Published at 18th of January 2020 2:48 pm

Volume 1, Chapter 6: The Little Girl and the “Incident”

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

If you asked him why he’d gone to check on her, Kenneth would find it hard to come up with an answer. Primarily, he’d become concerned when he saw how horribly pale she looked. That’s why he caught the small, strange noise, though he normally would’ve missed it.

Back then, Dale hadn’t brought up a certain fact that he’d realized. This was because he didn’t want to hurt Latina. But put another way, that meant that he realized full well that this knowledge would hurt her. As her guardian... as her parent, he shouldn’t have turned a blind eye.

Latina was an incredibly clever girl. However, she was also still very young. Her way of thinking and emotions still hadn’t grown enough to match that cleverness.

There was a sign.

The best thing would’ve been if he could’ve stopped this ahead of time. It was just a little, but things were definitely starting to move... And even though it was only a tiny bit, this incident would definitely help shape her fate.

†

Autumn was fast approaching in Kreuz.

Latina and her friends had started attending school at the temple of Asfar in the center of town. Asfar was the god that presided over education; in a town of Kreuz’s size, there were temples all over, and they shouldered the task of providing children with the necessary amount of teaching.

In the case of Kreuz, children received two years of education, starting in the fall of the year that they turned eight. When the statistics only covered those who lived in towns, the literacy rate in Laband wasn’t half bad.

In towns, information flowed in the form of writing for not just merchants, but everyone. And so, reading was an important skill for blue- collar workers and adventurers as well.

“Does something have you feeling down, Latina?” “No, Latina is fine. She’s alright.”

Seeing Latina look somehow depressed as she prepared to go to school, Dale grew concerned. However, Latina’s expression suddenly shifted, and she forced a smile.

When she first started going to school, she seemed like she was truly having fun each and every day. She appeared to enjoy learning new things, and she’d excitedly report those things back to Dale. But for the last few days, there had been a strange change.

As Dale hugged Latina tight, there was a mystified expression on her face. “Did something change at school lately?”

Latina’s small body suddenly twitched a little in surprise.

“...We got a new lady teacher,” replied Latina in a quiet voice, with her face towards the ground.

“Did something happen with her?”

“No. Everyone says the old teacher made learning more fun, that’s all.” Dale knitted his brows. Considering how Latina was acting, he didn’t believe that that was the extent of the situation at all. But with how stubborn she was, it wouldn’t be easy to get her to speak up.

“Latina, it’s not a bad thing to let someone help you out. You really are important to me, so how about relying on me a bit?”

“Dale... Latina is fine. She’s just... a little scared of the teacher.”

Dale would later come to regret that he hadn’t taken greater heed at the time. He should’ve thought more on what “scary” was to Latina, who didn’t stop smiling or even feel timid when she interacted with the ruffians known as adventurers as she lived at the Dancing Ocelot.

After a few more days, Latina looked even more depressed. She told Dale each day how much fun she had with her friends, and how she’d made new friends as well. But not once did Latina bring up her teacher.

The adults figured she may have been trying to avoid thinking about the matter.

One day, Latina returned looking ghastly pale, in a truly awful state. It was so bad that when Kenneth went to greet her like he always did, his voice caught in his throat. She looked so unwell that it wouldn’t have been a surprise if she collapsed at any moment; her clothes and hair were disheveled, and one of her ribbons was coming untied. But more than all of that, it was the expression on her face that pierced Kenneth’s heart.

Latina seemed to be in a daze, and looked like she had lost everything precious to her. Her expression was one of utter despair.

Ever since Kenneth had met the young girl, she’d shown him plenty of smiles.

Even though she’d lost her father, the only person she could rely on, in that forest, she’d survived on her own. Those were sad, painful, harsh memories that would be too much for even an adult to handle, much less a child. And yet, Latina still smiled.

In that moment, Kenneth felt that he was seeing the soft and gentle fragments Latina had hidden in the depths of her heart coming to the surface.

“Latina, did something happen...?”

Latina responded by trembling greatly in shock and looking like she was about to break out in tears.

But even so, she forced out a response of, “It’s... nothing,” before turning around and heading towards the stairs.

