> Monster hunters will occasionally receive requests to exorcise ghosts from a place, but these invariably turn out to be mundane monsters, not the restless spirits of the dead.

>

> —Monsterpedia entry, 112th edition

Asteria

I’d been stupid to underestimate the difficulty of this world’s hero quest. I thought that I wouldn’t be in any real danger if I just helped the hero behind the scenes.

The monster wave had shown me that I was in too deep to sit back, relax, and let things run their course as I had planned.

I thought about this during the short, informal ritual Sofia held for us the next day to thank the goddess. Oren, Katja, the three Commanders, the doctor, and nurses all attended.

The shield was still up over the city, so the sky was a slightly hazy bluish-gray color over the open roof of the altar room. Only a few dozen of the newest flower baskets were placed in front of the altar itself. The rest of the flowers that had been offered by a grateful populace crowded the inside of the temple in a colorful display of belated piety. I was glad to see that the temple was now in no danger of being forgotten anytime soon.

“Promise me you’ll come and see me before you leave,” I said to Oren after the service.

“We’ll come to see you every day,” said Oren.

“We won’t leave until we’re sure you’re okay,” said Katja.

“Besides, we can’t leave until all the monsters are dead, and I can deactivate the shield artifact,” said Sofia.

We all hugged, then I said my goodbyes to them as well as Sariel and Uriel.

I yawned as I got inside Seraphiel’s car. “I don’t know why I feel sleepy again. Maybe I’m just craving my own bed.”

“We’ll be there in an hour,” said Seraphiel.

He was back to normal after spending all night at my bedside. This morning, after Uriel and Sariel arrived, he excused himself and went off to do his hair.

I reached over and ran my hand through the silky black mass. It was still a little damp so he hadn’t braided it yet.

“You can use the blow dryer at my apartment before you go to work,” I said.

“The doctor told me to watch over you,” said Seraphiel.

“He’s sending a nurse over,” I said.

“You said I could stay in your apartment.”

“Don’t they need you at work?”

“The monster wave's mostly over. The A and B-class ELs can easily handle the stragglers and cleanup.”

“Alright. Let’s rest today. You probably need it as much as I do.”

“Uriel and Sariel will be joining us for lunch,” said Seraphiel.

Life was back to normal, but I knew this was just the lull before the storm.

***

Oren, Katja, and Sofia came to visit a few times and confided in me. They’d found a clue regarding Oren’s missing sibling and were going to follow it first before helping Sofia with her own personal quest.

My sacrifice at the temple had proved to Sofia that I was worth trusting, so she filled me in about her plan. They were going to scour the sea for the “ancient, powerful monster” somewhere in the seas that was causing the monster waves.

The hero and his companions were spending a few days in Kraej City to rest before heading out again.

I spent that time reevaluating my plan and coming up with more safeguards. My near-death experience had shown me that being overpowered wasn’t the same as being untouchable.

I was confident that the hero would succeed in his quest. Now that he’d received the goddess’ blessing, the Iah spawn were as good as dead. It’s true that heroes had failed in the past, but Oren was definitely going to succeed because he had my help.

The problem was Seraphiel, Sariel, and Uriel. They weren’t heroes or his companions. They were the boss villains that I’d saved. The monster wave made me realize that they were even more vulnerable than me. Dying wouldn’t be the end for me since I’d simply resurrect myself, but that wasn’t true for the S-class ELs. I could heal them of anything short of death, but I had to be there to do it.

Therefore, me dying and being hors de combat for twenty days again was an unacceptable risk.

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It was with great reluctance that I tapped the spiritual plane’s anima pool. I’d been reserving that anima for Glory of the Divine Conqueror, the special skill that I would need to use to cleanse the world of the Iah virus.

I had to face the fact that I was the type of gamer who ended a video game with max potions in my inventory because I’d been too scared to use them in case I needed them later. That was okay if I was still playing a game, but this was real life. I should use the anima I had now to secure the lives of those who were important to me, not keep it in reserve until the game’s ending.

The anima pool was half-empty by the time I was finished adding automatic spell defenses, including Defender of Heavenly Principles, my time reversal special ability. It would kick in if I died. The anima pool would slowly refill itself, but I wouldn’t be able to cast Glory of the Divine Conqueror in one go as I’d planned. I’d have to wait a few years to finish off the Iah virus.

In the meantime, I spent as much time with Seraphiel as I could because I had to leave in a few days, right before Oren’s group did.

Seraphiel brought a few plants over to my two-bedroom apartment to brighten the place up. The place Magnus had found for me was small, but new and modern. The residents of the other apartments were young professionals: teachers, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and so forth. I kept my place neat, with only the most basic furniture and minimal decorations.

“Those plants will die when I leave,” I said.

“I’ll water them for you,” said Seraphiel.

His hair was tied up in a high ponytail today, and he was wearing a simple button-down white shirt and jeans. He was barefoot like me. With his perfectly symmetrical bone structure and tall, well-built figure, he looked like an ad for designer jeans.

“I wish you would let me put you in a healing trance and tuck you away somewhere safe until this whole thing is over,” I said. “Sariel and Uriel, too.”

