"Woah, this is an incredible house!" Leif exclaimed.
"As expected of a famous hero like Master," Tara stated.
"Come on, it's not that big, and it's supposed to be a secret that I own it," Raed said. "If the royal court hears about this they'll send people to repossess this one too. And no, I didn't take out a loan on this house either! All cash!"
The group of five, consisting of the three humans, Raed the alchemist, Leif the blacksmith, and Tara the archer, and two demons, Kaiti and Tiryui, stood in front of Raed's safehouse.
"Who'd you kill to get this place?" Kaiti teasingly asked.
The two-story building had sandstone brick walls and a sloped slate roof. The windows were tinted and appeared smoky black from the outside. The front door was made of sturdy oak. Raed turned the key and pushed on the brass handle to open the entrance. The group of five entered the modest house.
The foyer doubled as a dining room and tripled as a kitchen. However, the dishes were packed away and the range looked unused. Several lights hanged from the ceiling. They burned with a contained flame inside glass bulbs.
"Make yourselves at home," Raed said, closing the door behind him.
Leif set his spear in a corner and dropped the heavy bags containing supplies on the hardwood floor next to the spear. Tara placed her bow on a small end table. The two demons, Kaiti and Tiryui, sat in the comfortable cushioned chairs at the large wooden dining table.
"I only have water and preserved food right now," Raed said, bringing a tray holding five glasses filled with water to the table. He set down the tray and arranged the glasses, offering one each to Tiryui and Kaiti.
Tara and Leif joined after they put down their equipment. After all five finished their drinks, Raed led them upstairs to show them their rooms.
There were four bedrooms on the second floor. Two rooms on each side of the hallway stood across from each other. Two bathrooms stood across from each other at the end of the hall.
Tiryui got her room first. It was a modest bedroom with a simple bed. A table with a chair sat in the middle and a light hanged on the ceiling. The floor was covered with a thick beige carpet.
Next was Kaiti's room. It was identical to the first, and they would soon find out all four bedrooms were identical.
"Who did your interior decorating?" Kaiti asked.
"Someone from the village," Raed said.
Leif and Tara got the last two rooms.
"Where will you sleep?" Leif asked Raed.
"I'll be downstairs. There are some guild matters I need to finish. You two behave."
After the Leif and Tara went in their rooms and closed the doors, Raed walked over to Kaiti's door, the closest to the stairs and on the left. He knocked.
"Visiting me already?" Kaiti said after opening the door.
"I wanted to go over some matters, as we discussed earlier today," Raed said.
"Can't the serious stuff wait until morning? I'm tired from all the walking."
Raed turned around and began to walk away when a hand held him by the arm. It surprised Raed. He looked behind him.
"Come in to my office, why don't you?" Kaiti said jokingly. She pulled him in and then took a seat at the bed.
Raed entered and sat on the chair.
"This is about Yui, isn't it?" Kaiti asked.
Raed nodded.
"Will she be ok? I mean she did lose her son just a few days ago." Raed was surprised he asked. He didn't expect that he would care.
"She's a strong woman, Raed. I'm sure she'll grieve, but only when she's alone."
"The quest objective completed when I scanned her son's core. That means the guild was actually targeting either him or her," Raed observed.
Kaiti looked worried.
"Whoever placed the initial request to the guild must have known that those two weren't threats. Then on top of that, why would the guild verify the request and make it an official quest?" Raed wondered.
Kaiti looked at him with a glint in her eye.
"What's up with the look?" Raed asked.
"I was just thinking about how you saved Rurenken yesterday and then today you saved Yui."
"It was," Raed began but Kaiti interrupted.
"Don't say 'It was all for my quests', because there is no way a quest would involve doing so much to help demons."
Raed had to admit with some reluctance that Kaiti had a point. There were other ways to gain her help, and she was of great benefit in getting Tiryui's location out of Marcus.
"It wasn't my doing," Raed said. "For convincing me to save your wedding singer, you have to thank Leif."
"My sister's wedding singer. But I'll consider it as good deeds. If you have a comparable request for me in the future, you may ask."
"Regarding the matter of the jewelry insignias, and the underground prison," Raed said.
Kaiti stopped him. "Not this again. I'm in no mood for intrigue and mystery, but if you are so fixated on what the cultist knew, then find me again in the morning. Now, do you have anything else that you needed? Something that does not involve delving into shady human dealings?"