If it were Dale, he would have scooped her up in a hug without saying a word and completely pampered her until she felt completely at ease, mind and soul. He’d put off the reason for why she was hurt for later, and focus first on smothering her in affection. That’s definitely what would have happened, had Dale not been out for work. If he had been the one to greet Latina instead of Kenneth, things may have ended differently.

Not much time had passed before Kenneth heard a strange sound from overhead. It was a dull sound of the sort he’d never heard before. The air seemed to vibrate heavily. The sound was enough to give him a truly ominous feeling.

Acting on reflex alone, Kenneth ran up the stairs and climbed up into the attic.

There, he found Latina collapsed on the floor.

With only the light coming in through the window, the room was dim. For a moment, he was unable to tell what had happened to her.

But when he took a step closer, Kenneth realized Latina’s head was resting in a pool of blood. Her platinum hair was dyed scarlet.

“Latina!”

The reason that Kenneth was so disturbed, despite having grown used to seeing such injuries in his previous occupation, was because Latina was the

only one in the room. In other words, she had done this to herself.

Kenneth picked her up and hurried down the stairs, all the while pushing a clean cloth from Dale’s room up against her wound. In no time at all, the cloth turned red. Just applying pressure wasn’t enough to stop the flow of blood.

Kenneth could only think about getting healing magic cast on her as quickly as possible, or perhaps cauterizing the wound.

Latina had broken off her remaining horn.

Blood vessels and nerves both passed through devils’ horns, and though they looked quite tough at first glance, they were sensitive organs. If they were damaged, then it would result in intense pain and a heavy flow of blood.

The unconscious Latina remained limp, not moving an inch.

Kenneth ran into the Dancing Ocelot’s storefront, holding Latina in his arms. His grim expression shocked Rita, as well as the regulars engaged in idle chatter.

“Kenneth, what—”

“Is there anyone here who can use healing magic?!”

It was hard to say whether they realized what his cry meant or spotted the blood-soaked girl in his arms first.

“Latina?!”

“The little lady’s hurt?!”

Rita let out a scream, and unfitting to her usual, strong-willed personality, the color completely drained from her face.

The bearded regular stood up from his chair with a crash, and pushed one of the men who had come along with him forward. The middle-aged man rushed over to Kenneth and pointed the palm of his hand towards Latina’s head.

“My magic can’t do all that much.”

“I don’t care. Just stop the bleeding, please!”

As the healing spell was cast, the flow of blood didn’t stop, but it did at least slow.

In the meantime, Kenneth headed over to Rita.

“Just to be safe, I’m gonna take her to the clinic at the temple of Niili. Tell Dale what’s going on when he comes back. And we’ll shut down the shop for the day.”

“G-Got it. Kenneth... what happened to Latina?”

“I’m not sure of the details myself. For now, I’ve got to get her treated first. I’m off!”

Holding Latina in his arms once more, Kenneth sprinted to the temple of Niili as fast as he could.

This is something they’d come to know later:

Latina had the ability to vaguely sense when something would do her harm. That was why she had been able to survive all alone in the forest. It was why she was able to find only things that were okay to eat, when there were so many poisonous plants and animals all around. And it was why she knew to hide when beasts that would harm her were prowling nearby.

When she first met Dale, she sensed that he wouldn’t hurt her.

Able to sense all of this unconsciously, Latina could sense her “enemies” on instinct.

And that instinct had been functioning properly this time as well.

†

It was three days after the incident that Dale headed for the temple of Asfar.

Rather than his usual leather coat and tunic, it was a high-class black robe that he wore, which was another sort of “battle armor” for him. The sigil hanging from his neck was also not part of his usual attire.

The rather elaborate, complex design of the sigil displayed his status at the shrine. It wasn’t just to show that he had been granted divine protection. After all, there were strict regulations regarding what sort of materials you could use to make such a sigil, and those regulations were based on your position in the temple. Just from looking at him, it was obvious that Dale held a high position there. The elderly priestess who ran the temple of Asfar in Kreuz was also aware of him.

Dale was an adventurer with deep ties to the duke serving as the current prime minister. However, temples were recognized as extraterritorial organizations, entirely detached from a nation’s authority. Even though the temple was in the nation of Laband, it had no need to listen to orders from the royal family or the duke.

