“You’re telling me that in these six hours you managed to find… 3 lost animals?” The girl in front of the counter looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She was obviously suspicious, and honestly, who wouldn’t be. He was pretty sure there weren’t many people with a nose like his. “The dog was the size of a house, and I’m pretty sure the cat was trying to hunt me and not the other way around, haha…” Her look only grew more suspicious. “...and the bug?” He flinched from the memory, shivers running down his spine.

He still didn’t know how the boy just… let it touch him like that. “I… I don’t want to think about the beastbug right now.” He was lucky to have had his nose for this quest, but it certainly hadn’t helped with his disgust towards animals. She grinned, which was quite surprising coming from the grumpy, somehow old as hell, lady. Now that he knew her real age it only made it more pronounced how young she looked. At first, he had marked her in her early twenties, but to think she had been “decades” older than him, as she said.

That put her in her forties, at least.

Something about that made him notice her more, she was a tanner skin color, with hazel, round eyes that took up a whole chunk of her face, making her look younger. She had a bit of chub on her cheeks, which really contrasted with the insincere look in her eye. Most of all, she was cute, and he hated that he was only starting to notice it when her age was at least twice his. This was going to be a losing battle, no matter which path he took.

It only came to him now that he’d been staring, the lady never once changing her expression. Well, almost nothing. He noticed the small smirk on her face, barely noticeable, but also expressed in her eyes, genuine. She knew.

Fuck.

He opened his mouth to speak but found it rather dry. “Uh, your name. I never… caught it?” Thank god for this demonic, mundane tone in his voice, he’d have been a stuttering mess otherwise. For a moment he even considered using that new power of his, just to see what was going on in that girl’s head. But it would be rude to do that, he supposed. Not to mention how spectacularly using it had worked on the last girl, even if it was completely by accident.

It would definitely have its uses, though. A really good example would be her noticing the nametag on her shirt. It wasn’t until she motioned to it that he noticed something more than her doe eyes, narrowed to the point where “Read the nametag. My name’s Jenny, and unless you have any more business with me I suggest you leave.” Her tone was full of mirth as she placed the coins in his hands, a reward for the quests he’d done. Reward… Ah. Aaha…

Fuck.

He nodded and turned around, making his way to the quest board. Girls liked hardworking men, right? Maybe taking a few more quests would get her to notice him… “What were you thinking about?” He turned around in shock, the sudden voice surprising him. He turned around, having to look down to see the person. Oh, it was… that girl. The muscly friend of Ley… Lidia. “Uh, just completing a quest. I mean, going for another quest. You know, quests.”

She giggled, turning to the board with a smile. “I can help out with quests, you know. Which ones do you need?” Shit. Her name. What was her name. “I-I really don’t think that’s necessary, I don’t think you need too many people to complete an E-rank quest. Besides, I only need two more before I rank up… what?” She had her mouth open, looking at him as if he’d grown an extra foot. “Ranking up… You’re an F-rank right now?”

He nodded, wishing the emotion reading skill would activate on the fly instead of giving him control. The trigger was always harder to pull when it was in your hands. Though, the trigger was starting to look a lot nicer the more this girl smiled at him. “If I… If we help you along with the quests you’ll make it to C-rank in no time, you know?” He took a step back, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She took a step forward, they seemed to like doing that a lot, lately.

“The nice lady at the counter told me we shouldn’t be doing that, you know? We could… just hang out later.” The girl scoffed, “Her? She says that to everyone. As long as this isn’t a paid thing or anything it’s fine in her eyes. Besides, I’ve heard from Lidia just how well you took on Frederick. That at least makes you a C-rank in power, right?” He turned to the lady at the counter, who wasn’t even looking at him. Damnit, that somehow hurt even more.

Sasha… Sarah… Maddie? Sadie! “Look, Sadie… I appreciate it, really I do, but…” He had to do it, he had to pull the trigger. “I really don’t want to get on people’s bad sides. I’m already at a disadvantage with… the way I look. I’m sure it wouldn’t help if people saw me riding on your back, yeah?” His face, usually cold and emotionless, suddenly flowed with a mix of emotions.

Too bad she couldn’t see a damn piece of it.

But his voice was enough to send the message.

He was scared and insecure about how others would see him. That’s what he’d make her think. Mix truth with the lies, that way one can play it off more naturally. It was easier to remember that way, too. Though, it wasn’t too far off from the truth. He certainly was terrified of how people would react if they saw what was underneath the bandages.

No one would react well to a demon.

Change the subject, make sure she doesn’t get a word in. Make her seem in control as if she’s changing the subject herself. He pulled one of the C-rank quests from the board, making sure the giant C was on full display. She took the bait. “Ah! You still can’t take those. It’s against the rules to pull down quests unless you mean to take them. Look, give it here.” He passed the paper to her, not even looking at the details.

She’d provide those for him. “Sorry, I had no idea. What’s it about, anyway?” She opened her mouth to speak and he nodded along, barely listening to the words. The information wasn’t important, something about a group of harpies. What he really had to focus on were the facial cues. He just had to let her go on about her adventures with her friends. The content, the meat, didn’t matter. All he had to do was look for the cues in her face, in her eyes. A look for approval, a look of bitterness, a look of distraught.

