The first thing I decide to do when I arrive back at the castle is to wash up.

Not only am I totally drenched in dead demon fluids, but my dress is as well.

I know I could change this with a thought, but to feel mentally clean I'd prefer a bath.

Fortunately, the castle has several public pools.

I was a bit worried that the upper caste would monopolize them, and yes they do, but that seems only to be the case for a selected few luxury rooms.

The others are free for all.

Guess no one wants that the servants stink.

While I'm not too sure about their bodies' structure and certainly won't investigate deeper on that matter, the People are mostly designed after humans and so should sweat like everyone else.

So I'm using my special sense to find a bath.

And fortunately, it's also completely empty, which was something I was intentionally looking for.

I guess most people prefer the facilities their quarters provide instead of sharing with others.

So I soak for a while and am subsequently confronted with the problem that my dress is still dirty.

I'm sure there is a way to get it washed, but it would be a hassle to figure out and I don't see why I should burden anyone.

In the first place, everything in this world already originates from me, so my usual arguments concerning flesh coats aren't valid.

After I'm done with personal sanitation I am confronted with the fact that I don't have anything else on my to-do list.

I suppose I should join the next meal time, as it might raise suspicion if people notice that I'm skipping meals as if I don't need them.

Which is the case, but nothing anyone should know about me.

So I'm going to the mess hall, which already starts to fill.

Something I can already feel from afar.

When I enter, I scan the room and quickly find Makoto and his mother.

Now that the library is restricted her research probably became a bit less captivating.

And once again I worry what she could gather while it wasn't.

I approach them to see what they're up to.

I'm still kinda the one who's responsible for this trip and like this should check on the participants.

"Ah, Iori. Just got out of the library. I was thoroughly testing if your safety measures are working and couldn't find any loopholes yet." (H)

I'm sure she gave her best.

"Hello... Iori." (M)

"Wow, is it just me or did it get cold in here?" (I)

"You know, I'm really trying to stay open for you, but today's excursion into this forest makes me wonder. I'm not blaming you for its most concerning and certainly deadly appearance, but then we have to deal with stalking beasts, an abundance of freshly killed monsters, and a display of your powers. But all of this wouldn't be as bad if you'd decided to tell me anything about what's going on." (M)

"I had my reasons why I couldn't talk during that time. And you weren't easily approachable while you were with the other knights. That's no reason to be angry." (I)

I am not angry, I'm scared, okay? You know, as a human I'm still comparatively weak. All of the knights are for good reason quite afraid of the forest. I'm not directly angry at you or anything, I just wish you'd be more considerate. Sometimes it feels like you're losing all sense for how it is to be normal." (M)

"Sorry. I promise I just tried to keep all the bad stuff away from you all. The corpses were... a minor accident." (I)

"Sure. Ths whole place makes me just a tiny bit uncomfortable." (M)

And snarky.

"This could be a natural rejection reaction of your soul to this realm. Those who came into existence in this world are adapted, but coming from the outside one notices that something with this realm isn't quite right. And with that, I mean that it's artificially created. This causes a sense of wrongness with anyone coming from a more traditionally created universe." (H)

"Wait, you know how the universe was created?" (I)

"No idea. But well, there's an abundance of theories. First, it's no universal thing, forgive the pun. Each dimension might have its own story of how it was created. Most demon realms are conjured through dreams. I won't go into detail here. There are many possibilities, which go from the big bang, to that one of your kind is dreaming its entirety into existence on an extremely larger scale than you do here, but nothing is certain." (H)

Now I'm feeling small.

Well, relatively seen.

"If it's uncomfortable here, then I guess we should think about leaving soon. We were here long enough and even if Chiaki is living her isekai dream right now we'll have to drag her out of here. Or I will, since I'm doing the teleporting." (I)

"I support this. Nothing good can come from dragging this out. Even if I dread the transport." (M)

"Oh my. I barely had time to dig deeper into my research." (H)

Any additional moment for you to figure out unspeakable secrets seems too long for me.

"I'm just a bit worried about the turmoil that will start when we suddenly vanish. I mean, you can leave, but I'm kinda stuck with them." (I)

"It's not like you're obligated to do something for them. You provided them food, water, and shelter. Okay, food was an issue for some time, but they figured it out. And since when do gods fraternize with their cattle?" (H)

"C-cattle?" (I)

I hope I heard wrong.

"Iori, it's quite obvious that this is a soul farm. You're cultivating them in a controlled environment. They start out as dull grey soul mass and then, over the course of numerous reincarnations they're forming proper souls. You even colored them according to their respective tendency, which is important for their magical properties, respective density, or... taste. This case is blatantly obvious to anyone who sees it." (H)

"I-, I certainly don't intend to do anything to any of them." (I)

"So you're saying now. Let's wait a couple centuries." (H)

I want to retort, but I can't.

