DEMON'S VIRTUE

"Wait, wait, wait, I know exactly what you're talking about, but how exactly does it help you learn the ancient language?" Eiro asked confused, and Merlin quickly explained, "Well, that's simple. You interchange the mana held within the carved slab with your own, and as you do so, you study the words as you normally would."

"...It's that simple?" Eiro muttered, "I've done the first thing quite a bit already, but I just had to study while I was doing it?"

"Wait, how did you get the idea of doing this already?" Merlin asked a bit confused, "In the first place, how did you find that place? It was hidden away quite well."

"Ah, well, some goblins started using the area as a village. Because, as it turned out, by creating that slab you also consequently created a Magic Stone mine in that ravine. The goblins liked how shiny the magic stones were, and settled there. But you don't need to worry, those guys are completely under my control now. And now that I'm a noble, that whole area belongs to my barony, so that place will be safe either way."

"Huh. A Magic Stone mine can be created so simply?" Merlin asked, "How curious. Would you mind if I take a look at that place myself sometime?"

"Oh, sure, I can show you around there soon." Eiro replied, "But that's good to know, then. If I can learn the ancient language, that really is going to open up a few things for me."

"Of course, that is just the start of studying the concept of Arcana. I can give you a few notebooks about the process of turning pure mana into 'arcane' mana. You need a deep control over your own mind to do so, however. So just be careful." Merlin said, just as the bells to the next class rang out through the building.

"I guess we'll have to go for now." Eiro sighed a bit disappointedly, before he stood up again. Bavet fused with his body and once more changed Eiro's appearance, "I'll talk to you soon, then."

"Come by any time you want to." Merlin said with a smile, as Eiro stepped out of the room. The moment he did, his soft smile immediately disappeared, "Well, shit."

"Hm? What's wrong?" Sarius asked confused, and Eiro grumbled quietly, "Something felt off in there, I just don't know what."

"Wait, seriously? Like, with Merlin?" The Salamander asked, and only a nod came from Eiro. Sarius groaned loudly, "Then why'd you tell him that you're a fucking demon, and that the monster village is a thing? What kinda moron are you?"

"It's not like it felt like Merlin is a bad person, I do feel some form of trust toward him, knowing that he grew up with Jura. Some things just didn't add up, as if he was hiding some things." Eiro explained. Soon, he heard a whisper in his ear, coming from Bavet, "What exactly are you talking about?"

Eiro groaned quietly, "Alright. It sounded like Merlin and Jura were extremely close, but it's been so long that they've met that Nelli never saw him before? And if they exchanged letters every year, how didn't he know about me? He told Armodeus about me, and it sounded like Merlin was closer to Jura than Armodeus was just now. And sure, Merlin wasn't lying in there, he didn't say a single, tiny lie in fact. Which is also weird."

"So? Merlin is a weird person, but you can not call yourself normal either." Gondos pointed out, and Eiro sighed a bit, "I guess you're right. But well, at the very least there wasn't any hostility coming from him, so I'm sure I can trust him."

"...Right." Nelli muttered, "It still seems kind of risky, you know? Jura never spoke about him at all."

"...never?" Eiro asked, and Nelli shook her head, "Never."

"That is a bit weird, I guess. But I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. And if something happens... I can always call the Master Grade Necromancer here for help." The Demon pointed out.

---

Eiro felt wind touch his body as he was riding Lugo next to his regular carriage, the one improved by Armodeus. Right now it was empty, and was just pulled by some horses. The Demon was on his way to the Monster Village, after all, considering to bring some of them back with him as a first batch of 'servants' for the manor.

Once he reached the rough area of the entrance to the monster village, Eiro could already tell that the village was doing pretty well. He could hear them talking to each other, living alongside one another. But the first thing that Eiro did was something else.

He placed the carriage somewhere safe, and then started to use earth magic to change the area around the path running by there rapidly. He wanted to make sure that nobody was going to consider stopping here by removing any spot to do so. Later on, when he had a bit more time and nerve to do so, he would create a new path altogether.

Once he was done, Eiro made his way back to the carriage and brought it toward the entrance of the tunnel. With a quick wave of the hand, the large boulder was pushed to the side. And to Eiro's surprise, this tunnel itself changed quite a bit. It was no longer a natural cave, but it was a straight, carved tunnel that would lead straight to the village.

