“He’s late,” Nine muttered.

Her short hair had grown to the point where the fringes began touching her shoulder. She was wearing a black dress which.. I found plain odd. Nine normally wouldn’t wear something so elegantly.

“Noel, do you think things will go well?” she asked.

“Even if it doesn’t turn out well, we always have a next time.”

“I know you’ll be fine. But will Liliath be fine with a ‘next time’?”
We then turned to the other side of the bar. Liliath, Rin, Prune and Jennifer-chan were chatting with Gina and Ruff.

Alytia, Aoki and Takata were talking with the Regressor, Jiwon.

Moirae-sama and Laura were talking with Miss Margrett and Sid.

“What’s up with the black dress anyways?”

“It’s a disguise.”
“For?”

“Master.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s for master.”

I blinked a few times, Nine’s expression remained unchanging. If anything, it looked like she was blushing..

“By master you mean..” I caught a glimpse of her pendant– it was black.

“Oh, he’s here.”

She bounced off the stool and rushed to the entrance. I felt a bad premonition.

I checked her status. [Vixen’s Pawn] was still there. Thinking that perhaps Nine had been lying, I tried to take it off..

I couldn’t.

[Omnipotent Keyboard (EX)] was gone from my Unique Skill column.

“Liliath, Prune, Rin.”

“Yes dear?”

“Check your status right now. If you still have Omnipotent Keyboard, remove [Vixen’s Pawn] from Nine’s title.”
Liliath is a velvet haired girl– demon lord. Just for this occasion, she was wearing a resplendent red dress with laces running across her shoulder. Her hair had been tied into a bun, held by a rose pin. 

Rin, her silver-grey hair had been adorned with a frilly headband. Her clothes had a colour palette which somewhat resemble maid clothes. The design itself however, made her look as if she were some noble’s daughter. 

She is a noble’s daughter..

Prune was a silver-haired beastkin whose ears were up on her head, and had a real bushy tail. She was wearing a casual shirt and pants.

“Did something happen to Nine?”

“That’s what I want to ask to..”

“I don’t have the skill..”
“Nine took it away?”
“Me neither..”

“Where did she go–”
“Noel-sama.” Jiwon stood up. He pulled out his sword from his inventory– that’s a new weapon.

Everyone turned to the entrance.
“Your beloved is here to see you Prune-san!”

“Beloved?”

A girl with hair, silver like Prune’s but golden at the fringes. Three tails jumping behind her, body donning a traditional dress from some old Korean era.
Liliath pressed herself against me. I noticed the frightful expression on her face.
“Eh.. it’s Liliath-chan! Long time no see.. don’t look at me like that, I’m getting goosebumps.’
This girl was Shea. A Nine Tail.

“N-Noel..”

“You’ll be fine.”

Shit.. will it be alright? What the hell Nine.. you lied to me.

“Nice to meet you,” Rin tried to greet.
“The fox came first,” but was cut off by Jiwon’s words.

“Hey! Who are you calling a fox! Not that I’m not a fox, I’m a cute legendary fox!”

“Even in this life you’re the same as ever huh.”
“Jiwon, please calm down,” Laura held him by the edge of his coat.

“Prune-san~ Are you ignoring me?”
“No..” said the beastkin who was hiding behind Moirae-sama.
“Am I that scary I wonder,” Shea pressed a finger to her chin.

“Shea! You’re going to have to take your medicine again!”

“No way!”

The second person who arrived was a girl with black hair, a ponytail tied to the side. This person wore a lab coat and pleated skirt. It was as if she had just come out of a comedy skit.. those clothes..

“Another Japanese person?” Takata muttered questionably.
“What’s going on exactly?” Aoki looked at the girl and back.

“Isn’t this.. illegal summoning?” Alytia grimaced.

Was there such a thing as illegal summoning? It’s still kidnapping, in the end, right?

“Nice to meet you, my name is Kaneko Iona, Javiel’s little sister!”

“Nice to meet you too..”

