I gave the royal knight a nice room in the keep. I encouraged her to check out our lovely town and all the improvements we were making. Of course, a lot was still under construction. But you could already see the train station take shape and the first tracks were being laid. The foundation for the portal hall had been laid as well and my dryads were growing a lovely garden.

Our recruiters to the fairy realm had been dispatched but it would take a while to see results. But we did recruit locally. The story of our exploits had spread around the Dominion and quite a few elves wanted to join our ranks. Iris started growing our army of regular soldiers and those who did well might become maid knights. Which led to a question.

"Amaya, what do we do with male soldiers who want to become maid knights?" Iris asked me one day.

I scratched my head. "I am not sure. Maybe we make a butler knights division? Or we make maid costumes for men?"

"So, you are not opposed to having men as your elemental knights?" Iris asked.

"No." I replied.

"I see. We have men in our regular army but so far no one has inquired about the maids. But I want to be prepared if the question comes up. I will think about establishing another division." Iris replied.

"How is our guest doing?" I asked. It had been over a week since Elisee had arrived.

Iris smiled. "Still on edge. I think she is rather paranoid since your grove covers everything. That she is allowed to walk around freely and observe everything has her convinced that she is always watched."

"We are not actually watching her, right?" I asked.

"No. Well, the dryads are aware of a lot of things in their domain but no one is actually following her. Although, I think Erin trolled her a bit. But she is Lilith's succubus, so not someone under our command." Iris reported.

"Let me know if she goes too far." I replied.

—----------------

Interlude

Elisee, Knight of the High Queen

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I looked around the room I had been given. I had not found any magical recording devices but my magic was clearly outmatched. I sighed and sat on my desk. I pulled out a piece of paper, my magical ink and made sure to write in code.

Grandmaster, I have spent a week in Countess Amaya and Countess Lucy's domain. They seem to be openly friendly and welcoming but one has to be careful with the fey. Lady Amaya's claim to be a peer of the Lady of the Forest might be true. I have witnessed her use of aura and it is frightening.

Two days ago she was meeting with farmers outside of the town. She simply used her aura to water the fields. I suspect it was also meant as a demonstration of her power. She even has an official court elemental, Shani. It collects blood and stores it. Like any storm elemental it is slightly unstable, mentally, but it might be part of sinister rituals.

Lady Lucy seems like a carefree spirit but she is a lot more powerful than anticipated. Apparently she grew her fourth tails recently during a ritual. Her quick increase in power is concerning and might be unnatural. The bond between her and Amaya seems genuine and they even plan a wedding. That also means if there would be any confrontation we would be facing both of them. I pray that it won't come to that.

There is also a family. Lady Lucy seems to have regular foxkin as parents. She rescued them from the Empire. I am not sure if this is some sort of ruse or if Lucy's power comes from elsewhere. Possibly dark rituals, she spends a lot of time hunting with Shani. But no people have disappeared in the area. It has actually become safer. Whatever they are doing might involve monster blood.

The grove they have created is like nothing I have ever seen before. The whole town is covered by it. I assume they use it to monitor my movements. It would also make it hard for any covert agents to operate inside the town. Further, there is a high priestess of Sylphania in town. She is a dryad but not a part of the grove. She seems to have a close relationship with them. It is likely that Amaya has some sort of deal with the goddess.

Overall the people seem happy. I have not found any sign of dissent. It is possible that the dryads simply disappear anyone who creates trouble but the people don't seem to be afraid. Countess Amaya seems to have great plans economically. Her train project might actually help the Dominion, assuming there is not a hidden price I have yet to uncover.

But now for my true mission, the gate to hell. I was unable to stop them from proceeding with the plan. Given their power I do not feel any military action would be wise either. The demon lord Lilith has behaved strangely civilised from what I have gathered. One of her succubi tried to seduce me a couple of times but I resisted. Overall, Lilith seems to follow Amaya, not the other way round. I still worry about the ritual but I am confident that it is led by the fey, not demons.

I have been unable to figure out the deeper plans of the archfey. It might be that the hells hold something they want. Maybe a way to increase their power? On the surface there seem to be a lot of benefits for the Dominion. Maybe an arrangement can be made, similar to the Lady of the Forest. Especially since the two archfey seem to have common interests.

The gate to hell also involves an artifact of Imperius. There might be a conflict between Sylphania and Imperius that I am unaware of, since her priestess is helping. They plan to open the gate soon. I shall write immediately afterwards, if I am still able to do so.

I looked at my letter. I did not have a magical communication stone but I had a magical falcon. It should reach the grandmaster in two days. I fastened it on the bird and sent it away. I felt tired. This mission had me on edge. Looking out of the window I saw a new construction. They were building a spa. Maybe it would be worth a visit once it was finished.

—----------------

Amaya

Preparations for our gate were going well. I was really looking forward to it! Lilith had also assured me that hell had some amazing stone for natural springs. It would make the water a lot nicer for the skin. I wondered if it was just some sort of volcanic rock but in a world with magic there was surely more to it.

Ah, hell was surely filled with opportunities. Opportunities for more tasty food! And maybe a nice demonic dryad. Could you grow a dryad with a creepy eye in the trunk? In my opinion, that would be kind of cool.

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