The blood domain was full of plants.


    Wow! Zoe thought. That is a real shocker. I’m really surprised by that. Who would have thought it? Technically, the answer would have been ‘not her,’ had Darius not made that last offhand comment.


    Aside from the sheer novelty of entering a room inside a building and emerging in a massive underground jungle—the place was still absolutely bizarre, beautiful, and hands-down the most fantastical thing Zoe had experienced yet.


    The jungle was dark and thick. Had it not been for the way forward being excessively obvious, Zoe wouldn’t have known which way to go. As it were, the plants contorted themselves into an insultingly perfect circular tunnel winding deeper in. It was also lit by a trail of drifting golden motes. Everything else was pretty much an impenetrable leaf wall, and there was a big slab of rock right behind the spot where she’d appeared.


    I sure do wonder which way Lord Victor wants me to go. That might be a bit unfair on Zoe’s part. It was certainly better to be handed a path that she was physically incapable of screwing up than to try finding her own way through the place.


    As she walked, she couldn’t help but try to catch one of the drifting golden lights. But they avoided her touch, lazily floating along unseen currents—up until her fingers drew close. Wait a minute… Those weren’t fingers—those were claws. The fuck? Zoe knew one-hundred percent that she’d had lesser disguise on, and she hadn’t activated the skill again to cancel it.


    “It’s the domain. At Rank A, this ‘Lord Victor’ is comparable to a god within his own domain boundaries.”


    Zoe stopped. A god?


    “Relative to us, yes. At Rank F, there is little meaningful difference between facing a god and facing a Rank A individual within a domain even half as sophisticated as this. For someone like Lord Darius—who is also Rank A—entering the domain isn’t remotely so extreme. It’s just a strong disadvantage, should they meet each other in combat.”


    That made sense—but there was a problem she needed to bring up. I thought the gods were all gone, she thought back while resuming walking. And it looked like she was getting close to her destination—the jungle might be smaller than it had first appeared, as she could see a larger clearing up ahead.


    “Yes, that’s correct. The lack of knowledge of the elder gods does not preclude us from recalling the general scope of their power. But more importantly, it was a comparison I thought we would both understand.”


    That was fair enough, Zoe decided. It also didn’t do much to make her feel more comfortable about being there. Also, why hadn’t she appeared in the same place as Lord Darius? Little things like that heightened her sense of unease.


    Less than a minute later, Zoe stepped into a lovely little garden. It was a bit weird to describe a part of what was already a jungle as an open garden, but that’s how it was. While the roughly-circular area wasn’t nearly so dense as the rest of the place, it was still full of plants. A ring of thick, twisting oaks delineated where the precise boundaries were, with several other of the circular tunnels opening up between them. Zoe was pretty sure you didn’t usually find old oaks in a jungle.


    Within the ring, it was less like a full clearing and more of a looping knot of different paths, each close enough that you could see through to the others. The vegetation between the trees was also much more varied, with different flowerbeds, vines with suspiciously glowing fruits, and even parts that were actually little rock gardens.


    Zoe knew when she’d stepped into the very center. Lord Darius was waiting for her—as was a youthful woman who Zoe guessed was the gardener. She could tell because of the work gloves and that pickax-like hoe-thing gardeners sometimes used.


    “Uh, hi,” she said as she stepped fully into the true clearing. “This place is pretty cool.”


    “Hmm?” Lord Darius cocked his head and adjusted his long blue coat. “I find it quite balmy.”


    Be careful with how you use slang, Zoe noted. Rather than drawing attention by correcting it, she just repeated herself differently. “Either way, it’s kind of awesome.”


    “Ah, you like it?” The gardener smiled. Zoe nodded in response, noticing she’d set her tool down somewhere. “Well I’m flattered. Few ever get a chance to appreciate my work here, and even fewer remark on it.”


    That made sense to Zoe. The estate as a whole definitely had some kind of master gardener overseeing things from what she’d seen, though this woman looked a little young to be filling that role. Regardless, it would be a bit annoying to pay extra special attention to the boss’s private area without anyone else getting to come see it.


    But—where’s the boss? “Where is Lord Victor?” Zoe asked, her eyes moving between Lord Darius and the gardener, who was on the opposite side of the central pond from them.


    And lo! The worst possible thing occurred. Lord Darius released a cruel bark of laughter—and the other noble jackass joined him with a vicious giggle. A mounting horror rose up from the depths of Zoe’s gut. It fought for supremacy over the burning anger and shame radiating from her face and chest—until the two feelings mixed into some secret, unnamed third thing she never ever wanted to experience again.


    “Oh, don’t look so mortified,” cheeky asshole number one said as flicked a stray leaf off his coat. “I’ve always known Lady Blodmane to be the understanding sort, and not one to get caught up in the little formalities of high society.”


