Chapter 6 - The young duke of Laria

Perplexed by the voice, Haruki picked himself up on the bed and sat upright. Looking around he tried to spot the source, not realizing that it came from his own head.

"It's me, Snow Frost," The voice revealed in a mellow tone.

'Am I talking to a ghost? I'm tired of illusions.'

"Why should I believe you?" His caution wasn't unfounded as the queen of illusions often whispered into his ears.

A moment of silence filled the moonlit room. The dreamy state of Haruki's mind made him wonder if he was stuck in some kind of nightmare or if it was yet another trick Asmodia was trying to play on him.

"I doubt anything I say can convince you, but we share the same body at the moment…" If a part of Snow's soul had been preserved, Haruki felt as if he had to do something to help him. "Unfortunately, I can't control my body at all…well, except for a few rare occasions."

'If I'm a monster then…'

Shutting his eyes closed, he concentrated his mind to feel one with his demonic form. What followed in a moment, left the both of them baffled. An astral skull of violet mist floated in front of their eyes, under it was a golden frame containing a list of Haruki's abilities and stats.

"Fuck…she really turned me into a monster," His eyes glaring straight at his levels, he could feel the rage boiling once again. "I have a level system like a monster instead of the ranks like humans."

'Wait…how do I remember this? Shouldn't it be part of my memory?'

Despite the strange occurrence, Snow kept his mouth shut, that is until something noteworthy caught his attention.

"Absolute corruption, locked. Carnal curse whatever that is, and demon servant count is zero. What does it all mean?" He mumbled, sounding unsure of what to make of these abilities.

"You're much calmer for someone who lost control of his body," Huffing a tired sigh, Haruki stood by the open window. "Does it not scare you that a demon is in charge of your fate?"

"After you fainted at the town's gate, I could see through your memories, at least the ones you still remember," It took him a minute to assess his answer, but when heard out loud his behaviour made a lot more sense than what Haruki had initially thought. "You've been fighting her every step of the way, and if you haven't shown up, then perhaps I would've died in that forest, only to be left as a carcass for monsters to feed on."

"What about your father? Your life? How can you think this is fair?" Haruki growled under his breath, making sure not to wake up Asuka.

"Obviously, I want something in return as well," For the first time, Snow's voice carried a hint of anger. "I want your help to figure out who sent those bandits. They knew our exact path so I doubt it was a random assault and I won't let those people get away with it."

"And if we find them, then what? Also, if I agree you'd be shaking hands with a demon who's a puppet to a demon lord. Are you really okay with that?" Haruki questioned the boy's intentions knowing full well that if he agrees to help him then both of them will end up being Asmodia's puppets.

"I…" The confidence in Snow's voice quickly disappeared. " Just help me find them, consider it payment for using my body." Snow's reply was neither convincing nor intimidating, clearly he knew that his options were limited.

Taking a brief stroll around the room, Haruki began considering his options. Between taking revenge for Snow, recovering his memory, or following the commands of a demon lord, he had only one real choice.

"I'll help you find those people, in return I want your help recovering my memories," From the brief conversation with Asuka, he remembered her mentioning Snow being a scholar. "Since your job title is a scholar you should be able to figure something out, right?"

"I can't promise it, but I'll try," With those final words, Snow's voice disappeared into the void.

Haruki tried calling out to him again, but there was no reply. Assuming that talking to him drained his energy, Haruki went back to bed. With the night growing weary, it didn't take long for him to drift into sleep. Pushing all of his troubles to another day was the only thing he could do at the moment. However, like always, fate had some other plans.

In his sleep, he had a dream. A dream about caring for someone presumably sick. Every day he would wake up and gather herbs and work the field only to return home to a sickly woman laying in bed. One day, however, that chain broke as the woman passed away. Whatever that dream hinted at, Haruki couldn't pick up on it, and yet as he buried her body in that dream he could feel his heart bleeding.

"Master, please wake up! Master, we need your help!" The sound of desperation in Asuka's voice woke Haruki up.

Noticing the troubled expression on her face, he braced for whatever news she had brought him.

"What happened?" He yawned, stretching his arms wide.

"Sir Michael is supposed to be here for the coronation, but!" Intertwining her fingers, her eyes nervously glanced sideways. "There's a problem at the gates, and the guards need your help resolving it."

The last thing Haruki had any knowledge of was diplomacy, so it was no surprise that he didn't feel too confident about resolving any issues the town might have.

'I'll help.' Snow's weary voice mumbled in his head.

'Thanks.' Haruki felt relieved that they could converse through their thoughts.

"What's the problem exactly?" He asked, trying to keep up his appearance.

A light blush took over her cheeks, as she twirled her fingers on a strand of hair. Whatever, it was, had her feeling embarrassed. And so Haruki decided to go on and check things out himself. Putting his clothes on, he had Asuka accompany him to the gates. She insisted that he had some breakfast first, but Haruki wanted to get rid of any trouble before indulging in whatever leisurely feast would've been provided to him in the castle.

"So what is it?" While making their way out, Asuka still refused to answer.

"I-it's a slave trade woman…" She finally revealed, right as they mounted the redwood carriage.

The glister from luxuries all around him had begun fading away. Even the extravagant carriage lined with golden carving as well as gemstones seemed entirely prodigal. What mattered to him more was the murky direction things were heading in.

'One problem after the other, almost as if…'

"What's so special about this woman?" Not realizing the sternness on his face, Haruki glared at Asuka.

"She's a known slave peddler, and who-who-whor-" She kept stuttering on the word, quite obviously not wanting to utter it for some reason.

"Whore?" Haruki finished her sentence, but she quickly shook her head in disapproval.

What?! Don't make me say that word! Snow complained, but Haruki brushed it off.

"NO! She's not a wh-who-who-" Frustrated she pressed her lips shut for a second, "She provides people with sex slaves! There, I said it!"

It didn't take a genius to understand that the arrival of a slave trader right before a diplomat would cause a massive uproar, especially since slave trade was a punishable offense in Laria.

'Michael, was it? The guy who's going to coronate me? I hope his carriage breaks a wheel so we can deal with this problem first.'

'I doubt that would stop sir Michael,' Snow added.

Surprisingly, Snow hasn't added much to the conversation and only provided Haruki with whatever information he might need to handle the situation. At first, Haruki found it odd that he showed no interest in talking to Asuka, but then he couldn't help wondering if he was too shy to talk to her or if there was another reason for his silence.

"Why is this slave peddler here if slave trade is banned in our dukedom?" The frown on Haruki's forehead had turned to curiosity.

"She says she wants to meet you, and that you'll know why," Asuka's reply brought more questions than answers.