"Curious about the changes in your body? You absorbed my Flesh. If you hadn't changed even a little, wouldn't that make me seem rather weak?"
The head said with a smile:
"See? I didn't play any tricks this time, did I?"
Shade nodded and withdrew the chain. It did not vanish into thin air; rather, it retracted inward through his sleeve. Yet he did not feel anything crawling into it.
"I can sense the flame of desire in your soul. It is very pure."
The head continued praising him softly. Shade abruptly shook his head, took a deep breath, and adjusted his state. Once he confirmed that both his body and mind had fully recovered, he prepared to leave.
The first rays of sunlight had shone upon Coldwater Port dozens of minutes ago. He was still worried about the red-haired Princess.
But thinking of Leisha led his distracting thoughts to even more things. This was a side effect of that piece of Flesh. Power naturally came at a price; for an entire month, Shade would keep thinking about such strange things.
"I—"
"You aren't about to thank me, are you?"
The head in the pool continued to smile.
"Of course not. I only wanted to ask, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Shade asked over his shoulder as he stood before the exit.
"I was born from desire. As long as desire still exists in this world, I will never disappear. All I want is to witness your desires. Helping you was merely so I could see just how far you can go."
Its seductive laughter was no different from when Shade had arrived. Having failed to obtain Shade's soul, it did not seem disappointed in the slightest.
"After we part this time, we will certainly meet again. I