14 - That Night (II)

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

A gale roams in the night

As an insatiable flame looks for a fight,

Unaware that it will soon come to know its dying light.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"No, this is not how it was meant ta be!" she argued. "The life of the prey is in the hands of the predator! The strong win while the weak cower! You must punish me! I killed a lotta humans, your species! That must make ya swell in fury, no?"

"If I killed the same amount of demons, would you hate me for it?" Grisia questioned, drawing an audible urk from the demon. "Would you bear a grudge if I had the same motivations as you, killing for the thrill of it?"

"No, that thought is foolish! I do not dwell on emotions when it comes ta my own race. Kill as many as ya want! As long as I get ta fight as much as I want... a glorious death at the hands of someone stronger than me is a fitting end," her glare sharpened as she brandished her equally sharp fangs.

"So, that's what this is all about," he sheathed his sword in his scabbard at his hip and sat comfortably on a rock.

The insulting gesture of no urgency made her bark at him, "Ya dare withdraw your weapon in front of me—"

"We both know I can still end you," Grisia snapped back almost immediately.

"Tsk," she clicked her tongue, realizing the truth in his words.

"It is going to be a long night," Grisia spoke. "I came here early since I thought I'd have to spend some time looking for the threat mentioned in the quest. But here you are, you showed up yourself. It would be a shame if I returned with your head only hours after I took on the quest. That would ruin your reputation as a 'proud demon', would it not?"

"Hrrr..! Fine!" she replied, gnashing her teeth. "Do what you must, I will not run. If ya want ta fight again, I'll give it my all."

Grisia paid no heed to her brash tone and way of talking. Nevertheless, he tried his hand at a peaceful settlement. "No fighting. I just want to talk. Kill some time, not some demons."

She growled, "I don't appreciate your attempt at humor, human," she spat with despise. 

"I thought it was funny as hell," another wave of silence. "Well, hear me out for a short while before your glorious death or whatever."

"Fine. If that is the will of the strong," she said, imitating Grisia and finding a comfortable position to sit on the ground.

Grisia found some dry sticks and leaves around the area and proceeded to make a campfire base. "Ember: Wisps," he uttered, a blaze grew out of nowhere, calming itself into a warm light source.

"Chakra?" she noticed how Grisia created the fire unnaturally. "Of course."

She knew of it, but not entirely. The power to manipulate the elements of nature. She began to look for a chakra mark on his skin, starting from the top to the bottom while Grisia proceeded to collect the slain beasts' corpses and started chopping them into parts.

The demon simply sat tight on the ground with a brutish yet curious stare. "None on his face nor his throat, unless his clothes are covering it. So, it's probably somewhere lower, either his chest, or his stomach. Assuming his strength, it can't be lower than that, so I doubt it's on his genitals. As long as it's not hiding underneath his hair, on top of his head, or else that would be absolutely unfair—" her thoughts were interrupted by Grisia.

"My name is Grisia. What is yours?" the fire crackled.

The demon stayed silent for a while. She hadn't really revealed her name to another living being, not even her own kind. A demon like her giving their name was a sign of weakness. Trust and comradery were unnecessary. She was unlike those Usurper demons, those scheming weaklings who possessed bodies instead of earning power on their own. Strength was the only truth her people sought and believed in, but since she was bested in strength by this human, she had no choice but to answer his query.

And so, with a sigh, she reluctantly uttered her name, "...Tiraga."

"You and I, we are similar—" Grisia started.

"Hey!" Tiraga interjected.

"What?"

"I just revealed my name to ya, is that your only reaction? Ta continue on with what you're saying?!"

"Oh, right. Demons are secretive about their name. Good job, thanks for telling me. Anyway..."

"Ugh, the humiliation... fuck..."

"You and I are similar. Not merely because we both have yellow eyes—"

"Hah?! I have yellow eyes?" she interjected once again.

"What, have you never looked at yourself in the mirror before?"

"Why would I? Will that make me stronger?"

"Not directly, but knowing more about yourself, even the small details, may help. Somehow."

