Beelzebub hunts ghosts... (1)

Chapter 14: Beelzebub hunts ghosts… (1)

"I don't understand! Why are you suddenly banning me from going to the chasm? It's a treasure groove of precious resources!" Bruno shouted at his father and slammed his hands on the table, unwilling to let this matter go.

Even though he was already an adult, his father's uprising taught him a lot of respect for elders, and Bruno's knees remembered harsh punishments for going against his words because Aric always punished him by telling him to kneel on pea, which hurt as hell!

And when Bruno really screwed up, his father forced him to keep his hands high for a long period of time… try that at home and know his pain!

Aric grimly gazed at his son and gritted his teeth. "We want to see grandchildren! It's too dangerous now to go to the chasm."

"You haven't told me why!" Bruno insisted on knowing the truth, which Aric naturally couldn't tell him.

At that moment, Beelzebub stepped in. He smiled at the lady of the house who deemed him a saving grace from this argument: her faint smile and awkward face requested David to chime in the argument.

Aric also glanced at him with expectations, to which Beelzebub properly answered.

"It's not like the chasm is the only vault of resources, Bruno." David took a seat next to his friend, then thanked Patricia for the meal.

Bruno sat down and grasped his fork, slowly digging into his breakfast as well… "But the chasm has too good advantages for a poor man like me!"

Aric didn't like the word 'poor' bypassing his son's lips, for his eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "You're way better off than alchemists your age. Patience is the key to success for guys like you, isn't it?"

This time, his father was utterly right, so Bruno remained silent and stuffed his cheeks to the full with his mother's breakfast, not wanting to acknowledge these words. Such a reaction made his mother look at him warmly while Aric disappointedly shook his head.

David faintly chuckled and patiently waited for his friend's next words.

Bruno gulped down all his meal at once and continued with a serious expression, wanting to match his father and David's wisdom. "Even monsters know that the chasm is too dangerous. They don't come close to it, so I can explore it freely… I also know the safe route back home, so I don't need any mercenaries to assist me." He then turned to Beelzebub and added in a grumbling tone… "Mercenaries take too much for their services… And when a fight erupts, they also can demand recuperations for their lost or broken equipment. Their excuse is that they risk their lives and that you only have one life! I hate it! It's not like our cauldrons can't explode and kill us! At the very least, it can make us lose our occupation!"

Patricia worriedly looked at her upon hearing those words.

Aric scoffed.

On the other hand, David laughed... "You would have to be a really bad alchemist to die to the cauldron's explosion… a good alchemist easily avoids such shameful issues… and surely doesn't tell anyone about them."

Now that even Beelzebub was not on his side, Bruno silently nodded and asked for seconds, slowly eating his second portion of breakfast. "You seem in a good mood, David."

"Do I? Well, it's true… I had a good dream…." Beelzebub couldn't find the right words to not lie to his friend, so he decided that it was better to go for it for Bruno's sake.

His good humor came from the influx of information he'd learned from Anador. The demon's memories were incomplete but still enough to allow Beelzebub to conjure a good plan to save Gloria from their hands. David also studied the ice tomb and inferred that he still had enough time to level up.

He lacked levels and skills the most.

Everything else was secondary… for example, David didn't need to know what heavenly lineage had fought against the demons. And if he lacked people, he would add villagers to his scheme and use them.

After all, it wasn't like demons were only his problem.

"Oh? What kind of dream did you have?" Bruno grew interested in David's words.

Beelzebub replied. "I saw a beautiful white-haired woman. I think she'd terrify you, though."

"How come?"

"Your abs are nothing like hers."

Bruno squinted his eyes and looked at Beelzebub oddly… "Shouldn't she scare you more, then? I think she'd be able to squeeze you to death."

"I don't think so…" Beelzebub mysteriously smiled, confusing his friend.

-

After helping Bruno with his alchemy, Beelzebub went for a walk like usual.

This time, he wasn't alone.

Using the new enslaved soul, Beelzebub tracked ghosts in the Williard Village and personally dealt with them through many means. Not every ghost was like Bruno's friend, after all. Some ghosts needed a talk with someone to pass to the other side, and some forced Beelzebub to use his enslaved soul to deal with them through force.

Of course, those souls weren't saved because Beelzebub was a big-hearted man.

And it wasn't like he was leveling up from erasing their existence, either… those humans were low-level, after all.

If David found a high-level ghost, he would be able to level up, but that was not the case… anyway, he had been searching for them to use their spiritual energy for his alchemy. Thus, every encounter with ghosts ended up with David forcibly bringing them to Bruno's basement, where David performed low-level alchemy.

"Green flames are so unique… and cool!" Bruno's eyes reflected the unique colors of flames, his voice shaking from excitement…

Contrary to David's belief, Bruno was fascinated by the unique color of flames. In his mind, those didn't belong to a demon but a high-level alchemist!

"How are they different from common flames?" Bruno asked like a good student.

Beelzebub replied after short thinking… "Look how docile they are."

After saying those words, Beelzebub shoved his hands into the flames which had been intensely burning below Bruno's cauldron.

His newly unlocked skill, Beelzebub's Cauldron, allowed him to perform the most common alchemy, which he revealed to his friend.

On the other hand, Bruno nearly screamed out of his lungs upon seeing his teacher touching flames like that… wasn't it too dangerous?

But as Beelzebub enjoyed his flames' touch, Bruno sighed and uttered in amazement… "It's like high-level magic! So awesome! …But… I don't see any pill or potion…."

In fact, the cauldron had been bubbling with clear water… it didn't look like Beelzebub concocted something this time.

How could it be, though? David had already made so many pills and even potions!

That was why Bruno mentioned these two terms…

Beelzebub smiled and didn't give any answer to this inquiry… for what he did was a combination between Beelzebub's Cauldron and Beelzebub's Transmutation, which he used on no one other than himself.

Humans were resources, too, after all… Ah, in David's case, demons.

"I don't think you will understand what I've done just now… now or in the future… but if you will, we might become more than acquaintances."

Bruno's eyes gleamed as though countless stars obscured his vision…

Those words became a goal of his life… a goal which remained a huge question mark for now.