Demon's Virtue

Eiro was rather annoyed at this situation. On one hand, he had to go meet Armodeus as soon as he could. But on the other hand, he couldn't just let this Spirit's body literally be sold. He knew that the materials making up a Spirit's body were on a whole other level, truly, but selling them would be like Eiro chopping off his finger to sell it.

With a low growl, Eiro couldn't really hide his annoyance all that well. He climbed down the roof he was currently on and stepped through the crowd of people, some of which were genuinely currently attempting to buy something from this man. But Eiro himself simply stepped up right in front of the spirit. Nobody else could see him, but Eiro knew that this spirit could still see the flow of his mana in this 'lesser' form of invisibility. With a quiet whisper, Eiro leaned forward toward it.

"Hold out for a few hours, I'll be back later. And I'm getting every part of your body back as well, don't worry." The Demon said, and deeply ingrained the face of each and every person currently watching this Sales-Performance, together with their scent of course.

And then, Eiro turned back around and stepped away again. It would be too risky to try anything in front of all these people. They would be staying the night, so he could get everything done then if he needed to.

After making his way through these streets again, Eiro rushed over toward the entrance to the third layer, having only maybe twenty minutes left in this state, so he needed to find Armodeus before then.

It was actually surprisingly easy to get up there, weirdly enough. Probably because it was hard enough as is to get into the second layer, and nobles especially would know not to try and mess with the authority of those that could enter the third layer. Eiro kept climbing up the rock-walls, and then soon stepped onto the large, open third layer.

There weren't many buildings here, but those that were here were simply enormous. It seemed like there were some high-tier shops here with items Eiro couldn't hope to ever buy even with the amount of money that he stole from the Lord of Greed back then, but one thing surprised him.

There was actually a place where Eiro could hear someone working. He could hear the sound of flames crackling, the smell of charcoal burning, and practically just felt the heat radiate from over there.

Somehow, Eiro felt like that was the place he was looking for. But once he actually pin-pointed the location, he was surprised to see that it was the simplest, smallest structure out of all of the ones on this third layer. Sure, it was still relatively large, but it was at the level that a large family could live in it comfortably instead of a mansion that a whole village could fit into.

The small wooden sign hanging above the door read 'Armodeus'', just like Eiro had expected. But when he approached the building, he started hearing something. The voice of someone who was obviously pleading for something out of pure anguish.

"Please, I beg of you, help my son! I know that he is nothing but a stuck-up brat, but he's my son! Don't condemn him for my mistake of raising him!" The voice exclaimed, and the very next moment, Eiro could hear a deep sigh and the loud, rough, grumbling voice of a different man sounded out in response.

"I said it before, it's not that I don't want to, but I can't. I literally am incapable of helping you. The one person that could is no longer there either." The man explained, but the first voice continued to simply beg, "If you cannot do it, then who can? Please, Armodeus! My son lost his arm and leg! You have that artificial leg yourself, please!"

With an annoyed mumbling, the sound of a hammer being placed onto a metal surface sounded out, "I just told you I am incapable of doing so. The one who made my leg is no longer alive. And even if he was, just getting his help would mean highest treason, even to a king. Jura, the man that helped the King of Monsters. I'm lucky that I'm even allowed to work here like this."

"What did you just say?" Eiro heard another voice speak, although it was a rather familiar one. And then, the Demon realized it. It was his own voice. He hadn't realized it, but after hearing what that man, Armodeus, just said, he couldn't hold himself back and instinctively spouted this out as he pushed the door in front of him open.

The moment that Eiro stood there with his invisibility canceled, the guards that were seemingly accompanying the man that was begging Armodeus for help pointed their weapons at the Demon, but he didn't care much, "Armodeus, explain what you just said."

"Halt right there!" One of the Guards yelled out, pointing his sword at Eiro, but the Demon simply kept staring across the room, while Armodeus stared back at Eiro confusedly.

"Put down your weapons." The Dwarf said and stepped in front of the counter while the guards seemed rather confused. Once Armodeus approached Eiro, he could get a proper look at the man.

He was quite tall for a dwarf, actually, standing at the same height as Eiro did at roughly 1.80 Meters in total. Armodeus had a long, dark grey beard and light grey eyes with light red waves in them. His face was built to look rather aggressive at any point, even while he was smiling, but he wasn't ugly by any means. It just meant that he was intimidating, that was all.

"Are you..." He started quietly, "By any chance Eiro?" The Elder Dwarf asked, and the Demon slowly nodded his head.

"I am. But now answer my question. What did you just say about Ju-" Eiro started angrily, but before he could finish, this intimidating man of a high position that even had kings bowing to him pulled the Imp into a hug.

