Sora’s POV

“But master….the worst thing he does is….and not because so many residents have lost their child but many children of the stars have also f..” The Abbe continued.

“STOP!” those are the only words that left my mouth.

I didn’t want to hear anymore.

No….I couldn’t hear anymore.

I am completely stumped….

I know Enma, I have known him forever….and I know Enma doesn’t have a single violent bone in his body….to kill an adventurer is tantamount to murder…

I refuse to believe the Abbe, the Enma he speaks off and the Enma I know are two different Enmas. However no matter however much I deny what the Abbe has told me, fear grips me. Will Enma welcome me warmly or kill me? Will he be willing to return? Or turn me away?

But master….the worst thing he does is….and not because so many residents have lost their child but many children of the stars have also f…

These lines are repeating in my head like a broken record player. This is really murder…how could Enma commit murder? What could have changed him so much that he ….he dropped to this..

Enma….if what the Abbe says is true….I’ll mend your ways….I swear up on my honour as your teacher…

[That is interesting to hear…]

“Abbe? Did you say something?” I thought, the Abbe projected his thoughts into my mind.

“Sora-sama, we must escape from here. Sora-sama?”

That’s not him.

[It really isn’t.]

This voice is much younger and colder...

[Who is this?] I thought the question in my mind.

[It is unfortunate you have forgotten me so quickly. Speak of me to your Guardian and you both die…]

[It’s you…Kuroshitsuji….I think your name should be Sebastian…at least that is what I remember…]

[It is most interesting. How did you know my name? Have we met before?]

[You sure talk a lot Kuroshitsuji] I wonder where is he. Can he read all my thoughts?

[Yes. I can read all your thoughts…the number you are thinking is 32….oh … That is interesting, did you think of that technique to block my mind reading right away?]

Sebastian seems to be enjoying this conversation….no more like where he reads everything I am thinking of.

[I read of this mind read blocking technique in a fantasy novel….I just tried to apply it and it seems it worked.]

[You are the most interesting creature, I have met in a long time….what do I call you?]

[Monster-san?] I suggested.

[Then you could call me Devil-san?] The black butler had no sense of humour.

[Are you here for the Abbe or me?]

[I was originally came to check the situation, it is my duty to know everything that may concern my master….I had no idea I would find you here, I did warn you to stay away from here…please don’t bother trying to escape, they have you completed surrounded.]

“Abbe….we are surrounded…” I think it is best to let the Abbe know the situation.

I don’t know why the Abbe is rolling his eyes at me when I told him something important. He should be thanking me; I bet even he didn’t know we have been surrounded.

I must say, given the positions occupied by these soldiers they are very well trained…

[Yes, they are. I have had the opportunity to personally train some of them.]

[You know it is really impolite to read my each and every thought.]

[*Snicker* I apologize, I thought you were blocking your mind.]

[I am not perfect at it yet….give me half a day and I’ll block you out of my mind completely]

[Only half a day? You are indeed so interesting, Sora. Is that how your Guardians’ address you? Would you like to make a gamble?]

[…]

[I give you half a day, if you can block me out completely, I let you live but if you fail I will be mopping the floor with your blood.]

[You will let me and my Guardian live if I win?] I really need take double clarifications when dealing with the devil.

[Absolutely.]

I find it difficult to trust him.

[Tick. Tock. Sora….you are running out of time.]

“I think I may have made a mistake. I completely forgot about our situation.” Damn, that monster. Talking to him, I completely lost track of the situation at hand. I need to deal with this situation quickly and calmly. “This world ….no the Empire …. Or maybe just Feladonia is very similar to my own home town.”

[Are you ignoring me? I really advise you not to try to escape. It will result in needless pain and most likely death.]

“Groceries and take away?” This city too similar to a modern real city.

[I don’t mind if you ignore me. I can have fun with you later.]

I noticed the the store owner was sobbing. Poor man, I got him needlessly involved.

“Please don’t hurt me.” He cried.

“Abbe, why are they not attacking the store? Why have the surrounded us?” If only listen to the Devil, I won’t make much progress.

[The hostage.]

[I really didn’t ask you that question.]

“Master, isn’t it because we have a hostage?”

“We do?” I think I should try to lighten the mood here.

“Master, please don’t joke.”

I stepped into the back of the store to check for any exit I could find, normally modern stores like this have a back route as well.

