I won’t lie, I am a greedy man. My past actions would be looked upon with disgust by a lesser soul. Meanwhile, I merely look at what I’ve achieved. Man can be both greedy and complacent. Take a humble farmer for example: He has convinced himself that he only needs the simplest of comestibles. He’ll take a loaf of bread and some bland vegetable soup while never asking for the variety seen on a noble’s platter. Then, when winter comes earlier than expected and his personal stores run low, this man will still want for his bread and soup. While the village is slowly starving, he would choose to horde or steal in order to satisfy himself. The bread he eats at different times of the year have drastically different values and yet he still considers himself a humble man.

That was not a story of a man who is ignorant of his own sins. It was simply an example of the sin of living. The costs may grow or shrink over time but they will still be paid. Whether you are a greedy man or a humble man, you have no choice. It is the nature of living beings to desire life, even at a cost.

“…And then I knocked him flat!”

“So, how are things going with Meryl?”

“Jeez, does my boss think I can be perfect all the time?”

“Ey, Keeper! Grab me some better swill than this!”

I couldn’t help but smile as I stepped into the tavern. There’s a rowdy crowd today. When the louder patrons are yelling, there will be others who feel safe speaking quietly.

I should be able to get a decent amount of information from this place. The thought made me grin until I broke into another coughing fit. When I recovered, my face had settled back into its natural frown.

Practically anything can set my throat off these days. I reflected with no small amount of frustration. It won’t be long before the treatment that Vesta developed becomes ineffective.

“Did you hear? The king will be visiting Wren soon.” I overheard a man with a large mustache speak from the table behind me. Both he and his partner wore clothes that were a step above the rags that covered the other patrons. Each man kept a longsword by his side.

Knights tend to have more information than an average man. I slowly moved my chair closer to the pair. Finding two perfect targets immediately was a stroke of luck that I didn’t intend to waste.

“Really, the king?”

“Yea, everyone in the castle is in a panic to prepare.”

“Ha, well it’s no surprise that he’d visit lord Malcolm.” The second knight folded his arms and beamed with pride. “We’re sitting on the hottest trade route in the entire continent. Wren makes so much money for the kingdom that they may as well move the capital here.”

“You’re right, but…” The mustached knight lowered his gaze.

“But nothing. If you’re going to talk about those rumors again then you can drink by yourself.”

“They’re not just rumors!”

“Yes they are. Do you seriously believe that demons are swarming around that ghost town?”

“People have been disappearing recently…”

“People are always disappearing. The city’s growing so rapidly that we can’t keep track of everyone.”

“This is different. Ask ten people and at least one will tell you about someone who vanished within the last week.”

“That’s horse shit.” The knight turned away from his friend.

As if on cue, an elderly woman burst into the tavern. She looked around frantically and then ran up to the tavern keeper. Everyone’s conversations slowly died out as they turned to watch this newcomer argue with the keeper.

“You really haven’t seen Joseph? He didn’t stop in, even for a moment?” The woman asked. She leaned in and planted her hands on top of the counter.

“Never heard of him, he must not come around here.” The keeper shook his head.

The woman continued to stare at him but he clearly had nothing left to say. After a few uneventful seconds, she turned towards the tables and made a plea to us patrons. “What about you people!? Have you seen my Joseph?” When no one reacted to the name she began listing his features until the keeper finally had enough.

“Look, ma’am.” He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. She promptly swatted it away. “If he’s not here then maybe you should search somewhere else.”

“…Fine.” She stormed out. The instant the door slammed shut, the tavern returned to its usual volume.

Things are just falling into my lap tonight. I reflected while paying my tab. I rushed out into the street and found that woman questioning passersby.

“Excuse me, miss.” I approached her with a careful smile.

“Oh?” She whipped around to face me. This woman was probably happy just to have someone else initiate a conversation. “You’re from the tavern. You don’t need to be polite and say miss. I know I’m old.”

“If you’re old then I’m ancient.” I chuckled, forgetting that it would only aggravate my throat. My repulsive coughing made her step back. “…Anyways, I don’t want to give you false hope so I’ll say this up front: I haven’t seen Joseph. I do, however, sympathize with your troubles. If possible, I wish to help you find him.”

