A Night Meeting

"Raum?" said Adam. He immediately tensed up when he saw the crow sitting in his bed.

"Ease yourself," said Raum, her voice calm and devoid of any real emotion. "I am in no condition or mood to fight."

"What are you doing here, Raum?" said Leila as she slipped in through the window, struggling a little to squish Nia's dog form through the comparatively small window. Nia shook her fur and shrank a little, showcasing that she too could shapeshift reliably, and like that, they passed into the room.

Adam closed the window behind them, throwing out a cursory glance to make sure nobody was watching.

"I have already cast a warding spell around his domicile," said Raum. "It will be impossible for any ordinary mortal to cast their attention to this area. Even trained mages will find it difficult."

"Gotcha," said Adam. Magic sure was useful. Hopefully, he would get to learn it someday. Or scratch that, he needed to learn it soon if he was going to fight in Walpurgis Night.

"Raum…what is that in your beak?" said Leila. Her voice was also calm, but her eyes leered and her smile barely contained simmering bloodlust.

Adam focused his eyes to see that Raum had picked up locks of Adam's black hair.

"Has my darling's scent driven you mad for him? Have you gotten so desperate from centuries of being alone that you have to resort to stalking him for his hair?" said Leila.

"Nonsense, princess," said Raum. She made a coughing noise even though she had no hand to cough into as a crow. "O-of course not, I am here to take samples of him to ascertain his power.

If you two are to enter Walpurgis Night, it will be prudent for you to know the full extent of your Bond's powers, for the mere presence of his corrupted Lust Gene alone does not fully explain how quickly he grows in power."

"Hm. If you say so, Raum, my dear butler," said Leila.

"For now, let me see whether you are being properly nourished by your Bond-," said Raum. Her crow disappeared in a puff of smoke and black feathers, and out of it, Raum's body popped out. Though it was slightly see through, indicating that it did not have much magical energy supporting it.

Regardless, Raum was still lighting quick, and she was upon Leila in an instant, using her black gloved hands to grab Leila's waist tight from behind.

Leila yelped in surprise and let down Nia. Nia scampered on top of the bed, curling up in a neat and comfortable ball as she watched curiously.

"Wh-what are you doing, Raum!?" demanded Leila.

"Routine inspection," said Raum. She put up her glasses, and they glinted with determination. "Come to think of it, it has been a while since your last inspection, no?"

Before Leila could object, Raum moved her hands up to Leila's breasts, squeezing them firmly.

"Hm, yes, yes, your body is taking in your Bond's mana quite well. It is…developing at good pace," said Raum.

"O-oh Raum, why do this now?" said Leila with a blush.

"Hmm? Why are you embarrassed? You were never embarrassed like this before?" said Raum as she continued to massage Leila's chest.

"Not in front of darling~," said Leila as she shyly looked at Adam.

Raum looked up at Adam. "Ah, that is what it is. An odd thing, this 'love' is. It makes you so flustered where before you were nothing but icy cold. Well then-,"

Raum let go of Leila moved away in another quick flash. She bowed apologetically to Adam, placing her gloved hand to her chest. "My apologies for the unsightly display."

"No, no, it was a very…sightly display," said Adam as he winked at Leila.

"Oh, darling~," said Leila as she snuggled up close to Adam, wrapping her arms around his.

Raum saw this public display of affection and sighed, pushing up her glasses again. "Now then, shall we move on?"

"I've noticed you aren't being affected by my scent anymore," said Adam.

"Ah yes, that," said Raum. "I synthesized your hair samples with some alchemy and developed an antidote against your pheromones, though it is not perfect. Your Lust Gene still affects me greatly, but at the very least, with the antidote, I am able to function in a professional manner to serve both you and the princess."

Adam nodded at Raum, respecting her duty to her professionalism, though on second thought, it was that drive to duty that had led her to try and kill Adam in the first place.

"Which brings me to the main reason I came here," said Raum. She paused for a moment, looking between Adam and Leila, a hint of nervousness twitching at the corners of her lips before she sighed and just laid it out bluntly: "Before I tested your Bond, princess, I hired assassins to strike him down."

"You what!?" said Leila, her voice rising and heat and black flame starting to flicker from her hands.

Nia perked her head up from the bed and her wagging tail stiffened to alert straightness.

