Chapter 186: Saint in a Valley of Sin

 

Regari glanced at his little sister Renna as she scarfed the food down so fast that it looked like she was inhaling it. They hadn’t eaten a good meal since… honestly, Regari couldn’t remember. He would be doing the same if not for the two extremely powerful demons sitting across from him.

The female was giving a piercing gaze that he could feel. He was trying not to fidget as her gaze threatened to bore a hole into his skull. On the other hand, the male was chugging his thirteenth mug of wine with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Regari glanced up from his food when the piercing gaze shifted away. He saw the female giving the male a look as he started chugging another cup of wine.

“Who are you?” Regari asked as he stared at the pair.

They were seated in the most expensive tavern in the area. It wasn’t the most lavish place in the city, but it was still an expensive establishment. It has a bar and brothel, as well as all sorts of other amenities. As far as Regari could tell, they only walked in here because it was the nearest one. 

The two of them paid for all the overpriced accommodations and amenities like it was nothing. Regari knew it was a scam. Most of the clientele here were gang leaders and corrupt officials. People came here to show off, not to enjoy the place. 

“We’ll get to that, eat.” the female demon said as she gestured to his food. Her tone betrayed an obvious intent that she would brook no disobedience.

Regari nodded and mutely began to eat, but he was still keeping an ear out. He had no idea what they were after. Was it a flight of fancy? Did they need bait for some risky venture? Or perhaps they were going to be used as some kind of lab rat for a sick experiment?

“You know this place is surprisingly cheap.” the male demon said as he slammed down his fifteenth mug.

“It’s because we are in the outer city. Things will get alot pricier once we cross the border into the inner city.” the female said as she watched him pick up the sixteenth mug. 

“How much money do the two of you have?” Regari asked, and the two paused as they stared back.

“Enough to not have to worry about.” the woman said cryptically.

“Who are you really? You never told me your names.” Regari said, and the two looked at each other for a moment.

“Malaise,” the woman said, and Regari just raised a brow at the name, which had a rather ominous meaning.

“Then is your name Malediction or something?” Regari asked as he looked at the man.

That got a laugh out of the male as he gave Regari an amused look that seemed just a little off. Everything about this one seemed off. Somehow, this particular demon terrified him. It was like he was missing something, yet he was… something more…

“Tim, my name is Tim.” the man said with a crooked grin. Regari glanced at Malaise and saw her give him a side eye at his response.

Tim? That was a strange name and a slightly disconcerting one. In hell nothing is as it appears, that name was too simple, too innocent. Like it was hiding something. Regari would bet his right arm that it was false name.

“It means forsaken and forgotten,” Tim said as if reading his mind.

“What tongue?” Regari asked.

“One long dead to the world,” Tim replied with an almost wistful grin.

“You know I was alot like you once. I was an orphan, had a little sister…” Tim replied as a shadow of discomfort passed across his gaze.

“Had?” Regari asked as the very thought of something happening to Renna sent a shiver down his spine.

“The world is cruel. I am sure you know that all too well.” Tim replied, and for a moment, Regari could almost figure it out.

That weirdness was not without reason. He was missing something, but at the same time, that loss made him something more. There is an old riddle that most children know.

 

What gets bigger the more you take away?

 

The answer is “Loss” the more you take away, the greater the loss. But at the same time, this loss can become something so much more; Rage, Grief, and the flames of vengeance can damn a million souls. 

“So what do really want from me? You heal me, feed me. We aren’t the best labourers. There are plenty of better options, any of the gang grunts would be better.” Regari said.

“Capability can be built up. What I need is loyalty.” Tim replied with a wave of his hand.

“You think I will be loyal to you because you fed me?” Regari asked with a raised brow.

“Of course not, all I know is that you have a capacity for loyalty, a rare thing to have in the Searing Hells wouldn’t you agree?” Tim replied with a grin.

“And you know this how?” Regari asked.

“You kept that dead weight around, didn’t you? When you thought I was going to threaten her, you stood in my way when you had no chance of winning. You were willing to go down swinging for that piece of dead weight that offered you no value.” Tim replied, and Regari instinctively bristled at those words.

“Renna, her name is Renna.” Regari said coldly and he saw Tim’s smile widen at those words. At that moment, Regari internally kicked himself, he had proven Tim right with just a single sentence.

“There it is, that sense of loyalty,” Tim said with a laugh. Malaise just grinned as she shook her head.

“And you have other gifts, I can tell. As to how I can tell? I’ll tell you when I earn your loyalty.” Tim replied with a grin.

Regari just nodded stiffly as he stared at Tim. At first, he thought Malaise was the one who was more in control. But now he realised the one who had the best grasp of what was happening was probably Tim. Regari had seen Malaise’s face when they picked Regari and Renna up. It was a look of bewildered confusion.

Regari knew in the back of his mind that Tim was, at his core, completely batshit insane. He was some kind of great beast caged in a demon’s body. He seemed hyper-aware of how the world worked. As far as Regari was concerned, having something like him on his side was definitely a good thing. The only question was if he ended up devoured by that same madness…

Regari pondered this as he finished the last of his food. He saw Malaise push a cup of juice towards Renna as she finally finished inhaling her second helping of food. By Morningstar, she must have been hungry…

“Last chance,” Tim said suddenly.

“Huh?” Regari replied, confused at the sudden statement.

“Last chance to walk away, you can walk away now, and I will never come after you. You can treat this as a free meal and healing.” Tim said with a smile.

“And how can I trust you?” Regari asked.

“I’ll sign a contract, the life binding kind. The terms will be I let you go and I never force you to do what you don’t want to do, nor will I hurt your sister.” Tim said, that stumped Regari. 