“You want to help me…?” She raised an eyebrow. Whether she doubted my sincerity or my ability to help was anyone’s guess. Either way, she wasn’t in a position to refuse me. “T-Thank you! I’m glad that someone else is willing to help me.”

From there we walked as we talked. This woman, Janette, told me everything I wanted to hear about Joseph and then some. Of course, it is my job to gather and process information and so I didn’t have any problem discerning what was relevant and what was not.

To summarize, Joseph is this woman’s son. He works in the city’s bell tower and rings it three times a day. However, recently Joseph has been shirking his responsibilities. This past week he’s been caught visiting local taverns instead of working. He suddenly started drinking at home as well, terrifying his mother and wife. Now, whenever the bell tower doesn’t ring, Janette runs to his favorite pub and drags him back to work. Today is the first time she hasn’t been able to find him quickly.

Outwardly I showed concern but inwardly I was jumping for joy. Her son’s situation was perfect, too perfect. I knew exactly what I had to do.

“Ma’am, I have heard your story and made my opinion but I hope you won’t take offense. Joseph’s sudden condition probably stems from fear. He’s shirking his responsibilities in favor of liquor? No, Joseph is afraid of the bell tower and runs away each day to drown his fear at the taverns.”

“Afraid? What could he possibly be afraid of?”

“The answer is in the bell tower.” I forced a shrug. “I can’t say for sure, but I think we’ll learn more about his whereabouts from there.”

“Hmm…I did go straight to the pubs today. Maybe he’s still in the tower, even as we speak.” Janette nodded. “Let’s go.”

We got about five feet before Janette suddenly stopped.

“Oh wait, I almost forgot about those two…” She rubbed her temples. “I truly am getting old. There were two other people helping me search. They’re a nice couple who offered to help me out of the blue, just like you did. We split up to check several different places in this district but we should be meeting up soon.”

We then took a sizable detour to reach their meeting spot. I would have rather left them behind, since we won’t find Joseph in one of the nearby taverns. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to make that decision and so we patiently waited for the couple to appear.

“I’m sorry, Janette, we couldn’t find any trace of him in those shops.” I turned around so see the rumored couple. The woman rushed up to Janette. “Did you have any luck?”

“I’m afraid not.” Janette smiled weakly. “Thank you for working so hard for a stranger’s sake. I’m going to search the bell tower with this man here. You two shouldn’t waste any more of your time on my problems.”

“Don’t worry about us.” Now that he’d caught up, the man reassured her. “We’re interested in the people disappearing from this town so it’s not a waste. If you’d like, we’ll accompany you to the bell tower as well.”

“Bless you two.” Janette was beaming.

“You said you’re going with this man?” The woman turned her attention to me. “Hello, I’m Eris. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand and I shook it.

I was wary. Normally two people dropping everything to help a random old lady would be suspicious enough. Although, maybe that form of kindness is just common sense for some people. What truly made me worry was the fact that they were ‘interested’ in the recent disappearances.

“Likewise, I’m Elver.” The instant I finished my introduction, Eris shuddered. I couldn’t be sure if she recognized me or not but she clearly reacted to my name. Now I was even more worried.

Eris looked to be in her late teens. She wore modest travelling clothes that seemed to waste her natural beauty. Similarly, her long black hair was marred by a clear lack of attention and her skin was just as bad. At the very least, I was sure that I had never seen her before.

“The name’s Hal.” The man quickly stood between us, sensing that something was off. I nodded and that was the end of our introductions.

None of us spoke as we walked towards the bell tower except, of course, for Janette. She was oblivious to the tense mood and spoke in a feverish tone about her darling Joseph. By the time we reached the tower, I was fully prepared to never hear the name Joseph again.

“So, Janette…” I prepared a compelling reason to leave the extra baggage behind but it seemed that Eris was one step ahead of me.

“-Janette, please leave this to us.” Eris put a hand on her shoulder. “Running around like this must be stressful for you. There’ll be a lot of stairs here and it’s probably dark as well…”

Janette frowned and looked ready to rebuke Eris. Then she stopped and glanced up at the bell tower. “Yes, I think I’ll wait here.”

