Red looked over at Aurelia, who was still examining the imp with furrowed brows.

“You have seen an imp before?” he asked.

The woman nodded. “One of the oldest races of the Infernal Realm. Demonic cultivators loved to have them as servants.”

Red stared at the minor demon. “Why is that?”

The imp seemed confused. “W-What do you mean, my lord?”

“They are very intelligent and cunning, with great learning skills and capable of innately casting minor spells.” Aurelia said. “Not only that, but they are also easy to summon and control in great numbers, so they were the perfect choice for demonic cultivators to help with the menial tasks in their organizations.”

The youth examined the imp up and down. “Does that count for someone who was transformed into an imp?”

“M-My lord…?”

The woman shrugged. “I have heard about people being transformed into all sorts of demons before, but never into imps. Those were always summoned from the Infernal Realm.”

Red frowned. “You mean he isn’t a real imp?”

“How would I know? He sure does look the part, at least.”

The imp looked at him with a confused expression. To him, it was as if Red was speaking to himself, but Emer didn’t dare to interrupt him either way.

“Can you use any abilities?” Red asked.

“A-Abilities?” The imp seemed puzzled. “What does my lord mean?”

“You are an imp now. Imps have innate abilities that they can instinctually use. Are you not capable of that?”

“I-I don’t know, my lord…”

Red looked over at Aurelia, but the woman shrugged.

“Don’t ask me. I’m not a demonic cultivator.”

“Do you at least know what he can do?” he asked.

“I heard imps are good at manipulating flames. They can also go invisible.”

The youth nodded. He took a candle from the table and lit it up with a spark of Spiritual Energy from his finger. Lighting a fire was a trivial task now that he opened his Spiritual Sea.

“Here.” He handed the candle to the imp. “Focus on the flame and try to manipulate it.”

Emer hesitated. “M-My lord, I’m not sure I can…”

“Just try it.” Red cut him off.

The imp seemed reluctant, but still nodded. He grabbed the candelabra and stared at the lit candle, focusing on the flame with furrowed brows.

It took almost ten seconds, but something eventually happened. The fire flickered and grew substantially in size, blowing a small gout of fire upward. The imp screamed in shock, dropping the candle to the ground as the flames hit his face.

He touched his nose and cheeks as if expecting to feel to feel pain, but his hurried breathing eventually died down. There was not the slightest sign of burning in his face.

“I-It doesn’t hurt?” The imp looked at Red in confusion.

“Imps are also very resistant to fire.” Aurelia said. “A nice perk to have when you live in the Infernal Realm, I suppose.”

Red looked at Emer. “Flames can’t hurt you now.”

“Hey, I said he was resistant, not that he can’t be burn-”

“Really?” The imp’s excited voice cut her off. “T-That’s amazing!”

“It is.” Red nodded. “There’s another thing you should be able to do, too.”

“W-What is it, my lord?”

“You should be able to go invisible.”

This power, in particular, was something that interested Red. It wasn’t like he could carry an imp around with him, and he didn’t feel confident the demon could hide from anyone that came snooping around this house. If Emer could go invisible, however, that would solve a lot of issues with his existence.

The imp, however, didn’t seem confident. “How should I do that, my lord?”

Red frowned. “Try to close your eyes.”

“A-Alright.” The imp did as much.

It didn’t seem to work, however. Red then suggested other ideas.

“Try to focus on your skin.”

“R-Right.”

“Try to empty your mind.”

“O-Okay.”

“Try to blend into your surroundings.”

“H-How should I do that?”

After almost half an hour of trial and error, they finally found some success.

The imp’s skin suddenly started to become translucent, before his whole body disappeared out of thin air.

“I-I did it, my lord!”

Indeed, Red couldn’t see the slightest hint of his figure. It seemed his invisibility was even strong enough not to distort the air, which was a weakness of many other types of invisibility skills. Of course, the youth could still detect him with his crimson sense, and he assumed other cultivators with good perceptions could also do the same.

“So in the end, all you had to do was focus on your horns?” Red asked.

“I-It seems so, my lord.” The imp nodded, his figure reappearing. “It felt the same with fire.”

‘So the horns are the catalyst for his magic?’

The youth found the concept interesting, but it was also a clear weakness. If the imp’s horns broke, didn’t that mean they would be crippled?

‘Well, it isn’t like they are fighters, anyway.’

“How long can you stay invisible for?”

“I-I don’t know, my lord.” Emer shook his head. “It doesn’t feel very draining, but…”

‘It doesn’t mean it doesn’t drain you.’

Red nodded. “You can keep yourself visible while you are in the house. If you hear anyone come in, however, you are to go invisible and hide. Is that clear?”

The youth had to go outside to put his plans into action, and there was nothing stopping those cultists or anyone else from breaking into the house and investigating. Red obviously intend on putting some alarm and defensive formations to avoid such break-ins, but for now there was little he could do.

“I understand, my lord.” The imp nodded.

“Good.” Red was satisfied. “You will be in charge of handling the maid and other house businesses while I’m not around. As for these bodies…”

He looked down at the old man’s corpse and trailed off. There was no way he could live the house while this matter wasn’t handled.

An idea came to him, however.

“How strong do you think you can make your flames?”

…

A few hours later, they had shoved both of the brothers’ corpses into the fireplace.

“U-Uh, my lord… Is this really necessary?” The imp asked with hesitation.

“Of course it is.” Red nodded. “We can’t let them find these corpses.”

