Lara made a conclusion—the patience of the demons was more ridiculous than she thought.
Acerus was about to sleep when he heard that the saintess had come. He rushed to Valac's room and smirked at him when he saw him stuck to the wall. After hearing that a demon had appeared at the banquet that Nicholas had prepared, Acerus looked for his armor and weapons.
"We have to kill them right now! How dare they bring a demon to the Empire!"
"Crown Prince Acerus, wait a minute."
"No, we can't put this on hold. They may still be doing something to the people of Tarragon. I will take Valac right away and fight with my life…"
"I don't want to! What did I do wrong?"
Acerus was running wild and Valac refused to take action, saying he was scared. Lara glanced at both of them, then, she blurted out.
"Eunice talked in her sleep and cursed at Your Imperial Highness."
"Hurry and pick up your… What?"
"She said you're a scumbag."
Acerus flopped on a chair. He soon asked Lara with a face like an abandoned puppy.
"Is Eunice okay?"
"Yes."
"The Imperial family…did not harm her or something like that, right?"
"If they did so, my mother would not have stayed still."
Eunice was okay because there was Isadora. Acerus nodded with a face of relief and said in a calmer voice.
"Saintess, I think you should ask God."
"Yes, I think I should do that this time."
"No matter how hostile a demon is… If they start to take action like this, they won't be able to stop the intervention of the Gods."
Leaving behind a worried Acerus, Lara got up from her seat.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Despite not being able to sleep, Lara's mind was strangely clear. It seemed that she had gone beyond fatigue and had reached the stage of awakening. She went down to the secret basement of the abode, holding in one hand the strong coffee that Konny had handed to her.
Valentine was not in sight yet as it was not the time for him to get up. Lara walked for a while through the empty hallway and arrived at a palace with two stone statues. The stone statues carved the two appearances of Abraxas.
"A demon had appeared in Dandelion. His way of approaching me was cheap, but I know he is manipulating the Eastern Union."
The sound of Lara's shoes echoed in the quiet underground stone chamber. She sat in a small wooden chair—seemed to be brought by Valentine— and placed her cup of coffee on the table. Then, of which of the two statues, she said to the horned god, who stood in front of a mural of hell.
"Red hair, good instrumentalist, and unbelievably beautiful. Had a pair of wine-like eyes and had a knack for pretending to be human."
God immediately told Lara the name of the demon who approached her. His voice came from the stone statue Lara was looking at. It was a very subtle difference, but even though they had the same face, the stone statue she spoke to had a cruel smirk, while the other statue had a benevolent smile.
"I heard that the demon that Demian was tracking uses a symbol of a skull covering its eyes. Traces of altars set up by the black sorcerers to offer sacrifices were found everywhere."
As Lara continued her explanation, God again revealed that the demon's name was 'Vassago.'
"Can I deal with both at once? I'm not quite ready yet. How can a demon appear in Dandelion at the time when Demian took all the Barbarians with him…"
"It's not that I'm dealing with him, I'm just borrowing your power to get rid of him. As Valac said, Paimon is a demon so powerful that he can be classified as a candidate for the demon lord. If I get rid of such a being myself, it would just be giving the demons an excuse to meddle in this world."
Lara thought and thought again. It would be nice if humans could kill the demon only with their own power. But even if that was not the case, if possible, they should stop at a level that did not overuse the power of God. That was what she as a saintess would need to do.
Preparing for the great demon war but preventing it from becoming an all-out war. Minimizing damage. Coordinating Gods and demons not to interfere in this world.
Lilith laughed as she died. She said the Gods were hostile and the demons were said to be the overly jealous type. The breath of the Gods and demons flowed through the gap that Lilith had pierced.
"I don't mind even if it's just a very small clue, so please, just give me anything. I will have to at least try something. Just because I'm a God's vicegerent, I don't always have to do what God tells me to do."
Abraxas was silent for a moment and gave Lara a clue. This time, his voice was heard from the beautiful stone statue standing in front of the mural painted with paradise.
"But Valac is weak. He said he became a little stronger after eating Lilith, but as soon as he heard Paimon's and Vassago's names, he looked like he would run away to the ends of the world. How can I even use that scaredy-cat?"
Lara's voice was mixed with a little whining. In front of others, she only looked firm as if nothing in the world could shake her, but her honest feeling kept popping out in front of her mother, Demian, and her God.
God's gaze was felt from the statue. It was a gaze of warmth as if comforting her.
Warmth, huh?
Lara contemplated and suddenly opened her mouth.
"Can the giant of fire burn down a demon lord candidate?"
