DragonHeart

A Weeping Heart

I spend the rest of the evening and even well into the next morning in some sort and dream-like trance.

I scope out every nook and cranny of Nazarick, meeting other NPC's I forgot even existed, but who's existence excites me nonetheless, and otherwise trying to experience the Tomb to the fullest.

I crash hard when I finally rest on the second day -probably slept about fifteen hours- but as soon as I open my eyes and come face-to-face with Damien's inches away from mine, adrenaline spikes, and spikes hard as I bolt up in bed.

"Wha -Damien-"

"I apologize for disturbing your rest, Lady Ryoko," his smooth, deep voice doesn't help clear my muddled thoughts as he remains on one knee, a clenching fist on his heart. Although the cloth still obscures his eyes, his heavy gaze feels as if it's seeing into my very soul.

I swallow the lump in my throat. "It's fine, but, ah, how long where you there, exactly?" I squeak, and hating myself for it.

"Not nearly long enough," he purrs. "It's my deepest regret that I was unable to complete my task quicker."

'Naila, you dummy!' I think despertely to myself. 'Why'd you have to go and make him a yandere? Why?!"

A nervous laughs escape me, and I pull the blankets tighter around me. Despite the nightclothes that one of the homunculi maids provided for me, Damien has an uncanny way to make me feel naked. Speaking of...

I spare a quick glance to the homunculi maid -Fifth?- who insisted to stay in my room as I slept, for whatever godforsaken reason I would need her as I slept. Sitting on a chair in the corner, she tilts her head at me, blinking and smiling as if silently asking what I need.

I'm going to have to talk to them about letting Damien in without permission...

"Just wait outside next time, okay?" I tell Damien awkwardly.

He frowns, lips pursing in displeasure. "Is this an order?" he asks me.

"Yes."

The frown deepens, but he reluctantly inclines his head. "As you command, my Lady."

"Great, now that we understand each other -what did you find?"

Straightening, Damien reaches into his inner cloak pocket and hands me a hand-drawn map. I'm careful to avoid his fingers as I take it. Damien goes on to explain what he and his underlings where able discover in the hours that they were gone, tapping the territories on the parchment as he does so.

Apparently we've popped up somewhere close to what's called to the Great Tob and the Azerlisa Mountains by the locals, the locals being the bordering RE-Estizes Kingdom on the west, the Slane Theocrecy on the South-West, Baharuth Empire on the East, Katze Plains on the South-East.

The nearest settlements are a few days travel on horse, all of them tiny, "meagre" villages. However, they all belong to the RE-Estizes Kingdom, and the nearest city is called E-Rantal.

"Is that all of the territories?"

"Forgive me, but we are still gathering intel further away."

"I see..." I frown, mulling the report over in my head. "Well, as you do that, I want you to also find out what the human's relationship with non-humans is in the different territories -wait, are there even non-humans in this world?" My eyes widen at this train of thought, multiple possibilities running and trampling over each other inside my head. "Okay, okay, so first find out if there even are non-humans, then if there is, what kinds, how powerful they all are -including humans- and what their relationship with each other is like."