He twisted the doorknob and opened the door. As his left foot stepped outside, something tugged on his shirt hard enough for him to stop.
He turned back slowly, his mind thinking of the lies behind the bag he was holding.
Just before he turned fully, the figure at the corner of his vision had short silver hair and was shorter than him.
’It’s Celeste, isn’t it? Maybe she’s here to kill me.’
He tossed the bag outside, leaped backwards, and clenched his fist, preparing for battle. She gave him a deep, confused state, he hands were shaky as she slowly distanced herself from him.
"You’re leaving, right? Can I come along?"
Lucien immediately dropped his stance and loosened his muscles. He ran, picked up the bag of items he had dropped on the floor and hung it over his shoulder.
"No, never. Besides, I can’t cause your mother any pain."
’I’ve already killed her son, and maybe her husband in the future.’
He looked back at her, expecting her to back down, but she didn’t. She looked even more determined, exiting the house with him.
"I made a promise with my mom that I would leave this house if a soldier besides people we knew ever visited us."
She closed the door behind her and dragged Lucien along, guiding him to the exit.
’What a stubborn woman.’
"I have no obligation to protect you. So, if you’re injured, don’t expect me to come running to your aid."
"That won’t happen. I’m stronger than you think," she replied quickly, reaching into her clothes’ breast pocket.
"During the Rank Evaluation, I got a B-Rank Crest, see." She stretched out her palm and showed him the crest drawn in permanent black ink painted on her palm.
Lucien sighed and averted his gaze.
’She’ll definitely be of use to me. I still have a lot to learn about this world.’
Lucien left the house, fully prepared for what was to come. The sun bathed the entire field with its warm hues, filling every spot with bright light.
It was extremely hot that day, making it unbearable to walk comfortably. He stared at Celeste walking beside him and the bag she strapped to her side.
"Where’d you get that?"
She looked at him for a few seconds, trying to understand what you meant.
"Oh, this? I prepared it last night and kept it out just in case I needed to escape in a hurry."
Lucien was relieved; he had no intention of sharing any food with her. He returned his gaze to the emptiness ahead, basking in the sun’s hot glow.
"Let me just get this out of my chest. You’re a demon, right?"
Mmm
Startled, Lucien looked at her with a confused expression, his eyebrows furrowed. He thought for a few seconds, dipped his hands in his pockets, and decided to continue walking.
"That’s a rude thing to say. You won’t get any information out of me if you keep acting that way," Celeste responded.
Hmm
’She’s clever. I’ll give her that at least,’ Lucien thought, observing her through the corner of his vision.
"I’m not a demon, but I have a demon residing in me thanks to a curse."
"I suppose there’s no harm in telling her. She seems weak enough, so I’ll just kill her if she tries running away. I’ve already killed a couple others. One more isn’t that much.’
"Does that even count as a course? It’s more of a blessing," she responded, her eyes expressing nothing but awe.
’She doesn’t seem like she wants to kill me. I’m not sure if she can, but that’s a good sign regardless.’
He glanced at her, and then back at the distant horizon.
"You’re weird, you know?"
"Following the vessel of a demon around while being fully aware of it has to be the most stupid thing I’ve heard," Lucien stated in a calm voice, seemingly unbothered by how she reacted.
She chuckled softly. Her chuckles evolved into a momentary burst of amusement, and then a short sequence of laughter followed.
Lucien shifted away from her, adding some distance between them.
’She really is weird.’
"Now that you know who I am, how about you give me the information I need?"
She stopped laughing and pointed to her left.
"Let’s go there. I overheard my mom’s conversation with my dad, and there’s supposedly a small city in that direction."
Lucien, still confused about her objectives, just stared at her and shifted his direction to match hers.
"It’s not a bad idea, but what does that have to do with anything? Besides, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere close to a soldier so that I don’t have to engage in unnecessary fights."
"You’re misunderstanding things. I never said my dad was there. He was just scouting out possible locations for us to relocate to," Celeste responded, picking up her pace as the city was visibly far away.
"Besides, small cities have little surveillance, so there are bound to be cursed individuals. If you prove that you truly have the powers of a demon, then I’ll tell you everything I know without hesitation."
’Why’s she so obsessed with me being a demon?’
’I don’t want to waste my energy here by transforming, so I guess I’ll wait till we find something worth using that form for.’
Lucien channeled his demonic Mana to his eyes and was able to see the city in the distance. It was extremely small with only a few hundred inhabitants.
You could hardly call it a city. It felt like a wasteland, and it most likely was since the rates of curses had steadily increased.
He looked at Celeste, and she looked back at him.
"Hmm? What’s wrong?" She asked, slowly turning her head back to the road.
"It’s nothing. Let’s be quick so that we don’t run into trouble on our way there," Lucien replied, removing the reinforcements he had added to his vision.
’That means others can’t see my demonic Mana. Interesting.’