Chapter 676: All-Consuming

Clementine looked up at her father, startled as she tried to pull her hand back. Though, soon realizing who it was that had grabbed her, she started mumbling and tried to take a step back, "I-I... I wasn't going to, I promise, I just... it just looked so..."

"Calm down," Eiro replied, slowly letting go of the girl's arm. She nervously held her arms together and looked down at the ground, clearly full of shame.

"Sir Eiro, what a surprise... what brings you here?" Melina asked, glancing over at Clementine as she did. Though, it was really just an act for the other students. She knew why Eiro was here; she herself had realized what Clementine was about to do, but she wasn't able to react quickly enough. Before her muscles even twitched, Eiro was already there and stopped the girl's attempt at using her unique skill.

"I was on a walk, and noticed that this class was happening. And as this happened, I noticed that Clementine was struggling deploying her healing magic," Eiro pointed out, slowly turning toward the students around him, "While this is rare, in certain situations it is possible for you to have either a mental or physical block in regard to using your magic unrelated to your actual ability of casting a spell. If that happens, you can have some rather unfortunate and sometimes fatal accidents. While with healing magic there is little threat, as you all already know, overexposure to healing magic isn't good for you either."

The students started muttering amongst themselves, looking at Clementine concerned. What Eiro said wasn't a lie either; this was a true phenomenon, though this obviously wasn't what was actually going on. Eiro placed his hand onto his daughter's back, trying to reassure her, "And it looks like this happened with Clementine. She is going to be fine, though, so not to worry. For now, just continue on with your class. I'm sorry, Lady Valentine, I'm going to have to ask you to excuse my daughter for the day."

Melina nodded her head without hesitation, "Of course, do not worry at all. As long as she feels better soon, that is all that matters," she said, walking up to the girl, "This is not the last time that we will have a class such as this, so you will have more opportunities to show us what you can do, alright?"

Clementine silently nodded her head, as she and Eiro slowly started to walk away. Though, before they left, Eiro stopped. He turned around and walked up to that deeply injured man. He waved his hand over the man's arm, letting sprinkles of water appear from his palm. The water seeped into the wound, cleaning it, and healing the deep injury in a matter of seconds. It did require a lot of mana, but the wound had easily been treated, "I'm sorry about that, this had nothing to do with you. But from now on, try to take care of your body better, alright?"

The man nodded in disbelief, confused as to how that wound had been healed seemingly so easily. And he wasn't the only one, as the other students, and even Melina, seemed to be in disbelief over what they were seeing. Though, at least Melina knew that this was not a matter of skill; in that, she was at least halfway certain that she still had Eiro beat, but instead that this was about the quantity and quality of Eiro's mana and overall magic.

However, for now, Eiro continued on. The only reason he had healed that man was so that Clementine wouldn't feel bad about not being able to help him. If he didn't know that she would feel this way, he would have simply left this to Melina, as she was supposed to do the brunt of the healing in the first place.

The disguised Demon guided his daughter into one of the nearby buildings into an unoccupied room. There, he erected a barrier using the Ace of Cup's liquid to ensure that nobody would be able to see or hear what was going on. Quickly, Bavet jumped off Eiro's skin, turning into his own human form, "Well... I'm going to just leave you two be. I don't think I need to be here for this conversation," the slime pointed out, stepping out of the door. Eiro nodded and thanked him, before turning back to his daughter. The moment the door behind Bavet fell shut, tears started trickling down her cheeks in a steady stream.

Eiro stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, letting Clementine's head rest on his chest. Her tears and snot soaked into his shirt, as Clementine tried to fight against her own emotions. Though soon, she at least managed to calm down enough to speak to Eiro again, "I'm so embarrassed..." she cried out, and the Demon caressed the girl's head.

"I know, but there's no need to be. This sort of thing can happen," Eiro tried to reassure her, but Clementine shook her head, "But they shouldn't! I'm supposed to be able to handle myself at this point, I thought that everything was fine! Sammy is doing just fine, she sings and talks and her skill never acts up even though she hasn't even been able to use it for long, even Leon is doing fine and he's still just a kid... Why am I the only one that can't do anything right..?"

Eiro slowly pulled back from Clementine, noticing that her sorrow was more turning into frustration and anger, so that he could give the girl the space she needed. Clementine wiped the tears off her face with her hand, "I was standing there, and everything was fine, and then I just felt so... so powerless... I've been feeling so hungry lately, and I hate it, no matter what I do, it just doesn't work..."

"You've been hungrier than usual lately?" Eiro asked, and Clementine slowly nodded her head, "Yeah, just... I mean, not a lot I guess, but just..."

"Enough to make your day harder, right?"

Clementine nodded, and Eiro lightly smiled at her, "Listen, I get that feeling. I definitely do. I feel the same sometimes. Having these sorts of special abilities can simply make it hard to adjust to changes. But if that's been happening, you could have just told me, and we could have figured something out together."

The girl looked down at the ground, "I know, I just... the other's don't need your help either, so I..."

"What are you even talking about?" Eiro let out a slight laugh, "Of course the others need my help. Every night I'm home, I sit down with Sammy for at least half an hour and let her rant and talk to me about whatever she wants without having to think about what she says and how she says it all the time. I check on Arc's growth every night, because even if he has cramps or overdoes things in his practice, he wouldn't be able to tell. I had to add an extra barrier onto Avalin and Leon's bedroom to prevent Leon's skills from causing the monsters in the manor to run wild while he's sleeping or simply gets too lazy to control his skills. Of course you all need me, you're my kids."

Clementine listened intently to Eiro's words, but it still didn't seem to give her much confidence in this situation. Eiro placed his hand onto her shoulder and smiled, "It's totally alright to need some help, especially at your age. I know you just called Leon a kid, but the rest of you aren't much better either. You're all kids at the end of the day, so you deserve to act like it for a while longer. And really, whether you're a kid or not, there's never any shame in admitting that you need help or can't do something on your own. Why do you think Partax is around at the manner, dragging the mood down?" Eiro asked, and Clementine let out a coughed chuckle as she rubbed some tears out of her eye and pulled her father back into a deeper hug.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Eiro slowly rubbed her back, "Don't even mention it."

The two stood there for a little while longer, until Clementine had finally managed to calm herself down enough. She took some deep breaths and focused a bit more, as Eiro pulled over some chairs for the two to sit on, "Now, let's just talk a bit. What exactly is it that you're struggling with the most?"

"I... the hunger just gets really bad sometimes... like cramps that I can't control. It's becoming more... visceral, and instinctive lately... more physical too, so it's been feeling a lot more like actual hunger... Sometimes, when I use the skill to heal Arc's or your wounds, I don't know whether I want to heal it... or bite into it," Clementine admitted, her cheeks becoming flush.

"Hm... When you feel that way, does actually eating some food help you at all?"

Clementine shrugged, "I don't know... I just... don't like eating that much..."

"Really? Do you not like the food, or is there some other issue?"

"No, no, that's not it! The food is great, it's just... the more I feel like this, the more the skill makes me feel this all-consuming hunger, I just... I just have to remember..." Clementine explained, and Eiro quickly understood what the issue was. It was trauma. Back in the Demonic Village, when the kids were kidnapped by the Sins' Demons, they all went through a lot of horrible things. After being thrown off a tower again and again, Rudy still wasn't able to look out the manor's second floor window without shivering. Clementine had the pain of a gluttonous demon forced onto her, who was eating enough to literally tear apart his own body. It would have been more surprising if Clementine hadn't developed a messed up relationship with food after that.

The Demon smiled at his daughter, holding her hand to comfort her, as he swore to himself that he would do anything he could to help his daughter through this.