Harem Overlord: I ALWAYS Finish Quick!

A little while earlier...

Emily, Lizzy, and Izzy appeared through the teleporter in the small town of Ushmed.

"You girls, go check the surroundings. It shouldn't be hard to find Grace if she's here," Lizzy ordered, her voice uncharacteristically sharp.

But before any of them could take a step, the stone Grace had given to Ryan and now to Lizzy lit up and started to glow.

Stunned, the trio looked at the glowing rock with open mouths as the stone began to indicate where they should walk.

Moving the stone in the indicated direction, the stone started to glow a bit brighter, and when she moved the stone away, the glow slightly faded.

"Well, I don't think we have to look for Grace," Izzy said.

"Thank you for the helpful comment," Lizzy replied sarcastically.

"No worries," Izzy said, giving her sister a thumbs up.

Walking along a stone's path, the trio exited the town and entered the wilderness surrounding Ushmed.

After walking about half an hour without seeing anyone besides a few animals running past them, Emily said, "I hope we're not being too hasty by following this thing. After what the shop lady said, we truly don't know what kind of village Grace is from."

"Still, it's not like we can turn around," Lizzy responded, giving a slight shrug. "This is the first thing Ryan has asked us to do. How would it look if we fail without even trying?"

Emily nodded in response. "You're right as always, sister Lizzy."

"And when did I become your sister?" Lizzy asked, looking over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"You're right. Since you were in Ryan's harem first, it's older sister, Lizzy," Emily corrected.

"I didn't mean-"

"Haha, yes. We're your older sisters," Izzy said, interrupting Lizzy while wrapping a hand around Emily's shoulder.

As Lizzy was about to protest, the stone in her hand started to emit a faint heat.

"I think we're almost there," Lizzy said, looking around.

A short distance ahead, a group of boulders looked like well-placed columns.

"Let's take a look at those. They don't appear random," Lizzy said, the stone becoming bright and quivering.

The trio Walked through the columns of stone, a thick fog greeting them.

Stopping for a moment, Lizzy was about to turn back when the stone emitted a bright light, and the fog parted around them.

Continuing on their path, they became surrounded by the mist but had a little pocket of space where the only light source was the stone that disempowered the fog.

As they climbed up what seemed to be a steep hill, the stone kept vibrating and getting brighter.

As they got closer to the top of the hill, the mist began to thin and disappear.

Beneath them in a valley was a large group of shacks. A waterway snaked through the middle of the village, and a rickety bridge joined the two sides together.

"I guess this is it,'' said Izzy. "It looks pretty shabby to me. But looks can be deceiving."

"Let's go check it out," Lizzy said.

The three wound down the hill on a path that led them into the broken-down village.

'Is this place so poor that they can't even afford to fix up their homes?' Lizzy thought, seeing broken wood, leaning porches, and doors off their hinges greeting them.

Several people lounged on their stoops and stared at them curiously. "Excuse me," Izzy said. "We have a question."

Hearing Izzy speak by one, the people slunk back into their old homes, disappearing.

"They're not very friendly here," Emily said.

"Maybe they've never seen hair color like ours," Izzy muttered.

"Let's head over there," Emily pointed to a slightly larger, less broken down building than the others, "That seems like a newer building."

As they approached the building, the trio heard the clanking sounds of dishes and some laughter. Inhaling, they smelled something so good that their stomach started growling.

"Maybe we should go in and try to get some food," Izzy said.

"I'm not so sure about that. People here don't seem too friendly," Lizzy responded.

"Let's see if we can wait a couple of minutes to see what's going on," Emily said as the three girls snuck around the building and waited underneath some open windows.

They listened for several minutes and soon heard two distinct female voices talking.

Quietly they leaned against the building.

"Do you think she'll ever change?" one of the voices said.

"She is perfect in every way, but when it comes to her daughter. It's like she's got a blind eye when it comes to Grace."

The three girls looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Grace should be here in the village learning how to lead. And fighting the good fight. But no, Captain didn't want to disclose to Grace what we do and agreed to send her off to that bourgeois Academy."

"I agree," another voice continued, "It's just a waste of time. Nothing should distract us from our mission. Grace should be fighting alongside us and not learning anything from that scum who call themselves the human empire."

The voices continued talking, but the trio could no longer make out their words.

Lizzy beckoned the girls, "Let's go."

The girl snuck back through the village, trying to keep out of sight. Lizzie pointed toward a cluster of trees.

Safely behind the trees, and out of sight of the villagers, Lizzy said, "There's definitely something wrong with the village."

"Well, duh, sis. They unmistakably hate the human empire, which is strange seeing as we're in the human empire," Izzy said, staring at her sister with an expression that said, 'you should have known better.'

"No, you dingus," Lizzy said, whacking Izzy up top the head. "I used energy vision on them."

"They had a ton of cultivators!"

Emily frowned and asked, "What do you think 'this fight' meant?

"Grace's mom has to be someone in this village, probably like the leader. But then what did they mean by 'keeping it from Grace'?"

Both sisters nodded in agreement. Lizzy said, "Yeah, it's strange all around, but we shouldn't focus on what's happening now. We should find Grace. Since it appears she's not here, let's go beyond the stones and wait for her."