“Which of you here is Liliath-san?” Iona narrowed her eyes and scanned around.

The Regressor stood in front of her.

“Who are you?” the girl narrowed her eyes.
“You’re so much smaller than I remembered,” Jiwon said.

“W-What?!” Iona covered her breast.. I’m pretty sure that’s not what the Regressor was referring to.

“Don’t be too cocky.”

“Y-You..”

Jiwon drew his sword, Iona paled.

Sparks flew. A shadow jumped away. Jiwon stowed his sword away and glared in the direction in which it landed.

“Tsk.”
“No fighting hey!”

Following that was a dark elf wearing a loose flowing black dress. A slit cut to the side.

Nine came and stopped the two.
“He was threatening Iona-san!”

“It’s very clear that you’re the one who started the attack. Jiwon-san was merely defending himself,” Nine retorted.

“Calm down.” 

– a hand was placed on Nine’s shoulder.

“Yes master,” Nine nodded.

Javiel. Black hair, crimson eyes. He wore black, an attire similar to one would wear to a funeral.

What the hell. 

‘Nine, what’s going on?’

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“Good evening everyone. I apologize for being late. Something happened along the way you see..” Javiel gave a sharp glare my way– Liliath.

Liliath stood her ground, but the force of her hand was absolutely crushing.

“It’s been a long while, my Liliath.”
Liliath trembled, I felt a fiery sensation well up in my chest.

Was this anger?

“I heard you came all the way here because you wanted to forgive me?”
Liliath opened her mouth– but was too frightened to speak.

“Your Highness,” Ruff went to Javiel’s side.

“Even you’re here too, sir Ruff? Does this mean you’ve joined their side?”

“N-No, that’s isn’t true, your Highness! I merely..”
“Demon,” Liliath muttered.

“Yes?”

Liliath raised her hands forward, her eyes were unfocused, mana began condensing.

I grabbed her wrist and pointed it down.
“Dear?” She looked at me with empty eyes.

“Don’t forget what you’re here for.”
“O-oh yes.. How could I have..” her words taper off and she staggered.

Shit.

I held Liliah who had just fallen into my arms.

“L-Liliath?” 

Rin tried to shake her awake. Liliath passed out, I hugged her around me and noticed Jiwon asking me for permission.

I nodded without even caring to think.

“She had her chance. Hey, you bastard Javiel, you’re mine.”

Jiwon’s figure disappeared.

Clink.

One shield against 32 blades.. no, even more than that. Sparks running across the invisible barrier of mana.

I wanted to adjust both their statuses so they would prevent killing each other when I realized once again.. 

Nine’s [Omnipotent Keyboard] was missing from my Unique Skill column.

‘Nine, what the hell is going on.’

A gale of a shockwave broke out in the room, the impact forced everyone to take a few steps back

‘Nine!!’

Jiwon tore a chasm in the ground, sword holding him in place.

“Noel, I thought we agreed that this would be a chance for Liliath to forgive, master. What were you thinking when you nodded?”

Nine..
“What’s gotten into you!” Prune yelled.

“You’ve done well,” Javiel patted her head, Nine’s face went all red.

“Deplorable, I’m not done..”

“Oppa, stop this. Not here, there are too many people,” Laura said, holding her staff.

“So you’re Noel?” Javiel turned to me.
“...”
“Liliath-chan doesn’t seem to be doing all that well?”

Was he trying to test me? This bastard..

Fuck. I need to calm down.

In this situation, what can I do? What should I do? Liliath fainted just like that, do I call for a time out and wait until Liliath recovers?

Would Javiel even allow that?

With my current system functions, the best thing I can do is.. escape.

But what would that achieve?
“Is Liliath going to wake up? Master promised one evening, so if she’s not up by then..”

“Noel, what should we do? Nine is..” Prune asked in an anxious tone.
“I.. I don’t know..”
“Can’t this meeting be any less formal? Is there no place arranged for our Lord? What disgrace. He should’ve never set foot here,” said the dark elf.

