My Servant System

With the twins snuggled together on my lap, I shuffled my way over towards one of the sofas and leaned against it, resting my back against the soft cushion and looking down at the two babies with a gentle expression, finding it funny how they could go from so animated to suddenly fast asleep in mere seconds.

After Leone took the sword from me and stored it back in our room, the twins pouted at me and gave me an earful before yawning and falling asleep on my lap, snuggled against my stomach and cuddling together despite Alessandra usually showing a more 'independent' side that made her push Lakshmi away.

Of course, we knew that the little Elf was just being difficult with everyone, her urge to be bratty and snooty rather strong despite being so very young.

Wrapping an arm around their tiny bodies, I kept them warm and glanced towards the window, where the sight of the sun slowly rising into the sky could be seen, illuminating the volcanic mountain upon which the Empress' throne had been built, the seat of her power as well as the source of power for her wife Igna.

Another day began for this glorious Empire, and I momentarily wondered for just how many days this Empire had existed, and how many more it would exist for; it had already been around for almost half of my old worlds documented history just on its own.

Multiple millennia old, and yet it was still here, still run by the same woman, still founded and operating on the same principals all these years later.

It was a curious thought, but one that fluttered away after a few moments of wondering since it did little good for me right now, and my attention was taken away by Mother reaching over and rubbing my shoulders from above, still stretched out and enjoying the comfort of the couch for as long as she could.

That was something I had learned quickly from her recently; to no ones surprise, raising children was a tiring task, and capitalizing on each and every moment possible to recuperate your energy was imperative.

It felt like something that was so stupidly obvious when you utilized an ounce of critical thinking, but you never really realized just how important those moments were until you experienced them or got to see someone experience them.

Mother had rarely rested when I first awoke here, always up and about doing whatever she could to remain busy, and that hadn't changed over the years whatsoever.

Now, however, I got to see a side of her that didn't need to work, nor felt inclined to work either; she was no longer just a maid, but instead the fiancee to the Marquess and Countess, meaning menial tasks were below her station.

Perhaps that lifted the weight off her shoulder of 'needing' to clean and do chores and allowed her to truly relax, especially so with the two children being brought into the world.

Sinking her fingers into my shoulders, Mother began to massage out the slight knots that inevitably appeared thanks to the two large weights on my chest, making me let out a relieved sigh as I leaned back into her gentle hands, letting them do wonders for my shoulders.

With the twins fast asleep, we quietly chatted amongst ourselves, just relaxing and spending some time together as a family, not worrying about needing to do anything or prepare anything else for later and instead just talking about nothing.

Talking about the Emporium I went to, the findings from Leone's experiments alongside the other members of her family, ideas on what to do with the March, things we wanted to change at the house...

Just random things that weren't important to talk about, helping pass the time as we just relaxed together, all while we occasionally snacked on whatever Bessie was making, the Cowkin cooking up different recipes that helped broaden and deepen her cooking experience.

Surprisingly for us all, the Marquess and Jahi returned to the room by noon, causing the twins to awaken and yawn before reaching for Mother, who took them and made her way into her bedroom, feeding them and calming them down from their initial excitement.

"What made you two decide to come back this early? Usually you're out till dusk and only come back after exhausting yourselves to the point of hunger."

The Marquess just chuckled as she plopped into a seat, sinking into its soft embrace and gesturing randomly as she answered "Jahi told me about her decision to travel with the other Clans into the former Kingdom of Tragon to help them set up their diplomatic relations with the surviving humans. Not that there are many, mind you, but it does need to happen. I decided that discussing it might be a better use of our time then training at the moment, since... y'know, those Clans are not the easiest to get along with."

The Countess nodded, looking towards her daughter and pursing her lips as she asked "Is this entirely just to meet your... 'cousins' or is this motivated by something else?"

"No, it's not entirely focused around them, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about them. Curious about other Demons, curious about their history and what they've done, what they can do. Curious to see if I can learn anything from them or forge connections between us again. But, the real reason was to go and indulge in the Dungeons along the southern border. Belian made a good point; now that the Justiciar's are gone and the Kingdom is practically deserted, those Dungeons are overflowing with monsters and materials. Now would be the best time to go and harvest anything we could for ourselves."

"Be careful with those Dungeons though. Sure, it might be inside the Human Territories - albeit former - but monsters are monsters no matter where you are. And monsters that have been left alone for multiple months now? Overpopulation and time to do as they please would have bred some nasty critters over there, especially with the closeness to the Labyrinthian."

We nodded at the Marquess warning, though Jahi asked "Would they not still be weaker than what is present inside Zhu'Rong Caverns though? The quality of the mana and quality of the monster is drastically less over in Tragon then it is on Sanctus Ignacia."

The older Demoness let out a sigh before glancing over her shoulder, looking towards Mother as she rejoined us with two happy and fed babies, both of whom were looking this way and that as they took in the more crowded living room.

Before she answered Jahi, the Marquess reached over and pulled Mother onto her lap, sitting her down on one leg and reaching for the twins as she stared lovingly down at them both, cradling them alongside the Dogkin who was blushing at the sudden movement from standing to sitting on her lovers lap.

"Yes, in normal times. But like I said, this isn't normal. Remember, monsters are... 'omnivorous'. They primarily feast on mana, but they can - and often do - eat flesh, which usually contains mana as well. The mana here is thicker and richer, yes, but there is still a LOT of mana inside Tragon, and they have had time to absorb and utilize that mana properly compared to before.

Additionally, the weaker monsters will get hunted and eaten by the stronger, raising the average strength of the living monsters by a little bit each time. They're being forced to undergo evolution at an incredibly fast rate, meaning the weaker monsters who survive are transferring those traits that kept them alive to the new spawn, and that cycle is being rinsed and repeated over and over."

"Additionally, like your Mom said, there is no outside force culling their numbers. Nor is there an outside force harvesting the resources that begin to pop up at random. Clusters of monsters will gather around mana rich resources and bathe in the denser mana atmosphere to grow stronger, before heading out to hunt and further power themselves up by devouring their weaker members. The amount of monsters, the quality of those monsters, and the abilities of those monsters is going to be far higher than normal, and until they are culled, those Dungeons are going to be far harsher and far more active then they usually are...

For example, the normal Goblins that might have lived there will have adapted to being hunted and grown smarter and trickier, relying on their sharp wit and clever trap making to form tribes that could protect them from the more dangerous, yet simpler monsters that hunt them. Amongst those Goblins, the ones that survive will have more time to grow stronger, and when they spawn new Goblins, that next generation will have a higher starting point then their predecessors, and that will continue to repeat until they evolve into Hobgoblins, where it will continue to create a new territory for the Goblin species and repeat that cycle; from weak Goblins all the way to hulking Trolls, agile Celer, or magical Crones."

We took in that information slowly, mulling it over and giving the Dungeons over in Tragon just a bit more thought now that we had been given a deeper warning then just 'they have been overpopulated'.

Another thing that felt extremely obvious, but it's only been a few months at best; surely they haven't evolved that much that quickly?

That was what was lingering in the back of our minds, but not heeding the warning of a Knight and a Saintess was stupid, so we took it at face value.