The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 207: Hot Box

Chapter 207: Hot Box

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"What part of patients only do you not understand?"

For the last twenty minutes, Cassie had been engaged in tense negotiations with the floor director, Curiel Melioratus, who was in charge of the mana saunas.

Cassiel must have explained their needs at least five times before reaching this point, and it was only because Cassie name-dropped certain members of her house that they’d even gotten this far.

"Why not? No one’s told us anything about why we can’t just use them when they’re available."

"I’m afraid I just don’t have space in the schedule. There’s been a lot of mana deprivation cases ever since the expansion of workforces in the mycelium layer," the floor director sighed. "And even if I did, the policy is patients only. If we were closer to the beginning of the fiscal year, I could make the argument for limited recreational use, but it’s just not in the budget and we’re already strained for crystals. That’s why."

She was a very professional-looking angel with red eyes, soft white wings, and white hair with a lock dyed blue. She wore a white half-robe laced with gold and the blue-winged heart symbol of Heaven’s healers centered on her chest.

"What’s the mycelium layer?" Rain blurted out before thinking.

The director’s eyes flashed towards Rain with something close to hostility, but closer still to annoyance, before returning to Cassie. "Miss Eros, you would do best to focus on properly training your servants not to interrupt their betters before bothering those of us who are just trying to do our jobs."

"I apologize, Director," Cassie bowed her head slightly. Before bringing them here, she’d advised Rainier and Ozzy to let her do all the talking, but it was in her usual tone and so Rainier hadn’t known how serious she’d been. He now regretted potentially embarrassing her.

"Apology accepted, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Can you at least tell us if there are any alternatives?" Cassie asked; a hint of desperation in her voice.

The Director leaned back into her chair and sighed. "The last time a commercial mana sauna was available was maybe a hundred years ago. That ended in catastrophe when some idiotic child snuck into one on a dare. If you are trying to hide mana deprivation sickness for someone, I suggest you advise them to sign up for treatment."

"With respect, Director, that doesn’t answer my question," Cassie said, her voice taking on the slightest hint of annoyance. "This is a private matter within House Eros, and one I don’t have permission to elaborate on."

The Director sighed. "Short of living in the mid-canopy for months on end, you would have to build one. Assuming you could even get the mana crystals for it, you would need permission from House Melioratus."

"Can you tell me who I’d need to talk to?" Cassie tried next.

"You’ve already spoken with her," Director Curiel Melioratus gave Cassie a flat, withering, look. "And my answer is still ’No’."

"But-"

"Will that be all, Miss Eros?"

Taking the hint, Cassiel bit back her indignation and nodded.

"Thank you for all your help," Cassie stood, prompting Rain and Ozzy to follow.

With a dismissive wave, the Director ended their time with her. "Please close the door on your way out," the woman replied, before picking up her tablet as the three of them filed out of the room.

Cassie waited until they were out of the hospital to vent her frustration.

"Ugh! What a bitch!"

"Well, it is medically risky. Should we try something else?" Ozzy asked.

"I might not even be right," Rain said.

"Oh no, I think you’re onto something. Half the Choir of War has been in the middle canopy for weeks now. I found out because my friend Lohtiel has a boyfriend whose uncle married into House Protectiva, and she says his nephew’s been treated for mana sickness twice. That means they’re already ahead of us. But hmm..."

She bit the tip of her thumb as she thought, an act that reminded Rainier a bit of Kordia. Remembering her made him feel uneasy. He’d broken things off, but he still wanted her. He wanted his life on Ayther back. He wanted not to feel like he was walking on eggshells to keep from insulting the angels...

"We’re just going to have to build one ourselves," Cassie concluded.

"Where would- How?" Rain blurted.

"Good questions," Cassie pulled up her tablet. "I’ll come up with something later. Right now I need to wash that woman out of my head."

A few dancing fingers later, Cassie’s tablet chimed. Her eyes lit up a little from the illusions that appeared in front of her face, and Rainier recognized the navigation tool that Cassie had used to get them to the hospital.

"Where to, Cassie?" Ozzy asked.

"You’ll see," she declared.

Cassie extended her wings first, taking off with a single massive pulse, and Ozzy followed.

Rainier needed an extra few seconds to grow his wings, by now used to the slightly painful feeling, before following after them.

As they flew, Rainier remembered his question from earlier.

"What’s the mycelium?" Cassie repeated after Rain asked. "I’m not all that sure... but we can look it up in Akash when we land. Distracted flying is dangerous flying," she quoted at the end.

Angels had all sorts of weirdly shared slogans that made sense to Rain but were oddly... babying. He didn’t quite know what words to apply to his thoughts. Down on Ayther, it was training and insight that kept people safe, whereas in Heaven it seemed they had a reminder for everything. Like all those little reminders were replacing something fundamental, but not something Rainier could identify.

As soon as they landed on one of the many entrance ramps of Araqlun’s spires, Cassiel pulled up her tablet and stared at it for a few moments. "Let’s see... low-mana area, lots of mushrooms, close-to and below the roots... Source of silks, Heavenberries, and- Gya-aah!"

Cassiel suddenly jumped, briefly tumbling her tablet in the air as she alternated between trying to catch it and trying to drop it. In the end she dropped her tablet, sending it skittering onto the floor and causing several angels to stop and stare.

Now embarrassed, Cassiel about-faced from the entrance to the tower and hid her face with her hands as Ozzy retrieved her tablet.

"What’s wrong? Are you okay?" Rain asked, touching her shoulder. Normally he wouldn’t, especially not in public, but this seemed to be a special circumstance.

She mumbled something into her palms as Ozzie returned, handing Rain the tablet. He tried to give it to her.

"Close the window!" Cassie ordered, and it took Rain a moment to remember that meant to turn off the smaller illusory "screen" inside of the bigger "menu". After a second of re-remembering how to do so, she snatched the tablet from him and clutched it to her chest as she walked quickly towards the tower.

"What was that?" Rain asked Ozzy quietly as they started to follow.

"You didn’t see?" Ozzy raised an eyebrow.

"I was more worried about her," Rainier admitted.

"Well, Cassiel’s afraid of bugs. And from what I saw, the mycelium layer is full of them," Ozzy cleared his throat to resist the urge to chuckle.

"Why is she scared of bugs?" Rain asked. He’d been forced to eat a few when starting off his dungeon training, but they weren’t anything to fear as long as they were smaller than a cat.

"I don’t know, she just is. A lot of angels are, actually..." His eyes drifted away as if re-experiencing something. "It’s probably why they have the criminals and slaves work the mycelium layer. No reason to do something unpleasant if someone else can, right?" Ozzy patted Rain on the shoulder.

Rain flinched, but nodded.

It had been a while since talk of slavery had entered his life, but it reminded him of Kir and his convictions against the practice. "People are people. If one person enslaves another, that’s trying to turn them into something less than a person. It never works entirely, and if there’s no peaceful way out, then violence becomes all the more necessary."

As far as Rainier knew, Kir had never gotten to act on his beliefs before dying.

It made him sad to think about how easy it was to ignore such an abhorrence when it wasn’t in front of him.

He bumped into Cassiel’s wing and came to a stop.

She breathed out a relieved sigh. "Alright boys, welcome to the Galleria!"