It was difficult to say how true that was in practice, but that was, at least, the official stance.

Dale knew all of that full well, which was precisely why he visited the temple of Asfar not as an adventurer serving under a ducal family, but as someone who held the rank of a high priest.

Normally, he wasn’t fond of letting people know that he possessed divine protection. After all, it’s not like he’d asked to be born that way.

The divine protection that Dale possessed was a miraculous power that was granted by the gods to fragile mortals. And so, no temples could treat one who possessed such power poorly, even if it came from a god other than the one they served. The gods all stood as equals, after all.

Furthermore, Dale’s divine protection happened to be especially strong. It’s not as though the strength of divine protection was directly tied to status, but as those who served the awe-inspiring gods, the people of the temple couldn’t help but stand in awe of individuals who possessed a power that served as proof of their favor with the gods themselves. Additionally, there was no such thing as a priest who couldn’t recognize the strength of someone’s divine protection, and aside from those of such low rank that they were hired just to take care of chores and the like, everyone who served at a temple possessed some amount of it.

Temples originally started out as institutions built to offer a sanctuary that would grant protection to those who possessed the unusual power known as divine protection. Therefore, only those who possessed divine power were permitted to take up the post of priest.

“I don’t think there’s any need for me to repeat my reason for coming here. I believe I have the right to inquire into just what happened.”

“Yes, that’s certainly true.”

As the top priestess of the temple, she had heard a report. The devil girl who had been adopted by the young man before her had started coming to the school managed by the temple this fall. The priestess also heard what the teacher had shamefully done to the child.

“Normally, no matter what principles or position someone may hold, I wouldn’t try to fight them on it. And it’s not like ‘mankind supremacists’ are all that rare. But I still think that at least when it comes to the citizens of Kreuz, that’d be considered quite a narrow-minded point of view.”

“...It’s just as you say.”

“In a town like this, built on the backs of travelers and trade, no matter what your occupation, you’re bound to have had plenty of interaction with other races. It’s hard to imagine that someone serving the god of education would fail to know something so obvious.”

On the surface, Dale didn’t show any anger. But this was a man who could make you feel a bottomless sense of dread, even when his face remained perfectly calm. Even though they were meeting for the first time, the priestess felt a cold sweat run down her back. Even as a high-ranking priestess, it wasn’t often that she encountered someone with the drive to slaughter massive monsters and magical beasts.

“I hear that she called her out in front of the children and mocked her for being part of another race while abusively spouting her own baseless opinions. Is that the opinion of Asfar nowadays?”

“She was born near the land of the devils, and... she lost her family in a quarrel with them, so...”

“So it’s alright to mock an innocent girl and treat her like a monster? Is that the temple’s excuse? How novel.”

“No, of course not...”

While wiping the sweat from her brow, the priestess searched for what to say. With what he had said, it was clear that the man before her eyes knew the whole story of what had happened.

Dale hadn’t spent the three days before he came here just idling about. Of course he was worried about Latina’s condition and didn’t want to leave her side. But at the same time, he also felt the need to look into just what had happened to her.

He didn’t stop at just asking Latina’s friends. He also asked for the help of Rita, who was an expert at gathering information, and even checked with people like Chloe’s mother to hear the rumors about town. By comparing and scrutinizing the information he gathered, he at last had the evidence he needed. From there, he rather precisely deduced the chain of events. Dale gave the impression of being overly emotional when it came to Latina, but it was precisely because he was so furious that he was able to remain focused. If he couldn’t do that, then he wouldn’t be worthy of being called “first-rate.”

Apparently, this was how the incident went:

It seemed that the priestess who had become Latina’s new teacher had just transferred from a town in a neighboring country.

The children described her as someone who always spoke in a shrill voice. That may not have been her intention, but children were sensitive to such things, and didn’t try to sugarcoat their words.

Apparently, Latina kept her distance from this priestess from the very start. She’d thought quite well of the previous teacher, and she had never acted towards someone else like she did the new priestess. Her friends were wary as well, it seemed.

And then that day came.

The priestess realized Latina had horns.

