☀️ Arselia and Akonia

During the voyage on the ship, Alaria couldn't help but ponder the princess's true motives. Undoubtedly, eradicating hypothetical evil was a noble cause, but few would send someone across vast distances for such a purpose, especially demanding the retrieval of hearts and even showcasing one already obtained. A more fanatical individual might perceive a sinister intent, particularly considering Her Majesty's interest in the occult. However, her acquaintance with Mr. Bellring, for instance, clearly demonstrated to the tanarsian that an interest in the occult did not always go hand in hand with malicious intentions. Moreover, one of her companions wielded a perfectly ordinary sword containing a bound demon, and yet, he was a noble man, simultaneously a guardian and captor of an evil entity, using its dark power for good. And sometimes, the truth lay somewhere in between. So, one could speculate on this topic for a long time, but it would be a futile exercise. The task itself was a good deed, ridding the south of the threat of evil, and the princess made a positive impression on Alaria. In the warrior's opinion, that was enough. To distract herself from unnecessary thoughts and reflections on their mission, the tanarsian borrowed a recently purchased encyclopedia from Kenshiro. However, its contents surprised her considerably. Chapter after chapter presented rather explicit descriptions of the lives of the female monsters inhabiting the south, who reproduced by mating with human men? It was difficult to say how much of what was described was reality and how much was fantasy or the author's specific interpretation of certain facts. She had certainly seen many strange things in her life. It was worth remembering the succubi and incubi, desire incarnate. And the description of lamias more or less corresponded to the lamias of her native world... with adjustments for all the same factors related to their personal lives. What was the difference between the local lamias? Or were the Rheian lamias the same, but she had never paid attention? The tanarsian was even lost in conjecture. She couldn't help but wonder what the perception of the world was like for other creatures described in the first two chapters. This prompted Alaria to temporarily put the book aside and clear her head. She would definitely return to this reading material, but a little later. ***

— Hello, my name is Gorazd, and what's yours?

“A dreyarian?” was the first thought that crossed the warrior's mind when she saw the stranger. But no. Unlikely. The dreyarians were an artificial people, the result of an experiment. It was unlikely that such an experiment had been conducted in this world, although she couldn't say for sure. She should spend more time studying local history. — Alaria, — the girl nodded, barely restraining herself from asking, "Well, what can you do?" — Nice to meet you.