Harem System In A fantasy World

Elion stood beside him most of the time with his hands in his pockets, half-listening while his eyes moved over the officers, the soldiers, the map markers, and the routes being pointed out.

Every checkpoint had the same flavour of unease; Different words, different commanders, different roads, but the underlying story was the same wherever they arrived.

The demons were moving more, but not randomly. The worst part was that these hidden ravines and tunnels kept appearing out of nowhere.

Each time Alexander and the group took to the skies, it was quieter and quieter. News had already been sent to Haven, but that didn’t mean an immediate solution had been found. When Elion asked, Alexander said someone strong had already been put on the case.

At the second village stop that day, Peter tried to lighten the mood by buying roasted skewers from a frightened but very determined old woman who refused to stop selling food just because “some horned bastards were skulking around the woods.”

Elion had respected her instantly for that, and Peter, perhaps too proud of his successful purchase, had offered him one.

Elion had taken it.

Then stared at Peter for a long moment, making the poor guy freeze.

“…Is something wrong, Sir Elion?”

Elion took a bite and chewed slowly as Peter’s face slowly went pale. Elion nodded.

“Definitely better than cheap soup.”

Peter looked like he had been stabbed in the soul.

Gareth nearly choked trying not to laugh, while Alexander simply walked away before he became involved in yet another pointless exchange.

That was how most of the journey went. Reports of danger, brief moments of absurdity, then back into the sky, toward the place where all roads seemed to be leading.

By the evening of the second day, they stopped at a larger checkpoint built near a river crossing. This one was more heavily fortified than the others, and several detachments had already passed through on their way toward the front.

The atmosphere there was busier; people looked less frightened, but no less tense. Soldiers sharpened weapons under torchlight, supply wagons were lined in neat rows, and wounded men from a skirmish farther north were being treated beneath a canvas shelter.

Again, the reports were the same.

More demons on the move.

One officer mentioned that three signal towers had briefly gone dark the previous night before returning to function with no explanation. Another said a scouting party had found footprints near an abandoned shrine, human feet and demonic mixed together, though rain had ruined most of the trail before they could confirm anything.

Alexander’s jaw tightened at the news.

Elion noticed, but neither of them spoke of the markings from the previous checkpoint in front of the others.

That night, they slept in shifts. Elion barely slept at all. Not because he was afraid, but because he didn’t feel like he needed to.

At least he had Kurogroshi to keep him company while everyone else rested. He had tried putting the sword in storage again, but after a few minutes of feeling oddly restless, he had taken it back out and placed it beside the bed.

It had vibrated smugly in approval after being taken out again, and Elion had stared at it in silence.

“You know you can’t always be out in the open, right? You are going to have to go back into storage sooner or later.”

The sword, of course, gave no proper answer.

But the faint vibration that passed through the scabbard felt far too much like annoyance for his liking.

“You are one weird sword…”

…

Morning came, and the atmosphere was grey and misty.

The third day began with low clouds clinging to the hills and a thin layer of fog spread across the riverlands.

Their mounts took off shortly after sunrise, their wings beating through the cold air as they followed the main road north-east.

Conversation was lighter now, but only because everyone had grown too tired to constantly voice their concerns.

Even Peter had become quieter, which Elion found slightly worrying until the round-bellied retainer eventually muttered something about his stomach feeling empty, proving that he had not been replaced by a demon in the night.

By midmorning, the land around them began to change. It happened slowly at first; the trees grew taller while the roads grew narrower.

The open fields gave way to denser patches of woodland, and the air itself seemed to thicken with damp earth, old leaves, and the faint, living scent of moss.

Birds called from hidden branches beneath them, but the deeper they flew, the less ordinary the forest became.

The treetops rose higher and higher, some stretching so far upward that their crowns brushed the lower clouds.

Vines hung like ancient ropes from branches wider than roads, and strange flowers with pale blue petals opened along the forest edges, glowing faintly even beneath the morning light.

Elion leaned slightly forward on his mount, recognising the familiar greenery, though this part looked far better since it was yet to be touched by the scars of war happening further in.

“Looks like we have arrived…”

No one answered immediately. Everyone remained silent as the overwhelming, vast sea of ancient trees filled the horizon.

From above, the Great Forest looked less like a forest and more like an entire green world spreading endlessly in every direction.

Its canopy rolled in waves, broken here and there by towering elder trees, mist-filled valleys, and rivers that vanished beneath leaves before reappearing miles away like silver scars. There was something old about it, but it was also beautiful in a way.

Darin pointed ahead.

“There. The fringe route.”

Elion followed his gaze and saw a wide, cleared path cutting along the outer edge of the forest, where a fortified road had been built between the treeline and a chain of watch posts. Beyond that, deeper inside, faint smoke rose from what was likely a coalition camp hidden beneath the canopy.

Alexander guided his winged serpent lower.

“We’ll land near the outer post,” he said. “From here onward, flying too deep becomes dangerous.”

“Demon scouts?” Elion asked.

“Among other things.”

The retainers exchanged uneasy glances.

Peter swallowed. “I hate it when people say among other things.”

Gareth nodded. “It always means the other things are worse.”

Elion smiled faintly. “Look at that. You’re learning.”

Peter looked like he wanted to be proud, then remembered who had complimented him, so he chose the safer option of keeping his mouth shut instead.

They descended toward the cleared ground near the outer checkpoint. Soldiers below spotted them quickly, and horns rang out to announce their arrival. This post was built differently from the ones before.

Instead of stone walls and open watchtowers, it relied on layered wooden palisades reinforced with living roots that twisted around the structure like natural armour.

Elven designs, most likely. The towers were partly grown from trees rather than built on top of them, and glowing green markings pulsed faintly along the barricades.

The mounts landed one after another in a wide clearing covered in damp grass.

The moment Elion stepped down, he felt the familiar feeling of the thick mana envelope his body.