    “Yes, you needn’t worry,” cheeky asshole number two reassured her. “And believe me when I say I rarely receive guests in such crude work clothes. Yet when Darius told me about your little interaction with Rudy, I simply had to break the usual standards of attire, you see.”


    Zoe’s jaw nearly dropped open. The last scraps of her dignity worked overtime to keep it closed and not make her look like an even greater imbecile. Then she rounded on Lord Darius. “You fucking jackass! Is the entire reason you go dragging a bunch of kids around just to fuck with them? Sadism isn’t the only way to address boredom, I’ll have you know.”


    “You’re not a fan of sadism then?”


    Saying that was a big mistake on Victor’s part, because now Zoe rounded on the other jackass here. “That’s not what I said, lady. I said it’s not the only way to relieve boredom. And before you ask, no. I wouldn’t say I’m always against it, but I am if you’re talking about doing it to me.”


    It was probably a stupid idea to snap on the head of a noble house like that, a worse idea to do it to a Rank A one, and an even worse idea to do all of that while within her own domain. That being said, Zoe’s level of being pissed off had now exceeded the ‘giving a fuck’ threshold. Any fallout sounded like a great problem for future Zoe to deal with.


    There was also the fact that Victor—Zoe decided she’d make a habit of skipping the ‘Lady’ from now on—well Victor seemed like she wouldn’t outright murder her for it.


    “That’s not the sort of thing we should count on,” Lilith cautioned.


    Not that Zoe cared. “Too bad then, I’m already doing it and I’ll do it again even harder if you give me shit about it,” she snapped back within her own mind.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    “So sadism is okay, but only when it’s okay with you.” Victor smiled. “I wouldn’t expect any less of a Demon. Now.” She returned her attention to Lord Darius. “So, Darius, would you please be so kind as to explain why you brought a Rank C Demon into my estate? And without prior notice, I might add?”


    “Lily found it.”


    Zoe failed to see how that had anything to do with what Victor just asked, and it seemed like the noblewoman agreed. “Setting aside your neglect to address any part of the question—how did my granddaughter find a Rank C Demon? And why did you bring the Demon here?”


    Granddaughter? What? Lily was Victor Blodmane’s granddaughter? That was—yes, that was, in fact, surprising. She hadn’t known precisely how important the elemental summoner was within House Blodmane, but that wasn’t the main thing. The main thing was that they looked basically the same age.


    The conversation carried on with little regard to Zoe’s internal pondering. “Well I didn’t think I’d have to explain that second part,” Lord Darius enunciated slowly—“I want you to keep it for me.”


    Wait, what? Keep—Zoe didn’t like that word. No, she didn’t like it at all.


    “And why would I do that?”


    Lord Darius paused and scratched his chin. “Because I asked you to?”


    Zoe noticed Victor’s eye twitched. She was a bit astounded herself—incomprehensible noble politicking aside, that was just rude. But while Victor clearly agreed—the Lady of House Blodmane ultimately relented. “Fine. You still haven’t told me how my granddaughter met her.”


    “Just ask her yourself.”


    That one came close to making Zoe choke. But all Victor did was raise a judgemental eyebrow in response to the sheer disrespectful boldness. “Which one? My granddaughter or the Demon?”


    And finally, something she said took the asshole alchemist by surprise. Only for a moment—and Zoe’s eyes narrowed as he collected himself. “Well I was going to say your granddaughter—but it could be either one, I suppose.”


    Ah, I see how it is then, Zoe thought to herself. Didn’t even think anyone would want to ask little old Zoe anything, did you.


    The fleeting glance Victor gave her showed that the noblewoman was both aware of what she was thinking and sympathized with her for it. Now, Zoe wasn’t going to forget what Lady Victor did with the gardening tools—but she did note how the woman was the only person so far to not launch into calling her an ‘it.’ Though it’s a bit sad that ended up being an issue in the first place.


    “Alright,” she finally said, “tell me why you want me to house a Rank C Demon.”


    “Because I don’t want to, and if neither of us does it then the Inquisition will find and execute her within hours at best.”


    Holy shit! First, that was an absolutely terrifying thing to know. Zoe didn’t expect evading inquisitors to be easy, but that was downright frightening. They could find her that quickly? That was insane. The implication that they’d kill her on the spot didn’t help either.


    Also, Lord Darius was just going to drop her on someone else and then go fuck off? She knew he was a bit narcissistic and took joy in the suffering of others, yes—but that was just cold.


    Victor turned out to be a bit upset too—for a different reason, it seemed. “I know that she’s the Demon they’re looking for, jackass. Why do you want her alive? Yes, I’m not going to ask why you won’t do it yourself, save your breath.”


    Yeah, things were getting a little tense, and Zoe didn’t like it. And then the arrogant and stubborn look washed from Lord Darius’s face. It was sudden, and he now spoke in a way which was deeply, totally, and unambiguously serious.


