Sylvia opened her eyes to see she was in a temple again. Standing, she noticed a surprised priest standing nearby. “Hello.”

“Um, greetings…” He said. The priest was a demon man with four eyes.

“I am Sylvia. Sorry for the trouble, but where am I right now?”

“Y-You are in the town of Jaxaloga.” He answered.

She used her Detection to find the direction of Michael once more. He was still to the west.

“Um, you just appeared here. Are you an agent of the gods?” The priest asked.

“No, but I am on a mission from them. I swear by Io. I need assistance in getting to Galgalake. Can you help?” She asked as the haze of light rolled over her.

“Y-Yes! We can help you!” He answered.

“When is the next airship heading out?” She asked.

He stopped and looked away. “I’m sorry. We just got a report that sky pirates are too active right now, and all airships are grounded until the issue is dealt with.”

Sylvia covered her face in frustration. “How long?”

“They didn’t give a time but estimate a month.”

She groaned. If she got her divinity back, she would smite every pirate ship in the sky! “How long by road?”

“Uh, it depends. A convoy might take two months, but an individual vehicle might cut the time in half.” He answered.

Sylvia sighed. “Is there a mercenary guild here?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. We are a remote town. The city is not far, though. Two days out. I think a group of mercenaries that came here for a job might be heading back today. If you hurry, you might catch them.”

Nodding, Sylvia headed out of the temple, hoping to catch them before they left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos and Listamati arrived in Forteria after a few days. They had a few delays to help out a couple of mercenary groups in trouble and noble heading to the city.

“Thank you for your assistance, Lord Delormond.” The noble thanked him.

“It was no problem.” Caeldaemos chuckled.

“Here is the letter I promised, along with the payment of 10,000 Tress.” The noble held up his bank card.

Caeldaemos accepted the payment and letter, and the pair moved further into the city.

“So, where to?” He asked.

“We need to get you out of that armor,” Listamati said.

“Really?” He snorted.

“Gutter! Out!” She chastised him.

“Fine. I’m assuming you mean to meet the designer?” He asked.

Listamati nodded. “Correct. I just hope my sister didn’t get to her too….”

The couple wandered through the city until they came to a shop. Listamati stared at the sign.

“Is something wrong?” He asked.

“The name is not right.” She answered, entering the shop.

“Welcome.” A man said with a pleasant smile.

“Hello. I remember a designer by the name of Jaalorda was here. Did something happen to her?” Listamati asked.

“Ah, the previous owner! She married and left the business to care for her child.” He answered, looking a bit disappointed that he might not make a sale.

Listamati looked about. “You make fine clothing. Do you have anything that would fit my husband here?”

The man looked Caeldaemos over. “Yes. Are you winged?” He asked.

“I am,” Caeldaemos answered.

“Excellent! I have just the thing! Though, I may need to check for pants….” The man headed to the back.

“Why are we shopping? I thought your friend would help.” Caeldaemos asked.

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“She could, but we don’t know where she is. If we make a decent purchase here, I am sure he will point us in the right direction.” Listamati answered.

The top the designer brought out was about the right size, only needing the neck adjusted. It took a couple of tries on the pants to find a good pair. The man brought out a few more shirts and pants for Caeldaemos, and they made their purchase.

“Thank you for your business.” The man said with a pleasant smile.

“Thank you for your assistance. I do wish I could have found my old friend, though…” Listamati hinted while feigning sadness.

The merchant caught on quickly. “I see. I do not know what she may be up to lately, but last I heard, she likes to frequent a shop called Rosary.”

“I see. Thank you.” Listamati smiled, and they left the shop.

After asking around a bit, they found the shop the designer had mentioned. It looked to be a restaurant gauged for families with children.

They entered the shop, and the host welcomed them. “How may we assist you?”

“I was looking for my friend. Her name is Jaalorda. Could you let her know her friend, Lissy, is here?”

“Ah, a moment, please. I will see if she is here.” The host headed back into the restaurant.

“Are you sure this is safe? What if she is under the control of your sister?” He asked.

“Then I will need you to break the effects. You should be able to notice if she is entranced or not.” Listamati stated.

“Fair point.”

It took a few minutes before the host came back. “Please, follow me.”

The couple followed further back into the restaurant to the private rooms.

“She must have married into nobility,” Listamati commented through mana.

“Because of the private rooms?” Caeldaemos asked.

“Yes. These types of rooms are not expensive, but they are not cheap either.” She replied.

The host opened the door, and they entered the room.

A demon woman sat at the table along with a well-behaved little girl. “Lissy?” The woman asked.

Once the host closed the door, Listamati undid her appearance change. “Hello, Jaal.”

“It is you!” The woman stood and approached, but Listamati stopped her.

“Cael?”

