1 A devil in human skin?

It was back at the hall where everyone gathered for the banquet. The hall never remained empty since the Shamanic Society was a huge society. It was even more crowded that particular day to rejoice the apprehension of a Rashha child.

It was the first devil of Rashha caught after nine years of effort.

The noises of chatter and clatter echoed within the hall. The buffet was arranged on a long white table. The appetizing smells of different delicacies diffused everytime anyone opened the lid of the dishes.

The banquet was only a top underneath which the shamans shared intel about the future plans of devil hunting and team formations.

"Wwaaaaahh… wahhh.. wahh.. what is this?!" The devil pulled turned back and front trying to analyze her attire. "Its so weird!" She started to pull out the bottom of her shirt tucked into her pants.

Eda clenched her hand and stopped from embarrassing themselves. "I found men's formal wear. So behave in it."

"I don't like it! Also… why are you sticking close to me?!"

Eda couldn't sound more laid-back as he said, "I'm responsible for monitoring you. Its natural that I'll be following you around 24/7."

"What if i still manage to run off?"

"Then you'll die because of the seal. And it is only I who can manipulate that seal of yours."

The devil was stunned in fright and shoved her saliva down her throat in a gulp.

"Hello! Monoke!"

"Hyaayhk!" The devil spoke something unintelligible followed by a flinch.

"Now now. Don't be so startled, Monoke." It was Astolfo. Grinning like always.

Eda was equally confused with that name. "Monoke?"

"She doesn't have a name, correct? Calling her a devil in public would be embarrassing. So Monoke."

The devil, newly named Monoke, lessened her distance with Astolfo. "Hey.. Be honest. You're a devil, aren't you?"

Astolfo wrinkled her eyebrows almost as if to sob. "Do you not like me my dear Monoke? Why do you detest me so much? Oho. I'm hurt."

"If you're not telling me…" she started to sniff her. "I'll.. do it… myself."

Astolfo reverted to her old smile. "My… embarrassing~. Getting sniffed in public. So embarrassing."

Monoke cared the least about embarrassment. What perplexed her was..

She doesn't give off that stench. Was it not from her?

Monoke somewhat assured herself for the time being that she was mistaken.

"Well. You can call her devil at times. She gets a little devious. So we all do." Yurun interrupted them.

"So you are a devil!"

"No. I'm not."

"Who are you calling a devil?!" A young little grumpy boy rebuked Monoke with his arms crossed.

"You are done already?" Astolfo turned at the boy. "Young master."

It left Eda questioning, 'Who?'

"Yes. I'm done." Replied the grumpy boy. His expression seemed to have changed towards Astolfo. "Chief Yagnav said I could join your team."

"You're amazing, Young master."

Yurun stepped closer to the boy and shook hands with him. "Congratulations, Adoreil."

"Thank you." The boy named Adoreil pointed his pointer sharply at Monoke. "You! Don't you dare call Astolfo a devil! I'll chop you in half!"

Monoke leaned closer to Eda and whispered in his ears. "Who is this brat? He's cheeky and annoying."

"Whoever he is, he has more knowledge of this world than you."

"Now now. Young master. Why don't you eat something before we leave?"

"Let's go. I don't want to talk with this devil either."

Astolfo followed after Adoreil who proceeded straight to the diner table.

"Wait. Astolfo."

Being called by Eda, she told the boy. "You can go ahead young master. I'll join later."

"I'll go ahead then."

Eda trudged a few steps closer to Astolfo. "That boy… Is he.."

Astolfo's expressions turned delicate, she slightly scoffed while her eyes narrowed. "Adoreil Vehement. Yes. The last and only survivor of the Vehement family."

Eda was awestruck. "That so? I thought everyone in that family died."

"Isn't young master amazing? He hasn't given up after everything."

"What did he mean by joining our team?"

"Ohh. He insisted that he wanted to go devil hunting already and requested the chief."

"Are you sure about this? He's still a kid."

Astolfo smiled to her biggest. "No worries. He'll be fine."

"Best of luck to you kids on your new assignment." High shaman Randolf came forward while sipping his wine. "A team exclusive for devil Rashha. What could be a greater honour than this?"

Eda and Astolfo together politely thanked him. "Thank you sir."

"Also. Astolfo. Heard you requested a personnel from my family. You wanted to hire Yurun?" His suspicious gazes were fixed on her. But her face was unreadable like always.

"Yes. With young master joining our team and the Vehement mansion being understaffed, I decided to join hands with the Randolf family. Yurun is a capable shaman. I'll be relieved if there's someone like him beside young master alongside me. It'll also be nice if they interact well with each other."

"Of course Yurun is an exceptional shaman even in my family." He paused in between his speech, creating curiosity in Astolfo. "However I don't mind. Anything to protect the Vehement family."

"How very generous." She smiled.

"Haha. You don't need to be grateful."

Though they smiled at each other, Eda, an overhearer, could feel that tension in the air.

That's just how the world is. People will talk sweetly but you can never know what their intention is before it is too late.

What an odd atmosphere.

The following night, Monoke was released from the talismans and brought into an apartment.

"What is this place?" She looked around. "This place looks too big for a prison."

"It is a barrier protected apartment given to us by SS. We'll be staying here." Replied Eda after he locked the door behind him.

"We? You'll be staying here as well?!"

Eda loosened his tie and unbuttoned a top few buttons of his white shirt. "Like i said. I'm responsible for monitoring you."

"Hehe. Don't complain if i get hungry and eat your flesh out."

"Don't worry. You're too weak to do that."

"What?!"

Intervening their argument the calling bell rang. Out of instinct, Monoke raised her arms and foot in a karate stench. "What's that?!"

Eda picked up two huge boxes from the entrance and dropped them before her.

"What the hell are those?!"

Eda dusted his hands. "Books."

"Are we going to throw them at someone? They are all so fat!"

"No. These are for you to read."

She shrieked. "Why do i need to read?!"

"As a member of Shamanic Society you must learn all the human basics. Devil or not."

"Are you going to teach me?" She showed a slight interest. But it didn't last long.

"No. There are alphabet books that even a monkey would understand. I especially bought it so that I won't need to teach you."

She frowned and started to throw tantrums. "I don wanna!"

"Fine." He pulled out a few papers and started to scribble on them. "I'll prepare your exorcism now."

"No wait!" Submissively Monoke lowered her head. "I'll… read.. them."

"Good luck." Eda left to his room, leaving Monoke amidst a ton of books.