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“*Chomp…gulp…*”
“Was that tasty, little Aery?”
“…(nod)”

Everyone there could not resist giving a warm look to the girl stuffing her little mouth with dango like her life depended on it.

But eating like that obviously resulted in syrup dripping down the corner of her mouth.

“Aww no, your face will get all sticky like that. Let me wipe it for you.”
“Mm…thank you.”

The girl obediently turned her syrup-covered face to Freya, who wiped it with a handkerchief.

Freya had gotten into full caring-sister mode, looking pleased at the girl’s clean face while stashing away the used handkerchief. It was a rather heartwarming scene, if one chose to ignore the five empty dango skewers already piled up on the goth loli girl’s plate…

“…What are we supposed to make of this?”
“…Don’t ask me.”

Somehow, they had ended up sitting at a table and shared tea with the devil tormenting the city…Ba‘al Zəbûl Aery.

Frey had a conflicted smile as he watched that, and Crim chose to keep sipping on her matcha instead of thinking too hard about it.

◇◇◇

In the end, everyone insisted that Crim was their leader, so she had to take care of things. Left with no escape, Crim led the conversation, asking the most important question in that moment.

“…I see thou hast been eating here without restraint, so I take it thou canst also pay for it all?”

Hearing Crim’s question, the girl, about to stuff her cheeks with a seventh serving of dango, froze for a moment.

“…Pay?”
“Yes, money to pay for it.”
“………Money?”
“…Alright, alright… eat as much as thou dost desire, I shall settle the bill anon…”

No matter how adorable that girl was, she was a walking nuclear bomb, and Crim wanted to avoid setting her off for something as simple as eating too many sweets. And seeing the girl’s clueless face tilted in response to her questions, Crim decided to give up and shrugged.

*Just talking to her is exhausting.*

She listened and replied normally, but she seemed to be in her own world, making it tricky to keep up with her tempo.

And to make things worse…it was hard to harbor any ill will towards her.

It constantly felt like Crim was talking to a little girl, making it difficult to just rely on pure rage to move the conversation forward. …And yet there were some things Crim needed to talk with her about.

“How came thou to be in this village of all places, I wonder?”
“Mm…I got bored. I have nothing to do while I wait for you all to get ready, so I came here.”
“Was it mere boredom? Dost thou even realize what would befall us were they to learn thy true identity?”

She was essentially waltzing around the village she had just declared war on not too long ago, oblivious to any issues that could arise from that.

“It’s okay, they never saw me before. And everyone who sees me treats me with kindness.”
“Still, who in their right mind would ever go frolic around the village they’re about to attack? The closest thing would be scouting.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is! Assuming thou possessest but a shred of common sense, that is.”

Crim was starting to get exasperated as she tried to reason with the girl, who tilted her head in thought for a moment, until she came to a conclusion and clapped once.

“You underestimate me, Young Spirit of the Night. I am Qliph2i, also known as *Airhead*.”
“…What about it?”

She seemed oddly proud of herself as she announced the codename granted to her, while Crim narrowed her eyes, urging the girl to continue.

Then, still with the same pompous tone, she said…

“You can’t rely on common sense when dealing with me. After all, I’m an idiot.”
“Isn’t a self admitted idiot the worst kind?!”

The whole conversation was so ridiculous that Crim shouted exasperatedly before falling face flat on the table. She could not keep going like that, she had lost. Although she was still not entirely sure what she had been trying to accomplish in the first place.

Eventually, she sat upright again, after Rouge who was sitting next to her patted her head with concern. There was something else Crim wanted to know.

“Anyway, what is a Qliph in the first place?”
“…Ahh, right. I guess people nowadays don’t know about that either. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it all.”

By now, the girl was on her ninth skewer of dango, which she gently put aside on her plate before sitting upright to talk with Crim.

“That won’t be an issue?”
“No. Whether you know or not won’t change what you’re attempting to do, so it’ll be fine.”

Somehow, they had gained a chance to hear about the mysteries surrounding devils, straight from the horse’s mouth. Everyone there quickly realized that and listened attentively to what she would say…