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“I’m truly sorry for all the fuss they’re causing over there…”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not often that we see new faces here in the village, so I actually enjoyed this new experience.”

While Crim apologized, the elven man just gave her a friendly smile. He was the owner of that tea house, and was brewing more tea as he replied.

He still looked rather young, but was closer to being three hundred years old (and by the way, apparently the average lifespan of elves in this world was four hundred years). Because of that, it was almost like he was watching his grandchildren having fun at the table.

Seeing that the owner was not bothered by any of it, Crim heaved a sigh of relief and took a sip of her freshly brewed black tea infused with honey. Then she glanced over to the balcony again…

“Aery, try some of my fruit yogurt too, it’s full of sweet fruits so I’m sure you’ll like it!”
“My matcha pudding is really good too, here take a bite.”
“Ah, do you want to try some of my cheesecake too?”
“You can also have some of my fruit tart!”

Lycoris, Hinagiku, Kasumi, and Setsuna were bunched up around Aery, trying to feed her various desserts. She looked rather happy to be in that situation, despite her unmoving deadpan face.

It had not taken long before all the girls in the group became infatuated with feeding her, but Crim could not stand being there for long and had retreated to a seat on the counter.

And she also dreaded becoming a similar target of the girls if she remained there.

“Rouge, how’s thy dango?”
“It’s really tasty, sister. It has a faint scent of walnuts, and it’s sweet, I really like it.”
“Then that’s good. Eat to thy heart’s desire.”

Rouge was sitting next to Crim, having also evacuated the balcony, and was trying out some dango herself. Crim nodded in approval of her sister’s opinion, and then surveyed the balcony again.

“At this point, I’m starting to feel like I’m the odd one out for not being able to go along with any of this.”
“Don’t worry, Crim. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Also next to Crim, on the other side from Rouge, was Frey. He was massaging his temples, as if enduring a headache as he sipped from his herb tea.

Meanwhile, Freya was on *that* side, but as she had already run out of things to feed Aery, she instead happily took on the duty of wiping the girl’s face to keep it clean, something that brought her much joy.

…Crim’s guild had consistently been at the top of the player rankings. They would always fight without holding back, but when the fight was over, they held no grudges against their opponents.

Because of that mentality, Crim also did not fault her friends for being so friendly with that girl outside of combat.

It was still a bit stressful to watch…but that devil girl seemed to also have a clear divide in behavior in and out of combat, and was really friendly when out. Crim had no option but to just let them hang out as they wished.

“…By the by, wouldst thou perchance know why Belial chose to join thy side?”
“Fwah? Hoh wanh ho hhow hwouh hlal? (What? You want to know about Belial?)”

Hearing Crim’s sudden question, Beelzebub tilted her head, replying with her mouth still full of the thirteenth serving of dango.

“Yes, Da’at hinted at something like that before, but I wanted to know some more details.”

Crim wanted to know why Belial went from serving the Red Lion Emperor into becoming one of the devils, and maybe Aery would know more.

The girl finished chewing and swallowing her dango before replying again.

“Ah, I mean, it’s just because Belial is still a maiden at heart.”
“Huh… A maiden?”
“Crim, you shouldn’t be gossiping about things like that.”
“I might take that more seriously, Freya, were thou not looking so keenly interested thyself.”
“Ah…ahahah…”

Despite having chastised Crim about it, Freya was leaning forward and listening attentively, which Crim pointed out.

And it was not just Crim and Freya. Everyone sitting at the table were curious to know why Aery described her fellow devil in that way, when, in their past experience, she had always behaved like a scoundrel.

“Yes, she was extremely loyal to the emperor, so she couldn’t stand the people who tore apart the empire of her beloved Red Emperor and—”
“What’s this I just heard? Is this brainless princess talking about things that don’t concern her again?”

A new voice interrupted the conversation. It was someone who was starting to become familiar…Belial had entered the tea house at some point.

“Um, Belial. That hurts.”
“Oh that’s good to know. At least your head filled with cotton candy for brains can still feel pain. And has it occurred to you that it’s meant to hurt…!”

She was smiling…but there was a bulging vein on her forehead as she struck the back of Aery’s head, her hands wearing sharp claws.

Seeing her there, Crim quickly jumped on her feet.

“Belial! Why art thou here?!”
“I have no intention to mingle or fight with you this time. I’m just here to pick up this dimwitted idiot princess!”

There was a dull sound of something striking the table, but Crim and the rest paid no attention to it, instead glaring at Belial, who retracted the sharp claws to take hold of Aery’s nape and dragged her out of the tea house.

“Belial, wait”
“…What do you want?”
“…I need more dango. Otherwise my mouth might get bored and I’ll loudly say a bunch of stuff that might be true or not.”
“You little brat…!”

There was a snapping sound that reached even the table where Crim and the rest were…and then she threw a coin at the owner. It seemed like Aery knew how to manipulate her.

“…You, this should be enough so prepare ten or so dango skewers and pack them, I’ll pick them up later! You’re going to regret this, stupid princess…!”
“I like how kind you are, Belial.”
“~~?!”

And so the two devils made a loud exit.

*…That girl is too powerful…*

Crim thought that after seeing how easily the girl had disarmed and controlled someone like Belial.

Once they recovered from that strange scene, they looked at the table again, and saw a glistening coin on it, which was just enough to pay for all the sweets Aery had eaten…

***

#Afterword:#
Be: “I’d rather die than become indebted to you…!!”