After finally smoothing out her clothes, Fíliya slowly leaned in closer to Solitär.
After all, even a fool could see that this fellow was definitely struggling with something.
"What's wrong? You've suddenly become like a block of wood... Don't tell me you were scared by Frieren too?"
Fíliya tried to strike up a conversation with Solitär in a joking tone.
Hearing Fíliya's voice, Solitär recovered a bit of her senses from her trance-like state. She slowly turned her head and looked at Fíliya with a slightly empty gaze.
"Fíliya... Why can't you be a member of the Demon Race?"
Solitär's murmur was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, but fortunately, Fíliya was close enough to hear it clearly.
"Mn? But if I were a demon, you wouldn't have taken an interest in me, right? It's precisely because I am human that we have been able to come this far."
Fíliya clasped her hands behind her back and looked at the other party with a light smile.
"..."
Upon hearing these words from Fíliya, Solitär instantly fell silent. She felt as though many words were blocking her heart, yet she couldn't find a way to speak them.
"Sigh... You really are something. I'm quite unaccustomed to you suddenly becoming like this."
Fíliya sighed helplessly, then pressed down on Solitär's shoulders, guiding her to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Rest assured, I know what you are thinking... Since I brought you out of there, no matter what happens, I will not leave you behind."
As Fíliya spoke, she leaned her shoulder against Solitär.
"Really?"
The knot in her heart was instantly pointed out by Fíliya... Solitär wasn't surprised by this; after all, Fíliya indeed understood the human heart very well.
At the same time, compared to 'whether Fíliya can do it' or 'how she should do it', what she cared about more was, as expected, 'whether Fíliya is willing to do it'.
"Of course, I promise I won't leave you behind... If you still harbor doubts... Oh right, didn't I share that with you? Mn, that 'Great Mage Flamme's research on the soul'... Souls truly exist, and 'Heaven' truly exists as well... These two points have already been proven. So... if I really leave you behind... why don't you try to steal me back from Heaven?"
"Wu... However, after doing something like breaking a promise, I estimate I won't be able to go to Heaven. You'll have to come down to Hell to find me."
Fíliya maintained that relaxed tone, which made Solitär's mood brighten considerably.
"That's truly asking the impossible... Stealing someone from 'Heaven' is countless times harder than extending one's life, isn't it? Do you only know how to use these ethereal things to comfort people?"
The corners of Solitär's mouth finally outlined an arc.
"Mn, so it's best if that situation doesn't occur. Then I'll promise you to 'try my best not to die', okay? At least we should live until we are both bored with this world, and then go to the underworld together?"
Fíliya covered her mouth and snickered.
"Then it's a deal? You aren't allowed to leave me in this hell without you."
"Mn, it's a deal. Want to make a pinky promise?"
As Fíliya spoke, she extended her little finger.
"What is this?"
Solitär felt slightly puzzled.
"? The expert on humans, Teacher Solitär, actually doesn't know about pinky promises?"
"...I indeed do not know this."
"Alright, this is... mn, a ritual behavior humans occasionally perform when making a promise to each other... When I was little, I used to pinky promise with Sense often."
"You say... you and Sense pinky promised often?"
"Mn, what about it?"
"Then I want to do it."
Solitär immediately mimicked Fíliya's posture, extending her little finger. Then, under Fíliya's guidance, she completed this simple vow.
...The way the two interacted could be said to be as if no one else was around, completely ignoring Linie and Aura who were in spectator mode.
"That's enough..."
After seeing that very dazzling scene, Miss Aura immediately crossed her arms over her chest and sulked, though no one knew exactly what she was angry about.
"Lord Aura actually doesn't want to be separated from Lady Fíliya either, right?"
Seeing this, Linie tilted her head and asked tentatively.
"Hah? Wh-What are you saying!"
A panicked expression appeared on Miss Aura's face.
"Mn, it's the same for Linie. I want these days to continue forever. I also don't wish to imagine the scenario of Lady Fíliya's death."
Linie added this, and this time Aura actually recovered her composure.
She glanced at Fíliya out of the corner of her eye.
Although that guy often bullied her... this period of nearly three years seemed to be truly much happier than the previous hundreds of years combined... Miss Aura asked herself, what was the most correct choice she had made in her life so far?
If she had to say, it must be the choice to go find Solitär on that day, right?
So... she probably, maybe... also didn't wish for Fíliya to die?
Thinking of this, an unnatural blush rose on Miss Aura's face once again.
...
Bang, bang, bang~~!
Just amidst this tranquil atmosphere, a burst of slightly untimely knocking suddenly sounded.
Solitär frowned at this, because she had already sensed that the person outside the door was that Frieren.
Fíliya, however, didn't say anything. She just stood up with a calm face, then signaled Aura with her eyes to hurry up and tidy the bed.
Aura's reaction was quite fast; she understood Fíliya's meaning instantly. She and Linie then cleaned up the bedding in a flurry of motion.
Fíliya nodded with satisfaction at this, and only then did she slowly open the door.
"Fíliya..."
Standing outside the door was the purple 'Miss Eggplant'. Although Fern's hair color was also purple, if one really had to discuss it, hers would be considered the correct purple, whereas Aura was more inclined towards 'violet-red'.
"Mn? Do you have something to discuss, Fern? Come on in."
At Fíliya's invitation, Fern actually walked into the room. This action made Fíliya unable to help but marvel that this child truly had courage; the room was filled with the oppressive aura of two Greater Demons, yet Fern felt as if she wasn't afraid at all.
"Fíliya, are you still angry at Mistress Frieren?"
Fern first asked tentatively.
"Of course not. Frieren and I argue every other day; it's not like you haven't seen it."
Fíliya spoke with a calm expression.
"That's good..."
Fern seemed to let out a long sigh of relief before continuing.
"Actually, I have something I want to ask of you."
"Mn? Speak."
"Mistress Frieren accepted a very troublesome request. It's to break a barrier that she says is very complicated. It will take at least three months... So I want to request that you help her, Fíliya. Otherwise, we will waste a lot of time in this city again..."
Fern slowly finished stating her request, then watched Fíliya's reaction with expectant eyes.
"Mn?"
Fíliya appeared a bit surprised.
After all, she had engaged in a magical duel across space with Frieren during the First-Class Mage Exam. Back then, if she hadn't been constantly interfering with Frieren's analysis, the great barrier surrounding the test site would really have been broken by Frieren.
Even the barrier set by Serie took Frieren only a day to break... Although that was just a barrier Serie set up casually for the test, it was from Serie's hand nonetheless.
So, what kind of barrier is this one that can trouble Frieren for three months... Just thinking about it feels interesting. No, I really have to go take a look, right?
What ignited in Fíliya at this moment was a kind of interest akin to 'academic research'.
Thus, she immediately agreed to Fern's request.
After seeing Fern off, the curiosity on her face did not dissipate.
"Solitär, you come help too. Let the three of us masters make a move and see if we can break it a bit faster... Mn, inside a barrier of this level, it would be unjustifiable if there weren't some good stuff hidden there."
Fíliya shouted excitedly toward Solitär.
"...I don't like that Frieren."
Solitär turned her head away as if sulking.
"Is that so? But I quite like her."
Fíliya wore a smile, then circled back to face Solitär.
"..."
Solitär was left somewhat speechless. The words she just said weren't for the sake of sharing her impressions with you... You idiot.
____
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