Sebas

"Hey! Alicia, I don't think this place needs cleaning yet. You can just go upstairs and sweep his room!" Cassifa shouted.

But Alicia clearly had no mind to pay him any attention.

As she cleaned, a loud pounding came from outside the door. Cassifa flared up and shouted.

"The Imperial Capital's door!"

But then he sneezed heavily, spraying a cloud of sparks.

Alicia glanced through the rising dust as the front door automatically opened with a chime.

Behind it stood a young man dressed entirely in black. His medium-length black hair was simply tied behind his back, and there was a barely noticeable scar on his forehead that seemed to bear stitch marks. He carried a bag in one hand and wore a tall hat.

Even with dust swirling all around, Alicia could smell the scent of death in the air.

If Shaya had been here, he would have recognized this man as the apprentice Grim Reaper he had met not long ago, Sebas.

Cassifa clearly knew him as well, or he would not have let him in.

"Hello." Sebas gave an awkward yet polite smile and gently rubbed his nose, which had become a little itchy from the dust floating in the air.

He surveyed the room, then looked at the old woman who was cleaning.

"It seems I came at a bad time."

"As you can see," Cassifa said to him, "this crazy old woman is having one of her fits."

Sebas shifted his attention to Cassifa in the hearth. He recognized almost instantly that it was a demon, though one he had never seen before. It was probably quite rare.

But he had long heard from Nightmare that the owner of this house kept a demon. It was nothing unusual. Powerful people always liked keeping strange pets.

For example, Pluto had once kept a three-headed hound of Hell. Compared to that thing, this ball of flame was much cuter.

"Is Lord Shaya here?" Sebas asked.

"He's upstairs, probably reading," Cassifa said. "You can go up and find him."

"I-Is that alright?" Sebas seemed flattered.

Though there was no particular custom, in houses with this sort of layout, the second floor was generally a place only relatives and friends could enter.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Cassifa asked strangely. "Aren't you here to see him?"

"Y-Yes, yes." Sebas nodded repeatedly before walking into the room.

He looked toward Alicia. Anyone who could be in that person's house was no ordinary person, so he did not dare be careless. Instead, he respectfully nodded to her.

"Hello, my name is Sebas."

"My name is Alicia," Alicia replied with a nod.

"You're cleaning so early in the morning. You're truly diligent," Sebas complimented.

"It can't be helped." Alicia sighed. "You can't expect a ball of fire and the person who turned this place into such a mess to clean it."

Sebas raised his brows. He was so overly reserved that he did not know how to respond.

After a moment, he gave an awkward smile.

"Then I'll go upstairs first."

With that, he headed up the stairs.

Alicia curiously watched Sebas's back as he climbed the staircase.

"Cassifa, is he a Sorcerer too?"

"No," Cassifa said.

Alicia relaxed slightly. Ever since meeting the Wilderness Witch, she had developed something of a psychological shadow toward Sorcerers.

And whenever she was near that person, she always felt a chill run down her spine.

Of course, Shaya was also a Sorcerer, but he was an exception.

But then she heard Cassifa say.

"He's a Grim Reaper."

Alicia froze. She wondered if she had heard wrong and looked at Cassifa in disbelief.

"W-What?"

"I think my English is quite standard," Cassifa said.

"The one I've heard of?" Alicia still found it hard to believe.

Cassifa crackled with laughter. "Unless you know a second Grim Reaper."

Alicia asked in panic, "Did he come to take me away?"

"What do you think?"

Alicia recalled what the Grim Reaper had looked like when she first saw him...

He had been carrying things, looking restrained and uneasy. He did not seem like someone who had come to reap a soul.

He seemed more like someone visiting a highly respected elder.

Come to think of it, the moment he entered, he had asked where Shaya was and even addressed him as "Lord."

Alicia recalled how respectfully Sebas had treated her just now.

She had long been accustomed to the respect of others, so she had not felt that anything was strange at all.

But now that she thought about it, this was not the palace, and she was no longer the noble Third Princess. She was merely an old, hunched woman with one foot already in the grave.

The only reason that person would treat her that way was Shaya.

Thinking of this, Alicia could not help asking.

"Who exactly is Shaya?

Why would even a being like a Grim Reaper hold him in such awe? Is he really a Sorcerer?"

"You can go upstairs and ask him yourself, but he probably won't tell you," Cassifa said.

For some reason, Alicia's mood suddenly worsened, and she vented her irritation through cleaning.

She sprinkled water from the sink to settle the dust, making Cassifa shrink back. Then she began sweeping forcefully again, sending all the centipedes, rats, spiders, and cockroaches fleeing in panic in every direction.

Alicia was not afraid of them. She banged her broom against the floor and shouted, "You filthy things, get the hell out of here!"

She swept the trash and dust toward the door, and the flying dust made Cassifa cough violently once more.

Cassifa curled up in the hearth and muttered, "Fate... what a terrifying thing."

The commotion downstairs could not be heard upstairs. Shaya had cast a soundproofing spell.

Sebas carefully made his way upstairs and spotted Shaya almost at once.

Beyond the stairs was a short corridor with perhaps three or four doors. One door on the right stood open, revealing a small balcony.

Through the open doorway, green mountains and clear waters slowly moved before his eyes. No—or rather, it seemed as though the entire house was moving.

Sebas heard the rumble of some enormous object in motion.

This definitely isn't the Imperial Capital, Sebas thought, though he was not surprised. For a being like that, distorting space would naturally be effortless.

To be honest, he had not wanted to come. But the thought of such a being residing within his jurisdiction had made it difficult for him to sleep.

For the sake of smoother work in the future, he felt he should pay a visit and offer his greetings—the so-called establishing of connections.

On the balcony, Shaya sat in a chair, lazily leaning against its back. A faint golden light spilled at his feet as he quietly read an ancient spellbook in the sunlight.

As if sensing Sebas's arrival, Shaya closed the book and looked at him.