At last.
By the red moonlight spilling in through the doorway, she finally saw the entire living room.
Aside from the shattered holy relics, it was empty. The sacred portrait of the Valkyrie hung too far inside for her to make it out clearly, but she could vaguely see what looked like streaks of blood on it. The monster must have splattered them there.
"Looks like it's been taken care of!"
She let out a breath, her eyes wide, and finally relaxed.
"That nearly scared me to death! I thought Lady Valkyrie's portrait wasn't working! Looks like every kind of monster is afraid of the gods above!"
With a (*￣︶￣) expression, she puffed out her chest, planted her hands on her hips, and grew smug.
"Hmph! Now you know how awesome I am! If you want to kill me, you'd better go train for a few more years!"
"Wow, you're really amazing! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ Great job!"
"Of course!"
"Want a high five?"
"Sure!"
She raised her little hand.
And slapped a hand that had appeared from who knew where.
Yay-
It made a crisp sound.
A celebration of victory!
"..."
A gust blew in through the doorway, fluttering the skirt of the girl standing there with her hands on her hips and a (*￣︶￣) expression.
Then she froze in that pose.
So...
[Ding! Hana Ye's sanity -10] *Wasn't I the only person here...?* [Ding! Hana Ye's sanity -15] *Then how could someone happily give me a high five...?* [Ding! Hana Ye's sanity -30]
Something's not right here...
"..."
She whipped her head around, her curly ponytails flying, and widened her eyes.
She immediately saw a buff guy in panties crouching right behind her, smiling as he raised a hand in friendly greeting.
"Hello!"
Her eyes instantly went blank.
"A perverted naked panty ghost!! (ΩДΩ)!!"
She wanted to run.
But Lin En reached out and grabbed the collar that held her fate.
Even after he lifted her off the ground, the two legs beneath her skirt kept whizzing like little whirlwinds, desperately trying to propel her forward. (;≧д≦)
"Stay away!! I'm warning you!! My dad is a really powerful Exorcist!! My aunt is a big shot in the Church!! If you dare eat me, you'll be punished really severely!! Waaaaah!!"
Lin En lifted her up in front of him and said with dead-fish eyes:
"Hey! Let me ask you something first. Just answer properly..."
Scritch-scritch-
Her little claws instantly scratched ten lines across his face as she screamed.
Ow, fucking hell!
Lin En's face twisted into (艹皿艹).
Is she part cat?! This little puppy of a girl!
Goddammit...
But just then-
Whoosh-
The little girl slipped straight out of her dress and, as if fitted with a tiny motor, shot away with an (ΩДΩ) scream.
When he looked again, only the little girl-shaped shell of her dress remained.
"Help! Help!! There's a perverted naked man eating people!!"
Like a whirlwind, the little girl raced away, her legs spinning furiously. (;≧д≦)
This is going too damn far.
Lin En immediately gritted his teeth and chased her.
"Stop right there, you little cauliflower!"
The fleeing girl stopped dead.
It was as though-
Some instinctive response had been triggered.
She instantly spun around, pointed sternly at Lin En, and shouted viciously:
"My name is Hana Ye! Not cauliflower!! I hate it when people call me cauliflower! You're cauliflower! Your whole family's cauliflower!!"
Lin En froze.
The little girl froze too.
"..."
A brief silence.
"Waaaaah! (ΩДΩ)! There's a perverted naked ghost eating people!! Help!"
Clutching her curly twin ponytails, she immediately went pattering away again.
Lin En slapped his forehead.
Is there something wrong with this girl's brain?!
Soon, the little girl charged into the bedroom, jumped onto the bed, and tried to escape through the window.
But just as she was about to open it-
"Got you!"
She turned her head in a daze.
She immediately saw the perverted naked guy in the strange panties launch himself at her in a flying body slam, his enormous shadow engulfing her.
"(ΩДΩ) Waaaaah!"
Thump-
Red moonlight poured in through the window.
She lay on the large bed, her slender wrists pinned beside her head, staring blankly as he held her down.
And because she had slipped out of her dress-
She was wearing only a thin tank top.
Her large, gemlike eyes stared at the boy's face just inches away, her long curls spread beneath her.
"P-please don't eat me..."
Tears welled in her eyes as she gazed blankly at him, whimpering and pressing her thin lips together.
"H-Hana Ye is still little. I'm all bones, and my body's really scrawny too... If you want to eat me, please wait another two years until I've filled out a little... I'll be chewier then, sob..."
She sobbed, enormous tears pattering down.
"If you eat me now... I really, really won't taste good at all..."
Lin En: "..."
Several minutes later.
Eyes closed, Lin En sat cross-legged opposite her, his arms folded and his expression stern, ready to give her a proper interrogation.
The girl huddled in the corner of the bed with an o(╥﹏╥)o expression, shoulders hunched, wrapping a sheet around her slight body as she sobbed.
"I've been violated..."
"No crying! And no saying weird things!"
Lin En sternly held up a finger.
"Let's get this straight first. I'm not a lolicon, I'm not a ghost, and I'm definitely not here to eat you! Understand?"
The curly-haired little girl said with an o(╥﹏╥)o expression:
"Then what are you? You suddenly broke into someone else's house, scared me, and even stripped my clothes off, sob..."
"Your clothes fell off on their own! That had absolutely nothing to do with me!"
Lin En loudly corrected her accusation.
"And another thing! Let me confirm this one more time. This is [154 Gear Street], right?!"
Hana Ye wiped her tears away and said between sobs:
"No, this is [154 Mistveil Street]."
"..."
A brief silence.
"Mistveil Street? Where's that?"
"It's... it's right here..."
"Then where's Gear Street?"
The little girl shakily pointed outside.
"Another ten kilometers north."
"..."
Silence fell around them again.
Lin En went quiet.
He instantly recalled the intersection he had passed over half an hour earlier. He remembered the blind girl telling him to go this way first, then that way, and then...
He slapped the top of his head and said with an (oﾟ▽ﾟ)o expression:
"I went the wrong way..."
"..."
What do you mean, you went the wrong way?! (ΩДΩ)
The little girl said hollowly:
"So you were actually going to 154 Gear Street?"
"That's right!"
"D-don't you read the street signs outside?"
Lin En immediately folded his arms and sneered:
"Heh. I can't read."
"..."
What the hell are you looking so smug about when you can't read?! (ΩДΩ)
Is that something worth bragging about?!
She swallowed and looked him over.
So...
If I put aside the fact that he's a perverted panty man running around naked in the middle of the night...
"Does that mean... you're actually human? And not some terrifying monster?"
She asked cautiously.
Lin En immediately brightened. (*￣︶￣) She had hit his sweet spot.
"Of course! Genuine article, a proper pureblood human! Feel these pecs. Could a monster have pecs this well developed?"
"..."
Before you continue