"Hmph. If it was said ta me by anyone else, I would've laughed at the idiotic idea before tearing them apart, but since it's you who said it, I'll remember it, no matter how ridiculous it may sound."

"Suit yourself. As I was saying," Grisia started to rant as he prepared two beast legs to roast on the campfire. "We are similar, not merely because we both have yellow eyes, but because we are both strong."

She paused at this revelation. Her? Comparable to him? Was this his way of humoring himself with someone clearly weaker than him?

"Currently, I am stronger than you," Grisia continued. "But it is not out of the question that you would surpass and kill me in the future," her ears flinched, in disbelief of the words that were coming out of this victor's mouth. "When that happens, no one is going to miss me, for I do not have anyone special to me. Human connections are troublesome... for me anyway."

"That is an oddity," her urge to point that out was unabated. "For you humans, your strength lies in your numbers after all. But I think someone as strong as you... may be different. So, it's not too much of a stretch to say that you are bad at cooperating with other humans."

"M-Mhh... yes," he dismissed her crude way of describing his point and continued, "And so, I feel like I'll die alone in this world without a son or a daughter to carry on my legacy. With how disconnected I am from my own species, honestly, I personally won't get angry at you for killing a bunch of humans," Tiraga lost her mean look and simply listened to Grisia. "But it would be better if you stopped," he told her.

"Hmph. This feeling of uncertainty is unnerving. I was expecting ta be killed or tortured once I've been beaten or captured. Why are ya telling me all this?"

"It's because I see my past self in you," the fire crackled once more. He started skewering the beasts' legs with a sturdy stick which he materialized with chakra. His words and his actions invoked more curiosity from Tiraga. "Drunken in power, not held back by any connections. The longer you go on, the deeper your regrets will be when you grow old enough."

"Heh, a human talking to a demon about age."

Grisia snorted. "Hah. Yes, but that same demon got beaten by that human, and now she's forced to listen to him by a cozy campfire."

"Tch, clever. And annoying. But yes, looking back at it now, it seems humorous how swiftly I was beaten. It's only been a year since I left hell ta terrorize this place. The legendary demons of yore must be having a laughing fit as they observe me from beyond life. But I have ta admit, I've been utterly outclassed by you. That makes me want to see a fight between ya and a demon of yore. Though, I feel as if you will simply find yourself squashed between their fingers by one of them."

"Is that so?" Grisia remarked as he held a beast's leg in each hand over the fire.

"WHAT ARE YA DOING?!" Tiraga yelled at Grisia with a slight panic in her voice.

"Huh?"

"Why are ya letting the fresh meat touch the flames?! It will turn black and get burnt to a crisp!"

"Oh. I'm roasting it. Do you... not cook your food?"

"Cook...?"

"Oh, brother."

Grisia told Tiraga a bit about cooking and assured her that it wasn't going to be turned into charcoal like she thought.

He kept roasting it and gave her one of the legs when he felt like it was ready. Tiraga cautiously grabbed it where Grisia held it. She inspected it by smelling it and looking at its every inch, searching for any traps or poison. It smelled good to her surprisingly, and it was not as black as charcoal or as hard as a rock.

She preferred her fresh meat raw and dripping red with blood though. This was brown and some bits of the skin were that charred black she knew to be bitter. Thinking that she was essentially dead since the end of the battle earlier, she thought, "To hell with it," and went for it, taking a big bite.

All that inspection made the meat cool off a bit, when she bit into it, she wasn't burnt. The taste was unexpectedly... likable. Compared to her usual meals, it didn't taste as gamey. It wasn't soft and sopping wet either, rather, the meat was more dry, but still slightly juicy, though not with the usual blood she desired.

Before she knew it, she was licking the meat off of the bones. She noticed that there was more flavor in the meat near the bone. She began chewing on the bone as there was still some residual flavor on it somehow.

"You hungry for more?" Grisia asked. She paused and only nodded in reply, continuing to chew on the bone afterwards.

"Well, let me teach you another little something, I assume you still don't know about this," he took out a small, half-empty glass bottle of white powder with a brown parchment lid tightly shut by yarn.

