DEMON'S VIRTUE

"Heh..." Arc laughed a bit, after hearing what his father just said, "You sure do like to brag, eh dad?"

"What do you mean, 'brag'? This all actually happened." Eiro pointed out, and Arc shrugged, "Of course, just because you're bragging doesn't mean you're lying, but you didn't have to recount everything you did." Arc said, unable to hold his grin back.

"Anyway, I guess I'm just gonna leave you two alone now before all those girls come down here." He added, and swiftly made his way back inside.

Eiro let out a slight sigh as he turned back toward Ariella, who was still processing all this information, "So, you're telling me you're really an Imp?" She asked, and Eiro nodded his head, "Yeah, that's what I was saying. But after a couple unique evolutions, I don't really have much in common with regular Imps."

"Hm, I guess that's... Fair... I mean... The few times I evolved, I didn't really change that much... The first time I evolved, I gained my wings, and then the second time I got my horns. And after that those things mostly just changed their shape a little bit." Ariella explained, "So I guess I didn't expect you to change this rapidly."

"Well, yeah, you're not a 'true' monster at the end of the day. You were born with a body that would develop into a true humanoid form, and you didn't even have monstrosity. You're technically a monster, but you know, not... Not as much as I am, for example."

"I guess that makes sense. And I never really stayed around to see monsters evolve too much, I would usually just kill them." Ariella said, feeling somewhat bad about her reaction and words now.

Eiro smiled and nodded his head, "The same was the case for me, so don't worry about it. I still do. Just because I'm a monster doesn't mean I don't kill other monsters."

"...An Imp, really? That just seems so... wow." Ariella said, and Eiro let out a slight sigh, "Can we just move on for now? We can talk about it some other time some more, if you want." The Demon pointed out.

"For now, want to hear more about the village?" Eiro suggested, "It is pretty interesting. Monsters have a very different way of living together compared to people."

"Hm. Really? Alright, tell me about it." The Nephilim replied with a soft smile on her face.

---

Eiro was sitting on Lugo's back, riding alongside the carriage on his way to the academy for today. He was teaching a class about Familiar's today, so it was obvious that he would need his own by his side for this.

But at the same time, he attracted quite a bit of attention, since there was practically nobody here that didn't hear about the new baron, and the stag was a pretty good identifier. Not that Lugo didn't attract attention normally anyway.

Soon, they reached the academy, and after the children got out of the carriage, it was brought away by one of the stable boys. Another one was trying to bring Lugo away, but Eiro looked at him and shook his head, "He's my familiar, I'm taking him with me."

"E-Erm, sir, I don't think you can do that..." The stable boy said, and Eiro simply sighed, "Well, I think I can. I'm going to properly clean his hoofs before we go inside, the halls and doorways are big enough, and I'll take routes where I won't bother anyone. I think it's going to be fine if I take my familiar with me. I just need him for maybe three hours today anyway. I'll bring him out to the stables once I'm done." Eiro explained.

The stable boy was a bit unsure, but he figured that it was fine if one of the teachers said so, "Then I apologize for my rudeness."

"Don't worry about it, you're just doing your job." Eiro smiled and stepped into the building following his children. One after another, they split off to get to their own classes, while Eiro made his way to the class 'Introduction to Familiars'.

He stepped into the room and sat down at the desk in the front, waiting for the students to arrive as he read a book. His students stepped into the room, and were already muttering amongst themselves when they saw Eiro and the stag next to him. Once everyone was here, Eiro stood up and smiled at them.

"Now, since I know all of you already, this is a perfect chance to make this announcement. From today on, my name is no longer just 'Eiro'. I gained a family name last night. But of course, I don't really care what you refer to me, so I'll leave the choice up to you. You can either keep calling me Eiro, or you can call me 'Mr. Daemonherz'. But again, it's up to you. I'll respond to either." Eiro explained to all of them. But that was all that he told them as well, immediately moving on.

"Alright then. Who here already has some experience dealing with familiars, in any form? Whether it's through acquaintances, parents, distant relatives, or even just by reading about them. Let me know what you know." Eiro said. Overall, it seemed like everyone had at least heard a little bit of them before, but the levels of experience were still rather different between individuals.

"Then let me start at the basics. Any being can be a familiar. Animals, Magic Beasts, even Monsters. There's not even really a limitation for People. It's simply frowned upon, and in many countries, like this one, illegal. And since the exact methods differ for each sort of creature you want to turn into a familiar, the ceremony to turn a person into a familiar was purposefully obscured over the years, so don't even try to find out." Eiro said, "You're much better off just choosing a beast as your partner, as most mages tend to do."

Eiro turned toward Lugo with a smile, "There is one common misconception that I want to immediately banish from your minds, however. Familiars are not servants to you. They are your companions. Partners. Anyone that has a completely subservient familiar, doesn't have a familiar. They simple enslaved whatever creature serves as their familiar. Theoretically it is similar, but it is simply a bastardization of what truly makes a familiar valuable."

Quickly, a student raised their hand, "But why would you want a familiar that does their own thing all the time? Don't you want it to listen to you?"

"Of course you do. But with that logic, parties of adventurers would not be a thing. It would be one person that has servants they're bringing along. There must be a sense of trust between the parties involved. Mutual trust. You must be able to trust that your familiar listens to you, and the familiar must be able to trust that you're going to take care of its safety like your own." Eiro explained to the student, but it seemed like overall, the class wasn't really convinced yet.

Eiro sighed slightly, "A familiar is not a pet to play around with. Again, it is a partner that will stay with you for its whole life. And in return, you offer the same to your familiar. They are your best friend for as long as possible, and you are theirs. It is not a relationship between the owner and the owned, it is a relationship between to beings of equal standing in the relationship. That is why many lose their familiar. By losing their trust, the contract you formed will be nulled. You broke your promise to it. Under those rules, and only under those rules, can you truly have a familiar, and enjoy the benefits that come with it."

Once more, the class overall didn't seem too convinced about why one would enter this relationship on equal terms, but Eiro had explained it the best he could. He just had one more idea.

"Okay, since that didn't seem to convince you, let's go with this. Throw away the concept of race. You are you. You are not a human, elf, or dwarf. You are simply who you are. Just imagine that for a moment. And then, you meet someone. They seem like you two could get along great. They smell a bit more than you do, but you don't judge them for that. And so, you two choose to work together by entering a contract with each other. They become your familiar, and technically, you become theirs, even if you were the one that declared the contract. You live alongside one another. You eat alongside on another. And you fight alongside on another. This being becomes your best friend. What does it matter if they're an animal? What does it matter if you are a human. Or an elf. Or a demon straight from hell. Things like that don't matter in a true friendship." Eiro explained to them, rubbing his hand over Lugo's head.

"And that's why I've been with Lugo here for roughly eight years. I watched him grow up. I watched him eat more and more, until he didn't even fit through the door to our old house anymore. Wherever I went, he went. So, in turn, he saw me grow as well. He knows all there is to know about me, and I know all there is to know about him.. And that is exactly what makes up not only a good relationship between you and a familiar, but a good relationship between anyone you love, in any way, shape, or form they or the relationship you have may be."