Who knew what kind of crimes they could pin on the youth if they found evidence of these corpses while he was outside?

Emer still seemed reluctant. “B-But I don’t even know if I can burn them…”

“It’s fine.” Red shook his head. “Just do your best.”

If the flames weren’t strong enough to burn the bodies down, then there was still a back-up plan. It would involve a lot of butchering and blood, however.

“R-Right.” The imp looked at the bodies in the fireplace.

They had to be shoved there fairly tightly to both fit, and some of their limbs were twisted at unnatural angles. Red could imagine such a scene wasn’t easy for the merchant to digest, much more so when the corpses belonged to himself and his brother.

The youth, however, wasn’t good at consoling others, and neither did he want to.

“Go ahead.” He nodded at the maid, who was waiting by the side.

The old maid threw firewood on top of the corpses before covering them with lantern oil. Then, she struck a firesteel, and the fireplace immediately lit up with a strong flame.

This fire wasn’t enough to burn down a corpse, though, as Red himself knew from experience.

The youth looked at the imp. “Focus on strengthening the fire.”

The demon nodded, the last bit of reluctance disappearing under Red’s gaze. He stared at the fire and extended his hand, his face displaying unwavering focus.

The result was almost immediate. The flames strengthened and Red felt a wave of heat hit him, who was waiting a few meters away. Immediately, the corpses started to char as their skin and bloody clothing melted away.

This was just the beginning, though, and Red knew the flames needed to be maintained at such a temperature if they hoped for a thorough job. Barely ten minutes later, though, and the imp was already sweating from the effort.

“Focus, Emer.” Red said. “You can’t fail this.”

The imp shivered, and he redoubled his efforts to control the flames.

Red oversaw the process, ordering the maid to throw more firewood and oil once the fire started to die down.

Incinerating a body wasn’t a short endeavor. It took hours at least even with strong flames, and the youth didn’t want to burn down the house with an inferno. So he pushed Emer as far as the imp seemed capable of going.

Two hours later, the demon seemed to be on the edge of collapse, with his eyes clouded over and his pointed arm trembling. Yet, he didn’t dare to disobey Red’s order.

By now, not much more than bones remained from the corpses, but that was always the hardest part to burn away. This was not to mention that Cassemir’s body seemed to last far longer under the flames than Emer, a sign of a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator’s superior physique.

Red knew the imp wouldn’t be able to last much longer, so he helped the process along with a firepoker, grinding the bones down into smaller pieces until they couldn’t be distinguished from charcoal. Finally, he was satisfied with the result, as no clear signs of a corpse remained within the fireplace.

He looked over at the imp. “You can rest.”

Emer immediately collapse on the spot at his words, taking deep breaths as his entire body trembled from the effort. He was completely drained of energy.

Red didn’t pay attention to his figure, however. “Make sure to dispose of the charcoal and the other remains as soon as you can.”

He didn’t want even a small piece of their corpses to remain within this house.

“I-I will… I will dispose of it with the trash, m-my lord.” The imp said between his heavy breathing.

Red nodded and walked back up the stairs without sparing another glance at the imp.

His destination this time wasn’t the office, though, but Cassemir’s bedroom. He didn’t have the time to spare since the meeting to search for the man’s stash, but now there was nothing stopping him.

The room was about as fancy as the rest of the house, with a large-bed full of intricate covers and colorful pillows and a mahogany wardrobe and nightstand. It seemed rather small compared to his office, however, so nothing stood out to Red from the get go.

‘If it’s not here, then I don’t know where it will be.’

Technically, Cassemir could hide his treasures anywhere within the house, but would he keep his belongings too far from his eyes? It seemed unlikely, and since he didn’t find it in his office, then the next most likely place was his bedroom.

So, Red got to work. Without ceremony, he started to throw clothes out of the wardrobe and dismantle the furniture, all while being careful to not trigger some kind of trap. His search didn’t last long, and he eventually found something out of place.

‘It’s here.’

There was a false bottom at the back of the wardrobe, something one would miss if they weren’t doing a careful inspection. Red slowly propped this wooden cover up, while looking through the small gap in search of a trap.

Sure enough, he saw it. A thread, almost imperceptible to the untrained eye, connecting the lid around the cover to the surface beneath it, ready to snap at the slightest pull. It was a simple mechanism to activate a talisman, something Red was familiar with, and his master, Goulth, taught him how to disarm it.

Of course, this was all before Red broke through. Now, he didn’t need to go through the trouble.

He blew out of his mouth, and a small current of crimson air flew out. It slipped underneath the cover, carefully avoiding the rigged thread. Then, the youth made the bloody wind scrap the surface of the false cover from inside as fast as he could.

A glow came from the lid, however, it dimmed just a second later. Rigged talisman would activate with the slightest contact or pull, but none of that mattered if the paper was completely cut apart before the spell could come into effect.

Red breathed the bloody wind back into his lungs and opened the lid. Sure enough, beneath it, there were the remains of a shredded talisman, with not even the slightest complete symbol remaining. One needed to be thorough with that, or else just a slight cut wouldn’t turn the talisman obsolete.

Inside the cover, the youth saw a small box. It didn’t have a lock, but Red still inspected it in search of any traps. Only after a while did he feel the container was safe and dared to open it.

Sure enough, inside it, all of Cassemir’s riches were contained. The only problem was…

‘This is it?’

Red frowned. Five Spirit Stones, two protection talismans, and an ornate dagger that emitted no Spiritual Energy.

Was this supposed to be the stash of a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator?