Afterwards, Mark and Romy went on a trip to some hot spring. They left Glacia in charge of the house for a couple days while they are gone. I don’t mind much, though I’m still a little worried that this is all a ploy by Romy so that she can ambush me in the morning if I let my guard down. It’s fine if she does however. My night terrors are many so I sleep lightly. I constantly dream of my last day with Mephis, the moment when I ran away…and my failure. If Glacia didn’t hug me tight each and every night, I think I may have died from lack of sleep by now.

Funny enough, I think she is the same way as me. Oftentimes, when I wake up, it is not because of my own nightmares, but because Glacia is shaking and murmuring in her sleep. She calls out in terror and I have to hold on to her, try to tether her back to this mortal plane. But unlike me, she rarely wakes up at night. No matter how scared she sounds, or how she cries for help, I cannot reach her in whatever terrible dream world she is trapped in. All I can do is whisper to her that I am here and that it will be okay.

“N-Nu! I won’t…you can’t make me! I know the rules! I’ll never make a deal with you!” Glacia yells into the night and I jerk awake. When I touch her forehead, she’s covered in sweat. She’s ice cold though! Though I know that she will be fine in the morning, I worry for her. Maybe I’ll get a warm towel for her? Hopping out of bed, despite being sleepy, which is more effort than I ever made for any of the girls in my past life, I head for the bathroom. As I walk away, Glacia continues to twitch in bed, “You don’t have anything I want!”

*Tap Tap*

On the way to the bathroom, I absentmindedly scratch my head. To this day, I wonder what exactly it is that my teacher has such terrible nightmares of. Despite looking like a teenage girl, she’s actually a very powerful mage in her own right who should be able to handle all sorts of dangers. Yet, it seems in her dreams, she cannot escape or fight back at all. I wish I could do something for her…but while she can wake me up, I can’t wake her up. As I’m about to turn on the faucet in the bathroom, I hear something strange.

*Glug Glug*

Huh?

What the hell was that?

I look down at the sink, wondering if I’m imagining things or if the sink is leaking. It sounds like water is gurgling, very faintly. However, I haven’t turned on the faucet yet. The sink is bone dry. Additionally…the strange noise sounds like it’s coming from behind me. Slowly, I turn around, staying very quiet, and listen.

There!

*Glug Glug*

Is someone…downstairs…drinking?

Jesus, it’s so loud I can hear it from up here!

Mark, are you that thirsty?

Although I suppose with the way Romy has been acting lately you might die if you don’t hydrate properly…

A little annoyed, because I know that I won’t be able to go back to sleep with someone making so much noise, I stomp downstairs. When I arrive, there are no lights on, only the moonlight, coming in from the window, illuminates the living room and dining table. Raising my index finger, I conjure a small flame in the air-

[Flaming Ember of My Desire, Burst Forth-Burn]

Then I point the flame at the person sitting at the dining table. The first thing I notice is that our pitcher of fresh milk, from the Chill-box, is being held over our visitor’s face. The second thing I notice is the long bright red hair dangling over the milk being greedily gulped up. Hang on…I forgot, Mark and Romy are at the hot springs! Then…

“Who the hell are you?!”

*Gulp Gulp*

The red hair parts as the intruder in front of me lowers the pitcher slightly so they can see me. A milk thief? He completely ignores me and finishes the entire pitcher with amazing speed before acknowledging my existence. Finally, when he is done, the empty pitcher is released onto the dining table with a thud, and I get a good look at our milk thief. A pair of cross-shaped pupils stamped inside purple irises snap up and stare at me. Um…am I dreaming? It’s a skinny man, neither short nor tall, dressed in a well-tailored red-velvet suit, something I have never seen in this world. His suit is a standard two-piece outfit with a blazer and slim khakis. He has a pair of very nice brown leather dress shoes on, and as he regards me, his face curves into an extremely wide smile. There are almost no imperfections in his skin. It practically glows in the light of my spell. However, his grin is very disturbing. It promises all kinds of creepy and unspeakable things. If I had to describe it, it’s like staring into the face of a lecherous goblin with an amazing skincare routine.

“Hehehe, excellent milk. Do you have moaaar?” The man in front of me asks. As he shifts and sits a bit straighter on the chair, something else comes into view. Two short ivory horns curve up out of his hair. Are those…real? “I would like moar please. I am very thirsty. I had to wait so very long for that woman to leave. She was scary.”

I have to be dreaming.

I shouldn’t have gone to those weird websites in my last life.

Wait…did this guy just say he’s been waiting to break in?

“What are you doing in my kitchen?” I ask. Whoever this person is, he doesn’t seem to be armed. However, as Romy has demonstrated, that is no guarantee that he isn’t dangerous. “Please leave…”

“Hehehe…I came all this way for you and you won’t even hear what I have to say? Or offer me a drink? How rude! Well, I did drink all your milk already…so maybe I am in the wrong?” The strange horned business-man in a suit, smiles. His voice is very elegant though his words are oddly child-like, “No…a demon is never wrong. Which means you are wrong. Apologize to me!”

