Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 89 Mission: 02-3 Flaxen Melancholy
“I didn’t expect there would be an unexpected harvest.”

Nero chuckled inwardly as she returned to the counter. She certainly hadn't come to work here today to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two people nearby. Besides wanting to earn a little extra cash to avoid running out of money, her other reason was to show some gratitude to the owner of this coffee shop.

That's right, the owner of Yuze Café was an old acquaintance of Dante's from his mercenary days, the same person who had helped Nero with his student visa and other trivial matters. Although the man claimed to be repaying Dante's favor, Nero couldn't just sit back and do nothing. After some discussion, he finally decided to work there.

So, meeting Aiyin and Soyo on his first day at work was a complete accident...a good one. Just from their previous descriptions, Nero could imagine a strange guy using "wishes" as an excuse to seduce underage girls.

Nero eavesdropped intently on the conversation between the two. Although Shuangshi seemed to be avoiding her intentionally, it was not a problem, after all, Nero was a demon.

“Ah, that…” Hearing Nero address her as a “friend” was completely different from what she had just said to Souyo, Aine had to start making excuses awkwardly: “Maybe, maybe foreigners’ friends are a little different from ours, haha~”

“That might be the case—” Shuangshi didn’t want to expose the secrets, and followed Aine’s lead, moving on to the main topic of the day: “Okay, Aine, what do you think of Ace-chan’s proposal?”

Aine leaned back in her chair, her hands still on the back of her head. “How can such a good thing happen… or something like that?”

"Yes, that's what I thought at first." Shuangshi demurely picked up the tea by pinching the handle of the cup with his fingers, and took a sip with a smile. Seeing this, Aine blinked in confusion.

"Come to think of it, I've never asked before..." She began cautiously, "Which school does Shuangshi attend?"

"In the Moon Forest. Is there anything you're interested in?"

“Really? Ah, no…” Aine adjusted her sitting position, looking a little nervous: “Because looking at Shuangshi’s behavior, she has the demeanor of a lady…”

"Is that right?"

However, facing Aine's flattery, Shuangshi relaxed his reserved attitude a bit: "Since Aine said so, it means that my imitation is very similar, right?"

"imitate?"

"Yes, I imitated you," Shuangshi said with a smile. "I only entered Moon Forest in junior high school, and that's when I started imitating my classmates and learning these etiquette. If we're talking about a true lady, Fortuna over there is probably her."

Nero, who was listening in, blinked and complained in his heart: "How can this have anything to do with me?"

However, this topic was also brushed aside. Shuangshi controlled the direction of the conversation and continued, "But what I want to remind Aine is the danger of this matter."

“Danger?” Aine finished adding sugar to her tea, looking bewildered.

"Of course." Shuangshi's smile was tinged with gloom. "Does Aine think that fighting a demon is completely risk-free?"

"Uh."

Apparently, Souyo was right. Aine, always optimistic, didn't think anything of the worst possible outcome. The worst she could imagine was falling asleep in class the next day because of demon hunting.

After all, since we have the power to fight demons, how could we be harmed by them?
But Shuangshi told her: That's not the case.

"This is a very dangerous thing." She warned Aine.

"Fighting demons?" Nero frowned slightly. Recalling her meeting with Shuangshi last night, she realized that the magic tool in Shuangshi's hand must have come from that "Little Ace." It tempted the girls with wishes, then gave them magic tools to hunt demons.

What Nero found difficult to understand was why it could fulfill wishes?

This is the world of Devil May Cry, where the only power superior to mortals is the devil. Therefore, the power that "Little Ace" grants Shuangshi and the others against the devil is naturally a magical tool—a defeated, sealed demon. The fact that Shuangshi uses a magical tool proves that no power other than the devil exists in this case, unless Nero is mistaken. So, who exactly is this "Little Ace"? Where does its wish-granting power come from? Once an unattainable wish is offered, wouldn't the temptation of "making a wish" itself be defeated?

Don't say that everything can be achieved with the power of the devil. Nero dares to say that even the Demon Emperor Mendes dare not make this guarantee.

"Even if you say it's dangerous..."

The sound of conversation brought Nero back to his senses. He then saw Aine awkwardly imitating the way Souyo held his cup as she picked up the teacup. She asked, "It's still a little hard to imagine."

She took a sip, and then heard Shuangshi say, "Then I'll be more direct—it'll kill me."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Aiyin started coughing violently, but Shuangshi asked calmly, "Do you need a handkerchief?"

"Ahem... No, that's fine." Aiyin took two breaths before looking up at Shuangshi: "You said someone would die... Did someone really die?"

Shuangshi put away his smile, his eyes dimming a little. "Among the people I know... not yet. But we weren't the first to sign a contract with Little Ace, but we've never met any predecessors before us—you should understand what I mean, right?"

Aine shuddered violently.

Shuangshi took another sip of tea slowly and said slowly, "This is why I don't recommend you make a wish to it, even though I also hope to have a new partner. Even if you don't want to, Aine, no one will blame you."

"Um, thank...thank you."

"You're welcome. That's all I can say."

The two fell silent, only the water level in the teacup gradually dropped.

“Welcome~”

After a slight knock at the door, Nero's welcome startled Aine awake. She looked at the empty teacup in front of her, raised her head and said, "Um... Shuangshi..."

Shuangshi put down the cup in his hand, which was now empty. "Don't mind, just follow your own ideas. I said, even if you refuse, no one will blame you.

"After all...it's a matter of life and death."

Aine stood up and nodded towards her, "Thank you. I will think about this carefully."

"Well, that's good."

Nero, who had just finished serving the new guest, appeared beside them. Shuangshi stood up and said to her, "Excuse me, I need to pay the bill."

"Okay, come here, please~"

Nero said with a perfect business smile.

(End of this chapter)