5.17.

"What?" Schwii furrowed her brow.

"I don't know what the hell that Cabural is planning. But we don't have time for that. We have to settle this first," Sequencee said.

The matter regarding Leticia remained uncertain. Even so, priority should be given to the meeting ahead.

Sequencee and Schwii covered their faces with a cloak. Walking hand in hand to avoid any unnecessary encounters, they made their way to a tavern at the western side of Rika nation.

Cobblestone streets soon replaced asphalt, the modern styled structures faded into familiar fantasy-ishq buildings. The frigid winds blew, moving closer to the Black Ravine, the chilly aura enveloped them.

Simeon's Good Vibes. A large, shabby neon sign hung on the edifice. It was a tavern popular with adventurers who dived into the Black Ravine to hunt for treasures and materials.

"Where should we go once we enter?"

"I need to check something first.. okay. Let's go," Schwii tapped on her pendant and saw responses of a faint glow.

"What was that?"

"To double check for Iona and Reese's proximity."

The tavern was humongous, with people of various races drinking themselves into oblivion. Beautiful waiters served customers with a smile, some flirting. While it wasn't the most pleasant place to be at, the management and cleanliness wasn't poor.

Things looked to be handled efficiently, the lighting of the place was rather good. A few sigils had been put in place to raise the temperature of the air.

Sequencee looked around. Most people were too busy to notice them.

"We'll wait."

"Wait?"

Schwii nodded.

Schwii dragged Sequencee to the bar seat and ordered some odd cocktails.

'Are you sure about this?'

Was what Sequencee wanted to ask. However, he also knew that while Schwii was not much more knowledgeable in regards to this, it made no sense for him to question her actions out of distrust.

"..."

Sequencee recalled the words spouted by Schwii ex-fiance. Ever since he had reconciled with Schwii, they had yet to properly discuss the subject of what exactly happened three years ago.

While he could rationalize the facts, the emotions swirling inside him were telling him otherwise.

– It was a taboo topic.

What else did he want Schwii to tell him other than that it was all a big accident? Sequencee couldn't even put into words what he wanted to say.

The cocktail Schwii ordered arrived. She was about to pay for it when Sequencee handed over the holy silvers first. As a member of the ensemble, he had received a good sum of prize money.

"Thank you," Schwii said.

"It's fine."

They each took a sip of the cocktail. Both of their opinions coincided.

'Bitter.'

'It's bitter.'

The fruity note at the end was nice though. Sequencee took a few more sips, and stopped.

"When will they be arriving?"

"I don't know. We should just wait."

Sequencee grabbed his necklace.

"Iona, how is it?"

There was a short pause before the reply.

["Fine."]

"Reese."

They never did any tests to see if Schwii's necklace which she borrowed would work in her shadow domain.

He looked at the black tag which had its thin chain looped around his wrist.

'To think that Reese can fit in something like this..'

The silver tag is made from an alloy of mythril and high grade magic stones. It gave it the property of low resistance and high 'retentionality' of mana. Summarizing the long explanation, it allowed Reese to use her system magic at an extremely low mana expenditure.

She could literally bunk herself inside the tag for an entire day if she wanted to.

[".. how.. it works! Hello? Reese here!"]

"Alright."

["Did anything happen?"]

"Not yet."

And so they waited.

And waited..

They were already here at the appointed time, so why was there no one?

Schwii stared at her drink blankly, her mind occupied with how she should handle Sequencee's volatile emotions. While she understood the importance of coming to a compromise, she was scared. Scared that they would get into another argument, scared that he would be the one to drive her into a corner.

Sequencee's necklace flashed.

["Didn't I say not to bring your maid?"]

A crips male voice bubbling in amusement. At those sudden words, he felt his hands turn cold.

["Whatever. It was good that you did so, made contacting you easier. Come to the restaurant opposite the tavern."]

"Schwii, Iona.."

'Can't do much about it,' Schwii mouthed silently before grabbing Sequencee and rushing out.

The classy restaurant opposite of the tavern built slightly elevated. Pushing through the door, they were greeted by the receptionist.

The target clients for the place are private commissioners or guild authorities. Hence, it placed a lot of emphasis on security and individual rooms.

