Aisling pushed a shelf back into place and injected a bit of qi into the wood. It healed, sealing over the crack. A small stick grew from the wooden shelf, and a tiny leaf budded from the tip.

“What was that?” Oz asked. A wood-healing technique? At the rate things are going for my poor library, I could use it.

Aisling startled, jolted out of her thoughts. She stared at Oz for a second, then shook her head to clear it before she spoke. “Wood-elemental qi.”

“Oh, right. One of the five elements. Wood, water, metal, air, and fire,” Oz said, nodding. I read that.

“Gold, not metal,” Aisling corrected him flatly.

Oz grinned. “Same difference.”

She turned away, picking up the books instead.

Something’s wrong. Oz leaned in. “Are you okay?”

“There’s a demon in the library, and you’re siding with it,” Aisling whispered, her lips lifting in disgust.

“Hey, hey. Linnea’s a person. The same as you or me.”

Aisling glared at him. Teeth bared, she bit, “She is not the same.”

Oz put his hands up. “Sorry…? Aisling, what’s wrong? Why do you hate demons so much?”

“They killed my parents.”

Oh. Well. Shit. Oz rubbed the back of his head. “She’s not the demon that killed your parents, though, is she?”

Aisling’s jaw worked. Her face contorted for a few moments before she managed, “All demons are bloodthirsty monsters. She’s just faking it. Before long, you’ll see.”

Oz shrugged. “She doesn’t seem harmful at all.” Or any more dangerous than anyone else in this town.

“Neither did he. Until he killed them.”

“Oh.”

She whipped around. “You noticed, didn’t you? She didn’t say she’d never eaten anyone. She practically admitted she uses demonic techniques. Why are you siding with her?”

“She hasn’t hurt any of us.”

“She filled your whole library with bugs!” Aisling pointed out.

Oz spread his hands. “And we’re all unharmed. Aisling, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with fearing demons, but Linnea isn’t—”

“That’s exactly what my parents said.”

Sighing, Oz rubbed his forehead. Nothing I say is getting through. And fair enough, she lost her parents to demons. That’s pretty hard to get over. I think the call here is to back off.

He put his hands up. “Okay, okay. Let’s table this for now. We’re getting nowhere.”

“It’s happening again,” Aisling whispered to herself. She looked at him, a tiny spark of panic in her eyes. “You won’t leave, will you?”

“I can’t. And neither can Linnea,” Oz reminded her.

Aisling turned away. She shook her head.

“Look, I don’t know what happened to you, and I don’t know what happened to your parents, but right now, Linnea’s trapped. Everyone out there is going to know she’s a demon before long, and she’ll be just as stuck in here as I am. If you can’t believe in her, at least believe in her instinct of self-preservation. If she kills me, the library goes up in flames. That’s suicide on multiple levels. You might hate demons, but do you believe that they’ll kill themselves for no reason?”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head again.

“Right. So, you know, if you never want to visit again, at least don’t worry about me,” Oz said. Beaming, he thumped his chest confidently.

“I’m not going to abandon you!” Aisling snapped, suddenly fierce.

Ah. Was I being too harsh? Oz laughed a little. “No. You wouldn’t. You’re a good person, Aisling.”

She glanced at her feet and shook her head.

“And a powerful warrior. I mean, you already fought Linnea to a standstill. You don’t have to worry about someone that weak, do you?”

“Who are you calling weak?” Linnea called from across the room.

Not the time. Oz managed something like a grin through his grimace.

“I still think you should get her out of the library, right now. But if you refuse, then… then I’ll stay, too. I’ll keep you safe, Oz,” Aisling pledged, looking him abruptly in the eyes. Hers burned with determination, a determination Oz couldn’t match.

Inadequate, he glanced away. “That is, uh, thank you, Aisling.”

“If you need anything, just say the word,” she pledged.

“Oh! Now that you mention it, actually, I need herbs. At least one copy each of these herbs…” He paused, kneeling to snatch a sheet out of the leaves of a nearby book and scribble down a list of names. Since I’m going to make a lot of antidotes in the near future, I’ve been reading nothing but pill books in the back of my head. The upside is that pill cultivation seems to be primarily rote memorization, at least at the beginning, so it’s an ideal set of techniques for me to pick up. I can essentially digitize books in my brain and quickly read them, so for me, pill cultivation is an endless open-book test! As long as I read every herb manual in existence, I can near-instantly pull up all the information the books store about them.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Of course, that first hurdle of ‘reading every herb manual in existence’ is no joke…

“…and if there’s any other cheap detoxifying herbs easily available, any of those would be good, too.” Oz paused, then, looking at his list. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gold Professor Keane had given him. Watching Aisling’s face, he handed the pouch over. “Will this be enough to cover it?” There’s no way that’s cheap, and I can’t keep depending on Sachairi’s goodwill. Even if he’s willing to pay my part, I don’t want to be deeply indebted to anyone. Sachairi might be on my side for now, but he’s clearly playing his own game. I’m fine with benefiting from his interest in me, but I’m not fine with becoming so indebted as to become his pawn.

Aisling weighed the pouch, then checked inside. She laughed awkwardly. “Oz, that could buy the entire herbal market’s worth of first-realm herbs.”

“Really?” Oz asked, startled. One teaching session, and I can already buy out the market?

She nodded. “First-realm herbs are barely more than mortal herbs. In fact, plenty of ordinary people buy and use them in ordinary poultices. They can’t draw out the herbs’ true power, but many of the herbs have healing power even in their unaltered form, and at first realm, they lack the strong spirit power that would ordinarily threaten a mortal’s life.”