He checked her status and saw that she was entranced by Aqualaria. “Break or destroy?” He asked.

“Break. We don’t want to tip her off so soon.” She stated.

“What?” Jaalorda became cautious.

Caeldaemos established a soundproof domain in the room so she couldn’t cry for help and appeared before the woman.

“Ah! Help!” She cried as he grabbed her head.

“Mother!” The little girl cried and ran to try and help, but Listamati gently held her.

“He is trying to help your mother. Please, just wait a moment.” She tried to explain.

“The daughter, Kuuldafa, is clear. Sorry about this, madam. Break Curse.” Caeldaemos used his ability.

“AHHHHH!” Jaalorda screamed, and her body convulsed as the curse was broken and driven from her body.

“W-W-What is that!? What did you do to Mother!?” Kuuldafa screamed.

Caeldaemos gently helped her down into a seat and cast Panacea on her.

Jaalorda quickly came to her senses. “What… Ngh… Happened?”

“Jaal.” Listamati let go of the girl so she could check on her mother.

“Lissy? What… Oh gods…” The woman’s eyes widened. “I… I wanted to kill you… Why? Why did I want to kill you!?” Her mind raced with immense confusion.

“Cael, could you use Bringer of Light?” She asked.

“Sure.” He held out his hand. “Madam, I might be able to help you straighten out your thoughts. Please, give me a chance.”

Jaalordo was hesitant at first but accepted.

Using Lord of Darkness with Bringer of Light, he could see what had happened.

Around the time that Listamati was sixteen, Aqualaria had entranced Jaalorda. Aqualaria used Lista’s closest friend as a spy to reveal her sister’s hidden secrets and doubts. She then used them to manipulate and guide Listamati to her destruction.

The light died down, and Listamati opened her eyes while Kuuldafa tried blinking the spots in her sight.

“I… I see.” Jaalorda had a look of realization and calm. She stood and hugged Listamati. “It is not enough in just words, but I am sorry, Lissy.”

Listamati teared up and hugged her friend back. “I’m glad you are back, Jaal.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours had gone by, and the couple had returned to Jaalorda’s estate. They had found that her husband, a serpent demon with the lower body of a snake, was also entranced. Caeldaemos cleared him of the control, and they had gone over what had happened to Listamati, her father, what her sister had done, and how they had pledged themselves to each other.

Jaalorda looked at Caeldaemos coldly. “Three wives and multiple lovers… I don’t know if he is good enough for you, Lissy.”

Listamati giggled. “I assure you. He is quite the gentleman.”

Caeldaemos quickly had to clear his mind of lewd thoughts as that somewhat became a codeword for all of his wives to tell him their intentions.

“Now that I have you two all caught up on me, I need to know what Aqualaria is up to,” Listamati said.

The husband, Viscount Polawarta, sighed. “I should be able to tell you. I still cannot believe I was used like a pawn….”

The viscount explained that Aqualaria had steadily worked her way up the noble food chain. She was now the most influential noble, just short of the empress, but she had even begun to show support for the sister.

“She had so many high-ranking nobles twisted around her fingers that she is untouchable.” The viscount stated.

“Then it is as I feared. She is targeting the royal family. Aqualaria wants to be empress.” Listamati concluded.

“But shouldn’t they have protections against that?” Caeldaemos asked.

“Such protections work well for the immediate. But with regular exposure to the ability, it will gradually take effect.” The viscount explained. “She had spent quite a bit of time with the empress as her lady-in-waiting.”

“How much time?” Listamati asked.

“Two years.” He answered. “The stronger the ability, the faster it would work.”

Listamati sighed. “This is becoming troublesome.”

“Why don’t I do something?” Caeldaemos asked.

“Too risky. I know you could resist her, but if you didn’t get close to the royal family, you would be unable to do anything.” Listamati stated.

“No, you misunderstood, Lista. Why don’t I do something?” He tried again with a smirk.

“What?” She took a moment. “Oh! Wait. But! Hmm…” She was conflicted.

He chuckled and rested a hand on her shoulder. “How about we have a private call with Lia and Rana to work out the idea?”

She sighed while smiling. “What did I do to get such a husband?”

“Stalking, acting crazy, obsession…” He started listing off, but Listamati screamed over him, covering his mouth.

“Stalking?” Jaalorda asked.

“N-Nothing!” Listamati exclaimed.

Feeling more mischievous, Caeldaemos parted his lips and licked her palms.

“CAEL!” Listamati screamed, and he jumped away into a shadow while laughing.

She trembled in anger and embarrassment.

“Lissy.”

Listamati tensed for a moment before slowly turning to her friend.

“You have a good husband.” Jaalorda smiled happily.

She felt her face get hot. “Yes… I do…”

Listamati headed off to find where her husband went so she could join the call and give him a good smack!