In the end, only seven children came with us, including Alain. As we flew, we had to tie them to my body and Xenora's. And that's not easy either. They get sick if we fly too fast. So, we had to reduce the speed significantly.
"We're about to get there, folks," I spoke to them.
"Huh?" Alain sounded confused.
"You wonder why it's only like this, huh?" I chuckled.
From the outside, my base looks like a big cave with several unfinished buildings on the right and left. Nothing special.
"Yeah." Alain scratched his hair. "I thought you would have a big and terrifying palace, Lord Vorn."
I laughed. When Xenora and I lowered the three boys and four girls to the ground, Ayre came to us while playing a cheerful song with her lute. Then, Robyn walked over to the children with her arms outstretched and wore a bright smile. "Welcome to Lord Vorn's house!"
The children could only freeze, perhaps not expecting such a warm welcome.
"Well, well, well. Are these the children Lord Vorn spoke of?" Now it was Garthur's turn to come to them.
Those kids flinched and started to look scared when they saw the minotaur's huge figure. But Garthur spun around like a ballet dancer and pointed in a direction with his two index fingers. "Let's see what a present for you!"
The children's chins dropped. I didn't even expect Garthur to behave like that.
I did pick individuals I didn't think would intimidate these kids.
"Come on." I pushed the kids a little. "Garthur is a good minotaur."
Although still looking doubtful, they followed the giant creature somewhere. Then, Garthur opened a black cloth covering some sort of a pile.
I could see the children's eyes sparkle as they saw what was beneath the cloth: toys of all sizes and colors.
"The horse carriage is mine!" One of the boys ran over to that pile of toys.
"Hey, you cheated!" Another boy followed.
The other kids looked at each other, then finally went there too. Their instincts as children have not disappeared, it turns out.
"They look delighted." Xenora smiled as she watched the children playing with dolls, wooden swords, colorful balls, and so on. "I'm curious about what it's like to be like them."
Xenora and the other demons were already adults when I created them. They had never experienced how much fun childhood was.
What a pity.
"I'm grateful you brought us here." Alain smiled at me. "Thank you very much, Lord Vorn."
Xenora crouched down in front of the little boy. "You don't want to play like them?"
He widened his smile. "No need, miss Xenora. I want to continue to be by Lord Vorn's side!"
"Oh, you want to always be with me, huh?" I chuckled. "That's so you can kill me, right?"
The boy's body began to tremble, though his eyes were fixed on mine.
Xenora's hand squeezed the boy's head. Her friendly expression was gone. Now the succubus' face was adorned with a murderous aura.
"You think we didn't know you had a knife in your pants?" The woman hissed in the face of the boy, who was grimacing in pain.
"Let go of him, Xenora," I muttered in a relaxed tone. "Other children might be scared."
Xenora let go of her grip, and Alain stepped back with a gasp, about to pull something out from the back of his pants.
I approached him and pulled his shirt. "At least don't do that here. Your brothers and sisters are having fun, don't disturb them."
"Let me go." He tried to break free, but his strength was nothing to me.
I glanced at the other children, who seemed oblivious to this incident. They are too focused on their new toys. "Xenora, keep them from looking for us."
"Sure, my lord." Xenora walked over to the kids with another smile while I continued to pull Alain away.
Some of my subordinates saw me do that, but they chose to remain silent.
"Let go of me, evil!" The boy continued to squirm. "You will destroy this country, so I will kill you!"
"I'm going to make this country a better place instead of destroying it."
Finally, he pulled out his knife and was about to stab me. However, with ease, I caught his hand and twisted it. He groaned in pain as the weapon fell.
I caught the knife before it hit the ground, pushed the boy away, and then threw it at the tree.
"I'm asking you, kid." I sat on a big tree stump. "If you attack me, it's likely that my subordinates will react by attacking you…. Maybe they will attack your brothers and sisters too. Aren't you afraid?"
"I and the others are indeed families, but as the members of shadow, we must be willing to lose each other under any circumstances, even kill them if needed." He answered in a tone full of emotion. "It's all for our country."
What a twisted doctrine.
"You're lying." I laughed again. "The biggest chance you had stabbed me was when we were flying. However, you don't want to do it because I brought your brothers and sisters, right!? They can fall if I get hurt."
"Shut up!"
"I guess you've been with the organization since you were a baby. That's what makes you want to do this." I yawned, showing a lack of enthusiasm to make him even more annoyed. "You don't know about joy as a child and playing with your friends, but you really love them in the end..."
Suddenly he ran, then jumped and pulled his knife from the tree.
"You can't kill me with something like that." I laughed when I saw him take a ready-to-fight stance. "The Shadow organization is dead. There's no point in carrying out their ideals."
The boy wiped his tears. "You have destroyed my house. I will kill you?"
? "House, you say?" I spat on the ground. "That place that treats you as a disposable? Even we, as demons, are better than that."
I am sick of it. The organization had died, but its loathsome loyalty still remained.
"It's okay if you want to kill me." I got up and walked over to him. "But you won't be able to do that with what the organization teaches you."
He was about to stab me, but I slapped his hand away, sending the knife he was holding far away. After that, I grabbed his collar and lifted him up high.
"Let go of me, demon!" Alain couldn't do anything but move his legs in desperation.
"Let me train you." I grinned. "You will understand my every move, so maybe you can finally see an opening to attack me in the end."
I'll have some fun with him.
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