'I think you're truly gorgeous and I find you attractive. I don't think anyone should have a problem saying someone's beautiful when they feel that way. At least...I don't find it embarrassing.'     

—Those were the words of the guy named Yomite, whom Rosaria attacked and subsequently lost dishonorably to.     

His flatteries were pissing her off, and that infuriated her. But she couldn't hate him. She'd made up her mind already; this was the only path left open to her now, if she didn't want to recite prayers all night today.     

"Damn you! Burrite Hissha!"     

It was time for her to alleviate her boredom, so as Yomite's group left to get stronger with Lisa, she followed them.     

Until they reached their destination, they had no idea she was following them.     

She could easily keep up with them by simply following the sound of their footsteps.     

It didn't take long before they arrived at an isolated spot in the forest, where there were plenty of trees to hide behind.     

'Hm? They stopped?'     

The group paused without explanation, as if to rest. She followed suit and hid under some nearby bushes.     

The man known as Yomite suddenly dragged a woman away from the group. Much to her surprise, the woman let herself be pulled along without resisting.     

As Rosaria watched on with interest, he began forcefully kissing her, then grabbed her waist.     

The girl squirmed, but he held her down with his hands until she gave in and started moaning.     

"A-Ahh...! A-Ahhh...!"     

She sounded like a cat being fed cream. Just how long had they been going at it? Rosaria would've guessed ten minutes or so, based on what she'd seen.     

'Disgusting. How can he act so shamelessly? Doing something like that in public. His group is right next to them.'     

They weren't even hiding it. If anything, they were blatantly doing it right out in the open, as if they wanted to be seen by their own group.     

Eventually, he finished. The next moment, the girl collapsed over a tree stump, panting heavily.     

"That felt great, thanks," Yomite said, patting Hu Tao's head. He then turned around, looking satisfied.      

Rosaria watched him walk back to his friends, who were still standing in the same place.     

None of them seemed to notice that two of them had just gone missing, or didn't care enough to think about it.     

'He is so weird.'     

She waited for Yomite to depart first, then followed him while maintaining a safe distance.     

***     

Eventually, they reached their destination, and she observed them leaping off a cliff.     

As anticipated, they dove into the water below, perhaps submerging and swimming to a location hidden underneath.     

'I'll jump too.'     

Rosaria leaped off the cliff after them, not realizing they were using wind gliders to reach a nearby island, and she crashed into the ocean instead.     

"Damn you! Tortilla Bissha!"     

Her body submerged underwater within seconds, and she was forced to swim all the way to the island in order to reach them, as she didn't bring a wind glider with her.     

After swimming past the reef, she reached the island at last.     

"Dammit...I will kill him...I will kill him..."     

There, she discovered that Yomite and his group had vanished through some sort of a portal.     

"It's closing...!"     

She ran towards the entrance and narrowly made it inside before the portal closed itself.     

***     

Meanwhile, Yomite's group entered the Spiral Abyss, which connected to the true Abyss.     

"Woah, this looks a bit alien-like. Hopefully there won't be any Xenomorphs around...that shit's nightmare fuel."     

Yomite surveyed the surroundings, which were vastly different from what he was accustomed to.      

In contrast to what he had initially imagined the Abyss to look like, this place was nearly devoid of darkness. Instead, it had a pristine green sky with no sun and structures that reached the heavens.     

And yet, the light was neither blazing nor dark, and it felt comfortable to the eye.     

However, the most peculiar thing about this location was that there were no monsters here.      

There was not the least indication that one could have been anywhere.     

Which was odd, given Lisa's assertion that the Abyss was filled with monsters and frightening foes.     

Once they exited the portal, they found themselves on a seemingly infinite staircase leading to the skies.     

The spiraling staircase culminated at a circular platform in the center of the structure.     

"How fascinating. This Prinzessin proposes we ought to cleanse this Abyss and capture it as our own, correct?" Fischl asked, gazing at the scenery around them.     

"Paimon thinks there will be tons of treasures! Paimon can feel it in her bones!"     

"Relax a little, flying plush mascot. Lisa said it's dangerous around here so don't fly off and stay with us at all times.."     

"H-Hey! Who's a mascot! Paimon will let you know that Paimon is a living and breathing—"     

Blah. Blah. Blah.     

Blah. Blah.     

Blah.     

At this rate, she would be talking forever and ever...     

In that case...     

He had a few methods to shut her up.     

"As Paimon was saying, you can't just call Paimon—"     

Before she could finish, she was stolen from the air and hugged tightly against his chest.     

"Wha—!? D-Do you wanna fight with Paimon!? Eh, p-punk! Paimon's not afraid!"     

