DEMON'S VIRTUE

Eiro stood there in the candy-shop, just having thrown up into the barrel in the corner of the room. His eyes and that of the young lady he was just speaking to were locked on each other, while she was trying to figure out what Eiro really just said.

"But you- what do you mean?!" She exclaimed, clearly angry, "How dare you just-" The young lady stopped herself as she was speaking, and pressed her hand onto her chest, clutching the collar of her dress.

With a calm, fake front, she spoke, "What you just told me is rather insulting, Lord Daemonherz."

"Oh, good, seems like you understood what I wanted to tell you, then." Eiro said bluntly. He looked at the employee that was staring at Eiro and the barrel nervously, before the Demon pushed his hand into the leather-pouch placed onto his hip. He pulled out a bundle of small gold coins, pulled one off of it, and pressed it into the employee's hand, "This is for the mess I made. And don't worry, I'll give a grand tip for the sweets you are currently preparing for me as well."

The employee nervously nodded her head, and a young man, seemingly an apprentice in this shop, was tasked to throw away the barrel and clean up any spillage. Once he returned, Eiro gave him a small tip for the trouble as well.

The Demon walked back toward his table and past the lady that was still trying to understand what Eiro said to her. Meanwhile, Eiro whispered something to himself, or rather, the slime that was currently part of himself, "I wasn't aware you could do something like that, but thank you."

"Hmph, I'm not just a one-trick slime either, Eiro. There's a lot I can do that you probably aren't aware of."

"Then show me more of that later, alright?" Eiro whispered, as he took another seat at the table he sat at just earlier, as if nothing happened. The lady approached him again, but Eiro raised his head away from his book before she could say anything else, "I think we're done here at this point. I don't wish to speak to a disgusting creature like you anymore, so please leave my sight immediately."

The lady's face became flushed in red, but she managed to keep herself together anyway, "I hope that you remember that my family is of higher standing than you are. We are Viscounts, while you are nothing but a Baron. I tried being nice to you due to your recent achievements, but it's clear that you don't wish to become part of this society, considering the way that you act toward someone that did you no harm."

Eiro casually smiled as he locked eyes with the young lady, "I think you don't understand the system of nobility all too well. You are not a viscountess by any means. Only your father attained a noble title. And do you want to know how he did it? He managed to get lucky to be the firstborn son of his family. He didn't work for where he is, and as far as I'm aware, he pushes all the responsibilities that he has onto other people, so that he can spend his time in vacation homes all over our allied countries. Isn't that right?"

The young lady didn't know what to say, but Eiro didn't particularly care, "Now, before you continue thinking of other people as lesser than you, try having a conversation with a beastman. Coincidentally, there's a very well-reknown researcher at the academy. He's a beastman from the Ape-tribe. Listen, the reason why there aren't many beastmen here is because most of them are simply used to tropical, or hot and dry weather. We're a northern country. It's not because they're a race of slaves. And by the way, there is no race that is innately meant to be a slave. So leave, and never talk to me again. Understood?" Eiro knew that he made his thoughts clear to this young woman. He knew that she understood him. And both of them knew that this was the last time they were going to voluntarily speak to one another. The young lady picked up her bags and left the shop, meekly apologizing to the employees, acting as if Eiro was the one in the wrong and she simply had to behave like this because she was being terrorized by him.

It was absolutely ridiculous from Eiro's standpoint, but he understood that from her view, Eiro was in the wrong. He still didn't like it though. For the rest of the duration of his stay here in the shop, everyone was silent. Eerily so, since they didn't want to upset Eiro after how he spoke to that young lady.

That was, until one of the employees stepped up to Eiro with a few boxes in her hands, "L-Lord Daemonherz, here you go. I hope that everything will be to your liking. If you wish, we will send the bill to your estate, if you don't want to deal with it right now..."

"No, that's fine. I'll give the money to you right now." Eiro said. He looked at the piece of paper attached to the topmost box, and swiftly took out some bundles of coins. He gave the employee the money and even tipped quite a lot due to the circumstances.

The Demon swiftly snapped his finger, and Gondos appeared next to him. The Golem created a few rocks that Eiro placed perfectly around the boxes that he was given, and then proceeded to start manipulating the rock so that he didn't have to deal with carrying them himself. Instead, he just had them float right beside him as he left the store.

"Have a fine rest of your day." Eiro said with a smile on his face as he left the shop, and swiftly made his way through the streets. Of course, all that while gathering even more attention than before, considering the boxes floating right behind him. But he didn't care, Eiro just made his way out of the urban district, and then cloaked himself and the boxes using the Ace of Cups so that he could proceed to fly back home.

It was still early in the day, barely noon, so Eiro could probably take his time and not worry about things too much, especially since it was Armodeus that was taking care of Leon and Avalin right now.

Instead, Eiro had a proper conversation with Bavet.

"Now, tell me, how did you manage to make me... feel like that?" Eiro asked curiously, and Bavet replied with a scoff, "What, you didn't figure that out yourself yet? Man, sometimes I wonder if you're really just a moron in disguise..."

"Just tell me, slime, before I turn you into fertilizer for my trees." Eiro told the creature fused with him, although Bavet was practically waiting for this kind of threat.

"Eh~? You sure about that? You know that I'm the one with power right now~!" Bavet whispered into Eiro's ear, and the demon rolled his eyes as he pressed his hand underneath his clothes. He buried his fingers in his flesh and tore out Bavet's core. A moment later, the slime and the mass making him up were gathered around Eiro's hand, having turned into a wooden orb so that Bavet could properly cling to Eiro.

"Eh~? You sure you should do that? You know that I can conjure raging flames out of every part of my body, right~?" Eiro replied with a grin, and Bavet seemed to grumble quietly.

"Right, right... Well, if you really wanna know, it's kinda basic. You know, in sealing arts, especially when dealing with living beings, it's necessary to pacify them somehow. You have other means to do so, which is why I never felt the need to tell you too much about it... But basically, through shifting and flashing patterns and colors, specific scents, and particular frequencies of sounds, it's possible to calm down most living beings. But if you're not careful, they end up getting sick and throwing up, or worse, falling unconscious. That kind of thing usually wouldn't work on you, but considering how much I know about your body and the way it reacts to stuff now, I was able to fine-tune it to you." The slime explained quickly, and Eiro raised his brows surprised.

"Huh, that so? And why did you do that? Did you want to fight against me or something like that?" Eiro asked, and Bavet scoffed as if that idea was ridiculous.

"Right, and why would I do that? I'm not an idiot. Nah, I did it to help you. I know you've got your emotions under control, but you're still sensitive to some things. Just now, you nearly attacked the daughter of a viscount, and a few weeks ago, you stabbed through the hand of a duke's son. Because the things they said were related to the kids. Listen man, you're really fucking strong, but when you're angry, you're... not you. You get sloppy, you don't move like you do, most of your techniques become useless. I figured you would need a way to get rid of your anger immediately if it came to it, especially with you planning on fighting the one that gave this anger to you in the first place." The slime continued explaining, and Eiro couldn't help himself but smile.

After all, Bavet didn't lie with a single word he said. He wholeheartedly meant this. Bavet was part of Eiro's life now, and he trusted him, but he wasn't all too aware of how close the two had really become over time. And that Bavet was trying to find ways to help him out really meant a lot to Eiro.

"Thanks. I'll be relying on you, then." Eiro said, although Bavet's body shivered a bit in response.

"Y'know, it'd be a lot better if you didn't have to rely on me... You know, if you got your fucking emotions under control, you dumbass..."

"Eh~? What did you say, you're feeling cold, Bavet? Ah got it, some flames are coming right up~!"