The inside of Grisella’s cottage looked a lot more normal than he originally expected. At least as normal as a house in the middle of nowhere can be.

It consisted of only four rooms; a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and an upstairs den. It was a small space, one that felt even smaller with guests inside.

Wooden floorboards, wooden walls, and wooden rafters. The cottage was furnished with pale-yellow furniture. The color was reminiscent of the thatched rooftop outside. What’s more, they seemed to bleed into the floor, almost as if the house and the furniture were all one object, with the only point of separation being a single layer of paint.

If there was anything to point out, then it would be the fact that the entire place was a mess. Empty glass bottles and stacks of hardcover books littered the floor.

The mess extended out from the living room and into the kitchen.

“Ah…” Grisella lightly exclaimed as she stared bitterly at her own home.

I completely forgot that this place was like this…

The witch of solitude was not a very avid cleaner. In the first place, she lived alone. She had no reason to maintain a clean home. The part of her brain that knew of tidiness shriveled up a long, long time ago.

Her cheeks slightly reddened. She fought through her own embarrassment and boldly invited her guests inside.

Grisella guided them to the kitchen, where everyone took a seat by the table. She stepped out for a moment to prepare some tea. When she returned, to her dismay, the wolves had taken up seats around the table.

“…”

A pack of monsters sat by her table like poised adults. It was somewhat of a novel scene, although the wolves did track mud all over the chairs.

Grisella did not let her dissatisfaction show on her face. She kept a calm smile as she sat on the last remaining seat by the table.

Everybody crowded around the kitchen.

Her table was one of the larger pieces of furniture within the house. On normal occasions, it could seat up to eight people at a time. Unfortunately, with all the large and furry bodies smushed together like this, it felt extremely cramped.

Grisella sat with two wolves flanking both of her sides. To the left, an abnormally large wolf. To the right, a wolf that smelled faintly of Hepa leaves. Hepa was an extremely rare and extremely fatal poisonous herb. It could only be found inside the forest, and one leaf was enough to poison the water supply of an entire village.

In short, a body that radiated uncomfortable heat and a body that exuded out dangerous poisons.

Opposite of her was Ellis. He was flanked on both sides by a nine-tailed fox and a small wolf with a white discoloration on its left ear.

Ellis stared at the witch with curious eyes.

Grisella stared back. She fought through her discomfort and intently examined the man in front of her.

An intelligent homunculus… He is probably the first of his kind. Whoever created him must be some sort of alchemical genius.

The creation of a homunculus fell under the broad mastery of alchemy. Grisella was somewhat familiar with the topic, so she knew just how utterly impossible Ellis’s existence was. It was the type of thing that could not be created purely through invaluable ingredients alone.

After all, the most important part is the soul.

She sank deep into thought. No matter what, Lull’s current advancement in soul theory was far from enough. The world as it was now had no conceivable means of birthing a creature such as Ellis.

That’s not the only weird part either. The monsters that he hangs out with are also abnormal.

Seven irregular wolves and a legendary nine-tailed fox. What’s more, the animals were still pretty young, so they still had plenty of room to grow. There was a very real possibility that all eight of these creatures would grow up to become calamity-class monsters in the future.

How scary.

“…”

She’s just staring at me without saying anything… Being on the receiving end of such intense eyes, even Ellis felt slightly uncomfortable.

She’s probably suspicious of me, right? I mean, who wouldn’t? A random naked guy walking around in the middle of a forest is pretty damn suspicious. What’s more, his status as a homunculus would surely raise heads.

Damn it… It feels almost like I coerced my way into her house.

Ellis needed to do something to improve her perception of him. But how the hell am I supposed to gain her trust?

He squirmed around in his seat, unsure of what to do. After a while, Ellis came to a decision. I’ll take the initiative. The best way to gain someone’s trust was to simply bare it all out in the open.

Thus, he proceeded to explain his current situation.

Of course, he left out a few key details, most notably the fact that he was a reincarnator from another world. While he wasn’t as paranoid as he had been in the past, Ellis was still a little bit wary of the Heroes wandering around in this world.

Revealing a little bit of information should be fine, as long as he showed some restraint.

Sometime passed.

“So, you really are the son of the Demon King?” Grisella looked at him with doubtful eyes.

“Yes,” he nodded. “I’m Alma’s son.”

Grisella’s gaze grew even cloudier. “Who is Alma?”

“What?” Ellis furrowed his brow.

“Alma or whoever you claim to be a son of, there is no record of a Demon King that goes by that name.” She explained.

“That… that shouldn’t be right.” Ellis muttered, almost entirely to himself.

What’s going on? Alma made a big deal out of his existence, so I was almost sure he was famous. Is she lying to me? No, looking at her expression, I don’t think she’s lying. Then, did that old man lie? It can’t be… right?

“Maybe… maybe you made a mistake.” He hesitantly said.

In response, Grisella resolutely shook her head. “A Demon King is not something that one can just mistake. They are existences that threaten the very balance of the world around them. Since the dawn of recorded history, every single Demon King that has ever existed has been extensively recorded by scribes and scholars alike. Others might not know all of them, but as a scholar, I do. I can safely say that Alma is not one of those Demon Kings.”