It was time for some stress relief. It's been quite some time since he had a taste of her cuteness and it healed his heart whenever he was in the need.     

"No...I just...don't want anything bad to happen to you, Paimon. I would be devastated if I lost you...You're very precious to me. Please be careful and take care of yourself better." Yomite confessed softly, caressing Paimon's head.     

'There, finally calmed her down. She's cute indeed but it's just so easy to tease her I couldn't help myself saying all of that. Now comes the sweet adorable reaction of a blushing fairy~'     

"...I-Is that so...?"     

Paimon looked away shyly, feeling touched by Yomite's sudden affection.     

Her face flushed slightly, and she rested her head against his chest, nuzzling it.     

'There it is~ Aaaaargh I love it! I don't think there's anything cuter than Paimon in this world...' Yomite screamed internally.     

As for Paimon, there was a great hesitation in her eyes, but she resolved herself and spoke to him, "...P-Paimon feels...the same way... please t-take care of...Paimon..."     

'Hmm?'     

At this point, everyone else had gathered around them and was staring curiously.     

"Good job, Paimon." Lumine smiled. "Party Leader finally admitted that he likes you too."     

'.....?'     

"I originally wished to eat her, but if she's someone Master wants to copulate with, I'll abstain from consuming her," Iris sighed sadly.     

'....Excuse me...?'     

"Well done...Paimon. You two might have a bit of a problem when it comes to your proportions, but love conquers all. Love transcends even the physical standards that we live by. Whether it's an age gap, different race or even...size in your case, you should be able to overcome it somehow. So long as you can accept each other's differences, there shouldn't be any obstacles for you two to fall in love." Barbara acted like a Deaconess for the first time in a long while, yet her words were filled with weird wisdom.     

'Wait...!? They don't think that...no...they can't be serious...'     

Yomite's gaze fell on one, then moved to other as he tried to figure out why the people around him were acting so strange.     

"Hoh, intriguing, does that perhaps mean that his entire party is his harem now? You'll have to work hard to make sure everyone's properly taken care of and satisfied~" Lisa teased.     

'T-They...They misunderstand...they completely misunderstood!!!'     

He was still petting Paimon on the head tenderly, while she gazed into his eyes, her cheeks glowing redder than ever.     

When her gaze met his, she immediately averted her eyes, blushing.     

Then, the realization of his actions fully hit him.     

'No...how...no...no...I was just...teasing her because she's cute when she's flustered or mad, but no...how did everyone around me even arrive at that conclusion!?'     

Everyone was familiar with his personality and the fact that he loved teasing and cuddling Paimon, so how could they ever think he had romantic feelings for her?     

Yomite looked around nervously, trying to find an escape route.     

He wasn't even remotely interested in Paimon, yet despite that, those idiots thought...     

What would he even do with her when her body was so small...? There was no way!     

She was just his cute, stress relief plushie he loved to squeeze once in a while, Lumine did the same thing to her and he had to agree it was refreshing, yet out of nowhere, everyone thought that they had some kind of romantic relationship going on between them!     

This had to stop! Right now!     

"Ah, guys...I'm sorry to disappoint but I'm not..."     

Before he could even say another word, Yomite noticed Paimon's ears turning pink and her breath becoming ragged.     

"..."     

He had completely forgotten about her in the midst of being so shocked by everything, and she was hugging him so tightly.     

'...If I tell her that I was only teasing her...her heart would break...'     

Yomite looked down, unable to speak as panic gripped him.     

'It's true that I care about her, but I don't have any feelings for her whatsoever. If she knew that...she probably wouldn't ever forgive me...and then I wouldn't be able to squeeze her all I want...aaah god damnit it!'     

His fear was palpable, and before he realized what was happening, Paimon reached out and clutched his shirt.     

"P-Paimon also...likes y-you a lot...But...but..."     

She started stammering.     

"....."     

It was doomed, he couldn't possibly refute her feelings, not after she'd been acting so bashful and adorable. There was no escape.     

"B-But you'll have to wait...until...Paimon gets bigger...Paimon's too small...for now..."     

She confessed with a trembling voice, looking up at him.     

.     

..     

...     

'...Hm? Bigger...? Get...bigger? Come to think of it, when she disappeared somewhere and returned back...she did get a bit bigger...I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me though...'     

If she could get bigger...if she could get bigger...then there was hope.     

That was it!     

He saw the light!     

A way to escape from this predicament!     

"O-Okay!" Yomite nodded happily, a way out from this situation had finally appeared, "Thank you soooo~ much for telling me! I'll cherish your confession until then. Until you grow up to be as tall and strong as me!" He assured her.     

