DEMON'S VIRTUE

Solomon looked at Eiro with a worried expression, "Are you sure that it's a good idea not to just go back there and explain the situation to them? They might beli-"

"I won't go back there in this state, as I just said. It's too risky for me... And... even if I were to go back, I don't know what happens when I fuse with a spirit right now. Not only my body, but my mind merges with them... This skill might affect the spirit. It might be cruel to say this, but I don't care about random spirits that I might find around here, but I care about... those two." Eiro said, trying to think of Nelli and Gondos as little as he possibly could.

Hearing Eiro's explanation, Solomon slowly nodded his head, "I see... Then you're probably intending to somehow find a spirit to contract that you won't care about, no matter the consequences? Just so that you can find this conductor?"

Without hesitation, Eiro nodded his head as he continued to stare at the notes on the ground while writing even more so that he could properly remember the situation. By now, he was practically writing down as much information as possible, transcribing the events unfolding around him so that he could at least have access to what was happening right now during this time in some way, shape or form.

"As I said, it might be cruel to say. But that's how it is." The Demon replied bluntly, "Where can we find spirits around here?"

Solomon slowly crossed his arms in thought, "It depends... What Elements do you have a high enough affinity for that you could contract a spirit from that element?"

"Fire, Air, Shadow, and Nature. Well, technically also Ice, but that situation is more complicated..." The Demon explained. Solomon looked back at him with a wry smile, although he quickly regained his composure as he started to think about the situation.

"Shadow and Nature spirits are out of the question. They are even rarer than spirits of base elements. Air spirits could possibly be found in some ravines that have extremely strong air currents in them due to the extraordinary geography in that area... They are a day's trip away by Aria. But I don't know how risky it would be for you to leave the storm yourself... I don't know of any place that could house Fire Spirits around here either. I apologize." Solomon said in a genuine tone, but Eiro just shook his head in response.

"It's not your fault... But how about the black market? When I was in the slums before and fused with one of the spirits to search for the Collector, I noticed something else that had a particularly weird scent to it... it was similar to the magical scent that a Spirit has on its own. I assume that it might have been that weird drug going around in the slums right now..." Eiro explained, and Solomon slowly raised his brows in response to hearing this.

"Yes, I remember the fact that parts of Gondos' body was sold in Argberg... That was probably similar to that, right? As if it had some sort of positive effect on people that held or consumed it. Do you think it might be addictive?"

"Who knows? Magic is mysterious... With the exact same raw substance, some beings can conjure rocks out of thin air, and others can revive people. Its effects can be quite unpredictable..."

"I see... Then we must make our way to the black market." Solomon said, but Eiro turned his head toward him and shook his head immediately, "No, you're not coming with me. A king in the criminal underworld of their own country? That's not a good idea. I'm going alone with the stag... With Lugo... that was his name, right?" Eiro asked after glancing on a piece of paper that had that name written on it, and Solomon bitterly looked down at the ground.

"No. I'm not following just what you say without giving my opinion into this. One, I know something about Lugo that you may have forgotten. That he is quite a special existence himself. Even physically he sticks out compared to other stags. It would be too risky for him to go there as well. I'm assigning you an escort that I trust. Is that alright with you?" Solomon inquired, and Eiro looked back at him before slowly nodding his head.

"I understand... But let me properly inspect that 'escort' first... I want to see if they will really keep their mouth shut." After hearing the Demon's demand, Solomon basically had to agree. It was reasonable in this situation, after all.

First, what they had to do was leave this space again. They had all the information that they currently needed, and Eiro and Lugo just followed Solomon back out and back to the castle. The snowstorm had slightly picked up in strength again while they were inside of the library, but maybe that was just imagination because it was night, and as such colder anyway.

Eiro and Lugo were waiting in the entrance hall of the castle, constantly observed by numerous guards, soldiers and scouts, until Solomon called the Demon up the stairs. He quickly rushed up there, ignoring the angry, hateful glares from the people around him. Eiro slowly glanced down into the book he was holding that was filled with information on current events, but was still as confused as he was before after reading through everything in there.

