"What happened, Asia? If this is about your inn, then—"

"No!" she shook her head vehemently. "It's papa!"

"Her father was kidnapped while you were gone," Khalissi explained.

"That's strange, who would want to kidnap the innkeeper?"

"It was the lamia queen," Asia cried. "The lamia who showed up here blamed my father for the destruction of the inn and carried him off. Since they blame papa for what happened to the inn, they might try to hurt him. Please, you have to help him."

The lamia queen, huh? I've heard Asia mention her a few times. I've heard she is obsessed with high-quality blood, so going to meet her would be like dangling meat in front of a starving lion. Still… this might be another opportunity to curry favor with her.

"I know what I'm asking of you is dangerous, but… we have to save papa."

I slowly reached out and began comforting the crying girl in front of me.

"Don't worry, I'll ensure your father's safety."

"Really?"

She stared up at me in disbelief, and I slowly wiped the tears from her face, which caused her cheeks to flush pink.

"Hey, lamia, keep your hands to yourself," Selthia shouted as she saw how Asia clung to me.

"She must be courting death," Kumo agreed, her eyes turning slitted.

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry."

Asia quickly apologized and moved away from me when she saw the girls glaring at her.

"Can you tell me where I can locate the lamia queen, Asia?" I asked.

"Ah, yes, we built our home underneath the city. It's like an intricate maze. If you're not familiar with it, then you can easily get lost. The only way you can even enter is if you have a lamia accompanying you," she quickly stated.

"Can you carry me there?"

Hearing my question, Asia's face brightened up.

"Yes, of course!" She shouted in a high-pitched voice before slithering off. "Follow me."

We did as she said and followed behind the lamia eager to save her father. She brought us to a statue that usually sits behind the inn. The statue was of a giant snake with its mouth open.

When we got to the snake statue, Asia bit into her wrist and dripped the blood into the snake's mouth. The eyes on the giant snake statue glowed red for a brief second before returning to normal.

After that, the sound of mechanics and gears could be heard before the statue slowly began shifting aside, revealing a winding staircase.

"There are entrances like this located all over the city," Asia explained. "Only lamia blood can open the entrances."

"Is this a precaution so you don't get attacked by vampires or witches?" I asked.

"I uh… something like that. Our queen wasn't strong enough to match the vampires and the witches in the great war, hence she couldn't become one of the leaders of Purgatory. Our queen was worried that the vampires and the witches would want to treat us like slaves, hence we retreated down here where we would have more freedom. We call our home Little Eden."

"I see. But how do you even survive down here? I'm guessing there isn't a lot of creatures down here to hunt."

Asia nodded.

"Yes, you're right. But remember I told you that our society would be similar to bees. My father and I would be the worker bees. Lamia like us would go out and work to make sure that everyone survives. The blood we make from the inn is shared equally among everyone. The queen makes sure of it."

"That makes sense."

After Asia briefly explained how her society worked, she began slithering down the stairs and entered the cavernous expanse below. We followed behind her, careful of our footsteps so we didn't trip.

"Lamia venom is also extremely valuable," Asia continued. "We use it to make our signature liquor, and sometimes witches buy it in bulk to make potions."

"That does explain why you've managed to survive so long."

Soon, we were at the bottom of the stairs, and the paths before us stretched in all directions. It was like a maze with no end in sight, but luckily we had Asia to guide us through.

We followed her as she made many twists and turns through the path. A part of me thought it was impossible to remember such a detailed path through but Asia seemed to be doing so perfectly. Soon we could hear different sounds. Sounds of lamias going through their day.

We passed by a few of them, and all of them looked at us strangely as we followed behind Asia. Some were in awe while others were terrified.

"I'm sorry for how they are acting. A lot of lamias have been down here for their whole lives and have never seen a creature that can walk on two legs," Asia said before stopping and leaning in to whisper something to me. "By the way, can you make sure you don't bleed here? Your type of blood can cause a commotion."

"No problem," I answered calmly.

Soon we ran into our first sign of trouble. Us traveling through had caused a commotion, so a group of male lamias, spears in hand, came to pay us a visit.

"Explain yourself," a lamia with the muscular upper body of a human and the lower body of an anaconda spoke to Asia while we stood behind her, trying not to make any sudden moves from the lamias pointing their stone spears at us. "What are you doing guiding a group of outsiders through our home?"

"I brought them to see the queen."

The male lamia looked at her in confusion.

"Did your majesty summon them?" he asked.

"No, but they are here to clear my father's name for what happened to the inn. They'll prove that he is innocent."

The male lamia only looked at her and shook his head.

"Who are you to make such a decision? Our queen is the one who will decide if your father is innocent or not."

Saying that, the lamia ordered the others to capture us. The lamias acted immediately and moved to capture us, but at that moment, I used my claw to open a vein in my wrist. The scent of my blood wafted through the air, and with it, chaos ensued.

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