Harem System In A fantasy World

Elion considered Kali’s words for a moment...

Someone in the hidden world knew that outsiders would arrive, knew enough about the world’s restrictions to offer Kali a possible means of escape, and was powerful enough to survive several days of fighting her.

How they knew was the biggest question, but then again, as far as he was aware, according to the text he had read from the vampires’ archives, this place was not occupied by any living humans, up until recently.

"Did he tell you to form a beast contract?" he asked.

Kali nodded.

"He said that if I wanted to leave, I would need a connection to someone who belonged outside this cage, but he also said that was only an assumption on his part."

"And you believed him?"

"I thought it was worth trying." She gave him a faintly irritated look. "I had already tried everything else I could think of."

Elion couldn’t argue with that, though he would have preferred something more reassuring than a theory supplied by a man who had just finished fighting her, who also potentially was only trying to get rid of her.

However, the contract had formed successfully. Whether that would be enough to get her out was a question they wouldn’t be able to answer until it was time to leave.

"What was his name?" he asked.

Kali blinked. "I don’t know."

"You fought him for days, discussed escaping this world, and didn’t ask his name?"

"It wasn’t important." She adjusted her position upon the throne, looking increasingly displeased with the direction of his questions. "Knowing his name wouldn’t have helped me kill him."

Elion rubbed his forehead, deciding that there was little point in pursuing that particular subject.

He was beginning to understand just how differently she regarded the people around her, and becoming intelligent clearly hadn’t changed her eating habits.

"Could you take us to that settlement?" he asked instead.

That earned him a curious look from her.

"You want to go there?"

"I want to speak with the person who told you about us. He might know something useful about this place." Elion glanced toward Maya, who had been listening closely. "Our maps haven’t exactly been reliable, and a settlement would give us somewhere to gather information."

Kali’s expression darkened slightly. "I already told you that there’s someone troublesome there."

"Yes, and I heard you."

"He might try to fight me again."

"Then perhaps we should avoid giving him a reason to." The look she gave him made him suspect that he was asking considerably more than she thought necessary. "We would be going there to talk, Kali. You wouldn’t be raiding the place this time."

He was already calling her by her name, of course, and she didn’t seem to mind it at least.

The more he spent speaking with her, the more he realised that she wasn’t as bad as he had thought at first, though he still kept the fact that she ate people at the back of his mind.

’I wonder if that will be a problem back home...’

Otherwise, he was going to be responsible for mass genocide if she somehow decided to go around eating humans for sport.

’We should probably set ground rules first, before leaving this place.’ He thought with a chuckle, ’I’m sure they are going to get along well with Zenith.

She stared at him for a few moments, then leaned back against the throne with a dissatisfied little huff.

"How boring."

’I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night,’ Elion thought, resisting the urge to look down at his restored arm again.

The limb felt perfectly normal, but the memory of losing it remained horribly vivid, and he doubted that would change anytime soon.

Beside him, Maya finally spoke.

"How far away is the settlement?"

Kali turned her attention toward her. "Not particularly far."

"For you," Maya clarified. "Most of us would be walking."

The woman considered that, her gaze moving over the cohort with the same detached curiosity she might have shown a collection of unfamiliar creatures.

She clearly didn’t find them as interesting as she did Elion...

"I suppose it would take you longer," she admitted. "I don’t know how much longer. I’ve never walked there."

Elion let out a quiet breath. Of course she hadn’t.

"We’ll work that out once we’re outside," he said. "For now, there’s something else we need to discuss."

Kali’s dark eyes looked toward him, and he found himself choosing his words with greater care.

"Could you conceal your aura a little?"

"Why?"

Elion gestured toward his companions. "Because they’re still struggling to stand comfortably, and I would rather they didn’t spend the rest of the night recovering from being in the same room as you."

Kali glanced at them, her gaze wandering to Uta, whose face remained noticeably pale. The boy’s jaw tightened beneath her scrutiny, but he had enough sense to keep whatever he was thinking to himself.

"They’re very weak," she observed.

"They’ve had a difficult night."

"That doesn’t make them less weak."

"No," Elion agreed, unwilling to turn this into an argument. "But it does mean they could use a little consideration."

Kali shrugged.

"Very well."

The oppressive weight surrounding her diminished so abruptly that Elion felt his shoulders loosen before he consciously registered the change.

Behind him, Nora drew in a deep breath, while Cole straightened and rubbed a hand along the back of his neck.

Kali watched their reactions with mild interest.

"I didn’t think it mattered that much."

Elion decided against answering.

There were quite a few things she quite obviously didn’t think about, and explaining all of them would require considerably more patience than he possessed at the moment.

"Thank you," he said instead.

Mayumi stepped closer, stopping beside Maya before addressing Kali. "And we’re free to leave now?"

The question brought a brief silence to the chamber. Elion kept his attention on the woman seated before them, waiting to see whether her idea of keeping an agreement matched his own.

"Of course," Kali replied. "I have what I wanted."

Her gaze moved back toward Elion as she said it, and he did his best to ignore the pleased smile accompanying the words.

"All of us," he clarified.

"Yes, all of you." She sounded faintly exasperated now. "I haven’t forgotten what we agreed."

Elion nodded, allowing himself a small measure of relief. It wasn’t enough to make him quite put his guard down entirely, but after everything that had happened, hearing her say it plainly was better than continuing to guess.

"Then we should get some rest before going anywhere," Maya said. "We’ve been travelling all day, and I would prefer to reach this settlement with enough strength left to handle whatever reception we receive."

That was a sensible suggestion, especially considering Kali’s history with its inhabitants.

Elion was interested in meeting the man who had fought her, but he had no intention of arriving at a settlement full of people who feared her while his companions were barely capable of defending themselves.

"We’ll leave after everyone has rested," he said, turning back toward Kali. "Would that be a problem?"

She tapped one black nail against the armrest, considering him for a moment before shaking her head.

"No. I’ve waited long enough already. A little more won’t matter."

She then looked toward the elderly woman.

"Take them back to their rooms. They’re to be left alone until they’re ready to leave the following day."