Before the night ends, I should visit the only inhabitant of the Hill that was not at the feast. Coincidentally he is also the only that is not a monster. If you ignore the prisoners. They are not inhabitants.

"Hey, Noornor, are you awake?"

A somewhat scared dwarf boy comes out. "My Lord and Master Grendel, what can I do for you?" I think it can't be helped that the kid is scared of me, even after all that happened.

"I didn't see you at the feast. Was there any problem?"

He turns his gaze away, "I was just feeling uneasy, Lord. I didn't want to intrude."

I have to correct this meek attitude. And also

"Noornor, you can drop the formalities. You are a citizen of Willow Hill now, you won't intrude in our events. It is not complete without you. And I want us to be friends."

"I feel like a prisoner. Trapped."

"I'm sorry that you are trapped here for the time being, but I promise you that soon I will take you to Mirfield. And even back to your ancestral lands once you become a splendid warrior and smith. If that is your wish. Has any monster mistreated you?"

He waves his hands to deny, "No, no! Every... everyone here is very cordial and friendly. It is too strange even. They are friendlier than the people in people towns! If I had to say something, it is to give my thanks. You rescued me from being sacrificed, gave me a smithy, a place to belong. You have my eternal gratitude, my Lord. This hammer will be yours to wield as you wish!"

"Once things settle down with the demons in the east and the humans in the west I'm going to take you to the dungeon and train you to be a warrior. It is no good to be just a smith. You have a rare talent and greedy people will always come after you. It is no good to keep you locked away in a monster town either. I am sure you would prefer to be among your own kin."

"If that is your concern, Lord, we could invite other dwarves to live here. Things are not so good back at the homeland. Too many monster attacks. I'd rather have monsters as friends than monsters trying to eat me. I'm sure other dwarves would have the same thought, given the opportunity."

"Great. If you think you are about to run out of metal, let me know. I can go fetch more. Also, don't only work at the forge. I want you making pottery and glass as well."

Noornor bows and declares solemnly, "Your wish is my command, Lord."

"Noornor. Before you go. Let me try something on you. [Curse Breaker]!"

Faithlessness is dispelled.

It cost me ten times as much MP because of his Magic Down trait.

The dwarf looks at his hands and then up at me. "What is this feeling? It is like a weight was lifted from my heart and mind!"

"Nothing, I just removed a bug from your shoulder. Go to sleep now. Thanks for your time."

I climb the hill with a decrease weight spell on myself and find Shraaizar waiting for me. "You are too big, Grendel. I can't wrap myself around you to sssleep."

"Maybe around the neck? A naga scarf?"

I had to get a boulder to use as a pillow to make room beneath my neck but we finally managed to sleep under the starry sky.

Morning. I need to prepare for my evolution. Shraaizar had already left when I woke up.

Helen: Come pick us up, Grendel.

Grendel: Go to the south edge of the city field. I'll be there invisible.

Twenty minutes later I teleported Marcy, Helen, Zahariel, and Petal to the Hill. I have to find a way for them to come on their own. I think I could make a way to teleport from guild to guild. The guild master could brand their cards with a mark. A system of tokens that allow a certain pattern of teleport. The guild master of the destination would award a token upon the adventurer card that allows teleportation from a certain origin to that destination. Or a badge that marks trust from one guild branch and then the adventurer can teleport to and from two guilds they have badges for. Paying the spell's cost. I'll need improved cards.

"Hello? Grendel are you even listening?" Helen calls my attention.

Petal splashes me with a water ball. "Wake up, silly!"

I'm shaken from my musings, "What is it? You were saying...?" It was really bad to go rambling. It has been 3 days since the last time we saw each other.

"We were talking that since you've reached the level cap, you should evolve sooner. We will need to go search for the Soul Magic, you need to evolve." I sit down and Helen climbs on my leg. Even this way, she only reaches up to my chest. I gently pat her.

"And with Heorot mobilizing troops, there is a chance you will miss the fighting," Marcy adds.

"How do you know they are mobilizing?" The information flow is disorganized.

Zahariel is the one to answer, "We had Petal go ahead and scout for us invisible. I'd go but I'm not very good at stealth."

"I've counted around two thousand soldiers. It is, like, a lot."

They are going on their own. But why not give a message in party chat? "And why did you not tell me?"

Helen makes an apologetic face, "Sorry, but we wanted to give you time to relax and play with your friend. You have been working without pause for I don't know how many days. And you kept humanization up for too long. We don't know if it has a negative effect."

"It is fine, I am not angry. It was really fun spending these last three days here playing with everyone. And I got a good piece of information. A monster can't be tamed twice, even if it is willing to submit. The demons were sending a party of thirty tamers and wranglers to farm our citizens. I am thinking of taming every monster living here and then releasing them. This way they can't be tamed by anyone."

"But if you release, you won't be able to tame them again."

"That is not true. Let me introduce you to my new companion. "Skoll, come here boy!"

