Chapter 23 - A Day With the Infamous Demon

*Celestine POV

My name is Celestine.

I used to be a commoner once but on my 14th birthday, the order of light church found out that I have an excellent aptitude as a light mage user. Thanks to that, the church has given me special attention and decided to take me to the capital to train.

I was delighted at that time. After all, I can now join the order of light just like my father. My father was a templar knight from the order. He used to tell me stories about heroes, saints, and other people of valor fighting against monsters and demons for the sake of the innocents.

It was my favorite time when I was still a child. But unfortunately, those happy times don't last for long. Father goes on a mission one day and never returns. Mother told me that he gloriously sacrificed his life to protect us all.

From that point on, following my father's footsteps has always been my dream. But as a commoner, I did not have the resources to train myself into the hero I envisioned. Fortunately, the church acknowledged my talent and helped me improve myself.

Of course, I treasure the chance given to me. So in no time at all, I managed to reach tier 1 mage and wield light magic.

The church then later found out that my talent in light magic was exceptional and decided to appoint me as the saintess in training. I have a chance to become the saintess of the church of light. That is a great honor to have and I was really happy when I found out about it.

It's just that, since I've reached tier 1 and was appointed as the saintess in training by the church, the training intensity that the church gave me started to slacken when compared to the beginning.

The church gave me more training related to etiquette and manners and less about magic and combat. Well, indeed the training about etiquette and manners does seem useful as it could help me from making unnecessary grudges against people with high status. But I can't help but feel dissatisfied.

But for my dream of becoming a hero, I persevere forward.

###

A new year has arrived. I still don't have that much improvement in the last few months of my training as it was focused more in the less important etiquette and manner.

Around that time, I heard a rumor about a certain 'demon'. He came from a noble family but he doesn't act dignified like the other noble.

He is more like the head of a mercenary group. A vicious and warlike mercenary group that is.

Why a vicious and warlike mercenary group? Because they turn the people they saved from bandits into slaves to work for them. They also torture the bandits to make them confess where they keep their loot to snatch it for themselves. They even did not spare the local orphanage as their people now occupy that place while forcing the kids to be their slaves and torturing them.

That is unforgivable. Especially the boss whose name I learned from the rumor, Emilio Stadford. Despite his affinity to darkness which is considered a bad affinity, he is already a tier 3 mage at the age of 15. That is too suspicious. He must have used a shortcut method that is considered taboo to reach that height.

There are also many rumors about the corpse stench in his mansion and how many people died when doing the quests for the hunter guild that he founded.

Talking about the hunter guild, that is the only thing that this demon did in the capital that I can approve of. Although it might be a trap, I still heard that many people manage to rake in a lot of coins from working there. Isn't that what I need most right now? Money and battle experience! I can get stronger if I join the demon's guild.

I can just bring a guard from the church to protect me in case it is a trap then I can expose it to the public. Yes, I can complete many goals by joining the guild. Let's try it as soon as I get the permission to go out.

I can also bring Daniel as my escort. He has been the one who told me about these rumors so he should be more aware of it than me.

That's a good plan, I like it. But let's prepare even more. Because like what Father said before, overpreparation is good preparation.

###

There's a real demon who appeared in the capital! It was the infamous fleshmancer that had inhumane resilience that even a unit of 3000 soldiers couldn't beat.

Moreover, even more surprising news is that Emilio Stadford who has been suspected as a demon defeats it in a short time, but not by overwhelming the demon with his strength. That suspected demon devoured the fleshmancer demon!

How can someone devour a demon? Won't they be tainted by its miasma? Is it just as the rumor says that he is already a demon from long ago so he won't have any problem devouring another demon?

I can't let this be. I need to quickly join the hunter guild to improve my strength!

###

I finally reached the hunter guild.

Unlike the rumor that says it is a filthy place filled with daredevils and roughnecks, the place is surprisingly clean and orderly. When I was looking around for a place to register, the guard immediately came to me and asked me what kind of business I had in the guild as he would guide me to the corresponding place.

