As Vanitas walked alongside Eleanor, he looked out to his left.
There was a large and broad wall that ran as far as the eye could see. Almost as if it were surrounding the whole world. There simply seemed to be no end to it.
The walls were high and made up of stone with a large and heavy-looking metallic gate at what seemed to be the center and the entrance to the place he was currently in. Simply put, the walls were magnificent and stood proud. He hadn't seen something this big before, as far as he could remember, so he couldn't turn his head away from those walls.
Perhaps noticing him, Eleanor decided to explain about those walls.
"These are the defensive walls that were built around twenty or so years ago when the seven great demons first made their appearance in this world in order to strengthen the defensive line of the nation. They surround the whole of the kingdom."
"The whole?"
"Yeah. Not to mention, there are two such walls surrounding this country."
"Two!?" He let out his voice before he could even think of anything else.
Eleanor smiled at how fascinated and flustered he looked.
"Yeah. Beyond the wall that you are currently seeing is another wall of the same structure, quality, height, and defensive properties with the same high gate. The two are connected by a large wooden bridge underneath which flows the longest river of the continent: The Heiros."
"Hmmm...." He looked fascinated by what Eleanor had talked about. Having noticed this, Eleanor spoke to him, "I will take you out on a little tour when we have some spare time."
"I would really love to. Thanks."
He finally turned his head away from those mammoths and towards the long hallway on which they were walking as their boots clicked against the polished surface.
To his left was the open space from which he could look over the walls and judging from how he was able to peer down at the ground below, he assumed that he was probably on the high floors of the building.
From his angle, he couldn't see the whole of the building he was in. Not even half. That just showed how big it was. He could see something like a watchtower bulging out in the shape of half a cylinder a few distances away. The building was made up of stone and bricks without many lavish decorations. It was just a plain and bland castle-sized building. On his right, he passed through multiple doors that looked similar to the room he had been in.
"What is this place that we are currently in?" He finally decided to ask what he had been meaning to from the start.
"This is the headquarters of the Demon Extermination Corps."
"Demon Extermination Corps?"
"Yeah. You can think of it as an army or military that was gathered and organized to fight against the threat posed by the seven great demons. It was established by the joint efforts of the King of Eonia and the Queen of Lionas so that they could put up resistance against the demons alongside the Paladins."
There was a lot to unpack about the things she had just said to him. Like the King of Eonia and the Queen of Lionas. And about the Paladins. But before he could voice out any of these questions, Eleanor cleared her throat and stood in front of a door that looked a bit different than the other doors he had seen. For it was a bit wider and a bit more furnished than the other doors.
"We are finally here." She said. Then she gently knocked on the door twice.
"You may come in." There came a response from the other side of the door.
"Excuse us."
Eleanor opened the door and motioned Vanitas with her eyes to follow her in.
He closed the door behind him and walked a few steps inside the room as he stood beside Eleanor.
"I have brought him, General." Eleanor talked to him in a way different from how she had been talking to him before. There was a degree of respect in her tone for the man before them.
About ten steps away from where they were, was a wooden table where documents were piled high, and a quill and an ink pot sat beside the towering papers.
The towers moved a little and swayed. He almost thought that they were going to tumble down but thankfully they didn't.
When the tower was successfully shifted, it revealed a man sitting on a chair.
He had long, gray hair that could have been said to be a bit on the longer side for a male as it reached slightly down from his shoulders and was tied by a gray ribbon. He had narrow and squinted eyes that seemed as if they could peer at someone else's soul. There was a sharp glint in his eyes. He had a chiseled face with pale skin. His appearance was androgynous though that gave a mysterious charm to his overall look.
He folded his hands in front of him and spoke in a gentle manner, that sounded dignified at the same time.
"Oh, so he is finally awake."
"Yes. He seemed to be feeling fine so I thought that I should bring him to meet you as soon as possible."
"I see. You can go now, Eleanor."
Eleanor seemed to be hesitant for a while but without voicing any complaints she agreed.
As Eleanor closed the door, Vanitas and the General were the only ones in the room.
