Page 200 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“You found something?” I take a seat next to him.

“It recounts how greed demons act and how they spoil a person’s character by influencing them to give in to their inner greed. But then it says ‘There is only one way that has been shown to have some success in stopping a greed demon. Since they get stronger on greed, the only way to weaken them is to give them the opposite.’”

“The opposite?” I frown.

“Charity,” he states.

“What does that mean?”

He purses his lips.

“The instructions are not too clear, but if I understand this correctly, it means that instead of letting the demon get to our heads, we should treat him with kindness instead. Charity. Perhaps offer him things?”

I nod and think on it.

“That easy? Impossible.”

“That’s all it says. But it might not be impossible. Think of the other sin demon references we found. For a lust demon, the weapon to defeat them is chastity. For a wrath demon, it’s peace and calm. It seems that what they lack is their weakness.”

“That makes sense. But how do we even give charity to a demon?” I snort. The entire idea seems preposterous.

“I’ll check the rest of the books too, but I think this is a starting point,” Mine says as he closes the book and grabs his bowl of food.

I wait for him to taste it, and once he lets out a moan of approval and he starts eating faster as if he can’t get enough, I can finally focus on my own food.

“Charity. Easier said than done,” I add thoughtfully. “What can one evengiveto a demon?” My words are filled with venom, and Mine’s head suddenly snaps up, staring at me with an inscrutable expression.

“Demons are beings, too, Minnie. They have wants, just like you do.”

I snort and roll my eyes. “Insidiouswants.”

His lips press together as he stares at me for a few seconds. Then, with a sigh, he turns his attention back to his food.

TWENTY-EIGHT

We returnto Anthropa the following day, though the entire time we spent walking to the portal, I worried the army would come after me. A general murdered in his own military base is not a small thing, and soon the news will break all over Aperion. I just hope I’ll be able to destroy the greed demon before someone catches up to me to interrogate me.

Though we’ve only been in Aperion a couple days, the different time flow means it’s been weeks already in Anthropa, far more than I’d expected.

Back at the military base, Mine leaves me at our quarters so he can go speak with his supervisors and explain the reason for his absence so they don’t take it as desertion. It’s when he comes back that he has bad news for me.

Although his CO had seen his new scars and had understood it had been a health issue, he’d called over the doctor to give him a checkup.

He was deemed healthy.

“I have to fly out tomorrow,” he states. “Will you be fine by yourself?”

“Of course,” I answer immediately, almost annoyed he’d imply otherwise.

“Try not to get yourself in trouble, all right? Don’t go too close to the demon until I come back.”

“I’ll study that book more,” I tell him with a smile, although I also plan to put into action what I’m studying. “You should take care of yourself. Those missions are dangerous.”

He shrugs. “I’ll be fine. I told you, it’s not yet my time to die.”

As if he can know when his time to die will be. But I refrain from adding that. He brought me some donuts, including a chocolate-covered one, and I aim to enjoy them in peace.

As we get back to our routine, it makes me better appreciate this type of life, away from the prying eyes of the Aperite aristocracy and its burning rules. Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to leave it all behind. I’ll at least have Mine and…

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