I walked behind Shar as his large body moved towards the back of his smithy. The demon was the first I had encountered since seeing Bella off, and the first male demon I had encountered since coming to this world.

Still, the gender traits were startling to me. Whereas both Bella and Jane Clairborne had dark, tan skin, long nails, and fangs where their canines would be, Shar’s were those traits turned up to 11.

His nails were more like claws, each had to be the size of one of my fingers. He had no fangs, instead sporting sharp, lined teeth that fit in between one another. In addition, Shar’s skin was a striking violet color, like a vibrant wisteria. Even his pitch-black horns dwarfed those of the demonesses from the Azure continent.

I was curious, but before I could contemplate whether or not to ask, Hazeel’s voice from beside me spoke. “Do all male demons have your traits, or are you special?”

Shar stopped moving a few feet from his furnace and anvil, and turned to face us. “Do you have knowledge of my kin? We are quite the rare species.”

I looked him up and down. Certainly, with how conspicuous some of the demons were, it would be strange to not notice any along the way, especially in the bustling marketplace. Just their height alone would draw eyes in a crowd.

“I have some, however, I’ve only met females of your species. Never males.” Hazeel continued.

This time, it was Shar’s turn to contemplate her statement. “That shouldn’t be right. I can’t imagine a lot of places that have demons, and far less than that which only have females.”

She shrugged, and as we had discussed prior, she was unwilling to give him any information that might have put the Clairbornes in any danger. At least, not until I figured out whether or not Shar was a friend or a foe.

This time, I spoke to the behemoth of a man. “How do the people of your race get along, anyway?”

“Not very well.” Shar answered bluntly.

I frowned, but the demon quickly followed it up with, “If you are demonic aristocracy, anyway. People of more humble means, such as myself, absolutely detest the infighting that goes on in our home continent. That’s why many of us decide to emigrate from our home country and into different lands. Lands with more promise.” He smiled, looking fondly on his anvil.

“I see. If that’s the case, that still doesn’t explain why your kind is so rare to see. How do you explain that?” Hazeel chimed in.

In what was feeling more and more like an interrogation I couldn’t help but smile. Leresa’s eyes widened at my expression, but Shar just mirrored my smile.

“I’m kind of glad that you’re so untrustworthy. Having this kind of demeanor certainly brings credit to the fact that you have a holy sword to match it. The thing is, most of the demonkind who don’t stay in the continent end up going to live in the Violet Isles.”

“The Violet Isles?” I shot Hazeel a look, but she also shook her head. Coming to our rescue, Leresa started explaining.

“The Violet Isles, or the Floating Islands of Lu, as they are officially recognized, are a series of islands in between the Azure, Obsidian, and Gold Continents. Only in the past 100 years or so have they come to be known as the Violet Isles, a name brought by the sheer amount of demons the land masses now host.”

Shar nodded at her words. “Truly indicative of any political strife; how many people are trying to flee the country. That being said, I am still curious about your claims. The only place I remember seeing only female demons was Zalabell’s Garden, the female-only Violet Isle.”

I shook my head and looked him right in the eyes. “I can tell you with certainty that we have never been to any of the Violet Isles.”

“Did you come from the Obsidian Continent?” Shar quickly followed up, his eyes hungry for more information.

I met his gaze, and returned it with a measured one of my own. “Did Crown Prince Rexir not tell you about us?”

The blacksmith in question shook his head. “Only that you were in possession of a holy sword and in need of it being repaired.”

“I see.” I nodded at his words. It would make sense for Rexir to divulge my secrets if he were on friendly terms with Shar, but the fact he had not spoken anything on my origins made me think that the two of them were nothing more than acquaintances.

We sat in a moment of silence before I decided to answer. “We did not come from the Obsidian Continent, but rather, the Azure Continent.”

The demon studied me for a moment before asking, “Who exactly did you meet? From what I recall, all demihumans performed a mass exodus after the death of the prince. There should have been no one left.”

Leresa and Hazeel both gave him an open mouthed stare. Shar’s obliviousness fought bravely for dominance over the situation, and in the end, said gazes were ignored.

I thought to myself that he should at least know about Bella, since she was the newly crowned Queen, but Shar’s final sentence nagged at me. “You speak of that as if you lived through it.”

“That’s because I did.” Shar eyed me with a hard gaze. “I first started my career as a blacksmith in the royal capital of Songrande. It was truly a prosperous time, but that’s when the Gold Continent and the Azure Continent went to war.”

Hazeel narrowed her eyes and studied the demon. “If you were living in Songrande, why are you now in the arms of those who were once our sworn enemies?” She growled.

Shar looked surprised, and almost did a double take. “You are a demi-human, so I am surprised you do not know. After the war, and King Pola decreed that demi-humans no longer be permitted to live alongside humans, the Gold Continent sent agents all over the Azure Continent. Their purpose? To offer a tax-free and all-expense-paid travel to the Gold Continent.”

Hazeel’s jaw dropped in disbelief, and she looked to Leresa for confirmation, who only nodded her head in assent.