I had no words to retort. A bitter feeling swirled in my heart.

I’m numb.

Too numb to do anything.

Powerlessness.

“I’m sorry.”
“Pardon?”
“Liliath.. can’t, today,” I squeezed those words out of my mouth.

“Eh.. so why did we even come. I actually wanted to see her open up though,” said Shea.
“That’s too bad. Master, how about next time? There’s no way Liliath can..”
“I gave you one chance, there’s no next time.”

Nine grimaced.

“Let’s see.. Nine-san, take Liliath-chan and that silver haired wolf-kin with us. We’re returning.”

“Master but..”

“Do it.”

“Y-yes.. sorry Noel.”

Alarms began blaring in my mind, I passed Liliath to Rin and set my status to the custom preset. I may not be able to use [Omnipotent Keyboard] directly, but I can still use my system abilities.

A fact about our Unique Skills is that Nine can’t remove the ones granted to us specifically. Like, my [Widget] skill. She also can’t remove [Home Sweet Home] from Prune. 

There’s a fail safe in place built by Unknown, for us only.

I disabled all functions all other functions which Nine had for my system except the messaging function.

“Noel..”

Nine grimaced. She couldn’t use the Inventory widget, and all her items were there.

“..Just give up.”
Just as she said that, I felt my body become as heavy as lead. A pain tore through my head and heart.

“Don’t you dare!”
“Do something Noel-sama!”

I began retching.

“W-What is going on?!”
“No don’t!”
“Shut up! Shut up!”

“Kaito!”

Retching blood.
“Ruff-kun, what are you thinking?!”
Impacts shook around me.

Hurts..

It hurts.

Like something was tearing me from inside out.

I fell to my knees.

Sounds were growing distant.

“Do something! Moirae!”
“Fufu, you’re all mine now!”

“NOO!!!”
“Prune, just go with the flow already.”
“What did you do to Noel!”
“He’s going to die!”

Tears filled my eyes.

What exactly was it, keeping me conscious even till now?
I heard Rin’s scream, Liliath being taken away.

Laura was trying to heal me.. it’s pointless.

Even if I tried to use all healing skills at this point, it would do nothing to help.

Because..

It can’t do anything change my race.

361. 

I began floating in infinite space. A space with nothing.

There’s nothing.

I’ve got no eyeballs, no hands.

I’ve got no receptors to feel either.

This is familiar.

It’s just like that Liliath killed me. That was way too long ago.

She only wanted to marry me too. How funny. To go through all this just so that we can love each other.

Why was it so complicated? 

…

How long have I been here, feels like an eternity.

Will Bleu arrive to my rescue or something or.. is this outside the realm of the living? I’m dead. I’m pretty sure of it.

Damn, everything sure feels like a dream here. Imagine waking up just to find myself in bed. All that had happened was nothing more than a dream..

Is the me of the story dead or the me of real life?

Back then, Liliath killed my real body.

How about this time? Did Nine kill my real body?

Will I get to return? I’ll probably be revived, right?

Nine, Prune and Liliath all said that they saw the me of the future. Which means everything will turn out alright.

Since I never really met my other self, I could only believe in their words.

Though.. I’m dead now.

What if I’m supposed to die? Maybe another Noel replaced me.

Perhaps the Prune and Nine that joined me was also a fictional representation of them in reality, and that the real them was dead just like me?

What has become of my TALENT anyways.

Manifestation in Reality…
A world without TALENTS would make way more sense. Maybe the real world is also a fictional world. I’m running myself into an infinite paradox.

What do I do here anyways?

Wait for eternity?
It’s boring.

I began swimming in this blackness.

Bleu, do you hear me?!

I swam, my surroundings seem to be composed of these black ripples. I kind of get the feeling that this is a black hole.

Hello! Bleu! Anyone!? Rin! Liliath! Nine! Prune!

Hm. Maybe that’s it. Nothing exists to begin with.

Then all those emotions, or memories I have don’t matter.

