DEMON'S VIRTUE

The ship came to a halt at the harbor closest to Skyhart's capital. The group brought everything off the ship and entered the carriages, ready to make their way back to their homes. All of them beside Eiro, who chose to go on a small solo-trip alone. He wanted to check up on the monster town in the mountains. If the Devil had gotten those three to attack him in a place where some of the strongest people on the continent had gathered, then it was definitely possible that something had happened there as well.

Of course, the servants that Eiro had left behind didn't signal him that anything happened, but it was possible that nothing happened 'yet'. Eiro wanted to head there and make sure that there was nothing lurking around the town that could be a potential threat to them. While the others were taking the carriages back home, Eiro would take care of that side of business.

He rode off on Lugo's back, and when they were far enough away, the Demon rubbed the top of the stags head with a smile, "Just do it like we practiced, alright?" He said, as he started pushing some of his magic into the stag. While, after Lugo's own evolutions, he had become capable of using magic to an extent, he couldn't produce or manipulate it easily, so Eiro was assisting him in that. But Lugo was a great physical caster, so something rather interesting became possible.

A cloud of dust formed around them as a layer of wind magic surrounded Lugo, and the stag started running forward.. The wind magic was the kind that helped the user move at speeds usually impossible. That, combined with earth magic to make the ground the perfect surface to run on, all the whilst using nature magic to push away any smaller plants that might be a bother, made it possible for them to travel at high speed. Sure, Eiro would still be a lot faster if he was flying, but this was still a decent alternative. And Lugo was still quite early in his journey of becoming more powerful, so he would probably be able to travel a lot quicker as time went on. Or at least, so Eiro hoped. He still wanted Lugo to become a more active part of his travels, and for that, Lugo needed to be capable of pulling his weight. Of course, Eiro didn't expect him to be capable of fighting at any point, but supporting the Demon somehow was enough for him.

The way that things were going right now, they would reach the monster town in maybe two hours. They were travelling really quite fast, and in as straight a line as possible. They weren't being bothered by any monsters either, since Eiro was letting out an aura specifically to try and scare them away. And even if something ended up near them, Eiro just killed them with a quick air or blood bullet, depending on what seemed more effective.

So really, for now, the trip was quite relaxing.

---

Eiro slowly opened his eyes, annoyed by something that was going on nearby. A group of adventurers was trying to hunt nearby, and were trying to climb over some of the rocks. It seemed like one of them had the ability to track monsters. One of the monsters from the village might have been outside hunting or gathering something, just to be seen by one of these adventurers, who managed to track it far enough. But since the earth mages only opened the entrance to those who they could recognize and did their best to completely hide from everyone else. Eiro should make sure to remind whichever monster was caught to be as careful as possible when going out, and to always carry something to disguise itself with. He should probably remind everyone of that again, actually. But for now, Eiro had to follow that reminder himself.

Bavet's slime covered his body, as the slime woke up from a nap, "Man, people are fucking annoying..."

"You can say that again. Sorry for that, I promised that you could take a break."

"Right, as if you're actually sorry."

"...I am."

"..." Bavet silently continued transforming Eiro's body, before speaking into his ear, "Now that's creepy, what the fuck's that about?"

Eiro smiled lightly, "It's that I can actually be compassionate and kind if I want to be? We just got back from a trip where my kids were seriously in danger, let me be a bit sentimental, will you?"

"Sentimental? The first time we met you cold-heartedly blew me up and stuffed my core into a dirty ol' bottle."

"Bavet, the first time we met you just got back from the town at the foot of the mountain to eat a fucking person, so shut the fuck up about being cold-hearted, alright?"

Bavet let out a loud groan, "So? Have I eaten anyone ever since?"

"Not because of lack of trying. Don't think I didn't notice you trying to digest me the first time we did this whole fusion thing." Eiro replied immediately, "Now shut it, we're getting closer to them. Can't have them think I'm a crazy guy talking to himself."

Bavet kept grumbling to himself, as Lugo finally slowed down, slowly approaching the group of five adventurers in front of them. Soon, the one that seemed to be the scout, turned around upon noticing him. He told the others in his group that there was someone coming, and they turned, waiting for him. It was clear that Eiro was moving right toward them, after all.

Soon, the Demon came to a stop and climbed off Lugo's back, "Can I ask what you're doing here? This part of the mountain is specifically restricted."

"We could ask you the same." The leader of the group replied quickly, crossing her arms, unimpressed by Eiro's getup and sudden appearance. Eiro let out a sigh, "Coincidentally I'm allowed to be here. You, however, are not. There's probably a dozen signs set up around here telling anyone that might think about coming into this area, that they're not supposed to. So if you did come here, you're committing a crime."

"...We're just trying to take a shortcut, so what? It's butt-fuck nowhere, who even gives a shit?" The scout replied immediately, before Eiro rolled his eyes, "I do, isn't that obvious? If you don't even understand that, stay out of it." The Demon said immediately, not wanting to bother with this.

Eiro crossed his arms, "You five weren't just looking for a shortcut, you were trying to climb deeper into the restricted area." He added, "Now, doing that is an offense that I can directly arrest and trial you for."

"Who do you think you-"

"Are you...?" The group's mage, and elderly man, asked, quite unsure. The Demon was wearing a hood and hiding his hair right now, his most memorable feature, after all. It was tough to remember him otherwise, especially if they only saw him once or twice. Eiro turned toward him with a smile, "You're from Skyhart, huh? Or at least, you were there during the tournament. I remember your face from the crowd."

The mage raised his brows surprised, and immediately fell to his knee, upon which the rest of his group looked back at him and then at Eiro confused, "I apologize for the insolence, my lord. We found a monster running around, and wanted to take it out to ensure the safety of other travelers. It seemed to run with a specific location in mind, so we assumed that there was a hideout with more of them around here."

Eiro placed his hands onto his hip and let out a deep sigh, "Fine. I'll let you off. I'm going to take care of it, so just leave now and I'll forget about it."

"Hold on." The party leader said with a deep frown, "We're the ones that found it, so we'll be the ones taking it, and its whole fucking nest, out. I don't care who you are."

"I'm baron Eiro Jura Daemonherz, who will soon be promoted to viscount due to the fact that I'm a champion and have just been named the primary teacher of the current-generation hero." Eiro said bluntly, and the face of the woman in front of him went pale, "That... You..." She muttered, and quickly fell to her knee as well, just the same as the rest of her party did.

"Now, you didn't know that, but I do advise you to be a bit more forthcoming when someone is trying to let you off when you're committing a crime. So get the hell out of here, before I change my mind." Eiro said bluntly, making sure to exert some extra pressure on this group. Although it was clear especially the scout was annoyed about this, they all went on their way along the treaded path, when Eiro felt something annoying coming his way.

He turned around, seeing the scout who had glanced backward at him again. They locked eyes, and with that single moment of eye-contact, Eiro made sure that this scout knew that if he ever tried tracking him again, he would never see the light of day again.

Once they were gone, and the Demon made sure that they were far enough away, he walked up to a nearby rock-wall, and opened up the pathway. The guards that had been set up there nodded at Eiro, as he quickly spoke to them.

"Make sure to be careful, there might be some bothersome people coming back here soon."