Chapter 82: Fallout

The young man stepped up to shield for the demoness as he spoke up, "Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

He wanted to take the paper from Paimon because for one, he was curious to know what was written on there.

Two, he felt jealous, as though his lover was sharing a secret with another man.

However, he couldn't grab the paper before it was turned to dust by Paimon, not allowing him to read the contents.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but such a matter was too grave a secret and couldn't be spoken of lightly.

The young man's expression changed, but he wasn't stupid nor was he irrational, so he quickly calmed down and assumed his true identity as Paimon's substitute and servant.

He bowed his head and retreated to the corner, keeping his expression hidden with a lowered head.

"I'll ask again," Paimon moved closer to Hiro and spoke forcefully. "What do you want?"

Hiro appreciated the demoness standing in front of him, not understanding why her family had a prejudice against female demons.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm someone who sells and buys information for a living, but this isn't something little me can do by myself."

Hiro spread his hands and shrugged, his tone indicating that he needed her help as much as she needed his help.

"Can't I just get you killed and raze this place to the ground?" Paimon asked.

Hiro feigned shock as he responded, "How pitiful, you don't even know that this building is Lord Asmir's private property… Sigh, your position in your family is really low, Third Mistress."

Of course, no one would bother investigating the background of this a place yet, so it was only natural that demons from great families had yet to come knocking on his door.

Even if they found out, they'd most likely send their heirs to investigate the situation as some sort of a test.

In any case, Hiro did this to get under Paimon's skin. Sadly, it didn't work.

"Don't make me look down on your intelligence, playing such little tricks on me will get you nowhere," Paimon didn't exhibit any weakness whatsoever.

"Be it this building or the entire stronghold as a whole, what here doesn't belong to Lord Asmir? Or are you trying to say that my lord is emotionally invested in this little business?"

Hiro blinked his eyes, feeling speechless for a moment. He couldn't say yes because at the end of the day, this building was 'gifted' to him as a reward, and Asmir wouldn't care about it.

She only cared for the results and not the process.

Even if this entire building were to be flattened to the ground, Asmir's bottom line would be Hiro's life, and not a cheap tavern.

"Fine," Hiro clapped reluctantly, seemingly applauding Paimon's intelligence. "I like talking to smart people the most. I won't beat around the bush, I truly need an insider in each of the great families under Lord Asmir as soon as possible."

Hiro thought about following them into the territory of their families and inspecting the place through his interpersonal missions, but that wouldn't be too good. Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

An interpersonal mission is triggered based on the target's urgent needs, and the desires of demons are endless.

Even if he read through hundreds of mission descriptions, they'd be useless if he didn't meet the right person.

As for meeting with those figures of lofty status in the family, that'd be no different from courting death.

Hiro didn't know if they saw him tossing away the minor realm fragment that day, and he wasn't sure if one or many of them had their own means to preserve their memories of that day. Discover hidden stories at m,v l'e-NovelFire.net

They might give Asmir face and keep what they knew to themselves, but they wouldn't give Hiro face if he were to appear in front of them.

With that in mind, Hiro crossed out the option of visiting the greater demon families in person.

The next best option was to gain the support of an insider, preferably someone dissatisfied with their current lot in life.

Paimon waved her hand and said, "You can wait outside first."

The young man was stunned. "But my lady…"

"He won't feel at ease discussing things with me if you don't leave, am I right?" Paimon first spoke to the young man before asking Hiro.

Hiro didn't really mind because he wouldn't be the one worrying about keeping a secret.

However, he decided to give this young demoness some face and played along with her.

He crossed his arms, a playful smile on his lips as he closed his eyes, seemingly at peace with waiting.

"See?" Paimon clenched her little fists, as though she was suppressing her indignation.

The young man took three steps forward, making sure that Paimon couldn't see his expression as he confronted Hiro.

He spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm trustworthy enough!"

Hiro ignored him, humming a soft tone while swaying his head lightly.

Demonic energy crackled around the young man's fingers, black lines streaking across his skin, as though he was about to make his move.

Hiro remained motionless, not making a move. In fact, the humming grew a notch louder, as though taunting the young man to act.

When nothing happened after like ten seconds of waiting, Hiro slowly lazily opened his eyes.

"Stop flaunting this little bit of demonic energy, are you still a man?" Hiro yawned, covering his mouth with his backhand.

A vein snapped on the young man's forehead, the anger boiling, hot enough to cause imperfections in his transformation ability.

His muscles kept inflating and deflating in alternating cycles, almost ripping his embroidered clothing to shreds.

When Paimon didn't say anything, the young man let out a low bellow and condensed his demonic energy into a purplish-black sphere of energy, lunging it toward Hiro's face.

Hiro didn't do anything, but the sphere of energy reflected in his eyes grew smaller and smaller the closer it got.

By the time it reached his palm, it was the size of a small pearl, silently dissipating into Hiro's skin.

Concentrated energy attacks were the least of Hiro's worries. It might have been a challenge if the demon used demonic arts instead.

"Smart people really love to test others a little too much," Hiro waved his hand impatiently.

"Test me? Are you worthy?" Hiro's tone grew a little cold as he turned his back, moved around the desk, and sat down while waving his hand. "You guys can leave, our transaction is over."

How many wise and smart people did Hiro encounter while clearing Legend of Babylon and Return of the Demon Ancestor?

What sorts of plots had he not seen?

Paimon must have been aware of this guy's feelings for her since a long time ago, so it was very easy to play on his feelings to make him do her bidding.

At first, Hiro thought that she was using the pretense of secrecy to create an environment where they could discuss one one-on-one.

However, it turned out that she was waiting for her right-hand man to make a move and test Hiro's strength.

She only needed to sense the fluctuations of Hiro's demonic energy to roughly guess his level of strength.

Both Hiro's sorcerer and demon stats were at the peak of Tier-7 standards at the moment, but he was certain that this level of strength was useless in front of a demon heiress like Paimon.

He was ready to stealthily synchronize with one of his characters, but he hadn't expected the demon to use an energy attack, which was pretty much useless against his innate gluttony physique.

Paimon frowned, mainly because she didn't understand how Hiro dispelled that attack.

Was it the effect of some magical treasure or a demonic art? I couldn't see through it.

When she touched Hiro earlier, she couldn't see through his level of strength either.

However, Paimon didn't like ambiguities and uncertainties, so she decided to make another attempt, which ultimately failed.

She sighed, shook her head, and assumed her position as a maid once again.

This was the signal to leave.

The young man understood.

Snorting coldly, he turned his back and left the office, Paimon following behind him.

When the two of them left, Hiro kneaded his forehead and sank into thoughts.

This continued on until midnight, the start of a new day.

[Notice: You've earned 5,300 achievement points!]

Hiro started, looking at the notification that broke his train of thought. Soon, he understood.

These were the achievement points generated from faith energy. Not the passive faith energy from Seeker's Legend players and the inhabitants in the pocket dimension, but active contributions from devoted believers.

Only the first generation of enlightened magical beasts met Hiro in person and had a solid impression of his existence, which could explain the low ratio of points.

If Hiro desired more points, he needed to become an active part in the lives of those magical beasts.

"Should I start constructing cathedrals all over the place then? Forget it, let things develop naturally."

Hiro didn't wish to turn to brainwashing creatures into sanctimonious fools just to earn that bit of achievement points.

If that happened, he would really look down on himself. What he needed to consider now were contingency plans for his fallout with Paimon.