"What the fuck are you even saying?" Jas asked quietly as he stretched his hand out toward the collar and slowly picked it up. With a bitter expression, he started rubbing his thumb over the gem placed into it.
"This really is Avalin's mana, isn't it?" He whispered, and then slowly raised his head to look at Eiro, "Listen, man, I... I don't know... what to think anymore." Jas pointed out, "My whole life I've been taught that monsters are a force of absolute evil, that they're darkness to the light that are the people of this world... That's why I beca an adventurer. It let get rid of that darkness. I wanted to beco like the hero, who could protect others... But then, I was shown that I couldn't protect anyone, and I thought it was your fault. For years, I built up a grudge, especially against demons... I even bought that demon mask for when we're on trips in places where people don't already know . I tried to beco the darkness to get rid of it... And then..."
"You saw again." Eiro finished for Jas, and the Light Elf slowly nodded his head.
"Exactly. You stood up to us for the people of that town, you basically befriended everyone there. And fuck, you even have a family that would put themselves in danger for your sake. It's what I always wanted, but now the demon I thought took my friends from gets to be this happy? It felt... unfair. And now I'm even speaking to you like you're so regular person, what the fuck is with that?" With a completely jumbled mind, Jas stared down at the table and involuntarily ford a grin made of anguish and surprise.
It took a little while for him to get his thoughts back in order, and then he raised his head again, "Fine. I'll think about it. Just tell , what can you offer ? Why should I form a party with you? Besides the fact you'll kill afterward."
With a slight nod, Eiro pushed his hand forward and pulled out another card out of his treasury beside the three of swords that he already had out, the ace of cups. The two cards were laying there next to each other. "I have three cards. Ace of Cups, from Zaragon's shop. Three of Swords, from a rcenary, adventurer, or whatever, after I fled the capital. And then, the Five of Pentacles, from my teacher and the man I consider to be like my father. I have been given the blessing of the forr queen of naiads, as well as the blessing of the lady of winter, together with a gift from the latter to allow to make a contract with a daughter of winter in the future. I have equal-basis contracts with two spirits, and am carrying items exclusively made by the King of Craftsn, Armodeus. And to top it off..." Eiro said, before pulling one more item out of his treasury. A glass bottle filled with a pure black liquid.
"This is the blood of a being that belongs to the exact sa race as Zaragon. And before you ask, no, I didn't kill one of them. I killed the thing that killed it, but I was able to injure it. I'm positive I could have beat it if given the chance." The Demon stared at Jas, who was just looking back at him with complete confusion as he slowly grew nervous.
"Are... are you trying to threaten ?" Jas asked, and the Demon shook his head, "Of course not. I'm just trying to tell you one of the reasons why you should party up with . I have power, I have contacts, and I have imnse capabilities for growth. Sothing that I can give to you as well. So, Jas... Won't you co and kill Zaragon with ?"
Jas looked back at Eiro, and a few monts later, just started to laugh, "That... that's ridiculous. You want to kill Zaragon? For what, so dumbass revenge?"
"Yes." The Demon replied without a mont's hesitation, "At least in part. And is there sothing wrong with that? It's not sothing I pursue with every fiber of my being. It's not my reason for living. It's just sothing that I'd like to get over with, to prove to myself that I'm capable of killing that being that utterly traumatized ."
"I won't be able to help you, you know? That fucking piece of shit completely crippled . He ripped my arm out, including most of my shoulder. My main role in my party with Jess and Krog is to be a scout. I haven't been in a proper fight for years now."
"I know. And I can change that." Eiro pointed out. He hadn't really been keeping it hidden, but he didn't really fully expose it until now either. But now, Eiro stretched his right hand forward to show it to Jas, "When we t back then, you were looking for Jura the prosthetist to make a replacent for your arm, right? Well, that man was my teacher. This hand was made by myself, and it basically works as a complete replacent for my actual hand. I will make a new arm for you, don't worry. It might take a while, but we'll have to make sure you get used to a prosthetic like that in the first place." The Demon said, and Jas' eyes slowly opened wide as he rapidly stood up and leaned forward.
"What?! You- You're that man's apprentice?! Are you kidding ?!" Jas asked, and Eiro slowly nodded his head. Jas actually seed to be getting excited sohow, although that excitent soon turned into suspicion.