“It’s true. You know how the war came to an end, right? After the defeat of our naval fleet at the hands of the Coat of Arms, we pulled out of the Azure Continent and signed a peace treaty… well, more like a nonaggression pact with the Azure King.”

“A-ah. Is that so?” Hazeel trembled nervously, but neither Leresa nor Shar should have had any idea of who she was before coming here. Well, Leresa might have had an inkling due to her background as a princess, and the information network of Rexir Minami, but if she did then she didn’t let it show.

Leresa nodded, and turned to look Hazeel directly in the eyes. “Yes, but our war had an unintended consequence.”

“As all wars often do.” I muttered under my breath. The comment didn’t slip past Leresa, who eyed me with a calculating gaze, one which I weathered in stride.

Finally turning back to Hazeel, she continued, “Yes, well, one of those unforeseen circumstances was the racism that started to escalate in the kingdom. We never sent any agents back there after the war, but the prince was murdered by a demi-human, causing King Pola to go mad with grief.”

Hazeel and Shar both nodded their agreement, having gone through that dark period of Azure Continent history in person.

“There is no need to go over what he did, what he ordered the soldiers of his country to do. Acknowledging that it was our assault that had put demi-humans in a worse position within that country, at the time, the Duke of Crimson, today’s current emperor, set forth a plan to snatch up all the misplaced peoples from the Azure continent.”

“Ah, so it was both a humanitarian move and restocking on resources that they lost because of the war. How politically astute of him.” My mind dredged up the now distant memories of General Christian Armando. Owing to that, I couldn’t help the venom in my voice, but instead of Leresa saying anything, it was Shar who voiced his opinion.

“We really didn’t mind. Many of us were disillusioned after King Pola exiled us, so we readily jumped at the chance to get back at him, no matter how petty it may have seemed to others.” The demon had on a far-off look, as if deep in thought.

I gave him a slight smile. “I see, but if you know that, then you should already have a guess as to who the demons are that we are referring to.”

His eyes widened as Shar came to a sudden realization. “Jane!? Oh gods above, I haven’t seen her in ages! How is she? Oh! She had a daughter didn’t she? What?”

Shar gave an annoyed acknowledgement to our questioning looks. “Do you really not know?” Hazeel asked tenderly.

Shar backed away a bit and looked around the room cautiously. “Know what?”

Hazeel sighed. “This is going to take a bit of explaining if you don’t even know about the change that occurred on the throne.”

---

By the time Hazeel had finished, Shar, the big, grizzly man that he was, was nearly in tears. “She didn’t deserve it! She was so young!” The demon sniffed back his sadness and took a deep breath.

“Jane was a beacon of hope to our people. That even someone with demonic blood could achieve what they wanted as long as they held hope in their hearts, and determination in their will. It is a shame to learn about Princess Rora’s passing, and the pain that must’ve caused Jane. However, at least her granddaughter continues on Jane’s legacy, reaching even taller heights than Jane herself.”

“While I appreciate your sentiments, and will let them know how their species views them, I believe we are getting sidetracked.” I said, opening the void to retrieve Dantae’s blade.

“Ah, yes. Quite.” Shar wiped the tears in his eyes a final time before picking up a hammer and holding out one of his massive hands. “I believe I owe you a reforging. No need to pay, you’ve already done my kind a Shaktan.”

“Shaktan?” I repeated, and Shar merely nodded his head.

“Yes, you’ve done my species a Great Deed. Shaktan is a word we use to describe the severity of the deed, and yours has not only helped a demoness rise to power, but also to abolish the growing racism and corruption surrounding our kind. I hope that someday, maybe in a few years, many of us who lost homes may be able to return to the Azure continent. Not to mention, that by reforging your blade, I may finally be able to break the threshold and become a Divine, like yourself, Leresa, and your friend here.”

Both women stiffened, and a dozen questions ran through my mind, but his next words broke me out of my shock. “Now come, show me the blade.”

I didn’t know why, but a part of me implicitly trusted the gaze that Shar was giving me. I saw admiration in his eyes, accompanied by determination and selflessness. I reached inside the void, and Shar and Leresa both gasped. To them, it probably looked as if my hand had disappeared into nowhere, but I just removed Dantae and handed her broken pieces to Shar.

He stared at the blade, and set the pieces down on his anvil. “What a beauty. How long has the blade been broken?”

“About three months.” I said, not without a little venom in my voice. The blacksmith picked up some of his tools, and smiled to himself.

“Broken for three months and you still polished the blade to this degree… I daresay you took better care of the sword than you did yourself these past few months.” I smiled, realizing just how close to home he had hit.

“Watch carefully. Not many people get to witness a master of any field at work, much less the forging process of a Divine Blacksmith.” Leresa whispered into my ear.

So I looked forward and watched. Watched as Shar started his furnace, and the flame inside danced liberally between a variety of colors before settling on a silver flame with gold extremities. Watched as he stuck his hammer in the fire, which caught on fire as well, although only the metal of the tool itself seemed to have been graced by the flame, with the hilt left untouched. And watched as he cast his flame on the anvil, and proceeded to strike the pieces of Dantae together with a resounding clang.