“...Say, you don’t sleep on a coffin, do you?” Sincir asks the vampire behind him as he crouches to poke the firepce, increasing its dying fmes, before throwing Collin a look over his shoulder.

  Leaning against the wall, next to their window, Collin has his his arms crossed and most of his expression hidden by shadows. Both of them have taken the time to put on their pants, and are keeping their voices low for the benefit of the now soundly sleeping girls, but they’re still shirtless.

  “...They are a decent hiding spot in a pinch, but most of us don’t feel the need to shove one into our private, secure rooms.”

  Sincir chuckles. “I suppose you’d prefer to sleep on a bed, if you have a choice... Sorry.”

  “...It’s fine.”

  “How was it, with Esme? I couldn’t help but notice you’ve made some progress on your retionship with her... And also that you wet your fangs again.”

  Collin sighs. “Miss Esme can be... Quite convincing, when she decides on something.”

  Sincir snorts. “I’ve noticed. Did she mention she wants to go back to work?”

  “She mentioned it... But she told me you’d give me the details.”

  Rising, Sincir walks up to their window in order to take a gnce at the sky outside... Surprisingly enough, considering all that happened this night, they’re still four hours or so from sunup, which gives them plenty of time to talk things through.

  “I’ll need you to arrange things so she can work on a more flexible schedule,” Sincir says, turning toward Collin once he is done checking the time, “And so she only has to restore books, instead of watching the shelves... She is terrible at it, anyway.”

  Collin nods. “She said you want her to only work during daytime?”

  “Yes... I was hoping you’d escort her home after work.”

  “Aren’t you being a little too paranoid?”

  “Maybe... But she is defenceless, and she is a weakness to the both of us. It wouldn’t hurt to be careful.”

  “...I’ll arrange things. And I’ll watch over her, don’t worry.”

  Leaning his shoulder against the wall while crossing his arms, Sincir smiles at him. “You know, I’ve been wondering about something for a while now... Since when have you known about Esme?”

  Collin shifts his gaze toward the room, averting it from him. “Why do you ask?”

  Sincir smiles. “Esme had this crush on a young noble from House Buckmont for a couple of years when I met her. Thing is, she didn’t approach the guy a single time during that whole time...”

  “And since you consider me a male version of her...” Collin adds drily.

  “She also had this terrible habit of masturbating in public, and although she tried her best to keep quiet... In a pce full of thirsty vampires, odds are that she’d have been caught and cimed as somebody’s servant sooner, rather than ter... However, it never happened. Curios, isn’t?”

  Maintaining his gaze averted, Collin grimaces.

  Sincir grins. “...How many times did you watch her doing it, Collin?”

  Eyes fshing slightly redder, Collin gres at him. “Too many to count...” he admits, “I also kept the others away from her... Happy now?”

  Sincir sighs. “She was your secret crush, and you still used her as a hostage against me... That’s cold, Collin.”

  The vampire fidgets uncomfortably. “I never intended to hurt her... And you seemed wary of us, more than hostile, so I wanted to gauge your intentions, as well as you character... In order to decide if I’d have to protect her from you or not.”

  Sincir sighs. “So, I did steal her from you... Well, I’m not apologizing. It’s your own damn fault for doing nothing when you had a chance to. Couldn’t you have knocked on her door or something, one of those nights? She even slept there, for Creator’s sake.”

  Averting his eyes once more, this time toward the fire, Collin presses his lips together. “And say what? Hi, I’m the friendly vampire who lives downstairs? She’d have closed the door on my face.... And besides, I was still feeding on animals at the time, so being next to her would’ve been agonizing.”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “Have you ever heard of lying? Your thirst aside, you could’ve pretended to be a night worker from the lower levels, and approached her that way... You could’ve confessed things once you knew her a little better, and she’d have been a lot more likely to accept you.”

  Collin remains silent.

  “...If I never showed up, would you’ve simply watched her grow old?”

  Collin tightens his jaw.

  “...Lords, please tell it hasn’t happened before. Collin, Esme was your first crush, right?”

  Noticing a slight gleam in the vampire’s eyes, Sincir curses under his breath.

  “Fuck, neither of us is drunk enough for this... I think we have some wine, downstairs. You can tell me about her, and I’ll you tell about my first love in return...”

  A couple of hours, and two bottles of wine ter, the both of them sit outside, leaning against the bathhouse and staring at Itera’s moons above; Although it was a clouded night earlier, now the stars shine across the sky unimpeded, making for a beautiful view.

