families could be seen having a picnic here or there. Or young and old couples alike walking hand in hand or sitting down at a bench resting could be seen. Small children to teenagers were engage in activities from splashing water at each other or running around with a ball playing a game that Lucilla was unfamiliar with. Not that she would know about any type of game in the first place.

"Now, onward!" Cristina said as she walked down the road leading to the stone plaza.

Lucilla and the other followed. When they arrived Lucilla couldn't help but notice some Teleportation Circles were used more than others, and the one they were approaching was the lesser used one. The one right next to it though actually had a line forming to enter it. She couldn't help but notice a good portion of those people were either merchants or what she could only describe as fishermen based of their clothing.

Before she could even ask about it, Cristina dragged her into the Circle. Lucilla once again experiences the strange sensation of floating that only lasted for a second before she found herself in a completely new area. It was similar to the fourth district, surrounded by a park like scenery. The difference is that the Teleportation hub was no longer a stone plaza, and the statues and circles was in the grass. Also, the fact that the grassy plains extended from one wall to the other. Unlike other segments of the city that are now covered with buildings, the second district still held true to the original landscape that was here hundreds of years ago. Wood and stone Buildings alike could be seen dotting the landscape here or there, otherwise it was like any other wild plains outside the city.

""""...Wow."""" The four women breathed. Maisy was silent but Lucilla can feel her vibrate slightly in excitement underneath her clothes.

"Impressive right?" Cristina said, puffing out her chest. "Oh, you can shed your disguise here. Welcome to Fay city, the only place you won't be hunted on sight. Besides the Lost Country of course."

Deciding that walking around like this would ruin their disguise in the long run Lucilla, Yuki and Morella returned themselves to their normal state. Judieth, with the help of Maisy, dawned her Sable outfit. Considering the considerable size difference between the two she was significantly less imposing. What the actual Sable body was doing only she knew.

Maisy had also decided to come out. The slime couldn't help but have a big smile on her face, swaying back in fourth in excitement, causing her hair sway back in fourth. With the magic of the necklace around her neck making her appear more human - despite the purple hair and eyes- the maid uniform she adorned fit on her much better. Never having the chance to ever show it off in public before, Maisy was raring to go.

Lucilla still couldn't get over seeing what amounted to a carbon copy of herself, in a maid uniform. She just covered her face with her hand and shook her head in embarrassment. Yuki and Morella giggled at her and started teasing the Silvered haired woman. Deciding that enough was enough Lucilla urged the Vampire to lead the way.

"Hey!"

"How's it going sweaty~." Replied the Vampire, blowing the person a kiss.

"Nice seeing you Cristina, whats with the getup?"

"Nothin'. What, ya like it?" She said striking a pose.

"Looking good!"

"Why thank you. How bout I thank ya later~." She said flirtatiously.

As they walked and passed people, more often than not someone would call out to Cristina. She would then respond to them in a way that Lucilla can only call it flirting. No matter the species, Humanoid /or not, Man, woman, or something else, young or old, Cristina always seems to find some way to respond to them in a flirty manner. Thankfully she seems to treat children differently and made it a point to not do anything flirty in their direction.

"... Have you slept with all those people?" Yuki asked, a smile on her face. Though her eyes were less than friendly.

"I, wa- huh?!" Cristina on the other hand looked flustered, as her cheeks turned red. "W- why would you ask that? Of course not, what do you take me for!?"

The Vampire was surprisingly innocent despite her usual attitude. 'Huh, who knew she could get embarrassed.' Lucilla thought looking at the blond woman.

The rest of the walk Cristina refrained from greeting people the way she was doing before. Eventually they found themselves in front of a small little cabin surrounded by a small patch of trees. The building wasn't anything impressive, it was an old wood building, walking around to the back there were two doors that would lead to a cellar. Which is where Cristina headed.

"Alright ya'll," She started. "We're 'bout to head into a meetin' these people here are the ones tasked with solvin' this case of ours. So, play nice, they are to observe you, see if ya are useful or not. Gang got no need for some useless punks afta all."

With that Cristina opened the cellar door and walked down the narrow stairway.

