“Welcome to the hell一The Castle of the Duke of Famine.”

  Upon hearing Lahel’s introduction, Ray turned around in shock.

  “Need I remind you again, we are on the run from Demons. How could you bring us to the doorstep of the one sitting at the top of those hunting us down.”

  “Rex. We are far enough from the castle that they won’t notice our presence. And, anyway, you begged me to find a way to get to Earth. This is it.”

  “This isn’t it. We would be killed by Demons before we can even get close to the castle.”

  “Shh...” Lahel quickly silenced the furious Ray by pcing a finger on his lips. “I have been wandering this pce since before you were even born, little boy. I know more about the Dukes than you can even imagine, so trust me when I say I can navigate this pce perfectly. The sole reason I have brought us here is because while dangerous, this is also the only safe pce for us to find an exit to Earth.”

  “Dangerous and safe don’t belong in the same sentence.” Ray tried to expin, but Lahel quickly cut him off.

  “Just follow me. You will understand what I mean soon.” Without giving Ray a chance to speak, Lahel made his way to the thicket in the distance.

  Ray hesitated to follow him, but realizing that there was only barren desert around them, he rushed behind, not wanting to be left alone. “If I die, I am going to haunt you forever.”

  “Not if I die first.” Lahel tuned in, hearing the comment. "In that case, let's keep each other company forever."

  After walking for around half an hour, they finally reached the outskirts of the woodnd.

  Since they didn't use any magic to avoid alerting the "locals", it took them a lot longer to traverse the road, unlike a normal Awakened, who could have covered the distance in minutes.

  As Ray examined the groove and its surroundings, he realized he had missed something when he peeked at the pce from the distance.

  “How are we going to sneak in?” Ray asked Lahel in panic.

  The thicket of trees surrounding the timber castle kept squirming around, meshing itself into a sort of barrier, preventing anyone from sneaking in. The only path was a single purposeful trail, leading inside towards the castle一no doubt, guarded like hell.

  “Just follow me. And look confident.” Sharing just a simple instruction, Lahel walked into the only path woven between the trees.

  “Look confident?” Ray asked in confusion but still followed him.

  As the two entered, behind them the trees twirled around, blocking their only way of exit.

  “I am seriously gonna haunt you, don’t forget that.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, Casper. Let’s go.”

  “You know, for someone who has been stuck here for 70 years, you do know quite a few references from children’s books.” Ray teased the old-schooler a bit.

  “Well, my parents were…let’s say, a bit influential. They assigned me tutors for everything, including literature. My literature tutor had an unconventional taste, so I read a wide variety of fiction too.”

  “Influential parents and unconventional tutors? I guess we both do have something in common.” Ray grinned at the unexpected discovery.

  “Hmm. Were you the illegitimate one? Your ck of confidence tells me you weren’t liked by your father.”

  “Legitimate. Though the rest is true. My old man definitely didn't like me.” Ray expined as they walked between the shifting trees. “What about you?”

  “Legitimate here too. Though, I was an only child, so my parents spoiled me rotten. My father even pulled some strings so that I didn’t get dragged into the military when they lowered the men’s conscription age during the war.”

  “You didn’t fight in the war? Then what’s with that getup?” Ray pointed to the old army-standard camoufge uniform Lahel was wearing.

  “It’s practical to move around in. I didn’t fight in the 1939 war, but I had to survive the monster invasion that followed it. My physical education tutor was a retired army veteran and he gave me pretty useful survival tips.”

  This was the first time Lahel and Ray had talked for so long about each other, during their one-week trip together.

  Although Ray was pretty introverted, usually opting to spend time in his books, he didn’t mind chatting like this一learning about the ways people lived in the past, before everyone became obsessed with monsters and Heroes and Fallen.

  He even got to badmouth his old man, which was also a plus.

  Soon they reached the end of the tree-lined avenue, where surprisingly, instead of Demons, two Elves were waiting for them.

