Not having Eleanor’s prejudice against demons, Ena was surprisingly excited about the idea of a kingdom made by them, past her initial shock; While Eleanor remained huddled up in her corner, she eventually approached him, leaf-green eyes gleaming impatiently as she began to bombard him with whispered questions about his past life, and his pns for the future.

  Many of her questions Sincir dodges, some of them for obvious reasons; Some of them because he still doesn’t know exactly how he is going to build a kingdom on this side.

  One step at a time, for now. First, he needs information and personal strength. Second, he’ll need allies and money. Third… He still needs to figure out a way to bring his people from the other side, without sacrificing entire towns to do it.

  Of course, all of it is much easier said than done.

  In the end, he ends up entertaining Ena with some of his less sexual or brutal adventures, until she falls asleep against his p, expression peaceful looking.

  Watching her, one wouldn’t think she almost died, a day ago.

  After a moment, Sincir gnces at Eleanor, who has undoubtedly heard their entire talk, and sighs.

  He’ll leave her alone, for now. Her reaction for his identity was about what he expected, but he still hoped she’d come around his demon heritage somehow… Foolishness, perhaps.

  He may come to regret allowing her to leave one day, but Sincir can’t bring himself to simply kill her after everything they’ve been through at the chapel, and what he has heard regarding her past.

  As for keeping her prisoner… Not feasible, in their current circumstances. He’ll just have to hope she keeps her promise, at least for a while. If she tells on him ter, he’ll have more means of protecting himself, so things should still work out, somehow… Hopefully.

  Although she seems determined not to, even Eleanor eventually falls asleep again, having stayed awake throughout the day with Ena, while he slept.

  Thankfully, this time, Sincir doesn’t have any problems staying awake to keep guard. Also, his mana has also been fully restored by now, which puts his mind at ease in regards to being found out by the sailors.

  Taking the boat by force would be a pain, but it is nice to know he has a fighting chance in the worst-case scenario…

  Speaking of which, he wonders how long they’ll sail for, still. Adall should be no more than a day or two from Stormbay, which they left a day ago, now. Depending on how far they’re going, it could take another full day until the boat lowers anchor…

  He might have to find a way for the girls to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, other than cleaning the mess once it is done, he doesn’t know of another way to rid the human body of its waste other than the natural one… Salmorol might have managed with her water magic, but he’s not on that level.

  Eh, they’ll manage, somehow…

  The next day is spent mostly in boredom. Sincir stole more than enough food to st them the entire trip, and other the Eleanor’s depression, the worst they had to handle was a less-than-ideal trip outside, to use the sea.

  Ena was still blushing hours after the fact, while Eleanor firmly refused to go, even after Varzath assured her she had nothing to be ashamed of.

  …Perhaps his smile at the time was interpreted as mocking?

  Naw, this baby face could never pass as anything but innocent.

  The moment nd is spotted on the horizon is easily noticed due to the shouts of the sailors above, bringing a smile to Sincir’s face. Although none of them were seasick, spending two whole days in such a cramped space was still unpleasant.

  Next time, he’s definitely paying… Or taking over the ship, if that’s not an option.

  “Are we there yet…?” Ena asks, having been awakened from her nap by the sudden increase in noise.

  Looking down at her as she yawns and turns on his p to stare at him, Sincir raises an eyebrow.

  “Comfortable, are we?”

  She smiles at him. “You do the same thing, so no compining.”

  Returning her smile, Sincir shakes his head. “I wasn’t compining… And yes, we’re there. Or we should be, at least. Though we’ll have to wait until nighttime before sneaking out.”

  Eleanor, who was already rising from her corner with a determined look on her face, sits down again, grimacing.

  “What time is it?” she says, this being the first time she took the initiative to address them after their talk the other day.

  Sincir shrugs. He can normally keep track of the time by looking at the sky, but having been locked in here for so long, he has no idea… Although, the boat has been noisy for a while now, which means the day should be about to end.

  “We shouldn’t have to wait much,” he tells her, “We’ll be able to leave once most of the sailors have left for the nearest tavern, since there’s no need to hide ourselves from the native townsfolk… Well, there shouldn’t be, as long as they don’t see us sneaking around, like thieves.”

  And just like that, Eleanor is back to pretending they don’t exist. What is there of so interesting about the wall she keeps staring at, anyway? You’d think she’d grow tired of it, eventually.