Tiraga looked at it closely and it seemed like white sand or pulverized crystals or tiny grains.

"Is that poison?" Tiraga thought to herself as Grisia opened the bottle and rubbed a small amount of the content on another beast's leg. "I guess I don't have the right ta refuse. Maybe it's not. It wouldn't make sense ta kill me now after yappering ta me so much. The human also said he had no plans to kill me." 

He then roasted it like the first one he gave to her. As they were waiting, he continued eating the leg he roasted for himself. He still wasn't even halfway done, even when Tiraga already finished her previous one minutes ago.

"Humans eat and move so sluggishly," she thought, unknowingly using insults as a veneer for her eagerness.

Finally, Grisia felt like it was done and handed it to Tiraga, who accepted it without hesitation this time.

She bit into it and thought that it was more delicious than earlier. It had more flavor, a powerful one that made her want to keep biting into the meat. Again, she realized too late that she was down to the bones.

"You enjoyed it that much? I used salt," he shook the small bottle to show Tiraga.

"Salt?"

"Yes. It preserves meat and fish quite well. It is also an effective flavoring. It is extracted from saltwater from the sea, or you can just call it seawater," he left out the part that it was one of those damn expensive seasonings.

"Hmm... yes. Surprisingly enjoyable. Apparently, humans aren't all that bad. Your species is good for something after all. I could eat this meat that you used this 'cooking' on for eternity. But that'll mean I might grow fat and weaker. Hmm... but maybe it's worth it," Grisia noticed that Tiraga may be seriously considering it.

This gave him an idea.

"What if I give you a chance to be released?"

"Ahh??"

"If you cook something so delicious that it makes me shout out loud, then I'll stay away from you and your path."

"Ho? Ya sure about that?" a sly smile crept up. "Even if I kill more humans?"

"Yes. That is, if you can."

"Alright, ya have a deal!" she grinned earnestly. "I'm already dead anyway, you'll regret giving me this second chance. If I make you react vigorously or make ya speechless when you scarf down on my own cooking, ya won't bother me whatever I do."

Grisia couldn't help but feel like she added more conditions that went against herself. He wondered if she was bold or simply dumb.

"Then come with me back to the guild," he said. "I shall tell the guildmaster that I have captured you and accomplished the quest. Are you certain that you were the only one preying on the humans in these parts?"

"Yes, if there were any other things stronger than me or as strong as me, I shoulda sensed or met them, but I haven't seen any around."

"Then we have a plan. After we're done resting up, we'll start our trek back, then you'll stay in my dwelling."

"Your lair?!"

"It's not a lair or a cave, it's a mansion..."

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Returning to the present, the dining hall was quiet as they ate and listened intently to Grisia's story of his encounter with Tiraga...

"... and that's how Tiraga arrived here and became my cook. She had a mouth that couldn't stop cursing when we first met, until I adopted Sia and asked her to refrain from doing so. She tried a lot, but Sia had already heard some words before Tiraga got the hang of it. It was a bit difficult to force Sia to unlearn them since she was such a rebellious kid. Even now she is."

"It's your fault for being such a buffoon that deserves to be cursed out," Tiraga commented. Aisia audibly nodded with her mouth full.

"Incredible..." Kairo uttered. "But that means, if Tiraga succeeds in getting that reaction out of you, she'll leave and won't cook here anymore," Kairo deduced with a hint of sentimentality.

"I'm not worried," they all turned to Aisia, who spoke. "This big ol' dummy's expressions are as lacking as his enthusiasm."

Those present started murmuring amongst themselves, agreeing with Aisia.

"That is true."

"You know what, yeah."

"So, it's going to be nigh impossible to get a big reaction out of him!" Aisia continued. "Then, Tiraga won't have to leave and I get to keep eating her delicious food!" she grinned.

"I disagree," they turned to Grisia. "I can react quite appropriately. If only you were here when she was only learning how to cook," his whole body quivered, reminiscing the foul sensations that passed through his system. "The food she made was outrageously disgusting, I had to puke several times before she learned how to make something edible," Grisia reproduced the face he made in the past. It was a mix between a sour face and having his tongue out, out of thirst.