Such a great service I must say. It helps me save some time from searching for it myself. But as I was about to ask for help, I heard a commotion from the entrance. It piqued my curiosity so I looked back at the source of commotion.

And there I see him, a youth with brown hair and a never-seen-before type of clothing that gave out a devilish charm. Isn't that the rumored Emilio Stadford himself? The clothes that he is wearing are indeed something I have never seen before although I have to admit I have never seen much as I am more focused on my training. A long black pants, a long black outerwear with white innerwear. That combination of clothing indeed had the 'devilish' charm. After all, the color black is always associated with the evil force and mourning so people rarely choose that color as everyday wear.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Anyway, who cares about his clothing? I need to confront him about his sin!

He is strong. But so what? We are in the middle of the capital. Backup can come quickly even if it ends up in a fight. There's no need to be afraid! Victory for the light!

###

He played me like a fiddle.

If I were calmer, I could notice that he is somewhat pale. That should be because of his wound from his confrontation with the demon 2 days ago. And he cheated me of an intermediate level heal easily. I could get a few gold coins for that.

Also, he indeed has some evil tendency but he doesn't point that tendency to the innocent. He is evil indeed but he is only evil to evil people. He is not someone who will do charity as he is still expecting a return from his 'investment' but he is not someone who steals from the weak either.

If I have to say, he will fatten the weak first before harvesting little by little from them. Indeed, it is a form of 'investment' for him. As the person himself said: spreading wealth will make everyone prosperous while I get even richer. I was almost impressed by him in the first half. He denies that he is the only one profiting though, he calls it a win-win for everyone and I can see the logic behind it.

But I just couldn't hate him. Although he has his unscrupulous side, he is still steadfast in holding his bottom line. I still feel wary around him though.

Moreover, I did learn a lot from his teaching even though he is the one giving me the quest. I can feel my improvement today is far more profound than when I learned by myself for a year. I can feel that I am close to the tier 2 mage threshold.

Still, I want to punch him once or twice every time he shows that smug smile on his face. And I started to have that urge after I told him my suspicion of him peeking at me. Yeah, it is my bad, but I just got the impulse to do so. It was like my instinct was trying to tell me something.

At least I know that I can only sense limited things with mana sense. So there is no way for him to peek at me. Let's forgive him for now.

On our way back to the orphanage from our 'training session', he also said something alarming.

He said that I should be careful with the person who fed me the bad rumors about him. After all, the ones who would benefit the most from our discord are the demons without a doubt.

I couldn't help but be convinced. After all, he is someone who had defeated a demon before even when his methods were unconventional while I, myself, am the saintess that has the power that be lethal against the demons. If we fight, it is indeed the demons who would profit the most.

I suddenly feel afraid. To think that there are demon supporters in the church, I suddenly swallowed by a deep sense of despair. But when I fell into the deepest abyss of despair, a hand suddenly picked me up and saved my soul.

It was Emilio. He told me that if I am still weak then I should lie and use my brain to survive. The enemy is also playing tricks on us why not feed them with their own medicine? When we are weak, we should pretend. We pay them back when we get stronger. It brings my motivation to get stronger back. I also need to protect my mother from the demon's supporters. I need to get stronger. And Emilio seems to be the key for me to fulfill my wish.

When we reach the orphanage it is just in time for lunch. Although I already had some meat before, all the training I did afterward made me hungry again. Let's see what the orphans are eating. If it's too bad, I can mock Emilio a bit for that.

###

It was a sumptuous lunch!

There are boiled potatoes slathered with an unknown oil called butter, a stir fry of mixed vegetables, mushrooms, and fruits, an unlimited refill of hot milk, and the main dish, meat hot pot all you can eat.

I never eat anything like these foods before. I only know boiled meat or roasted meat. I also know soup and bread but this is just different from what I usually eat.