  “...A fucking demon. I should’ve seen it.”

  “Shut up. I don’t want to hear that from a stupid vampire.”

  Collin sighs. “Since when does Esme knows?”

  “I told her as soon as I brought her here... She asked to become my girl, and she took one for the team by seducing you - not it took a lot of effort on her part - so I thought I owned her at least that much.”

  “...She didn’t even care, did she?”

  “Naw, she didn’t; She is an awesome girl.”

  After another swig from his nearly empty bottle, Collin sighs. “...I’m not content with spare boyfriend. Fuck that.”

  Sincir snorts. “You don’t say? If you think you can steal her back, go for it. I’m not going to forbid you from trying, and I’m not going to hold it against you if you actually manage to pull it off... That’s not how I do things. Just don’t expect me to break up with her for you, because it won’t happen; If you want her all to yourself, you’re gonna have to make her yours on your own.”

  Collin softly hits his head against the wood behind it. “And I’m competing against the literal sex king from Hell?”

  “Hey, you should be grateful I’m okay with sharing. If I was being serious about keeping her only to myself, do you think you’d have a chance, vampire boy?”

  Collin grimaces. “Esme might grow tired of your shit eventually... I’d be loyal.”

  Sincir clicks his tongue. “Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you stare at my nephilim, Mr. Loyal... And Victoria told me vampires can’t survive from a single servant.”

  “I’d feed from animals every other time, if needed...” Collin says, throwing him a look. Then, he seems to hesitate for a moment. “...Is Miss Eleanor for sharing, too?”

  Sincir rises an eyebrow. “So much for loyalty...”

  He grimaces again. “I’m just curious.”

  Rolling his eyes, Sincir shrugs. “They’re free to do what they want... I know I’ve been pushing Esme onto you for the sake of making you my underling, but I’m not going to forbid them from seeing other men, when I’m going on dates every other night. As for Eleanor... Well, you saw what happened today. Do you think you could handle her, vampire boy?”

  “Stop calling me that... And no, I don’t think I could, which is why I kept myself to our side of the bed.”

  Sincir smiles. “Smart guy. I kinda wish I had been on your side, myself... A major pain in the ass, that one.”

  In fact, Eleanor’s destroyed clothes are still scattered around their backyard, for all to see... Sincir thought about picking them up when he came down with Collin, but then discarded the thought.

  She can do it herself, in the morning, the troublemaker... She is lucky he didn’t take her to his room by her hair, the first time she put on that stupid outfit to train.

  “...Say, what do you want from life, Collin...? Or, I suppose, in your case, for the next millennium?”

  Collin throws him a sidelong gnce. “Other than the obvious? Before I met you, I often thought about a pce far from the city... Somewhere quiet, deep in the woods.”

  “...Forever?”

  “I... I don’t know. It felt as if I’d be much happier without having the library weighting on my shoulders... There were other reasons as well, like my constant hunger, and how it’d have been easier to control it, if there were no humans around... Besides, I like nature, undisturbed by humans.”

  “I don’t believe you wouldn’t have been bored eventually.”

  Collin nods. “I’d have probably returned to civilization, sooner or ter.”

  “And then what? Found another library? Start another group of vampires?”

  Collin sighs. “I don’t know...”

  Sincir smiles at him. “You know, I promised Esme I’d build her a library bigger than Inquiry at our capital... I could add a nice, big park surrounding it, and a no disturb sign on the gates for you two love birds, once you finally manage to steal her from me... What do you say?”

  Collin snorts. “You’re a real bastard, aren’t you?”

  “I have been told as much before... So?”

  Collin watches him for a moment, gray eyes serious looking, before shifting his gaze to stare at the stars once more. “...How much?”

  “I need to know you’re with me on this until the end, and not just because I’m holding Esme over you.”

  “...I can’t promise that.”

  Sincir grimaces. “Because of your mysterious master? The one who has never done a single thing to help you over the past five hundred years?”

  “...Yes.”

  “I take back what I said about you not being loyal; You’re worse than a dog.”

  Collin chuckles. “I’ll take it as a compliment... If you look at it in a different way, once you manage to convince her to help you, then you’ll have me, as well.”

  Sincir groans. “You’re like a girl asking me to win over her parents before I can bed her... Not only that, but I can’t fuck the mom to make the process easier...”