Demon? I thought Glacia said no one dared to call themselves that anymore in this kingdom?

“I’m…the heck-?” I freeze. There is a hand at my throat. Each finger is thick and covered in charred black skin. Horribly long nails tickle me under my chin. Holy…fast! Way too fast! It’s an enemy!

[Frozen Wind of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

With his hand at my throat, I don’t have the time or the ability to speak an incantation out loud. Instead, I settle for a silent Chill. Grabbing his terrifying gnarled wrist, I do my best to freeze this bastard’s arm solid!

*Clink Clink*

I pour in as much mana as I can into a silent Chill without chanting. However, the creature in front of me, in his two-piece suit, doesn’t even seem to notice. The burnt skin I grasp is so rough it’s like sharkskin. Even though the temperature drops to the point where frost rapidly builds up on his wrist, he continues to smile and tickle my throat.

“Oohhh, elvish magic. I haven’t seen this in a very long time. Not since Eili slew that Priestess. Hehe…I knew I sensed something interesting about this place! I am pleased. Will you listen to the request of Demon Scout Gatoa? I would offer you to join my lord’s camp.” The man, who I’m rapidly beginning to realize I’ve horribly underestimated, asks me a strange question. I’m starting to get the weird way he speaks. He wants me to join him? To do what? Who is this guy? He said he was a Demon Scout? Didn’t Glacia say that the demons were banished a long time ago for something?

“Join you? For what?” I ask, trying to buy time. Suddenly, I remember that Glacia is still sleeping upstairs. She could be in danger as well. Who knows what this thing will do if it finds a young girl sleeping alone? I need to keep his attention on me.

“Why for the conflict of course. Why else? My lord has charged me with the task of finding promising young hatchlings before the others do.” Gatoa hisses, stroking the underside of my chin. I realize that even though he is much taller than me, he is touching my neck without bending down. With horror, I see that his left arm is stretching out like spaghetti. It elongates so that the suit sleeve is now way too short, but the Demon Lord shows no discomfort as if this perfectly normal. Even though I’ve been upping the amount of mana in my Chill until even my own hands are freezing, Gatoa is oblivious. “Do you really not know? I thought I smelled the scent of Lissandrei on you, how can you not know? Unless I really am early. Hatchling…will you be mine? Agree to serve my lord and I can offer you many things…”

“What kind of things?”

Keep him talking. This thing is a freak. I can’t hurt him with Chill, and I can’t speak out loud to cast Disguised Casting with his hand on my throat. I just have to stall and hope the situation improves…

“What do you want?” Gatoa seems almost puzzled at the question. “Eternal life? Perhaps riches, that is usually what your kind wants, is it not?”

[Cold Splinter Embedded In My Heart,

That Lance Which Grows At Night

Come Forth-Ice Spear]

“Myrr get down!”

Someone casts magic rapidly, omitting words, a flowing soliloquy that is delivered in a mere second. I turn my head. The demon’s nail at my throat cuts a thin line of blood in my Adam’s Apple. Glacia stands at the foot of the stairs, a wild expression on her face as she channels the most mana, I’ve ever seen her put into a single spell. T-This…is Intermediate Magic?

*Clink*

A huge spear of ice, almost as big as my torso appears in the air. In an instant, it accelerates to terrifying speed and shoots over my head. I duck as fast as I can, though Glacia was careful to shoot it above my short body so it would only hit the demon.

“The Ice Witch’s descendant? I knew I smelled something disgusting!” Gatoa snarls. The deadly ice spear reaches him before I’ve even hit the floor, and for a second, I think Glacia may have done it. However, when he raises his hand, the ice spear crumbles to dust and shatters, pelting me with pieces. “Heh…still just a hatchling. Too weak!”

*Kacha*

The spear breaks and then is gone. Gatoa stands over me, and suddenly I can’t breathe. Stars explode as my head snaps back and then I fall backwards onto the floor. There’s a brown leather dress shoe planted on my chest. He…kicked me? I didn’t see a thing! He’s as fast as Romy! Maybe faster!

“Stop! What are you doing to Myrr!” Glacia yells, still dressed only in her nightclothes, while holding her staff out menacingly. “Let him go!”

“No…I see it now.” The Demon Scout hisses as he looks from me, below his feet, to Glacia at the foot of the stairs. “You’re a descendant of Lissandrei! He must have already joined your camp! In that case…hatchlings who serve the wrong master should be removed before they can grow!”

“NO, DON’T!” She desperately pleads in horror, but demons have no mercy-

“Urrrk!” I grunt as the pressure on my chest increases twofold. Gatoa is literally squeezing the life out of me like a bottle of toothpaste. My vision is starting to grow gray at the edges, and my eyes are under so much pressure I think they’re going to explode. H-Help! I’m going to…pass…out…soon! Glacia observes the situation with trembling hands. I can tell that she used up a lot of mana in that last spell. Maybe too much. And it had zero effect on this monster.