Once the Demon made his way into Solomon's study, the first thing he did was look at the King on the other side of the room as he tilted his head slightly to the side, "Hey, erm... Solomon, right? Did something happen with those guards of yours? I get the feeling that they practically despise me..." He pointed out.

"They probably do. Earlier today, you knocked most of them out as you forced your way into the castle, after all." The King replied with a wry smile, and Eiro looked down at the book in his hand and wrote this information down inside of it, "Really...? I forgot, sorry..." He muttered.

"It's fine." Solomon said reassuredly. In reality, this whole situation was anything but fine, but Solomon really didn't know what else he was supposed to say. After all, Eiro genuinely didn't seem to have remembered any of this. And even if Solomon reprimanded him, Eiro would probably forget after just a few moments anyway.

"Ah... Well, who is he? Is that the... Escort you mentioned?"

Surprised that he was so easily seen, a man stepped out of the shadows as he looked at Solomon, "He is truly as impressive as you mentioned... To think he would so easily see through my Advanced Stealth skill just like that."

"That was an Advanced Grade skill? Seemed like apprentice to me." The Demon replied bluntly as he wrote the information that he had until now down in his book, although it seemed like the man in question felt rather insulted by this statement.

"Hey, who do you-"

"I think that I'm someone with perceptive abilities of someone with four-digits in the perception skill, if not better, as well as someone that trained said perceptive abilities while trying to see through Master Grade stealth abilities. Just because I was able to see through your petty trick that you tried to execute using shadow magic, which I myself possess as well, doesn't mean that you aren't skilled. You very much are, more skilled at stealth than I am, but my perception is simply superior to your stealth. That's all it is." Eiro said bluntly. Through the man's reaction, he was able to figure out what kind of person he was roughly, and that he had a rather big ego. And to completely make the situation clear, Eiro told him about the situation straightforwardly instead of having to deal with a cranky escort the whole time Eiro was walking through the black market.

"Alright, I'm ready." The Demon said, while the escort that Solomon had picked out was looking at the King confused, "He was telling the complete truth right now, wasn't he? Where did you find this guy...?" The escort asked with a wry smile, and Solomon just shrugged.

"He found me, actually. But that doesn't matter right now. Eiro, you can trust this man. I trust him fully, at least." Solomon pointed out, so Eiro nodded his head, "Good to know. I'm still going to see if I will trust him as well, if that's alright with you." The Demon suggested, and Solomon simply nodded and let Eiro do his thing.

Eiro stepped up to the man and pressed his palm on his chest, before sending a quick pulse of mana into his chest. He didn't know why he did it, but he did. And soon after, he realized exactly why. By sending mana into this man's body, Eiro was able to figure out every little detail of his body, inside and out.

He was able to figure out how he reacted to sudden jolts of pain, how well-built his body was, and even how strong his magic capabilities were just by seeing how well the mana travelled through him, and if it did so mostly uninterrupted or if it jolted around suddenly after 'impact' with strong internal mana.

"Hm..." The Demon muttered while the Escort quickly held his hand to his chest, staring at Eiro with a glare, "What the hell's your problem, man? What was that just now?"

"Erm..." Eiro looked back at the escort and thought about that question, before the Demon had to aready turn back to the book he was holding. He flipped the page around and then saw the information he needed, "Right, sorry. I was just inspecting you really quickly. It helps me figure out a lot of things about you through my abilities. Now answer a few questions, alright?" Eiro asked, and the escort slowly glanced at Solomon who just shrugged in response.

The escort sighed and nodded his head, "Sure, I guess so."

And so, having received permission, Eiro started to ask seemingly random questions that might seem unrelated to the whole situation right now. But they were questions that, in a weird pattern, would allow Eiro to figure out exactly the way that this escort was thinking without revealing even an ounce of who Eiro was or what the Escort was needed for.

Of course, even with Eiro's abilities, due to his current state of mind, it was just impossible to truly use these abilities how he was planning, but it was good enough for now at least. Especially since Solomon was also vouching for this escort.

Just like that, Eiro gained a temporary companion through which Solomon could make sure that Eiro wasn't forgetting about why he was wandering through the black-market.