  Collin throws him a weird look. “...Isn’t that pretty normal?”

  Sincir sighs. “Fine, we’ll have it your way... Once we’ve dealt with these cultists, I’ll seriously focus on destroying the nests. Do you still think that will win me her favour?”

  “If it doesn’t, then nothing will.”

  Fucking great... Groaning, Sincir rises, offering Collin his hand.

  “C’mon, it’s te and I can’t afford to miss another day of work.”

  “It was for a good cause,” Collin says, smiling as he accepts his hand.

  Sincir snorts. “Next time you see Leon, tell him I said hi... And that if he doesn’t put his shit together soon, we’ll need to have another talk, one of these days.”

  After showing the vampire out, Sincir wobbles up the stairs for a few well deserved hours of sleep... Fearing he might not wake up on time otherwise, he sets a rune to work as an arm bell next to his side of the bed for the first in a while, before lying in it...

  He is already asleep by the time his head hits the pillow, and he feels as though barely a minute has passed before he is abruptly awoken by the rune’s weak electric current.

  ...Fuck. Was he run over by a carriage at some point during his date with Adrienne...?

  Spotting Eleanor’s sleeping face next to Esme’s, Sincir remembers their fight the previous night, and that he never actually healed any of the wounds she gave him...

  Well, whatever, he can put up with a bit of pain for a day or two. More importantly, today should be Ena’s turn to make breakfast, giving him a perfect chance to settle things with her before the others wake up...

  Cursing under his breath, Sincir rises and quickly puts something on, before leaving the room and heading downstairs.

  As expected, the kitchen is already noisy, and he spots Ena immediately as he enters, stirring a pot with a vacant look on her face while Rez runs around her asking for the names of ingredients and what they’re supposed to make...

  “Morning,” Sincir greets.

  Ena cringes. “M-morning,” she murmurs while lowering her gaze.

  Leaning against the table behind her and crossing his arms, Sincir sighs. “C’mon, are you really going to be like this?”

  “...I think I’m never going to sleep again, so yeah.”

  Noticing her tense back muscles, Sincir groans. It’d be great if he could simply fuck her into submission, like Eleanor... He doubts a massage will work, this time.

  “Look, st night was pretty bad; I won’t deny that. Eleanor pushed my buttons, and I lost it for a while there... But these things happen. People fight, and then they make up. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Oh, I don’t doubt you’ll somehow managed to convince her to forgive you for having dragged her by her hair, naked, up the stairs-”

  “She already forgave me, and she still had her thong on.”

  “-And more importantly, I remember what happens when people push your bottoms one too many times, Sin. I still dream about those bloodied boys at the floor of the orphanage cafeteria, every now and then.”

  As Ena finally turns to stare at him, he notices her slightly bloodshot eyes, which showcase dark shadows underneath them.

  Sustaining her gaze, Sincir presses his lips together. “They were saying horrible things about you, and more importantly, they dropped my food; They had it coming.”

  Ena sighs. “I know you let them hit the tray, Sin. And I am grateful for the fact you stood up for me back then, when nobody else had. But your thing with El... It’s-”

  Ena never had a chance to finish her sentence, because Eleanor suddenly storms in (wearing one of Esme’s shirts and her tongue), grabs his arm, and pulls him after her, heading toward their backyard.

  “H-hey, would it kill you-!”

  “Unless you want a redo from st night, not another word!” she murmurs through clenched teeth.

  Sincir grimaces, but he does allow her to continue dragging him toward their bath house, where she opens the door, pulls him inside, then sms it after the two of them.

  He is about to ask what is up with her when she grabs both his wrists, pinning them above his head while pressing him against the door, then kisses him, all but shoving her tongue inside his mouth...

  Sincir briefly wonder if he should start resisting, but unfortunately, their kiss doesn’t st very long before Eleanor pulls away, blue eyes gleaming intensely as they meet his.

  “...Morning to you too, I guess?” he says, being unable to hide the confusion in his voice.

  Eleanor punches him in the stomach, immediately pinning his arms above his head again once he tries to double over, then uses her free hand to grab his neck, forcing their eyes to meet once more.

  “Okay, I’m getting really mixed signals over here!” Sincir groan, his voice pained.

  “Sorry about the kiss, love. It might be the st one, so I couldn’t help myself,” Eleanor whispers at him.

  “...P-petty. I thought we had m-made up...?”

  She smiles coldly. “On your terms.”

