1708 Manhunt in Labh Salem
Eren made the effort to make Roza realize his perspective.
He did this so he could gain her trust seamlessly.
After all, he could eradicate Vepar or make the demon leave Roza's body using the unchangeable writ he had as the true inheritor of the Elder Ichor bloodline and successor to Aleph's divine throne.
But he couldn't control her actions. Not really. Not yet.
Vepar was loyal to Eren but that loyalty was driven by the instinctual fear of someone who could harm her despite her seemingly immortal status. Roza was also like that by extension. All her actions indicated that she was fearful of Eren and what he could do to her.
The stuttering. The shaky voice. The jittery nerves. The constant act of worrying. And the need to please him so that he doesn't do anything to her. Roza was a complete contrast to Vepar's previous demonic possession which was Reva Rain.
Roza did an excellent job as a spy for Eren for this particular job. But she was scared of him all the same even while handling the operation. Feeling scared of him had become her second nature– an instinct. The same instinct that she had inherited from Vepar, was then magnified in her mind.
Having instincts was a good thing. But one could not base all their actions on them.
Eren knew that Roza's instincts would eventually die down in the long run. In the future, there was a possibility that Vepar would either find ways to escape from Eren's grasp or try to associate herself with another Demon Prince. Both of these things were not the outcome Eren wanted.
After all, Vepar had switched sides when she was forced by Eren to do so. By incarnating as Roza, Vepar had left behind Samael's side to serve him. Same thing could happen to him as well if he was not careful.
It was better for Eren to make Roza believe that she was at home with him. That she was not treated as a pawn but as an ally who could get rightful benefits by serving him.
'Hmm. This could be considered as a payback for what Demonmir did to me by getting Ariella Lowin on his side before I had a chance to do anything.
He could shift the loyalties of womenfolk in his favor simply by keeping them near to him. And he did a pretty solid job at that considering that half-blood was loyal to him till her death.
I'll admit, it was kinda impressive that he could do that. But I also don't see why I can not do the same. Kekeke. Get cucked Samael.'
Eren had a random thought as he looked at Roza with a caring gaze.
The latter was touched by the way he talked and behaved with her. Roza found him to be even more charming than before now that they had such a talk right after such an intimate experience.
"I… I understand," Roza said while looking into Eren's emerald-
green eyes. "I'll wait for as long as it takes," she said softly while taking a step back from Eren.
She felt that the demonic side within her, the side that belonged to Vepar, was also pleased by the treatment she had received from Eren.
Eren nodded before turning serious. "I forgot to ask. What else did you learn from those den dwellers? I mean anything related to bounties maybe? Anything that you thought was unusual?"
Roza didn't take long to change gears and come to her normal behavior. "I did," she said before adding further.
"There are various demonic cults active all across Labh Salem who have told their followers to look for a Ranker with unknown origins. Some cults have started capturing Rankers whom they think are mysterious.
Others have started outright killing them.
Some divine temples have also followed suit. They too have adopted a similar approach, inspecting the origins of the Rankers they interact with. Of course, not all groups are outrightly killing the Rankers they find mysterious. Some have been simply detained.
Are… are they looking for you?"
Roza asked as she looked at Eren curiously. "Keke. what do you think?" he asked before turning around.
'So it has started… the hunt for Aleph's inheritor. They suspect I'm here,' he thought before correcting himself. 'No. that's not it. They KNOW that I'm here.'
Eren knew this was bound to happen as soon as he left Anfang. His enemies from both factions would actively try to hunt him down as soon as they found some leads about him. They knew that he was a Ranker. They could decipher this because his soul had appeared inside the celestial hall.
However, they could not pinpoint his location. Part of the reason was that he had turned into a demi-god. The other was because he had struck a deal with Goddess Menaka, which prevented them from using the Mesh against him.
Eren's enemies could not use oracles to zero in on his location. They could also not use artifacts against him because the artifacts themselves could not track the true Elder Seed inheritor.
Thus, they were left with initiating a large-scale manhunt in Labh Salem based on the information they had so far on Eren, which wasn't much to begin with. This was the reason Eren had hidden his origins when he interacted with Ishgaar's Templars.
"Anyway. Keep me updated on this matter, Roza," Eren said as he marched forward.
"I can not run leads on this news because I run the risk of exposing myself. But you as the denizen of Labh Salem and someone with a Conjurer Profession would not be suspected by your contacts in the demonic faction."
"What about Ishgaar's Templars? Do you trust them?" Roza asked.
"No," Eren replied promptly.
"We need to prepare to leave this kingdom behind us. We'll move after I collect my reward for clearing the den from Ishgaar's Temple," Eren said before disappearing from his position, leaving a lost-in-her-thoughts Roza behind him.
