Demon's Virtue

The Naiad King silently gazed upon Eiro, who had just calmly explained his situation to him.

"This is certainly quite... unusual," he pointed out, though Eiro felt that might be a bit of an understatement.

"You could say that, indeed," the demon responded, "But please, I do hope that you now understand I'm not a threat to you."

With a light scoff, the king shook his head, "I feel more threatened by your very existence now than when I heard you snuck into my wife's chambers and threatened her."

Eiro laughed lightly, "I just did what I had to in order to save my dearest friend."

"And if that had meant injuring or killing my men, would you have done so?"

Looking into the Naiad King's eyes, Eiro hesitated to respond. Not because he didn't know what the answer was, of course, but because he wasn't entirely sure if the king would be happy to hear what he had to say. However, seeing that hesitation, the king shook his head.

"Ignore that question, I think I would rather not know. But if your words are to be trusted, then there should be no danger now, correct? Once Nellissa awakens, you will go on your way, and leave us be," the naiad king pointd out, clearly hoping that he was right in his assumption. Eiro immediately nodded.

"Of course. I wouldn't dare intrude any more than I already have," he explained, "Though, I am not sure if we should leave immediately."

"For the health of your friend?"

"There is that, of course. I would want her to rest as much as she can, but since it seems like her majesty has some history with Nelly, I thought it would be good to let them catch up for a while," Eiro pointed out, and the king turned his head toward the spirit next to him.

"History? What is this he is saying?"

As if hesitant to answer, the queen slowly explained, "Nelissa was my friend and my teacher... without her, I never would have been able to rise to this position, let alone meet you, my love."

With a slight sigh, the king held his queen's cheek for a moment, before turning back toward Eiro, "If that is the case, it would be rude to simply dismiss someone who has done so much for us. Though I feel this is a matter best discussed with the spirit in question, rather than with you. While you say you are close, I would rather hear her own thoughts about this matter than yours."

"Understandably so," Eiro responded, "Do not worry, she will wake up soon, and then we can discuss what happens next."

Despite Eiro's certain voice that spoke without hesitation, the naiad king seemed a bit hesitant. From what he had been told, Nellissa's body had practically fallen apart to the point where her very soul was close to disappearing, and even now that her body had been healed, her mind was still silent.

Considering that a spirit's body and mind could be seen as one and the same, the king wasn't quite as hopeful as Eiro that she was going to wake up all of a sudden. It has been nearly a week since they arrived at this castle, after all.

"If you would allow me to, I would like to take my leave," the demon pointed out, "I feel quite uneasy not being by her side at this time."

"Of course, you may leave," the king responded, and Eiro replied with a quick bow, before making his way out of this throne room.

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He swam through the castle and returned back to Nelly's temporary chambers, where she was still silently sleeping away. Of course, before he sat back down, Eiro quickly removed the surveillance magic that had been placed into this room while he was gone, also getting rid of the long-range attack magic placed right below Nelly's bed.

He was rather angry about that, but if he needed to, he could take out that anger on them after Nelly was done. Eiro was sure that the added stress wouldn't be good for her recovery, and he didn't want her to wake up surrounded by corpses.

"Come on, prove that man wrong and wake up, will you?" Eiro muttered, moving Nelly's hair out of her face, "I know you're in there. I don't know what is blocking you from coming out, but I know you're stronger than anything that could ever stand in your way."

With that, Eiro sat back down on his chair by Nelly's beside and grabbed the wooden figure that he had been carving earlier, continuing his slow, casual work.

"Current. Please keep an eye on the king, alright?" Eiro then said as he pulled out the book he was reading earlier. The water flowing around Eiro seemed to respond almost glefully, as the servant's will flowed through the room.

It was one of the first things that he had done after getting to this castle. He turned the flow of the castle's water into his servant. Right now, its body was a decently sized lake's worth of water that Eiro had taken control over and given a name. Current, Eiro's largest servant to date, was more than just the water itself, though.

She was the flow of the oceans, the current that carried through this world. Her body could adjust to whatever was needed, as her motions took control over the world around her.

Eiro wasn't sure if it was the encounter with the Demon King or some other realization he had, but somehow, Eiro had been able to detach himself from these strict targets like the physical elements. He was already able to control ideas and concepts attached to his magic more and more, allowing him to do things like use fire magic as a conduit for healing.

And with one more level of abstraction, Eiro was able to target something very specific about water magic. He was still a long ways away from being able to use this actively for a spell, though he already had the aspect of his superior magic skill try and figure something out within the mental library.

But for now, he had at least been able to awaken Current. She playfully enveloped Eiro for a moment before the part that was her was gone, spreading throughout the castle. Eiro doubted that the king would be able to sense her. He hadn't done so earlier at least, and Current was practically wrapped around the king and queen earlier.

So, she was the best way for Eiro to keep an eye on someone like him, someone that otherwise had full control of a realm like this.

He didn't necessarily want to have to track the naiad king, but something was off about him. He knew that Nelly was here, and even knew that her body had broken down to that degree, but the queen hadn't mentioned anything about her and Nelly's past to him until now? Why was she so hesitant about that?

It didn't seem like it was because she was embarrassed by Nelly, but rather that the King might have some reason to hold a grudge against the queen's former teacher, whoever it may be.

Of course, the fact that he ordered the surveillance of Eiro and Nelly and even went so far to have something placed under her bed that he could use to kill her if necessary was reason enough. But there, Eiro could have justified it as a cautionary step against himself rather than Nelly, but now, he wasn't quite so sure anymore.

---

"Finally," the Eiro in the plane of fire stood up and stretched, letting out a slight groan as he did. He looked at the book in front of him, filled from front to back in a complex thesis about the implications of Eiro's very own existence.

"You done?" Sarius asked, letting out a bored yawn, and the Demon quickly nodded his head.

"Mhm. Let's go, this should be enough to get to the top floor," Eiro explained, stepping out of the cabin to approach the tower again. The kid and the boar were sleeping right now, so Eiro just left a quick note to make sure they knew he went back into the tower.

Eiro stepped inside, and was quickly greeted by the tower's overseer. Without another word, Eiro gave the book to them, and watched as they flipped it open and carefully read through it.

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