The previously annoyed servant was shocked to find out that the filthy half-elf which previously couldn't even bother to wake up, suddenly began to strangle him with a manic grin on his face.

What suprised him once again, was that only two seconds later, the half-elf's expression changed drastically once again.

He now seemed calm, composed, extremely tired and had a tinge of happiness hidden within his eyes.

The half-elf loosened his grip on him while slowly standing up. He seemed to be in extreme pain that was clearly visible even to someone he didn't know what was going on at all.

"I apologize for my sudden-" 'Krenas' suddenly threw up a mouthful of blood. Even a few veins tore in his eyes.

He gritted his teeth to force himself to explain the situation as to avoid a possible outside influence disturbing the very weak control he had over the two souls.

"As, as you can see, due to me being sick, I reacted in an.. untimely manner. Do forgive me, yes?"

The servant was absolutely baffled. He had difficulties processing what just happened. First he got strangled out of nowhere, then the half-elf threw up blood all of a sudden and then he spoke in a manner that only a noble would speak in. Sure, the elf spawn always tried to learn some etiquette but he never spoke that way even to his masters.

Much less to a servant like him.

"Ah, can you tell the master to let me stay here for a day or two to rest? As you can see, I am not in the.. best condition" Krenas spoke up again.

Although the devil didn't know who the master or masters were but he could see that the body he was possessing wore a servants uniform, so he simply guessed that he was a servant in a noble house. Although he was a very young devil of only thirthy years of age, he still had completed a few contracts with mortals. Some of which were either nobles or servants of nobles that wanted to simply be more than a simply servant their entire lives. The same went with some slaves that were lucky enough to stumble upon some diabolic rituals. He definitely could recognize this simple situation, and thus act accordingly.

"Ah, uh, yeah. Sure" replied the servant in a confused manner. He then went out of the room with an expression that simply yelled 'What the hell just happened?'.

"I should find out this body's name or else I will have some difficulties. Hopefully I will discover 'my' name sooner rather than later." thought the devil.

For the time being he needed to get some very needed rest. With some rest, he should be able to atleast talk without having to fear coughing up blood. If this happened in front of his new master or masters, this would absolutely disastrous. In the best case scenario, he would be fired. In the worst case scenario, the demon or the mortal would take control of this body. Of course, he needed to find some opportunity to get rid of both souls in the long run, but this is the best he could do for now.

He slowly crawled under the sheet and almost instantly drifted into a very long sleep. He slept through an entire day.

When he woke up, his body still felt as if every single bone was broken and his skin flayed but that was bearable for him. After all, he endured much worse torture in his years of being a devil. Especially in his earlier years, he was often punished for his failures. One cannot became a professional in a day after all. And trying to tempt mortals to sell their own souls wasn't exactly the easiest thing to accomplish.

What did change however was his clarity. After having such a long rest, he gained a much more stable control of the two souls inside him. He still needed to take every choice available to stay in the background however. Staying out of trouble until he found a way to get rid of these troublemakers inside him was the top priority. Any sort of benefit can wait until later. Even if he could gain a mountain of gold, he would pass this opportunity now.

If one has such difficulties even walking, he would rather take a little bit of healing than a great opportunity to gain something else.

When the other servants stood up, he slowly, even if painfully stood up. The other servants looked at him 'indifferently' though he could easily see with his experience with dealing with mortals that they enjoyed seeing him in pain.

He rolled his eyes. Why did all these humans all care so much about race? Mortals are mortals, who cares about whether they are a human, an elf or something different? He unconciously grinned. He always found it utterly amusing how these pathetic mortals bickered against each other. It made the devils jobs so much easier. After all, if someone wants some pointless conflict solved, they can always hire a devil to solve it easily. The price, of course, is their soul.

It made his heart flutter with excitement just thinking about it. This excitement was unfortunately short lived, for the demon woke up and started trouble yet again. He now used up half of his mental strength to keep both souls suppressed.

He followed the other servants, albeit slowly.

The one servant who seemed to lead them all, turned around to look upon the devil, and said "Krenas, tomorrow is the day when you accompany Lord Orson to the magical academy. Be ready, if you don't want to be left behind. Such a slow performance is unacceptable tomorrow"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Ah, so my name is Krenas. Good that I get to know that so early. Though the best part is the academy. I may get a chance to get rid of these pests!" thought the imp.

"Of course. I will do my very best. I will not disappoint Lord Orson" the imp exclaimed full of enthusiasm.

The head maid nodded as she saw the enthusiasm of the half-elf. She ordered the servants to their respective positions. He was asigned to attend to this Lord Orson fellow.

So he went to the room where Lord Orson was located, he knocked on the door. A voice inside the room replied "come in". He opened the door to find a sort of chubby young fellow, about the age of fifteen, if he had to guess.