“Huh,” Oz said, interested. It makes sense, but… A moment later, he paused. “Threaten a mortal’s life…?” Hold on. I’m still mortal! Mostly.

Aisling smiled and shook her head. “Only second-level herbs and above have accumulated enough qi to be dangerous. And only if they aren’t processed correctly. Plenty of mortal herbalists handle second- or third-level herbs and safely administer them to mortals.”

Oz raised his brows. He looked at Aisling. “Really?”

“The herbs lose most of their properties and potency along the way, but yes,” she confirmed, nodding.

Unfortunate that they lose potency, but… that’s interesting. It sounds like I can potentially handle herbs above my level. If that’s the case, then I might have a powerful weapon in hand. I’ll have to investigate!

Decisively, Oz snapped his fingers. “You said I could buy the entire market’s worth? Great. Let’s do that. And buy some second-realm herbs with what’s left over. I get the feeling I’ll be needing them soon enough.”

I’m actually pretty close to breaking through to the true first realm, from my pseudo-magehood right now. Four more meridians, and I can be considered a mage. Given that a few days ago, I was a pitiful mortal, I’m making great progress!

“But—I’ll be leaving you unguarded,” Aisling protested.

“Unguarded? Don’t be ridiculous. I can expel anyone from my library in a heartbeat. If Linnea attacks, I’ll eject her!” Oz said, giving her a thumbs-up.

“Yeah. I’d be stupid to attack him,” Linnea agreed, peeking from behind the closest aisle.

Aisling tensed. She glanced at Linnea, then grabbed Oz’s hands. “Promise you’ll eject her at the slightest sign of danger. Even if it seems extreme. Please.”

“I promise. I’m not interested in death, thanks. Once was enough.”

“Huh?” Aisling squinted at him.

Oz waved his hand. “Nothing. Hey, the sooner you set off, the sooner you get back, right?”

Aisling checked the list again, then nodded. With one final glare at Linnea, she set off.

The door shut behind her. Linnea chuckled. “Typical human.”

Giving her a disapproving look, Oz shook his head. “You heard her story, right? She—”

“I watched hundreds of my siblings die at the hands of humans. Am I holding a grudge against you?” she asked.

Oz opened his mouth, then shut it. “No.”

Linnea shook her head. “You humans are always like this. Blame every single demon for the actions of one demon, while simultaneously massacring so many more of us in the name of justice than we ever killed of your kind.

“Did you know? The demons that breed slower than humans have basically retreated to the Fey Lands. Only demons that breed as quickly as you rats dare still live in our ancestral lands. Even then, humans smash their way through, kill our children, and claim our home as their own, then massacre all of us if we dare fight back. After all that, you call us demons and kill us on sight. It’s enough to drive anyone mad.”

“That’s…” Oz pressed his lips together, not sure what to say.

“Like I said, I’m not holding a grudge. It’s simply the way of the world. Ah, and… I appreciate you taking me in. Really, truly. But, you know. It’s hard to sit here and smile while Aisling spouts the same bullshit I hear from everyone, day in, day out…”

Oz nodded. “Yeah. I get it.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “Do you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can’t.” He pressed his lips together and looked at the floor.

Linnea snorted. She nudged him. “What are you doing, feeling bad about it? You’ve done nothing to hurt demons. Like I said. It’s the way of the world.”

“But even so, it’s—”

“We eat people.”

Oz froze. He looked at Linnea.

She shrugged. “Demons eat people. We’re predators, but we’ve lost our advantage over our prey, now that humans have gained intelligence, civilization, and magic. When a predator loses its advantage over its prey, what happens?”

“They starve to death,” Oz murmured.

Linnea nodded. “Right. See? It’s the way of the world. We’re simply taking a long time to die out. Clinging to life with our teeth and claws, desperately terrorizing the few mortals who still fear us.”

“But you can think, talk. Can’t we talk it out?” Oz asked.

She squinted at him. “Are you stupid? Does the lion bargain with the gazelle? Does the sheep query the wolf? No matter which side you’re on, the answer is obvious.”

“Maybe for you,” Oz whispered.

Linnea shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I mean--ugh. Humans and demons used to live in a sort of harmony, back in the North. A long, long time ago. But then humans grew stronger, and, well, did they see the point of negotiating with the demons, who occasionally treated them as food? And the powerful demons, the ones who didn't need to run away, do you think they bothered to negotiate with the humans who suddenly wanted to exterminate all demons?"

Oz nodded. "No, I think I get it." Basically, both sides took a hard-line stance. If no one is willing to be flexible, the situation will only get worse.

He put a hand on his chin. I don’t think this is a good situation. If things continue like this, it will devolve into all-out war. No… it might have already done that, what with the powerful demons forcing everyone out of the Northern Wastes. How long until that powerful army sweeps through the rest of the continent? Linnea is relatively weak, and she’s still far more capable than me. Not to mention Fenrir, who’s apparently from a demonic species that’s born with third-level cultivation. A demon army strong enough to force not only Linnea, but Lif and Lif’s entire sect out of the Northern Wastes…

Oz stood there for a moment, thinking, then shook his head. There’s nothing I can do about that. Certainly not as weak as I am now. But sitting around moping isn’t productive, either. Aisling will be back sooner or later, and if Linnea’s still in this mood, we’ll end up right back where we started. I need to distract her and cheer her up.

He glanced at Linnea. “Hey, Linnea, now that we’ve cleaned up the library, I’ve got a great idea.”

Linnea drew away. “I don’t like that look.”

“You want to play a fun game with me? It’s called ‘Organize the Books.’ What do you say?” Oz asked.

“Do I have to?”

“Consider it your rent payment!” Oz gave her a big thumbs up.

“Ugh…”