Finding my Parents in Another World-Chapter 41: (Raorka) Demon of Lust

Raorka took a deep breathe. His heart was beating fast, and his breaths were coming in quick bursts. Lucerne beside him was in no better state, but she looked at him with a quick smile and squeezed his hand.

"It’ll be fine." Raorka responded to her with a half-hearted wink.

"I know." She said quietly, looking ahead at the huge door of the Mayor’s mansion. As per Lucerne there were three layers of the mansion, and the Mayor lived in the innermost layer. That was a long way to go during infiltration.

Presently the door in front of them opened with a huge creak and a single guard stood there, looking at the both of them bored.

"The Mayor is waiting for you inside." He said, stifling a yawn.

One

As they went inside, Raorka casually looked around. He made sure the guard behind them didn’t grow too suspicious as he quickly counted the soldiers inside the mansion.

Twelve overall, he thought grimly. Not good if just the outermost layer had twelve full soldiers.

The mansion itself was huge. The outermost layer didn’t have a ceiling, but rather had a large open-air courtyard. A few soldiers were lazily training on the grounds, swinging their swords with the least effort required. At the end of the corridor was a door.

Probably leading to the garrision.

So, if necessary, even the dozen soldiers here could call upon reinforcements in case of intruders.

We have to get past this region without raising the alarm.

The open air courtyard led inside into the first inner section of the mansion. It looked as huge as it appeared on the outside. Raorka looked around apprehensively, afraid that they were already lost within the huge mansion complex, when he spotted another guard slowly walking towards them.

The guard bowed when he came close and then indicated them to follow him.

"First time inside the Mayor’s palace?" He asked with a smile as he led them further inside.

"Yeah. For both of us." Lucerne replied, returning a smile.

The guard nodded and then led them through what appeared to be a maze of staircases and hallways in front of a huge iron door.

"The second inner layer." The guard said before turning to leave.

"You won’t be accompanying us?" Raorka asked confused.

"No. I am not permitted into the second inner layer. Only the personal guards of the Mayor are permitted inside."

So that’s where he is keeping them.

Raorka turned back towards the iron door and pushed slightly. The door was much lighter than it appeared and immediately swung back slowly to reveal yet another corridor. This one however led straight towards another smaller door, presumably the office of the Mayor.

Raorka and Lucerne looked once at each other. This was their final chance to turn back. Once they stepped towards the Mayor’s door, there was no turning back.

Taking a deep breathe, Raorka squeezed Lucerne’s hand once more and smiled at her with a confidence he did not feel. Lucerne returned the smile uncertainly as well and both of them stepped forward.

As long as both of us are together....

The journey towards the smaller door seemed to take an eternity. When he finally stood in front of it, Raorka cautiously knocked on the door. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He heard footsteps shuffling about behind the door, and in a moment the door opened, revealing the Mayor standing behind it, his jovial smile ever-present on his face.

Raorka however could no longer see it as jovial. His smile seemed artificial, his eyes as if hiding immense cruelty. Raorka wondered how he had ever thought that Mayor Rokar resembled a harmless grandfather. With the knowledge he had about him, he looked like an ugly beast, a monster to be exterminated.

"That’s a terrifying look you have on there young Raorka. Is something wrong?" The Mayor asked, scrutinizing his face.

Damn, have to keep control.

Raorka forced himself to smile and then answered, "Nothing as such Mayor. We have found some evidence regarding the identity of our kidnapper."

Mayor Rokar didn’t seem satisfied with the explanation, but he accepted it anyway. He stepped aside and ushered them into the room.

The Mayor’s office was much smaller than Raorka expected. There were no lavish decorations, no huge pieces of furniture. Instead the office had a simple desk and a bookshelf in one corner. Raorka tried to quickly search for any kind of place where the Mayor could hide the girls he was kidnapping, but he wasn’t able to determine any such area.

The Mayor casually walked over to behind his desk and sat on the huge chair. Even the dimensions of the big chair were dwarfed by the huge, fat body of the Mayor himself. He looked at both of them expectantly after sitting down.

"Well?" He asked arching an eyebrow.