He looked around the room and found something which made him almost salivate. A tiny soul gem which contain a soul. It was the soul of a small animal. Normally he couldn't care less about it, but what was so good about it was that it could be used to heal a small amount of his soul.

He turned his attention to the young human to not to let him know that this was his object of burning desire. He somehow needed to steal it away. Now, as a devil, breaking the law wasn't something he was very happy about but for the sake of healing his soul, it was completely irrelevant.

"I need to lower the attention of this human. I'll try to please him the best I can" the imp thought.

"My Lord, how can I serve you today?" the imp asked.

"Bring me breakfast, then pack my things for tomorrow" Orson said.

"Of course, the food will be here in a minute" the imp said while bowing lightly, then walking out of the room.

He then walked a bit faster than before even though his entire body hurt like hell, he needed to do that. The better the performance, the more pleased the fool will be. And the more pleased the idiot, the more chances the imp has to steal the soul gem.

He arrived at the kitchen and asked "Lord Orson aks for his breakfast, is the food already prepared?"

An assistant of the chef cook pointed on a steaming plate of potatos and excellently prepared stripes of meat.

Beside the plate was a bowl of a tasty looking salad.

When he took the plate and bowl into his hands to carry, the weight of the two dishes felt like a mountain was sitting on his hands. He gritted his teeth so strongly that some blood flowed out. The pain was nearly unbearable but he couldn't let his hands limp now. If he does so, then he can say goodbye to any chance of healing and say goodbye to his perhaps only chance of getting rid of the demon and the mortal.

So he perservered through the enormous pain that he needed to bear while being extra careful of not letting go of the food for Lord Orson.

He finally arrived at the open door of his master, at this moment the imp thanked the archdevils for their mercy that he didn't need to somehow open the door while bearing this hellish pain.

He went up to the Lord and placed his breakfast on the table in his room. When the moment finally came when he let go of the plate, he felt as if he received a promotion in hell, so good was this feeling of finally having bearable pain.

He then asked "Lord Orson, should I go out of this room or stay here to fulfill whatever your immediate needs are?"

The young human looked at the elf spawn while yawning. "Wait before the door, I will call you when I am ready, so that you can pack my things" Orson said.

"Understood" said the devil.

He went out of the room and waited for a good twenty minutes. It most certainly wasn't a good experience. Standing still while it feels as if every bone in your body is broken is not exactly the most comfortable experience.

The young master finally called out to him, to come into his room. The young master then exited the room to the suprise of the imp. He waited until Lord Orson was completely out of his sight, and then hurried with to the soul gem.

He learned how to absorb souls after a punishing treatment, that his superiors lead. In their cruelty, they almost always tortured not only the body of the imp but also the soul. So, afterwards, he would be allowed to absorb remnants of mostly animal souls. Some remnants of monster souls were also given to him.

For in most soul gems, not the actual soul is in there but something that is more akin to memories or desires of it.

The actual soul was used for different things. That was how it was explained to him atleast. He was still very young, so he didn't actually understand that much what the exact difference was between the two.

He hurriedly grabbed the gem with a hungry expression and absorbed the contents inside it.

His entire being was soothed by it. It was as if a cold yet soothing stream of water passed into him. The pain was still there but a bit less. Yet what suprised and to a certain extent terrified the imp was that the demon and the mortal also gained some of the soul of the animal. Their injuries also healed a tiny bit. Less than what the imp's soul got but it was still not good. This meant that every time he heals himself, that he also heals his enemies. That was troublesome, incredibly so in fact.

This of course didn't mean that he would stop trying to find more soul gems. Living in constant pain wasn't something he was very keen on. Also, the soul gem broke into small pieces when he absorbed the soul. He swept the small pieces under the carpet, and then searched for more. He only found four more of them. Although that in itself was a substantial amount for a simple boy in a noble family. Maybe he liked how the remnants of soul flicked inside the soul gems? It was a pretty glow, so he could understand that, he himself found it very soothing too.

He absorbed every single of the four soul gems. Now his legs were completely fine. He could walk without feeling pain there. With the last gem, he also healed his hands, so that he could carry something atleast somewhat fine.

Now, only his torso, his skull and lastly, the arms were in pain but it was much better now. Once again, he swept the shards under the carpet.

Only now he started to pack the things of the young mortal. First on the order were his clothes. He folded them carefully while enjoying his partially fine state of soul. Then he rummaged around and found soap and some paper.

He then wrapped up the soap in this paper to keep it safe when they travel to the academy. He did the same with the toothpaste and the toothbrush. Well, and everything else which is needed to live somewhere. Like a comb for example. He carefully stuffed everything inside a large bag.

Now that he was finished packing the things of the young master, he walked out.

He then walked to his own room, to pack his own things.