The less he talked, the better. The girl seemed more receptive to those who listen, the fact that she was friends with Lidia made that apparent. He waited until she almost tired of the conversation, before pulling out two E-rank quests he’d looked at from the quest board. One was with help on a bridge for 3 silver, while the other was to help as a bodyguard for a merchant. The pay was at the least 3 silver for the latter, which meant there was a chance for more.

“It's been nice talking, Sadie. Let’s hang out again when I’m C-rank, ok?” The girl was a bit startled but happy to have talked. Good, she hadn’t held a grudge.

“I’ll ask Lidia to see if we can get the group together for a quest, ok?”

“I promise I’ll wear a fancier mask for the occasion…” He said, whimsically before departing to the counter. Jenny was filling out some paperwork, her arms almost mechanical in the way she worked. She was experienced. He placed the papers down on the counter, and for a moment he saw a look of amusement in Jenny’s eyes. “Bodyguard? Quite a big step from catching bugs, right?”

He shrugged, trying his best to look nonchalant. “I’m stronger than I look.” She didn’t scoff at that, for once, which made him feel pretty good for some reason. Damn, he really set the bar low… “I can see that. Just try not to overdo it. We can’t let someone act so reckless on their first day…”

He grinned, the smile looking sadistic on his face had the bandages been removed. She cared.

Goddamit.

He forced the smile down with his hands, turning off the demonic power that let him see others’ intentions. When it settled down he could feel his brain ache as if it had just had a workout. “I’ll keep that in mind. Mind telling me where I can find these places?” She smiled, more of a smirk than anything else but nice all the same, as she pulled open a drawer from the bottom, pulling out a map of the city.

She reached her hand out to give it to him, and he almost grabbed it before she pulled away. “ 1 silver. These maps are expensive.” He looked at her in shock, before realizing she was looking at him with some small expectation.

Ah, goddamnit. How was that fair?

_______________________________________________________

He watched on as his arm was taken by a short, pudgy man with a thick mustache, a chill running up his spine as they felt around. Being manhandled by someone in the dead of night really wasn’t his idea of a good time. “...You look a bit stringy, boy. And the mask on your face… Don’t tell me you came here just to make a quick buck. Can you even fight?” The man reached for his shoulders and then his face, only for the hand to stop in place. Elliot’s grip was gentle but unshakeable, even when the man tried pulling away.

“Please, not the mask.” He’d just gotten it, a hood that barely covered his shoulders and reached up to cover his body and face. It had cost him a whopping five silver along with the pants, sleeved shirt and gloves. It had been the only outfit that provided a full coverage of his body, however, so he couldn’t just turn it down. It was way easier to breathe in, as well, which when he first put it on he had wanted to cry. He was thankful that he now looked less like a serial killer, edging more to a regular killer vibe. Pretty sure it was the only reason he hadn’t been immediately sent away by the picky merchant.

Every small bit counts.

He let the man ‘test his strength’ a bit more before letting go of his arm. Surprisingly, the man didn’t seem to be angry. “Gods, inner magic? That’s… Why would you take this quest!?” Despite the worry in the words, the grin creeping up on the man’s face seemed to say they were quite happy with the outcome. There was something wrong with the way the man was sweating, but he decided it was for the best that he didn’t use his emotion reading ability on them. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

“...I needed the money. I won’t ask for more, if that’s what you’re scared of.” The man shook his head, running towards his cart and pulling out a small bag. “T-that’s not it! I’ll gladly pay for your help! Five silver, enough for a proper D-rank quest, you know?” What!? He was tossed the bag, to which Elliot caught it with a hand. He opened it to find 5 silver pieces. With this, he wouldn’t even have to worry about the money he’d used.

Of course, there was probably a catch. “...what do you need me to do?” His voice was cold, colder than normal. This man might not have done anything t him yet, but strangers weren’t to be trusted, especially in this place. He’d make sure this kind city wouldn’t make him soft, he had to have a healthy paranoia if he wanted to do anything right. The pudgy man noticed his wariness, surprisingly. Merchants, they were a bit too good at noticing these things.

“Now, now… I’m sure we started off on the wrong foot. My name is Gerald, Gerald Underwing.” He grabbed his hand to shake it, a wide smile on their face. This time Elliot didn’t try to overpower him, no sense to antagonize your employer. “I had tried placing a D-rank quest, but the pay had been a bit much for me… so I decided all I needed was the guild’s name to protect me. To think that an adventurer such as yourself would choose to come now…”

…This had bad luck written all over it. The small detail that this had to be done by night also helped with the ominous feeling in his stomach. He couldn’t deny that this seemed sketchy, but it honestly didn’t seem bad enough to warrant any worry. Sure, he was probably being ripped off but… Meh, he’d had worse happen to him. He also wasn’t sure he could back out of the quest without good reason. “What do you need me to do?”

The merchant only laughed, going to the handcart and grabbing onto the handles. “Just follow me, sir. We can make it to the next city over and come back by the day after tomorrow.” Elliot nodded, walking towards the cart to-

“What?”

What!?

“...What, good sir? We’ll be there and back to Heartlake before the next day’s over.”

The two looked at each other for a second, before Elliot’s head immediately tried its best to try to come up with excuses to weasel out of the situation. Eventually, his good side won over, and with a sigh of defeat, he accepted the fact that he’d have to leave the city sooner than he thought. Funny how things work like that. “...I work for you, Mr. Underwing. I’ll push the cart, so please don’t worry. You may sit on the cart if you’d like.” It was the only way he could think of to gloss over his outburst.

The out-of-shape man seemed quite receptive to it.