Tales of The Demi Human

Chapter 5 : Friend and foe

"Wake up. brother!" Alice, the little elf nagged the still sleepy Kyran on his bed.

~Yawn~ "Five more minutes..." Kyran lazily said.

"Geez, sleepyhead brother!" Alice giggled. "The breakfast is ready. If you don't come quickly, I'll eat yours!"

Kyran did not answer as he returned to the dream world.

It has been one week since Alice started to live with Kyran and Razuli.

"Where's Kyran?" Razuli asked.

"As usual, gramp!" Alice said.

"Don't bother him, let's dig in!" Razuli smiled and put a chunk of large meat on Alice's plate.

"Yay! gramp's specialty steak is number one!" Alice cheered happily. "I'll help, gramp!"

"Good girl!" Razuli smiled.

"~yawn~ Morning Alice. Morning, gramp!" Kyran came out from his room. Razuli's humble house only had two available rooms, with one room had been occupied by him. Kyran had no choice but to share the room with little Alice.

Kyran took a seat and asked, "Where's mine?"

Alice patted her tummy with a satisfied expression and grinned.

"Try a better one!" Kyran smiled and rubbed her silverish hair. He knew she was cheeky, but at the same time she cared for him. There's no way she would do that kind of mischief.

"Brother, you have no sense of humor." Alice pouted.

"Sauce?" Razuli offered

"I'll passed." Kyran gulped. The sauce Razuli referred to was fresh blood dripped on top of the raw meat. He'll still not really used to it.

"Can I have blueberry sauce instead?" Alice asked with glittering eyes

"No, we don't have any" Razuli helplessly said as he put the meat on Kyran's plate.

"Medium or well done?" Surprisingly Razuli could throw such unfunny joke

"Do I have any choice?" Kyran renewed his evaluation of the old man. Old men usually have a dignified, wise, composed stereotype with them, but if one got to know Razuli better, those stereotypes would be shattered in an instant.

"Actually you do, but not now." Razuli explained. "There's a kind of magic potion that can manipulate the genetic trait of one's demonic instinct related to appetite. But the ingredients to concoct one is rare and the concocting process is very difficult. Only a handful demon alchemist can successfully concoct one. Even when it's out at the market, you'll still need to compete with the nobles to get your hand on it."

"So, there's a magical potion with such an effect!" Kyran was excited.

"But why do demons want such potion that can turn them more human-like?"

"There're two reasons. First, human have always looked down on us demon as a barbaric and primitive being that can only eat raw meat. They put us on the same level with those wild beasts. Demon's pride, especially the nobles, could not bear to be looked down by those human that they despised. That's why the nobles compete to get their hand on this kind of potion. One can still eat raws though after consuming the potion. The second reason is, recently it has become a symbol of a higher social status. It has become a noble lifestyle to eat cooked meat."

"It's quite ironical" Kyran mumbled, putting a piece of meat in his mouth.

"Yes, sometime I don't understand what those nobles think" Razuli said.