Mash and Jill only needed to wait a little longer for Red and Luke. Both appeared around the same time, and Luke was grinning like a madman. It was rare to see such an expression on him as he tended to be more reserved. On the other hand, Red also seemed pleased, but she also looked a little conflicted.

“So, you want to tell us what gifts you got? Mash got hot, and I got wings. Judging by your expressions, I’m guessing that you got something more interesting than that.”

Jill started speaking as soon as they got underneath the temporary roof and out of the rain. Still grinning like a fool, Luke spoke even before taking a seat.

“I got the ability to release some of the souls I have consumed. It was strange, like learning a technique I should have always had.”

That was not what Mash was expecting from his expression. Wouldn’t something like that just make him weaker? Knowing Luke, he may have already released all of the souls he had taken. That was worrisome since it would mean that he was a lot weaker now.

“Did you get rid of the souls already? Won’t you be weaker?”

Mash spoke hesitatingly, not wanting to put a damper on Luke’s good mood. Luke slowly turned towards him, and he somehow managed to smirk and grin at the same time.

“No, I didn’t get rid of them. Even if I do, I still get some of the benefits and gain a larger temporary boost when I do. If anything, I have become stronger.”

Luke sounded confident, but Mash still doubted him a little and almost spoke without thinking. He almost asked him if that meant that he would be more willing to steal souls now. Although, his better sense managed to stop the words, and he changed them at the last moment.

“Well then, Red what did you get?”

It was the only thing he could think of to head off his poor comment and was glad to change the subject. Luke was sensitive around the subject of taking souls, and Mash almost put his own foot in his mouth.

“Yeah, what has you looking so confused?”

Jill spoke soon after Mash did. So fast that he thought that she was trying to stop him from doing something stupid. He tried giving her a look that said that he wasn’t that much of a fool. The look he received in return told him that she thought otherwise. Red ignored the passing glares and spoke through them.

“I got this”

As she was speaking, a red crystal emerged from her chest. It seemed to come from where her heart would be, and he wondered how that was possible. Then he remembered that her whole body and even her clothing were somehow made of blood. The gem was shaped like a cube. She started explaining what it was afterward.

“It’s a blood ruby, and my trial was to bond with it. Didn’t think it would end up as my reward too. The trial was surprisingly difficult, and I needed to…”

She trailed off as she saw the expressions on everyone’s faces grow bored. Her eyebrows twitched slightly before she continued.

“You guys are insufferable. Fine, it lets me store mana for later use, and around ten thousand of it. The problem is that will take me a while to fill up. There, that’s all you three care about anyways. All of you need to learn to appreciate the art of storytelling.”

It sounded like she was chastising children, though the three of them didn’t care. The details of the trial might be interesting, but they really just wanted to hear about their powers. Talking about the trial could come later.

After talking a little more, Mash shared his experiences and what the God had said. As he described his meeting with the God, the others actually had the gall to look bored at his encounter. Resisting the desire to roll his eyes, he just explained the details that the God had shared with him. They were more interested at the end of his recounting, and he didn’t bother hiding his annoyance. In the end, he asked them the big question.

“Well, what do you think about giving up the reward to try and get the people out of the dungeon?”

“Sounds good to me, but what is your plan afterward? I mean we can’t just bring thousands of people to our world without consequences, especially if some of them are as strong as the twins.”

Red was the voice of reason, but he had actually thought about this already. He had come up with an idea earlier and believed that it would work.

“Well, technically you and I are both nobles, so I was thinking of bringing them under our respective houses. Yours or mine would work, and I think my brother can help get them settled either way.”

She nodded her head in response to Mash’s statement but was obviously giving the idea some thought. It took a second for her to come up with a response.

“You should bring them under your house. Arthur is a pretty good deterrent to stop people from making trouble, whereas my background would probably lead to more.”

She was right, and he should have thought about that. Currently, she was the only person in her new family, and it would be an enemy to her previous family. Mash could tell that her relationship with her family was bad, but he didn’t know how far it would go. It should be fine though; his brother could manage a couple thousand people. At least, he knew that Arthur wouldn’t be able to abandon them. Although, Mash knew that he would get chewed out for it later.

