129 A Demon of Love

"U-urrghhh, one more, Master! One more!"

"Hey, don't you think you had enough already?"

"I don't care! Just gimme another glass!"

The adventurer groaned as he placed his empty mug over the counter. The bartender could only give a sigh, as he took his glass and filled it once more with wine.

How the mighty has fallen…

He knew who this drunkard of a man was. He once was a well-respected S-rank adventurer. But now, he just spent most of his time here, wasting the hours away as he drank and drank and drank without end.

Once the mug was full, the adventurer grabbed it immediately before chugging it down like there's no tomorrow. He only stopped once his glass was half-full.

"Bwaahhh, damn you, you little brat! You can't take away my Syphly and Marka like that!" He yelled as he raised his mug up in the air.

The bartender could only shake his head. He still remembered when this man was the most well-respected adventurer around. But now, everyone was giving him the evil eye. Well, if the rumors he heard were true, then he couldn't say that he didn't deserve it. Not only he cheated on his two girlfriends, but he nearly led his clan to their deaths. If it weren't for the Divine Tempest boy, he wouldn't be here now.

It's a shame that the boy wasn't around in the city, the bartender thought. He would love to give him some free drinks, in exchange for his patronage. It would be good for the business after all.

Hmm?

Suddenly, the door chime sounded. He looked up and saw a customer walking in.

A witch, huh?

The term "witches" was normally associated with female mages, especially those who wore the classic outfit with the tall pointy hat and such. Some said that Mira was the very first witch, and that she was the one who came with that outfit in the first place. Of course, one could also use the word to describe a powerful female mage, since Mira was the most powerful mage there was.

The witch who entered walked over towards the counter, her long blue hair and short skirt swaying freely as she moved. A smile was drawn on her face. She took a seat beside the adventurer.

"Master, one glass of your best wine, if you would." She put a silver on the table.

With a raised eyebrow, the bartender did as he was asked. Haah, don't tell me that I'm going to get another drunkard in the middle of the day like this.

"Oh, and give this man another glass on me." She grinned, patting the adventurer's shoulder.

The adventurer, of course, was surprised. He turned and gave her a confused look.

"You're Arcturus, right?" She continued, still as cheerful as before. "I'm a big fan of you, you know!"

"A-a fan?" he replied, now even more bewildered.

"Yes!" She patted her chest. "That's why I am here! I want to meet with you"

It didn't take long until she cheered him up considerably, making him laugh and bang the table in excitement as he regaled her with all sorts of heroic tales that centered around him. The bartender could only smile watching them, feeling glad that this might just be the thing to lift him up from his slump.

"I see! So that kid wasn't really that strong after all!"

"Yeah, that's right! He only beat the dragon because we already injured it severely first. He basically only defeated a half-dead dragon! What's so amazing about that, huh?!" He yelled before letting out a large burp.

For a split second, an expression of disgust was drawn on the witch's face, something that the adventurer didn't notice. However, she quickly returned back to her cheerful disposition.

"And would you know where he could be right now?" she asked as sweetly as she could.

"Hah? How should I know?! That brat can be anywhere! And why are you asking about him anyway?" He gave her a lecherous leer, his eyes wandering to her breasts and thighs. "You know." His smile suddenly turned perverted as he leaned over towards her, to the point that she could smell his alcohol-ridden breath. "You're a cute one. Wanna join my party? We can use another mage in our group." He then shamelessly put his arm around her, pulling her closer towards him.

Her warm smile vanished, replaced by a chilling one that was as cold as the breath of the Frost Dragon he had failed to fight.

"I'm sorry. But I'll never be attracted to weaklings like you."

Before he could process her words, he already found himself mid-air, flying towards the wall behind him.

"Ugyaahhh!"

He hit it with a loud thump, attracting the attention of the bartender and the rest of the patrons. The girl didn't seem to care though, as she simply tossed another coin to the former, flashing him another smile (her warm one) while saying, "Sorry for the mess. Here. An extra."

She then stood up and walked back towards the front door, to the awe and fear of the other patrons. Her smile remained, as if her theory was correct, which it usually was, she had just found something quite… fun that she could do.

Heh, not even trying to hide your strength, huh, boy?

Fine then. I'll take care of you before I take care of her.

Nothing personal. It's just that, with you joining forces with her, you two are clearly too dangerous to be left to your own devices. Can't have you trying something silly like trying to take revenge on us, can we?

---------

Hugo

"So, uh," I scratched my cheek. "Where are we going to be looking for those flowers again?"

"Where? If I know that, then I would have no need for your help, do I?" She smirked.

