The beady eyed man from the adventurer's guild stepped out from the shadow and watched the two leave the bookstore.

He turned around and walked down a street stained with urine and vomit, but stepped on something suspiciously soft.

"It reeks!"

He lifted his boot and scraped the sole on the ground. He continued and came to the front of a two-story building with the mark of a dancing woman.

Jingle...

"Hello mister~ We're not open for business until evening, hehehe."

A heavily powdered woman opened the door and smiled smugly at him with bright scarlet lips.

"Tell Gina it's Pascal."

"Oh I recognise that name, come on in~"

... ...

"The green-haired man, you mean Rei, is a compounder? No wonder he didn't care about star badges...a nobleman like him could easily get Eri any number of badges she wants!"

"You know him, Gina?"

"Oh Pascal, Devin and I met them in the demon forest. That Rei guy is completely smitten with Eri. They're even calling each other husband and wife."

"...Eri's staying with him, willingly?"

"Hah, why not. He's handsome, rich, and a compounder. Any girl would run off with a man like that to leave this rundown place."

"...Eri isn't that type of person."

"Yeah, yeah, and why are you still so into that bitch? I thought you'd given up after that time failed to make her your woman."

"Oh no...I played the nice guy. But if she can't be mine, then no one can have her."

The thick lips of Pascal tilted upwards, and he fiddled with a metal chain he liked to carry around. Gina felt a crawl up her spine. This guy is so damn creepy. Ahahahaha! But this is good. This is great for Eri, isn't it?

... ...

Eri was making new compounds in the mean time. Her control over the water element was much smoother than before. And under Rei's suggestion, she could see spots of coloured lights for different elements in the medicinal plants. Compounding has never been so fun and easy!~

Rei watched Eri for a while and started to read about spirit power.

It is said that spirit power relates to seeing a reality that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Could it be similar to seeing those balls of elemental lights? He thought he was using mental power?

The book also said that once the practitioner can fully 'see' what cannot be seen, they can manipulate the spirits of others. Whether it'd be trust, fear, respect, this power can make others surrender emotionally. However, some people may only stop there. Stronger spirits users can even kill cleanly and silently by cutting off other people's spirits.

Rei's eye's glimmered with interest. He would like to try this~

... ...

When evening arrived, the both of them took off for the restaurant Gwendoline chose.

The setting sun dyed the streets with a red-orange light. The light felt redder than usual.

Rei felt a malicious stare, and slowly turned back. His eyes collided with a man's beady eyes. A haze of madness lurked in his gaze.

Someone who wishes harm on him?

He saw that the man's gaze moved to Eri and moved back to him provocatively.

Oh, he's targeting Eri?

Rei gathered power in his eyes and looked at the man again. He saw something akin to a heat wave from the man's body. The haze of rage, madness and possessiveness was stronger than before.

Is that his spirit? It's like a flame...

Rei held his hand up and imagined his hand growing larger and larger in the air. Unlike using magic, he didn't use power from the mind. This power felt as though it was a part of him—like an extended reality. It was as if whatever he imagined could be realised. A similar flame-like existence extended from his body all the way to the beady-eyed man.

"Strangle."

Rei whispered.

The man's eyes bulged for a moment, and he struggled with disbelief. In the blink of an eye, his breath was cut off. His body slumped on the ground, but no one stopped to care.

Rei retrieved his hand and followed after Eri.