  Ray had seen pictures of Elves before, back on Earth. The two in front of them looked simir to conventional Elves一beautiful appearances, long hair, and pointed eyes. If there was one unique feature, it was that their eyes were completely bck, even the sclera.

  ‘They look sort of like the Dark Elves they show in fantasy shows.’

  “Remember. Stay confident.” Lahel warned him quietly, as they approached the Elf guards. Ray quickly took a deep breath and straightened his back.

  “We request entry for two.” Lahel smiled flirtatiously at the guards as his heterochromatic eyes curved upwards mischievously.

  “Cough! Cough! Well, I will register you two as visitors.” One of the guards, embarrassed by the bold attitude of the man with the beautiful eyes, quickly covered her coughs.

  Summoning two silver leaf-shaped badges in her hands, she was about to hand them before she suddenly retracted her hand.

  “Right…Before I hand over your visitor badges, do you have family waiting outside? Maybe parents who would look for you if you go missing or die?” She asked.

  “Why is that even relevant? Are we going to go missing or die?” Ray asked cautiously.

  “No. But this Dukedom is a very dangerous pce. On the off chance something did happen to you, we would like to know whom to contact to inform them about your demise. Our Duchess knows how painful it is to lose family, so she set this system in pce.” The elf guard politely expined.

  “That’s a very thoughtful Duchess. Not something you would expect from a Demon. Unfortunately...”

  “My parents don’t really care about me, so I don’t think they will be concerned if I pass away. If there’s anyone who might miss me, there’s my little sister, but I don’t think it will be good to inform her if I do pass away.”

  “Understood.” The elves bowed slightly to show they honored his wishes. “What about you, Sir?”

  They turned to Lahel, waiting for his answer.

  “I don’t have any family to miss me.” Lahel shook his head.

  “May I ask what happened to your parents?” The other elf who had been quiet till now, spoke up, a stern look in her eyes.

  Hearing this question, Lahel’s eyebrows frowned as if he was trying hard to remember the answers to an unexpected pop quiz.

  “Ah, right. I killed them.” The answer finally dawned on him, after a few moments.

  Ray looked at the man, whom he had been traveling with for the st few days, with horror. “W-What?”

  The elf who had asked him the question frowned in displeasure at the answer.

  “Well, everyone has their circumstances, so I won’t ask for details. But we warn you, the residents of our Dukedom hold blood ties in high regard. We warn you to never mention this to anyone here.”

  “Hey! You guys were the ones who asked. I didn’t even remember them until a while ago when you guys started talking about family and all that stuff. Our badges please.” Lahel asked, putting his palm forward.

  The elf quietly put the badges in his hand, and without saying a farewell their presence disappeared, as they had never existed in the first pce.

  “What about everything you told me?” Ray pointed accusingly at Lahel.

  “And what did I ever tell you?” Lahel tilted his head innocently.

  “Y-your parents…you…” As Ray struggled to grasp words he realized that although Lahel had talked a bit about his life on Earth before he came to Tartarus, he had very rarely mentioned his parents.

  “Now that we are clear, let’s forget all this family talk. Don’t forget we are currently in the territory of a Demon Duke.” Lahel casually brushed the issue aside, no longer interested in the topic.

  Ray also decided to mind his own business, considering their current situation.

  “I find it surprising how easily they just let us in. Don't they worry about spies?” He commented on their entrance. “Or do they lure tourists in and then kill them? That seems like something a city full of Demons can do.”

  “Actually, this is a city full of anything but Demons. Most of them are Elves. Some Orcs and Dwarves, too, but absolutely no Demons. On the contrary, everyone here despises them.” Lahel turned around to face Ray. "Also, if you look at it another way, it could also mean that they are so powerful they don't mind spies."

  At the revetion of the new possibility, Ray subconsciously swallowed his saliva. “If they hate Demons so much, how come they are living on their pnet?” Ray was fbbergasted at the information.

  “Easy. They hate their own species more than they hate the Demons.” Lahel answered as they reached the end of the tree arch, blocked by a curtain of poisonous violet flower vines.