The girls woke up and walked downstairs to eat their breakfast except for Isdis, who remained in the room. She couldn’t get out in front of people, so Aella got her food in the room.
Arad walked outside and stood in the street, taking a deep breath. ^Nothing beats the fresh air of the morning.^ He smiled, looking around.
He stopped, looking around. A lot of people were staring at him. It’s strange to see a man as tall and muscular as him around.
A man approached Arad, “Are you a paladin, young man?” He asked with a smile. “I was looking for someone to banish an imp from my father’s abandoned house,”
Arad shook his head, “Sorry, I’m an adventurer. A sorcerer,” He smiled, scratching his head, “I know nothing of banishing imps,” He could kill the monster. But would rather take the girls to the market.
The man smiled, “Come on, I’m sure your oath urges you to help,”
Arad pulled the guild card from his pocket and showed it to the man, “Look, I’m a sorcerer.”
The man stared at it and gasped, “Wait, you weren’t joking?” He stared at Arad, “Most sorcerers are thin like mages. I might have believed you had you said a fighter or a barbarian,”
The man scratched his head, “I’ve been trying to find a paladin for days. None of them has time to deal with an imp,”
“Neither I do,” Arad stared at him, “I have more important things to tend to,”
The man looked at Arad, “Look, you’re big, and I’m sure you have a deadly spell or two. I will give you fifty silver coins to blast the little devil back to hell. Just freeze it or burn it, whatever power your blood gives,”
Arad sighed, “Leave, I don’t have time,”
“Come on, please,”
Arad sighed, looking back into the tavern. The girls would take a minute or two to get ready. He then looked at the end of the street and saw a stall selling fruits.
Fifty silver coins would get him a full basket with change, a good snack for the girls during the day.
Arad looked at the man, “Where is your house?”
“It’s an abandoned home outside the city,” The man said, pointing into the distance, “That way. Please wait here. I will go hire a carriage,”
“That won’t be necessary. I told you I don’t have time,” Arad caught the man by the wrist. The scenery around them changed in the blink of an eye.
The man stared around, his eyes darting between every stone and grass blade, “What happened? We were in the city,”
“Stop crying. Where is the house?” Arad glared back at him, “Told you I don’t have time,”
The man gulped, swallowing his words. He realized the only explanation was that they teleported. Such magic is so rare that you barely find an archmage capable of using it. “It’s from here, sir,” He didn’t want to prey further, instead focused on praying to the gods he didn’t cross paths with an A-rank, or gods forbid, an S-rank.
Arad started walking, and the man fearfully trailed after him, ^If he’s an A-rank, he must know that fifty silver coins is too low to slay an imp. It’s at least two gold coins per head,^
They reached the house, and the man pulled the key, slowly opening the door and looking inside.
Almost immediately, two red glowing eyes emerged in the dark. A red-skinned gremlin with bat wings fire burning from the tip of its tail glared at them.
The man cried, and the devil sensed his fear, rushing forward with bloodlust, growling like a dog.
The man fell on his butt, and the imp saw Arad, freezing in his place. Those purple stares pierced his soul. That man wasn’t afraid, but staring at him like food.
The imp growled, and the second one fell from the ceiling.
The man screamed again, crawling away in tears. “By the gods! There were two, sir, run away!”
Thud! Arad walked forward, getting into the house with a smile on his face. The two imps shook. Arad’s face made it clear. Seeing a second one only made him hungrier. More food the better.
It was then that his scent finally reached them, and they turned to run away. That man was a dragon, and they wanted nothing with him.
BAM! Arad lunged forward, grabbing the imps by their heads. CRACK! Blood trailed down their red necks unseen, and Arad walked with them back to the man outside.
“They are dead,” He said with a passive face.
The man stared at Arad, tears, and snout trailing down his ugly face, “You killed them?”
“Of course, that’s why I wasted time coming here,” Arad replied, dropping the corpses on the ground. “Do you have a way to dispose of the corpses?” He wanted to take them if he didn’t need them.
“Devil corpses, It’s better to send them to the church so they can investigate and find their source. Killing the fiends is the first step of the process after all,” The man replied, barely standing up.
Arad sighed, he really wanted to eat them, but Alas, an apple would be better. He extended his palm to the man, “There were two, so it’s one gold coin,”
They stared at Arad’s hand for a second. And then back at his face, “Of course, sir!” He pulled a gold coin from his purse and put it on Arad’s palm.
Arad clenched his fist and smiled, “Thank you. Want to get back to the city?”
The man shook his head, “I need to stay here for a while. You can leave without me,” Arad smiled, “Then see you later,” ZON! He disappeared into thin air.
*** 𝒷𝒹ℴ𝓿𝓁.𝓬𝓸𝓂
When the girls got out of the inn, they saw Arad sitting beside the wall with a basket full of fruits, eating grapes while waiting. “What took you so long?” He extended the basket to them.
****
Hours later, the man found a paladin and brought him to see the corpses. “Sir, what do you think?”
“Imps are dangerous to fight without holy magic. They can curse people.” The paladin said in a calm voice, inspecting the imps. “Are you saying he crushed their head with his bare hands?”
“Yes, you can see their crumbling skulls,” The man replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“And you say he’s a sorcerer?” The paladin asked again.
“Yes, he could use teleportation magic, so no mistaking that,” He added.
The paladin stood, scratching his beard, “A sorcerer with a blessed body, great magic, and the devils ran away from seeing him,” He stared at the man, “And you say he only took one gold coin for two imps?”
“Yes, albeit he seemed a bit angry about it. Impatient, he said he had more important work to do,”
The Paladin stared at the man with a smile, “Suck generosity, power of will and might.” He lifted his hand, hitting his plate armor with a sense of pride.
“I say you have met a holy soul sorcerer, a man blessed with the power of the celestial and angels. That’s the only explanation,” He smiled, “He might not belong to our order, but the goodness of his heart flows like rivers, blessing those around him.”
“To think I met such a man,” The man mumbled, “What do you think?”
The paladin looked at the man, “Nothing, but I will try finding him. He might be willing to join our order. A man of his power could lead a battalion in no time, smiting evil and spreading the word of god,”