"Edward." Called the man as he looked at them. "I see you brought along some friends. Would you care to introduce us?"

  "O-Of course, sir. These are Conrad, Kurt and Mila." said Galton, gesturing at each one of them as he named them.

  The older man smiled at them. "Well Conrad, Kurt and Mila, why don’t you take a seat? You must be starving after getting yourselves involved in… such a troublesome trial. Let’s talk this over a good meal." He turned his head at Morgan. "Sarah, I see you took the trouble to escort them here. May I ask why?"

  "Well, after we detected the breaking of the seal and no demonic energy was released for our ritual to contain, we realized something strange had gone down. So, we decided to go check the entrance to the seal, where we found Galton alongside these three kids."

  "And one of them took care of killing it?" Lindberg asked. Morgan nodded. "Well, that is good, isn't it? Who was the one to…do the deed?"

  Kurt rose his hand, drawing everyone's eyes to himself.

  "You?" Morgan gasped, looking him over, then at Conrad. "I thought that you…" Trailing off, she snapped her head at Galton. "How old is he?"

  The man squirmed at the question. "Well…when I proposed the plan to him, I thought that he was about eighteen. Why, since he is so tall and…"

  "How old, Edward?" asked Lindberg detachedly. For the reaction it got from Galton, he might as well have been screaming.

  Flinching, Galton answered. "Fifteen, sir"

  "Fifteen?!" snapped Morgan, all but snarling at the man. "You put a child up to this?!"

  "Well, it worked, didn't it?" defensively said Galton. "I mean, look at him! He isn't even scratched or…"

  A sound like a kettle's whistle came from the cube at Morgan's hip, which broke into differentiated sections. From the lines between them oozed out transparent slime in sharp tentacles, all reaching for Galton. The man howled, stepping back as he brandished his staff instinctually, with the tip of it exploding in golden flames.

  "Now, now. There’s no need for that." Before Kurt, Conrad, Mila or any of the sorcerers in Morgan’s entourage could try to intervene, or even think of doing so, the commander had already taken action: casting his Slat Tighearnais (which shone bright red and pale silver) for a fraction of a second, the old sorcerer directed his will at the warring sorcerers. In less time than it takes to blink, Galton’s fire had been utterly snuffed out-even the heat it had emmited dissapeared- and Morgan’s tendrils had snapped back into the cube.

  "Kids." Called the man, and Kurt understood he was refering to the sorcerers as much as he was refering them. "Let’s talk this over a good meal."

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  In less than ten minutes the bar had been served with bowls filled with cream of mushroom soup and plates of perfectly cooked-Kurt could tell- meatloaf, one of each for everyone in the pub. The 'interrogation' took place over a nice, warm dinner, and conducted by a man who seemed as reasonable and personable as any other Kurt had seen.

  "So, what were you kids doing down there?" Finally asked Lindberg. "Demon slying isn't something younglings do for fun nowadays, is it?"

  "It was a coincidence, sir." Answered Kurt. "We were passing by in a non-related quest, but our tracker" He gestured at Mila. "Tried to perform a spiritual communion with an oak that was particularly corrupted by the demon's power, which led to..."

  "Zombie trees." Completed Lindberg, unphased by it. "Seen it before, yeah."

  "...Exactly. So, a fight ensued. It was then that Galton found us and helped us defeat the last...zombie tree. So..."

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  "Wait." Interrupted the elder sorcerer. "Thanks young Kurt, but I would like for Edward himself to narratee the rest of the story." He turned his head to the sorcerer in question, who suddenly looked very interested on his meatloaf. "Edward?"

  "Y-Yeah." said the man. "So... we introduced ourselves, our orders, quests and such and I ... asked for their help, seeing that both our quests required that creature's death."

  "And what kind of help did you demand?" Snapped Morgan, glowering at the man.

  "Sarah." Chided Lindberg.

  "Sorry, sir." The elder kept his stare. "Sorry, Galton."

  "That's better. Now, Edward?"

  "Y-Yes. So I asked for their help in my quest by... having Kurt here slay the creature himself."

  At this Lindberg seemed...oddly neutral. "I see, and what reasons did you have to ask this young man to slay the demon in your stead?"

  "Because... Because I genuinely thought he was the best man available for the job."

  "A minor." Added Morgan.

  "Yes, a minor. Sir, the boy's skillset made him more fit to the task than myself, and the odds of victory if he fought were higher by a considerable margin than my own. Plus, he accepted while knowing of the risks..."

  "That's true." Added Kurt.

  "...and I prepared him as much as I could."

  "By teaching him sorcery." Added Lindberg. "Right?"

  Galton looked as if someone had burrowed a knife in his gut. "H-How do you know of that?"

  Lindberg simply shrugged."The flow of the Aether around him is too stable for him to be a non-sorcerer. And what better way is there of preparing someone to fight a demon than teaching them sorcery?"

  "Excuse me." Interjected Morgan. "Did you just say he taught him sorcery?"