  Sincir spends the next hours making small talk with Ena while running his hand through her short, slightly messy hair. She doesn’t seem in any particur hurry to leave his p, and he doesn’t rush her either, in spite of his stiffness.

  “…This is so nice,” Ena murmurs, stretching her arms and closing her eyes as Sincir scratches her scalp, “Now I get why animals seem to like it so much.”

  “You’re at least half-animal,” he reminds her.

  “I guess that’s true… Are humans just slightly more intelligent animals from everybody else’s perspective?” she asks, opening her eyes and meeting his gaze as she does so.

  Before answering, Sincir cocks his head thoughtfully. “Sort of? Thinking of humans as mere animals certainly makes it easier to kill them… If there’s a difference, I’d say it’s in the quality of their Soul, which is to say, cats and dogs can’t ascend to Heaven, or fall to Hell, but humans can. Though, one of my friends had a theory… He believed Heaven and Hell were created by humans themselves, a long, long time ago. In that case, it’d make sense for humans to be the only ones capable of going to either pce, after death.”

  Ena’s eyes widen slightly. “That’s…”

  “Insane? Maybe. But the Cosmos has been around for a while, and Elysium, even more so. Many Gods who exist today as such started as mortal creatures… Why not humans?”

  “Gods…” Ena murmurs thoughtfully, “I wonder what it’d be like to be all-powerful.”

  Thinking of Saendara, Sincir chuckles. “You know, I’ve met one of them before, and coincidentally, I did ask her what it felt like, to be all-powerful once…”

  Ena stares at him suspiciously. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

  Sincir shakes his head. “I swear I’m not. You could even say that we were friends, of a sort…”

  “I’m not sure I believe you, but fine, I’ll bite; What did she answer?”

  Sincir chuckles again. “She said being all-powerful means you can sleep and fuck as much as you want, without anyone being able to say a thing.”

  Ena ughs. “Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”

  Sincir shrugs. “Two thousand years is a long time, and I was a king for half of that. Is it so hard to believe I’ve met a god or two?”

  Ena hums. “It’s hard to imagine you as a king… Or a demon, really. At least now I know why you sound so much like an old man, Sincir… Hey, tell me your real name already!”

  Grimacing in virtue of her old man comment, Sincir shakes his head. “Sorry, but I’ll be Sincir for now. You’ll learn my old name one day, but this body was named by its mother, and I wish to honor her will.”

  Ena hums. “Are all demons this nice?”

  “…Are you stupid?” Eleanor murmurs under her breath, attracting both of their gazes in her direction. Having been hugging her knees, she only then seems to realize to have spoken out loud.

  “You have to admit Sincir is nice,” Ena tells her, meeting her eyes defiantly, “Even after you called him a monster, he still gave you water and offered to take you to use the bathroom.”

  Eleanor shakes her head. “You don’t get it, demi… Ena. He is an incubus… This is what they do. Luring their victims with sweet promises and gifts, then taking what they want, and leaving…”

  “Ah, yes, the sweet promise of helping you use the bathroom…” Sincir mocks, rolling his eyes as he does so... He hopes the pit her words opened in his stomach didn’t show in his voice.

  Eleanor grimaces. “Don’t mock me, you bastard. We both know I’m right.”

  He sighs. “You do realize you’re putting me in an unwinnable position, right? If I treat you like shit, then I’ve always been the monster you expected… But if I’m nice, even going as far as to save your life multiple times, then I’m using manipution tactics?”

  Eleanor scowls, then shakes her head and averts her eyes again, seemingly having given their talk for over.

  “…She really is a handful, isn’t she?” Sincir tells Ena, who shrugs.

  “I’m still waiting for some sort of apology for how she has treated me all of these years. You noticed she was about to call me demi-human right there, right? She does it so often, it isn’t even conscious anymore.”

  Noticing Eleanor has tightened her jaw, Sincir clears his throat. “Now, she did correct herself, and apologies should never be forced. I’m sure she’ll come around, eventually.”

  Ena snorts. “Right, I’m sure she will…”

  Suddenly, Eleanor rises. “The ship has been quiet for a while now. Are we leaving, or not?” she says, voice tense.

  Looking at her, it obvious she cannot stand another second being next to them.

  Sincir sighs. “You know, you’re the one who has made things as miserable for yourself as you possibly could... But fine, we should be able to sneak out now.”

  Prompting Ena to rise, Sincir stretches his arms above his head, then follows their lead, grabbing his backpack as he does so.

  By the time he turns around, the girls are gring at each other.