[Flaming Ember of My Desire, Burst Forth-Burn]

[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]

Abruptly, without warning, Glacia casts two spells in rapid succession. Even though her voice trembles, her words do not falter. She omits the words she doesn’t need to quick cast two spells in the time it’d take me to cast one. Then she raises both hands and a flaming tornado explodes forth!

“Myrr! Run!” She cries as she dashes towards the demon. Gatoa lifts his foot slightly, instinctively backing away when the fiery conflagration reaches him. I gasp, choking, as I try to roll out from under him.

*Shuaaa Shuaaaa*

The flames above me are incredibly loud, like a plane turbine roaring in my ear. When I come up to my knees, I whirl back, just in time, to see the flaming tornado in Glacia’s hands die away. She must have jumped over me while I was rolling, because now, she’s in front of him. Though her knees are shaking, she does not hesitate to put herself between me and the demon.

“Huh. So many words. So little power.” Gatoa frowns, the pale white skin on his human face, which contains the only unburned flesh on his body, turns a bit red. However, it’s clear that Glacia’s tornado did nothing to him. His suit isn’t even singed. “I thought you were really going to do something, but it seems I overestimated you. Die then.” He commands and Glacia tumbles backwards. It’s like she was struck by an invisible fist. He punched her so fast I didn’t see it.

“Glacia!” I scream, terrified that she might be dead. Her body flies back into mine and we both go sprawling on the living room floor by the pieces of melting Ice Spear. Crap crap crap! I have to do something! But he’s not taking any damage from magic! What the hell is this thing?! To my relief, Glacia’s eyes are open. There’s still life in her. I try to help pull her up, but my small body is too weak. The best I can do is get her head on my lap. “Please…please get up!”

“Damnit…it’s no good. He’s really a Demon Scout.” Glacia moans and the noise is so wrong. Absolutely something I never wanted to hear from her beautiful lips. Blood drips out of the side of her mouth and she vomits. I turn her head sideways as my teacher begins to choke. This isn’t happening! This cannot be happening! “M-Myrr…run…eurgh!”

“Don’t talk! Don’t say anything! I’ll protect you!” I make a promise I have no way of keeping. With Glacia’s head in my lap, I raise my hands and pray for luck! It’s not like I can run anyways. This thing is so much faster than me it’ll kill me either way. In that case…maybe I’ll go for broke!

I chant my strongest spell.

[Frozen Wind of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]

*Clink Clink Clink*

Gatoa does not even try to dodge. He raises a hand once more, and that’s when three of the fastest ice crystals I’ve ever summoned appear. Disguised Casting, it’s supposed to be my trump card. But in the middle of my incantation, I make a stupid mistake which costs me everything. Perhaps it’s my lack of confidence, but I try to peek into the future to see if I will succeed in hurting Gatoa. The future is too terrible though.

No…is this really all I can do?

In the future, he just stands there and tanks my spell. There will be a bit of blood, a few frozen holes from ice shrapnel in his palm, but my strongest attack will fail to damage him in the slightest. This knowledge is too much for me. My concentration breaks. What actually happens is even worse than then the fate I foresaw. I lose control of the magic. And my spell fizzles.

No! NOT AGAIN!

“Hehehe…that…almost looked like you were trying to do something dangerous, Hatchling.” Gatoa leers at me, his head turning sideways so that he can peer more at me more closely, with one cross-shaped eye. “Still have some hidden cards, eh? All the more reason to finish you off now then!” The suit-wearing demon approaches me leisurely despite his words. Absolutely confident in his superiority. He should be. He has all the cards.

Suddenly, a desperate scream calls out in the night. It pierces the living room with such force that the windows shatter-

*KACHA KACHA KACHA*

I look down to see Glacia wildly chanting like it’s her last chance to say something in this life.

Perhaps it is.

[Cold Wall At The End of The Divide,

You Who Guard Against Failing Light,

Sunder This Dark Night!

Bring Me Refuge From All Plights!

Come Forth-Frozen Seal]

*KACHA KACHA KACHA*

Instantly ice crystals form in the air. Or rather than just form, it would be more accurate to say that they practically explode into existence. So many, that before the demon can even take a step forward, they have already created a barrier between us and him. My teacher has summoned a 360-degree dome of thick ice to protect us. As she finishes the chant, Glacia slumps in my lap, and I feel her body going limp. However, she keeps her neck stiff, and her hand reaches up, scrabbling for my face. It’s like she can’t see me, even though I’m right in front of her.

“M-Myrr! I’m…cold…” She whispers and I want to cry. A shadow forms on the other side of the ice wall she has created. “Listen…I need to tell you something. A-Are you there?”