The Great Demon Empress

The next morning, I told Ruijerd and Eris that I was going to have a look around town to try and see if I could expand our options. Eris wanted to train with Ruijerd in the meantime.

After they left for the beach to practice swordplay, I went to the market and bought a basket full of skewered meat from a street vendor. Then I started exploring the back alleys in the commercial district while keeping an eye out for a particular demon empress.

As I was passing an Inn, I heard loud moaning and boards creaking from the second floor above me. How nostalgic, I would recognize those moans from a mile away. That is Elinalise Dragonroad, one of my father's old adventuring buddies.

Wait, didn't Roxy travel here with Elinalise? I'll have to stop by and ask before we leave. I don't want to miss them this time around.

A couple minutes later, I happened upon what appeared to be a homeless person covered in a robe, leaning against a wall. They reeked as though they hadn't bathed in a month.

"Food... Won't somebody offer me some food?", she cried out.

I knelt down beside her and stretched out my basket full of skewered meats.

"You poor soul. Please, take this and eat."

Kishirika grabbed the basket and devoured the food one after another.

"Woah! Delicious! That's the first thing I've had in over a year and it's so tasty!"

She leapt into the air, discarding the robes she had been wearing and landed on the other side of the alley from where she was sitting.

As her gaze met mine, she recoiled back.

"Eh!? Disgusting! What even are you!? I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Your mana pool is enormous! I can see no end to it. You have far more than even Laplace!"

"Oh? Is that so. Well, I have been practicing", I answered nonchalantly.

"Bwa Hahaha! Practicing! That's a good one! Well, regardless, I owe you my life. I am the Great Demon Empress, Kishirika Kishirisu! State your name, and I shall grant you one wish!"

"What is it you have to offer?", I played along.

"Why when the Great Demon Empress offers a gift, what else could it be other than Demon Eyes!"

"Demon Eyes you say", I put my hand to my chin. "In that case, could I please have the eye of foresight and the magic power eye?"

"Haha! You want two right off the bat? You're a greedy one!", she shouted.

"Well when you said Demon Eyes, it sounded like you meant more than one."

"You know, I don't really mind giving you two, but I don't recommend it."

"Why not?"

"You won't want to use them constantly. Most people cover their demon eye with an eyepatch. If you have two, you won't be able to see at all. Also, a person who lives for several hundred years might be able to learn to control two Demon Eyes at once, but a child like you would lose your mind trying."

"I'm far more capable than I look."

Kishirika looked at me skeptically.

"Fine, if you give me one and I prove myself able to master it, then would you give me another?"

"As you wish!", she yelled.

With that she grabbed me by the shoulder and thrust her finger forward into my right eye. The suddenness surprised me. Though I knew this was coming, it still hurt immensely.

By instinct I tried to step back for just a moment, but Kishirika held me in place. She ground her fingers around in my eye socket as though she were tinkering with it and then pulled them out with a pop.

"The iris of the eye of foresight is similar to your natural eye color, so people won't be able to tell the difference from afar", she said calmly.

I reached up to my eye, which still hurt pretty badly, and then slowly opened it. My vision was a bit blurry at first, but soon everything came into focus.

'Ah, finally I have my eye of foresight back. It feels so natural as though this is the way it was always meant to be', I thought.

"I'm impressed. Most people yell out in pain and try to run away when I give them their Demon Eye. You handled that like a real man."

"Why thank you", I said.

As I toyed around with my new eye, focusing different amounts of mana into the eye to see different amounts of time into the future, Kishirika went wide eyed in shock.

"Bwa Hahaha! You weren't lying when you said you're more capable than you look! I've never seen someone master a Demon Eye as fast as you! Very well, as you asked, I shall grant you a second Demon Eye as well!"

Before I could even answer, Kishirika jammed her finger into my other eye and gave me the magic power eye as well.

When I opened my eye, after waiting a few moments for things to come into focus, I could see everything like normal. I could feel my magic power eye draining a small amount of mana despite not intending to use it just yet.

'It appears it will take me a little time to get used to this one', I thought.

Kishirika was staring intently at me.

"How strange! You seem to be much better at using the eye of foresight when the magic power eye is so much easier to use. Bwa Hahaha! You are a strange one alright!"

I looked up at Kishirika. "Is it possible for you to give someone three Demon Eyes?"

"Bwa Hahaha! Nobody but me could ever hope to have more than two Demon Eyes at once!"

I figured as much, but couldn't hurt to ask I suppose.

"If you're ever in need of my help again, don't hesitate to call on me!", Kishirika yelled out as she jumped onto a nearby rooftop and ran away for no apparent reason.

'And she calls me a strange one. Still though, I'm very glad I met her.'

At first, I had thought that the magic power eyes seemed like one of the weakest, especially since they were the most common. However, after becoming proficient in disruption magic, I realized that magic power eyes were actually incredibly powerful.

Being able to see the flow of mana would ensure that nobody would ever be able to catch me by surprise with magic spells or abilities. Seeing the mana visually form will make disrupting it child's play.

I started walking back to the Inn when I once again heard Elinalise's moans coming from a nearby building. I didn't want them to leave without us running into one another, so I decided to stop by.

I entered the building and walked up the stairs to the second floor. I could clearly hear which room Elinalise was in since she wasn't being very discreet about her activities.

I knocked on the door twice. No response. I could clearly hear them still going at it. I knocked again, a bit more forcefully this time.

"Eh!? What do you want!? Can't you see we're busy here!", a man yelled from inside the room in a gruff sounding voice.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I was looking for Roxy. I heard she was seen nearby here."

"Never heard of her. Beat it!", the man yelled.

But then I heard a loud commotion as Elinalise had pushed him off her and he fell onto the ground. I could hear her scrambling to get herself presentable and moments later the door flew open.

Elinalise looked down at me. "You're looking for Roxy? You wouldn't happen to be Rudeus Greyrat, would you??"

I bowed slightly and answered, "Yes, I am Rudeus."