“Well, that’s a plan for what to do at the end of the dungeon, but how do we plan on getting there? The god did say that we needed to do well.”

Luke sounded concerned, and way more reverent when he mentioned the god. Mash didn’t that was necessary, especially with how the God had acted. Plus, it seemed like the God had been a dragon.

“We do more of the same, look through the library for answers and be around to help deal with any problems that pop up. Occasionally go around with Edward to check for demons, and I think we will eventually get to the end.”

Listening to Jill, he was a bit surprised to hear how normal her plan was. He had been expecting her to come up with something more interesting. However, her idea was surprisingly tame considering how much she had been craving something exciting. Mash thought that Jill had become a thrill seeker of sorts and hadn’t been able to find something exciting since getting her class advancement.

None of them argued with her as it was the most sensible plan. They didn’t really have any more leads yet and had gotten the power that they wanted. Now, all they needed to do was clear the dungeon. With a plan in mind, they took a few minutes to just relax before heading back to the village.

“By the way, I didn’t actually get a gift. Apparently, I’m not considered human anymore. The new appearance is from the golden body.”

Now, they spent a little bit longer explaining each of their trials. He wondered how much time had passed since they entered the trial. Each of them had experienced a different passage of time. Jill's try had only taken her an hour or so. On the other hand, Luke’s had lasted almost three days. Hearing about the strange way time had worked, they realized that they had no idea how many days had passed for the village. That thought got them to start moving.

Jill teleported them next to the mansion, and Mash was glad to see that nothing looked changed. The village seemed fine, and he didn’t see any signs of battle or destruction. Teleportation was such a convenient ability. Another thing Mash could do was reveal one of his transformations. He could act like that was one of the gifts he received and considered what he was willing to reveal. He would continue to hide his dragon form and use the power to surprise his enemies. The Priscilla form would be a good choice as it was similar to his dragon form but less powerful. It would help with his eventual sneak attack. It was still a bit evil-looking though. After a little more consideration, he decided he would reveal the cat form if necessary. It should be good enough considering what it was capable of.

They entered the mansion and were inducted into a commotion of sorts. Apparently, they had been gone for over a full day. Considering that would be two weeks back home, he realized that he really wasted a lot of time. Even now, he would probably be spending some more time in here. The first thing they did when they got inside, was go and speak with Robert and Edward. The two of them updated them on what they had discovered, and he was surprised to hear that they found a few more demons. There were a couple of servants with gifts related to sight, and two of them had been able to tell if someone was human or not.

They had gone to almost every house with the two of them and found two more homes like the one they had visited. The current issue was that they weren’t able to find out where the demons were coming from. The church had been routed, so none should be coming from there. Furthermore, they had checked almost every house. Despite all of this they found another family killed today. Edward’s current plan required him to check the entire village every day, and it was obvious that that would exhaust him soon.

They needed to find the source of the monsters or their target. If the target was an object, they could simply dispose of it and hopefully stop the demons that way. Knowing the source would be just as important, as it was something they would need to deal with. Mash had to wonder if it was human doing this. The lord believed it was one of his enemies, though he hadn’t expanded on that matter. He only explained that his daughter was a target for many devoutly religious people, and he had a plethora of enemies. Trying to figure out who was the culprit would be pointless.

Mash couldn’t trust the man as it felt like he was being vague to cover up some greater truth. He didn’t think that the man was the culprit behind the demons, but there was still something off about him. His suspicions really started when he saw how relaxed the man seemed about the whole situation. The lord was strong, strong enough that he should have been able to deal with the demons before they became a problem. Mash had to wonder why the man hadn’t, and most of his research would be around the family’s history.

Their group spent several days of relative peace, checking the library daily for new information. They had focused on completing the dungeon but had also given themselves enough time to look at some other things. Red had listed dozens of items that existed in this world that would be valuable back home. When he asked her about it, she said that she was trying to find things these people could do once they were freed. He was somewhat jealous of her foresight but also knew that he was the kind of person to live in the moment.

As he was reading up on the family history, he was surprised when he found something of importance. After reading the book for so long, he had begun doubting whether there was any valuable information in the library. Thankfully, something finally turned up, though he wasn’t happy about what he read.