  Sincir would’ve sighed, if not for her hand against his throat making it particurly hard to do so, at the moment... Don’t look at how he easily bested her in a fight, physically speaking, she is still considerably stronger than him, being a nephilim and several years older.

  Honestly, he should’ve seen something simir coming after her docile act near the end of their fun, the previous night.

  “...G-get it over with, Eleanor, I’m hungry.”

  Eleanor grimaces.

  “What? I don’t think you’ll really hurt me, so if you’re going to break up with me, I’d rather not have my breakfast also grow cold... Heated up food just doesn’t taste the same, you know?”

  Eleanor stares daggers at him, causing Sincir to smile at her.

  “Go on, run away from anything that might warm that little cold thing you call a heart, as you always do... I know well enough what it’s like to be afraid of love, so I don’t bme you.”

  For a moment, Sincir thinks she might punch him, and he flinches slightly, but then she rexes, taking a deep breath...

  “Creator forgive me, but I might actually kill you one of these days... Demon summoning. I want you to tell me about it.”

  Sincir blinks. “Oh... You’ should’ve said so sooner.”

  “Depending on your answer, we might still break up.”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “May I have my throat unobstructed, so that I can speak without feeling pain?”

  Eleanor grimaces again, but she does release of his throat, although she maintains his hands pinned above his head.

  “...What do you want to know, in specific?”

  “Everything,” she retorts, unhesitatingly.

  Sincir sighs. “Fine... I’ll tell you what I know. To start with, demon summoning is primarily divided into two main categories: forced summonings, and convocations. As the name suggests, forced summing means the portal overpowers the demon, disregarding their will, and brings them over, while a convocation is more of an invitation, giving the demon a chance to refuse to come.”

  Eleanor listens to him attentively, blue eyes slightly widened.

  “The main difference between those two is how much energy they spend, meaning, the amount of sacrifices necessary... And, by energy, I mean Life Force, in specific. Unlike a lot of the magic we use today, demon summonings have been around forever, and they’re powered by Life Force, rather than mana... Obviously, forcing a demon to appear is more expensive than sending them an invitation, not to say that some demons take it very personally to be forced, and they’re likely to come prepared for a death struggle... I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  “...I understand. Continue.”

  Sincir clears his throat. “Other than that, demon summoning is further separated into two distinct categories: named summoning, and unnamed summoning. Again, the names are self expnatory... Every demon is born with a name granted to them a birth - a part of the magic which creates them in the first pce, I assume - and by uttering said name during an summoning ritual, one may summon that specific demon... On the other hand, performing a summoning ritual without a name will summon a demon; Nobody knows exactly how the choice is made, and in theory, you could even end up with a Demon Lord, if enough energy is avaible for the task.”

  “...That’s how you escaped svery.”

  Sincir smiles. “You remembered... Yes, I was able to learn magic during my first summoning to a Mortal Pne. Considering they didn’t have my name, it was mere chance that it happened.”

  Eleanor nods. “How are mortals able to learn the names of demons?”

  Sincir shrugs. “Some demons spread their names around on purpose. Sometimes, a demon will tell the mortals who summoned them a couple of powerful names, in return of something...”

  “I get it. What else?”

  Sincir chuckles. “I get the feeling you’re trying to learn something in specific, love.”

  “Don’t...” Eleanor stops herself, unclenching her teeth, then sighs. “Never mind. Just keep going, please.”

  “...Building a summing circle is fairly simple, but it can be done in a more complicated manner. Mainly, one can prepare a non-aggression pact before performing the summoning, which means the demon will be unsummoned in case the circle is broken by either side; Doing so will protect the mortals, in case they change their minds, as well as notify the demon they have nothing to fear from showing up. As for the energy, or Life Force, necessary for the summoning, it can come from any living thing, really...”

  Eleanor perks up. “Go on.”

  “...Even a dog or a cat will do, though of course, one cannot expect to summon a powerful demon if the best they can do is their neighbor’s pet. Certain creatures have more Life Force than others, sometimes almost incomparably so... Children tend to make for better sacrifices than old humans, and almost any demi-human makes for a better sacrifice than a human... Oh, the thing about virgins is a myth; Being sick or hurt might affect the amount of Life Force a creature possess at any given time, but having had sex or not has nothing to do with it, as far as I’m aware... I mean, if you’re going to kill them, at least give them a good fuck first, for Creator’s sake.”