"I called off all the assassins," said Raum as she raised a hand to placate Leila. "For I deemed it only proper that I as your butler test the worth of the man you chose as a Bond personally instead of leaving it to some ill-begotten Overworld assassin."

"I see, that is…acceptable," said Leila. She crossed her arms. "So then? Why the visit? It must not have been cheap to create a messenger crow like this on such a quick notice. It must be something rather serious."

"Yes, one of the assassins ignored my orders and decided to pursue your Bond-," began Raum, and Adam started to realize that Nia was this very assassin, though quite likely, Nia's straightforward nature meant that she had probably said no to Raum's order not knowing that it would make it seem like Nia was going to continue to try and kill Adam where in reality, Nia wanted him for his ability to quench her bloodlust.

Adam nervously waited to see whether Raum noticed Nia.

Raum paused for a millisecond as her eyes ever so slightly widened in recognition when she glanced at Nia. Adam always prided himself in being able to read people, and he caught this brief moment where Leila did not.

Evidently, Raum caught Adam noticing this, and she coughed into her hand, adjusting back to her calm and collected composure immediately.

"But in the end, I dealt with said assassin," said Raum. "They will be of no harm to you two."

Adam gave a nod to Raum, and Raum returned a knowing look to him. Raum was sharp. Seemed like she understood that Adam wanted to keep Nia around with just the slightest of hints.

"Then what is it?" said Leila as she bit her lower lip. "It is unlike you to not get to the point."

"Ah yes, forgive me, princess. Things have been hectic at the laboratory," said Raum. "My point was that while ensuring that this assassin was dealt with, I sensed a surge of Elemental energy in this area."

"That was my darling!" said Leila. "We fought a pack of local werewolf mutts. They were all silvers, but one of them managed to ascend into a gold. Darling, though, was far too strong for that mongrel that thought himself some kind of nature god."

"A golden werewolf?" said Raum. "It is impressive that a silver werewolf can ascend into golden status even if the ascension is incomplete. It indicates that the werewolf in question is quite well versed in sorcery and possesses ample reserves of magical energy for his rituals."

"He said he drained the life force of students in this area by sleeping with them," said Adam.

"Ah, that would do it, yes," said Raum. "During sex, living bodies become intertwined and the transfer of magical energy becomes significantly more efficient. Bodies and souls are more susceptible to receiving curses or having their life force drained as well."

Raum put a thinking hand to her chin. "I see. I see." She nodded to herself multiple times, putting pieces together. "Let me hypothesize: this werewolf utilized some form of darker magic, likely demonic in origin, to drain the life force of women over a lengthy period of time.

When all this life force was gathered, it was funneled into a form of bodily ritual that ascended the werewolf into golden form. However, his power was incomparable to a high rank Elemental because the amount of life force he could absorb was limited to small quantities so as not to attract attention.

As a result, the ascension was incomplete. This would also mean that the golden werewolf is not yet truly immortal and indestructible. Tell me, Adam of the Park, did you strike a final blow against this golden werewolf?"

"No, the dog did," said Adam as he nodded towards Nia. "No matter what I did, the guy kept regenerating."

Nia started to wag her tail happily.

Leila pet Nia on the head. "What a good and lovely one she is! Smiting down our foes already!"

"I see," said Raum. "Nature magic is categorized into two spheres: Life and Death representing either end of nature's cycle. Life magic nourishes and grows. Death magic decays and burns. Each type of magic directly counters the other.

If the golden werewolf was regenerating, then he was far more attuned to life based nature magic. This means that this…dog is capable of outputting death based nature magic."

"A bolt of lightning," said Adam.

"In nature, lightning and fire are seen as symbols of death for they burn down life into ashes that grow further life anew," said Raum. "I see now. This dog here-,"

Raum withdrew her black ballpoint pen from her breast pocket and pointed it at Nia. Nia cocked her head curiously at Raum, reaching out her head to sniff the pen.

"Is a Barghest," said Raum. "A powerful nature spirit that foretells death and decay often accompanied by the presence of storm clouds and gloomy weather. A fine companion to have, for even the weakest Barghests are capable of slaughtering a dozen average mages with ease."

Nia barked excitedly, nodding her head.

