DEMON'S VIRTUE

Eiro took a seat on one of the chairs in the office, while Lugo chose to lie down wherever there was space for him.

"I'm sorry that you had to find out like this." Eiro told Merlin, but the old man simply shook his head as he took a seat hikmself.

"Do not worry about such manners. I had to find out somehow. And being told by one raised by Jura is better than being told by a total stranger." Merlin explained, and then looked back at Eiro, "And you really inherited his Card?"

"Yes, I have. It was pretty tough, but he prepared a space for me where I could get used to my new senses. He thought of everything, basically." Eiro said with a bitter expression.

"He really was a kind man. Kinder than most, at least. It ended up turning him against the people of this world, however. You see, he-"

"He created prosthetics for the current Monster King, I know." The Demon muttered, "He even created a prosthetic for a vile being like me when he first met me, even under all the circumstances."

"Vile being? You seem like an upstanding young man to me." Merlin pointed out, and Eiro slowly shook his head as he stood up, "It might seem like that, but I'm not. Everyone else of your guys' 'group' know of this, so I'm hoping that you'll be fine with this knowledge as well. I just think it's going to make my questions a bit easier going forward. Bavet, if you will..."

Merlin seemed completely confused, as a mass of slime suddenly gathered on top of Eiro's hand. And the more of that slime gathered, the more Eiro's body changed. His skin changed color to be more red, or blue in other spaces. His hair fused together and hardened, and his clothes split off of his body as if they had been a part of it already. Eiro's jacket turned into wings, while his belt turned into a thick tail.

"I'm a Demon. But I'm not like other Demons. I have my monstrosity perfectly under control, and I'm raising my children, who are all people by the way, with utter love and care. I am here with the end-goal to create a better future for them." Eiro explained, in the calmest voice that he could to make sure that Merlin wouldn't freak out.

Merlin raised his brows surprised, his body practically completely stunned, "Now, that is not what I expected to hear today. Well, the only thing I really need to know is whether you can be trusted. I assume that our King knows of this as well, as close as you two seem to be. I think in that case, it's fair to assume you really were Jura's foster-son, and did not just kill him to take his card. So... It seems like I can trust you." Merlin pointed out, and Eiro looked back a bit surprised.

"That went better than I expected." Eiro muttered, "Not that I'm complaining. But of course, you probably have some questions, so go ahead and ask anything you want."

"Hm..." Merlin thought for a moment or two, "Then let us start at the beginning. How did you meet Jura?"

Eiro quickly nodded as he recalled the situation, "I had just come out of a battle with other demons... I used a source of Holy Energy to fight. I'm not stunned by my bane like many others are, somehow, but it still made my hand practically rot away from the inside out. And after the fight, I had to go get something to eat for my children. I wandered through the forest, and came across this old man currently creating a prosthetic for a boar which lost its leg. That was the first time I came across him. Later, I saw some people carrying around that exact boar, and Jura wasn't far away either. We... took care of those people because they were trying to attack us, and then I collapsed. Jura amputated my hand, and asked me to become his student."

Merlin crossed his arms in thought, "I see. That does sound like him." Merlin chuckled, "But I am quite curious about why you are affected by your bane in a different way. Are you some sort of super special high-tier sort of demon?"

"No, I'm... erm... an Imp, actually." Eiro explained, "I just had a few unique evolutions so you would never be able to guess. But I think I do know why I'm not affected in the same way."

"And why would that be?"

"...As you just saw, I also possess the Ace of Cups. I drank it at that point, and when I did, I later became exposed to an extremely strong source of Holy Energy. I developed a rather high resistance to Holy Energy immediately when the effect of the ace of cups subsided. For the longest time I thought it was just this, but it seems to be a mixture of different things. You see, I was artificially created by the Monster King as part of a large monster horde. And, as he was interrupted, he made a mistake creating me, and something with the soul he used to create me went wrong. To be brief, my soul was that of a human. I think that is the main reason why I'm not affected as strongly." Eiro explained, but Merlin was just silent, until he staretd to mutter.

"A monster horde... the ace of cups... and an extremely strong source of holy energy..?" Merlin was deep in thought, as shivers covered Eiro's whole body, as he realized what Merlin was about to find out.

"You are in the possession of the Holy Priestess, are you not?" He asked, and Eiro glared back at him, "She's my daughter, I do not 'possess' her." Eiro sighed, "But how did you figure that out?"

