“You’re leaving in two days?!” Amara nearly spits out the soup that she is slurping. “You’re are going to travel to Aren by yourself?”

Lunella says while waving the spoon in her hand. “Look, I know it’s a long way, but I have to go. Domak said that there was someone there who might be able to help me. I need this.”

“That’s not fair. I wanted to talk to you more!” Amara’s face turns bright pink. “It’s hard for me to talk about this, but you’re the first person I’ve been able to call a friend in a while. Can’t you just stay here? Forget about your memory?”

“You know I can’t; this is something I have to do.”

“What if I came with you?”

“No, you have your responsibilities.”

“I’ll just close the inn down for a while.”

Lunella squeezes her hand into a fist under the table. “That’s irresponsible. Maybe another time.”

“Fine… You know, you’ve acted cold ever since yesterday, when we went and saw Domak.”

“Things changed…”

Amara places grips the back of her other hand. “Are we not friends anymore?”

“Of course, we’re still friends!” Lunella quickly stands up, suddenly filled with energy. “You’re my first friend, and you always will be.”

“Heehee. Alright, I don’t want to let you go on your own, but I guess I have no choice. You need supplies. Leave them to me; I’m sure I can get you them a lot cheaper than you could”

“Alright”

“Annd, you’re going to need some new clothes; why don’t you check out my closet? You should fit in some of mine.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?”

“Absolutely! Here come upstairs.”

Amara leads Lunella up the stairs to her room; she creaks open the door after a brief look around. Lunella follows her inside, unsure of what awaits her. Upon seeing the inside of the room, Lunella can’t help but raise her eyebrow a bit. Sprawled all over the wall are many random pages ripped from books and tacked to the wall.

Amara puts her hands behind her back and speaks with a goofy smile. “Ehehe, this might be part of why I wanted to give you some clothes. Remember how I said I wanted to be a celestial knight who fights with monsters and demons? Well, uh, I’ve been studying.” Her eyes dart back and forth once. “A lot.”

Lunella carefully reaches out and touches a drawing of a demon fixed to the wall. It depicts the skeleton and muscular anatomy of a demon, highlighting the differences between them and humans. In the center of the skull is an orb labeled mana core and the horns seem to go deep into the brain, forming a second skull around the mana core. A few bones extend from the back, forming the wings; they are labeled with seemingly scientific names that Lunella can’t quite pronounce.

A creaking sound is heard from the bed. Lunella looks over to find that Amara has taken a seat. “Every time my mother goes out, I make her bring me back a book on monsters and demons. I’ve never really had a chance to learn to swordfight, so I figured the best I can do for now is study so that way I can be useful in some way.”

“Why are you showing me this.”

“I wanted you to know that I’m serious about becoming a knight.” Says Amara, staring directly into Lunella’s eyes. “You told me before that I should go out and do what I want. Do you truly think that I should become a knight?”

“Well,” Lunella pauses for a second and then speaks carefully. “I don’t think it will be easy, on the body or the heart. You’ll have to hunt and kill demons regardless of what they are.”

“I know it won’t be easy, but I still need to try, right?”

Lunella thinks to herself. Am I going to encourage her to be a knight who mercilessly hunts demons? I’ve got to be crazy, and yet. Am I okay with it? No, that’s the wrong question; it’s not about me. Will it be a good thing for Amara?

“If you have your heart set, then steel your resolve. You know you’ll be unhappy if you stay here.” Lunella clears her throat. “I’ll say this: I’m not sure I believe in the knights. Like I said before, I want peace, and I don’t think the knights are capable of creating it. But go and become a knight; I’ll cheer you on as much as I can!”

“Thanks, Lunella. I appreciate it.” Amara responds with a huge grin.

“Now, why don’t you tell me a bit more about these demons and monsters? You seem to be quite knowledgeable.”

“You want to hear about it? You actually are the best, you know! Anyone else gets all scared and says things like ‘don’t talk about that,’” Amara says with a mocking voice.

“Yeah, I want to hear about it; tell me, why are demons so hated.”

Amara gestures for Lunella to sit. She then stands in front of the wall of papers. Finally, she clears her throat before pointing her finger at the drawing of a demon.

“Demons, they look human, but they most certainly aren’t. What do you think separates a demon from a human?”

Lunella recounts everything she knows while using her fingers to keep track. “They have a mana core in their head, they have horns, wings, the ability to use magic without chants, superhuman strength, and the whole regeneration thing.”