"A Barghest!" said Leila as she hugged Nia. "Such a strong spirit wishes to be with us? How wonderful that our enemies will suffer their early deaths under this cute little puppy's paws!"

"You seem to know quite a lot about, well, everything," said Adam.

"Knowledge is my trade. It is only fitting I know such basic things," said Raum calmly, though Adam could notice the faintest hint of a smile at the edges of Raum's lips at receiving praise. "But yes, if a Barghest has allied itself with you two, then it would be prudent to take care of it well."

"Mhm," said Leila as she hugged Nia's furry body harder with a smile.

Adam knew that Raum was covering for him. She was getting Leila to accept Nia more through subtle ways. He definitely owed Raum later on.

"I cannot fight for you two directly, for it is forbidden for a Great Demon to directly intervene in Walpurgis Night," said Raum. "But I can offer some minor advice and make your lives easier in the background.

Which leads me to my final point: I shall set up an appointment between you two and the Warden of this territory."

"Warden?" asked Adam. He noticed Leila's pointed ears immediately pricked up at the word, and her posture stiffened with hostility.

"The warden? What business have we with human mages?" said Leila.

"A suspicion. Adam of the Park, when you saw this golden werewolf regenerating, did you see that he did so through an orb-like form?" said Raum.

"Yes."

"I see. And no doubt, you attempted to absorb this core with your quaint Shadow Magic, no?"

"You're right again."

"What did you feel when you drained the orb? Did you feel that you absorbed a massive quantity of mana?"

"No," said Adam, recalling the incident. "It felt like I just drained an empty shell. Like the orb was just the cheap outer covering of something bigger and more substantial."

"Aha," said Raum as she flipped out her notepad and began to write in it. "What is happening is that this golden werewolf's true form was not there. He was using a remotely operated 'core' that he filled in with his magical energy to interact with you.

Granted, these cores are likely incredibly resource and time intensive to create. I roughly estimate that he possesses only two cores total, one now. Yet this still means this golden werewolf is still alive and plotting to further deal with you two.

Time is of the essence: he must be dealt with."

"Always like mongrels to hide in the shadows and dirt," said Leila. "So, Raum, how do we track this mutt and put him down?"

"My time in this ream is limited and again, I cannot assist you two too directly," said Raum. "This is where the Warden comes in."

"Again, I have no idea what a warden is," said Adam.

"Human mages are governed under an association known as the Court of Keys," explained Raum. "And almost all lands that have significant amounts of mana flowing through them such as this area will have a Warden that oversees it.

A Warden's duty is to ensure that the human lives within the territory are maintained and accounted for. A golden werewolf draining the lives of humans to participate in Walpurgis Night goes against this concept thoroughly."

"And a human mage will work with us? Demons?" said Adam with disbelief.

"Mages are not as block-headed and fanatical as those idiotic lunatics in the Holy Church," said Raum. "Many have actively sought out demons to learn our magics. I should rather even say that as demons capable of Shadow Magic, the Warden will afford you two some degree of respect.

The Warden will be deeply familiar with the lay of this land and the flow of environmental mana. If you ask them to help you track down this golden werewolf under the pretense of stopping him from absorbing more life force from helpless human lives, then they will no doubt assist in tracking down the werewolf's last core."

"What do you think, Leila?" said Adam as he allowed Leila, one more experienced with the world of magic than he, to make the decision.

"I suppose this works," said Leila with a sigh. "I do not like dealing with mages, but this does seem to be the easiest way to rid ourselves of this mutt. Keeping him alive when he knows our powers will be dangerous, especially if others more powerful entering Walpurgis Night manage to get a hold of him and interrogate him."

"Excellent decision, princess," said Raum. "Then I will schedule a meeting with the Warden tomorrow. Here-,"

Raum reached into her breast pocket and tossed Adam a small locket of black metal. When he flipped it open, a red tinted mirror flashed at him.

"I can give you limited messages through that," said Raum. "I will send the location and details of this meeting there."

"Hold up," said Adam gravely. "I can't meet this Warden tomorrow."

"Hm? What is it, Adam of the Park?" said Raum, slightly concerned.

"Yes, darling, do you have enemies we need to kill beforehand?" said Leila.

Adam looked at Raum and Leila staring at him so seriously and he started to feel stupid saying this.

"No…I have class."