"Edith! You missed a table." A man shouted at a waitress of an eatery.
"I did? My bad." The waitress ran towards the table and gave the customers who sat there their menus.
An elderly couple was sitting at the table. "Are you new here, lassie?" The old woman asked.
"Just started working here the other day." She answered.
"My daughter used to work here, that's why we come often." The old woman looked at the menu, not that there was anything new added to it, she probably already remembered most of it, given how frequent she went there.
The couple made their orders, and after being written down, Edith rushed to the kitchen. "That old woman is rather chatty." She murmured.
"Being a waitress isn't as easy as it sounds, is it?" A slightly older man wearing an apron approached her.
"It's only been a day and I feel like I've regretted my decision already. Maybe I should've picked a quieter place." Edith sighed. "But I need the money, debt's piling after the old man got crippled, I had to quit college and start working ever since."
"What kind of job you had?" He asked.
"Well, various stuff, some are things I'm not particularly proud of." She then dashed back to the tables with the customers' orders. Luckily for Edith, nobody came until the closing hour. With that, she finished another day.
Edith walked down the road when she noticed that someone was tailing her thanks to the reflection on a building's window. "What do you want? If it's money I've got none." She stopped walking.
A man showed up from the shadow, he uttered some random gibberish before running towards her while screaming on top of his lungs.
His movement was stopped in mere seconds. "What's your problem?" Chain links bound the man, he could not move an inch. "Saleos, is this guy a host?" She asked to presumably nobody, given that she was by herself.
"I can feel a faint trace of demon, however, he is not one." A voice in her head answered.
Edith tightened the chains binding the man. "He's just a normal person, then?" She checked the man's eyes and pulse. "This man is scared."
"Scared? I know a demon who can invoke someone's fear." The voice in her head said. "The demon's name is Balaam."
"Oh, it might be his work then." After suffocating the man unconscious, Edith walked away. "I can't believe the demons are actively attacking each other. You guys want the true king's seat that badly, huh?" She looked back to make sure that the man was still lying on the ground.
"Just like how your society is ruled by money, ours is ruled by power."
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that already. Still, thanks to that I'll be able to pay my family's debts off." Edith stretched her hands. "Who would've thought that there are bunch of rich men out there are willing to pay a huge amount to make someone a demon's host."
"It means that the title of true king worth a big number of money." The voice said smugly.
"Stupid, that means you demons are being sold like objects." Edith laughed.
"Oh, that person is a host." Edith heard a voice echoed inside her head saying that there was a demon host nearby.
Edith looked around, a man stood by a closed clothing store. "That one with thin beard?" She confirmed what the voice just said. "Saleos, we're not going to beat him up just like that, are we?" Edith smiled nervously.
"Personally, I am not a very hostile demon. However, there is nothing wrong with being cautious." Saleos replied.
Edith reluctantly approached the man. "They'll reopen in few days, I heard." She said.
"Hm? Oh, the store?" The man looked to his back. "I'm not going in, I'm just waiting for someone, actually."
Their eyes met, both noticed the sudden change in their gazes. The atmosphere between them became heavier just as both of the demons residing inside them becoming thrilled. "Edith, host of Saleos." She introduced herself while stretching her hand out.
The tone shifted in the man's face now that he was certain of her identity. "Dewey, host of Gaap." He took her hand and shook it.
When their hands gripped each other's, a shock was sent to their brains. They could sense the demon hiding right by their eyes. "Gaap... so you survived." Saleos seemed surprised.
"I did survive, unfortunately my previous host could not make it." Gaap said.
"Well, this is kinda awkward." Edith said. During a link, both hosts must shake each other's hand to establish non-hostile physical contact, that state allowed the demons inside their bodies to have conversation.
Gaap sighed. "The building where a number of hosts were living in suddenly was lit on fire. I could not sense demon trace aside the ones from the residents." He continued the story. "Four hosts including mine died that day."
"Actually, on our way here, we were attacked by a normal person. It was faint but there was definitely a small number of demon trace. Presumably, some demons used normal people to their advantage." Saleos gave his hypothesis regarding the matter.
Gaap sighed. "Have we really sunken that low?" His remark however, was met by a frown from Dewey. "Either way, I do think it is the perfect chance to propose an alliance."
"Yes, as a matter of fact, that was my intention upon meeting a host who is not after our lives." Saleos replied.
With that, the two established an alliance. From that moment onwards, the demons Saleos and Gaap would work together in aiming towards the title of true king. The host did not seem to be against the whole idea so they went along with the voices in their heads. Not only it would increase their chance of survival, it also would lessen the number of potential enemies.
Edith walked towards her apartment. "Well that was quite easy. I mean, that guy seems a bit weak but his demon Gaap might be very versatile." Seemingly, Edith talked to herself.
"Excuse me, I happened to hear you mentioning Gaap earlier." A male voice followed Edith. "How lucky, I've been trying to locate the person myself, but I've got no lead."
"What the hell, I couldn't sense you at all." She smiled nervously. When she peeked to her shoulder, she saw a face of a blonde man. "I shouldn't have taken the offer, now everyone seems to be after my life." She felt a pointy object was being held against her nape.
"Oh, don't worry. I won't skewer my only lead to the host of Gaap. So better start fessing up, yeah?" The man smiled.