  "Mostly basic evocation." Added Kurt.

  "But...are you a sorcerer? Like, do you have a Crown of Wisdom?"

  "A... what now?" Asked Kurt.

  "The brain mutation." said Conrad.

  "Oh...no, I don't"

  Morgan looked at him, and blinked once. Then twice. And thrice. "But then..." she finally said, to baffled to even raise her voice. "... how in God's name is it that you're still alive?"

  "He can manually control his life force." said Galton. "He doesn't need a Crown of Wisdom."

  "Oh." said Morgan softly. "That's a... very interesting ability. Is it some type of blessing or...?"

  "Welp." said Lindberg. "Seems like all the explaining has been done, and no punishement is needed. Oh, unless you happen to know what demon you killed? So we can catalogue it."

  "Oh." said Galton. "No we don't..."

  "Melalo." Interrupted Kurt. " A two-headed bird demon called Melalo."

  "That Roma demon..." Muttered Lindberg, his voice sounding first shocked, then caustic. "Serves the little fucker right. Good job, kid. You've done mankind a great service."

  "Thanks." Responded Kurt. His tone was flat. "May I be excused? I have to use the restroom."

  "Oh, yes. Down that hall, the first door to the right."

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  The restroom in McClaren's Pub was an immaculate example of hygiene beyond what most other public restrooms could hope to achieve, all thanks to the sorcery used to keep it and its exceptionally low amount of...'visitors'. Its floor was spotless mahogany, and its sinks and its toilet's were made from pure white ceramic so clean that it seemed to glow by itself.

  That's why it was such a pity that one Kurt Celik was now voiding the contents of his stomac on one of these pristine toilet's, and the floor around it. Bile spewed forth from the depths of his throat with great force, drawn out by pure anguish and stress.

  Those memories... his mother...those first years of his life he spent strapped to a fucking respirator... He had spent years without thinking about them. But now, because of that demon, they were right back at the surface of his memory. And talking about the surface of his memory, a new horrid image had just engraved itself on it. That field of corpses, and the way it had made him feel while under the demon's tender mercies. The... relief he had felt seeing all that death. Only Mila's visage ha managed to snap him out of it. Was he really that close to becoming the hateful, power-hungry monster that creature had described him as? After all, he was already willing to lie just to ensure his own...

  "Kurt? Are you okay?" Came a voice from the restroom's entrance. Conrad's voice.

  "Yeah." He answered. His voice was coarse and his tone shaky. "Leave me alone please."

  Conrad, of course, didn't leave Kurt alone. Instead, he walked up to the cubicule Kurt had occupied, which was open, and, after taking a look at what was inside-Kurt knelt besides the toilet, his eyes teary, and his vomit staining the toilet and floor-uttered just three words.

  "Let's go outside."

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "What happened in that chamber?" Asked Conrad. They were now in the alley besides the building the pub occupied. They had exited the building through a door down the same hall the restroom occupied, so they didn't encounter anyone on their way out.

  "I think..." Replied Kurt."I think that monster damaged one of my eardrums. I've been feeling dizzy and..."

  "It used a psychic attack, right?"

  "What?!" Stammered Kurt. "How do you-?!"

  "Doesn't matter." Interrupted Conrad. "What did you see that got you like this?"

  Kurt took a moment to answer the inquire, pondering on whether try and keep the lie-Not much of an option at this point.- or tell the truth.

  "A...a lot of stufff." He finally said with a small voice. "Me as a child, back when I was all sickly and weak... My last conversation with my mother before she died... and...and..."

  Conrad placed a hand on his shoulder."It's okay." he said. His tone was soft and comforting. "Just breathe and try to calm down. You don't have to tell if you don't want to."

  "No. It's okay." said Kurt. "It showed me... a field of corpses: You, Mr. Anderson, my sisters... and Mila. I only snapped out of the illusion with that last one. Up until then I felt..."

  "Relieved?" Asked Conrad. Kurt could only avert his gaze in shame. "It's normal, don't worry. Demons do that: They bombard their victims with their worst memories to weaken their resolve and, at the same time, inject energy straight from The Abyss in their brain to twist their desires and will. Believe me, under normal circumstances you would have been properly horrified. No need to beat yourself over it." Conrad looked him in the eye. "Rest assured. You are nothing like whatever that demon tried to paint you as. The fact you snapped out of it at all, something even full-fledged sorceres sometimes fail to do, tells me everything I need to know."

  Blood rushed to Kurt's face, and a few seconds passed before he managed to stammer out his answer.

  "Oh. T-Thanks." His expression changed into one of confusion. "One thing though:How do you know so much about demons and sorcerers? I haven't been taught that back at the order, and I've spent my whole life there."

  This time, it was Conrad who averted his gaze. "Let's go back inside. We're spending the night in here. That guy Lindberg is letting us stay. Payment for assisting Galton with his quest, or so he said."

  Kurt stared at him for a few seconds, suspicious. "...Okay, let's go."