Perhaps this life.

Haha.

What was I worried for?

Liliath had been taken away by Javiel– will be tormented for the rest of her life..

What about it? I feel bitter, yes. Could I save her?

I don’t know.
Is it something I regret?
Well.. probably.
I’m beginning to have a hard time trying to get myself to fight for her. It’s beginning to feel distant. Time here is accelerating? The longer I stay, the more my memories fade?

Shit. What is going missing in my mind?

My name is Noel Bougainvillea.

My parents are Diana and Dylan Bougainvillea.

I have a sister named Novelle Bougainvillea.

I, Noel Bougainvillea, summoned Liliath to the real world because of my TALENT.

I’m 16 years of age, just entered high school. Mondai High, to be exact.
During the trip to UGH, I was killed at the beach and got involved in this isekai thing. Prevent the war between the empire and the demon lord.

The first person we ever really got to know was Jennifer-chan and Miss Margrett. A mother-daughter duo operating a florist.

We went adventuring, got ourselves into a mess.

Eventually, I went to decorate a venue for a marriage, that’s where I met Rin.

Rin came with us due to her family situation. 

Another week later we went to the castle party to meet Liliath’s brother. Rin was killed, it was chaos. 

I broke down because Liliath went half insane– not that she did. It was all just travesty in my own mind.

We came to Toren Kingdom and the Elven Territory.
I dueled Gina.

And when the time was right, we decided that it was time Liliath face her fear.

What a story.

I’m pretty sure this isn’t the end. 

But it’s close to the end.

The conclusion should come fairly soon.

I just don’t know what it would be.

In this cosmic space of blackness, my existence continued to swim.

My existence observed the waves in the distance.
My existence found that there’s a light source coming from above.

My existence remember that I'm an artist.

My existence thinks that the effects of this place is cool.

My existence realizes that it’s missing a part of itself.

My existence wonders if its lack of fear is justifiable.

My existence is curious whether or not it will continue to erode.

My existence recalls that Rin was once in this space, or somewhere similar.

My existence denies the notion as Rin is part of the story.

It thinks.

It can’t come up with a conclusion.

I wonder if it’ll end here.

“Is that all you’ve got?”
It hears a voice.

“You’re a fragment of her fiction right? Why are you here?”

It can’t see.
It questions why.

“Nevermind. I suppose it’s part of the ridiculous story she creates, really.”

It questions what this ‘she’ has to do with this.

It questions who this ‘she’ is.

“I’m here to find out.”

It questions what it should do.

“This is the abyss, I don’t know how to help you.”
What? You don’t know either?

“I shouldn’t have existed.”

You? 

“I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

Can’t you be more concrete? 

“I wish I could.”
Okay?
“Brother-in-law. You’ll meet me in the future.”

Brother-in-law.. huh? WTF?

I felt a sensation of something running through me. He’s sharing with me his energy? Or something like that?
“Perhaps, she planned this,” he paused, I could feel the doubt in his voice, “No. Her stories don’t always follow her predictions.”

Who is she?

“You’ll meet her soon.”
Is my TALENT causing another ripple in space? This is absolute nonsense.
This guy.. who is he really? He did something to me.. and now I’m back from the dead or some cosmic realm. He can’t just be some filler character, right? 

I was waiting for him to reply.

Are you still there? Hello?

No? He just went.

Christ. What’s going on?

Think Noel. It’s been a couple years in time since you’ve been here. There must be something you can do.

Couple years? I’m exaggerating alright. But it sure does feel damn long. Maybe this was what Rin meant when she said it felt like forever had passed.

Crazy.. I was about to lose myself entirely. If not for that person.. who was he anyways?

By some miracle, before I began eroding into nothingness again, a light sprung forth from a point, spreading apart like a net, it wrapped itself around me.

What’s this?

I felt a bubbly sensation, similar to when I was being forced to rise last time when Bleu did it.

Oh, am I being revived? 