"Why, ya little...! I admit, I was not fit ta be anywhere near a kitchen by my standards now, but I think I'm quite skilled compared ta my past self!" she huffed.

"It's not even a comparison," Grisia kept his sour face on. "Even Esmeralda couldn't help but scold her for how inedible her first tries were."

"So, wait. From your story, you mentioned that Tiraga is... a demon. Not a normal human," Kairo confronted Grisia. Everyone turned their heads back to him for his answer.

"No, I'm an ordinary human," Tiraga refuted casually.

"Yeah, she's a demon," Grisia blurted out.

"Oi! Grisia!"

". . ."

The dining hall was filled with a long silence.

"Oh, right," Grisia knocked on his head. "Whoopsy-daisy."

That line was familiar. Kairo heard Aisia use that phrase the first time they met. "Is this where she got that from?" he wondered.

"Ya forgot your own plan, ya damned buffoon!" Tiraga attacked Grisia's head again with a vicious chop. "You're the one who wanted ta hide my demonic background!"

"It's fine, it's just us here anyway," Grisia reassured.

"Well, if you say so. I don't care either way. Hmph."

"But do keep telling people you're a human anyway," Grisia added.

"Hrr...! What a pain in the ass," she remarked, turning away from him and crossing her arms.

"S-So, Tiraga is a demon?" Kairo spoke.

"What, ya scared of me now, boy? Maybe I'll eat ya when you're asleep," she said with an ill-mannered grin, cackling in his face until her stomach hurt.

"P-Please don't," he made a worried smile. "But... I am grateful for the patience you showed to me in the kitchen. You made it clear that there's a lot I have to learn. Also, I am quite fond of your cooking, ma'am!"

Tiraga flinched.

She didn't expect gratitude from this whiny little brat. He also didn't completely cower in fear when becoming aware of her origin. She wasn't expecting a fearless reaction from another human akin to the one who beat her, her current master, Grisia, but this was still unprecedented. Sure, this Kairo boy seemed to be a squealer around her, but he never looked at her with eyes that condemned her as absolutely evil, even after knowing she killed other humans.

"Hmph, you can't sweet talk me like the rest of the servants, boy! I am a disaster waiting to happen, an unstoppable storm!!!" she roared at him.

"I suppose that makes sense. You must be quite the strong fighter if you fought Grisia and survived!"

"Hrr...!" she couldn't help but feel like she was being mocked. She felt like she was talking to Grisia, but this Kairo brat was annoying in a different way. "These humans are all the same, all annoying ants...!" she mumbled.

Meanwhile, Grisia formed an idea from Kairo's remark. He could let Kairo and Aisia spar with Tiraga and see how that goes. But he had to arrange it to ensure that the two wouldn't get severely injured by Tiraga and that the training would actually be effective.

For now, he planned to teach them himself until they were ready for someone like Tiraga or Esmeralda.

Because of all this talk about humans and demons, Tiraga remembered the excuse she used earlier. She told Kairo, who initially thought she was a dark elf like Agata, that she was human unlike her. This made the misunderstanding that there are humans that can look similar to dark elves, when she was actually a demon who coincidentally looked like a dark elf.

And so, she spoke, "Listen, boy. Since now you know I'm not a human, remember that humans and dark elves don't really look alike. Got it, kid?!"

"Ah," Kairo uttered.

Tiraga realized she said something unnecessary. She was expecting Kairo to make a mockery out of her for worrying about something stupid like that. "The boy musta already forgotten about our conversation earlier, so it musta been a strange thing to say..."

Those thoughts swirled in her mind until Kairo spoke, "Thank you for the clarification, ma'am!" Kairo saluted with beaming admiration. "So that's what you meant about what I said earlier at lunch. Thank you for reminding me, I'll be sure to remember that," he finally smiled normally.

