“Alea, would you like that?”

“Alea, how about this?”

In the city of Dante, a petite girl chatted animatedly with the tall girl beside her as they strolled down the street.

Though her social skills weren’t particularly refined, she repeatedly asked Alea if she wanted the various foods around them.

“Honestly, there’s no need… Didn’t we just eat? I’m already full!” Alea replied, a bit exasperated by the girl’s overly eager demeanor.

Alea’s initial assumption about Aino had been that she was some creature disguised as a human, moving through the human world for the sake of killing more efficiently. Alea figured that Aino might have kept her around because of her witch’s strange powers, or perhaps it was just a whim. Many chaotic beings acted without rhyme or reason, often following no rules or order.

Yet, several days had passed, and Alea hadn’t observed any abnormal or violent behavior from Aino. If it weren’t for the constant aura of malice and bloodlust surrounding the girl, Alea might have thought she was just an ordinary young girl.

Moreover, for some reason, Aino seemed to have a genuine fondness for her, subtly attempting to get closer.

“Alea, are you tired from walking? Want to head back, or shall we keep going?”

For some reason, Alea kept feeling like Aino, despite her cute exterior, was like a mythical Tengu.

That couldn’t be possible; it didn’t make sense.

While she was still confused about the situation, Alea found it difficult to keep up her prickly attitude in the face of Aino’s kindness and the fact that she’d saved her from the goblin nest.

“Home’s this way, Aino. If we go down that street, we’ll end up at the theater again. Haven’t we already taken the wrong turn once?”

“Oh…sorry…”

That night, the two of them lay down on the bed as they had on previous nights.

Sharing a bed had happened naturally, without any fuss.

“Are we sleeping in the same bed, in the same room?”

“Yes.”

This odd arrangement had settled into place without resistance.

After washing up, Aino climbed under the covers first. Alea fiddled with her hair absentmindedly in front of the mirror before turning off the light.

Lifting the blanket on one side, her slender form, slightly cool to the touch, slipped into bed. Aino quietly shifted to give her more room.

It was a single bed; if they wanted to avoid touching at all, one of them would have to lie on the edge, maintaining an awkward position.

Neither Aino nor Alea had such habits. Both lay stiffly on their backs, staring at the ceiling, their bodies faintly touching.

“Alea,” Aino mumbled, “I need to go out tomorrow.”

“Should I wait for you here?”

“I’ll just be gone for a little while.”

“Oh.”

…

Today was the day of the meeting with the demon.

When Parker had encountered that creature, he had no clue how to handle it.

He had discreetly asked around, inquiring about beings who could appear and vanish at will, who could kill with a mere gesture, but no one gave him a definitive answer.

“When you see something like that, just run. If you can’t run, then you’re already dead.”

“With your skills, why even bother thinking about stuff like that?”

“They just don’t understand the urgency! In that case, I’ll have to…” Parker muttered irritably, pacing the street with a jumbled mess of thoughts.

After a while…

“Are we there yet? Why are we going so far?” Lips grumbled impatiently, looking around in irritation. “Where the hell are we?”

“We’re here, we’re here,” Parker replied with a forced smile, though his face turned uncharacteristically cold once out of Lips’s sight.

Just as the lean man was about to say something more, an indescribable terror gripped him, his body immobilized by an invisible force.

Somehow, a figure had appeared in front of them.

The terrifying girl stood there in an instant, piercing Lips’s chest with a single hand. Like a mouse in a trap, he was left gasping his last breaths, his body spasming uncontrollably.

Parker felt the same fear but wasn’t paralyzed. Swallowing nervously, he stepped to the side, inching away.

Lips’s body went limp after a couple of spasms, and the girl seemed to savor the moment, her hand inside his chest exploring further.

Then, right in front of Parker, she pulled out something bloody and popped it into her mouth.

“…” Parker’s pupils dilated.

This was definitely a demon, wasn’t it?

“Mm…heh…” Aino felt a rush of satisfaction, a release of pent-up desire she’d been holding back for days.

It was like a meat lover who’d been stuck eating plain cabbage, finally sinking their teeth into a hearty barbecue. Aino reveled in the sensation.

Just as she had with Cassius, Lips’s body disappeared in a red glow, and Aino’s face showed a look of contentment. A slight smile played on her lips, and her cheeks even took on a slight blush.

If she were in her true form, this would have been a giant black dragon devouring Lips in one gulp. But to avoid drawing attention, Aino forced herself to “eat” in a more “elegant” way in human form.

This scrawny man was one of the troublemakers from Jace’s tavern. Dragons had excellent memories, after all.

People like him were no good anyway. Once she’d eaten everyone associated with him, she’d move on to others. Once he was no longer useful, his death would follow.

She realized she didn’t know this man’s name—the one who’d been bringing her food. She turned to ask him.

“What’s your name?”

Parker didn’t dare hesitate and quickly answered, “I’m Parker.”

“Mm, next week, same day,” she said with a pause, “and bring me better food this time. The one today was tastier than before.”

“I hope you’ll bring me something even better.”

With that, she vanished into thin air before Parker’s eyes.

He waited for a moment, making sure the monster was truly gone before exhaling and relaxing his tense body.

Lips was tastier than Caxton? Parker hadn’t expected that. After all, Caxton was quite muscular, while Lips, nicknamed “Skinny Monkey,” was all skin and bones with hardly any muscle.

But Caxton was just a physically fit man, whereas Lips was an assassin-type adventurer. Parker had witnessed his skills in previous scuffles.

“Maybe taste isn’t about muscle but strength. The stronger someone is, the tastier they are,” Parker mused.

Since she’d specifically mentioned it, he worried that if he failed to bring her “better food” next time, it might put him in danger.

What a hassle… He’d barely managed to clear his name after Caxton’s disappearance, and now he’d have to do it again… and again…

Parker truly felt like he was cursed.