"Doggy," Quietly I mentioned the hellhound's name. Callisto just stared at me sarcastically, and Lilith tried to suppress her laughter. I glared at them.
... Come on, Doggy is a good name.
It didn't take long until a smoke appeared between the three of us. A vicious-looking dog appeared. His eyes are glowing red, with spiky black fur.
"Urgh!" I immediately pinched my nose when I smelled a foul scent coming out from the dog. The hellhound noticed me, then lowered its ears.
"Right, hellhounds smelled like crap," Callisto pointed out. The two of them weren't bothered by the smell at all.
I groaned and tried to ignore the smell as well. "... Anyway, Doggy,"
Doggy's pointy ears perked up. His long bushy tail wagged slowly, awaiting my command. I don't have anything that has Arden's scent.
But I expected a high-ranked hellhound to track down the scent from my hand. On my knuckles to be precise, the exact location where Arden kissed it.
I leaned my hand to Doggy so he can smell it.
"Did you smell it?"
"... Grr," Doggy growled a little, with his ears lowered.
"Is that a yes?" I mumbled curiously.
"Mhm," Lilith nodded her head.
"Alright. Doggy, turn invisible,"
And so he did. "Lead the way boy,"
Doggy turned around and started to march his way out of the alley. I looked at Lilith.
"Thanks, Lilith,"
"You're welcome," Lilith nodded, then disappeared.
"Alright, let's go," I said to Callisto. Callisto only sighed and nodded his head sluggishly.
The two of us followed Doggy. Going through the crowd, and bumping into a couple of strangers. Since the scent on my hand is weak, it took Doggy a while to locate it precisely. We've walked in circles twice, but eventually, we've arrived in front of a motel.
"Good boy," I said to Doggy. Doggy growled a little and wagged his tail. He disappeared upon understanding that I don't need his assistance anymore.
"Let's get this over with," Callisto said.
"Right,"
We then walked in the motel. The receptionist saw me and smiled.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"We're looking for a boy. His name is Arden," I said.
"Arden, Arden," The receptionist quickly looked through her clipped paper filled with the names of the guests that checked in the motel. "Aha!" She beamed. "Arden Calderon,"
"Yes," I smiled.
"He's in room 205. But I didn't see him coming out of his room today. Usually, at night he always goes out," The woman said.
Because he's looking after me, then report back to father on the same night.
"Thanks for telling me,"
"My pleasure," The woman said kindly.
I gestured Callisto to follow me, and he did. When we walked up to the stairs, I heard a guy asked the receptionist about me.
"Who was that boy?"
"... Huh?" The woman's voice was heard loudly. "Which one?"
"You just talked to the boy... wait, on second thought, I don't remember,"
Callisto who's walking in front of me smirked. "See? the hypnosis worked,"
"Yeah, yeah," I scoffed.
We reached the second floor. I looked at the signs on the door. 200, 201, 202... ah, there it is. Room 205.
When I tried to open it, the door was locked. I looked at Callisto and he understood. Callisto teleported inside of the room to unlock the door from the inside. The door was opened and I walked in, Callisto closed the door behind us.
The room is neat. But the bed is a mess.
This room must've filled with Arden's scent. Using Doggy to track down Arden surely will be more precise. But obviously it's a trap. I can't send my demons anymore.
But going there in person is a big risk as well.
"Now what?" Callisto asked.
"... I need to get rid of the mage," I said.
"But we don't know how strong the mage is," Callisto shrugged. "Even that arrogant demon hasn't returned yet,"
Callisto is right. Even Io, one of the high-leveled demons I got hasn't returned yet. This means that the current enemy is absolutely powerful, and I have to go straight into battle. It sounded risky, but I have no choice.
"If you're thinking on battling the mage by yourself, forget it,"
"Huh?" I looked at Callisto who's looking at me with his arms crossed.
"Be smart. Let's think more thoroughly. I'm not smart like that arrogant bastard, but since I've been hanging out with him for years, I can tell what he would say to you in a situation like this," Callisto started.
"..." I waited for Callisto to continue.
"Obviously the mage is powerful. Mages can seal demons away in containers,"
"You're telling me that they're captured by the mage?" I asked.
"That's a possibility. It's a good thing you didn't send any more demons because I think that the mage will keep sealing your demons away and leave you defenseless,"
"But how? are the mages that strong that they're able to capture my well-trained demons just like that?"
"Two possibilities. One mage can be beaten by a low-leveled demon. I'm assuming that there are a lot of mages that even Io got overwhelmed. The second possibility is a trap,"
"A trap?" I frowned.
"A trap that caused the demons to got captured easily," Callisto sighed. "We have to be smart in a situation like this. We need a bait,"