Tiraga crossed her arms and turned the other way to hide her relief. "Hmph. I just don't want some pain-in-the-ass misunderstanding growing from that seed. Had ta nip it in the bud," she closed her eyes, exhaling briefly from her nose. "Anyway, it's time for the real test!" she shouted, moving on from the topic. "So? How was it?" Tiraga asked Grisia.

Grisia ate until his plate was clean, so much so that it almost looked unused. There was a long silence as he contemplated.

The maids' tension grew. They were still rooting for Tiraga, even if they only recently found out she was a demon who was only here to cook in order to be released from Grisia's watch to be able to commit massacre again. Many of them were not completely innocent either, with much of the maids being Grisia's enemies in the past who did crime and are trying to turn over a new leaf, but a few of them felt queasy knowing a person of such a vicious race was among them.

However, even after all of that, all of them believed that deep inside, there was a soft maiden within that tough, demon exterior, like any other lady.

"It's good."

The maids all gave a sigh of disappointment. Disappointed that Tiraga didn't succeed in reaching their master's heart, and disappointed that Grisia gave such a worthless reaction to such exquisite cooking brought to reality by tremendous amounts of effort and skill.

"Tsk. Damn it. Fine, guess I still have a long way ta go, huh?"

"It seems so," with this, Tiraga took some of the used plates and headed towards the kitchen to wash them.

But right before she was about to leave the dining hall, Grisia said, "Oh, and Tiraga. It really was delicious. Thank you for the food."

"Heh. Suit yourself," she said as she left with a subtle smile.

The maids squealed, holding each others' hands, jumping up and down in glee. There it was, a moment between the two, something that they'd been waiting for.

Aisia watched the icky moment as she resumed eating the remaining celebatte with Kairo.

"Why are you all cheering?" Grisia curiously asked.

And so, they all went their separate ways to head to bed while some maids stayed to help Tiraga clean up.

"Sia, help Kairo with the lights in his room before heading to bed," Grisia requested.

"Hah? Can't he do it on his own?"

"Just do it."

"Fineee," she responded. "I was going to hang out in his room anyway," Kairo tilted his head, puzzled about Grisia's order to Aisia.

Aisia and Kairo arrived at his room. Kairo opened the door.

The room was absurdly dark, but he could see the outline of the bed and furniture from his memory, combined with the dim moonlight from the room's window and the scarce light from the hallway.

He let Aisia enter the room first, curious to see what Grisia was planning to make her do. Aisia entered and stood in the middle of the room. After a while, she stretched her hands out and aimed her open palms at each oil lantern in the room.

With a grunt, she uttered, "Ember: Wisps!"

Every time she did, a lantern lit up with a small flame.

"Woah, how did you do that?!" Kairo asked excitedly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"How did you light those lanterns up without going near them?"

"... chakra?" Aisia tilted her head and squinted her eyes in confusion.

"...what?"

"...huh?"

"You don't know about chakra?!" Aisia exclaimed at Kairo who sat on the bed.

"How would I have known about... ch... chock... whatever that is?!"

"How does your village start a fire then?! How did you start a fire to cook your food before coming here?!"

"By creating a spark using a flint and stone! The normal way! Well, sometimes when they break, I have to rub two sticks together instead until I find new ones..." Kairo stated. Aisia couldn't believe how primitive Kairo's methods were.

"Well, anyway, I guess I'll have to tell Grisia about this. Oh, boy. I didn't know that you don't know about chakra. This is going to set us back quite a bit."

"Oh..." Kairo responded with a soft voice.

"But d-don't feel bad! Grisia won't be angry. This is good— yeah, it's good that we know early on," she nervously laughed, careful to not make Kairo feel upset. "Grisia can make arrangements for the training! If not, I'll catch you up to it, okay?"

"Alright, I'm counting on you, Aisia!" he brightened up.

"Of course you are, I'm The Great One around here," she smirked as she pointed to herself.

"Oh, great Aisia!" he jokingly praised her. They both laughed.

And so, after hanging out, Kairo went to bed and Aisia turned off the lanterns' flames in her leave, which were still in her control as she was the one who made them. Kairo felt tired after eating and thinking so much today.

He fell asleep soundly, excited once again for what tomorrow may bring him.