  He sighs again, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, casting the mind spell which allows him to expand his senses, Sincir inspects the boat, taking note of the sailors’ positions.

  “Okay, we’re good to go,” he tells them, “Follow me.”

  With him knowing their position, and having already confirmed no mages aboard, sneaking out is easy enough, though climbing off the boat is slightly tricky, and requires Sincir to produce some mist to use as cover, then cast a couple of wind spells to extinguish nearby lights.

  Midst the sailors’ armed voices, he quickly leads the girls down the ramp and into the busy port, continuing to produce mist until they’re several streets away from the commotion created by his spells.

  Allowing the mist to clear then, Sincir then instructs the girls to start walking normally, and in a few moments, they find themselves walking through the town’s early nightlife indistinguishably from any other person… If not for their ages, that is.

  At least, this close to the port, travelers are common enough.

  “First, we should…” Sincir gnces over his shoulder, only to realize Eleanor is already walking off in the opposite direction.

  Meeting his gaze, Ena shrugs. “Good riddance,” she murmurs.

  Sincir sighs deeply, then turns to follow the idiot nephilim.

  “W-what? Sincir, if she wants to go so bad-”

  “Stop,” Sincir tells her, “She has gone through a lot, and Father Anders personally asked me to help her… Even if things didn’t turn out how he expected them to. If she wants to leave, then so be it, but I wanted to at least see if she managed to get a room for the night before that.”

  Ena rolls her eyes exasperatedly, but she does follow after him.

  “Excuse me, where might I be able to find the nearest chapel?” Eleanor asks a sailor who she stops along the street.

  The man blinks, looking her up and down, then shakes his head. “Sorry, Miss, but you won’t find any chapels around here… Wrong side of the continent, I’m afraid.”

  Eleanor steps back, as though having been physically hit, her expression palling. “W-what?”

  The man shrugs. “The locals worship some sort of Goddess… Forgot her name, but you can find a shrine down the road… Not sure about a church though. You might have to ask one of the locals, but I figure there should be one in the town proper.”

  Stunned-looking, Eleanor takes a while before answering, which she does without meeting the man’s eyes, “T-thank you…”

  The man nods, then walks off, giving Sincir and Ena a curious gnce as he walks by.

  Approaching a wide-eyed Eleanor, Sincir grabs her by the arm before she can protest, dragging her toward the nearest alley.

  There, he walks until they’re out of view, releases her arm, and begins to search within his backpack, pulling out the bag of coins he stole before leaving Stormbay.

  “This should be able to afford you a couple of days of food and lodging,” Sincir says as he counts the coins, drops two-thirds of them into a different bag, then handles a shocked-looking Eleanor the rest. “Here is a third of the money I stole before leaving Stormbay... I took into account you might be coming when I did it, so some of it was supposed to be yours, anyway.”

  Looking at the bag in her hands, Eleanor blinks.

  “Look, I know things have been rough for you,” he continues, “But you shouldn’t despair yet. And before you say I pnned this; I didn’t know where the ship was headed either… Though I do admit I knew it probably wasn’t going to Estrein. And, in case you still care for my advice, I suggest finding an inn for the night, then looking for work in the morning… You should be able to get a shot as a barmaid, or maid. Once you’ve managed that, gather money for a while, talk with the locals, and find out how you might be able to reach Estrein from here… If that’s what you really want.”

  Since Eleanor is still staring at the bag in her hands, Sincir clears his throat.

  “Eleanor?”

  Slowly, she shifts her gaze in his direction, blue eyes gleaming slightly in the dim light of the alley.

  “You might’ve forgotten this, but the reason I asked you to come with me was because Father Anders asked me to. I know he was like a real father to you… And I wanted to say that I regret not having been able to save him. Had I searched the city for that demon contractor after we both caught wind of them…” Sincir shakes his head. “I’m sorry. Anyway, me and Ena will probably stay in this town for a while, so if you need anything… Take care, and good luck.”

  Having said his piece, Sincir nods at her, grabs Ena’s arm, and walks away, steps hushed.

  “Sincir, w-why are we running?” Ena asks, “And did you really have to give her some of our money?”

  Sincir shakes his head, saying nothing.

  They’ve yet to leave the alley when Eleanor’s first sob reaches them, nearly causing him to stop and turn around…

  But he doesn’t, respecting her choice. Well, he has done as much as he can for her, and now she’ll have to swim on her own… Or sink.

