Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Raven's trip to the Lifeclover was a short one because the moment Linkle was done placing protective charms on the poison immunity slips, he was off again to visit the blacksmith Reina. In the meantime, left behind with the other two–Amedith and Liliyana, Linkle was growing more and more bored.

Usually the earlier time of the day, her shop was flooded with customers trying to purchase some sort of potion or commission a medicine or elixir. But with the devil present inside her shop, she was forced to keep the doors closed which ate her away with boredom.

"Can you sit down for a moment?" With a snap of the fingers, the witch made Vlad's head disappear out of existence. "You've been running around my shop for an hour, how the hell are you not tired?"

Fiddling with a handful of Maine's scales dropped by Raven, Linkle kept glaring at Liliyana until the fae-child's embarrassment forced her to settle down. Her eyes dejected with a tinge of shame, Liliyana puffed her cheeks slightly.

"S-sorry…" She muttered, her head hung low, and her eyes glared up at Linkle.

"Hmmm?" Noticing the angry glare, Linkle's eyes flickered between Amedith and her. Being in her wrinkly old form, she assumed Liliyana thought of her as a hag who just liked to yap her mouth. "You wouldn't be the only devil in town to try and intimidate me, kid."

The phrase meant to be forgotten perked up Amedith's ears. He'd never heard of another devil in Athenia, but if Linkle had mentioned it there could've been some truth to her statement.

"Who're you talking about?" Turning in his chair, the warrior sat down facing Linkle lazily leaning on her counter. "Who is the other devil?"

Slowly turning her head back towards him, Linkle fanned her head to escape the summer heat. Sweating from every pore, and having to deal with a full-sized devil that acted like a child, she was far from patient, but even so, she tried not to let it get to her just yet.

"The Mistress, who else? The bitch has been running the underground for god knows how long, do you really think a human could live that long and look as she does?" Shaking her head, she conjured Vlad again. "Go get me a pitcher of water."

As the vampire's head emerged, Liliyana's head lifted right up. Her eyes glittering like a curious feline, she wanted to play with it again, however, knowing this might happen, Linkle quickly turned to her and glared her down into her seat.

"You've seen her?" From what Amedith knew, very few people had ever seen the Mistress's face, and from the way Linkle worded her sentence, it sounded like she was one of them.

"Not really, but it doesn't take a genius to notice that humans aren't supposed to live for hundreds of years," turning her head back to Amedith, the witch presented her case. "You must've heard rumors about visiting the maze during and after the last holy war?"

"What of it?" He asked, his eyes frowning with bemusement.

"While not exactly called the maze at the time apparently, the place still existed, but who was running it? Nobody knows, and yet she has dirt on every person in this city. An ancestor? Maybe, hiding stuff like that to the point where not a single rumor of an establishment change is made out? Nahhh, something's off, and only a devil could pull stuff that sneaky."

"Even if you're right, what you're saying is nothing more than wild speculation," Amedith retorted.

"Yeah, and some people don't believe in gods even if they're fucking their whore wives behind their back," getting tired of the argument, Linkle tried to seal Amedith and Liliyana's lips, but her spell only worked on the fae-child for some reason.

Growing a bit curious about the spell's failure, she squinted her eyes and kept staring at Amedith.

'He'd gotten stronger, and so has his resistance to status effects it seems.' With a sigh, she grabbed Maine's scales off the counter and began heading in to check them instead of lingering around debating the same topic over and over again.

'Wouldn't doubt if the Mistress is a devil, but far as I know, so could be her.' Watching Linkle heading inside her workshop, Amedith turned his attention to Liliyana instead. Sweating like a pig all day because of the intense heat, both of them were in dire need of a shower and the musk in the air was just proof of it.

"Aghhh…When will this day end?" Tired of waiting around in the shop, Amdeith wanted to get back to their journey just so he could walk outdoors again.

Liliyana, however, being used to being trapped, didn't mind staying inside much, especially since at least the scenery was different. Will-O seemed just as excited as the ball of light fluttered through the air. Moving in between bottles, swirling around Liliyana's body, following the trajectory of her gaze, the wisp was far more energetic than the ex-hero and even the fae.

"Fuck this we're going out!" Getting off the chair, Amedith followed Linkle into her workshop.

Getting up as well, Liliyana wasn't far behind her savior. Being new to the outside world, she wanted to stay close to him as it not only brought her comfort, but a sense of security as well. Bursting into the witch's shop, the duo managed to piss her off even more than she already was.

Although upon hearing they wanted to leave the place and simply required a mask to disguise their appearance, she let them have it just like she'd done once in the past.

Without wasting a second, Amedith with a false appearance led Liliyana outside. She too had been turned to look like a human, although those affected by the spell saw each other's true appearance.

"Where are we going?" Liliyana asked, excitedly.

"Anywhere is better than sitting inside," with the slightest of smiles, Amedith looked at the fae. "But if you want, you can choose the first spot that we should visit."

Knowing well enough that she'd been trapped for a long time, he let her have a chance to enjoy the joys of a city before they were forced to continue on the journey where who knows how long it would be before they reached another city.

Overjoyed at the suggestion, Liliyana decided that she wanted to see what a bazaar in the city of Athenia looked like.