Glenn patted the stressed-out bard on the shoulder with a fake smile, before turning around at the scent of a full plate of food arriving, brought by the grumbling man replacing Milena.

"Ah, important talks shall wait until my belly is full, alright?" He began digging in the tasty soup of unidentified vegetables and meat, his eyes stuck on Montana. The bard was looking at his plate, doing his best not to appear out of place.

'Too bad, it's already too late for that, my man. I'm not letting you go until I figure out how much you know about me...'

'I would have never thought you would become so famous you'd begin earning yourself some stalkers. Congrats!' Diamanes laughed inside Glenn's mind, the latter not bothering to give the satisfaction of an answer. It didn't bother him that much that someone would sing his feats, being famous sounded pretty great, but that still left the question of how the hell the bard knew so much.

Slurp...!

Glenn wiped his mouth, before smacking his lips. His finger rapped against the table as he grinned evilly toward the bard. Montana gulped, his hands clasped before him, the man unable to touch his food.

"So, Sir Montana, please, tell me..." Glenn leaned forward, whispering coldly, "...How the hell do you know so much about me?"

The bard drew a deep breath, incapable of looking back to Glenn.

"I...I was here..." He finally admitted as he nervously scratched the wooden counter. Glenn raised an eyebrow, leaning back on his chair.

"You were here...when? No, where?" The young man questioned as he bit down on his lower lip. There was no way he could have possibly created the song before he helped destroy the Thorn's Church, and he had never seen anyone like him around during his expedition with the Maron's Company.

"Well, I..." Montane hesitated, but Glenn's purple eyes pressured him into telling everything.

"I was near the Still Peak after hearing some rumors of the top of the mountain being blown off, as well as some ancient ruins discovered there, but I saw an incredible beam of magic power shooting through the forest."

The bard relaxed slightly as he began recounting his story, the trembling in his fingers calming. Glenn was all ears as he listened while degusting the food, absolutely loving the messy mix of random ingredients.

"In my quality of traveling bard, I saw a lot of things, and among these were highly ranked mages as well as their spells," Montana stated while picking up his wooden spoon and slowly digging inside his plate, imitating Glenn. He chuckled with awe, his eyes widening in remembrance.

"And rarely have I seen such a destructive spell. I had a relatively nice watching spot from the top of a tall tree and had front-row seats when I witnessed a good chunk of the forest disappear in a blue-white beam that swallowed everything in its passage. That's when I noticed your convoy," He explained, Glenn nodding in understanding. Indeed, the Nitrogen Lance wasn't the most discreet of his attacks, but none of them were at this point.

'The only one is the Silence Curse, but it's a bit of an exaggeration to say it's mine, isn't it?' Glenn thought sarcastically, the corner of his lips twitching. Diamanes couldn't help but comment on that last thought.

'...I mean, if you manage to find another part of me, somehow, it might as well become entirely yours instead of just a power I took.'

Glenn moistened his lips, redirecting his attention to the entity inside his mind while leaving a bit of time for Montana to eat.

'What do you mean? The Curse is a power the cultists obtained with their faith in Epinos, isn't it? I'm just using it through you, but it'll always be something exterior to my power...right?' The young man asked while suspecting that if the entity was talking to him about such eventually, there had to be something that could be done.

'I can't do it for now, but if you do find another sealed piece, I'll be able to add these spells to your Mana Heart, modifying it slightly to make it suitable for those spells. Of course, I wouldn't be able to do so willy-nilly, but it's indeed a possibility,' Diamanes explained, his host able to imagine the entity grinning as he talked. He rubbed the end of his nose, before shaking his head, ignoring the bard beside him and his worried gaze.

'If that's true...damn, you're like a cheating software, this is insanity. There has to be some side effects to doing this, right?' Glenn inquisitively demanded as he drank the rest of his soup, sighing at the pleasure of having his belly filled.

'...There is, but nothing that can't be fixed by devouring a few Rifts,' Diamanes dismissively commented, making his host's eyes widen in shock.

'Shit, it's true that you can do that! I completely forgot to ask you about what it did to me each time I swallowed these Rifts back in my unstable period... So that's what it did, countering the side-effects of using you?'

