“Huh?! Why can’t we let the Beastfolk come live in our Mystic Realm?!” Her eyes went round like twin moons, shock rippling like a pebble in a pond.

This thread goes back to the moment after the council with the Beastfolk, dust settling like ash after a bonfire.

Once the talks ended, the warriors behind the chieftain—tense for ages, backs tight as bowstrings—got his nod and burst into cheers like thunder cracking over a mountain ridge.

The roar jolted Ling awake, her dreams scattering like sparrows from a temple eave.

Then, with Alicia’s deft “so this, so that” recap, crisp as folding paper fans, Ling stitched the missing hours together like beads on a red string.

The little loli piped up at once, voice bright as a brass bell: “The Beastfolk are joining the Mystic Realm!”

Maybe the Mystic Realm’s quiet—an autumn courtyard swept clean—had gnawed at the small one’s heart. But her cheer popped like a soap bubble when Rafi cut in with a single cold blade of a word: “No.”

And that’s how we reached Ling’s wide-eyed line at the top, her surprise hanging in the air like frost.

Rafi gently pushed away Ling’s head as it leaned toward her, a teacup moved before it spills, steering clear of any pose that might invite rumors.

“Isn’t this clear if you think for a moment?” Her tone was a steady drumbeat. “The Beastfolk—yeah—were brought back because the Demon King has use for them. So if the Demon King’s Beastfolk run to the Mystic Realm, what will people think?” Her words fell like rain, each drop making circles.

Ling went quiet, lips pressed like sealed envelopes. Even with her famously low IQ, she couldn’t find a single thread to tug for a rebuttal.

“So… they really can’t live in the Mystic Realm?” Her voice trembled like a reed in wind. “Sob~”

She looked up, eyes clouded like stormglass, and Alicia soothed her, palm warm as sunlight, stroking her hair like silk.

“They can’t move in, but Rafi can set a place for them here,” Alicia said, calm as a tea master. “Then we open a gate, linking the two realms. A bridge of doors, and both worlds stay in touch.”

Alicia flicked a glance at Rafi, a lantern signal in the dusk. Rafi didn’t refuse; she nodded at once, crisp as a snapped fan.

“Mm. Alicia’s right. I already planned this.” Her gaze was a dark lake. “Daemons can’t live in your human world. Beastfolk can’t settle in the Mystic Realm. So it’s cleaner to place the Beastfolk here, under our eaves. Fewer knots to untangle.”

“And, like Alicia said, we’ll open a gate. Tie the Underworld to the Mystic Realm. Let currents flow both ways, and the river sorts itself.”

Ling lowered her head, thoughts drifting like incense smoke, answer still unborn.

Seeing that, Rafi pressed a little harder, a flute line threading the drum.

“Think it through. If the Beastfolk live in the Underworld, they stop getting squeezed from every side outside. I’m the Demon King—my canopy covers them, so no disasters.”

“And it helps your future too. For races that don’t want to see Beastfolk, Beastfolk in the Underworld won’t bump into them on the street.” Her smile was a thin blade, polite and sharp.

Ling’s eyes widened, lanterns suddenly lit. She was swayed, petals loosening, but she didn’t nod yet.

Alicia saw Rafi’s two strokes miss, so she stepped in, arrow straight.

“You just want noise, right? The Elvenfolk should arrive soon. Once they’re here, the place turns lively.”

Bang!

No wonder Alicia knows even where the kid’s birthmark hides; with that level of familiarity, she tapped the key string and cracked Ling’s defense like ice under a heel.

“Mm-mm, you’re right, you’re right… Let’s do what Rafi said~” Ling’s grin bloomed like a peach flower in spring.

Rafi let out a breath, relief flowing like warm tea, and shot Alicia a look that said, Without a doubt, it’s you.

“Since you plan to place the Beastfolk in my Underworld,” Rafi added, voice like a bell under a roof, “when are we settling the matter of the Daemons joining your Mystic Realm?”

Ling and Alicia froze mid-play, statues in a snowfall, glancing over with embarrassed half-smiles.

“Wasn’t that the excuse you used to cover up your ‘asking forgiveness’?” The words fell like pebbles into a quiet pond.

Rafi bristled. Ears and tail flicked into view, just like Nina’s, fur puffed like a dandelion in wind.

“Who says so! I really am thinking about the Daemons’ future! … Meow!”

“Meow?” Ling tilted her head, curiosity shining like a cat’s eye marble.

Rafi, cheeks pink as sunset, waved her hands. “No-no-no—wasn’t me! … Meow!”

Alicia and Ling traded a look—We get it—eyes speaking like two mirrors.

“I said it wasn’t! … Meow~”

Listening instinct kicked in, a hunter’s thread tightening. Behind!

She spun—turn and snatch!—and her hand closed on something small and plush, hauling up a cat-eared loli about Ling’s size into the lantern light.

“Nina?” they said together, three notes on one chord.

Caught, the cat-eared loli sweat like dew on bamboo, prank exposed and a pinch of fear of the switch.

“Why are you here?” Ling asked, the words soft as a feather.

Dangling in the air, the loli set her hands on her hips, brash as a street sparrow. “I’m Beastfolk too. Why can’t I come? Well… maybe nobody here likes me.” Her tone dimmed, a lantern wick lowered.

Rafi watched that look, the droop of a leaf after rain, and tucked it away.

“Alicia, I think I’ve got one more reason to keep the Beastfolk in the Underworld,” she said, voice steady as a stone bridge.

“For Nina?” Alicia’s gaze was a calm pond.

“Mm. Let her live among her own. Keeping the Beastfolk in the Underworld helps.” Rafi’s words were an open gate.

“So?” Alicia asked, eyebrow a quiet arc.

“So it’s the same line—let me join the Mystic Realm…”

Alicia cut in, clean as a sword stroke. “Then, with a proper reason, you’ll take Nina to talk with the Beastfolk?”

Rafi didn’t bristle. She smiled, a crescent moon. “No wonder you’re like me in certain ways. I think we could be besties.”

“If you’d said that before,” Alicia replied, voice like frost on steel, “I’d have cut you down. But now, I agree.”

“So about me joining the Mystic Realm?” Rafi leaned forward, hope fluttering like a paper kite.

Alicia smiled and pressed a hand over her heart, vow glimmering like a seal on jade. “We can sign a pact, but no need. I swear on my life to accept you.”

Rafi’s mouth fell open, surprise flaring like a firework. What came out, though, was a playful breeze. “Whoa—an unexpectedly reassuring promise~”