“Wow, you’re quite well studied. Maybe you were a demon enthusiast before you lost your memory. Actually, you’re correct about all of those things. However, you’re missing a few points. What do you think demon horns are made of?”

“Uhh, rock?”

“Actually, they are the same material as a dragon’s horns.”

“Seriously?! Then, are demons like half-dragons?”

“No one knows. We don’t even know what a demon truly is.”

“What about their regeneration? Can they regrow, say, their hand?”

Amara thinks for a second before grabbing a book and flipping through several pages. Finally, she stops and begins to read. “It says here: Demons have incredible regenerative potential. Small wounds can fully heal within the day, Large wounds within several. If an organ such as the heart is partially damaged, the tissue will regrow within weeks. In the case of a total loss of an organ or limb, regeneration is—not known to be possible.”

Lunella claws at the bed but attempts to keep a calm face. “I see, so their regeneration isn’t all-powerful.”

“Correct, if it were, even the knights would have trouble.”

“Then, can humans cast healing magic that can regenerate a lost hand?”

Amara shakes her head. “There’s only one person that’s ever successfully cast healing magic, the ‘First Hero of The Staff.’”

“I see. Are you familiar with angelite?” Lunella asks while tilting her head.

“How do you know the proper name of the holy weapons?” Amara says with raised eyebrows.

“Domak was talking to me about that.”

“Hmm… Well, yes, I have read about them, but information regarding them is well controlled.”

“How come they have such a dramatic effect on demons?”

“It’s not entirely known, but it seems to cause a buildup of mana which causes a demon’s magic to get severely disrupted. Actually, Once it hits the demon’s mana core, it causes all the mana in the body to go wild, causing spontaneous combustion.”

“Then, if a demon gets away, is there any way for them to cure it, or does one hit always result in death?”
“That’s a little beyond any published information. I’m going to assume that the demons have a cure because otherwise, experts like the knights wouldn’t be necessary.”

Lunella looks down and smiles at her hand. “So, is there a difference between human and demon magic other than chants?”

“Demons are pure power, they can use magic without any chanting, and it’s quite strong. But it’s also primitive, and they can’t use a wide range of spells. Actually, they can only unleash raw mana with a basic element tacked on. In order to combat that, human magic utilizes chants and circles, which more than make up for our weakness. Our magic can do complicated things, and we can build devices that can heat, cool, or provide water. We can make barriers and other such constructs. If I were to put it simply, demons are power while humans are technique.”

“What if a demon used human magic though, then it’d be power and technique.”

“That’s why it’s so hard to become a mage. The starlit church controls the information, except for old grimoires found in ruins; the only way to become a mage is to go to a sponsored academy, which generally only celestial knights can get into.”

“If primarily the only mages are knights, doesn’t that mean that your mom…”

“You’re right! Why are you so good at noticing these things that are staring right at me that I never notice! But, we can’t jump to conclusions. She could have just made it to school with money, or she could be a black mage who learned from ancient ruins.”

“Huh…”

Lunella and Amara continue to talk about random monsters for a while. Once the two exhaust topics to talk about and the sun begins to go down, Lunella finally gets a chance to do what she came here for. Amara opens up her closet and gestures for Lunella to try on some clothes.

“I’ll get started on making dinner; take your time. You can have anything you want. I don’t think these clothes actually suit me.”

Lunella quickly begins to rummage through the closet finding all kinds of outfits. Most of them are not what could be called travel-ready. The pickings for her are quite slim. As a demon, most of the clothes wouldn’t disguise her well enough anyways. Finally, she finds a short black cloak with intricate red patterns; it looks cute. The next thing that stands out to her is a simple black dress.

Should I really have asked those questions so directly? It doesn’t exactly take a genius to infer from that conversation that I am a demon. Lunella thought while pausing; she recalls Amara’s smile and enthusiastic voice. Oh well, it seemed like she was having a good time. Was that her letting her guard down?

She finds in the closet several long strips of white cloth, the kind that may be used to bandage a sore muscle. After removing her top, she wraps her waist in the white cloth, carefully binding her wings to her back. Next, she wraps her wounded hand in the cloth, completing her outfit. She throws on the dress and buckles the cloak around her—She pulls the hood up and over her horns. Lunella gives herself a glance in a nearby mirror before striking a pose and giving herself a satisfied smile.