Another four days had passed before we encountered another semblance of civilization. After our awful experience at Treount and almost being immolated, we had decided to take the path with the least towns and villages along the way.

We made do with waiting for the sun to fall and sneaking through the remaining villages at night. The only obstacles left after the most recent villages were the mountainous terrain and the hills and valleys they contained. As such, we arrived near Songrande without much fanfare.

It had been an entire night of riding, and as we approached what should have been the last hill, a sigh escaped my lips. The last couple days of the trip had been both highly concerning, and highly stressful.

Hazeel and Bella had started to argue the closer we got to the capital. Of course, Hazeel was just trying to give Bella some tips on how to cover up her identity, but Bella would have none of it. She was convinced that she only needed to act like herself, and everything would be fine since she had no visible demon characteristics, but Hazeel was more familiar with the city, and strongly advised her against that course of action.

Even now, they were arguing in the back about that very subject. “You dumb kid, listen to me! Whenever I was inside the city, they always used specially trained mages to sense your aura and determine what type of creature you are. It was used to catch shapeshifters during the war. What makes you think that they won't be there still!?”

“Ugh, shut up Hazeel. Why in God’s name would they keep those people around if they outlawed demihumans more than ten years ago? It would just be a waste of their money to keep paying those people. Not to mention that with borders closed to other countries, the Azure Continent’s trade revenue is almost nonexistent and would be a severe hit to whatever semblance of an economy they’d have left.”

They stared at each other before Bella turned her head and sat down at the end of the caravan’s bed. Hazeel sighed and looked at Bella in annoyance. I smirked and turned around to focus back on the road.

Night was coming to an end and the advent of morning began to coalesce from the stray beams of sunlight reflecting off of the mountain behind us.

As we came up over the last hill that connected the mountains to the city of Songrande, Hazeel peeked her head out from the back of the caravan and took out the band from her ponytail, letting her hair down.

“The wind feels so good.” She smiled, but that smile instantly faded as the sight of Songrande came into view.

The city itself wasn’t too colorful at first glance, with a large black wall encircling the outskirts of the metropolis. A large stone spire sprouted from the middle of the city, and rose into the clouds that obstructed just how large the construct really was.

As we started our descent down the hill, the sheer size of the gates truly came into view. They dwarfed the Clairborne Mansion, and looked like it was 20 meters tall.

“Welcome to Songrande.” Hazeel smirked as Bella came up behind her just to get a glimpse of the city. “CIty of the People… or at least, that’s how it was supposed to be.”

Bella glanced at Hazeel, then moved her gaze back towards the capital. “Something doesn’t feel right in there. It’s like… there’s something reacting with my horns.”

“With your demonic half?” I looked at Hazeel for answers, but she just shook her head.

“There was nothing that could harness demonic energy in the capital when I was around. It must be something new.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the black tower. “The castle’s spire has gotten a bit taller since the last time I was here… and been repainted.”

I stopped Biscuit from pulling the cart and got off the coach’s seat. Looking out towards the capital I had to wonder whether to believe Hazeel or trust in Bella’s line of thought. On one hand, showing too much cautions would make us seem suspicious, and draw the wrong kind of attention regardless of our will.

“Hazeel, Bella, get off the wagon.” We were at the foot of the hill, and still about a mile out from Songrande. Hazeel and Bella got off and walked to the side of the road, both giving me questioning looks.

Deciding it would be better to stealth into the city and act like we’ve been there before than go inside a conventional way, I felt for the world’s photons and opened a rift between my location and the Clairborne mansion.

I slapped Biscuit’s backside and he charged though the makeshift portal, heading straight towards the backyard of the mansion.

“Biscuit no!!!” Bella slumped to the ground, and Hazeel had to cover her mouth to contain her smile. I closed the hole and walked back towards the two, who showed me completely different temperaments.

“You!” Bella stormed up to me and started pulling on my shirt. ”I loved that horse, damn it! Biscuit was the only creature that didn’t expect anything of me! It was the only thing that showed me unconditional love!”

“Let - go - of - me - Bella.” In the middle of being pulled back and forth by the demoness who was a full head taller than me, Hazeel couldn’t contain herself any longer and burst into laughter.

Bella’s ire turned to Hazeel and she walked up to the smiling wood elf and frowned at her. “And what are you so excited about? Hazeel wiped a few tears from her eyes and hugged Bella.

“Please never change.” Bella’s anger quickly turned to embarrassment as she quickly tried to comprehend the sudden bodily contact.

“Huh? Wait, let go of me!” She tried to peel Hazeel off of her, but to little avail. The wood elf’s strength was too great for Bella to overcome, and all she accomplished was struggling pathetically in her arms.

I walked over to the two, and when Hazeel had finally had enough, she let Bella go and she slumped to the ground. She crawled over to me and put her hands on my pants. “Help me. She wants to smother me to death.”

Hazeel just giggled and looked me in the eyes. “So you’ve chosen to go with my decision, right?” I nodded at her and Bella just sighed at my feet. After picking herself up off the ground, she turned to look at the city.

“So, what’s your plan then Leon?”

“We portal into the city. Once in, we act like nothing's wrong; don’t look at anything, don't stare, only quick glances if you must Bella. After we get in, we can have Hazeel guide us to one of the guilds.” I reached for the photons around me once more and opened another portal; this time to the city.

Hazeel walked up to the portal and looked inside as Bella ran up and jumped in with a giggle.

“So, which guild do you have in mind Leo?” I smirked at her and jumped inside the portal myself.