[You can try blocking me from reading your thoughts, but I can still see what you are doing. There is no exit from the back….you truly are unfortunate to have picked the sole store with one entrance. Either store on your left or right had a double exit.]

[I am going to ignore you, if you don’t have anything useful to say.] I think I am being quite gutsy here with my declaration to the devil. “I don’t see any hostages…”

“Master the store owner!” The Abbe exclaimed.

“Him?” Damn, the store owner wet his pants. This is hilarious.

[You are most interesting. Young adventurer even in this situation you find something funny.]

“Well Mr. Store owner you are free to go but….haven’t you forgotten something?” I think it might be a good idea to have my last meal before they catch me.

“…Wh…What?”

“You didn’t serve us anything, didn’t you say that we must order something?”

[Are you mocking me?]

“I’ll have one your finest dishes. I want to eat a local delicacy.”

[Yes…maybe and maybe not.]

“Master, we should think of a way to escape!” The Abbe hurried replied. “Why are you ordering a meal! This is no time to be eating!”

Aiya! The Abbe is panicking. I wonder if he thinks I have gone mad.

[I wonder the same too.]

[Seriously! Could you stop doing that! Is there anything like privacy around you? I have a freaking hostage here with me!]

[I don’t mind. If you want I can kill him for you. Then what will you do?]

[Nooo!! Please just my last supper!]

[*hahaha* You are an interesting one]

I am glad he has some sense of humor and patience.

“Abbe…I think there is a mistake here.”

Damn, that owner is being literally being held at gun point and he is still being stingy with his fillings!

“Oye! Owner-san put more meat into it! Go all out!”

“Y…yess…”

“Sorry Abbe, I was completely distracted. As I was saying, I think there was a mistake in the whole wording of your sentence.”

[I love the wicked hearts of adventurers….are you going to ditch him to save your own hide?]

“It should be ‘I’ need to escape not we. They are after you not me.” Having two people speak at the same time is really confusing.

[Could you please shut up!]

“You seem to be thinking I want to take part in your adventures, however that is not the case. You made this mess, you need to take care of it yourself.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

[Yes, this is his fault but you will never get out of this alive if you think you can get away from my grip.]

“Sora-sama…are you abandoning me?” The Abbe asked in disbelief.

“You forget Abbe, I made it very clear, if our cover is blown we must save our own arses. We will save people later.”

[See, I am not ditching him, I gave clear instructions beforehand.] Why am I bothering to defend myself to a devil?

[You are defending yourself to me? because your heart feels guilty?]

What is this delicious aroma? Is that the local delicacy of Feladonia?

The store owner put a bowl of ‘local delicacy’ in front of me and handed chop sticks.

Tsk! Can’t use chop sticks!

Oh well! Bon appetit!

I grabbed the fried pieces of meat and began gulping them in the most human looking way. I didn’t want to frighten the store owner any more.

“Master…”

*Sigh* Because of the devil, I have completely ignored the Abbe. I couldn’t even act out any emotions, I must have come across as cold hearted. Wait is he going for my meal!???

“You can’t have any.” I better pull my bowl away from him. You never know.

“Master, why are you behaving like this? This is not you master…”

Why am I behaving like this? Well, you stupid old man! We have a devil on our tail, unless you can beat the crap out of him, please don’t ask me why am I so interested in my last supper! Imagine if this might be the last meal you ever get to eat! Wouldn’t you want to eat it??

[Haha! You are hilarious! I would have loved to have you as a master!]

[I doubt it]

Damn, those soldiers are settling down. Are they serious about the hostage and demand thing?

[Absolutely, it is the law here. So what are your demands?]

[Don’t have any…]

[How about I make you a new offer…]

[Why are you talking to me? Why not just kill me right away? I am sure you can kill me right away. Or even maim me…]

[Because that would be no fun! I find you interesting, so entertain me….]

I seem to be enjoying the situation. This is more and more like the real world and eating such good meat after ages has made me super happy. After living on rat meat for four months, normal stale meat from a rundown store tastes like heaven.

[What’s the new offer….why don’t you tell me what the Abbe knows…]

[Is that all you are interested in?] I wonder what the Devil is after?

[Aren’t you curious as well?] I admit, I am curious.

[What do I get in return?] I wonder if I am negotiating too much with a devil?