“A devil...” she muttered under her breath, and grabbed Latina’s hair. As the smooth horn hidden behind her ribbon was exposed, the priestess spat out hatefully, “What is such a detestable thing doing in a town for people?!” as if that was an obvious question.

As Latina was shocked and at a loss for words, the woman’s venomous words kept flowing. “There’s no way that such beasts that live for over a hundred years without their appearance changing in the least could be called ‘people,’ is there?”

The priestess loudly proclaimed all of this to the bewildered children, looking absolutely confident in what she had said.

With Latina’s hair still in her grasp and the young girl unable to move, the priestess thrust Latina forward, as if showing off prey she had caught.

“These subhumans who aren’t part of humankind aren’t ‘people.’ These grotesque monsters make a mockery of how people should live. Don’t be fooled, everyone!”

The population of humankind was far greater than that of the other races. As a result, there were many who held incredibly insular thoughts exceeding those of the so-called “insular races.” In that regard, the priestess was “just” spouting off her own principles.

But in this town, that was heresy.

Not even realizing the disgust the children were feeling, she continued to rant.

“And devils in particular are evil and cowardly beasts, with close ties to the demon lords themselves! You mustn’t ever let your guard down. The way she’s hidden what she is to slip into this town should be more proof than anything else!”

“Aah!” cried out Latina, her face ghastly pale as the woman gripped her hair even tighter. That served as a signal for her friends to leap into action.

Chloe threw her lithograph (a black stone each student used for taking notes) as hard as she could. It didn’t actually hit the priestess, but it did smash against the wall with a loud crash.

“What are you doing?! That’s dangerous!”

Distracted by Chloe’s actions, the priestess’s grasp loosened, and Latina fell to the floor.

After exchanging glances, Anthony and Marcel moved to save their friend.

At that moment, Rudy kicked his desk. It was meant for three children, so it only shook a bit with his force alone, but it was more than enough to catch the woman’s attention.

“Stop that! What in the world are you doing?!”

As she yelled out, the children in the classroom’s disgust started to turn into fear.

They looked up and saw that woman screaming in her shrill voice while their good friend cowered, looking like she was about to break out in tears. To the children, it was abundantly clear who the real monster was here.

When Rudy went to kick the desk again, Chloe kicked the other end at the same time. This time, the sound was massive, and it collapsed to the floor. “Stop! Stop!”

Having gotten the hang of it, the pair toppled one desk after another, causing the woman’s shrill voice to ring out even louder. Several of the kids started crying.

The woman screamed out, seemingly irritated even by their weeping. “Stop! Stop!! Stooooop!!”

Drawn by the abnormal cacophony, the other priests came running to see what was happening. What they found was sobbing, frightened children in a classroom that looked like it had been hit by a storm. And shouting the center of all that was their ‘colleague,’ a look like an ogre on her face, and a group of children glaring back at her, standing to protect a girl who looked white as a sheet.

The other priests rushed into the classroom and forced out the so-called teacher, who was still carrying on with her unsightly rant.

“Teacher...” called out a sickly-looking Latina to one of the priests, who had been their teacher until just recently, as he was leading the woman away. “What’s different? Is Latina... are devils different from everyone else?”

“Latina, that’s...”

“How does Latina live differently? What did she mean, that she’ll live for 100 years? ...Is Latina different from everyone else?”

Unable to lie in response to her grief-filled words, the priest frowned sadly. Taking a knee, he looked Latina in the eye.

“...The biggest difference between humans and devils can’t be seen by the naked eye. Devils are especially long-lived, and several times as long as humans.”

Latina’s grey eyes opened wide. She was a smart enough child to understand what that meant.

She headed back home, unable to hide her shock. Even the voices of her concerned friends didn’t seem to reach her.

And so, she broke off her horn using her own magic.

Latina had already received treatment by the time Dale made it home and heard about the incident.

Niili was the god who ruled over life and death, so Niili’s temples served as organizations for the research of things like pathology, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals. The townsfolk general used the temples as clinics, where the results of that research were applied. Kenneth had brought Latina to such a clinic.

Fortunately, she wasn’t in serious condition, due in part to the fact that she was found so quickly, as well as the excellent first aid she received.