My senses were reaturning. A tingling sensation could be felt from my core, slowly spreading outwards. 

And then.. 

Pain.

362.

“Nine.”
Prune knocked on the door. Her face wrinkled with angst and vexation.

“Nine!”
The door opened, from inside was a girl wearing a full black dress. It complimented her balck hair and black iris well.

“Yes?”
“What do you mean, yes?”

Prune was enraged. She had been searching for Nine within the castle for who knows how many days and this girl just replied with ‘yes’?

“What were you thinking? Are you sane? Do you know what’s happening right now?”
“I was thinking we could always revive him later, can’t we?”
The sound of a slap.

Nine touched her cheeks.

“Nine!!” Prune screamed.

“That hurt.”
“Remove that title now!”
“I can’t. They’ll suspect me if I did..”
What was Nine doing? She wasn’t comprehending much of it either.

The [Vixen’s Pawn] title should’ve been a fraud.

Even Bleu attested to it. So why did Nine kill Noel under Javiel’s command?
“Nine, please..” Prune begged.
Was she under the effects of [Vixen’s Pawn]?

It couldn’t be, right?

“How’s Liliath now?” since Nine didn’t have the system map function to use anymore, she couldn’t always keep tabs on her.

Another slap.

“That hurt.”
“Nine!!”

“Oh hey, Shea-san is calling, follow me.”

“Nine!”
“I said, follow me.”
Prune and Nine glared at each other. Neither was willing to move.

“Suit yourself. Shea will pick you up even if you try to hide.”

Nine graced along the hallway, making it the way all to the end where the stairs were located. Her black dress dragged across the red carpet, it only made her look mystifying.

What was this? Wasn’t Nine not affected? Why?

Prune gripped her fist.

If Javiel found out about the full extent of Nine’s abilities, things would become much, much worse..

No. It was already too late.

“Liliath.. “

The poor girl was in the basement, somewhere. Liliath’s condition wasn’t good– mentally. If she wanted, she could always teleport herself out, or use [Home Sweet Home]. 

So why didn’t she?

Prune didn’t understand– couldn’t understand the complexities of Liliath’s mind.

Fortunately, Javiel hadn’t done anything to her besides locking her up in a cell.

Prune herself was not allowed to leave under Shea’s order. Of course, she could escape if Rin opened up the door at her side but.. then nobody would be here to watch over Liliath in case something happens. 

“Fine, if that’s what you want..”

Prune was going to do as Nine advised– revive Noel.

There were enough funds in the shared points to do it several times, there shouldn’t be any problems... 

Why did no one think of that? The thought of it only stung Prune’s heart even more, making her question why she even cried for the past few days anyway?

Prune saw Nine just waiting there, looking at her with eyes of pity. Gritting her teeth, Prune decided to just follow Nine.

How much longer did she have to continue to be dragged around everyone here? Why did Shea want her?

The demon castle was humongous, everything was black. As they were quite high up, the view of the demon kingdom could be seen past the abarasque, arched windows. The skies were a mucky red, and there was an infinitely shining blood moon in the sky.

What exactly caused this phenomenon? Prune didn’t know.

===

“That’s unfortunately the case, Your Majesty,” Jiwon stood in front of His Majesty Akihito– Liliath’s father.

“How.. I had thought..”

“I will do everything in my power to bring your daughter back, I promise. So please allow me to use the treasure vault. There is something there which I need.”
“Prime minister, lead him there. I’ll begin making arrangements for war.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“U-Um.. M-Mister Jiwon, the heroes..” Rin joined Jiwon as she was someone who Akihito recognized. Her presence would only make the testimony valid.

“His Majesty already knows. News should’ve already arrived, correct?” Jiwon said.

To which His Majesty nodded.

From the map, Rin suspected that they should arrive in a day. 

“Let’s go.”

“Yes..”

“Sir, this way.”

They exited the throne room. Jiwon looked out the window– towards that silhouette of a castle in the far background.