[What do you have in mind?]

[How do I access the options menu?]

The devil went quite there for a while.

After a short pause he resumed. [Say your name followed by ROAR Menu]

I quickly try what the devil suggested. I spoke “Sora-Chan ROAR Menu” in my mind and a box flashed in front of me. It worked! I can finally access my menu!

[Remember our deal!]

I am tempted to see my stats, however, I need to escape now. “Abbe, I think I know how we can escape…”

The Abbe looked at Sora with hope and colour returning to his despair ridden face.

“But for my plan to succeed I need to know everything about your past. Who were your previous masters, how did they die and what were you doing in the Imperial Army as a spy.”

The Abbe fell back into his seat. “Was this what you were waiting for?” The Abbe asked angrily. “You purposefully drove me into a corner? So that I would be forced to tell?”

[*Haha!* You are breaking the old man!]

[You wanted to see this, right?]

[Yessss!]

I look at the Abbe dispassionately and said, “Yes.”

Sorry for the act Abbe but the devil wants to see a show. I might be cruel hearted by this is really not me….

Ah, I can see the Abbe loose his color and strength, he must have noticed something is wrong here.

[Please progress with the story quickly! They have decided to barge in soon!]

[Oye! Didn’t you want to see a good story? Now just shut-up and watch. If someone interferes you will lose out.]

“We are running out of time, if they have been trained by my apprentice, they should have begun looking for the schematics of this building and would be breaking in soon.” I am pretending here to be awesome in front of the Abbe.

“The first master I had…was a human, he died a year into our world. He was killed because of my own incompetence…” The Abbe spoke slowly and full of emotion. It seemed that talking about his past was difficult for him. Tears began rolling down as the Abbe recollected the painful memories.

*Ouch* This is really painful for me to hear.

[HAHAHAAHAHA!! He lost his FIRST Master!!! HAHAHA!]

I think I have had enough of this.

[What are you doing?]

[I did tell you to shut up.] I don’t know where am I getting the courage to talk back to the devil like this.

“I don’t have time for this….what is the Alliance after? What does Enma have that the Alliance needs to beat him?” I really shouldn’t have bothered entertaining the devil. However, now that we are on the topic might as well listen to what he has to say.

“A Goddess.” The Abbe replied while trying to regain his composure. “A Goddess which will heal him again and again no matter how fatal the wound maybe, never let him age, never letting him die….as long as he has her by his side, he will forever remain the Immortal God…”

*Holy smack*

[Devil-san? Is that your blood thirst that you are oozing out? Devil-san?]

Right after, the Abbe mentioned the Goddess, this Kuroshitsuji is going crazy. I think this is quite a big secret.

“Sora-sama?” The Abbe looks at me. I wonder if he thinks I am sick, since I have been dazing out so often while conversing with the devil.

“Can you not feel that?” I wonder if the Abbe cannot feel the blood thirst.

*F*ck* This is really the black butler! If there had been any hope of us escaping it has sealed. The Devil-san is mad at us! More like mad at the Abbe, but I am doomed as well! I need to turn this into my favour…

*Options menu* I wonder if there is anything I can use to buy us time so that we may escape….just anything to… “Spore release”??? I wonder if this is what I think this is….

"I will surrender..." The Abbe said in resignation, realizing the situation was quite terrible.

"Surrender..." That’s it! This just might work….along with spore release…“Abbe, listen to my instructions well now.”

The Abbe looked up at me.

“Take the opportunity to escape in the confusion and when all this is over, you must train Maylon and Gustav to become stronger than you ever were. Once their training is complete you three, must separate your path and come out and look for me.”

I grabbed the store owner who was barely standing upright.

“Master where are you going?” The Abbe asked in distress.

“Look for anyone who surpasses the natural order that is when you know you have found me.”

I wonder if this much of a clue is enough?

[What are you doing?]

[I see you have returned to your senses.]

[I apologize for my conduct]

[I accept your first offer….no even better, as long as you don’t interfere I will give you even a better show to entertain you…just leave my Guardian alone…]

“Sora-sama!”

*Dammnit* I don’t have time for emotional good-byes! “Obey my commands!”

I wonder if he heard me….

[I accept your offer, please put up a worthwhile show….]

[I promise you I will, Devil-san. I promise you the grandest show Feladonia has ever seen.]