'That among other things... Anyway, it's only positive stuff so don't worry about it. Right now, we're only hypothetically talking about those things. Find a piece of me first, then we'll talk some more. Oh, and of course, continue to destroy as many Rifts as you can, it'll only make you stronger. Even though you put a slight stop to this activity, it'd be great if you could get back to it, you know?'

Glenn sighed, before turning toward the bard, who was almost done finishing his plate.

"So, what happened then? You followed the convoy to fulfill some kind of artistic curiosity?" Glenn sneered, regretting his words as soon as he pronounced them as he saw the light of understanding in the bard's eyes.

"Exactly! Who wouldn't do that after seeing such a magnificent display of power? I was sure that if I...Hrm...observed the one who used such an incredible spell, I would find the inspiration to finally write a new ballad. I couldn't be more right!" Montana excitedly explained, all fear and stress gone, replaced by an almost child-like personality. Glenn leaned back and squinted suspiciously, only to indicate to his interlocutor to continue.

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"I don't know what or who was your opponent back in the forest, but your fights against the stone golems were thrilling!" The bard hurriedly searched through his bag, pulling out a few sheets of paper, all covered in either writings or drawings. Glenn glanced at them, only to have his attention instantly caught by them, particularly at the drawings. They were incredibly well made, the details almost comparable to black and white photography, and depicted him shooting off his skills at the golems. There were also some drafts and sketches, showing the Thorn's Church and Abbot Hank alongside Giselle. All in all, it was an impressive proof of talent he had in his hands.

"And then, there was that fight against the Three-Eyed Golem! Hoh, my heart almost stopped when I saw it detonate and send you and the Black Heir flying in the air. By the way, his skills were also incredible! My second ballad will probably dedicated to him, with his unbelievable use of both Aura and Magic...!" The bard droned off as Glenn rubbed his chin pensively.

'...His story is kind of holding up, but why do I feel like I'm missing something?'

"...with blue lightning that traced through the air, cutting everything in its path! This was incredible." The bard gasped for air, gratefully accepting a cup of water from the barman who was listening to the story with half an ear while he worked, curious. Glenn slowly passed his tongue over his teeth, looking at his purple left arm in wonder. He then picked through the sketches again, finding the sheet with the lyrics for the Demon's Grin. He read them rapidly, his eyes stopping on two different lines.

"Tell me, Montana," Glenn gave up the Sir, a frown on his face as he pointed at the two points in the story, "... 'His left arm, purple with the demon's grin,' and 'With astral magic and axe aflame,'. Why would you make such a particular choice of words? I'm not using an axe as of now, and what do you mean by purple with the demon's grin? I simply don't get it..."

The bard gently grabbed the paper from his hands, before pointing at the previous lines of the text.

"For the axe, it mainly was for the rime, but there's something in how you hold yourself that made me think you might use an axe. As for the demon's grin, well..." Montana bit down on his lips, a hint of worry reappearing on his face, "...No one mentioned to you how you look when you use spells with your left arm?"

Glenn scratched the back of his head, before shaking his head negatively.

"...I don't think so, no. Why, do I grin demonically or something?" He joked, failing to make the bard laugh, who only nodded slowly.

"You do, yes. And after observing you the whole time it took for your convoy to come back to King's Rise, I can confidently say that it's not an isolated accident," The bard pressed his fingers together, his chin leaning on their ends. Glenn blinked in confusion.

'I have an evil grin? What does that even mean? Diamanes, you're always with me, you would notice if I made strange faces, right?'

Diamanes snorted.

'To me, you always have that same stupid look.'

Unable to understand where that "demonical grin" came from, Glenn decided to do the best thing he could do about it.

Shrug it off and ignore it. Whatever, maybe he just liked to smile when he shot big spells. But then, who wouldn't?

"Anyway, now that the issue of my privacy being spied on was solved, let's talk copyright and royalties," Glenn went back to the main subject, the bard's face paling.

"What—Copy right? But I didn't copy anything?" Montana replied confusedly, before showing the young man in his empty pockets.

"And what do you mean royalties? My shows are free of charge, and the inn owners in which I perform pay me with a clean bed and a full plate. I don't have a single copper to pay you even if I wanted to!" He angrily said, seemingly not very happy with what the young man demanded from him. Glenn tapped his fingers rhythmically on the counter, lost in thoughts, when he suddenly flicked his fingers.

