Chapter 807 Chapter 806: Citizens of Custodia (1)
The gates opened at the order of the older woman, who turned and descended from the wall to meet us at the gate, while the rest of the humans watched us with wary eyes as we began to make our way into Custodia.
Just like the rest of the cities inside Tragon, Custodia was damaged and ugly in appearance, the squat stone city crumbling slowly and rather empty as we made our way in, no humans lingering around the streets or bustling to and from point a to point b.
The older woman walked towards us, her bear pelt cloak making her thin frame feel even smaller and more fragile, though the heavy mace hanging from her belt had far too much wear to be just for show, meaning that lanky frame was hiding some serious power.
Besides her pelt, the woman had some scaled plate covering her chest as well as some leather bracers and boots, protecting her from attacks somewhat even if it looked haphazardly thrown together.
As for the other humans coming down to stand with her, they were armored similarly to her, with monster parts hanging on leather clothes acting as armor for them, while their weapons were rather ill maintained as well; rolled edges, slight rust, warps and chips...
"To whom do we owe the pleasure?"
Stepping forwards, the older woman looked towards Satanya before scanning the various Demons around her, looking at them all before turning towards me, a small frown on her face as she watched me silently slide off the roof of the carriage, opening the door for the three women inside.
"Satanya Beliali, Ammit Cimeriesa, Leone Presa-Ash, Jahi Asmodia, Anput Sera, and Katherine Zara. Surely a few of those names ring a bell?"
Her weathered features twisted in surprise as she raked her eyes over us, with them stopping as she stared at Leone, the Vampire Princess capturing her attention as she nodded towards the mature woman.
"Now, who are WE talking to? I don't recall their being an older woman ruling this city..."
"Aye, you wouldn't... Ahem, excuse me; that is correct, Lady Beliali. The Lord Justiciar perished alongside the rest of the city when that abomination attacked months ago. Just suddenly appeared before butchering and destroying Custodia and its people! We were lucky enough to have been either on the outskirts, far enough away, or up near the Grottos... We were just lucky..."
Those brown eyes were filled with regret, sadness, and melancholy as she let out a sigh, before she took a deep breath and focused on us again, adding "My name is Mary Ixan, and it's an honor to be in the presence of not one, but two Princesses! As well as the storied Demon Clans... Though, my apologies, the name 'Zara' doesn't ring any bells..."
I just smiled at the older woman, shaking my head and saying "I'd be surprised if you had, Miss Ixan."
"Please, just Mary. Ah, where are my manners. Come, let's chat somewhere a bit more comfortable, hm? I will admit that we haven't been able to properly fix up the buildings, but they should be more comfortable than the open streets. Nothing a good fireplace and some tea couldn't fix, hm?"
Gesturing towards the building resting at the end of the street, Mary gave us a small smile before leading us down the clean, yet pockmarked street, with some of the bricks stained a suspiciously darker color than the rest.
"So all of you are the survivors from that creatures attack? How many total? And what have you been doing to survive these last few months?"
"Hm... Only a hundred and three of us survived; we have sixteen children, twenty-three elderly, and the rest are of varying ages, from teenagers up to those teetering on that elderly mark like myself! As for how, we've been living off of whatever we could scrounge up, the crops that were waiting to be harvested on the outskirts, and hunting whatever we needed to make up the difference. That includes some monsters that have begun to push out of the Grottos..."
Walking behind Mary, we were surrounded by the able bodied men and women who were defending this place now, all of whom were staring at us with uncertain gazes as they tried to determine how they felt about their leader divulging this information to potentially dangerous people.
"That's more than I expected. A blessing, for sure. The monsters though; how many, and how often have they been migrating out of the Grottos?"
Satanya frowned, while Ammit stepped forwards and looked around curiously, the golden Demoness drawing the most attention thanks to her very... eye catching appearance.
"They have been left unchecked for months, Satanya. Of course they are abundant. Plentiful. Hungry. Someone needs to take the position as predator for them, but no one can step into that role. Until now."
"Damn straight. Miss Mary, how often have you been sending people out to hunt them?
Repeating the question, Satanya looked towards the mature woman as she waited for an answer; Mary was just staring straight ahead as she thought on it for a moment, her chapped, thin lips pursed into a thin line as she kept walking.
"It... It's been an every other day event, right Petri? Our hunting parties head out every other day and encounter various groups of monsters... As for how many, it was what, anywhere between two dozen and five dozen depending on the location? Simple answer: a lot of monsters."
"T-That's correct, Custodian..!"
The man from before jumped at being asked a question, making Mary sigh as she shook her head briefly at his nervousness, the woman saying "Petri, if they planned on killing us, we'd be dead already. Believe me. Ah... no disrespect meant..."
"None taken, because you spoke the truth. I'm liking you more and more, 'Custodian' Mary Ixan~! The few human's I've met haven't been as calm and collected when speaking with me, let alone with a host of my Clansmen as well."
"Yes, well... watching your home be turned to rubble with your husband and child still inside will do things to you, Lady Beliali. Come, we can treat you to some tea and keep talking inside."
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