The next morning, Christian woke up to happy wolf sounds outside.
He rolled off his bench smoothly and stood up. He did his morning stretches and walked outside. The morning sun greeted him with a soft glow over the campsite. Christian walked over to the source of the wolf sounds.
Rhea was playing with the pups by the campfire.
"Fetch!" she exclaimed happily while throwing a wooden frisbee that Christian had made earlier. The frisbee whooshed through the air, and one of the younger pups, Lola, caught it in the air. Lola ran back to Rhea and dropped the frisbee excitedly at her feet. Rhea dropped to one knee and patted Lola's head.
The sound of Christian's footsteps on the grass got Rhea's attention.
"Good morning, Rhea! Thanks for keeping my wolves entertained. I had no idea you were up either. How much did you sleep?" Christian asked as he sat down near Rhea on one of the logs he placed around the campfire.
"Oh well, I only slept for a few hours. Vampires do not need much sleep at all, though we can sleep for a long time if we wanted to. I just wanted to get a feel for the area and try to place where we are right now, as well as think about what I want to do regarding being here," she replied as she sat down next to Christian.
"Well... what do you want to do?" he asked as Darya and Flaro made their way toward them.
"I decided I want to stay here for a while! First and foremost, I am a lover of agriculture, and you have built quite the place here for yourself. For being one person, this is extremely impressive. Plus, I do not have the pressures of life from larger society here like I do in other towns or cities. Is that alright with you?" she asked him.
"Yeah!" Christian replied with a smile. "That would be fine by me! I'd love to have more company. It can never hurt to have more people around here. Would you like me to show you around the campsite properly after we eat some breakfast?"
She smiled back and nodded. Together, they got ready for breakfast. Christian showed her how to take care of the wolves. Then they both got some water from the well, where Christian had made some wooden cups earlier. They got to work on plucking some more vegetables from the growing crops and cooking them over the fire. Christian and Rhea ate breakfast happily as Christian asked Rhea about the outside world beyond the forest.
"I know this may sound stupid, but what country are we in?" he asked as he took a bite out of some cooked potato and tomato. Flaro and Darya were sitting next to both Christian and Rhea as they talked.
Rhea paused her eating once she heard the question. "Well, this territory is within the Demon Lord's Empire. Do not freak out too much, though. It is possible you did not know if you hardly or never left these woods. The Demon Lord does not care if you use his lands, as long as you do not interfere with his plans and you provide value to him in the long run."
These words hit Christian like a train. All he wanted was a peaceful life. However, knowing that his little campsite sat within the larger territory of the Demon Lord's Empire was a frightening fact. He did not even know if his blessings could protect him from such a powerful-sounding figure.
Christian gulped. "Do you know around how far we are from the Demon Lord's Palace?"
"Well," she replied as she started eating slowly again, "I do not know the exact location of where we are, but I do think we are located within the Forest of Hellfire. Again, I am more surprised you lasted this long and that not many creatures here tried to attack you. For a human to last this long, no offense, is a hard feat to accomplish here."
Christian just looked at her, slightly puzzled, and nodded. Is it my divine blessings that are keeping the majority of the demonic creatures away from me? He did not know the answer, but he was grateful for them. He looked at Flaro and Darya, who were now napping near their feet.
He was happy his wolves were not trying to eat him when they first met.
"Do you think the Demon Lord knows this campsite and that I exist?" Christian asked as he stood up from the log.
"It is unlikely that he does. At least, right now. Again, you have me here. He is unlikely to try to do anything rash with your wolves and me here. Plus, we are not interfering with any of his grand plans, whatever they may be, so I say we are fine. We are located in the Forest of Hellfire. Nobody, not even the Demon Lord, thinks anybody is foolish enough to try to set up a base here."
"Thanks for that," Christian sighed as Rhea laughed teasingly.
The Forest of Hellfire did seem very dangerous at night, but during the daytime it was actually kind of beautiful. Maybe that was the charm or misleading factor of the forest. Charm adventurers of sorts into the forest and, when night comes, eat them alive. Though that is just what Christian thought in the moment.
Both Christian and Rhea got up from their logs and cleaned their dishes.
Christian thought of something and asked Rhea if she had some paper and a pen to write with inside her magic pouch, which luckily she did, to his amazement. He thanked her and brought the paper and pen inside the cabin to work on something while Rhea continued to play with the pups.
Christian was going to make a map of his campsite and make blueprints for future projects he could work on. He wanted to be as prepared as possible for any intruders and to make his living space larger and better. All he wanted was to live a peaceful life and to later write about his experiences of living out the fantasy world of his dreams.
Even though he originally wanted to be by himself, having the wolves and now Rhea around made things a little better. It brought more life to this world for him. That feeling of being truly alive is what he wanted the most.
He got to work on making the map.