Abraxas said. The giant of fire suddenly appeared on Lara's shoulder and was pointing one hand at the stone statue. The giant stomped its small feet, opened the round part that looked like a mouth, and made a gesture with it toward God.
"How big does it have to grow? What should I feed him to grow? It's not the type to eat its own kind like a demon, is it?"
When God said so, the giant of fire climbed down Lara's arm and sat on her lap. Then it pointed the two stone statues one after another with one hand and pretended to put them in its mouth.
"You can't. It's just a stone carving of God. You're not supposed to eat it. Are you hungry? I will go up and find something for you."
Lara smiled and looked at the giant of fire as if it were cute.
Abraxas did not seem to think of it as cute at all. Even after finishing her conversation with God, Lara could not fall asleep easily. She eventually lay and collapsed in bed only after night came. And she thought.
Is there any way to make Paimon obey me, just as Valac is doing?
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
"Milady, it's already morning"
When Lara woke up from her sleep, her mind was refreshed. She ate a lot of nutritious foods that Konny prepared, and after checking if the priests were doing well or not, she came back to the abode.
There were many things to do. After learning about the appearance of demons—two demon lord candidates at that—Acerus kept talking about the war and Valac planned to flee.
But Lara thought that it was not time yet. Even if the war began, it would only start at the date and place decided by themselves.
"Valentine, have you made everything I asked for?"
"Yes! It's kind of shabby because I made it in a hurry… But it's working properly. I also wrote down how to install it in detail here."
Lara asked Valentine in advance to install the magic circle for long-distance travel and had decided to put it on the Eastern border where Demian was located. To do so, Valentine needed the same stone he had installed underground of the abode. He stayed up all night over the past few days and devoted himself to the work.
Lara decided to ask for Isadora's help to carry the completed magic circle to the Eastern border.
"I still can't fully trust the Emperor's knights. I think it's better to ask for mother's help."
"I think so, too. Milady, why don't I…go to the border instead?"
"You can't. Valentine, please focus on relics and documents that you have not yet interpreted here."
"I will do my best, milady."
Valentine bowed his head toward Lara.
Isadora readily accepted Lara's request and entrusted the job to especially talented and trusted wolves. It needed to be done secretly and as soon as possible. The wolves tapped on their thick pockets and started right away that day. It was a long way to the East but they would be able to get there in the shortest time.
As time went by, the flowers in full bloom began to fade.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
"Miladies, you have gotten presents."
Late in the morning, Eunice and Ximena came to Lara's abode to eat breakfast together. When there was a little disturbance outside, Konny went outside to check and came in with bright-red cheeks. She said.
"The red carriage is full of present boxes! There are also presents for Lady Eunice and Lady Ximena. I secretly opened a few, and it's full of liquor, accessories, and dolls."
"Really?"
"Yes, but… An incredible man drove the carriage."
"Incredible man?"
"He looks erotic. It feels like his eyes would have a liquor scent."
Eunice sprang to her feet and ran outside. Ximena followed Eunice and Lara walked out the last.
"What's all this?"
They were all presents from Nicholas, the Prince of Lafort.
Nicholas was having a tense tug-of-war battle with the Emperor of Tarragon. The tension at the border had reached its peak, and criticism that the war between the Eastern Union and the Empire became an established fact was dominant. He was somehow trying to drive a wedge between the Barbarians and the Empire, and even though the Emperor knew about it, he was feigning ignorance like a sly old fox.
Lara came out and sighed when she saw the mountain of present boxes and the face of the demon Paimon getting off the carriage.
Lara had been at Isadora's hotel for the past few days to escape from Nicholas' and the demon's approach. However, she could not keep delaying the temple work, so she returned to her abode last night. Somehow the demon found out about it and appeared with presents.
"Saintess."
Paimon bit his thick lips for a bit and smiled with his eyes down shyly at Lara. His voice was raspy and low. The husky bass was stimulating as if it was scratching the eardrum.
"May I say my greeting to the saintess?"
Paimon knelt down on one knee toward Lara. He covered his mouth with one hand and put it back on his chest and greeted Lara politely in Lafort style.
Lara watched as he gently pressed his lips with his palm and let out a wet sigh between his slightly opened lips. It was all on purpose.
"Master asked me to deliver this."
Paimon politely handed Lara an invitation. When Lara slightly frowned as she was looking at him, Konny quickly ran. She snatched the invitation and opened it wide. It was an invitation to a recital.
"What is the banquet this time?"
"It's a night recital."
"Why is there a recital at night?"
Eunice grinned. It even said that he would send people to attend to them before the banquet began.
Attendant, huh?
The enchanting demon, Paimon, looked at Lara and her friends and smiled with his eyes.