The creator was far less omnipotent than he thought. He can’t believe the guy just died like that. Fucking not even healing spells worked on him

He didn’t understand why the bastard of the demon did not take this other demon lord– Rinalanashina, but instead, the wolf-kin. Rinalanashina was his enemy in his past life– the bastard demon’s wife. 

The fact that he’d be allying with this person in the current only goes to show how messed up this world was.

“Rin-sama, tell Moirae and Laura that I’ve gotten access to the vault. Ask them what they need.”

“O-Okay.. is there no item that can revive a person there?”

“No, unfortunately.”
Rin grimaced. It was too bad that Noel did not give permission for Rin to use the Revivalwidget. She, of course, believed that Noel will return eventually.

“What is her weakness? That friend of yours.”

“I.. I don’t know...”

Javiel had a Unique skill which allowed him to increase the value of his status in values of tens of thousands. Now he just got himself a puppet that can manipulate other people’s status?

“Fuck.”

Jiwon was clueless. 

Compared to Noel’s ability, wasn’t hers much more dangerous? How could they have been so blind? 

What in the world could beat this gal? Call on a Goddess’ help? 

He saw for himself how she managed to wipe out the ‘creator’ without as much as moving her arms.

The prime minister inserted the key into the lock, it was a gigantic key. The treasure vault was only reserved for emergency use, something to be accessed by the heroes. Inside contained numerous pieces of end game equipment which would be given during the final battle.

Infiltration into the demon castle, the cliche development, was something Jiwon never got to experience.

Looks like he’ll have the chance to do it this time around.

Click.

The prime minister looked their way, with a solemn nod, he pushed open the golden gates.

The things found inside made Rin’s jaw drop.

===

“Shea-san, she’s here,” Nine didn’t knock, merely announcing so in front of the Nine Tail’s room.

“Wait, wait!” 

Prune looked around the place. It wasn’t the first time she came here.
“Nine, where have you been the past few days?” Prune asked.

Her movements have been mysterious. Nine had been being down inside the dungeon where Liliath was, a couple times.

“In this castle, obviously.”
As for Javiel, Prune had been observing how he managed the affairs of the kingdom which had piled up since his absence. Most of his days were spent in the office– paperwork. Every now and then he would come out to visit Shea, Locket, Iona and.. even Nine.

There was a nice black and white pendant hanging on her chest, it was still black.

Prune grimaced at the thought that Nine was being fooled.

“Prune, I know you’re concerned about Noel. But I did that for a reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

When did Nine become a part of this story? Her actions began making no sense since that big betrayal.

“Sorry for the wait!”

Out the door was a Nine tail who wore a pink, flowery kimono. Her silver-gold hair had been pinned up into a nice bun, and a black-red obi was tied to her waist.

“W-What do you think?” The Nine Tail asked Prune, shyly.

Prune responded with cold silence.

“Haha.. I know, you still don’t accept me but that's alright! I'll make you fall someday!”

Prune remained silent.

“You look amazing, Shea-san.. I think you two would look good as a pair if only Prune wore something matching,” Nine muttered.

She wasn’t wrong. If Prune wore the blue Hanfu which was in her inventory, they would look like a match made in heaven. Too bad Prune was wearing a white dress– something she was forced to do.

“T-Then how about you try my clothes on? I have plenty to choose from, I’m sure they’d be one that fits you..”
“Fine,” Prune spat.

Just like all the previous days– being dragged around, everywhere by this Nine Tail.

It wasn’t like Prune had anything she could do besides keeping an eye out on Liliath. For now, she was safe.

Prune had never felt so powerless in her life.

She can’t wait for today to be over so that she can revive Noel.
Just that.. she was worried how he would react, knowing that things have turned for the worst.

363. 

“I think you should just use that blue chinese dress you bought from the shop,” Nine scanned Prune’s figure on the full body mirror. This pink hakama did suit her but.. it paled in comparison to Prune’s beauty when she wore the Hanfu.

“Can’t this do? I’m too lazy to change into that, and it’s heavy too.”