Torches were set up along the walls to light the area up, and at the end of the tunnel, Eiro could see something like a wooden gate.

"Huh..." Eiro muttered, as he walked through the tunnel, the carriage right behind him. Once he reached the other side, he knocked on the wooden gate a few times. A thin slit opened up so that only a pair of eyes could be seen. With a strong orcish accent, the creature behind it asked, "Password?"

Eiro let out a deep sigh as he took off his mask, "Open this damned gate before I rip your head off. That good enough for a password?"

The orc seemed to turn around and speak to someone else in orcish, but Eiro was just annoyed.

"Bavet." He grumbled, and the slime flew up to his shoulder in his bird-form, "Turn into a key to open this up."

"Alright. Seems pretty basic, shouldn't be too tough." The slime replied, and quickly pressed its body against the key-hole. A few moments later, Eiro could hear a clicking sound, and proceeded to push against the gate.

"Did you already forget your master's face?" Eiro asked with a wry smile, looking at the blue Highland Orc in front of him. The Orc seemed a bit confused, and Eiro raised his brows, "Wait, I don't recognize you. Are you new around here?"

"Not... new. You... new." The Orc grumbled, and Eiro sighed, "Where's Boju?"

The two Orcs in front of Eiro seemed confused, and Eiro rolled his eyes, "Habojugikatsuge. The orcs' chief."

Immediately, the Orc guards nodded their heads with a broad smile, and pointed toward one end of the ravine toward a particular structure. It was partially just carved out of the wall, and partially created using stone bricks and wood to create a building. That was most likely the place where Gobo, Kitsue, and Boju were right now. As well as the two Will'o'wisps. Mikey and... Ariella. It was a bit weird for Eiro that two of the people connected to him shared such a rare name. He already asked the Nephilim-Ariella about it, but she didn't know anyone else that went by her name.

And so, Eiro stepped past the Orcs that didn't seem to know him, and made his way through to the other side of the village. The two orcs were following him confused, while Eiro was simply annoyed. At least most of the other monsters recognized him, so the Orcs soon understood that Eiro was meant to be here.

But Eiro couldn't help himself but be impressed by the progress of the village. The mines were still in progress, of course, but some had been closed down because there was nothing else there anymore, and were instead turned into houses for the inhabitants of this village.

Once he reached the large building, Eiro stepped inside. It didn't take him long until he spotted the one he wanted to see the most, Gobo.

The moment that the Hobgoblin spotted him, he ran up to Eiro with a broad smile, "Master!" He exclaimed, "Welcome back! I didn't expect you so soon!"

"Thank you, Gobo. It's nice to see you again. The village looks great, by the way, so good job on that."

"It is an honor to hear this from you, Master! Do you want me to show you around?" Gobo asked with an excited smile, but Eiro shook his head, "That's fine, first, I need to ask you about Mikey and Ariella. Where are they?" The Demon asked. Well, he could sense them nearby, but they gave off a different feeling than the last time Eiro saw them.

"Ah! You will be proud, Master! The two of them managed to evolve while you were gone!" Gobo exclaimed, and Eiro was close to stunned by that fact in itself.

"They evolved?" He asked, "That's impossible. They're undead created by me, so they shouldn't be able to evolve without my interference."

"Well, they did..." Gobo pointed out. And soon, Eiro was able to see that Gobo was definitely right. These two were very, very different than they used to be. To begin with, neither of them were just the orbs that they were before anymore. Their size didn't change much, just their shape. Mikey turned into a tiny, semi-humanoid figure that was wearing a cloak, his face hidden completely in blackness. Or rather, it was made of that shadowy blackness itself. He had a couple firefly-like lights floating around him.

And next to him, the Will'o'wisp-Ariella. She had a similar basic form, just that her head was exposed, and she had two tiny angel-like wings on her back. This just gave Eiro the idea that she was connected to the other Ariella even more.

But for now, Eiro was nothing but confused. It shouldn't have been possible for them to evolve like that. That was not how undead worked. Hannah was basically the only undead that is be able to, since she was basically her own necromancer, but it should be impossible for other undead.

There was only one exception to that rule that Eiro could think of.. And that was in case someone with powers like the Monster King created Undead beings.