Chapter 73: Her Resolve

When Claire reveals that there is a way for the souls of Zyren and Dareon to transfer to another body, Azrael is gradually filling with hope.

"So what should we do?" Azrael asks.

"Aside from Astral Invasion, there is another spell that allows soul transfer. The difference between them is that it would be the caster who would make the process. That includes the process of taking and transportation of the soul of the person."

"You sounded like it was a hard thing to do."

"Because it is," Claire clarifies. "The process requires extremely careful, preferably flawless, execution. The soul of a person is more fragile than you think. One mistake can result in irreparable consequences such as missing memories or destroying the soul itself."

"...and I assume that you are not good with it?"

"I am afraid to say this, but I am far from mastering it." Claire says as she briefly stoops her head down. "I have done it once, and it was a failure."

During her human experiments in regard to souls, Claire has attempted to transfer a subject’s soul to another person with the ultimate magic. The Gramarye have provided her the details of the process; however, her awakened ability did not automatically make her a master of the procedure.

Due to her inexperience, she messed up the soul transfer, and the soul vanished into nothingness. Without a soul, the mind and body of the subject eventually shut down and perished afterwards.

Since then, Claire has never touched the idea of transferring souls again. Not because she was feeling guilty, even though she had no reaction to it, Claire just gave up on improving herself, as she deemed it mentally demanding and had no room for future uses.

"If it needs mastering, can you just practice until you can make it?"

"Maybe I can," Claire responds to Azrael’s suggestion. "But we have no one to experiment with. I might need dozens of pairs to become decently proficient with soul transfer. Where can we even find that many volunteers?"

"That might be a problem."

Real test subjects, people, are needed for Claire to practice transferring souls. They do not have a reserve dead body right now, as Azrael has devoured them for himself. The dead bodies of knights and adventurers that were killed near the dungeon are no good. They have disposed of them to the ocean after all.

With that many people, they might need to resort to committing horrible crime, which might put them into tough situations. But Azrael has an idea of where to procure that many people or even more without facing consequences.

"There is no need for you to exert that much effort for us," Zyren speaks. "We are grateful for your help, but it is fine for us to stay the way it is."

"It’s unfortunate, Azrael. I would love to explore the world with you."

"I would love it, too, Dareon. Also, I am interested to see what the two of you would look like when you two are still humans."

"I may have forgotten what I actually looked like. " Zyren rubs his mandible with his phalanxes. "It’s been tens of thousands of years since I last saw my face."

"If Zyren and Dareon can’t have new bodies at the moment, I guess I have to go adventuring alone."

Letting out a tired sigh, Azrael leans his back against the soft couch. Seeing his expressions, Claire has a suggestion in mind.

"How about bringing Alina with you? In terms of mana, she is comparable to that of a B-rank adventurer. She is proficient with magic and skilled with weapons as well. I think she is suitable for your party."

"Alina, huh?"

Hearing Claire’s words, Azrael takes a glance at Alina, who is standing behind the couch. Alina is wearing a complicated, surprised face upon her.

The reason Claire does not recommend herself is that both she and Azrael know that Claire is more recognizable than the hero, risking her cover of her alleged death. In addition, her physically appealing appearance would stand out in the crowd, adding more risk to the problem.

It is also not like Claire has a way to conceal or morph her face, or does it? One of the few ways she can help Azrael is by communicating with him through telepathy to assist him in every task. Claire states that she has magic to see things through his eyes.

For that reason, Claire brings up Alina’s name in the conversation, as she is basically unknown. Azrael contemplates Claire’s suggestions before he voices his decision after a few seconds.

"While it’s true that Alina is powerful for the average human standards of this world, I have to turn it down."

"May I ask why?"

"Even though it has no problem for her to accompany me, I am more concerned about Alina’s safety. It doesn’t matter if she is a B-rank adventurer or something; there are many powerful people lurking out there that might pose a threat to me, much more to Alina."

Now that Alina has become his lover, Azrael has been treating her dearly enough that he wants her to quit being Claire’s servant if she wishes to, but Alina still insists on serving Claire.

Azrael knows that danger follows him as if he were destined to, and he does not want to drag Alina into dangerous situations. He is also aware that he cannot protect her all the time.

That is why the idea of Alina becoming his party mate does not sit right with him. It does not matter even if Claire provides her safety from a distance.

"Um..."

Shortly after Azrael rejects the idea, a soft voice rings out from behind. It comes from Alina. She gathers her courage to speak out her honest thoughts.

"Master, if you allow me to, I want to join you in your adventures."

"Alina?"

Azrael is rather surprised by her speaking up for herself. She usually just obeys what she is told to do, so both Azrael and Claire feel that it is refreshing to see her in that light.

"Master," Alina then clenches her right fist over her chest. "I know that I am not strong and might be a deadweight, but I want to be useful to you at least once. Honestly, I don’t like to be standing in the shadows and being left behind."

"Alina..."

"I...I also want to become stronger. But it won’t be easy if I just stay here. Maybe, if I were to join you, I would be able to grow and gain more experience. I want to fight alongside you. Please allow me to join you, Master. Mistress has nothing to do with this. I am doing this on my own volition."

Azrael does not expect Alina to harbor these strong feelings within her. He is caught off guard by her words. Alina’s resolve convinces him to reconsider his decision.

"Are you sure about that, Alina? You might get hurt, or worse, get killed."

"I am aware of the risks." Alina’s voice is full of resolve, and she sounds unbothered by his warnings. "If you want me to get stronger, I’ll train and practice as hard as I can. I am prepared to sacrifice myself for you."

She’s still as devoted as ever, but now she diverts her devotion to me from Claire. Azrael mutters in his mind.

On the bright side, Azrael is quite relieved that Alina has slowly removed herself from Claire’s influence. He may be happy for her development, but he still has a matter to settle.

"Sigh. If you insist and really want to join me in my adventures, I guess I have no choice but to agree as long as you promise me not to leave my side without notice."

"Yes, I promise, Master!" Alina flashes a rare smile before she bends down and embraces him tight from behind. "I will do my best to serve you."

In the end, Azrael cannot help but admire Alina’s persistence and ultimately agrees with her personal request. Perhaps Alina has loved Azrael so much to the point where she does not care for herself.

Nevertheless, he cannot take his words back. The best he can do is to protect his lover only from significant threats. Protecting her all the time would not bring good results to her development after all. He does not want to babysit her growth; Alina has to face challenges to improve.

I guess having the girl I loved by my side is not bad after all.

Zyren and Dareon may not be able to join his adventurer party right now, but at least she has Alina. He cannot ignore the fact that he cannot live on his own, especially in the new world with massively different logic, society, and culture. He absolutely needs someone to take care of him. That’s where Alina comes in.