Demon's Virtue-Chapter 811: A Wonderful Trip

Joyous laughter filled the air. People were talking and chatting and having fun. Monsters next to people, sharing their food and playing games, telling stories and forming bonds.

Eiro was watching from atop the altar, looking down at the people before him. This was beautiful. Absolutely and utterly beautiful. Eiro's heart was filled with love as he felt the power of the offering course through him. He had levelled up about five times, actually, which was actually pretty crazy considering how strong Eiro was right now. He could probably slaughter this entire town, and might only level up five times then.

"Now I get why demon lords placed their own patterns into common demonology," he said with a smile, as Ariella walked up to him with a smile and some food in hand. It was some grilled goat, some fresh bread, and roasted vegetables. Smelled pretty good, actually.

Ariella sat down on the altar next to Eiro, "Wouldn't that mean that all demon lords have evolved dozens of times, then? If it gives so much experience?"

Eiro scoffed, "No, no, definitely not. The experience was just a side-effect, anyway. Most of it really went toward the blessing that I gave out, and my domain in hell that I distributed the offering's power through. I'll show it to you sometime, it's quite pretty there right now, I feel."

"Hm, that sounds nice. So... their domains are powerful, then?"

Once again, Eiro denied that, "Not particularly. Demon lords are extremely powerful, but... they compare to a royal monster, at best. Frankly, the Devil was a lot stronger than most Demon Lords."

"Oh, that's... interesting," Ariella said, taking a bite of her food before offering a bite to Eiro as well. He bit off a small chunk of the meat being held toward him and started chewing. He split up his mouth to eat with one and talk with the other. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"When's the last time you've heard of large-scale demon offerings?"

Ariella thought for a moment, "I think I heard about one a few years back, in the western peninsula. There was a spree of disappearances, and it turns out someone was turning people into sacrifices for some kind of demon lord. Don't know which one, though."

"Right. That's what usually counts as a large scale offering. When have you heard of a whole town coming together, offering things from their own accord? They offered their time, things they loved. Their emotions, and gratitude. A single person's gratitude can't be weighed against a single person's lif, but... the gratitude and love of a whole town? That's another matter altogether," Eiro pointed out, leaning forward as Leon came trotting over tiredly. He picked the boy up and placed him onto his lap, letting him nap there, "And while one's life is finite, love is bottomless and neverending. As you can see, there's still plenty to go around."

Ariella placed a hand onto Eiro's, squeezing it tightly, "Bottomless and neverending, huh?"

"That's what I think, at least," he responded, continuing to look out at the crowd.

With a smile, Ariella rested her head on the demon's shoulder, "I love things like this."

"Demonic offerings?"

With a laugh, Ariella replied, "Festivals. They're just so lively and fun. I'm sure if people saw this town like this, they would get what you're planning immediately."

Eiro's eyes widened for a moment, "Yes. You're right. They would. Hold on," the demon said, as a duplicate quickly climbed out of his body and made his way through the crowd. Soon, he reached Gobu, placing a hand onto his shoulder.

"Oh! My lord, would you like to have some of this? It's quite tasty," he explained, holding forward a giant frog's leg, but Eiro quickly shook his head.

"No thanks, I'm a duplicate, I don't need to eat," Eiro replied, "But listen. Festivals."

"... Yes?"

"Festivals. We're going to turn this place into a city of festivals."

Gobu raised his brows, wiping the grease from the corners of his mouth, "Festivals. Okay, that would... work. So, what, do you think we should give you regular offerings?"

"Oh, no, no, that's not what I mean. I'm not trying to fish for offerings. I do think this might be a good idea though. Maybe every couple of years. The blessing I gave this city should last for at least a year or two, so maybe whenever it's about to run out. But we can make it a bigger deal next time. The city will grow, we will have more monsters and people living here, everyone will be more established and able to create greater things. At some point, the city will open up, and tourists may come to visit the festival," Eiro explained, and though Gobu found the idea rather appalling, he seemed to understand what Eiro was getting at.

"I see. But... it doesn't sound like you want to keep it to just the offerings, if they're supposed to happen every couple of years."

"Exactly. I already considered this in the past, and while my idea was to have her come to Skyhart's capital city... what would you think about this city being the host for the change of the seasons?"

"The change of the..." Gobu started, before understanding what Eiro meant, "Do you mean the ladies of the seasons? Like the Lady of Winter who gave you her blessing?"

"Exactly those. In the town where I grew up, they would also always decorate here and there, but I think the Ladies would enjoy it if there was even more hustle and bustle. Plus, there are some great spots nearby that are filled with enough mana to act as a gateway for them. I know the city square is blocked off with temporary housing right now, but if that was cleared out, and we got a proper path built for the ladies to walk through, it should work."

Gobu slowly nodded, already thinking about what they could do, "I see... but weren't you on rather... bad terms with the Lady of Autumn?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'Bad Terms', I feel like I could convince her if I got to talk to her now," Eiro pointed out, smiling.

Gobu thought for a moment, "So... four festivals a year, plus every couple years a massive harvest festival where we make an offering to you to re-establish your blessing?"

"Yes. I think that would turn this place into a wonderful festival town. Don't you?"

Eiro knew that Gobu wasn't a fan of this idea. He knew that Gobu was still uncertain about attracting too much attention. But the demon was confident that this would work. All the humans that were mingling with the monsters in this town were proof enough of that.

"... Of course," Gobu slowly nodded, agreeing to Eiro, and the demon just smiled happily.

"Glad we're in agreement, then."

The duplicate's body fell apart immediately and disappeared. Gobu looked over at Eiro's main body, giving one slow nod, and the demon nodded back.

"What were you just talking to him about?" Ariella asked, and Eiro just smiled, placing his head onto his lover's, which was still leaning onto his shoulder. Leon had fallen asleep by now, and the demon smiled while looking forward.

"Just how we're going to keep going in this place."

---

---

---

"Come on, guys, get into the carriage already!" Sammy yelled out, and Eiro laughed a little as he snapped his finger, blocking a spark of mana flying from the girl toward Arc and Rudy.

"Honey, please don't use your skill on your brothers."

"Then they should just come here already! We were supposed to leave like an hour ago!" As she spoke, Sammy once more attempted to use her skill. This time, Eiro just weakened it a little, figuring a little bit of suggestion wasn't the worst thing.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming, don't get your panties in a twist." Arc said with a smile, and Sammy grimaced slightly.

"Ew, don't say stuff like that."

"Hm? What, 'panties'?"

"Yuck," Sammy shivered lightly, looking at her father, "Dad, can Arc drive in the other carriage?"

"With the luggage?"

"Yeah, he's annoying."

Eiro looked over at Arc. For a moment, he considered the request, but then shook his head. "Sorry, I don't trust him in there on his own."

"Aaargh, just why are you so reckless all the time?! Just please, stop saying that word!"

Arc let out a long sigh, nodding his head, "Fine. If you want me to, I'm going to stop saying 'panties', okay?"

Sammy held her hands forward and mimed choking him, and then just turned her head away. Eiro smiled over at Ariella, "What a wonderful trip this is clearly going to be."

The nephilim scoffed and nodded, as the carriages finally started moving. Arc was waving out of the window toward his new friend, the young otherworlder girl. Boju was sitting in the carriage, starting to read a bit, and Felix was just looking out of the window. Leon was asleep, and Clementine and Rudy were chatting a bit. Avalin was playing with some dolls that Eiro had made for her a while back.

And Sammy, of course, was pouting while staring out of the window opposite to where Arc was standing.

The demon smiled.

It really was going to be a wonderful trip.