I ask the waiters to bring us two extra chairs. When they bring the chairs, I tell the two newcomers to sit down.

“You are attracting attention,” I say as they merely eye the seats silently.

Realizing what they are doing, they immediately heed my words. The waiters give them the menu as soon as they settle on the chairs. They eye the menu while glancing at me dubiously. I wave my hand lightly, prompting them to order.

When the menu is taken away and the waiters leave us alone, the duo faces me. One of them has a grimace meanwhile the other has an expectant look on her face.

“These two don’t know how to be discreet, do they?” Millonia remarks, stabbing her fork into her steak. “They seem idiotic, so it’s not that surprising.”

“We don’t know any Disguise Spells,” Sofia declares proudly under her hood.

“Knights use Mana for offense and not to fuel their Spells,” Andrea defends.

“How did you find me?” I ask, ignoring their reasoning. “You may recognize my disguised appearance, but you don’t appear to be adept at Magic. It is highly unlikely that you tracked me by my Mana Signature.”

“My Spirits told me! It’s hard to miss the strong Spirit Signature that you are emitting.”

As stupid as she may seem, Sofia is a talented Spirit Master. It is proven by the Spirits she managed to have a Contract with and her connection with them. Luxia and I suppress our presence to the best we can. We are aware of how noticeable we are to the Spirits. The fact that her Spirits still can detect us proves that they are not ordinary Spirits.

It may not be a bad idea to recruit her, but she seems too free-spirited to be my subordinate. She betrayed the Empire, the party that her previous employer was indirectly affiliated with, easily. She follows wherever her heart leads her which can change anytime. She is a liability. At least, that is true without Geas.

On the other hand, Andrea will follow wherever Sofia goes. She shares a deep familial bond with Sofia which seems slightly unrequited. Andrea is not special in any way, but she may be on par with Winerva. The only reason why she seems appealing to me is that she possesses a certain degree of control over the wild organism called Sofia.

“So… where is the Contract?” Sofia inquires.

“There is no such thing as a Contract,” I say as I cut my steak. “I will only give you a Geas and that’s it.” Sofia gives me a surprised look. “You can leave if you can’t accept that.”

Andrea immediately takes action. “He is right, Sofia. Let us—”

“Nah, I was just surprised that you didn’t demand more. I mean, submitting to the Demon who offers you an opportunity is a must, no?” Sofia interrupts, uncaring of what Andrea has to say.

“I don’t need you to sacrifice your soul. I only want you to keep quiet about what you know regarding our kingdom and not think anything malicious toward us.” Finishing the last slice of my steak, I continue, “Basically, I don’t expect anything from you. You will be treated the same way I treat ordinary citizens in our territories.”

Bam!

“I refuse to be treated like that!”

“Yip!”

Sofia explodes at the wrong time. She almost made the waitress bringing their orders drop them. Her furious look immediately disappears, replaced by a sheepish look as she turns to the waitress. She apologizes profusely along with Andrea who is smacking her head as they bow. The waitress smiles awkwardly and says that she didn’t take any offense.

The dishes are soon put on the table and the waitress leaves us to our devices. Sofia takes a bite of her pie first before remembering that she should still be angry. Her air-headedness reminds me slightly of Lunea. The only difference is that she is selfish, unlike Lunea.

“I don’t want to be treated like a mere citizen!” she exclaims while gobbling on her pie.

Millonia scoffs derisively. “You have to be special to be treated specially.”

“I am special! I am sexier than most of the population, so I will fulfill Layland’s carnal desire!”

Millonia glances at Sofia’s rather flat chest and then scoffs again. “Sexy, alright.”

“A woman’s sexiness is not measured by her breast size!”

Sofia glares at Valeria, Millonia, and Aurelia. She immediately frowns and then sends me an accusing gaze. I don’t have a particular preference for breast size. The women surrounding me just happen to be well-endowed.

Sofia then glances at Andrea’s chest and gives her the stink eye. Already used to her antics, Andrea merely sighs. I wonder when she will waste her life force by sighing. It must be hard to be the sane one in a friendship with a mentally impaired person.