I don't know what butter is but it made boiled potato tastes so good I almost bite my tongue. Too bad there's just a limited amount of potato so I was left a bit unsatisfied but I forgot about the other menu on the table for a while because of the buttered potato. Happiness filled me once again as I tried the second dish, the mixed vegetables, mushroom, and fruit stir fry. I can see some berries, some unknown leaves, and pieces of mushroom glistening with oil on a plate.

It is phenomenal. I can taste sweet, sour, and saltiness mixed in one with each bite. The different bite sensations from the 3 main ingredients also improved my enjoyment of eating and I finished the plate in a blink.

I feel a bit thirsty because of all the saltiness but there's no glass of water around. I look around and I see the orphans drinking the white liquid. This is called milk? I had never seen anything like this before. I gingerly sipped a bit of the liquid and was surprised by the warm refreshing taste. Delicious! I don't realize I already drink all the milk in the glass. Emilio said that I can drink milk as much as I want, right? I can just refill it later then.

Now, the main dish, after all those wonderful dishes, the main dish surely won't disappoint, right? But I couldn't help but doubt the taste.

I mean meat hot pot, just what kind of name is that? Cooking meat using only a hot pot instead of fire? Won't it still be raw?

And then I noticed the large pot in the middle of the table. I could see that it was filled with sour-smelling soup. Oh, wait, there is a divider in the middle of the pot? Because of the divider, there are 2 kinds of soup inside the pot. One side is red and the other side is creamy white.

While I am confused about what I should do with the soup, I see Emilio, who eats at the same table as me, grab a thinly sliced meat with a pair of sticks and dip the meat in the red soup for a while then eat the meat. Isn't it too short? Won't the meat still be raw?

“You can use chopsticks to bring the meat into the pot to cook and eat it. You can choose which soup you want to dip your meat in. The red one is sour berries and citrus and the white one is creamy milk. You can use the spoon if you can't use the chopsticks by the way”

“Won't the meat still be raw if you put it that short?”

“Why don't you try it first? Just dip the meat until it changes color if you are worried”

Seeing Emilio eat his meat made me drool. No, it is because of the enticing smell of the… soup(?) that is still boiling in the middle. Yes, that definitely is. Well, he is also eating it so there should be no poison in it. I gingerly try dipping my meat.

Using chopsticks is hard but I managed to learn it immediately. Don't look down on commoners who did a lot of weaving to help my mom, I am quite proud of my hands’ dexterity. I firmly grip a slice of meat with my chopsticks and dip it in the sauce. I notice that the red meat quickly turns white so I pull it out immediately. I sniff at the meat and it smells so enticing. I gingerly take a small bite to check on the meat whether it is already cooked or not and…

It blew my mind.

What is this? I can taste the meat mixing with the sourness from the fruits hitting me like being rammed by a boar. I have never eaten something like this before. Well, to be fair, everything I eat here is something I never tasted before in my life but this meat hot pot takes the crown. It is indeed worthy of being the main course.

I take a peek at Emilio's table. I can see that he still hasn't finished his potatoes and veggies yet. And now I know why. He is alternating between eating meat, potatoes, and veggies. I wonder how the taste will mix inside my mouth? Ah, it was a mistake to eat all of the potatoes and veggies at the start.

Emilio seems to notice that I am constantly peeking on his table and orders another portion of potatoes and veggies. He then shares those dishes with me. I feel ashamed by his gesture but my stomach demands it. I guess being a commoner has its perks, I don't have to feel shy. Just eat it!

I then dip my meat in the other white soup to taste it. It gives a smooth and fatty taste which is indeed delicious, but I still like the sour one more. Still remembering how Emilio eats, I feel like that is the correct way to eat this meal so I just keep alternating between potatoes, veggies, red soup, and white soup. And I should say that besides my hunger, I also feel another thing inside me that is satisfied by the meal. Something that I never knew existed.

And I suddenly broke through and became a tier 2 mage before I realized it.