"Why are you telling all of this? I literally haven't told you a thing, but you revealed all of this information to ... What do you want in return?" The Light elf questioned, and Eiro just stared back at him.
"I want you to beco a person I can actually trust my back on so that I don't die before seeing my children off on their wedding days." Eiro said, and Jas stared back at him, "Huh...? W-Wedding..?"
"Yeah, that's sothing important for you guys, right? I've read many stories about people falling in love and living happily ever after. I saw how happy others were when they were with their spouse. Of course, it doesn't matter to whether or not my children actually marry soone or not. It just seed like a pretty nice goal to work toward. I just want them all to lead a happy life, even without ."
Even more than before, Jas was startled by Eiro's tone of voice. It wasn't the kind of thing you'd expect from a literal demon, after all. But in return, the next thing that Eiro said made up for that, "And don't get wrong... If you should try to fuck over here, I can literally kill you, stuff your whole body into this bag, and use the ace of cups to make sure nobody rembers that we ever t. And if I don't kill you right here and now, considering that I've morized your scent, you won't be able to run away from for the rest of your life."
"How can you switch from sothing so kind, to sothing so completely fucked up?" Jas asked with a sigh and slight laugh, "Fine. Let's see how it works out for now. Jess and Krog told you wanted to et in a training room here tomorrow at noon? I trust that you'll be punctual."
"Of course I will be." Eiro said with a light smile underneath his mask, and then stood up after placing all of his items back into his satchel or treasury. He picked up the sli that had turned itself into the shape of a cloth-wrapped staff and placed it onto his back, before waving his hand to the side and dispelling the spell he placed around him and Jas.
And then, before leaving, Eiro pushed his hand into the small pouch hanging on his belt and pulled out a bundle of large copper coins, "The drinks are on tonight." The demon said and placed the bundle on the table before making his way toward the door after telling Lugo to follow him.
Once they were outside again, Eiro climbed onto the stag's back and rode him back to the castle, while the demon's contracted Naiad was staring deep into his soul. Eiro couldn't just ask about it right here, because there were too many people, but once he stepped through the castle's gate, he finally looked at Nelli. And with an annoyed tone, he asked "Is sothing on my mask?"
"Hm? Oh, not at all, I'm just trying to figure out what the fuck's going on..." The Naiad pointed out, "I an, it doesn't happen every day that you just suddenly end up being a good guy to soone that tried to kill you presumably multiple tis. Or well, that you end up being a good guy. Period."
"Ouch." Eiro replied with a deep sigh, "Listen, you heard back there. I can't explain it, it's just how it is. What, you expect to be cold and calculating all the ti? You should know that there's more than enough occasions where I'm not that. I'm not just a murder-machine"
"You literally slaughtered half the inhabitants of a town a couple of weeks ago, what do you an?"
"And you know exactly that I didn't do that on purpose... I didn't exactly have myself under control then. You've been with for nearly eight years, you know exactly what I'm like. Just... Don't think that I wouldn't kill him if I needed to. I sohow would just prefer if I didn't have to."
But then, Nelli floated up in front of Eiro's face and stared deeply into his eyes, despite not actually seeing them because of the mask the demon was wearing, "There's still a big difference between 'preferring not to kill sobody', and 'trying to befriend sobody'. I an, as long as you're sure that it's because you really, legitimately want to turn them into people you can trust, then it's fine with , really."
With a slow nod, Eiro looked back at the Spirit, "Don't worry, that's all there is to it. They're going to be useful, and they don't seem like the kind to betray others easily. And I feel like especially Jas is going to be a fun guy to have around." The Demon said. It was actually genuinely how he felt. Nothing that he told Jas before was a lie. Eiro felt things he didn't understand that made him want to befriend Jas. He didn't hate or despise him sohow, and there was a weird sense of trust already there.
But all that was pushed away by the fact that sothing else was in the center of Eiro's thoughts right now. That was because there was one lie in what he said just now.
'That's all there is to it'... There was far, far more to why Eiro was trying to get closer to humans besides the children. Because there was sothing he really had to figure out.. And the more he thought about it, the more he started gripping the cloth of his cloak in front of the center of his chest.
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