Demon's Virtue

The overseer silently read the book. At some point they had taken a seat to properly read it all. Their expression had never changed, so Eiro wasn't entirely sure what they were thinking.

"Oi, isn't this looking kinda bad? What if they won't let you to the top floor?" Sarius asked, but Eiro scoffed as he shook his head.

"Oh please, as if that would happen," Eiro replied, "No matter what they think, they-"

"Sorry, this is no good," the overseer shut the book, slowly glancing over at the demon who stood there almost stunned. The salamander next to him laughed a bit.

" 'As if that would happen', huh?" he let out, but Eiro just glared at him for a second before turning back toward the overseer.

"What do you mean, that's no good? You're saying that's not at a level of something that belongs on the top floor?" the Demon asked, not sure what they were talking about. And the overseer slowly glanced at the book as they shook their head.

"This is information that would more than suffice. Rather, the scale and detail is something that I'm not sure this tower can even truly compare to," the overseer explained, and a deep frown formed on Eiro's face.

"So what's the issue then?"

"The 'issue' is that this thesis is based on false information."

"... Excuse me?"

"Again, it is a wonderful thesis based on nothing but a fairy's jest. You expect us to believe that you were personally chosen by the Sky above the Sky?"

Eiro practically gnarled, "What, you don't have a way to verify information like that? Then how do you even know for sure that any of the things on the top floor, or on any of the floors at all, is true?"

The overseer hesitated, "... We cross-reference all other information in the tower, and we if we can justifiably verify that the information in question is either true or false, we place it in the corresponding space. And if we can't truly verify it, we place it on the basis of the consequence of that information, treating it as if it were true in that moment."

"So? Treat it the same, then. You can't verify the information, but if you place it under the assumption that it's true, it clearly belongs onto the top floor," Eiro pointed out, but the overseer quickly shook their head.

"In the circumstances of a test, we need to be a lot stricter. If we can't verify the information, then we can't work under the same assumption directly. Of course, we will store this book as such, but we can't use only this to allow you entry into the top floor."

Eiro stared into the overseer's eyes, grinding his teeth together, "Are you kidding me right now?" he asked, more than annoyed, "All the proof is in there. You should be able to connect everything with all the happenings in the world that I'm sure you know about already.

Yes, you can't verify this 100% because you can't ask that 'sky above the sky' or whatever you called them, but if you just properly look at everything, you will know for a fact that I'm telling the truth."

"... We have decided that it is not worth the-"

"Not worth the risk? You know for a fact that I have information worth going up there. What else do I need to tell you? The Demon King is actually Hell itself. Morgan la Fey is a being that is reborn again and again and usually retains their memories across lives.

Oh, what about this, I'm a reincarnation of Morgan la Fey, but either because of the interference of the Monster King's ability or because that massive fucking arcane splinter was forced into my soul, I can't remember those past lives," Eiro suggested, staring at the overseer who was taking in the information with a confused expression.

"Hold on, you are- wait, we might be able to verify that last-" the overseer stuttered out, and Eiro took a step toward them.

"Getting flustered now, are we? Then how about this? The 'Librarian' isn't a holder of a splinter. It's someone that was chosen by the true incarnation of the splinter, which is the tower itself."

The overseer's expression dropped immediately, "What do you- How-"

"Because it's obvious at this point. The tower is a self-expanding structure that somehow has perfect access to every single book, note, map, or other piece of information created inside of its respective realm. It also has identical overseers that have a certain type of hive-mind. Plus, the amount of arcane energies flowing through the walls is insane.

It would be weird to come to a different conclusion at this point," Eiro pointed out with a long sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Listen, just... reconvene with yourself, or the current librarian or whatever. Tap into the tower's mind, if that's a thing. Just do whatever instead of just turning me down here."

The overseer silently looked at Eiro for a few moments before they closed their eyes. Beyond their eyelids, their eyes kept moving around rapidly, as the demon tapped his foot on the ground. He looked at Sarius standing next to him, who had been staring at Eiro for a while now.

"What?"

"Nothin'..." the salamander responded, slowly averting his gaze. Eiro let out a long sigh.

"Listen, I know that I, this version of me at least, has a bit of a short fuse. But that's just how it is, alright? I'm... changing, here. A bit. Not substantially.

I'm still me, just a slightly different 'me'," he explained, but Sarius was clearly not totally sure what to think. But Eiro himself was already more than aware of all the issues with this situation.

The two Eiros in the elemental planes were becoming individuals. It's not often, but there are sparks of individual thought and experiences; their minds are still linked to Eiro as a whole, but they are distinct from all the other duplicates in some way. And while that was a concern to the main Eiro, it wasn't any better from the duplicates' point of view.

At least right now, they would have no reason to even want to split off from the main Eiro. They would lose... everything.

Everything they worked for, everyone they loved and cherished would be cut off from them, and that was something no version of Eiro was ever going to allow. But at the end of the day, as long as they still shared a mind, it was going to be fine. That's the conclusion that the Demon came to, at least.

Rather, it might be beneficial for Eiro to gain unique perspectives if he developed more personalities.

Before long, the overseer opened their eyes again. Eiro waited for them to speak.

"... We have come to the conclusion that we need to, first and foremost, verify whether you truly are a reincarnation of Morgan la Fey," they explained hesitantly.

Eiro raised a brow, "What for? Is that such an important detail?"

"Morgan la Fey and the Tower have a unique relationship. It seems that, due to your nature as a 'duplicate' as you call yourself, we were never able to truly see your soul, so it is still an uncertainty whether you are their reincarnation."

"Okay, so how are we doing this? The main body's soul can't enter this realm so easily," Eiro pointed out, and the overseer nodded their head.

"We understand your predicament. However, the spirit gateways are part of your soul, correct? In that case, though we cannot do it as easily as a soul, we can try to probe you through said gateways. But to do that, you will need to let-"

"The tower's mana enter my body, okay, got it," Eiro sighed, not sure what to think about that. He could tell that the overseer was telling the truth in that this was the only way this could happen, but Eiro still wasn't sure about letting something so invasive happen. But at the end of the day, if that was the only way for him to enter the top floor of the towers, then so be it, "... Fine. Do it."

The overseer nodded their head and approached Eiro, who hesitantly placed their palm onto the demon's chest, "I apologize for any discomfort you may experience throughout this."