I sighed. This really would be difficult, wouldn't it?

After I accepted her terms, we were now discussing what we should do next. And that, of course, was to search for the flowers she so badly wanted.

"Did she tell you the name of the flower I am looking for?" she asked.

"Let's see…" I folded my hands near my chest as I started to recall what Flameu said. "I think it was Lapis Chrysanthemum—a pure white flower you could only find in this region."

"And does she tell you why you can only find them here?" she asked again.

"Not really." I shrugged. "It's probably the weather or the soil or something like that. I know nothing about plants and the like. You're not talking with my big sister, unfortunately," I added with a smile, reminiscing Marina's affinity on the subject.

"I see. That's a shame… I assume you don't have any expertise in flower magic either?"

"Flower… magic?" I raised my eyebrows. "I know some Advanced-level Earth spells, but nothing that involves flowers. Like I said, my sister is the one who can do that kind of stuff better."

"Advanced-level? Oh, that magic category system she had invented."

The significance of her statement didn't hit me until a few moments later, when I realized she just spoke about the one that invented the level system of magic, which would be Mira herself, the Legendary Archmage. Before her, magic wasn't categorized in the slightest. She was the one to lay the foundations of magic being a more science-like, researchable matter, lifting it from the dark ages where humans only mimicked the magic used by the other races.

Or at least, that's what I was taught by Marina, who got it from her Magocracy books. Who knew how many of those were actually true?

"Wait, don't tell me that you know Mira?" I asked her back. High elves live for a very, very long time after all. They are even considered immortal by some.

"Of course I do," she replied. "Who doesn't know the great archmage herself? But if you're thinking that I actually was there when she was still around, then I shall ask you this. Do I look that old to you?" she replied with a slightly offended expression.

"R-right, I suppose you don't." I eyed her figure once again. Yeah, thinking about it, she's too short and flat to be an old elf.

"I disagree with that classification of hers though," she continued, almost in a lecture-like manner. "Magic is too subtle to be boxed and categorized like that."

"Do elves have their own categorization of magic?" I asked out of curiosity.

She paused for a bit before answering, "No, not really," sparing me only a short glance before looking away once again. Hmm, she probably doesn't want to tell me anything about high elf magic. Makes sense, knowing how her race works.

"Oh, right, I haven't gotten your name yet, have I?"

She turned her head once more towards me. With a smirk, she answered, "You can call me Ilymhyrra."

Well, that sure sounds like your typical overly complicated elven name.

We began our search at our immediate surroundings. With only the hint given to her how the flower tends to grow on the roots of big trees, it wasn't an easy job in the slightest. There were a lot of trees there after all and I had to check them all one by one. At the very least, I knew where not to search, that is, where the Forest Treant was. Naturally, I shared this fact with her.

"Hmm? Yes, we shouldn't search there. I've already looked into that region," was her nonchalant answer.

"You didn't get attacked by it?" I replied. She didn't seem to have any fear towards the creature, to my confusion. If she spent a lot of time there, then she should've been assaulted by it.

"Why would I?" she replied with raised eyebrows.

"Well, it's a monster and all and it has attacked me and even other monsters…"

"It won't attack an elf. I know that for a fact." She gave me a firm look before looking away.

"And how do you know that exactly?" I replied with skepticism.

"Because it was created by the elves who once inhabited this region—to guard this place from any intruders, whether it's monsters or humans."

Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

This elf… she really must be old after all.

And the treant is actually a guardian of this forest? Can't help but feel a little bad for it. The elves had left hundreds of years ago and now the humans are slowly chopping it down.

No wonder the trees here are so highly prized. Elven woods should be of higher quality than ordinary ones after all.

"Enough of the chitchat." She suddenly stopped in her tracks. "I think we should split up. We can cover more ground that way."

I was about to agree, only to remember how long I had spent to find her.

"Oh no, I don't want to!" I quickly replied with a frown. "I don't want to spend another three months looking for you! Really, why are you so hard to find?"

"You've simply not been looking for me at the right place. Or perhaps you are simply unlucky," was her casual response.

"You never once went to town, did you?" I interrogated her further. "I have no idea how you manage that. Especially with how heavy the winter has been these past three months."

She didn't reply further however. Instead, she opted to change the subject completely.

��Why do you want my Dream Orb so badly anyways?" She gave me a glance.

"I need to send a message with it. To a far off friend." I decided to answer honestly. There was no need to lie to her. And I felt if I did, she would just make things harder for me.

"You can use a letter for that, no?"

"Not when I don't know where she is."

She went silent for a moment, looking away before responding with, "If Fate allows it, then you two should meet again, Orb or not."