Even though devils were a rather robust race, Latina was still young, so if her tiny body lost too much blood, she wouldn’t have been able to recover.

When Dale came running to the clinic, he found Latina resting in bed, her face pale from blood loss. She had regained consciousness, but her eyes looked somehow vacant and lifeless as she slowly stirred upon noticing that someone had arrived. Those grey eyes quivered when they saw him standing there in a daze, breathing heavily.

“Dale...” she called out in a slow, hoarse voice.

Feeling relieved at hearing Latina call his name, he sat down on the edge of the bed and bent over.

“Latina... why...?” he whispered in a quivering voice as he reached out and touched her cheek.

With this, her expression broke down.

“U-uh... uwuh...” blubbered Latina incomprehensively. Tears rolled down her face.

“Latina... does it hurt?” Dale asked anxiously, but he got no response. She just kept weeping and gripping Dale’s hand tightly.

She shook her head back and forth.

“Latina doesn’t need it... she doesn’t need it...” Dale heard her cry out amongst her sobs.

“Latina?”

“Latina doesn’t need the proof that she’s a devil... She wishes she never had any horns!”

Still not knowing what had happened to her, Dale was at a loss. But seeing the state she was in, he knew that he shouldn’t carelessly reprimand her.

“Latina... Latina. What is it? What happened?”

“Latina hates it. Why... why is Latina a devil? She doesn’t live where devils are.... and they said they don’t want her. Everyone who cares about

Latina, who said she could stay with them, are all humans...” This was the first time he’d ever seen Latina this upset.

“Why is Latina the only one who lives longer? Latina doesn’t want to be the only one left... after everyone else dies...” Latina shouted her feelings and worries that she’d hidden from Dale up ’til now, her voice filled with grief, and the words reverberated throughout the room.

With that cry, Dale realized what Latina had been worrying about. She’d realized that devils and humans were born with different amounts of time, or lifespans.

“Latina hates it... She hates it... Why, why...? Latina wishes she wasn’t a devil... She wants to be the same as everyone else... She never wants to be all alone... the only one left, ever again... Latina wants to stay with Dale and her friends forever... She doesn’t want to be all alone again, with everyone gone...”

What had hurt Latina the most and driven her to this despair wasn’t someone’s malice. It was truth... the truth of the immutable differences between the races.

That truth was what Dale had been unable to tell Latina before. What the more insular races all had in common was that they were long-lived. Different lifespans in turn led to a great difference in what someone felt was valuable. For example, ten years felt quite different for humans than it did for devils. And with that absolutely different sense of value, it was difficult to meet one another halfway.

“Latina, I’m sorry...”

It may not have made sense to apologize, but in that instant, those were the words that came from his mouth.

Dale picked up the sobbing Latina, and he hugged her tight. Her soft hair rested against his cheek, and he gently brushed his finger along her wound, which still had some faint traces of blood around it.

“It must’ve hurt... I’m so sorry, Latina...”

As she grieved and cried with all her might, seemingly even finding it difficult to breathe, Dale awkwardly yet tenderly stroked her back, trying to take away at least a little of the girl’s pain.

†

It was later on that Dale learned what had happened to Latina.

He had put off telling her about the differences between races, and in turn it had been thrust in front of her with the worst possible timing. She had injured herself using the attack magic that he had taught her. With her exceptional level of control, she was able to concentrate on one spot and successfully break off her horn, whereas before she wouldn’t have had enough power to do so. That was a fact.

And that was why he was so angry; he was frustrated with himself as well. With such thoughts on his mind, Dale stared straight at the middle-aged priestess, who was wiping the sweat from her brow. He broke out in a smile that even he found cold.

“According to the rumors, that teacher apparently caused a similar incident in her previous town, yeah?”

The priestess’s face grew paler and paler.

No one in Kreuz should have had that information, so it was no surprise that she was shocked that he knew.

Just what sort of man had she made an enemy of? She needed to keep that question in mind. In addition to being an expert at gathering information, Dale had the authority to demand more than just intel. Even without using his connection to the duke, he could apply pressure that a single priestess could not hope to fight against.

