[Groups of people, generally nomadic in nature, that decide to live beyond the law.

They often get food and money through illegal means, typically by robbing

Traveling merchants and pillaging small, defenseless villages.

Some groups get up to much bigger trouble, such as destroying important thoroughfares.]

The Demon Lord stepped into the house, gently closing the door behind her. “Pardon the intrusion. Mind including me in this meeting? I’d love to hear what kind of offer the government has in mind.”

Oroske looked to Kared, gesturing his head to the side for her to stand up. “Sure, so long as you don’t pick any fights and let us talk.” He agreed as Kared stood up, giving up her seat at the table. The Demon Lord took off her coat, revealing her slender, well-toned figure. Even under the coat she was covering up her entire body with a tight, black bodysuit. The material it was made out of seemed light and breathable, a must in the current weather, and I could sense large amounts of aether coursing through its fibers. Her mask was revealed to be a detachable visor for her helmet, neither of which she took off. “Won’t you show us who we’re dealing with?”

“Not today, I’m afraid,” She said coyly, “I’m embarrassed by my appearance. Besides that, regardless of anything that happens today, having the details of my identity revealed would be… problematic.”

“Fine then,” Oroske sighed, “Suit yourself. Now, let us begin.”

“First off,” Raen took the lead, “We’d like to give our offer. Sell out the Demon Lord, who we weren’t expecting to be sitting with us today, and we will help put you and your people on the right path. We have spoken with the Demon Parliament, and they agreed to allow Oroske and I to determine details. Oroske?”

“The men we talked to in Ish’din told us that this village was formed on the same fundamental ideals as most off-grid villages; freedom and self-sustenance. From what it sounds like, those men, and presumably many others in the village, are not keen on the bandit lifestyle. The one who gave us the information on how to find the village explicitly said he did not like it. Therefore, in exchange for information, we will rid you of this bad influence, and assist you in becoming a self-governing village. For starters, we can help the residents that don’t mind find proper employment to help get you on your feet. We can also supply you with seeds that will do well in this environment, as well as farming and cultivating equipment so you can have a self-sufficient food source. Based on my observations outside, come pyr’ra, a great many of your villagers will need to seek shelter in other people’s abodes. We can also get you assistance in procuring materials and help with construction labor so that everyone will have secure, warm shelter for the cold season.

“And as mentioned before, all we want in payment for this, is information. We would also like to ask for your assistance in this matter going forward as well, but it is not necessary for payment.”

“A reasonable offer,” Kalen muttered as she thought to herself. After taking a couple of minutes to think, she spoke again, “And you promise we will be free to be a self-governing people? With no worries about paying tax to the realm’s government, or abiding by their rules? We can simply keep to ourselves?”

Oroske nodded, “With the exception of people working jobs in other cities, which would likely be sourced by the government and therefore any income tax would apply, yes. So long as you aren’t being a nuisance to the general public, you’ll be free.”

Kalen folded her arms, sitting back as she thought to herself again.

“The Demon Lords’ offer was that after their plans succeed, we would have full, true freedom. We wouldn’t have any sort of interference with their new government, and we would be truly free to do what we wish. They also offered the entire village to be under our control,” she said after another handful of minutes.

“And?” Kared spoke up from her spot, leaning against the wall, “What kind of credentials do they have? How do you know they aren’t just going to stab you in the back?”

“How do I know that about you lot?” Kalen shot back angrily, slamming her hands onto the table and standing up. “My family has been backstabbed and betrayed by governments more times than I can count. How do I know it’s not just going to happen again?”

“Because in this case,” Oroske kept a calm tone, “You aren’t being backed by the government. Your primary backer is the Tsumi Clan. All three Half-Demon Clans have been known in several cases to fight back against the governments of the world and win. If they were giving you trouble, we would be there to help you.”

Kalen backed down, and went back to thinking after sitting down. After weighing the options presented to her thoroughly, she finally came to her decision. “Fine then, I’ll tell you what I know. The promise of freedom and land is nice, but you’re right; we don’t want to be bandits. I’ll tell you what I know.” She began by telling us that there are a total of three people that call themselves ‘Demon Lords,’ and of them the one with us is the youngest by two years. They operate under a man who calls himself the ‘Sixth Shadow,’ and each have their own subordinates that they order around. Kalen was told their goal is to reform society and overthrow both realms’ governments, before forming their own government that would unify the two realms. Their offer for freedom was on the condition that until the revolution started properly, they did as the Demon Lords asked. They were also offered financial support and combat supplies for their endeavors. She didn’t know any specifics, but she did know there are members of their group doing similar operations in the Human Realm. She knew that was how they were able to get their hands on information and supplies they could have only gotten from the Human Realm. She again didn’t know details, but knew that they had powerful connections on both sides of the rift, and had an impressive information network.

Once she had finished divulging the information she had, the table fell silent as the leaders digested the information. I recognized the title ‘Sixth Shadow’ as being a reference to the old Demon Empire’s leaders.

After a while, the Demon Lord stood up and said, “Well, Kalen’s made her decision. It seems I am no longer needed here.” She turned around as she opened the door, donning her coat, “And don’t worry, Kalen. If anything bad happens to you and yours, it won’t be because of us. Take care.”

At that point, the sun had already begun setting. “She must be confident if she’s traveling at this time,” Oroske commented. “Would it be okay if we spent the night here? It’ll be getting dangerous to travel in a couple hours, and I’m not sure the Fyrun inn would take us in as late as we would be arriving.”

“That should be fine. Let me go out and inform the other villagers of my decision before you go out there, though.” Kalen got up and went outside, saying she’d be back in just a minute.

“I’m surprised that Demon Lord didn’t pick a fight,” Raen said, “I thought for sure she’d be more aggressive towards us.”

“Agreed,” Kared said, taking her seat at the table back. “She probably knew if she fought Oroske or me she would lose, and badly. Hell, from my impression, even you or Kuro would’ve been a good match for her.”

“I’m not that weak!” I felt like I had to defend myself, especially after the other night.

“I’m not saying you are, I’m saying that for someone who claims they’re going to overthrow the governments, she is pretty weak. Not to mention, her potential is much smaller than yours.”

“What do you mean?”

“From what I can tell, the strongest she’ll ever be is far weaker than the strongest you’ll ever be.”

“You can tell something like that?”

“I can certainly guess. There are certain qualities and things you can pick up on that will tell you about a person’s potential. It’s very complicated and difficult to explain. Eventually, you’ll more likely than not learn how to tell for yourself. It’s less a matter of ‘if’ and more a matter of ‘when.’”

“What about how strong a person is currently?”

“Again, there are things you can pick up on passively. If you are sensitive enough to aether, like Oroske is, you can get a pretty good read on how strong a person is.”

I had more questions along that same line of thinking, but before I could ask any more, Kalen walked back into the house.

“Alright, the villagers understand my decisions and the reasons for it,” she said, “They shouldn’t give you any more issues while you’re here. I’ve asked them to bring out some of our extra tents for you all to sleep in tonight.”

“Thank you, Kalen,” Raen said, with Oroske echoing him shortly after.

We went outside and held a short meeting with the other members of the group who weren’t present. Raen and Oroske debriefed them on everything that was talked about. Afterwards, we received the extra tents and some thin, frankly ratty blankets from the villagers, and set out to assemble them so we could get some rest.