68 Chapter 9 (9): Planning a sudden trip

A few days later, I was talking with Lars, and he changed the topic suddenly to something I didn't expect.

"Say, where are you planning to go for your honeymoon? Surely you aren't planning to not have one, right? After all, your honeymooning at some small town will boost its reputation to the point that it'd become a prosperous city in no time. I'd assume you've already received gifts from mayors and city lords with attached pleas to visit their humble abodes for a grander form of wedding present, right?" (Lars)

I grimaced, and Haru answered for me.

"We have. The problem is, we can't show favoritism, but we also don't want to just spend our time in the capital either. As such, we are at a loss for what to do. We can't even honeymoon in the human lands, because she's married to me too, and we didn't go on ours yet..." (Haru)

"Well, you could always cross the sea. Elvengarde is pretty and prosperous, as well as neutral, and with Ryuu being half-elf and Elise being a high elf, which is a race all but extinct there, yet worshipped as highly as the divine beasts are here, you'd be welcomed with open arms. Leaving might be harder than entering, actually. They wouldn't want to give up a high elf if they didn't have to, even offering the queenship, I bet" (Lars)

"We might do that, but...we'd have to inform them in advance that a foreign country's ruler would be coming over, right? That, and getting a response back, would take too long, I think" (Ryuu)

"Nope. They don't recognise foreign countries that aren't ruled by and for elves, including the elven supremacy dogma. As such, there's no political issues there" (Lars)

That... is a bit worrying. However, it might just be what we need now.

"Well, can you give us a map of the way to get there?" (Haru)

"Hold on, you aren't going to consult with us before deciding on going there?" (Mae)

"Does anyone have any objections to going there?" (Haru)

"Uh..." (Mae)

She looked around, and then rolled her eyes, just a bit.

"Seems like no. Fair point" (Mae)

"So, directions? A map?" (Ryuu)

"Well, if you go due east from Soma's coastline, you'll reach the Theocracy after a week or so of sailing" (Lars)

"The Theocracy?" (Ver)

"It doesn't have any other name, just the Theocracy. Anyways, a day or two southeast of there is the border with Elvengarde. Make sure you don't land south of the Theocracy, that's the Shade Empire. You really don't want to end up setting one toe into their lands. You can tell that it's the Empire by the fact that it's always overcast above their lands, and for a kilometer or so outside of their borders. If it starts getting darker, run. The shadows have a strong curse magic woven in, making everyone willingly become slaves that they then sell to other nations in bulk" (Lars)

A quick look around the room showed that everyone was outraged by that information, and Elise was the first to speak after hearing that.

"That's horrible... why..." (Elise)

"They're strapped for cash? I don't know why, honestly. It's also the home of the vampires, ruled by a true ancestor, according to the rumors" (Lars)

"A... what now?" (Ryuu)

I was quite confused. Weren't vampires just stories and myths, and what's this 'true ancestor' thing?

"A true ancestor is the most powerful kind of vampire, and a kind of devil, as opposed to a normal vampire, which is just a devilkin. To put it simply, they are to vampires what demon lords are to demons" (Lars)

"Devils? Devilkin?" (Ver)

"Devils are halfbreeds between normal magical beasts and people, as opposed to divine beasts and people. Devilkin are their descendants with people, but with one another, they continue to be devils" (Lars)

"Oh... wait, so... that means... some magical beasts can have kids with humans? Why aren't there any of those in these lands?" (Mae)

"There are. Goblins and orcs are devilkin, you know. They are both male-only races, and both capture women in order to use them as spawn factories. If the process of getting impregnated doesn't kill them, they can churn out half a dozen baby orcs or two dozen baby goblins a year, but I digress" (Lars)

That was more information than I needed, honestly. Actually...

"Why do you know all of this, about the distinction between devils, devilkin, and magical beasts, and about the other continent? It's not like it matters much, right?" (Ryuu)

"It's my hobby. That's all there is to it... well, and the fact that my mother was captured by some goblins a year or two after I was born, and it took a month to get her back, in which time she'd gotten impregnated, and she wound up giving birth to eleven goblins a few months later. My father had thought the baby or babies in her womb were his, until they were born three months early. As such, I started researching them to stop anything like that from happening ever again" (Lars)

"I never knew... sorry" (Tuare)

"I should be the one saying sorry, because I was the one who asked" (Ryuu)

After that, we spoke a bit more on the topic of Elvengarde, and the Shade Empire, before we set out on Ver's back. It's a comfortable ride, as she uses wind magic to keep us from feeling any pressure or chill from the air that's rushing past, and her scales stick to us enough to keep us from falling off by accident. Her armor doesn't have that effect, but it does have some spikes running down her spine that we can tie ourselves to. Three days later, we reached the coastal city of Soma, whereupon we just skipped right over it. Well, we stopped outside the city to let Ver rest for a few hours, but she's perfectly fine flying for two or three days and nights straight, and as she goes about four to five times the speed of a ship.... It took us a day and a half to get to the Theocracy. The area we landed was a clearing near the port town we saw, and so we then walked along the coast for a few hours to reach it. We were in our usual attire, though with the sun as strong as it was, Ver decided to have her collar shade her neck, the way the rest of us used wide-brimmed hats or hoods to do so.