I followed her gaze and squinted. It was bright out but darkness seemed to be spilling out of the tower from within. I blinked and the tower's stony exterior returned to normal.

Eris also tried to convince me to wait with Janette but if anything it should have been the other way around. The three of us entered the building and my suspicions were immediately confirmed.

“Is…Is there something rotting in here?” Hal fanned at the air near his face but it was no use. This tower was already soaked in that rotten smell.

“I’m scared…” A new voice spoke. The two of them looked around frantically but it seemed to come from every direction.

“It’s echoing down from the top of the tower.” I whispered. They nodded and we began to ascend as quietly as possible.

“They’re always telling me to come back here…Why can’t they see it?” The voice’s tone gradually grew from depressed to frantic. “How can you tell me to stay here? They’re watching me all day. All night too. It’s horrifying! I can’t live like this!”

A ghastly wail froze us in place. Or more accurately, the other two froze and I decided that it wouldn’t look good for me to continue on.

“No, I have my duty. I can’t disappoint everyone like this.” They sounded calmer after that outburst. “This time I’ll stay here until I ring the final bell of the day. Then I’ll drink without regrets. Hehe…HAHAHA!!!”

The meek and panicked voice suddenly became deep and threatening. Its venomous laugh resounded through the tower until it smothered us.

"So that’s how he felt, huh? That’s why he decided to stay tonight? It’s too bad…I liked seeing him scamper out of here every day like a terrified rabbit.”

We reached the top of the tower. A large wooden floor lay before us. The sun was shining directly above us and so the entire room was cast in shadow. Standing before the giant bell was a large dark figure. His skin was a sickly green and it was peppered with bumps and boils. Both of his arms were grotesquely large and out of proportion with the rest of his body. He wore the mangled clothes of a priest and once he turned around I could see a dreadful orange glow in his eyes.

What an ugly demon. I wanted to slap his creator for making something so shoddy.

“I’m glad to see some new faces.” It attempted a smile but it came out as a strained squint. “With the old bell man gone I thought it would get lonely. Do-”

To my bewilderment, Eris began a chant. She stepped forward fearlessly and motioned towards the ground. Dark shapes slithered across the floor and wound themselves around the demon.

“You’re a-!” He was cut off again as his body seized up. The demon struggled in vain as Eris approached him.

When Eris reached the demon, she placed a hand on his chest and began an entirely different chant. This one was completely foreign to me. The demon groaned as its body began to expand. Then, without warning, it exploded into a mess of gore.

Both Hal and I had been silent observers up to this point. Hal let out a womanly yelp when he realized that he was in the splash zone. Meanwhile, I ignored my blood-stained clothes and stepped forward to ask Eris about that unidentified spell.

“…Another failure.” I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard her mutter that. Looking at her again, she didn’t seem to be affected by this mess. Eris looked frustrated, neither disgusted nor terrified, she was simply frustrated with her spell’s performance.

I could swear that I was looking at myself from over seventy years ago. Everything really was going my way today.

A thin cloak of steam began to cover the room as the demon’s blood started to evaporate. Unless you specially treat a demon’s corpse it will fully evaporate within a day. That’s one of the many reasons why demons haven’t become common knowledge. I’ve never been happy about that strange property of theirs but I’ve also never been covered in so much of their blood. By the time we return to Janette even Eris will be spotless.

“That was quite a show.” I finally found my chance to speak.

“…Um, yea…” Eris had decided to ignore me in the heat of the moment but now she was caught without an excuse.

“Don’t worry, I’m a sorcerer too.” I laughed. “I figured you knew as much when you heard my name. Or maybe you figured there was still a chance that I was just a helpful old man?”

“That’s…” Eris sighed. “Exactly right.”

“Where did you hear about me?” There were any number of ways my name could have reached her. The real question was how much did she know?

“I’ve been chasing rumors about anything occult related for over a year now. Your name came up a few times…If I remember correctly, you specialize in demonic sorcery.”

“You’re correct.” I gave a short nod. She was being annoyingly vague, likely on purpose. “But what are you trying to learn from those rumors?”