"U-Umu...! P-Paimon will do her best!!!"     

After that, Paimon floated away and hid behind Lumine's shoulder.     

Lumine was supportive to her friend, patting her head comfortingly.     

'Yes! Yes! YESSSS! HAHA! I got away from this mess! Thank god! I can just lie low and avoid contact with her as much as possible now...'     

Yomite breathed a sigh of relief, but his smile quickly faded as he realized something.     

'Ah....Now that I've gotten away...I won't be able use her as my stress relief doll...or else everyone might think it's me showing her my undying love or something...Damn it...why didn't I think of this sooner...?'     

The disappointment was palpable. He would have to ask one of his girls for that instead, but he knew they would never have as much effect as Paimon would...     

'Paimon's usually dumb but she can be weirdly smart sometimes...I hope she forgets about this...and so does everyone else...' Yomite thought, sighing quietly.     

This was a ride he wished never happened in the first place.     

'Come to think of it...Paimon's a woman...I...always came up to her and hugged and touched her...many, many times...so maybe she was always thinking that I'm trying to seduce her...or something...Ahh fuck me...I'm the problem! Arrest me! I just wanted to enjoy her cuteness! God damn it!'     

Yomite was starting to doubt his own sanity at this point.     

'It's okay, it's okay... I'm a normal person. I'm still normal...I only ever thought of her as a pet. Yes, a pet. A flying dog I could pet all I wanted...Cute, adorable and cuddly...then again, Hu Tao's also like a pet to me and I rail her every chance I get...Ahhhh God damnit! Arrest me!'     

His mind was in total shambles.     

'When did things become so screwed? When did I lose my sense of reason? What happened to the person who had morals!? This world is changing me again! Nooo! Please, noooooo!'     

In the end, Yomite decided to stay quiet and do his best to keep his distance from Paimon.     

If he could just avoid her for a little while longer, he would regain his sanity.     

Safe to say, it didn't work out.     

Paimon slowly floated towards him again and whispered, "A-Ahem...Paimon was thinking...i-if you would...want to spend more time...with Paimon...? S-Sometimes...?"     

The moment she said that, Yomite felt a chill run through his spine.     

'I can't win, now can I? Fine then.'     

Yomite quickly turned around to face Paimon, then put a gentle kiss on her forehead.     

"Of course, I'd love to spend more time with you. With everyone. You're all precious to me. I would die for you all."     

"W-Waaa!? Okay!!! P-Paimon will remember that!" She floated away once more.     

Yomite's shoulders slumped as he resigned himself...     

'...Yeah, I could care less about anything anymore...Real Gods do not exist, because they never listen to what I want and only ever listen to what the girls want...Archons are scammers, all of them. If I ever meet one of them again, I'll show them...'     

***     

**     

*     

As they were walking on, Yomite noticed that Hu Tao seemed to be feeling unwell ever since they entered through the portal.     

"You okay? Did I kick you too hard? Sorry for that, I was just playing the part."     

He noticed a dirty stain from his shoe on the back of her coat when he kicked her and couldn't help but grin.     

She didn't seem to realize it yet, but once she did, she would definitely not be happy and they would play fight again.     

"No...I just...don't like it here..." She muttered. "It feels off."     

"What do you mean by that?"     

Yomite tilted his head, bemused.     

Hu Tao responded with a troubled smile: "Well, the atmosphere isn't quite normal, is it? It feels like something bad might happen at any moment. Besides..." She continued, a trace of uneasiness appearing on her features,"...It's also kinda scary. Like, really, really scary..."     

Yomite was taken aback by those words. 'Whoa, she's actually scared of something? That's rare.'     

"Aren't you playing around with ghosts all the time? What's scary enough to scare even you off?"     

Hu Tao gave him a weak smile. "That's exactly it...From what I can tell...there aren't any ghosts in this whole place."     

"Is that abnormal?"     

"Yeah! Of course it is! It creeps me out when there aren't any ghosts around! There should always be around 5 to 6 ghosts! Even in our mansion, there were a lot of them before I put up the seal and told them to go away! It's too strange!"     

In other words, she was telling him that ghosts were an integral part of her world and the fact that they were missing unsettled her.     

"..."     

'Our mansion...man...only god knows what those poor ghosts had seen us do in our bedroom...Amitabha, Amitabha.'     

Yomite silently recited a prayer to purify the minds of the ghosts who were the victims of their terrifying bed breaking gymnastics and weird fetishes.     

"Hmm. Maybe the ghosts are sleeping..." Lumine chimed in, trying to cheer Hu Tao up.     

"Ghosts don't sleep."     

"...I-I'm sorry."     

Lumine's attempt to comfort her failed.