  Eleanor grimaces. “Some people would rather die without being raped first.”

  Sincir clicks his tongue. “Speak for yourself. Anyway, this is about all I know regarding demon summonings, unless you want to get into the specifics of it... I suppose I could teach you how to draw a circle, if you want me to.”

  Eleanor frowns, looking positively sick over the idea. “Enough with the jokes; The sacrifices’ Souls... What of them? Are they sent to Hell?”

  Sincir considers teasing her some more, but then discards the idea. After all, he knows exactly why she is so interested in this particur information.

  “...No, unfortunately, they are not.”

  Eleanor pauses, her breath seeming to have been caught in her throat.

  “Gathering Souls would be rather easy if that was the case, but for the dismay of poor Demon Lords out there trying to bolster their numbers, the only way to drag a human’s Soul to Hell is by forming a contract with them, and then fulfilling said contract, or by killing them while feeding from their Life Force... I don’t know exactly why things are this way, but I can only assume it also has something to do with the magic which created demons, and Hell, to begin with.”

  Eleanor lowers her gaze, averting it from him. “Then...”

  “Unless Vozradith killed your vilge’s people directly, or your mother, then none of them were sent to Hell; On the other hand, those cultist might’ve condemned themselves to a fate far worse than death, if that makes you feel any better.”

  Eleanor swallows, remaining silent for a moment. Than, she takes a deep breath, meeting his gaze once more.

  “Why... Why do you want to bring your people over, exactly?”

  “Hell is a horrible pce, and it is doomed for destruction by heavenly fire, more likely than not... I strove to create a kingdom where my people could be happy, but eventually, I realized doing as much in Hell was simply impossible... It is a shame for the people of Itera, but they’ll have to grow used to the idea of sharing their nd with the less fortunate.”

  “Let’s say you somehow managed to succeed in this madness... Could you control them? Make sure they never send anybody Soul’s to the other side?”

  Sincir smiles sadly. “I think you’re underestimating the size of my kingdom, love... But I would give them the order to not kill humans needlessly, let alone consume their Souls, and they know what happens when they disobey my orders... Well, at least, they knew it, when I was still in Hell. Besides, it’s not like I’d bring them over all at once. I have trustworthy subjects who’d prepare things on this side, before any in-mass immigration could take pce... If such a thing is even possible to begin with, of course. Worst case scenario, we might have to summon each of them by name, once we find a way to keep them on this side permanently...”

  Eleanor tightens her jaw. “There would be war. Estrein would not stand for a kingdom of demons being erected in their doorstep... Even the elves wouldn’t be able to ignore such a threat.”

  Sincir snorts. “Again, you’re underestimating the situation. I suspect, once word comes out about my little project, forget the humans and Elysiums; Both Heaven and Hell will undoubtedly send their forces to stop us.”

  Eleanor blinks. “That’s...”

  “Oh, our chances of success have been minuscule from the very beginning, and even if we are to somehow succeed, I’m sure a continent or two will end up destroyed in the process... But I’d sooner burn the sky and scorch the earth than give up without having ever tried to save them. Make no mistake, love; The only to stop me from doing this is by killing me and making sure I don’t retain my memories, this time around.”

  Rising his chin, Sincir exposes his undoubtedly bruised neck to her.

  Eleanor’s expression darkens. “I’ll admit I’d unable to kill you, unless given no other alternative-”

  “I’m touched,” Sincir murmurs drily.

  “-and that even then, I’d regret it for the rest of my life...”

  He snorts. “Naw, you’d be over me eventually, I have no dou-”

  Suddenly, Eleanor grimaces as she releases his arms and steps away from him, pcing a hand over her eyes as though making a great effort to control herself.

  Seeing as her hands are shaking slightly, Sincir decides not to push her further, taking the chance to rub his bruised wrists instead... Once Eleanor seems to have calmed herself somewhat, he clears his throat.

  “You have to admit you deserved that, for what you’ve put me through, these past few days... Must I remind you of how I was minding my own business, before a certain nephilim shoved me into her room, and then all but forced herself on me?”

  Eleanor chuckles humorlessly. “Oh, don’t worry; There hasn't been a day since, during which I haven’t regretted that night at least a dozen times... And Heavens shall continue to punish me for it henceforth, I have no doubt,” she murmurs, having yet to stare at him again.

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “Were those all of your questions?”

  Eleanor sighs. “What’s the pn?”