A man in a suit approached the two.

Slender profile, silver-white hair combed neatly to one side, confident gestures and a powerful gait. Sequencee could tell at a glance that this person wasn't human.

"They are our guests," the man said to the receptionist.

"Is that so? Then by all means," the receptionist smiled and stood aside.

"Follow me," the man called them.

Sequencee looked at him. A pair of tranquil crimson eyes stared back.

'That's.. odd.'

They proceeded up the stairs, and down the dimly lit halls, Schwii took off her coat and folded it over her forearm. It revealed the formal black dress underneath.

"It's been a while, Your Highness Schwii," the man remarked.

".. Yes. It's been a while Sir Ingus."

Sir Ingus Rak, the true vampire. Schwii knew him, Sequencee didn't.

"As for the other one, Your Highness Sequencee, I advise you don't act or say anything unnecessary if you don't have anything to add in this discussion."

Sequencee said nothing and tightened his fist.

He understood finally why it was that his mother told him to get stronger. He could be amazing in the human empire sure, but against the demons? Sequencee, even without needing to fight this person already knew that he was much stronger than Iona.

The number of human SS-rank mercenaries can be counted in one hand.

If so then.. how many unlisted SS-rank demons are there in this world? After all, demons had a longer lifespan; and born from a land where the strong ruled over the weak– if humanity clashed with these monsters, there was no way things would turn out to be an equal fight.

Ingus knocked on the door.

"Enter."

"Her Highness Schwii and His Highness Sequencee has arrived," Ingus announced as he pulled the door open.

Seated at the far end of the long table was a man with a suave figure. Charming, unyielding, eyes were slanted downwards. His dark purple hair reaching his shoulders, two black-blood horns protruding from his forehead, matching the colour of his black suit. He beckoned the two to take a seat over the feast before them.

"You may call me Eunox. An archdemon. It's an honor to meet you in person, Your Highness Sequencee Arch," he smiled.

"Excuse us," Schwii said, tugging at Sequencee's clothes

Based on the arrangement of plates, Schwii and Sequencee were supposed to sit apart. Schwii however, disregarded whatever etiquette she had practiced and manually shifted the positions of the plates in that Sequencee would sit in between her and Eunox.

He watched in bemusement.

"You're as delicate as ever, Your Highness."

"I appreciate the compliment," Schwii replied monotonously.

Ingus took his place behind Eunox.

"Don't need to be reserved. I hope you enjoy the food prepared."

In a tense situation like this, whatever food served tasted as bland as porridge to him. That was how it should be but..

Schwii's eyes opened wide in surprise. The food was nostalgic, reminding her of her childhood.

"How is it? I had the demons prepare all your favorite dishes especially for you."

"It's delicious, thank you."

Sequencee could sense that Schwii was struggling to hold back.

All the delicacies here weren't typical of the foods he normally ate. Large roasted ham of some giant monsters dripping in oils, star-shaped shellfish garnished with purple chives sprinkled on with lime, lean tuber stir fried in meatballs, stringy cheese potatoes with various sauce plates to choose from.

Each time he saw Schwii's expression change, there was a throbbing pain in his heart.

Sequencee placed his fork down after a few mouthfuls.

"Is there anything wrong with the food?" Eunox asked.

"Nothing. I just thought it wouldn't be good to stuff myself in case anything happens."

"It's good to be cautious. But what good would it do when you're in the presence of a demon general?" Eunox looked at Ingus as if to suggest something.

A shadow casted upon Sequencee's face.

Schwii hesitated before placing down her utensil and dabbed her face with the napkin provided.

"I believe we should begin our talk now."

"Are you sure you don't want to have more? I could have it packed for you to be sent home if you'd like?" Eunox leaned in, hands supporting his chin.

"There's no need to go through all that trouble."

"It's quite a waste of food isn't it?" Eunox swirled his glass.

"It would be good if we could donate these to human charity organizations, the orphanage perhaps," Schwii remarked.

"Yes, it would be good wouldn't it? Sprinkle a few leech eggs on the food, and they wouldn't suspect anything."

They smiled at each other.

Sequencee tapped the black tag lightly. A shadow slithered out.