  He only hopes she’s one day able to find something other than revenge to rely on in order to continue on living, unlike Varzath.

  Sincir takes a deep breath. Is it only him, or being a human has made him considerably softer?

  Maybe some of those sermons managed to get to him, after all... Knowing he was able to convert a demon, even slightly, would’ve made the old man’s day, wouldn’t it?

  Sincir chuckles… Then gnces at Ena, once he notices she has been staring at him weirdly.

  “What?” he asks her.

  “I used to think you were a really weird kid… Who’d have thought you’d make for an even weirder demon.”

  Sincir grimaces. “I’ll have you know kindness is a universal virtue, and I refuse to allow the other side to take ownership of it. I don’t care what anybody might think, demon or not, I’ve always lived by my own rules… As a king should. Now come, let’s find a tavern, before they all close down for the night.”

  Ena chuckles. “Whatever you say, Your Highness Sincir…”

  Despite what he told Ena, Sincir figures they’re still a good while from closing time, going by the number of people walking around, and so he doesn’t hush forward, allowing Ena the time to finally appreciate her surroundings, which she does with wide eyes and a million questions Sincir is more than happy to answer.

  “And what about that one?” Ena asks, pointing toward a rge building which has a doorkeeper standing in front of its one door, and a rge group of ughing men constantly coming and going from it.

  “That’s where we go if we ever run completely out of money, and job options,” he tells her, “It’s called a brothel.”

  Immediately blushing, Ena is quick to lower her finger as she gres at him. “Sincir! I’ll let you know I’m not selling my body!”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “So, you know what a brothel is, eh? But I never said anything about you selling your body…”

  As Ena’s jaw falls, Sincir ughs.

  “Rex, I’m joking. I might’ve been a sex demon for most of my life, but I’ve never cked pride… Not that there’s anything wrong with doing what you need in order to survive, especially if you’re not hurting anyone but yourself while doing it… But I think we can manage better than a brothel.”

  Ena gnces at the pce as they walk by it, with obvious fear in her eyes.

  “I heard they force girls to work there, and they can’t leave even if they want to,” she murmurs.

  Sincir shrugs. “I figure some pces might be selling sves, or forcing girls to work against their will… No way to know if that’s the case here unless we go check it by ourselves, but I doubt they’d let a pair of kids walk in.”

  Ena shudders. “I get why you keep saying the universe is a horrible pce.”

  Sincir nods.

  How many pces like this, or worse, are hiding just beneath the surface? How many people suffer every day, without anybody who cares?

  It is a scene far too common, no matter where you go.

  As, one has to accept reality first if they wish to enact change upon it.

  Humans are horrible, demons are even worse, and angels are too far up their own asses to see things properly; Thus being the case, it falls to the individual to set things right, whenever and wherever they can… In his case, he will see that, this time around, his country is built upon an ideal that will make its citizens and any to visit it happy.

  This much is about what he can accomplish, and he’ll do it right this time…

  “…L-let me go!”

  Suddenly recognizing Eleanor’s raised voice, Sincir stops. Gncing over his shoulder, he realizes she has arm grabbed by a visibly drunk man near the brothel they’ve recently walked by…

  …Had she been looking for them, or did she just happen to walk in the same direction?

  No, that doesn’t matter; Looking at Eleanor, Sincir realizes she is clearly not in her right state of mind, with tears streaming down her face, as the man continues to hold her arm in spite of her attempts at freeing herself.

  “C’mon, honey, I’ll pay you the full price-”

  “I’m not a whore, you drunken imbecile!”

  The brothel’s doorman frowns as the scene rapidly grows out of hand, and Sincir has already taken a step toward, when Eleanor herself suddenly moves, kneeling the man, then pulling her arm free as she punches his chin… A proper punch, carrying her entire weight behind it.

  Seeing the man going down, and staying that way, Sincir shakes his head, chuckling; He should’ve known better than to worry about her.

  Eleanor takes a look toward the brothel’s doorman, as though daring him to say something, then strides away, heading directly to him and Ena.

  “Eleanor…” Sincir greets, “ Long time no see. Is there something the matter?”

  Eleanor immediately points a finger toward Ena as she stops in front of them, expression cold enough to freeze a campfire. “First off, half-elf, the only reason you’ve ever amounted to anything is the demon next to you; Second, I had my reasons to do what I did, and I’m not apologizing for shit, so get off your fucking high horse; And third, you really think you won that fight? I let you beat me up so you’d be in more trouble… You think I’ve spent my life searching for revenge, but I don’t know how to throw a punch?”

