Alaster let himself be tackled.

Laughing, he looked down at the two girls tugging him tightly, “Miss me?”

The two looked up at him and in unison, “Of course!”

It took Iris an entire ten minutes to get the two girls off. Both Alice and Isabella pouted but sat to his left and right.

Alaster looked at them. Both had grown. They were both very pretty fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds. Alice wore a comfortable dress and had likely come directly from a lesson. Bella’s clothes were rough and dirty, there were even a few splotches of blood.

‘Must have rushed back from a hospital without changing.’

“Where have you been?” Bella asked, struggling to contain herself.

Alice nodded vehemently, just as eager, but as silent as ever. Even Iris looked interested, but she contained herself.

Alaster laughed but began to tell his story, starting at when he first vanished from the Siphas dining room to when he first appeared on the outer wall.

Several hours passed, and Alaster was certain that the sun had long since set. He left out anything about the Demi Gods, Gods, and his teachers. He especially left out killing a Demon, and having its soul bound to him. Something that proved difficult when said Demon kept talking.

All the girls asked a multitude of questions, which Alaster did his best to answer. Unfortunately, by leaving out all the more sensitive information, he also created a few holes in his stories, holes he didn’t know how to explain.

Eventually, however, Alaster managed to finish his story. The questions then turned to his Abilities, including demonstrations.

Alaster was just finishing showing off his [Necrotic Bolt] when Lady Siphas entered the room. She calmly walked over to them, and Alaster stood up to greet her. But before he could bow, she wrapped him in a gentle hug.

“Welcome home Alaster.” she said gently.

Alaster froze, but returned the hug, struggling to keep the tears back. Several moments passed before they separated.

“Girls, it’s time to retire for the night, and I’m sure that Alaster is exhausted.” The Lady ordered. Even if technically the City Lord’s Daughters were of a higher rank than the Lady, they didn’t dare counter her words.

They had grown up treating her like their aunt. The few vacations they had been able to take were all taken with both families.

Iris corralled the two girls out of the room, but snuck one last glance at Alaster, as if afraid he would disappear again.

Lady Siphas motioned for Alaster to follow him and led him down a different hallway.

“Its really good to see you again Alaster.”

“It’s good to be back. I didn’t even notice how much I had missed this place.”

“I know that you will be fighting when the Tarians attack again. I also know that you will leave again after the siege is over. But please, be careful and come back to us. I want to meet your sister.”

Alaster smiled softly.

The hallways were much calmer, and moonlight through the windows proved how late it was, but messengers still ran through the halls, just less frequently.

“Where are we going?” Alaster asked.

“I wanted to have you sleep at our home, but Keylan wanted to keep you close in case you were needed. He has reserved a room here for you. But you are always welcome to visit us between battles, in fact, I insist.”

Alaster smiled contently.

Soon after, Lady Siphas stopped in front of a door and opened it, handing a key to Alaster.

“Here we are. This is where you will be staying for now. A servant will come by in the morning to take you to breakfast, which Keylan has invited you to.

Oh, by the way, Iris’ room is just the next hallway, third door from the end.” Lady Siphas teased.

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Alaster shook his head in embarrassment.

“There are clothes prepared for you in there, as well as a small bath. Take one. You smell like death.”

Alaster chuckled at her order, knowing that while she worded it like a joke, she was completely serious.

She grabbed his face and gently pulled him down. She kissed his forehead.

“I remember needing to bend down to do that. Good night honey.”

With that, she walked back the way they had come. Alaster watched her go until she turned the corner. Only then did he enter his room, closing and locking the door behind him.

The room was smaller than he would have expected in the City Lord’s home, but it was still larger than any room he had slept in.

Roughly ten meters long and eight meters wide. The wide bed was centered on the back wall. It looked more comfortable than any other bed he had ever seen. Two windows on either side of the bed allowed the bright moon to light the dark room. One door to the right revealed a small, tiled bathroom with a marble tub built into the floor. Against the near wall, next to the door to the room, was a small wardrobe, already filled with a few sets of clothes that fit him.

‘How did they know my size?’

Sedall began to recite all the possible methods, but Alaster just told him it was rhetorical.

On the other side of the door, there was a desk and chair, along with a few pieces of paper and a fresh quill and inkpot.

Alaster had the Pact remove his armor and then he took off his clothes before submerging himself in the already filled tub. It was cold, but in a few minutes, he managed to manipulate his Fire Mana to warm the water to be comfortable. He even got a new Ability for it.