A contract? Breaking a contract means your soul will be bound to the other side. It wasn’t an easy thing to promise.

“And my own end?” Regari asked, the proposed contract only covered his end, it didn’t say anything about what Regari must offer.

“Nothing, a skewed contract,” Tim replied with a wide, slightly deranged grin.

“Uh huh… and if I stay?” Regari asked.

“We signed another contract, and I promise never to harm you or your sister. The condition for quote-on-quote harm would be that anything I do will be to your benefit. So, say if I have to hurt you and train you up, like causing a muscle tear, it would be fine. In exchange, you will do the same for me in an equal contract.” Tim said.

That was an alarmingly straightforward contract and also an extremely good one…

What the hell is going on?

It’s not like he could break it. The punishment would be severe.

Even if they sign it, he could technically still walk away… 

If he and Renna couldn’t be harmed and they could just walk away, then… there was no risk to it. If anything, it was just insurance, one less person who may want to kill him. Technically, Malaise could still do it, but for someone like him, was such deception really necessary? He was just some forgotten orphan who would have died soon. 

“So if I sign that, then I will get hired by you, and I can quit whenever I want,” Regari said, and Tim just nodded.

Regari paused for a moment longer and then nodded as he extended his hand.

 

Let’s do it, I will be in your care…

 

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

 

After the meal, I popped over to the tavern counter. I leaned over the countertop and looked down at the diminutive little Impid staring up at me. I could taste that little bit of fear emanating from her.

“If say I were to get a room, is it safe for someone who say couldn’t defend himself?” I asked innocently.

“Yes, our security is very robust, sir.” the Impid squeaked in response.

“Excellent, you see someone like me would be feeling quite angry if someone were to…” I paused as I sensed something happening behind me.

The room had gone quiet, and I turned around to see this group of finely dressed brutes. One of them seemed much more well-dressed than the rest. The group of three were making a beeline right for Mahaila.

I could just sit back and watch, but where would be the fun in that?

“I’ll be right back,” I said to the Impid as I walked over to the four brutes who were making a piss-poor attempt at intimidating Mahaila. She told me that this would happen many times all across hell, especially in the Wrath Ring. We still had to meet Alastor later in the inner city, so we might as well get used to this.

“Mind telling me why you are picking up strays on my turf?” the lead brute said as he loomed over Mahaila. On her part, she just remained seated as she looked up at him, clearly unimpressed.

“Because it pleases me, that’s why,” Mahaila said as she arched a brow, and her tone made it sound like she was talking to an idiot.

I could tell the brutes were getting angry, in the mean time I picked up a nearby bottle off the table and slowly approached them from behind.

Right when the brutes seemed to be about to get physical, I cracked the bottle over the head of one of the brutes. I then slugged the other one across the face gently and half his teeth clattered to the stone floor like a set of dice. The last two including the leader turned around in shock and Mahaila stood up to deliver one of her signature kicks to the back of the last grunt. Meanwhile, I reached forward and grabbed the leader by the throat before lifting him off the ground.

That kick from Mahaila was nasty. She obviously held back and was really pulling her punches, or at least pulling her kicks. If she went full force like when she did with me, that guy would be a red mist. What she did manage to do was to shatter that poor idiot’s spine, he was still alive, but he would be left crippled without some healing magic.

“Urkk…” the most well-dressed brute gasped as he scrabbled at his throat.

“Don’t kill him. We don’t want the mess.” Mahaila said calmly as she lightly dusted off her clothes.

“Why? Afraid to get your hands dirty?” I replied with a grin. I get it when she said, we don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves. But on the other hand, have you seen this city? I don’t care how powerful Satan is. Nothing short of a hive will be able to keep track of a city this size. You could probably cram all of Elysia into this one city. It would be a horrible place to live in, but you could technically live there.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the demon reach for something on his belt. I looked down curiously, and I saw him draw a knife. He thrust it forward, and it went into my belly. Or at least it was stopped dead at my armoured exoskeleton.

I could sense the brute who lost half his teeth was getting up, and I could hear the distinct sound of a bottle being picked up. I turned around just as the bottle came down on my head. The bottle shattered, and I just calmly stared at the brute. He would probably gape if not for the fact his face was stuck in a permanent gape thanks to his broken jaw.

“You done?” I asked dryly as I felt the lead brute give me another feeble stab in the ribs.

“He’s turning purple,” Mahaila commented, and I turned back around in confusion.

Purple? Don’t people turn blue first?

Oh… right, red skin.

I released the leader, and he dropped to the floor, gasping as he clutched his neck. I could see a ring of ugly purple bruises start to appear around his neck.

“Now then, what do you want?” I asked as I leered down at the gasping demon.

“Wait till the boss hears about this.” the demon spat as he coughed, still trying to catch his breath.

“Oh, you have a boss,” I said as I knelt down in front of him and gave him my best savage grin.

Part of the reason we came here was to learn about this place. A more arrogant and lazy person would just learn about those in power. However, Cecilia and I crawled our way to the top from the bottom. We know all too well that understanding the little folk was important.

So it seems time to meet the people running the lives of the woeful misbegotten.

Alastor was expecting us soon, but I didn’t care. A bit of chaos kept him on his toes; if I followed his schedule too strictly, he might start to think I was accommodating or something. I can’t have a reputation to uphold. 

“That sounds great and really convenient. Today is full of lucky coincidences.” I said with a wide grin that sent a thrill of fear down the demon’s spine.

 

So how about you bring me to your boss

So I can pay my respects, of course…