“I didn’t know you would stoop so low, Andrea.”

“Sofia, you just offered your body to a stranger and got rejected. That should be my word.”

“This is love. It’s a different thing!”

“Sure.”

Millonia clicks her tongue at the interaction. She doesn’t like loud people and that is even truer if they are stupid. Sofia seems to notice the budding killing intent coming from Millonia. She ceases her lecture on how she is being romantic and then looks at Millonia nervously. That tells me the idiot still fears for her life.𝔬𝒱𝑙xt.𝑐𝔬𝓜

“You won’t qualify for a woman who can accompany Layland,” Millonia sneers. “Our real appearance is reminiscent of our disguised appearance. Do you think you can match us? He won’t even bat an eyelash at you with us accompanying him.”

I am not too sure of what “accompany” here means, but I will just take it as it is. I have an inkling that there is a deeper meaning to it, but I don’t think it is the time to think about it.

Sofia opens her mouth to argue only to find herself unable to say anything. She frowns, raises her hand, and then frowns again. The cycle continues until she eventually crosses her arms. A look of defeat decorates her face as she sighs.

“Well, I will take that defeat, but know that I won’t be losing forever!” she declares confidently. “Anyway, I genuinely don’t want to be treated like a normal citizen. I want to fight alongside you.”

She is being genuine. The sheer determination in her voice makes me ask, “Why?”

“I have seen what you have done to the territories you govern. You do what honest people dream about doing.”

“You will kill your fellow humans,” I remind.

“For a good cause. I can justify their death for a better future.”

Sofia is an enigma. I can tell she is not purposely being idiotic. That’s just her nature. However, her serious side makes me rethink my evaluation. She is free-spirited but still has the sense of justice of a human. She is surprisingly pragmatic. Even though she knows that I have my agenda to lead the humans, she still thinks it’s fine because it leads them to an ideal life.

I might regret this choice, but I am intrigued. Her resolve has told me that she won’t hesitate to do everything to aid me, even if that means she has to kill humans.

“Moreover, you are chosen by a Spirit of that caliber. With that kind of Spirit, I am sure you share my vision of freeing every enslaved Spirit in this world. I don’t have the power to do that alone. I need your help.” Sofia bows. “Please, make me special.”

By the funny way Millonia and Aurelia looking at Sofia, I think we agree that her last remark sounds like a love confession. I don’t bother telling her about that and opt to observe her instead.

“You know how it works. You have to prove your worth,” I state neutrally, prompting Sofia to raise her head. “I have to see how you prove that resolve of yours.”

“I will!”

I stare at her resolute face for a moment before outstretching my arm. “[Osculo terradi eum ambiel: Geas]!”

Red light brightly envelops her before settling down in three seconds. Valeria had erected a Barrier in advance, so what happened went unnoticed by the staff of the empty restaurant. Sofia looks down at her chest and immediately touches her Geas when she sees it. She abruptly looks at me, eyes sparkling in excitement.

“What about me?” Andrea asks awkwardly.

“I think Sofia is already enough to ensure your loyalty. You may betray me at any time. You just have to know that you may have to kill Sofia with your hands or get killed by her by doing that,” I calmly explain, moving on to my second dish.

“That’s frighteningly manipulative,” Andrea says with a grimace.

“I am a Demon.”

Andrea frowns but says nothing. I notice that Sofia is about to say something, so I raise my hand and tell her I want to enjoy my meal. She listens to my words and instantly holds whatever she has to say. The dinner is a quiet affair from then on. Some words are exchanged, but it is only between me and the girls.

When we finish our dinner, I give the recruits the freedom to spend their time wherever they want until we return to Antares. Sofia accepts easily which seems slightly suspicious, but I ignore it immediately.

The girls and I have agreed to enjoy the hot spring after dinner, so we head to the back of the hotel which is where it is located. There are three different sections. It doesn’t matter what we choose since no one is there, but we still choose the mixed bath. As soon as we arrive there, we skinny-dip in the pool and enjoy the hot spring.

At least, until someone joins us.

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