I don't know if those people, or rather souls, will be fine for an indefinite time.

I simply can't tell.

Thinking about it, all those people I met here will stay.

When we're gone, they'll continue to exist within me.

Anyways, the atmosphere at this table got quite unpleasant and I'd like to eat somewhere else.

I walk over to Eryna to inform her in advance about our departure.

I see her at a table close to the entrance with two other maids.

While I was already on the way, my good old social anxiety regarding strangers comes up, and makes me want to abort the attempt.

However, one of them with a kinda seething orange aura noticed me and waves me over.

"Hey, aren't you Eryna's apprentice? Come, sit with us!" (A)

Called out like this I can't hide away within the crowd anymore and have to respond.

"Ehm, hi." (I)

Did I mention that I'm absolutely terrible at small talk?

"Hey, Eryna! Aren't you going to say something?" (A)

The person in question suddenly squeaks and looks overall uncomfortable.

"Y-yes, I-Iori, certainly you can sit here." (E)

Okay, she's totally on edge.

I know she said she doesn't want it, but personally, I believe a case of amnesia would be just the thing she needs.

Maybe it's just the negative label of memory loss but many of her issues would be gone. However, I still do mind her free will.

"Now tell me! How is it to work below the iron maiden? Hard? I'm sure she knows no mercy." (A)

Why am I receiving such strong Chiaki vibes from this woman?

Okay, her orange aura isn't too far off, but I shouldn't use this as the only reference point to judge a character.

"Ah, I can't complain. There was much work but I was never treated unfairly." (I)

"Oh, right. All of you newcomers have some kind of specialty. I heard you're incredibly strong! Some of the knights talked almost jealously about how you lifted stuff as big as yourself. Is that true?" (A)

Damn, did I display too much?

I don't want to stand out.

This will only cause trouble for me.

Yet that I can do something seems to be expected by them.

Now I should at least ensure that I'm not getting conscripted for knight duty.

"Ah, well. I can carry stuff, but not much more. I'm far too clumsy and lack the confidence to fight anything at all." (I)

"Ah that's not so bad. Alone the fact that you're special will allow you to remain in the castle. They're always interested in the more special ones. Don't you agree Tanja?" (A)

"Uh, I wouldn't know. I'm just here by mere chance." (T)

"Nonsense! You're a blueskin! Those are always good to have around. You lot are collected, inoffensive, and very diligent in your duties. It's safe to assume that the castle wants to bind those traits." (A)

Okay, that sounds an awful lot like soul racism.

Maybe racism with a positive connotation, in this case, but we all know it never stays at that.

And now this woman focuses on me again.

"On the other side, it's weird how I absolutely cannot tell how you and the others of your group are. You all seem to be completely different while all looking the same. It's odd." (A)

"A-Alira! Maybe you should stop... that gossiping! Our shift starts any moment." (E)

Is she worried that I might be offended and do something bad?

"Ahem, I don't think it's right to judge someone from their looks. I mean, there's more to a person than this, right?" (I)

"Hm, you're not too wrong. That goes especially for your group. I mean what that one of yours did was ridiculous!" (A)

What is it now?

Did Chiaki once again cross some borders?

"What happened?"

"Oh my, that rumor is so fresh? Did you hear what that woman did to Kallum?" (A)

Woman?

Which woman?

Haruna sits just over there.

This leaves...

"What is with my mum?!" (I)

"Oh right, that was your relationship! Tell me, how does this work if you all came to be here the way you did? How do you know that she's your mother?" (A)

I don't have time for this!

"What is with my mum!" (I)

"Whoa, no reason to freak out. They say she threw Kallum through the room. Guess it's safe to say she got him pretty good." (A)

"Who's Kallum?" (I)

"One of the younger knights. I guess he wanted to court her, yet the talk that goes around didn't concentrate on that part." (A)

I rush up from the table and turn to the next exit while seeing that Eryna, who sat in that direction looks progressively panicked.

There's no time to waste!

"I need to see her!" (I)

"Well, good luck with that. It was an offense against a member of one of the great orders. She should be confined at the moment to await her judgment." (A)

"Judgment!?" (I)

"Well, it's a complicated case. On one side she disrupted order, on the other she has important friends. So she might get around a too severe punishment." (A)

"Punishment!?!" (I)

At this moment a trembling Eryna rushes up and drags me away from the table.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" (I)

"Y-y-y-your e-e-e-eyes." (E)

Shit, not again!

The lack of commotion tells me that it should still be fine but I have to avoid looking at people.

However, that doesn't matter.

I need to find my mum!