“I… I see…” Ellis’s chest deflated. Then who the hell is Alma?

Grisella stared fixedly at him for a long time. Eventually, she added, “What’s more, you don’t… you don’t look like a member of any of the lineages out there today.”

“Lineages?” He furrowed his brow.

“The Demon King is not a hereditary title.” She explained. “It is something ‘bestowed’ upon by the people of Lull, given to the era’s most dangerous individual. In short, it is a title gained through blood and supremacy.”

“If it's not hereditary, then what’s the deal with this lineage thing?” He asked.

“Throughout recorded history, there has been a total of ninety-seven demon kings. Of that ninety-seven, eighty-six of them were from the same nine families.”

“That sounds a lot like hereditary to me.”

In response, Grisella nodded. “I can see why you might think that. For a system based on merit, it certainly is an odd statistic. Still, those eighty-six titles were not passed down. They were earned through blood and battle.

“Regardless of how contradictory it may sound, it’s the truth. In fact, it’s actually quite natural. After all, just because anyone can theoretically become a Demon King, that does not mean that everyone has equal probability. From the very start, the playing field was never even. There are things like background and talent that one must consider before vying for the title of the World’s Worst.

“And whether its military strength, monetary capital, or personal ability, those from the Nine lineages have it all.”

“So, what the hell are the Nine lineages?” Ellis reiterated. “Are they like a wealthy noble family from some powerful kingdom or something?”

“Close.” Grisella let out a thin smile. “Officially, they are known as the Demon King’s Nine Lineages. Nine bloodlines, all of which trace back far beyond the bounds of recorded history. In short, they are an ancient family with rule-breaking latent ability. They successfully utilized their long history in order to lay a deep foundation that extends to almost every corner of Lull.”

“They sound like some scary stuff.” Ellis let out a whistle. The heroes were one thing, but now, all of sudden, there were nine uber-strong Demon families to worry about? He did not know how to feel. How strong were they? Should he worry about them? Would they be a threat to him? He honestly did not know.

The more the witch spoke, the more frustrated he felt. That old man, did he seriously lie to him? Who the hell was Alma?

Grisella stopped for a moment and closely observed him. From what she could tell, Ellis did not seem to be lying.

She hesitated for a moment, before she said, “Speaking of which, you mentioned a mausoleum, right?”

He looked up. Ellis wordlessly nodded his head.

“Well, there are legends… legends of an ancient tomb that belongs to a being whose name has been lost in history. It's rather famous, actually. It’s supposed to be located somewhere in the forest, but nobody has ever seen it.”

“Well, I’m not surprised. This damn place is practically endless.” He hatefully stated.

Grisella shrugged her shoulders. “That’s true, but… they say that the Tomb houses the First Demon King’s body.”

“The First Demon King?”

She grimly nodded her head. “Yes, but rather than calling him a Demon King, most knew him by his other moniker, the Origin of Evil.”

“…”

That was indeed a pretty scary title. It certainly fits with Alma’s image.

“Not a lot know about him. After all, he existed over one million years ago. Only certain long-lived races still remember him, and even then, everything they know of comes from hearsays passed down by their predecessors.

“There’s almost zero information about him. Still, one thing remains consistent throughout the sparse records that detailed his existence: he was the original Demon King. Back during the Ancient era, his mere existence sent Lull into turmoil.”

She paused for a moment. “As it so happens, the nine lineages also originated from him. Whether that means that they were his blood-related siblings or merely subordinates that he favored, nobody knows.”

“Ah, so that’s how it went.” It finally clicked into place. The old man did say something about taking in a bunch of kids and raising them as his own. So, this was what he meant. Now it all makes sense.

Ellis nodded to himself in satisfaction.

Seeing his immediate change of attitude, Grisella felt somewhat astounded. Right now, he looked as if a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. For some reason, it kind of pissed her off a bit.

After another short pause, she suddenly changed the subject. Grisella asked, “Speaking of which, you said that you wanted to escape the forest so you’ve been following the river upstream, correct?”

Ellis nodded. “That’s right, but I’ve seriously met with misfortune. Even after traveling for five years, I still haven’t found a way out.” He let out a long sigh. “I was beginning to lose hope, but then you showed up.”

When he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed a change in Grisella’s demeanor. The solitary witch was hunched over her seat, completely still and unmoving.

Ellis did not know what happened. He hesitated for a moment before he gingerly poked her hands. “Miss Grisella?”

No response. He tried again. This time, her shoulders started trembling.

“Um… Grisella?”

“Are you an idiot, by chance?” she suddenly blurted out. The ice-cold calm on her face was almost charming.

“What?” Ellis widened his eyes in surprise. Her words completely stunned him.

“It’s fine… it’s fine to make mistakes some times, but to commit to the same mistake for five straight years…”

“Wait, um, I don’t understand. What are you trying to say?” A worried crease appeared between his eyebrows.

She stared wordlessly at him for an uncomfortably long period of time. Her gaze held some hints of pity and some hints of derision. After a while, she dropped the bombshell. “You went the wrong way.”

“W-what?”

“If you want to find civilization. You’re supposed to follow the river DOWNSTREAM. This not only applies to this river, but to most rivers in general.”

“…”

It was at this moment that Ellis’s fragile heart broke.