“For Shea-san, you know?”
“Why the fuck do you even care.”
“You’re so harsh.”
Prune took out the blue Hanfu from the Inventory and began changing. Was it because she felt inferior? Or perhaps it was her emotions? Or was Nine’s attitude getting to her? Perhaps it was all of the above. Prune just gave up trying to make sense of Nine’s actions.

“Take your time, we have all the time in the world~” behind the changing screen was Shea, patiently waiting with a black blindfold on– quite the unnecessary step, but she wanted a big surprise so this was the best Nine could think up of. It looked like something straight out of an indecent movie..

“Fucking..”

“Wow! You look amazing!”
“Shut..” Prune closed her mouth and looked at her reflection in a figure.

A stunning beauty in a blue Hanfu. Drapery white-blue sleeve dropped like the flow of a waterfall, the ribbon that ran round her waist swayed everytime she moved. The fabric was embroidered with patterns of storks, mountains and fog with gold strings.

The traditional Chinese dress came with a hole at the back to fit Prune’s tail through, so the fact that she even had a tail gave off a fantasi-sque feel. Her silver hair was bunched together into a bun, a rod-like pin holding it in place.

Everything would’ve been perfect– if not for Prune’s frown.

Even she found that ugly. Nevertheless, it wasn’t like she cared. She just wanted to get this over with.
After this, she’ll go to her domain, [Home Sweet Home] and summon Noel. Then they’ll decide what their next plan would be.

“Shea-san! She’s done!”

“R-Really?!”
The Nine Tail peeked over the paper fence, dumbly, she still had her blindfold on. Which made Prune cringe a little because of how inappropriate it looked.

The Nine Tail took off the blindfold, her eyes shot open wide.

Her lips quivered, cheeks flushed.

Prune gave Nine a cold side-long glance, Nine merely shrugged.

“W-Were going to.. to go out like this.. ermm.. d-date.. could we..” Shea was all fidgety and even looked somewhat cute.

“Shea-san, calm down, deep breathes,” Nine tried to pull Shea together.

“Haha.. haha.. I-I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life .. y-you’re too beautiful, Prune-san. I-It’s only making me want you more.. and more..” the latter part of her sentence contained a hint of seductiveness, which, Prune had already gotten quite used to these past few days.
There was no need to guess that this Nine Tail is a lesbian. Prune wondered how Noel’s story could come up with such a crazy character.

“L-Let’s go on a d-date, Prune-san,” Shea reached out her hands timidly.

Prune received it with a sigh.

Shea was ecstatic, dragging Prune out of her room, and out of the castle.

===

This would mark the second time Prune had ever gone out into the city of the demon territory. Asides the creepiness of the red ambience covering the entire region, the cityscape was quite impressive.

A fantasy town, operated by many beastkins, dwarves and demonkins.

Dwarves. Although this isn’t the first time Prune has seen them, to find so many of them here just gave off a different feeling. Weird in that she felt fairly tall, not that she was– to her at least.

As for demonkin, it Prune’s first time witnessing them. People with horns, or demonic faces. Some had scales on their skin, other’s with odd body anatomy which made Prune feel slightly jittery.

Apparently, kijin is the name for demons that look like humans but with horn or horns growing from their forehead.

“Where do you want to go?” Shea asked, looking into Prune’s eyes.
Their height was somewhat similar, perfect for kissing–

Prune lightly looked away, in a way that implied annoyance rather than embarrassment. 

Nine had remained at the castle. And from what Prune was seeing, she was headed to Liliath’s dungeon once again.

Honestly, Prune wished to know what was wrong with Nine.

“Prune-san~”

“How about.. that place where we tried the sweet candy.”
“That one! The goop shop, here we go!”
Prune wondered if Shea was indeed an insensitive airhead, or that she was just extremely tolerating. In any case, Prune will continue to reinforce this imaginary wall between them.