"Hm? Oh, it was quite simple. Monster hordes are quite rare, especially demonic monster hordes. There wasn't one of the latter for a few decades, but there was one with mixed monsters. Many researchers guessed that it was created by the Monster King to show his might. And that horde made it's way to the Holy Empire's capital sooner or later. I have the tendency to track objects of Arcane nature, and I lost track of it after that attack, so I know you were there. And since the Holy Priestess was kidnapped that same day, it was relatively easy to conclude. I still lack understanding of a few aspects of this all, but I knew that I was somewhat right at least." Merlin explained to Eiro, who let out a deep sigh.

"I have a feeling we'll get along quite well, Merlin. You're absolutely right. Just that I split off from the Monster Horde at some point, and made my way to that capital through other means. I won't go into that now, however." Eiro said, and Merlin slowly nodded his head, "I see, now. I really do have quite a few questions, but I think you have your own. I will be patient for now."

"...Wait, you don't think it's wrong that I'm sheltering the Holy Priestess?" Eiro asked, and Merlin scoffed, "Hah, right. She should be what, eight years old? I know how disgusting the actions of the Holy Empire are. Now that I think of it, that must be how you came across the other children as well. They all have unique skills, so it makes sense. The Holy Empire loves to create soldiers out of the unique, even if they are nothing but children. She seems safer with you, a loving parent."

"Yeah, I was right. We'll get along amazingly." Eiro smiled, "Thanks for trusting me like this, although I've done nothing to earn that... But yes, I do have some questions that I would really like to ask you now. And since you said you have the tendency to track Arcane objects, I think I'm right. You probably researched Arcane beings as well, right?"

"Arcane beings! Ah, yes, there are not many of them, but they are all extremely powerful. I know of roughly five or six, which ones do you want to know of?" Merlin asked, and Eiro immediately smiled.

"All of them, if possible. But mostly, with a focus on the Arcane Dealer and the Arcane Mage." Eiro pointed out, and Merlin smiled in response, "Oh, the Arcane Dealer is one of the easiest to speak about. He is the one that interacted with us the most, nearly being a leading figure amonst Arcane Beings. The Arcane Mage is nearly the opposite in that regard. He is one of the ones that showed themselves the least. We don't even know what he looks like. All we know is that he wielded the greatest level of Arcane Magic possible."

"That! That's the part that I want to know about. You said you have an 'element', or rather, a 'concept' that you can use called 'Arcana', right? Is that Arcane Magic?" Eiro asked, and Merlin smiled in response, "Indeed it is. It is a special way to use pure mana to create magical effects. It is not necessarily powerful in battle, but it has an incredible number of other uses. It can be quite useful when combined with elemental magic as well. And the best thing is... Since Arcana is a concept, not an element, practically anyone with the capability to use magic in the first place can learn it! Different to elemental affinities, an 'Arcana' affinity can grow over time."

"Right. That's pretty interesting. Would it be possible for you to teach the concept of Arcana to me?" Eiro asked, and Merlin immediately nodded his head, "Of course! It would be an honor to do so!"

Once again, Eiro became even more convinced that he and Merlin would get along great. He seemed a bit mean-willed at the beginning, but only because he was worried for Eiro's children. After that misunderstanding had been cleared up, he immediately became rather kind and showed his passion in everything he did. And now, he seemed like another person that could become a great ally to Eiro.

"First of all, I think we should start in teaching you the ancient language. There are a lot of secrets to anything arcane hidden in texts written in the ancient language, so that should help you improve rapidly!" Merlin exclaimed, and Eiro's mind stopped working for a second.

"What did you just say?" Eiro asked after a few moments, and Merlin looked back at him surprised, "Oh, you are not aware that you can indeed learn the ancient language?"

"No, I'm not aware of it. Whenever I try, any meanings I figured out immediately escape my mind. Which is a really weird feeling for me. I have an ability that lets me remember everything I ever sensed or thought in any way perfectly." Eiro pointed out, and Merlin began to chuckle, "I see. Well, the ancient language is something important for you to know to study the concept of Arcana. I did analyze those curious effects of the Ancient Language some time ago. So, as an experiment, I made my way to a place where mana converged somewhere in the mountains, and created a place to pull mana in even more, to help create an effect of improving one's capability to actively learn the language. And from what I found, it seemed that once someone had gained the respective skill, the effect of 'forgetting' what you learned disappears. I will tell you where I created this experiment, so you should make your way there soon."

Once more, Eiro was left stunned as he sat there in complete and utter silence. Eiro knew that the person that created it was a powerful, special mage. But now it turns out that this powerful mage was right in front of his nose?

Merlin was the one that created that magic-absorbing slab in the monster village...?