Danmachi Familia from Hell

6

Contrary to Hades' words, the route Damien took was extremely long. Instead of going straight through the main streets leading almost directly to the castle, they made a large circle around the city before finally reaching the palace. Crozzo led them through all the districts separated by walls. First, they passed the commoners' district, where there were houses, shops, taverns and other private establishments with everything a regular citizen needed to live. Then they entered the slightly less spacious military district. This was where the armories, training grounds, barracks and even an entire traverse were located, where the Rakians could hold simulated battles of up to several thousand people. Then they entered the nobles' district, which was definitely smaller than the previous two. This was not unusual at all. People with blue blood in each nation were only a fraction of the population.
Passing the large estates, iron fences arranged in emblems and scenes, the monuments standing in front of the gates like rock defenders, one might think that the aristocrats were competing with each other in displaying their own wealth, which was not far from the truth.
It was there that Damien lived on a daily basis, together with other representatives of his family, as well as several gods standing at the head of their familias, who joined Rakia voluntarily or by force.
Finally, when the last rays of the sun disappeared below the horizon, they reached the last part of the capital, the royal castle. Both the architect drawing the construction plans and the builder responsible for transforming the vision into reality were certainly not amateurs in their craft. If the city walls impressed Hades, the royal family's house simply took his breath away. So far, he had not seen in the Lower World a building that could intertwine the defensive elements of a fortress with the beauty of a palace in such grace.
Belakher was also impressed by all this, but definitely not positively. In his homeland, there was also a division into social classes. The fact that the homes of the commoners were decidedly more modest than the estates of the nobility or the palace of the ruler was therefore not in his eyes anything wrong. Nevertheless, in his forest, no one separated themselves from others with walls. Everyone lived in coexistence and with respect for the rest of their countrymen. People who considered themselves better than others only because of their origin were a few, inglorious exceptions, whom their relatives quickly corrected.
For the Landgrave, isolating individual citizens from each other was worthy of nothing but contempt.
When the palace gates were opened, a procession appeared before their eyes, led by a bald man of short stature. He was about forty years old at the neck, and a brushy mustache stuck out from under his nose.
Someone here does not pass by the palace kitchen, thought Belakher, looking at the bald man's plump build.

- Welcome, gentlemen! - the fat man shouted, spreading his arms at the same time, as if he wanted to hug the god and the elf sitting on their horses. - My name is Maximilian Rolde and I am the majordomo of this magnificent castle and a faithful servant of the crown. Please follow me, and I will show you, fair gentleman your chambers. In the meantime, the stable boys will tend to your horses.

Rolde waved servants to him. They grabbed the reins of the blue-eyed horses dressed in black cloth, but they didn't think of moving. Both men pulled with all their might, and the horses remained unmoved, not even neighing.

- Belakher - Hades said to his follower, who immediately understood what he meant.

- Void - the elf whispered.

Black, oily liquid immediately poured out from under the horses and began to engulf them like quicksand, but much faster and more violently. Both stable boys jumped back in terror when they saw the animals being dragged into the abyss without even reacting. It was as if it was a standard activity for them, no different from eating or sleeping.
When the dark liquid swallowed the undead creatures whole, it completely soaked into the ground, and the terrified majordomo looked with trembling eyes at the elf hiding his face under the wide brim of an old hat.
Landgrave had worn this falling apart thing since his first encounter with Hades in Cora's home village.
The golden-eyed man had once asked his servant why he didn't throw away this worn-out old garbage and buy something new? They didn't waste money on unnecessary expenses, but one hat wouldn't ruin them. Then came a rare moment when the stoic Belakher lost control of his emotions. This headdress was one of the things he had taken with him from the forest of Rasa Sill, the only one for which he had found no buyer, and therefore the last memento of his former life. He would not thrown it away, even though there was a hole in the middle of it the size of a fist.