DEMON'S VIRTUE

Eiro walked down into the basement, looking for Ariella and Hannah. The two of them stayed here all day, hiding from possible 'Undead Hunters' that could come after them at any time. And the place they were hiding was in the Guards' barracks inside of the manor.

Well, more like the room that was hidden inside of these barracks. Eiro stepped up to the wardrobes on the other side of the room, and slid his foot underneath it. He slid one of the pins there to the side and pushed his mane into the gem that was exposed.

After a second, he pulled it back out, and the wardrobe slid down into the ground, revealing the entrance to the room beyond.

"Hello there. I hope you weren't too bored, stuck in here all day." Eiro told the two women. Hannah quickly jumped up and walked over toward Eiro, quite energetically. If she could, she would probably be smiling right now.

"Is Ariella washing up in the other room?" The Demon asked, placing his head onto the girl's exposed skull. She quickly nodded her head, so Eiro smiled at her and walked toward the other side of the room. Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and stepped into the washroom.

"What the-" Ariella yelled. She turned around toward the door, her body fully exposed as she was cleaning herself, and stared at the Demon, "Get out of here! What are you doing?!"

"Hm? I just wanted to talk to you, what else?"

"Could we do that while I'm wearing clothes the next time?!" The Nephilim exclaimed, but Eiro simply scratched the back of his head, "What? People still care about that stuff when they're adults? I thought it was just some kind of teenager thing."

"You think not wanting to be seen naked is a teenager thing?" Ariella asked with a wry smile, and Eiro immediately nodded his head, "Yeah, but it's not? I wasn't really aware, sorry about that. But just to put it out there, it's not like it really matters anyway. I know the exact shape and size of your liver, so I obviously already knew what you looked like naked."

The Nephilim proceeded to cover herself with a towel, "You know what? Next time, how about you don't reveal to the person you're teaming up with that you're just some pervert that wants to fuck he-"

"Ariella, I think you're misunderstanding. I have not an ounce of sexual attraction toward you. Or anyone, at that. Arc told me that's called being 'Asexual'. But then again, I also thought I couldn't feel any romantic feelings toward anyone, and that's clearly not the case." Eiro pointed out, "But that's not of importance right now. More than that, I need to talk to you about last night."

"...You are... truly unbelievable. Fine, but at least turn around while we talk." Ariella groaned. Eiro shrugged and did as told, "You know that doesn't really make a difference with my-"

"Just shut up, that's not the point. Now go on, what do you have to say for yourself?" The Nephilim asked in a blunt tone as she dried her body to get dressed.

"Are you still of the opinion that it's my fault I don't want to use my daughter for war?" Eiro replied. Ariella let out a deep sigh, "She's not really your daughter. You know that, right? You're a Demon. She's a Human. She's just some... pet you picked up."

Eiro ripped open his eyes, his heartbeat rising intensely as he became rather angry, "I've raised her since she's been a toddler. I was there for her first words, first steps. I was there for her, calming her down every time she cried. I would literally give my life for Avalin, and you're saying I'm not her father? I'm more of a father than whatever piece of shit left her to a church that wanted to turn her into a weapon of war, like you're doing right now."

"But you're a Demon, you-"

"I'm a Demon, but I have a human soul. And that's not just some dumb metaphor, I mean it quite literally. I'm a being that was artificially created by the Monster King using a human's soul. Something went wrong, and some parts of my human soul were kept within me. The last part is just an assumption, but I think it's a rather fair one." Eiro explained, "But now, that doesn't mean I'm just a human stuck in a demon's body. I do have monstrosity. I have killed people. I have eaten people, when I was too dumb to even form a full sentence. The only thing that's important is that I am me. I am Eiro."

Ariella listened to Eiro's story in disbelief. What he was saying just sounded absolutely insane, preposterous. Impossible.

"How do you expect me to believe something like that?"

"I'm just asking you to trust me. I mean, I didn't say anything about your father being one of the probably worst pieces of scum in this world." Eiro said, "'The Hierophant', right?