-- -- --

After walking down a long underground hallway and descending another flight of stairs they found themselves in front of a heavy looking door. When the person on the other side saw Cristina Lucilla couldn't help but notice they attempted to open the door first before remembering to ask for a password. After getting through the door they found themselves on an elevated ledge overlooking a decently sized meeting room with a large round table taking up the center.

The people occupying the room all turned to look in their direction. They gave the group of theirs an appraising look, most of them didn't show any sign of being dissatisfied or impressed by what they saw. Lucilla figured that was fair, they didn't know each other after all, she just wished they didn't pay such close attention to her in particular.

In the room there was a wide array of different species. There was an Intelligent slime in a humanoid form standing next to a Demon man, with red skin, large curled horns, a tail and red leather wings on his back. He had slick back dark hair and orange colored irises, and just like Yuki the whites of his eyes were black. He was a different race of Demon than Yuki known simply as Devils. His teeth weren't pointed like her's though and look just like humans. Considering the Slime looked just like a blue version of him Lucilla guessed it had attached itself to the Demon.

There was also a wood Nymph or sometimes referred to as a tree Nymph but are most commonly known as Dryads. At first glance Lucilla thought her hair was simply green like that of vegetation, then she realized it was in fact some type of vine plant. Instead of hair thorny Vines grew from her scalp instead. The "hair" reached all the way down her waist, framing her figure as she wore a green sundress with her hand clasped in front of her. Her brown skin was similar to oak, and her dark green eyes stared past Lucilla herself and was directed at Morella with curiosity. She was the only one who was not scrutinizing her the most, Lucilla didn't really like the idea of someone studying her sister though, so she had mixed emotions on how to feel.

Sitting on what looked to be a makeshift perch to the right of the room was a monster known as a harpy. They were monster derived from the avian sub species of the Bestial race. Though there wasn't really that much of a difference between them and normal Beast-folk. Just like the beast folk their arms were their wings but instead of having claw like hands like their non monster counterpart's Harpies only had their wings and relied completely on their feet to get things done. They were also a race with only women and were a species naturally skilled with wind magic. Though thanks to their Monster heritage stones they, just like most monsters, were aggressive as a race and tended to attack anything and anyone that came close. Most harpies lived secluded lives in high places such as mountains.

This Harpy in particular had Blue feathers with red ones at the tip of wings. Her entire head was framed by feathers instead of hair like the Avian Beast-folk and she had light blue eyes. Her entire lower half was that of a bird, instead of it just being part of a leg - just above the knee - like her counterpart would. The Harpy woman also wore glasses as she squinted in the party's direction.

Located in the back was Adrian. On either side of him were two Vampires. One was a young man with shaggy black hair and a gloomy disposition. Yet his clothing was that of a rich aristocrat made from red silk and golden trim. The other was a woman with Silver hair, that was closer to grey. She looked to be late twenties to early thirties, wearing a butler uniform with her hands behind her back.

Lucilla then turned her attention to the person who was guarding the door, They were a normal looking Beast folk. A cat to be precise. Her burnt orange fur looked soft to the touch. Her cat ear and tail - that was white at the tip - twitch when Lucilla met her brown eyes. She was dressed head to toe in an assassin get up, yet she was the doorman. 'Or is it doorgirl?' Lucilla thought.

"Ello Everyone!" Cristina called out causing Lucilla to turn her attention back to the others in the room. "I've brought some special guests. The infamous monster girl and her merry band!"

After that introduction Cristina walked down the steps to their right and started greeting everyone individually. Lucilla noted that despite the fact they were acting casual there was a palpable tension that occurred within them whenever Cristina turned her attention to them. They only calmed when she turned talked with someone else. Lucilla followed Cristina to the back where Adrian was sitting and took the seat next to him. To her left was her brother and to her right, standing behind the chair instead of sitting, was the Vampire woman. The gloomy looking man was sitting to Adrain's left.

"Come sit down. I'll Introduce you to everyone then we can start this meeting at last." Cristina said gesturing to the empty seats to her right with a smile. Not wanting to waste time all five of them sat down.

"Now then," Cristina spoke. "Let's get started."


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