The candy which Prune mentioned was really just sugary starch made from some unknown plant. It looked somewhat like purple sugar cane. The taste itself was similar to purple sweet potato. 

Shea paid for two sticks of the candy and passed on to Prune.

They continued down the street.

Until a candy was held in front of her. The starch-sugar was being stretched from the gravity.

“Do you want to try some of mine?” Shea wound her arms around one of Prune’s.

“No thank you,” Prune continued eating her’s, giving an indifferent response. She didn’t care that the candy came in different flavors.

“No? Okay then..” Shea took back her offer, squeezing some lonely words.

A soft whimper echoed in the streets. It was soft, too soft for most people to notice. But both Prune and Shea’s ears reacted. Shea tightened her hands and dragged Prune along with her. They came to an alley where the source was from.

“Shh, go to sleep, you brat.”

“Hey man, someone is going to notice if you raise your voice like that.”

“Stop talking and sack her up.”
It was happening in the gutters below.

“What are you going to do?” Asked Prune.

“Save her of course.”
Shea jumped down and landed with a light splash. It did nothing to dirty her clothes as she circumvented the dirt water using wind magic.

“What?!”

“We’ve been found, scram now Richard! I’ll hold her off.. ugh!?”

It didn’t take Shea even 5 seconds to wipe out the gang of 4 people. Prune took the stairs down. Shea dragged the bandits, or kidnappers out to the side. Prune removed the sack from the head of the girl.

A two-horned kijin. 

“These people really don’t know when to stop, do they? I better tell Locket-san to tighten up security. Prune-san how about.. oh, no wonder.”

“What do we do about them? And her?”

“E-Eh?! Your clothes!”
“It doesn’t matter, I could always clean it up later.”

“Y-Yes..” Shea was clearly perturberted. Such beautiful clothes just got ruined because they tried to interfere.. “These humans, I’ll send them to hell..”

The four bandits began to stand, their bodies swayed unnaturally.

“Behind you!”
“Calm down, they’re under my command now,” Shea then turned to the four bandits, “Go to the guards up stairs and turn yourself in. Tell them the truth, say that you’re under my spell and quietly go to your deaths, alright?”

The four humans nodded with hazy eyes and made their way up the stairs. Their movement was slow like zombies. 

“U-Uh.. yeah..”
“Prune-san was worried about my safety, now that's a first.”
“Of course I was..”
“Doesn’t that mean you care about me..” Shea who realized this point placed both hands on her cheeks and began to squirm in such a way that made Prune feel utterly disgusted.

It was a natural response to warn someone if there was danger, wasn’t it? How did she come to such a dumb conclusion.

That thought aside, Prune refocused her attention to the young kijin in her arms. 

“When we find a lost child, what do we do?” If Prune remembered correctly, the system map had a function to track things like these.. just that Prune didn’t know how Noel does it, exactly.

“Lost child? Let’s see.. we wait until they wake up and we bring them to their parents.”

Right, how could Prune not have thought of this. Shaking her head as if to deplore herself, Prune carried the child in her arms and together with Shea, made their way to the common streets.

“Should I carry her?” Shea kept glancing Prune’s way with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“I can do it,” Prune kepet stroking the kijin’s hair as if to placate the child.

“Prune-san looks so mature when taking care of a child like that.”

“...”

They came to a park in the middle of the city. The leaves of the trees were green, which created this uncanny setting when backed with the red sky. The two of them sat on a park bench, Prune continued to hold the child.

All the while she tried to figure out how exactly Noel was able to trace Rin’s family members the last time. 

In fact, Prune wasn’t too acquitted with Noel’s system functions. Many of the things remain unknown to her.. something she wished she asked Noel to teach her before he.. died.

Giving up searching for the method to find the kijin’s parents, Prune tried to find the Revival widget tab.

“Huh?”

“What is it? Is she waking up?”
“No.. he didn’t..”
Prune felt a shudder run up her spine.

That’s right. How could she have forgotten..

Noel hadn’t given Prune the permission to use the Revivalwidget.