"I will explain later, boy. But first, I'm glad to finally meet you. Jura was like a brother to me." He explained, and somehow, this calmed Eiro's anger down a bit. And once Armodeus stopped holding the Demon, he turned toward the man kneeling on the ground.

"I'm sorry about that, but this man here is Jura's apprentice. Or rather, he was Jura's apprentice." Armodeus explained, and immediately, the man stared at Eiro with hopeful eyes.

"The apprentice of Jura..? The man that can create life out of nothing?" He asked, "Please, help my son! He lost two of his limbs in-"

"I heard it. You need someone to make replacements for him?" The Demon inquired, and the man immediately nodded his head, "Yes! Yes, that's exactly it! He had always been prone to injuries, and as he does not take healing onto him easily, so not even an elixir would be able to help him! Please, you are my last hope!"

Staring down at the man cowering in front of him with a slight glare, Eiro just looked around the room, soon spotting the young man that he seemed to have been speaking about. He was obviously incredibly depressed. His heartbeat was slow and weak, he was heavily underweight and pale beyond compare.

This was exactly the kind of being that Jura would never hesitate to help out. So, Eiro wouldn't turn him away either.

"Give me a few hours. But first, I need someone to come bring a group of people here. They're my children. They're in the lowest layer, currently inside of Armodeus' shop of that layer, accompanied by an attention-seeking Naiad. I'll let her know that you're coming to get them, so bring them here, please." In response to what Eiro just said, it seemed like the Guards were rather upset at the whole idea, and one of them even took it on himself to respond.

"You want to bring your children to such a place? Who do you think you are?" The guard exclaimed, but the man cowering in front of Eiro immediately glared at the guard, "Let me ask you that! Who do you think you are? They are his children! Bring them here, you fool!" The man exclaimed, and without hesitation, the guard flinched and nodded his head.

"Yes, my King!" He exclaimed and immediately left the building together with a few more guards, and Eiro stared down at the man, who then stood up with a light smile. He was obviously very sickly as well, his cheeks slightly caved in with pale skin. If this person really was a King, then the only reason Eiro could see for this situation was that this came from concern for his son.

"Allow me to introduce myself." The man said with a quiet voice and a happy, hopeful smile, "My name is Solomon Sigurd Skyhart, King of the country of Skyhart. Could I ask who you are? I would like to know more about this man that may end up saving my child."

While slowly shaking his head, Eiro looked over toward the man sitting on a chair sat against the wall, "There is not much to say. My name is Eiro, I studied under Jura for years. More importantly, shouldn't we get started helping your son?" Eiro suggested, and Solomon immediately nodded his head.

"Please!" He exclaimed, and Eiro slowly stepped up in front of the young man. He was maybe seventeen, not much older than Eiro's own children... "How did this happen?" Eiro asked as he took a rough look at the wounds, and Solomon slowly grimaced as he looked down onto the ground.

"In my country, we have Skyhart Academy. A school that teaches everything you may ever hope to learn, ranging from craftsmanship to magic. My son attended that academy, but... One of the Lecturers I hired lost control over one of the Divine Cards. We don't know how he got his hands on it, but it was the type that corrupted his mind. He killed many students, and crippled my son like this." Solomon explained bitterly.

"Of course, we treated everyone that was even slightly injured during that incident, and are fully supporting the families who lost their loved ones, but my son was the one who couldn't be healed."

"Which card was it?" Eiro asked with a slight frown, and Solomon shook his head, "The lecturer ran away, but from his behavior and injuries that the students and other lecturers received, we think it may be the <Puppet's Thread>, the Three of Swords.

With obvious surprise, Eiro turned around and immediately shook his head, "That can't be it." Eiro pointed out, and Solomon was rather surprised at this sudden answer, "Why not? Do you know if this incident?"

Just slightly sighing, Eiro scratched his cheek and shook his head, "I haven't heard of it, sorry. I might explain it to you after I gained your trust, and you gained mine." The demon said, rather embarrassed that he just spouted that out without thinking properly, and just turned back toward the young man in front of him again.

He was missing his limbs from directly underneath his elbow and knee, so for now, Eiro was able to create a simpler version of a prosthetic. He couldn't directly create a complex one for him like Eiro's hand. For one, because Eiro wasn't skilled enough at manipulating others' life energy for that yet. And two, because it wasn't a good idea to overwhelm his weakened body like that.

And so, he turned around and explained the situation to Solomon. He seemed slightly disappointed, but Eiro then continued to explain, "Don't worry. It's like Jura taught me. After this first treatment, I will come to visit you multiple times over the next few years to see the situation and improve on the limb.. His body may not be able to take a proper recreation now, but in a few years, it might be able to."