The ruins of the Ancient Temple are swarming with C-class monsters. Hunters are advised to bring a strong team or avoid the place altogether.
—Monsterpedia entry, 112th edition

Asteria

The Commanders’ workplace was virus-free, and so were the restaurants. Uriel also went to some shops in the past five days, but I didn’t think that a five-minute stop was long enough for him to get infected that badly. The women were probably the real cause.

The next day, the Commanders unofficially took the day off after clocking in. Uriel had called all of the women last night and arranged for them to meet him separately at a restaurant. We’d booked two private rooms that were beside each other. Uriel would entertain the women in one room while we would be in the other. Once I’d identified the correct woman, Sariel would signal Uriel by pretending to have just found out that they were in the same restaurant and going over to greet them.

“That’s Uriel's type, huh?” I said. The private room had a one-way glass wall that overlooked the entrance and we’d all been treated to a parade of tall, long-legged beauties. Even though it had only been three days since I’d last seen him, Uriel had been with five different women.

“He likes the tall ones. He doesn’t care about hair color or whether they are thin or plump, just that they’re as tall as possible,” said Sariel.

“Is it normal for people to sleep with that many people in a few days?” I asked. Maybe that was the norm in this world.

“It’s normal for Uriel, not for other people,” said Seraphiel.

“I guess it’s not a problem for Uriel to eat five meals in a row, but aren’t the staff weirded out?” I asked. ELs had a huge appetite and, if one were to use Uriel as a typical example, it wasn’t just for food.

“Uriel says the staff here are very discreet. One had to wonder why Uriel knows so much about discreetly meeting with people. Are we talking about bored married women?” said Sariel.

“It’s none of our business,” said Seraphiel.

“I feel something,” I said.

The two ELs tensed. A taxi had just stopped in front of the restaurant.

“Do you feel anything?” Sariel asked Seraphiel, who shook his head.

A redheaded woman got out. I gasped in surprise. “It’s the actress from Heirs of the Ancestors, that TV show about Adon’s supposed descendant.”

“Is it her?” asked Sariel.

“It’s her,” I said softly, pressing a hand against my stomach. Seraphiel and I quietly got up and left for Uriel’s nearby apartment using Seraphiel’s car. Sariel would stay and give Uriel the signal after a few minutes.

I’d instructed Uriel to ask the woman if she’d gone anywhere new or had any strange encounters. After curing her, I wanted to find the source of the infection and get rid of that, too.

“Ahhh.” I grabbed the barf bag I had placed in the glove compartment in advance, but I did feel a little better when we had put some distance between us and the restaurant.

Seraphiel, who was driving, glanced at me then handed me a piece of candy.

“How could Uriel be sure that all those women would agree to go to his apartment?” I asked Seraphiel as I ate the candy, but he just smiled.

Uriel had given us a keycard for his place. Once inside, I gawked at all the swords Uriel had on display then we headed for the guest bedroom beside the master bedroom. Thankfully, the nausea had subsided so I lay down on the bed while we waited for Sariel to arrive.

“I’ve never seen Uriel that upset,” said Seraphiel.

I patted the space beside me. There was plenty of space because the bed was huge, sized for Uriel. “Never? Maybe he’s just more comfortable about showing his real emotions about the virus now that you know. He doesn’t have to hide it and pretend to be strong.”

Among the three S-class ELs, Uriel was the least adapted to the genetically modified version of the Iah virus. If I hadn’t come along when I did, based on what I knew from “Tales of Vesterland,” Uriel would be dead soon, and the other two would be suffering from increasingly frequent episodes of mental instability. Though Uriel hadn’t said anything, I knew he must be extremely worried about their situation.

Seraphiel sighed.

“All that bluster... but Sariel was frantic with worry, wasn’t he? It must be hard on him, too,” I said.

“Sariel would rather burn this building to the ground than admit how worried he is,” said Seraphiel.

“What about you?” I asked.

“I’m worried, but I know you’ll fix this,” said Seraphiel.

His faith in me was touching. I just hoped everything went smoothly. We lay there in comfortable silence until Sariel arrived.

“You pervert!” said Sariel when he saw us in bed together. “That girl’s still underage.”

“Ely isn’t a girl, and he’s twenty-eight years old,” I said. “Is she coming with him?”

“Oh, barf, they were being extremely lovey-dovey. They’ll be here soon, I bet,” said Sariel.

“Please don’t make the fake barfing noise, you’ll trigger me,” I said.

Sariel shook his head and sat down on a chair. Despite the fake tan, his skin looked sallow, as though it had lost its healthy undertone. “So it’s her. He’s been sure she was the source since he found out he was infected by someone. They’ve met up every night since Monday, and she had a bite mark on her leg. He arranged to meet with the other women first to rule them out.”

“Why didn’t he tell me that?” I asked.

“Who knows? Their affair is a secret since she’s supposed to be romancing her co-star,” said Sariel. “He must have been hoping it was one of the other women.”

“Uriel still doesn’t trust me,” I said.

“He didn’t tell me either,” said Seraphiel. He got up from the bed and faced Sariel. “He didn’t tell us that he was sick before Asteria came.”

“Uriel’s always been the strongest, you know. He’s the eldest of six and very responsible,” said Sariel. “It’s hard for him to show weakness.”

“I wish he would trust me more…” said Seraphiel.

LinMeili

• The actress was mentioned in chapter 23 during the EL locker room talk scene. 
• I wrote this mini-arc to develop Uriel's character a little. It might seem like he's a simple guy, but Uriel has got layers to his personality underneath that "gentle giant" exterior. 
• Also, I wanted to show that the Iah virus is active in the wild, not just in the EL Project labs. 
• Please let me know if there are any errors.
• Thanks for reading!