Chapter 58
Astrys stared at Zeth. “What?”
“I don’t know for sure. But my Skill doesn’t mention anything about a time limit on how long demons can stay. And the Class I have has a history of giving me Skills that are improved versions of Blood Mage Skills. So, if it doesn’t mention the limitation, there’s a good chance it simply doesn’t have it.”
Her normally dispassionate face broke, showing a mixture of shock, hope, and clear distrust. “...So, you’re saying you’ll allow me to stay?”
“You’ll die if you return, right? Seems like a mutually beneficial situation if you stick around. You get to avoid death, and I get a demon that won’t stab me in the back the moment they can.”
She nodded slowly, her face settling once again. “So you will be having me perform labor in exchange for my life. I understand.”
“I guess so,” he said. A moment of silence passed between them.
In the back of his mind, he knew it’d probably be better to try and establish a closer rapport with Astrys if he was going to be spending a large amount of time working with her, but quite frankly, he just didn’t want to. Perhaps it was his older experiences with her kind influencing his reasoning, or perhaps it was simply her fear aura forcing him to see her in a distasteful manner. Most likely, it was both.
But as far as he was concerned, the only healthy relationship he could ever have with a demon was one that was distant, impersonal, and strictly related to business. He had to always keep it in his mind that the only thing keeping this monster from slaughtering him alongside the entire town was that he personally wasn’t letting her. He couldn’t allow himself to feel sorry for her situation. Getting close to her would just open himself up to being manipulated.
“So,” he continued, “it’s still going to be some time before twenty-four hours pass and we know for sure whether this will be the case. Until then, I have some business to attend to elsewhere. You stay here.”