Demon's Virtue

Chapter 789  The Trip

"Who... am I?" Boju looked at the demon sitting across from him. The question practically stunned him, as he had no idea how to answer it. Of course, he was the leader of the highland orcs. His father was the former chieftain. Now, Boju had evolved to a point where he was stronger than his father had ever been, despite the fact that he himself really just took on a support role. He was also the vice-lord of this whole town. The lives and futures of thousands of monsters relied on him to a large degree, and until recently, beside Eiro himself, Boju was the only one that really took care of the town's large-scale development. Without him, this city would have stopped moving.

But that, of course, wasn't what Eiro was asking. He wasn't asking for something so... surface level. Eiro wanted to know who Boju was deep down. But... did he ever have the leisure to think about something like that? Has he ever been able to truly figure out why he was given the abilities he was given? Boju was vastly intelligent, even more so than the average highland orc. He was able to read and write naturally due to the skills he was born with.

Gifts like that weren't just given at random. Until now, Boju thought he was given these abilities to be able to assist his lord well enough, but what if that wasn't the case? What if he wasn't born just to be of service. What if he was born for something else? Something not for others, but for himself?

"I... I'm sorry, but I..." he started, but Eiro very quickly realized that Boju was choking up, unable to finish the sentence he had barely been able to begin.

"You don't have to actually answer that question right away, Boju," the demon laughed slightly, "It was more something to get you to think a bit. Think about what you want to do in the future. It is your life, after all. Show me who you are through your actions, through your choices from now on. That's more than enough to answer that question."

The young orc nodded his head, "I... I see... Uhm... so, what do you think I should do? N-Not that I want you to tell me what to do, I do understand what you're saying. It should be my choice what to do with my life, but... I don't even know where to start. Do you have any... well, advice?" Boju asked, trying to avoid eye-contact with the demon, who quickly nodded his head.

"Of course. I am personally partial to travelling. Expanding your horizons. You can learn many a thing from others during your travels, but of course, that could be somewhat limited right now. Being an orc, you have limited options. There are the illusion bracelets, but even those have a limit," Eiro started, "So, rather than going a long journey fully on your own... if travelling is something that interests you, I can give you a map. Basically, a... tour of places that I believe could be useful for you."

Boju hesitated, but there was a reason why this was immediately what Eiro defaulted to. He could see the joy in Boju's face the few times he came to visit. The young orc would absentmindetly start talking about all the fun things that he saw on his way there as he took out his documents or when they were talking while having food afterward. Of course, Eiro understood and indulged him, even showing him around some parts of the capital before sending Boju off. Eiro knew that Boju was interested in seeing more of the world for a while now.

"But... do you really think that it would be safe for me to go on my own? Even with your... map, I don't know if I'm confident walking around completely on my own. And I don't think I should drag someone else along with me..." the orc pointed out, and Eiro raised a brow. That was also a good point. When it came to combat, well... Boju was rather useless. He had absolutely no combat-related talents. Of course, he could handle magic well enough, and was quite adept at magic manipulation, but Boju's magical talents laid in support and day-to-day magic.

"Well..." the demon thought for a few moments, "You don't need to be exactly powerful to travel, of course. Though, it would also make me more comfortable if I knew that I didn't need to worry about you. If you want, I could send a servant along with you to protect you while you're travelling. Or, even better..."

The demon stood up, smiling. He had a pretty good idea, at least he thought so. But in the end, it depended on what Boju himself thought of this suggestion.

"Yes?" the orc asked, nervously looking up at his lord.

"How about you join me for a bit? I'll be heading out soon, back to my home. Well, my home before we came here to Skyhart, where we lived with Jura," Eiro explained, and Boju almost flinched at the suggestion.

"A-Are you sure? But... wouldn't I just drag you down? A journey like that would take you just a day or so on your own, right? With me..." Boju started, but Eiro quickly shook his head.

"I was planning on taking it easy. Take a bit of a break. I've been stuck at home for a while now. I was considering making it a bit of a family trip, so that the kids can see Jura's grave," he explained. He had told the kids what happened to their home after they left. That it had been burned down. Their lives had changed considerably since a year ago, when they all headed out from their old home, so maybe giving them a bit of a break wasn't the worst idea. Plus, on the way there, they could stop at some fun places and enjoy themselves. It was the perfect way to spend their winter vacation. And Eiro saw no reason not to just bring Boju along for that.

During his brief visits, he got along pretty well with them. Of course, monsters aged at a much different rate to most people, but highland orcs actually aged at a relatively slower rate to other monsters as well. Right now, Boju was twelve, and he was physically and mentally as developed as a seventeen year old human. And after his further evolutions that seemed to have extended Boju's total lifespan quite a bit, his aging slowed, so he was now basically aging at a similar rate as a human. So they would continue to age at the same pace. It felt reasonable to Eiro for them to be friends, especially after seeing how well they got on.

Boju seemed to understand what Eiro was alluding to, though he didn't dare say it out loud in case he was wrong, "Do you want to join our family trip?"

The orc looked up at Eiro with his breathing growing heavier, "Are you... are you sure? Would you really allow me to join you?"

Eiro nodded, "Of course. We'll travel together, I'll show you around a bunch of places. Once we're back at the cabin, we'll take a bit of a break for a couple days, and during that break, you can think if you want to come back with us again, or if you want us to drop you off somewhere on the way. Though, I do recommend that you come all the way back to take it all in, you're free to split off from us at any point if you feel the urge to, and I'll send you off with whatever you need on the way, and sleeping servant that will wake up whenever you need help with anything. Alright?"

The orc wasn't sure what to say to that. This opportunity took his breath away. Though his mind didn't seem like it could keep up, his body reacted on its own, "Yes! Please, I-I would love to join you! If you're sure that it's okay, then..."

"Obviously it's okay. I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise," Eiro smiled, "We'll come pick you up on the way next week Friday. Until then, make sure you get everything you need together, and then we can go on a bit of a trip together."