"...Well, alright then. Listen, I'm going to be honest, I'm not against you singing songs about me, but I'm not a big fan of having a stalker around to spy on me. I'll forgive you for that since you didn't cause me any harm, but I do want you to do something for me. You'll keep the right to use my adventures in your songs, and it's nothing hard, so what do you say?" He proposed, holding his hand out toward the bard with the same wicked grin he denied having.

Montana hesitated, before shaking Glenn's hand.

"The Demon's Grin is an assured success, I can't not sing it. But what is it you want me to do?"

Glenn leaned forward before quickly glancing around, assuring himself of their privacy with a Silence Curse.

"Alright, so here's what you're going to do. You're going to write a song about the fight that happened last night, right?" Glenn asked as he pointed at the unfinished sketches. Montana nodded slowly, incapable of seeing where this was going. Glenn grin's widened and he crossed his arms.

"Alright, I just want you to add a few things in the text..."

The bard's eyes widened, his cheeks swelling until he let out a chuckle.

"...This should be fine to do, but are you sure? I don't care much about saying that of the Church, I never liked them anyway, but are you sure of the rest?" He asked with an excited smile. Glenn didn't reply, only grinning with both of his thumbs-up. The bard nodded happily, before storing away his drawings and drafts, bowing slightly his head at the young man before disappearing away. Glenn dismissed the Silence Curse and leaned against the counter, satisfied.

'...Those are some crazy levels of pettiness, this is way too funny!' Diamanes laughed loudly inside Glenn's mind.

'What can I say, I had some inspiration right there. And I can't waste such good opportunities, isn't that right?'

The young man watched the inn for a few minutes, only turning his head away when he noticed Sahro joining him at the counter with a dark face. The Black Heir was rubbing his temples with a painful look, the hangover still doing quite the effects on him. He slowly sat on his chair and hid his face in both of his hands, sighing loudly.

"...God, I'll never drink again..." Sahro blurted out, his voice raspy. He glanced at his friend who seemed unbothered by last night's side effects.

"...How the hell are you doing so fine?" He asked with disbelief, making Glenn laugh slightly.

"What can I say, I just have a better constitution than you, I suppose." He winked, the corners of his lips curved upward in a mocking smile. Sahro sighed once again, before pressing his forehead against the counter. Milena suddenly surged out from a door leading to the back of the inn, her complexion pale and her steps unsure. The man who replaced her grinned and curtsied in her passage, earning a slap on the back of his head.

"...Urgh, stop mocking me, Morgan, and go back to work. I'm not paying you to laugh at my expenses..." She grunted and pulled a chair to sit in front of Glenn and Sahro, similarly surprised by the lack of pain or any other signs of a hangover on Glenn's face.

"Don't ask, I'm just better," He stated without a second of hesitation, eliciting a snort out of her. The young man then looked away from them and searched through the inn, failing to find Montana.

"By the way, was the bard you're having a crush on there two weeks ago?" Glenn asked, his head leaning against his closed fist. Milena rubbed her forehead painfully, her lips pinched, until she finally answered.

"...I think he was, yeah? Why?"

Glenn's eyelids flinched slightly, a wry smile drawing on his face.

"...Nothing, just curious. By the way, he gave me that for you." He took out the signed sheet with Montana written on it from his dimensional pouch, handing it to Milena. She blushed slightly as he took it, before safely storing it away in a breast pocket.

"Did he—did he say anything about me?" She asked shyly. Glenn flashed a grin at her, shooting her a thumbs-up.

"He said you were super hot, so I think you have your chances."

'...Worst matchmaker in this world, I swear...'

'...Let me get my fun, will you? And that's not exactly a lie...'

'And that's not exactly what he said either.'

'Whatever...Anyway, that still leaves out the question as to how he was both in the inn two weeks ago and watching me in the forest and the quarry...'

Glenn smiled as he watched Milena's cheeks become even redder as happiness decorated her face.

'...I guess everyone has their secrets...'

'Which is probably not going to stop you from pulling the answers out of Montana if you need to, right?'

'...Can't you just shut up?'