Raed paused to think. There was still something that perhaps he would still need Kaiti's assistance, or at least her approval.
The one last quest with an expiration date coming up. He took a glance at his guild card while Kaiti idly regarded him.
[Quest: Riverside Horror]
That was the quest linked to Kaiti's group, but she was not going to allow Raed to harm one of her demons. And the demon responsible was himself a victim of the drug contained in their water purification tablets.
Raed still did not know any further information about the identity of the Benian monk who supplied the tainted pills. Furthermore, was that related to Marcus's group, the underground prison, and the cabin in the woods? Raed shook away the web of questions that seeped into his mind. One thing at a time, he thought.
Right now, he needed to complete the last quest, and that should be straightforward enough for Kaiti to help him. One last favor before turning in for the night.
He needed something to substitute for a slain or captured demon. What was it that his guild rep Christine said? Something about personal items that a demon wouldn't give up while still alive?
Raed gave Kaiti a quizzical look.
"What do you want?" She said.
Dare he risk it? Kaiti's power was immense and Raed was certain that if she were serious she could destroy him down to the smallest particle. But she was also playful and capricious, if those qualities didn't get erased during her time in the cult.
To be bold and reckless, Raed thought. What was he doing, he was far too old to be acting this way. But who's to judge that other than himself? If he never tried, he would never know. And so, he rolled the dice.
"I want your underwear," Raed requested.
Kaiti gave him a slow, smoldering stare. The azure flames in her pupils glowed like sapphire embers. The violet aura around her began to expand in small subtle increments. She took a slow, deep breath.
And then Kaiti removed her boots and socks.
"Do you need the top, the bottom, or both?" She asked.
Wait, she's actually going along with it? Raed thought.
"Uh, I didn't think you'd actually do it," Raed said.
Kaiti cast off her blue mantle with the rainbow-feathered collar. She was left wearing a white silk shirt and thin blue leggings.
"I assume you have a practical purpose for my undergarments," Kaiti said. "And if it is for a frivolous purpose such as pleasure-seeking I will not hesitate to destroy you down to the smallest particle."
"Yes, believe it or not, I do have a legit reason. I still need to finish the [River Horror] quest, and I figured you wouldn't let me capture or kill the demon that the quest is targeting."
"You figured correctly, go on," Kaiti said.
"So that gave me an idea after I confirmed it with Chaibi's core."
"Did you now."
Raed nodded. "I confirmed that if I use the guild's automated instant verification system, then it doesn't matter if I satisfy the objectives using something from the exact demon, as long as it's a demon that's connected to the target."
"An intriguing find, I would agree. And how does that relate to my wardrobe?"
"The guild rep I have told me that their instant verification system can also work on non-body parts, but those items would have to be things that living demons would never give up."
Kaiti nodded her understanding. "Oh, I see now. So you want to use my underwear to satisfy the objectives of one of your quests, which targets one of my people."
"Right," Raed replied.
"So do you need the top, the bottom, or both?" Kaiti repeated her question.
"Either one is fine," Raed said.
"How indecisive," Kaiti said with some hints of disappointment. "Very well, it shall be the top then."
"If you would have decided on the top anyway, then why did you take off your boots and socks?"
"Oh? I wanted to get comfortable."
"We were already sitting down before that happened."
"And it was a perfect opportunity." Kaiti sent Raed a mischievous smile. "I can have my frivolous moments, you know."
She removed the undergarment under her shirt and handed it to Raed, who took it without a reaction.
"Aw, you're no fun," Kaiti complained.
Raed ignored her and held the undergarment in one hand while the guild card in his other hand scanned the clothing. He waited for the confirmation sound to beep.
Kaiti watched patiently as Raed scanned her underwear. She knew that some adventurer guilds used to take body parts from demons to prove they completed their quests. If the current system could be tricked by undergarments then that was a useful piece of information to know, Kaiti thought.
A ping and a message popped up on the guild card hologram projection.
[Objectives: Slay/capture the demons: (1/1)]
[Rewards Granted: 50 lei, 1 high quality fishing rod, 10 high quality lures]
"Ha! I beat the system!" Raed laughed in triumph. Now he had all three expiring quests completed, and a story to tell Christine when he got back to Finulid City!
"Hey Raed, you want to return that to me or are you going to keep it for yourself?" Kaiti asked with a teasing grin.
Raed shook his head and returned it to Kaiti.