"We have found evidence, Mayor Rokar, that the Witch in the Woods is responsible for the kidnappings." Lucerne said. She had stayed silent the whole duration, probably trying to suppress the rage she felt at seeing the man who had abused her mother for a year. Now however she had a smile plastered on her face, though Raorka noticed the smile didn’t extend upto her eyes.

The Mayor shook his head. "I thought we had this discussion already. The Witch cannot-"

"The Witch uses invisibility magik." Raorka interrupted, causing the Mayor to look towards him with a slight sense of annoyance.

"What?" He asked.

"Invisibility magik. The Witch can make light rays pass directly through anyone as long as they are stationary, thereby rendering them invisible to the naked eye. She has used this same magik on all the people she has kidnapped."

The Mayor leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard. The chair groaned and protested from the weight, to the point that Raorka was half-afraid it would break.

"I suppose that is a way she could have hidden the girls." He conceded carefully. Always so careful, never directly condemning anyone, determined to play the part of the benevolent Mayor.

"But why?" He continued looking at the both of them in turn.

Raorka sighed. He had talked in depth with Artemis about how to answer this question, and in fact it was Rowena who suggested this.

"You may not be aware Mayor, but the Witch fought against the dragon in the woods many years ago. She suffered an ignoble defeat. She has been nursing her wounds since that time, preparing to take on the dragon again. We believe she is using the young girls as part of a ritual to strengthen herself for the rematch." Raorka felt his voice shake a little as he tried to lie as convincingly as possible.

The Mayor’s face was inscrutable. He looked at Raorka, searching in his face, in his eyes, trying to determine the sincerity of his words. Finally he nodded.

"Yes. I have heard rumors of the same, but I couldn’t be sure. Can you give me more details? I would like to have some solid evidence before arresting the Witch." He said, his voice grave.

"Of course, allow me." Lucerne stepped forward eagerly. Raorka looked at her in surprise, but she kept looking forward at the Mayor. She just quickly squeezed his palm as if to give him a signal.

Raorka was confused for a minute, but then he realized what Lucerne was actually saying.

We still haven’t found out where the Mayor sleeps at night

Or where he is holding the kidnapped girls!

"Will you excuse me for a moment? I need to use your bathroom." Raorka said suddenly, getting up from the chair.

"Of course, of course. It’s to the left after you leave this room. Do you want me to show you the way?"

"No no Mr. Rokar, I’ll find my way."

Raorka took his leave, glancing back at Lucerne who gave an almost imperceptible nod. She then started talking immediately, directing the Mayor’s attention away from the leaving Raorka.

Raorka felt his heart thump as he stepped out. He glanced once at the left and once at the right.

Go left, the Mayor had said.

Raorka turned and went to his right.

.XX.

The corridor seemed to stretch on forever and ever. Raorka found a lot of doors throughout but thankfully there were no guards. He opened each of the doors, but none of them seemed to be either a bedroom or a place where the Mayor could hide guards. Most of them were storage rooms, some were smaller offices. All were deserted.

Just when he was about to give up though, a small nondescript door caught his eye. It was just beside another huge ornate door. Normally no one would notice such a door, beside one so grand and in fact if Raorka were not looking for something out of place in particular, it would have escaped his notice as well.

Slowly Raorka crept forward. He looked again to both sides, confirming that the corridor was indeed completely deserted. He pushed slightly on the door. There was a creak, which seemed deafening in the silence of the corridor, and then the door swung open.

Raorka stepped inside and immediately stopped in his tracks.

This room was not deserted.

Seated in front of him, facing him with a smile, was a woman.

Or no, this was not a woman.

Women didn’t have large black wings, nor did they have such horns potruding from their forehead.

As the "woman" in the chair stood up, Raorka instinctively stepped backwards.

"Demon...." He whispered and the creature raised an eyebrow in mock surprise.

"So child you do know who I am." The Demon of Lust said, her voice seductive and dangerous at the same time.

Raorka didn’t respond, and instead raised his hand, forcing his magik circuits to come alive and throw a jet of water at the Demon.

Nothing happened.

The Demon laughed. In an instant she was in front of him. Raorka saw that her face was beautiful, more beautiful than any he had seen since coming to this world.

The Demon raised her fist and Raorka prepared to dodge. But she was fast, extremely fast.

The fist of the Demon made contact with his head, and he plunged into darkness.