I was chopping up a large bunch of dried fruit and nuts at the kitchen counter. They would go into the homemade energy bars I was making for Oren’s group and myself.

“I’ll let you do it if you also put yourself in a healing trance and hide with us,” said Seraphiel.

“Hmm. I could do it without your permission,” I said.

I mixed the nuts and berries with quick-cooking oats in a bowl.

“I could drug you and hide you away, too, but I’m not going to,” said Seraphiel.

Seeing that I was finished, he went to the stove and heated butter, honey, and brown sugar together in a pan.

“Creepy!” I said. “Um. You don’t actually have a secret dungeon, right?”

“I could get one,” he said.

I was pretty sure he was joking. He poured the hot mixture over the contents of the bowl, and I stirred it to combine the liquid and solid ingredients.

“We’ll just have to trust each other to be careful,” said Seraphiel.

He transferred the mixture into a lined pan and we used rubber spatulas to press it down into the pan.

“I’m going to take a month’s vacation when this is over,” I said. “I’ll rent a beach house and spend my time reading out on the lanai.”

“Will there be room there for me?” asked Seraphiel.

“It’ll be you, me, the sun, sea, and sand,” I said. I finished the pan. “Done. Do I put this in the refrigerator right away?”

“Leave it on the counter to cool,” said Seraphiel. He covered it with a tray.

“What time is it? I’d better get ready,” I said.

“Alright,” said Seraphiel.

He was going to drive me to the Stovring Chamber Players’ rehearsal session at the Forty-Second Club, then we were going to have dinner with Magnus. Tonight was the night I intended to reap the rewards of my hard work saving Magnus from those kidnappers.

Elegant simplicity was the name of the game at the Stovring, so I put on a white bell-shaped skirt, a black puff-sleeved blouse, and cap-toed flats. A star-shaped silver pendant on a velvet ribbon necklace completed the look.

Seraphiel didn’t bother to change since he was going to drop me off and come back later for dinner.

“Call me if rehearsal finishes early,” said Seraphiel as he drove me to the Forty-Second Club.

“We never finish early. Sometimes we finish late, but never early.”

When we arrived, Seraphiel opened the car door for me. I had to stand on tiptoe and Seraphiel had to bend down for me to give him a swift peck on the cheek.

“See you later,” I said.

As Seraphiel’s car pulled away, a red car stopped in front of me at the club’s porte-cochere. Laila was in the front seat. The driver was Laila’s cousin Ravn, a blue-haired, red-eyed man. He joined Oren’s party in the middle of “Tales of Vesterland'' because of his bitterness over the Kraej using unfair business practices to ruin his family. I still hadn’t met him in this world, but I’d seen him with Laila plenty of times.

Ravn was an optional playable character. The player could finish the game without him, so I wasn’t too bothered by not being able to make direct contact with Ravn.

“Good afternoon,” I said to Laila as she got out of the car.

Ravn shot me a quick glance before driving off.

“Good afternoon,” said Laila. “Was that Seraph? So it’s true, you really are seeing him!”

“We’re just friends,” I said.

“Friends...” Laila winked suggestively at me.

We entered the club together, chatting about what we had done during the monster wave. Laila and her family had sailed away to safety with the other prominent Kraej City civilians. Ms. Lily and the others had been told that I’d been injured and in a coma for three weeks.

“I feel a little guilty now,” said Laila. “I never imagined you were in trouble.”

“I’m fine now. That’s what matters,” I said. “If you feel guilty, then don’t nag me to join you in the live performances.”

“I just think it’s a shame that we can’t show you off. You’re the best violinist I’ve ever heard,” said Laila.

“Thanks, but that wouldn’t be fair to Kirsten,” I said.

I was still a probationary member, but the others wanted me to join them on one of their few live performances. Kirsten, the first chair, was their leader who had been with the Stovring for almost a decade. After some discussion with the members, Ms. Lily had declared that I was to join them formally next year since Kirsten would be married and probably retired by then. In the meantime, I joined them in rehearsals and was on standby in case someone was ill during a performance.

“I’m just looking forward to my new job,” I said. “I start on Monday.”

“Right, your children’s charity thing,” said Laila.

The others greeted us when we got to the rehearsal room, and the talk became more general. Magnus had tried to give me a priceless violin, but I’d convinced him to lend it to the Stovring instead. We all oohed and aahed over its rich, mellow sound before Ms. Lily arrived and we started rehearsal.

Rehearsal was coming along quite nicely when I was jolted out of my blissful reverie by the door opening. Everyone stopped playing when a Lifer walked to my side. She said, “Miss, the young master would like to see you.”

“Right now? Does he know we’re in the middle of rehearsal?” I asked her.

The Lifer didn’t answer.

“Go ahead, Asteria. We’re almost done anyway,” said Ms. Lily.

The others teased me as I packed my violin.

“Dinner with Magnus Kraej again.”

“Does Seraph know she’s two-timing him?”

“I think she met Kraej first.”

“Lucky girl.”

“No, lucky Seraph!”