“How to turn demons back into humans.” She replied candidly. I waited for her to follow it up with a joke or a laugh but none came.

“Huh…” In my long life there have only been a handful of situations that left me at a loss for words but I could now add another to that list.

After finding such a talented girl, I would be a fool to let her go. In a way she reminded me of Vesta. Both of them had such strange goals for sorcery. Of course, this girl also reminded me of myself in many ways. These kinds of meetings don’t happen often in life, I’m sure of that.

I recovered from my bewilderment and managed to convince Eris that I was also here to exterminate the demon. When I told her that I could assist with her research she immediately warmed up to me. It was just like how I won over my current pupil except with knowledge instead of gold. Hal still seemed suspicious but he clearly wasn’t the leader of the duo so I ignored him.

We descended the stairs and returned to Janette. We had decided to lie and so we told her that we didn’t find any trace of Joseph. It would be very difficult to explain anything more. In the end, Joseph will just be another missing person that will never be found.

The four of us said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. In my case, that meant looping straight back around to the bell tower. Eris certainly had talent but she was clearly a young sorceress. Any sorcerer with some experience would realize that there was more than one demon in that tower.

I dragged myself up the bell tower’s steps one more time. Now that there was no tension, I found myself stopping frequently to cough. This dark and dusty tower was perfect for demons. It provides a place for them to hide from the sun and it is in the center of a heavily populated area. The closer their nest is to their prey, the further they can venture out at night.

“Well, well, well...and here I thought you weren’t going to greet us.” A new voice echoed out as I reached the top of the tower.

I looked up at the ceiling to see many glowing eyes staring back at me. The demons began to drop down one by one. Some I recognized, some I didn’t. A few of them were even failures of mine. There were demons of every shape and size, over a dozen in total.

“Great to see you again, Elver.” The most troublesome one spoke first. The rest stood back and I assumed that he was speaking for the entire group.

“Yes, it has been quite a while…Ham.”

The lead demon stiffened. His body was at a middling height in this group but he was only slightly taller than normal humans. His skin was dark black which would certainly make him stand out in this city. However, the feature that disqualified him from blending into society was the fiery red veins covering his body. They glowed even brighter than his red eyes in the darkness. When he gets mad they can actually catch fire.

“My name is Hades.” He scoffed. “I’m not so far gone that I would forget my own name.”

At the very least you’ve forgotten your nickname. I bit back that comment. “I’m glad that the rest of you chose to stay hidden earlier.”

“Yes, Gad was the only one who refused to do so.” Hades covered his face with his hand. “I think he got a bit loopy after eating the bell ringer. Although, he also wasn’t very smart to begin with…”

“Nevertheless, it’s impressive that none of you appeared after his…passing.”

“We’re all here for the same reason but that doesn’t make us close.” Hades shook his head. “Plus, we’re not stupid enough to attack your guests. Especially in daylight.”

“That was the right call.” If one of them had killed that ball of potential, then death would be the least of their worries. “Now, why are all of you here.”

“To prepare.” Hades answered and some of the other demons began to mutter similar answers. “We heard about the grim festival in the next town over but it’s abandoned. From what I’ve heard, there’s a bunch of us gathering in adjacent cities and towns. We’ll gather power by eating our fill in these populated areas before the festival starts.”

“How will it start?” My ears perked up. This was one piece of information that had eluded me ever since I began my investigation.

“Hmm…I don’t know. Maybe there will be some kind of signal. Rumors like this don’t just spring from nowhere after all.”

Well, that doesn’t tell me anything new. I silently lamented. I was already well aware of this rumor. So much so that I’d already sent my pupil to investigate the town in question. Until he gets back it seems that I won’t learn anything more about this rumored festival. Although there is one thing I can conclude: The festival will definitely happen soon. With all these demons gathering it is hard to imagine any other outcome.

“Hey…I have a proposal for all of you.” I grinned. Seeing all these demons in one place gave me an idea. I said a short chant and balls of light began to float out of my hands like soap bubbles. Every demon’s eyes were glued to the orbs and most of them were salivating. “If you do what I say, I’ll reward you generously.”