The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 67: Armoring Up

Chapter 67: Armoring Up

Enumasam was pretty spry for his age. Everyone greeted Rainier when he showed up, with the old man in charge joking "Did you break another sword again?"

Rain replied "No, but I won one of yours off a guy the other night!"

He showed off the claymore and Enumasam took a look at it. "Hmm. This is one of mine. Think I did it four or five years back."

As Rain recounted the tale of how he won the blade, Kir noticed Stella staring at the old blacksmith with a hungry look in her eyes.

"That’s your type?" Kir joked when she finally noticed him noticing her.

"One of many. He looks like he’s got tons of experience pounding-"

"Alright, that’s enough. The man’s married," Kordia interrupted, pulling Stella away by one pointed ear.

After trying on a leather cap that had all sorts of flaps and hooks for attaching other pieces of leather, and answering some questions, the four of them settled in to wait at a nearby fountain. Kir had wound up paying three silver slips instead of five thanks to Rain, and he was amazed not only that his boyfriend had haggled over the steel like a pro but had also memorized the names of everyone in the shop.

He told Rain as much when he thanked him, his tail idly skimming over the water with its tip.

"I’m just good with names, is all," Rain said, his head lowering in the way of a person trying to seem nonchalant when flattered.

"And with swords. I didn’t know you could do all that stuff back at the Guild," Kir continued.

"It’s not like we’ve had a real spar yet. I had a bit of training before getting sent out," he replied nervously. "I’m not really supposed to use Weapon Manifestation but, I mean it was Luthien the Render! That was the best fight I’ve ever had!" He sighed wistfully. "I mean... we’re all probably going to have to fight in the Heavenswar, but, like... it’s different."

He looked up into the early evening sky. Hell was cresting from crescent to gibbous and Heaven wasn’t visible at the moment. Amidst the darkness of Hell’s shadow was a glowing red spot that Kir had learned to recognize as the Eye of Hell. It was small now, but supposedly once it fully opened Hell would glow entirely red until it quieted.

"I kinda wish I could make a Divine Weapon... something that would help me keep everyone safe, but only real angels can do that," Rain sighed.

"Those swords seemed real enough to me," Kir said. "But why do you think we’ll end up in the Heavenswar? Maybe it’ll all get solved before we graduate."

"It’s because whenever one happens, the whole of Ayther fights. Well, at least that’s how all the stories go. Hell invades, tries to take everything they can. Heaven waits to see if Ayther can win on its own, but they’ve always had to come rescue everyone in the end. Most kingdoms only last through one or two Heavenswars before things get bad enough to end them."

"Then afterward, Heaven spends a couple of decades hunting down all the demons still on Ayther before heading home," Kordia added. "They’re the only ones who have gates that can open paths between the worlds, aside from the naturally forming ones, but those never last."

Kir knit his eyebrows together. "If they can come and go whenever they want, why don’t they just come in before the wars start? They’re letting people die!"

"You’d have to ask a cleric that," Kordia replied. "It’s just how things have always been."

One thing Kir had picked up was the fact that religion wasn’t as much of a big deal in people’s day-to-day lives. Supposedly the gods kept to themselves for the most part, and the stories about them were more like cultural artifacts and expressions in a similar vein to Greece or, more accurately, Japan. Plenty of spirits were running around in places away from civilization, and gods that showed up as people were more of an exception than a rule.

Angels and demons were theoretically immortal but the frequent Heavenswars killed plenty from both sides.

They stayed and talked until it was almost time for them to pick up Kir’s helmet. They arrived back at Enumasam’s place to find Stella had snuck out from under them and was currently hitting on the blacksmith in the guise of a petite, if mature-looking, orc. From the look on Enumasam’s face, he was enjoying her company.

"And what’s that do?" Stella asked.

"Helps the quench. Keeps the outside metal hard while the inner core is soft and flexible enough to absorb blows," the blacksmith replied.

"Fascinating. I always thought oil was just for making bodies smoother... and harder," she purred, rubbing a hand along his rib.