"Allow me to introduce myself first. I am Edward Cunningway, the General of the Demon Extermination Corps. Simply put, I am something of a leader of the army."
"I am Vanitas."
Compared to the grand and a bit long introduction that Edward gave, his was almost too short. Not to mention, he may well have sounded curt and offended the person before him. He looked to check his face but found his worries were for nothing as Edward had a smile on his face.
"I see. So, Vanitas. With the introductions out of the way, I have some questions to ask to you. Is that alright with you?"
"Yes."
"Well then." He then asked his first question.
"Is it true that you were the one who defeated the two minotaur lords?"
"Yes."
"During that same time period when you defeated the two lords, I had received a report that a horde of demons that our extermination team was supposed to fight was surprisingly missing with a few black, ash remains." He paused and looked him straight in the eye. "Was it your doing?"
"Yes." Before his fight with the two minotaur lords, he had fought with at least about a hundred other demons that included goblins and orcs. Also, he remembers fighting two chimeras and an eight-headed hydra near some river. The fight with that hydra was what drained him of most of his energy. That was why those two minotaur lords had given him such a hard time. Otherwise, it would have been a piece of cake for him.
"I see. Then, that means you are fairly powerful, right?"
"More than that, I think it would be more accurate to say that the demon I have contracted is powerful."
"Yeah. I know that. I can feel that." He gave a smile and stood up from his chair. He walked around the chair and with slow and steady steps moved towards him.
"You have a powerful demon in your possession. And there is no way someone not powerful can bring such a powerful demon under their control. That's why I said that you were powerful. Was I wrong?"
"No, I guess?" When he argued from that angle, he found himself agreeing completely.
He was now directly in front of Vanitas. They were staring into each other's eyes.
Suddenly, he leaned his face a little closer. Now their noses were almost touching. He couldn't say he didn't feel a bit uncomfortable. He was worried with where this was going.
The General brought his face against his ears and whispered into them.
He then asked him a question as if trying to get an answer out, directly from his soul.
"So, what was the payoff?"
At that moment, his mind went blank.
He didn't know who it was or where it was but he recalled a figure of someone saying something to him. Saying things like empty your mind if you want to fight with your full potential. Despite not knowing anything about the source, his brain immediately emptied itself. As if a switch had been flipped. Automatically. Whoever it was, he was thankful for their advice.
"There's no way there is none, right?"
With an all-knowing smile as if he had already gotten an answer from his soul, he distanced himself.
"There are all sorts of demons out there. From weak demons that are far weaker than the goblins to demons that are strong enough to rival the seven great demons. It is easy to get contracted or control weaker demons without losing anything. However, when it comes to powerful demons, that's not the case.
"In order to gain control of the powers of the powerful demons, you have to give something in return or lose something of almost equal value. The stronger the demon the higher the payoff. The demon that you have under your control is without a doubt one of the strongest I have ever found. So, I am a little curious as to what you sacrificed in order to get contracted to it. What was that precious little thing that you lost or that you keep losing?"
His words and the way he phrased them were rattling Vanitas from the inside out. It was almost as if he had already figured it all out. Was that it?
[If he were to say that he knew all about it, I wouldn't be that surprised. I mean, the guy looks as if he knows the secret of this world. That is the sort of air around him. But, if he did know, why would he go out of his way to ask me about it? Does he actually not know anything and is trying to rile me up so I would fess out? Or is he just teasing me all while knowing everything from the start? No matter which is it, I shouldn't speak anything about it. If he knows about it then there is no need for me to say anything or try to lie. And if he doesn't then all the more so that I keep quiet about it.]
With that, Vanitas decided not to say anything concerning his current question.
"I don't want to talk about that matter."
"Ha-ha. Yeah, I bet." He laughed. As if he had seen that response coming.
"Well, I will stop prying much deeper than this, I guess." Those words put Vanitas's mind at ease.
"That's it for questions from my side. Although I have some more I want to learn about you, I will keep it aside for some other time.
"Now, if you have any sort of question, please go ahead and ask me."