In the end, after giving those men a lesson, he hadn’t actually done anything to Edlyn. So Eli only snapped one of their legs, like breaking a dry branch.

For men already at the fourth or fifth stage of Battle Aura, that was just a month of bedrest, a brief winter under quilts.

He took Edlyn by the hand to the carriage, voice soft but stern. “You’ve got to learn to protect yourself. If something feels off, shout for help.”

He poured warnings into her like wind through reeds, painting the world outside as full of hidden thorns, trying every way to push her toward caution.

Edlyn just curled her lip, disdain flicking like a cat’s tail in the sun.

Huh?

She was a Demon King. Beg a Hero for help? What sense was that? And if that guy wasn’t around, ask passersby? Absurd.

What did he take a Demon King for?

Confident to a fault, she let Eli’s words blow past—left ear in, right ear out—just wind skimming a cliff face.

Seeing that perfunctory look, anyone would know none of it stuck. Eli could only sigh, helpless as tide withdrawn.

This brat wouldn’t budge till pain came knocking. Whatever. He’d be around to protect her; with luck, nothing like this would happen again.

In a few days, he’d teach Edlyn some magic or Battle Aura for self-defense, seed steel in soft soil.

Then he’d see which path she liked and let her choose, like setting a restless hawk free.

He tossed Edlyn back into the carriage, then slipped alone into the desert to hunt the plant.

The innkeeper knew the wastes; the patches grew in clustered islands, and one sweep yielded plenty.

Eli hated fuss. He rose into the sky, cast wide-area wind spells over each growth zone. But the grass had the grit of a dune-born weed; the gale trimmed only the fringes, the core stood like stubborn bristles.

Eli scratched his head, a wry smile drawn in the sand.

Fine. Hard way it is.

Half an hour later, he looked back at the heap behind him—a small hill of honey-sap grass, green as jade shards.

He scratched his head. “Uh… seems I cut too much. Way past a hundred pounds.”

Whatever. He flicked his hand and snapped his fingers. A whirlwind cradled the bundles and ferried them toward the inn, like a flock of leaves riding a dust devil.

At the door, the innkeeper froze, eyes round. “Th-this… this much?”

“Uh, got a little carried away.” Eli rubbed his neck, sheepish.

“Emmm, buying it all might be a loss. Why not sell the extra at the market?” The innkeeper lifted a sheaf, brow pinched like folded parchment.

“No need. Take it all. Pay me the original reward. It barely took any effort,” Eli said with an easy grin.

He took the key and headed upstairs.

“Room 303!” the innkeeper shouted after him.

Eli raised a hand, an OK sign sketched against the lamplight.

The innkeeper eyed the teetering chest under the weight of grass and sighed. “Fine. At least it’ll feed the horses for ages.”

By the time he collected Edlyn and Angela and got back, he’d just stepped into the room.

It was a double. The innkeeper had shrugged—no more rooms. Lately, too many folks from Mit had drifted in like migrating swallows.

“We’ll make do.” Eli gave a sheepish head-scratch and glanced at the two little troublemakers.

“Oh.” Edlyn didn’t even blink. A grown man at her side in the same room, and not a flicker? Her nerves were iron under summer sun.

Angela was more prim. “Um… Uncle, when Sis and I change, you’re not allowed to look.”

Only then did Edlyn snap to, grab a pillow, and lob it at Eli’s face, like tossing a cloud. “Hmph! What’s your angle!”

“Ahem. Not my fault. No spare rooms. Want me in the stable? That’d be tragic.” Eli feigned heartbreak, hand over face like a cheap theater mask.

“Alright, cut the act. After all this time, I know your ways. Mind your eyes.” Edlyn shot him a glare, then flopped onto the bed spread-eagle, limbs cast like a starfish. “Mmm~ it’s been forever since I touched a real bed! So comfy~~”

Angela dove after, draping herself across Edlyn like a soft blanket.

Seeing the sisters melt into bliss, Eli smiled and stood. “I’m going to scout for intel. Stay in the room. If something comes up, use the communication crystal.”

“Yeah yeah. Can I go out and play?” Edlyn waved him off, then paused, hopeful glimmer in her eyes.

Eli frowned at that look, then sighed. “Fine. Wear your mage robe. Watch your surroundings. Don’t take empty lanes. Clock anyone shadowing you.”