Ariella snapped her neck around, staring at the Demon, "But-"

"At this point, did you really expect me not to know? I have ways to spread rumors throughout the world, but I don't have ways to find information? I keep tabs on the actions of all the Royals, as much as possible at least. The Hierophant, assumed to be an evolved Kenkraa. Priest-like abilities, but for an evil god. At least that's what people think, since he uses Unholy Magic. And on top of that, the Hierophant was scouted by the Devil. At least he used to be part of the Devil's personal army." Eiro pointed out, "Now, what do you expect me to think? An unholy being with raven-black wings. Brought into the life he's living by the Devil. And then, a Nephilim trying to kill the Devil for whatever reason. With all that information, it's not particularly hard to figure it out, now is it?"

"So? What are you trying to do with that information? Blackmail me? Reveal this to-" Ariella started. Once more, Eiro interrupted her, and he stopped caring for her request to turn around, looking straight into the Nephilim's shocked, and scared, eyes.

"Are you just a complete moron? Ariella, stop acting like that. I am trying to help you out. We have a common goal. I'm the same level of scum as your father, probably, also in part due to the Devil's influence. All I'm saying is that I want you to stop treating me like a monster. Both of us know that you don't think of yourself as one, although you technically are. So why am I a monster, but you aren't? Why is it so unbelievable for me to care for children and treat them as my own? Stop twisting me into the villain of this."

"Because why can you be around someone that will kill you sooner or later, and he...!" Ariella exclaimed angrily. But anger that wasn't directed at Eiro, clearly. He knew what that felt like, and this wasn't it.

"...Finish up here. I'll put more prosthetics on Hannah, by the time you're done, she'll have another new arm and two more legs. And then I have to properly introduce you to someone." Eiro quickly turned back around and left this room. Hannah had clearly been trying to listen to the conversation the two had been having, but Eiro didn't particularly care.

The Demon quickly brought the girl out of this hidden room, and back to the makeshift workshop where all of the prosthetic parts were currently laying. Eiro had Hannah sit down, and proceeded to place the prosthetics onto her right arm.

"So... Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Eiro asked. He handed her some paper to write on with her left hand as well, of course.

Hannah nodded her head in response, and Eiro smiled at her, "So, how long have you been able to use necromancy?"

The girl turned her head to the side and started to write as Eiro kept attaching the prosthetics.

'Since I died', she wrote.

"Hm, I see. Did your unique skill do anything even while you were alive?" The Demon inquired, and the girl shook her head, 'I never had it before. When I died, I went to the heavens, and the gods gave me the gift to come back to life'.

"The... The gods? Were they an Elf, a Human dressed in weird clothes, and a Rhida?" Eiro asked. The girl tilted her head to the side a bit confused, 'What is a Reeda?'

"It's Rhida." The Demon said, writing the word down on the piece of paper, before drawing a small sketch of what they look like. A race of humanoid alligators, basically.

Immediately, the girl nodded her head, 'Those were the gods! They gave me the gift and the skill!'

"What the..." Eiro stopped for a moment, stunned at what was going on. Why did they give such a gift to a random girl? There didn't seem to be anything else special about her status. What reason could they have..? Was it just a coincidence? Or was this some sick joke, a weird twist of fate?

This all was just getting weirder and weirder. It seemed like Hannah didn't want to talk about the way she died, so Eiro of course kept away from that topic. But he still asked a few other questions to distract her while Eiro gave her the prosthetics. Just things about her. Her hobbies, her favorite color. Things she wants to see here in the capital. That kind of thing.

And bit by bit, Eiro had been finishing up. Soon, Hannah had full prosthetics for her arms and legs. He helped the skeletal girl put her cloak back on, and gave her a spare mask of his that he had her put on.

"And just like that, you'll be able to pass as a human for many already." The Demon smiled, "Just keep a note saying that you're a novice adventurer with you and give it to people that want to cause trouble. You'll instantly seem normal in those fields." Eiro explained to Hannah, who excitedly nodded her head.

And just then, Ariella stepped into the room. She stared at the girl that was really just made of bones yesterday, standing there with her hands and feet exposed. She looked... alive. More alive than she did just a few days ago, at least.

"This is really insane... Thanks for your help, Eiro. We really appreciate it..." Ariella said, but Eiro turned around toward her with a wry smile, "What are you talking about? I'm going to work on the rest of her body as well, the only thing that's going to take a while will be the parts for the head.. She'll look like a regular girl in just a few days."