“So you’ve spent so much effort in looking for powerful familiars. Wow, you really are dedicated!” Reinstead laughed after hearing Hikari, Lux and David’s words. “But losing a magic item that allows you to return, that’s really bad luck!”

“Yeah it is, we intended to look for another item that would help us do so during our travels, but Guang is injured now, so that is going to have to be postponed,” said David.

“If you want, you can leave him here to be treated while you go look for the item in Rurnne. That way you don’t need to waste so much time. I know for sure you wouldn’t be able to find anything like what you’re looking for here.”

“Thanks, we’ll take that into consideration, so please give us some time to think about it,” Lux smiled awkwardly. Somehow, she didn’t think that this Reinstead Uphir was lying about anything. Forcing herself to suppress her hate of demons, Lux pretended that the ones they were dealing with were humans. For some reason, that wasn’t as hard as it seems to her.

“Naturally,” Reinstead replied as he looked out of the window. Dust had already arrived, “It’s getting late. Would you care to stay for dinner?”

“We’ll gratefully accept your offer,” David nodded.

After dinner, David, Hikari and Lux retreated back to the tavern to rest, since Guang had to remain back at Reinstead’s mansion for treatment, David was able to have the room all to himself.

“Is there any changes to where Helly is?” David asked once he ensured that there were no one around.

“No change for now. They are still in the direction of Rurnne, they haven’t moved around for a while, so it’s safe to assume that they’ll stay there temporarily. What are you planning to do?” Lucifer quickly replied.

“What am I planning to do..? Leave town, find Helly and save her of course, what else?”

“Do you think it’ll be that simple?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think it’ll be that simple? Assuming that I’m right and she is in the clutches of Mephistopheles, do you think you’re capable of saving her?”

“I have you as my trump card, isn’t that enough?”

“You are no where near powerful enough to even fight against Mephistopheles. You’ll die.”

“But I should be able to buy enough time for Helly to escape.”

“Escape, and save her. Heh. Don’t you at least want enough time to ask her questions?”

“Am I truly that powerless against Mephistopheles?”

“Aye, he’s not someone you should even think about fighting.”

“Not even with ? You are more powerful than him aren’t you?”

“You’ll die if you even try to host enough power to even defeat Mephistopheles, let alone kill him. You are a normal human after all.”

“Then what about Mordred? He was who you were talking about before right? He was your previous host. Was he able to wield your power freely?”

“That came at a price that you can’t pay.”

“And what was that price?”

“Everything.”

Upon hearing that, David wanted to say something, but then stopped himself. Everything. He was willing to give up everything to save Helly, but then what? Where would that leave him?

“What do you mean by everything?”

“He gave up everything he had to host my power. His body, his soul, everything. That is a price that you can’t afford to pay…”

“I can pay the same price, if your previous host can, I don’t see why I can’t. Hello… Helly… She means everything to me.”

“Let me finish. Don’t you at least want to talk with the girl? Ask to tell you what you want to know, and spend some time with her? If she truly means so much to you, do you really don’t mind leaving her?”

“I…”

“Exactly. You cannot pay the same price the Mordred did. You cannot, and I won’t allow you to. I’ve come to understand you somewhat as a person and despite how much you are willing to give up, you’re going to end up with regret. What’s more is that I may have an idea of why the succubus was taken.”

“Then stop wasting time and tell me!”

“It may have something to do with me. As I’ve said, Mephistopheles has always been obsessed with the power of pureblood demons. In particular, he despises demons taking on hosts and labels that as weak. He isn’t entirely wrong as we are unable to exert our true power a lot of the times, this is especially true for demons of our caliber. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing either since we cannot easily enter into other worlds without consequences. What’s more is that a truly comparable host can bring to surface more of the demon’s power than they can themselves.”

“What does this have to do with Helly?”

“You’re my host.”

“No… You can’t mean.”

“It is entirely possible that Mephistopheles found out about this somehow and is merely using your succubus as a bait. Other than that, I can’t think of any other reasons aside from her being in league with him.”

“…”

“It’s all the more reason that you should be careful. It could all be a bait.”

“Even knowing that, I can’t stand idle now that I know where Helly is.”

“I understand.”

David got up the next day even earlier. To be more precise, he didn’t even sleep properly, stressed the entire night about what he was going to do. In the end, he decided to go directly to Rurnne, now that Guang was being treated here, it was a good way of him to separate from the watchful eyes of the exorcists.

His thoughts were filled with what he would do when he approached Helly, and scenarios that may happen. In one of these situations, Helaine was kidnapped due to accidentally summoning Emmet, in another Helaine had been turned into a succubus while she was younger and she didn’t know how to come out to him. All of these possible scenarios in his head had one thing in common - Helaine didn’t betray him. That was his undying faith in her. He was certain that she would never betray him, no matter what.

“David!”

Hearing the shout in his ear, David was brought back to reality from his thoughts. He turned around to see who it was, and to his surprise he saw Hikari glaring him.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Rurnne,” David didn’t hide his destination, he didn’t have to. Lying for a simple question like this would be pointless.

“Why?”

David turned back around and continued walking without answering her question.

“You’re acting weird.”

“Sure, but so are you,” David retorted. He wasn’t in the mood for simple bickering with the exorcist.

“You’re going to see her aren’t you. Your friend. You managed to find some clues to her whereabouts didn’t you? So let me help.”

David looked at her with his eyes wide open. Was he that easy to read?

“You’re probably thinking if you’re that easy to read right? Right now you are. Worry is written right on your face, all you lack now is a sticker on the forehead saying ‘Worried about missing person.’,” Hikari giggled.

“Hypothetically speaking, if you are correct, then what?”

“Then I’m going with you.”

Once again, David didn’t reply. They’ve known each other for barely a few days, what was she saying?”

“Lux-sama is going to stay with Guang, they’ll catch up once Guang is healed.”

“Why not just stick with Lux and Guang instead of going with me? I’ll just check out Rurnne then return, this isn’t about Helly.”

“Don’t try to hide it, it’s plenty obvious that this is about the girl. You dived into the portal without much thought, and I’m sure that you probably just got a little news that is possibly related to her, that’s why you’r setting off so early. As for how I know? Call it a woman’s intuition.”

“Ahaha a woman’s intuition is a terrifying thing indeed,” Lucifer’s laugh echoed within David’s mind.

“What should I do?” David asked Lucifer.

“It’s your choice, but you won’t outrun her unless you use , and she seems quite certain of your objective,” Lucifer replied calmly. “So you might was well let her tag along for now. It doesn’t really increase your odds against Mephistopheles, but she could act as an extra pair of eyes and that can come in handy.”

“Ugh.”

Seeing Lucifer’s reaction, David smiled wryly towards Hikari, “I can’t get rid of you somehow can I?”

“You can try,” Hikari stuck her tongue out.

She really is a childish exorcist, David thought to himself. Whether it is an act or if she really is like this, he didn’t know. But that doesn’t matter, what matters was Helaine and only Helaine..

“Then let’s go,” David beckoned helplessly. At least he isn’t going to get too bored on the journey…