"- oh no! Why does he do that?" exclaims Mrindeh. "There are lots of us, lots and lots..."

"He has more curiosity than morals, and no one here's bothered to develop ways to do human experiments without humans involved. My non-military idea for getting him to cut it out was 'surveillance and bribery with a massive library', which has a larger chance of working without bystander casualties than anything military, knowing him."

She furrows her brow. "Well, I can get you names of lots of people who want babies... there are probably angels too, the fairies have their own system but maybe it doesn't cover them all... why are there tight adoption restrictions?"

"Most places are wary of strangers, though that may be less true in areas that're mostly non-shinobi."

"I guess that makes sense... I think I'll stay in this country where I won't have to do all the explaining about demons. I can probably take a ninja. And I'll try to get a baby that won't be interesting to ninja."

He nods. "That's sensible."

"What makes babies interesting to ninja?"

"Having specific bloodlines, or being the child of a powerful shinobi. Usually shinobi children are adopted to shinobi parents, though, and most adoptions favor next-of-kin anyways."

"Okay. I will look for a normal baby without ninja relatives. Is ninja-ness a conjurable parameter?" she asks Cam.

"I don't actually know, but I think it's just a matter of training, so probably not?"

"We'd have to ask someone from this country, but shinobi usually all live in one place, so 'literally any other city' works. The port and capital aren't shinobi cities; I don't actually know where the shinobi city here is, because it's hidden."

"I'll check out the port and the capital, then," says Mrindeh agreeably.

He nods and names the actual cities.

"Which way?" she asks.

"Follow the railroad thataway," says Cam, pointing. "I'm not sure how you get in to see the queen about it though."

"Sagami Mariko is able to send messages, though presumably there's something less than royal permission needed. We might want to wake her though to ask."

"I can wait till morning," says Mrindeh.

He nods. "Anything else in the meantime?" It's directed kind of generically.

"Sagami-san can probably take it from here," Cam says.

"I'll go back to reading, then."

"Thank you so much!" says Mrindeh, beaming at him gratefully.

He nods, kind of awkwardly. "You're welcome." The words feel weird, flat. (People usually aren't thanking him, even back when he was on the side of the 'good guys' and doing helpful things.)

And with that it would seem he is free to go. Cam introduces Mrindeh to Sagami Mariko when she's up and about.

"It's nice to meet you!" Mariko says. She's fortunately a morning person. "Is there something you need?"

"Cam said that I might be able to adopt a baby here!"

"You might, yes. Are babies harder to come by in Hell?"

"There aren't any baby demons, not ever."