He chuckled, but remained focused. "The quench is very important. It is what lies between the fire of making and the proving," he replied, his eyes still on the barrel in front of him, where he was swirling something with tongs in the depths.

"You could certainly quench my fire-"

"Ahem." Kir cleared his throat, glaring a bit at Stella, whos identity he could feel through their bond.

"Ah, Young Rainier’s friend. Your helmet is done. It is next door with the apprentices," he gestured toward the store part of the building, before pulling up an incomplete longsword from the barrel. Oil slid down the blade as he set it aside on a table that hosted many such blades resting on a soaking cloth.

"Rain, can you handle Stella while I get the helmet?" Kir asked quietly, indicating the orcish woman.

"That’s Stella?" Rain looked around, double-checking for the missing succubus.

"Yes. It’s probably not going to be an issue outside of school but I guess she has a thing for older men..." Kir replied before making his way to the storefront to try the helmet and pay for it. Inside, he caught a glimpse of three other apprentices working on various tasks, one pair adding padding to armor pieces and the last apprentice adding sharkskin grips to the haft of a spear.

With only some minor adjustments, Kir found the helmet fit him perfectly, with a comfortable fit around his horns. It was oddly shaped, with a rather scaley looking to the overlapping plates that would cover his forehead, skull, and the back of his neck. The apprentice had added a layer of polish that made the grey, serviceable-looking metal gleam.

"If you want, I can color it black. Some students like that because it matches their uniforms," the girl offered. She was a swarthy-colored elf with arms thicker than Kir’s and her curly brown hair up in a bun.

"I’d like that," Kir smiled at her, and she gave him a grin before taking the helmet over to a large pot. She brushed an orange, scrubby-looking substance all over the metal before taking it over to the fireplace. After removing the padding, she held it over the flame for a few minutes before withdrawing it. The excess substance flaked away to reveal nothing but matte black where once the metal had gleamed.

"The color should hold, just come back if you need it redone," the elf girl said.

Kir tipped her a small silver, which elicited a slight smile from her.

Returning outside, he held the helm under his arm as he saw Kordia and Rain caught in an awkward conversation with a re-transformed Stella, who had resumed her student disguise.

It was in the air carriage on the way back to school that Kir finally confronted Stella about her dalliance.

"I’ll have you know he was nothing but a gentleman!" Stella replied haughtily, leading everyone in the carriage to assume some degree of hope for her. Until she opened her mouth again. "It was infuriating. I couldn’t tell if he was having me on or just oblivious... I can’t wait to have another crack at him," she licked her lips.

"Enumasam likes smart women," Rain said helpfully.

"Don’t encourage her," Kordia sighed.

"Smart how?" Stella asked.

"Well... supposedly he was dating one of the professors a few years back..." Rain replied.

"Hmm... So I just need to learn enough smart talk to fake it..."

"Yeah, only one problem with that. HE’S MARRIED!" Kordia raised her voice. "Didn’t you see the wedding necklace?"

"Stella, no homewrecking," Kir forbade her. "I mean it."

"Ugh~" Stella pouted. "Bad enough you hate fun, now you’re rubbing off on people."

"Kir can rub off on whoever he wants," Kordia snapped back, before immediately regretting her words as everyone started chortling. "You know what I mean!"

Kir gave Kordia a reassuring hug. "I do," he said, reaching to tilt her chin up towards him. He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips that she reciprocated, before turning it into a full make-out session. Kir, as was his habit, closed his eyes after a moment, so he didn’t catch Kordia making a pointed glare at Stella.

If he had, he might have asked what was going on.

Stella looked on in utter jealousy, and Rain gave her a gentle pat on the head. Kir was grateful the driver was on the outside of the carriage and the slot was closed, because Stella’s horns rose out of her head as she grew steadily angrier at Kir and Kordia.

"Stupid mage nerds," Stella grumbled as soon as she left the carriage on arrival, stomping toward the school in her student disguise as she fumed. "I’ll show you! I’m going to go read a book!"

"What do you think she’ll read?" Rain asked as Stella disappeared.

"Who knows," Kir answered, wondering if he should be concerned by her or for her.

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