“Okay okay, you nag so much. Old aunt vibes. You even a man? You sound like a granny.” Edlyn pouted and rolled across the sheets like a log.

Eli’s mouth twitched. He huffed and stepped out, shoulders tight.

I’m caring, alright? Granny, my ass. You ever see a granny this handsome?

Pfft.

—

Once Eli was far away, Edlyn fiddled around the room, hauling out her alchemy rig piece by piece, glass gleaming like fish scales.

Angela lay on the bed, watching her sister’s odd ritual, gazing wide-eyed, a finger tucked in her mouth like a tiny seal.

At last, after holding back all day, she could breathe. A seductive, sinuous tail eased out from under her pants, swaying weakly, like a ribbon freed from a knot, complaining about being mashed against her hips.

Edlyn flicked her Succubus tail and sighed. “If that guy notices, I don’t even know what I’ll do.”

Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he notices soon.

She arrayed bottles and jars like a chessboard and began some mystery experiment in a hush of clinks and drips.

Finally, she drew a vial of green liquid and dabbed a drop onto her tail.

Cold surged up like mountain spring water. Edlyn shivered head to toe and collapsed onto the bed with a wail.

“Ow…”

It was like this: blazing midsummer, and someone pulls your waistband and dumps a fresh ice cube right there.

After a moment, Edlyn steadied her breath, turned to Angela, and pointed weakly at her tail. “Sis~ can you still see it?”

“I can,” Angela nodded, eyes bright.

“Ah… failed again.” Edlyn flopped, spirit wrung dry like a washed rag.

For some reason, her tail refused to retract.

The small wings on her back could blur out, turning into rune-like marks inked across her skin. The fiend horns on her head hadn’t grown much—thanks to age—so hair could hide them like ivy on stone.

But no more ponytails; Eli would spot it.

Just picturing loose hair in this heat made her scalp throb like a drum in the sun.

She sagged on the bed. “Ah~ what am I going to do?”

—

“Thanks. Mind if I ask—so many of you came all the way from Mit’s capital to this backwater. Not here for sightseeing, right?” Eli accepted a cup of fruit wine, took a sip, and smiled.

“Mm-hmm… of course not.” The red-haired man grinned, eyes bright as embers.

“We came for a rumored secret treasure…” He leaned close, breath warm, voice dropping to a whisper.

The man’s face was flushed cherry red, and his words smelled like a spilled bar.

“Since we’re friends, I’ll tell you!” He hooked an arm around Eli’s neck with boisterous ease.

“Heh. Thanks.” Eli peeled the heavy arm off, smile tight.

“So. The Third Prince of Mit was marching once and felt a weird surge from this area. Huge energy. It sucked the nutrients out of nearby plants like a desert gale. That means it’s valuable, right? Even if it’s a monster, kill it and bring it back—fetches a fine price.”

“Uh… that’s it?” Eli blinked, puzzled.

“Of—hic—course. My captain said so. Don’t trust me—hic—ask him.”

“Got it. Thanks.” Eli smiled, then tapped him lightly and dropped him cold, like snuffing a candle. Hood up, he slipped away.

Someone had already replaced him. Asking more would draw eyes, and eyes drew trouble.

He always shaved off trouble when he could.

Who doesn’t want easy days?

But fate has its own script. Some things, he couldn’t dodge. Heh.

By the time Eli got back to the inn, night had sunk deep, and the air had fallen with it, temperature plummeting like a pond glazing over.

It felt like some creature was at work in the dark, stirring the threads of cold.

Eli brushed his skin. It was already cool, goosebumps rising like frost.

“You poked around so much—shouldn’t you pay back a little, mage?” A boy perched on a low rooftop, spinning a dagger between fingers, grinning like a fox.

“Oh? What do you want?” Eli tilted his head up with a lazy smile, eyes sharp under the lampglow.

“Mm… first, let’s test your strength. Alright?” He gave a cold chuckle and charged, feet whispering over stone like wind.

Judging by speed, an assassin. Eli sighed and lifted a hand, ready to summon a spell circle, lines of light blooming like dew.

Then the boy yanked a greatsword from his back and brought it down toward Eli’s face. “Mountain Collapse!”

“I just love you—dammit.” Eli spat a curse, snapped his hand, swapped the spell on the fly, and slipped aside, body slicing the air like a shadow.