The pitch black wolf with reddish-orange streaks climbs up the hill with amazing speed. "You called?"

"This is Skoll. He was the boss of the fifth floor of the Battle Spring, but I decided to tame him to unlock the monster wrangler job. I still need two more C-rank or above monsters."

Skoll lies down on his belly to show he is not aggressive. Marcy approaches him and pats his fur, "Soft and warm!"

"He matches your size perfectly. From a distance it might look like a boy and his dog," says a playful Zahariel.

"I have tested with Skoll and I can release and re-tame him anytime. And since he was born in my dungeon, he recognizes me as his master even before taming him. I want to unlock the wrangler job before evolving."

The idea of unlocking a new job before evolving was not well received. But I think I can make it happen yet today. It is not a big delay to push back the start of evolution for a few hours.

"Again you are too busy for your own good. You can unlock the job after evolving. There is no need to hurry," Helen looks concerned.

"My instincts tell me to do it now. Anyway, there are three things I want to do before initiating evolution. First, change jobs to summoner and wrangler. Second, make a guild teleport system for VIPs. And third, jump-start the new dungeon for Mirfield. Tancred will be the dungeon master."

"That is a lot, but we won't argue about it. Have you picked your next evolution?"

"No. The list has only one entry. I compiled it before humanization wore off. Here it is, already with the 'absolutely not' evolutions from last time already removed."

Evolution Options [4] Troll Knight - An armored brute that can control a battlefield and command troops. Tough as an adamantite plate. [4] Troll Shifter - Has infiltration, mimicry and shapeshifting skills. It would be a very nice addition. [5] Troll Mage - Very offensive caster with lots of elemental magic to shoot. Kinda lame because the magical jobs already cover most of it. [5] Troll King - It is also a big one, around twenty feet tall. But has lots of leadership and monster controlling skills that only king-type races get. A nice pick but it means abandoning all the tier four options behind. [5] Half-Dragon Half-Troll - Has several skills and powers unique to dragons. It is a solid tier five choice, but maybe later.

"But Troll Demigod vanished. I don't know why."

Helen hesitates a bit before speaking, "Could you pick Troll King?"

"I was interested in the shifter before going into the tier five. And it would be a faster one. With an army marching on us nine days can make or break the outcome."

"That is fine, but to make up for the delay I want you to promise me one thing. I've thought for a long time and I made up my mind. I also researched a lot."

"Anything. What is it?"

"I want a baby. I want your baby. In here!" She puts her hands on her belly.

I froze. My blood decided to stop circulating and just turn to ice. The sky spins above me.

"Reduce Weight!" If it were not for Petal's spell, I'd have fallen backward.

"Hey, what kind of reaction is this? It is like you are rejecting me!" There is a mix of anger, embarrassment, and fear in her voice.

"No, it is not that. But you know what happens to the mother of a hybrid..."

"We don't know that. It is hearsay so far. Imayne told me she had no record of that being true. And even if something happens, the four of us are capable enough to save my life. You can even revive me if you act fast enough. It is all a matter of being ready. Besides..." She abruptly stops.

"Besides...?"

"I don't want to live in a world where nothing of you doesn't exist. If you are dying with that soul corruption thing, then I am willing to die to make your children live in this world. Yes, I am one of those 'give me your seed' girls too. I want to have a baby. I want to have Grendel's baby. I don't care about the cost. It is my dream. I love you. Please!" She lets it all out at once. It was hard to follow the stream of words.

Right after she finishes pouring her heart out, she blows a fuse and shrinks into a ball on my lap, hiding her face.

I don't have the right to refuse, do I? The fear of the 'monster bride's fate' was the only thing stopping us from having our babies. I want to hold my own children. "Marcy, what do you think?"

"I will support Helen. I want to have children someday, but I can wait. You will need support in case the worst happens, and I dislike pain. I have been in enough baby deliveries to know it hurts a lot. And having children will anchor the mother for a while. I think we can avoid that fate, even if it is true. We can lift an ancient curse that plagued the world for seventy plus centuries! So after Helen has her baby I'll go next, how does that sound?"

"Okay. Let me think a little." I can use the blood bond. I can use sacrifice aura. A dozen healing spells. The knowledge of childbirth from Earth... I bet I could try a C-section. "That is fine. I accept your deal. I will evolve into Troll Shifter and next up is King. And then we will have lots and lots of babies. I just don't understand why you insist on the king race."

Helen the Hedgehog answers from inside her curled body, "The 'prince' race. It is a very rare and highly intelligent hybrid variant race that can only be achieved when a king-type monster breeds with a people-races female. Like the orc prince that attacked Mirfield. Imayne confirmed my suspicions that troll hybrids are awfully stupid. And our children won't have the memories of a former life as human to make up for it. Troll King, you must be."

I caress her curved back, "It seems you did a lot of research. We will do it. I'll give you a smart troll prince."

Helen uncurls with a faint smile and voice, "Thanks. It means a lot to me."