A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Erik couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by this girl's clear expectation of him. Yet, he also felt like there was one important question to be asked: why should he care?

Why should he go out to find this mistress of hers? He still didn't know how this all related to saving vampires and shapeshifters from some unknown threat, like his mother suggested in the letter.

So he asked with a serious expression. "Eira, I can see you've put a lot of hope in my finding this mistress of yours, but why do you assume I will? I don't know her, nor do I owe her anything."

His question startled her, as if she had never expected something like this. She floated back a few meters while her face scrunched up a little in panic. "W— What do you mean? Y— You have to find her, free her, and then save the old man! That… That's your mission!"

Elora's voice sounded in Erik's head. "Now there's an old man, too…? The only one I can think off is that giant from your dream, but didn't he die?"

Erik wondered the same as Elora, but ignored those thoughts for now. Instead, he softly sighed and felt a little sorry for Eira and her simplistic, absolute loyalty to her mistress. The problem was that she simply didn't understand how anyone could not follow her mistress's plan.

"Look, Eira, I…" he began, but this time it was her turn to interrupt him.

"D— Don't you want to save the others of your kind?" she asked, with a pitiful look in her eyes. "Y— You can't save them without mistress and the old man…"

"Right…" Erik nodded a little skeptically. "Mom mentioned something about that in her letter as well. But save them from what, exactly?"

"I— I don't know…!" the young minotaur construct sobbed slightly, tears in her eyes, and panic in her voice. "M— Mistress was supposed to e— explain everything to you when you got here, but…"

"I know, you can't contact her…" Erik mumbled thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, there was a conversation going on in his head between him, Elora and Emma.

"This whole thing makes me wonder what the original plan was, anyway," Erik pondered inwardly. "I mean, clearly everything got screwy due to my teleportation to Söl, but was there really nothing more to this whole thing than to talk to me and try to convince me to help? No attempts at controlling me somehow?"

"It's possible there were contingencies in place that Eira simply doesn't know about. It might be our good fortune that this mistress is unavailable," Elora shrugged. "Still, it's not impossible that the plan really was to simply talk to you. A threat against your entire race is a powerful motivator for 99% of people. Even I would be moved if all fairies were in danger."

"That's fair…" Erik mumbled. "If she could convince me the threat is real, I probably would help. Assuming my chances of death are acceptable, anyway. I'm no martyr."

Sensing a lull in the conversation, Emma interjected. She had been looking at the pitiful Eira, and couldn't stand it anymore. "Master…" she softly mumbled.

Her clear implication caused Erik to sigh. "I know, Emma, but we can't just give in to every cute, innocent face we come across. This mistress of hers is far more powerful than us, and that makes her dangerous. Especially because her exact goals are still unknown to us."

Surprisingly, it was Elora who came to Emma's rescue. Sort of. "While I wholeheartedly agree, it might be best to just give in. If only for show. This Eira probably still has a lot of information we need, as well as ways to quickly grow in power. I mean, we're standing in one of them.

As for actually finding and helping this woman… we can decide later."

Naturally, she referred to the dimension, which was clearly an amazing environment for advancement.

Emma didn't think deceiving Eira was much better than the alternative, but she kept quiet about it. She knew Erik was right, and at least it would stop Eira from looking so pitiful.

Erik nodded in agreement with Elora's plan in a show of seeming pragmatism. Yet, both Emma and Elora could feel the tinge of relief blooming in his soul, causing Emma to smile, and Elora to roll her eyes.

The truth was, that he didn't really want to break this girl's heart right now. Sure, he knew she was a construct of several thousands of years old, but it was hard not to be somewhat swayed by her cute expressions and eager enthusiasm.

As for actually finding this mistress of hers… only time would tell.

With their conversation having happened at the speed of thought, only a few seconds had passed for the depressed Eira. So she was still looking at Erik with teary eyes full of hope, panic, and sorrow, when he smiled at her. "Alright, alright. Stop crying. I'll find your mistress, you convinced me."

"R— Really?!" Eira stammered as her face lit up in a smile that could blind a sun. 'She's actually a little similar to Emma,' Erik suddenly thought as he looked at her smile. 'More naive for sure, and her brightness is more in your face than Emma's, but still.'

Erik sighed and felt a tinge of guilt about deceiving her, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, bu—" yet before he could continue, Eira had encased him in a tight hug that actually made his armor creak a little. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed happily.

Meanwhile, Erik had to groan a little. 'Man, I just repaired this thing after my encounter with Frostfang! And how strong is she exactly!'

Yet, he endured and petted Eira's light brown hair, causing a light shiver to pass through the girl when he brushed past her cow ears. 'Damn, how realistic is this body of hers, anyway,' Erik marveled when he noticed her reactions to his touch. At the same time, he lamented the fact his armor 'protected' him from those soft looking air bags on Eira's chest that looked to be a match for Elora's.

Quickly freeing himself from inappropriate thoughts, he soothed Eira, who was still thanking him. "You're welcome, Eira. But if you want me to find her, you'll have to listen to me from now on, okay? I'll need your help."

Since she was a construct, they couldn't bind her with a covenant like usual, so just getting her promise would have to be good enough for now.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" she exclaimed in quick succession and nodded eagerly. "I'll be good! I'll listen! Just help me find her, and… and don't leave me here alone!"

"Ugh, she really is too precious…" Erik mumbled inwardly, getting immediate agreement from Emma. Still, he realized he needed to remain cautious. He suspected Eira had at least the power of a second-ranker, plus any possible nasty sigils hiding around the place.

"Okay, so why don't you start with telling me everything you know of your mistress and where I'm supposed to start looking?" he then asked as he continued to pet the girl's hair.