Chapter 53

The teary atmosphere at the Dessert Café gradually settled as time passed.

Coming to her senses belatedly, Anser shyly fiddled with her bangs and spoke.

“Um, thank you. Yuria, and Sabrina. I feel like all I’ve shown you, even though I’m an adult, is a pathetic side of me….”

“Aha, it’s fine! No matter how old you are, everyone needs to cry sometimes, that’s what our master always says!”

“…!”

I nodded in agreement with Sabrina’s words, fully on board.

After all, being an adult didn’t mean much when she was probably just in her early twenties.

Though this world’s concepts might differ, in my opinion, she wasn’t quite at the age where she needed to keep up appearances.

Of course, bawling your eyes out in front of kids who looked about ten would surely become a dark piece of personal history for years to come.

But on the flip side, it also meant she had been cornered to that extent, so I hoped it served as good comfort.

Perhaps our sincerity got through to her.

Anser, whose eyes were still red, seemed to make some sort of resolution and opened her mouth with a rather serious expression as she looked at us.

“I don’t have much leeway right now, so paying you back with money is tough… but instead, I’ll give you this as thanks.”

She lightly glanced around and grabbed two napkins from nearby.

Then, pressing her index finger and thumb together, she moved her fingers as if writing something.

For a moment, I tilted my head, wondering what on earth she was doing.

But then I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in amazement as letters clearly etched themselves onto the napkin just by her finger grazing it.

“What’s…?”

“W-well, it’s not much, but… it might be helpful….”

Anser awkwardly handed over the letter-etched napkin while rubbing her neck.

After carefully receiving it and reading the contents, I realized this napkin was a kind of Contract.

[Through the Soul Pact, Contractor Anser temporarily provides the Eye of Contract to the contracting party, Yuria, without any cost. This contract will take effect when the contracting party damages the contract document, and the contracting party can freely reject the terms if they wish.]

Wow, she managed to fit such a long message on a palm-sized napkin.

As I nodded in admiration of the Demon magic, I suddenly froze at one particular part.

Wait, the Eye of Contract? You mean THAT thing I know about?

And she’s just lending it to me for free?

While I blinked at the unbelievable contract, tilting my head, Sabrina beside me shot a question at Anser without hesitation.

“What’s this?”

“Th-that’s… a contract I’m giving you as a gift…. It’s all I can do to repay you physically….”

“And what’s this ‘Eye of Contract’?”

“Oh, it’s an eye Demons are born with. When making contracts with Demons, you can easily spot hidden clauses in the contract!”

Well… hiding clauses in a contract is already suspicious behavior in itself.

Anser scratched her cheek, looking apologetic.

Her reaction made sense. Demons often used magic or tools to subtly hide unfavorable clauses in contracts, later using them to claim souls for supposed breaches.

Huh? Then why not just avoid making contracts with Demons altogether?

Flip it around. Imagine gaining immense power, authority, or love just by staking your soul… Not everyone could resist such temptation.

Anyway, Anser seemed genuinely disapproving of her kin’s behavior.

Maybe she’d been a victim of such schemes herself, unwillingly harmed by their accumulation.

‘…That said. The Eye of Contract, huh? It feels a bit excessive just for buying dessert.’

Calling it an “eye” was misleading—it was practically a Demon-exclusive master key.

Demons couldn’t form contracts entirely favorable to themselves, after all.

So they tried to hide anything that could be a weakness for either party, contributing to their notorious reputation.

Still, depending on how you used it, borrowing this went far beyond repaying someone for buying dessert. Now I felt guilty.

Unsure if this was right, I scrutinized the contract, then glanced at Anser’s expression.

There it was—a face brimming with nervous anticipation.

If I rejected this, she’d definitely be heartbroken. Guess I’ll just accept it gracefully.

With that thought, I tucked the napkin into my pocket and bowed my head gratefully.

Maybe she noticed. Sabrina, unsure whether this was good or bad, followed suit without rejecting it and quietly slipped the napkin into her pocket.

Even if we never used it, tearing it up would render it ineffective anyway.

She probably decided not to reject it out of respect for Anser’s sincerity.

“U-um, anytime you need it, please use it…!”

“Y-yeah….”

“….”

Perhaps she was happy to have given something in return.

Anser, her face slightly flushed, bounced her shoulders excitedly.

What, is this Demon really acting like a puppy?

Sabrina and I couldn’t help but awkwardly laugh at her enthusiasm.

Somehow, it felt like we’d just made friends with a surprisingly familiar Demon.

*

About 30 minutes later, after some light chit-chat, the three of us exited the Dessert Café together.

Anser was timid but surprisingly sociable for a Demon.

She hit it off well with Sabrina, who was thankfully the only one able to converse with her.

“Well, I-I should get going… I have an interview today too…!”

“See you, Anser!”

“…!”

“Oh, thank you so much today! Take care, you two!”

Having exchanged contact info and grown more comfortable during our brief chat, Anser left with a brighter complexion, grinning as she waved goodbye.

I was a little tense since she was a Demon, but she turned out to be a fun older sister type.

Sabrina thought this to herself as she casually glanced to the side.

There stood Yuria, watching Anser’s retreating figure disappear into the crowd in the distance.

Though petite like Sabrina, her proportions gave off the impression of a walking doll.

Even with a mask covering her face, there was something oddly captivating about her presence.

‘And… definitely, she used some strange power back then.’

As Sabrina gazed at Yuria’s profile, a recent memory resurfaced.

The hotel where David had stormed in to confront Nemesis to save Raine.

The moment Yuria had held her close and flown through the sky was still vivid in Sabrina’s mind.

It was bizarre, even for someone like her who had been forced to study magic under their master.

No mana flow, no incantation, no spell—none of the usual trappings of magic.

No matter how she thought about it, that wasn’t magic. It was more like turning sugar into salt.

‘Then what was it? Some… superpower?’

Sabrina chuckled at the absurdity of the thought.

Superpowers? That was nonsense. Such things belonged in urban legends.

If superhumans existed in this world, they’d likely be locked away in labs, subjected to endless experiments to create more superhumans.

In this world, the concept of a superhuman carried such weight—it could even bring the world to the brink of destruction.

‘It must be a misunderstanding… right? No, I hope it’s a misunderstanding.’

Sabrina fervently wished Yuria wasn’t a superhuman.

If she truly was… the fate awaiting her would be unbearably cruel.

“….”

“Ah…! Wh-what? Yuria?”

Had Sabrina been lost in thought for too long?

Without realizing it, Yuria had crept up close to her.

Close enough that one more step would press their shoulders together.

Startled, Sabrina’s eyes widened as Yuria, unreadable behind her mask, quickly reached out her hand.

“…!”

Before Sabrina knew it, her now-cold hand was grabbed and pulled toward Yuria’s coat.

Caught firmly in Yuria’s grip, Sabrina was flustered by the warm, soft sensation against her fingertips.

But Yuria seemed oblivious, pushing Sabrina along with her shoulder and urging her to move faster.

Realizing Yuria was unusually excited, Sabrina smirked and let herself be led forward.

Today was going to be a lot of fun.

By now, her earlier complicated thoughts had completely vanished.

The date had only just begun.