[Fire Aura

Level 1: 0%

Infuse your surroundings with Fire Mana.

Range: 1 Meter

Mana Cost: 50/min]

Alaster didn’t really care about it and quickly ignored it. The tub was small, but large enough that he was completely submerged. He allowed himself to soak. But after a few minutes, he scrubbed himself off and exited the water.

The new Spell had a use as it soon had him dry.

Opening the wardrobe, Alaster put on a set of loose pajamas and fell backwards on the bed. He had been right. He felt like he was floating in the clouds. Unfortunately, he wasn’t done for the night.

In just ten minutes, he had one of the Blackguards converted into a Night Child, without the blades, he then Bonded with it. His senses became the Child’s. Through previous experimenting, Alaster knew that while he would be able to use his own Abilities, they would be much slower and weaker. But they would suit his purposes that night.

Leaving his body on the bed, Alaster quickly crawled over to the window, opening it, and climbing out. He closed the window behind him, leaving it slightly open so he could reenter, but would still appear as closed to a casual observer.

His room was on the second floor, but the Child’s claws made it easy for Alaster to travel, crawling on the stone walls like a spider.

‘Perhaps I should create a Spider Undead?’ Alaster mused as he traveled.

‘Please don’t.’ Belgroth groaned.

‘What, the big bad Demon is scared of spiders?’

‘Scared isn’t the right word. A strong hate would be more suitable. They are just creepy.’

Chuckles to himself about that interesting bit of knowledge about his Demon mental hitchhiker, Alaster crawled along the wall, closer to his goal.

The Night Child’s black bones allowed it to blend easily into the dark stone in the night.

Alaster admitted that he was tempted to take Lady Siphas’ hint and spy into Iris’ room, but he violently shook his head of that thought.

‘Been too long away from actual people.’ Alaster realized.

‘Am I not an actual person?’ Belgroth teased.

‘You aren’t even Human.’ Sedall said as if that was obvious.

‘What about that Aila Elf?’ Belgroth questioned.

‘First of all, she is an Elf, which means she is already much older than her appearance shows. Then she is stronger than an Expert, so she could be hundreds of years old while still looking like she was twenty. Besides, she was my teacher.’

‘Like that has stopped anyone.’ Sedall murmured.

‘So now we know what Sedall likes!’ Belgroth laughed.

Sedall grumbled, but also didn’t argue against it.

‘No, I mean its been too long since I have been around people my own age. Plus, Iris is beautiful.’

‘Ah, and you are still a teenage boy, full of hormones, and without the experience of learning to control them around the attractive women of your species.’ Belgroth surmised.

‘Gods, you make it sound so barbaric. But yes. Pretty much. I can’t stop those thoughts.’

Sedall spoke up, ‘Nor will you be able to. As you get older, it will calm down, but it will never stop. Just continue treating the women with respect and kindness and you’ll be fine.’

‘And you should learn how to dance. Women love dancing for some reason.’ Belgroth advised.

‘Guess that’s one thing that is cross species.’ Sedall chuckled.

‘Really guys? I can’t spend time on romance. I need to save my sister first.’

‘Alaster, you can’t just put a halt to your life until you do. We aren’t saying to stop trying to rescue her. We are just saying that you should explore other things while you work on rescuing her.’

Sedall warned against being single minded, and Alaster understood it, but he was still hesitant.

‘So, you are saying I should peek into her room?’ Alaster joked.

‘Do that and I will break the connection between you and this Undead.’ Belgroth said in complete seriousness.

‘You can do that?’

‘Yeah, very difficult, and I can’t do it often, but I can. It’s part of your soul, which I am bound to. Can’t do much, but I can do that.’

‘Glad we are on the same page then.’

Alaster was glad the two souls mentoring him weren’t perverts. But he had a goal for sending out his Night Child. A goal he had to refocus on.

By now, Alaster, in the Night Child, had climbed around the building until he was outside the window of the Meeting Hall.

Peeking through the window, careful to keep as little of his head visible as he could, Alaster saw over a dozen people crowding around a map on a table. But Alaster was not able to see what the map was of. Looking around the room, Alaster spotted a window on the ceiling, likely meant to allow natural light in, but tonight, it would allow for better spying.

Alaster quickly made his way onto the ceiling and peered down.

The map was of Onigas, and the people were discussing its defenses.