    “Talk to me privately after this, and you’ll know exactly why I want her alive. And you’ll know why you will want her alive too.”


    Wait… what? Now Zoe was interested. Okay, I was already interested, but like, more. She really wanted to hear what was going to come next. But what was that about privacy? Surely Lady Victor’s personal domain was privacy enough.


    “What?” Victor glanced between them. “Okay, then spill it.” She waved her hand, and then Zoe’s entire vision was blocked by a thicket of brambles. The bloody, thorn-covered cocoon blocked out both sight and hearing—superHuman perception was useless.


    Fuck! That was not what Zoe wanted to happen! Were they seriously going to share all the super special secrets without her? That’s cold. The secrets were literally about her, for heaven’s sake.


    Zoe was poised to start beating her own way through the prickly bushes. A second later—and it was gone. Sound returned, and Zoe noticed Victor looked even more pissed now. “Fine, we’ll talk later then. Now let’s get on with it. I know better than to underestimate the Inquisition—but I don’t understand why you believe they’d manage to locate a Rank C individual with an obvious stealth focus quite so quickly. I would expect you to have a chance of escape, at least.” The last part was addressed to Zoe. Zoe was more interested in why they hadn’t talked about whatever it was though.


    Lord Darius, for his part, smirked. Great, he’s back to being an arrogant asshole. “Because she isn’t Rank C.”


    Wait, everyone still thinks I’m Rank C? Victor’s gaze snapped back to Zoe, implicitly confirming it. Right—the demagogue class has that ‘system display privileges thing.’ It was handy that it was still automatically updating things for her—but Zoe decided she should play around with that sooner rather than later. It was kind of important for her to understand.


    But Victor didn’t look surprised. Rather, it was a hint of consideration—and a smaller amount of irritation—that flicked across her eyes. “So I see. Yes, that does change things.” She looked back to Lord Darius. “And I understand better now why you are interested in handing Miss Blackwell here to me.”


    “No, I don’t think you do,” the alchemist mused. “But we’ll discuss that soon enough. First, I’d like to give our lovely little Demon the chance to ask any questions of her own she might have.”


    Victor was clearly irritated by that. The control she forced upon herself as she faced Zoe was impressive—and did little to make Zoe less uncomfortable. “Well then. I’m sure you do have questions, though many of them can likely be answered later or by people other than myself.”


    Yeah, she’s definitely irritated. Unlike how she felt before, Zoe decided it would be best to appease the woman a bit here. It might have helped that Lady Victor had never called her an ‘it.’ “I do, but it’s fine. You can go ahead and continue your discussion with Lord Darius first. Would it be okay to talk to Rudy?”


    “Mmm, yes, I suppose you may.” And with that, she waved her hand and Zoe appeared back outside the curtain. Zoe blinked. That was sudden. She’d expected more warning would come before being ejected from the domain. Not that I’m complaining. She was more than ready to get out of there, despite how fascinating the forthcoming discussion might be.


    Now that her surprise was wearing off, she studied her new surroundings. The curtain was still there—what would happen if she stepped back through? Well, Lady Victor would probably be pretty angry, she decided.


    “We can’t.”


    Huh?


    “We can’t step back in,” Lilith clarified. “You can’t just walk into someone’s domain if they don’t want you to. Look.”


    Looking at the curtain, Zoe realized it looked like an ordinary curtain again, not a dark wall of rippling blood. Guess I can’t go back, huh. Aside from the curtain and gilded wall panels, there wasn’t much to look at—especially now that Rudy wasn’t there anymore. Which was a bit awkward—was she just supposed to stand around in here, or was she allowed to wander off and go looking for someone?


    The answer to that became apparent soon enough. The first sign of something happening was a large bloodstain unexpectedly seeping up through the carpet, covering a roughly meter-wide spot in a sticky puddle. It also started to bubble a bit. Zoe found herself alarmed by this.


    Her alarm skyrocketed as the bubbling intensified and a shape rose from within it. Then the shape stretched, condensed, and shifted into the form of estate butler Rudy—suit and all. He nodded politely—and Zoe blinked. The man had just—created a random bloodstain and then stepped out of it. Well that’s one way to make an entrance. Pretty dramatic, which did fit in with the aesthetic she first expected of this place.


    “I don’t think he’s trying to be dramatic,” Lilith said. “At higher ranks, those sorts of short range, slow activation, and easily countered teleportation skills are fairly common. And like this one, they usually have an obvious correspondence to the user’s own alignment. In this case, that alignment is clearly blood.”


    Got it. That was, in fact, good to know—and she’d ask more about it later. Right now, she had more important questions to ask.


    “Lady Blodmane said you might have some questions I could help you with,” Rudy said.


    “Oh yeah, I sure do.” That was a bit of an understatement, really. “A whole lot. So like, first off—why does she look the same age as her literal granddaughter, and why is she named Victor?”