"H-hey, you can't just say that! Look. I'm on a timer here! She needs to know that I'm no longer back at home and that I'm going to wait for her somewhere else! So I can't accompany you looking for this flower of yours for long!"

She paused once more, seemingly trying to read the expression of my face.

"This friend of yours… is she a human as well?"

Now it was my turn to pause. Should I really tell her that Sherry was a demon?

...Nope. I can't lie to those sharp eyes.

"She's a demon."

Her expression immediately harshened.

"I see. A demon."

She looked away, walking a few steps with her backs turned before responding, "I would suggest against it. Making a demon your friend."

...Oh great. She's the type that's prejudiced against demons, huh? It's not just exclusive to humans. Elves dislike demons as well. Especially dark elves, who they consider to be more demons than elves.

"She's a good demon," I responded firmly. "She's not some evil trickster like you might imagine."

She turned to face me, her expression stern. "What race of demon is she?"

"An Izurd," I responded readily. I was starting to feel offended by her attitude.

"I see." Her expression hardened even more. "Is she fond of you by any chance?"

Wait, how does she know?

"Yes, yes she is. And I'm fond of her as well."

"Then don't meet her again. For once you do, she might not let you go ever again."

Huh? What is she talking about?

��Don't you know? An Izurd will never let anyone they like go. They will want to monopolize them for themselves, to the point of killing anyone else who threatens their relationship. And if you cheat on them, they will kill you as well. They're a demon obsessed with love. You will never be able to withstand their heavy, overbearing love."

This took me by surprise.

I only knew of the Izurd as an extremely strong demon race. I never knew they were a race of yanderes, if what she was speaking was correct.

"Once, back when the Hero was still around, he was chased by a female Izurd. She fell in love with him. At first, she pretended to be meek and shy, stalking him and his party as she hoped he would lay his eyes on him. However, the Hero immediately told her that he wasn't interested. Guess what happened next."

I gulped. I already knew where the story was going.

"It made her turn berserk. She believed killing his party members would finally free him from his duty as a Hero, so he would be with her. She didn't care how much blood she would need to spill to obtain him for herself. And so she slaughtered an entire city, just so to draw him out in the open. Of course, they were victorious over her in the end. But not without a hefty cost."

She walked forward, staring straight into my eyes.

"Leave her. You're not fit for her. Especially if the rumors of you being quite the little womanizer was correct. A human woman might bear having her husband take a mistress or two, but not an Izurdian."

She stepped away once more, seemingly giving me some space to process what she just told me.

My mind returned back to the past. Sherry always had a bad temper. And she had made me promise not to approach another girl while she was away. Not to mention how starved she was of love. I thought it came from her upbringing, but what if it really was like she said, that she was really a demon obsessed with being loved?

If she had seen Fiora flirting with me, or what happened back then with Anne, she would most likely punch me for it. I can just see it. And it would be her full strength punch, that could kill a man.

...Damn. She might actually be a yandere demon after all. I just never saw it because (a) her hormones hadn't kicked in, and (b) the only other girl that showed me affection was Marina, my big sister.

And I never liked the archetype in the first place.

"H-hey, how do you know all that stuff about the Izurd anyways?" I asked the elf, still refusing to believe what I just realized about Sherry. "Most of the world thought they had gone extinct, you know."

She responded with a sigh.

"You don't believe me, don't you, boy? You might be good with magic, but you still know nothing about this world. Feel free to take my advice. Or not. Just know that the best case scenario in your relationship would be her going insane once you died of old age. Izurdians could live for five hundred years. Humans could barely reach one hundred. My suggestion is to marry that girl you saved from the treant. She probably had fallen for you after you did your heroic deed."

"Now come. If you still want your Orb, then we should pick up the pace of our search."

With those words, she cut the conversation short.

I wanted to say something back to her, telling her that Sherry was not the brutal yandere she imagined, but I had no good arguments against her. Even her argument about her going insane after I died might happen. If I used myself as a comparison, as someone who's also starved of love, I probably would act the same if my beloved wife died before me

I never thought about it properly until now. I might be happy with a wife that never got old, but what about her? I'm fine with her marrying someone else after I'm gone but if she's going to have a mental breakdown before that can happen…

Maybe she's better off with her own people after all, just like what Myrilla said...

I clenched my chest. It hurt.

I can't do it. I still want her with me, and not with another guy, even if in the long term, it's better for her.

Heh, I really am a selfish man after all.

...

I need to meet her. That is the only way this matter can be settled.

With a wry smile, I followed the high elf.

All the more reason why I need the orb.