“Let’s agree to never do this again” Suna moaned as she clutched her head. She seemed to have taken the after-effects of the key quite heavily. And she looked not the only one suffering.

Nao looked composed on the outside but her eyes held a pained look. The light had hurt her as well but not as badly as Suna.

Meanwhile, both Maria and Alester looked relatively unharmed. Maria just left a loss of balance while Alester looked quite healthy in the morning sunlight.

“Looks like the light of they did not agree with your demonic parts. This one (pointing to Maria) being a half-demon took far better than you two” the kid observed. There was a knowing look in his eyes as he observed the trio.

They had not actively been trying to hide their true selves but it did denote the credible observation power of the kid. It also made a good point in retrospect and would explain a lot of oddities in this situation.

“We’ll keep each other under observation for now. Also, thanks for the heads-up kid. Hopefully, we’ll meet again in the future” Maria called as soon as she saw her companions recover.

There was a small pause before the kid’s eyes narrowed. He did not look surprised at Maria’s suggestion of separating, just disappointed. Sun looked disappointed as well and shot Maria pleading looks to let the kid stay with them for a little while longer.

“I understand. Now that I’m no longer any use to you, you’ll force me to go my own way. But what if I turn you in for this theft? I’m sure the adventurer’s guild would love to capture some thieves” Alester said in a completely happy tone.

Maria saw Nao tense up and bring her weapon to a more approachable position. She would attack if she felt like she needed to defend their secrets.

“But will you? As far as I know, you swiped a whole lot of stuff from in there as well. If we were to get caught without that stuff, you will be the likely target they’ll go after” Maria laid down the facts straight. She knew the kid would not risk it like that.

“Nah, you’re right. I’m not interested in outing a fellow thief. But have fun with your flute” the kid replied as he turned around. He disappeared down the next corner and the group finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

They had been too close and it had been difficult to tell whether the kid would go through with his threat or not. In the end, Maria had not had a bad vision about this mission, nor had her feelings changed throughout the night. So she had decided to take a gamble and it had turned out to be successful.

“I don’t like the fact that the kid knows our faces. There is still time for me to kill that kid” Nao asked as she motioned to follow after the kid. Her eyes looked ready to kill but her steps did not install the same confidence in Maria.

“Nah, let the kid go. We need to be out of this town today and chasing that kid would be a waste of time. Save that energy to threaten someone else in a few hours” Maria replied, indicating that they might need to use force to get the guild master to cooperate.

Nao had no choice but to concede her attack. Not when there was time to be saved by hurrying up. The group did not linger around the area for long since they did not want to be caught unaware.

However, had Nao checked behind the corner where the kid had disappeared, she would have found the kid right there.

“Keep your mouth shut once I release you. I don’t want my good mood to be soiled by your unnecessary chatter” the kid muttered with a happy smile as he let the raven beak in his hands go.

The raven tried to fly away but did not manage to flap its wings once before it was caught once again it tried to get away but then gave up and pretended to play dead. It was a cute attempt to appear smart but was not going to work on Alester.

“Bad demon. Bad demon. Need to report to the master about Bad Alester’s actions” the raven cried out as it caused the smile on the kid’s face to widen.

With a clenched of his fist and the raven in his hands dissolved in smoke. It would ensure that the words of his actions never reach a third party who could make use of them.

“Are you sure this is wise? You did let the oracle escape despite our orders not to. Princess Neah would be disappointed” the shadows from the raven dispersed and formed a human shape. Only the goat horns on the head denoted the new entity as a demon.

“I know the ‘princess’ would throw a fit as soon as she hears about it and quite frankly, that is why I let them go. Besides, she’s no one to order me on behalf of our master. I refuse to follow any order that has not come directly out of their mouth” the kid replied.

There was a certain air of easiness in the kid’s aura that made the other demon smile in amusement.

“Do what you want to. And also, Lard Baron started the first phase of his plan. The weapon has been activated. Funny enough, he chose his own family as the catalyst” the goat horned demon replied.

These words only dragged an amused chuckle out of the kid.

“I thought that fool was worried about the lack of magic potential his family held and that was why he joined us. I never thought he would go so far to get powerful magic. He’s a foolish foolish human, aiming for where he should not. Oh, and what about the other demon candidates? Did spread the news?” Alester asked with a big grin.

The wide smile on his face seemed to be splitting it into two parts rather than a single entity. It made the kid look mad, not unlike a scary demon.

“Yes. We did start the rumor of the oracle having left the princess’s protection. The competition will start for real” the kid cracked a twisted laugh but then composed himself.

“I’m sorry for my behavior. Sometimes, the human inside this body gets a little excited. He’s also a little pent up because he did not get to come out yesterday” Alester said with an almost apologetic smile.

His moods changed far too fast and were miles apart. Most would have found it disturbing but the demon was used to such behavior from Alester.

“So, did you get it? The oracle’s ability?” The goat demon asked.

“I tried but failed. There is power protecting

her which is out of this world. It is beyond any of our abilities, maybe even our master’s, to get her power” the kid replied, leaving his partner stunned.