  “…You’re a real fucking bitch, you know that?” Ena murmurs.

  Eleanor snorts. “Yeah? Do you think I give a shit? As of today, I have one reason to wake up in the morning, and that’s to kill the piece of thrash who destroyed the life I was supposed to have; A life with a loving mother, childhood friends, dresses, and birthday parties… Walking through this town reminded me of that, so much so I could barely think; But now I’m thinking straight again.”

  Ena blinks, then averts her gaze from Eleanor’s incensed one, shrugging. “You can do whatever you want… I’ve never been your enemy. You’re the one who insisted on painting me that way.”

  Eleanor frowns, and her lips shake, but she doesn’t back down, shifting her eyes toward Sincir next, who smiles at her lightly.

  Does she have a speech for him too?

  However, defying his expectations, Eleanor takes a deep breath before continuing, now in a much calmer tone, “Before, I didn’t tell you the whole story. The truth is… The truth is, Vozradith was never the one I had been searching for. She ughed at the death of my townspeople, yes, but she also saved my life… When the demon-worshiping cult handed me to her, she told them she had no interest in human children, and ordered them to release me… So the world would hear of her name. At the time, I hated her for it, but now, having met you, I can’t ignore the possibility she might have simply given some excuse to have me leave that pce in one piece… I couldn’t… I refused to believe that the humans who summoned her were the ones responsible for everything I went through… But I still remember the name of their leader, and the mask he used… It was the same mask of the mage who attacked the orphanage that day, and he said he had come to tie loosened strings. I doubt Vozradith is the one who sent them.”

  So, the mage was a man. Sincir never had the chance to confirm… Not that it matters much.

  Having said her piece, Eleanor takes another deep breath, then clenches her teeth, as she seems to force herself to continue, “I know… I know, considering how I acted, you have good reason to refuse me. And I’m not begging… But if the deal you’ve offered me is still up, I’d like to take it.”

  Sincir nods. “Okay. But if you’re staying, I’d like you to treat Ena better from now on.”

  Eleanor simply stares at him for a moment, then blinks. “That’s… That’s it?”

  Sincir ughs. “What did you expect, some sort of blood contract? I know you remember the terms of our deal; I’ll train you, find Vozradith for you, and in return, you’ll become one of my subjects… And, before you correct me, this cult leader you seek should be the one contracted to Vozrzdith, which means finding her will still lead us to our target… And if not, she should still have some relevant information for us, at the very least. You would like to know if she spared your life on purpose, right?”

  Eleanor shakes her head, blinking rapidly. “R-right. T-thank you.”

  Sincir nods again. “From now on, just call me Sincir; It wouldn’t do to have you shouting demon this and demon that in the middle of every town we walk across.”

  As Eleanor averts her gaze and crosses her arms defensively, Sincir takes a gnce toward Ena, who now stares at the blond nephilim with something Sincir could only describe as pity.

  Now, to find the three of them a room for the night, then a pce to work in the morning, and after that, a way to teach the two of them without attracting too much attention…

  Things will become busy for a while, but he was once a Demon Lord from Hell, commanding entire hordes of demons... How hard could it be to raise two teenage girls, on his own?

  JBDantas

  Additional Info: If you're curious as to why everybody has been speaking the same nguage thus far, that would be because the Cosmos (which includes all Mortal Pnes, but not Elysium) was created by a single entity (aka the Creator, or the Human God) so everybody is basic speaking the "human nguage", angels and demons included.

  I know this is not very realistic, as different cultures would've developed their own nguage over time, but let's say the influence of angels and demons, who have always spoken the original nguage, kept everybody from doing it... Aka, it'd be a pain if the characters had to learn a new nguage every time they went somewhere.

  PS: Creatures who were originally from Elysium still have their own nguage. For example, the Elves, and the Dragons both have their own nguages (though Saendara and her harem were speaking human by virtue of Varzath being there).

  Author Note: Hello! Stopping by to say this chapter marks the end of Arc 2, which means we’ll be back to horny stuff happening from now on… Also, the next Arc has been by far the longest so far, and the story’s taken a slower pace from here on out; We could say we’re finally done we the introduction, in a way.

  Anyway, hope you’ve been enjoying the story, and if that’s the case, please consider supporting the author (that’d be me) by subscribing to his patreon ( https:///user?u=19088195 ) ?

  [colpse]