“She caused the same sort of trouble with an elf, right? And that was in a town with deep trade connections to the elves, with a tourist industry centered around their songs. Apparently, that incident led to elves refusing to perform in public, correct?”

That was why she’d been hurriedly moved to the far-off town of Kreuz. She couldn’t stay in that town any longer.

This unexpected change of personnel led to great confusion in Kreuz’s temple of Asfar as well. That was why Latina’s teacher had been swapped out so suddenly. In order to suppress the chaos in the other town, one of the high- ranking priests from Kreuz had been sent there, and to fill the hole he left, Latina’s previous teacher was moved into his role.

The people working at the shrine didn’t imagine that she would possibly be foolish enough to do the same thing again right after having been moved for having caused so much trouble. And yet, the woman herself completely believed that her principles weren’t mistaken, and she had no intention of reflecting on her mistakes. After all, the people blaming her were in the wrong, or so she thought.

“By the authority of my divine protection, I demand arbitration.” “That’s...”

Hearing Dale’s dignified words, the priestess’s heart skipped a beat. His request was the right of any high-ranking priest, and could be demanded even of the followers of other gods. This was the primary reason that he’d come here today as an official priest and wearing a sigil.

“It’s not as though I don’t understand the desire to protect members of your organization, but if you intend to protect someone who’s guilty of this much, then I expect you’ve resolved yourself to face equally harsh repercussions.”

With a sharp gaze to drive in the point, Dale continued. “If you’re unwilling to accept my request, then I’m ready to take my demand to the temple of Ahmar. And if that happens, then your culpability will come into question as well, seeing how you stayed quiet despite knowing of the prior incident.”

In addition to being the god of war, Ahmar also presided over arbitration and judgment. His temples served to pass down rulings that exceeded the authority and laws of any land. There, they handed down merciless and impartial judgments. To the guilty, that was effectively the same as a death sentence.

If she didn’t want a great number of those at the temple to be punished for their joint responsibility, she needed to cast out the culprit and make her take responsibility for her actions. That was the meaning behind Dale’s demand.

Dale had said something to Latina as he tightly held the sobbing girl in the clinic. He spoke the words that he wanted and needed to say, that he couldn’t avoid, as her father.

“But Latina, even if we were both humans, I’d definitely die first. I’m older, and it wouldn’t be odd for me to die at any time in my line of work...”

At these unwanted words, Latina began wriggling fiercely. She shook her head back and forth, as if saying she didn’t want to accept them, and she’d cried out so strongly that it sounded like a shriek. As she cried out with all her might that she hated that, Dale held her tight, so she couldn’t just run away from what he was saying.

“But Latina, listen closely. I’m really, truly glad to have met you. Even if our time together is limited, I’m glad to spend it with you.” Dale was as loud as possible so he wouldn’t be drowned out by her cries as he said what he needed to.

Ever since he’d met her, his life had changed greatly. And he was truly grateful for that. It was undoubtedly this small girl in his arms who gave him such gentle, precious moments, and let him be himself.

“I’m glad I met you, Latina. I’ll never regret that. So please, Latina, don’t say that you would’ve been better off if we’d never met...”

Latina looked up at Dale with tears still streaming down her face. She tried to respond, but her voice just wouldn’t come. Sobbing heavily, she shook her head in a different way than she had before.

“N-No... L-Latina...”

While coughing and wheezing over and over, she at last found her words. “Latina... really is glad... that she met Dale...”

“Thank you, Latina. If the thought of parting from us makes you cry that much, then that just goes to show how important we are to you, right? That makes me happy.”

“Yeah... Dale is special for Latina. That’s right...”

Dale gave her a kiss on her tear-stained cheek, which surprised the young girl. But it was far better to see her surprised than sad.

Dale smiled, looking like a child who’d just pulled off a prank. He looked straight into Latina’s eyes.

“I’m glad I met you, Latina. No matter when I die, I’m sure I’ll still be able to say that... So until that time comes, will you stay with me?”

“Yeah. Latina’s glad she met Dale...” “I love you, Latina.”

“Latina loves Dale best of all...”

Even if it was just a bit, she broke out in a smile, making him feel incredibly relieved. For that smile, he’d be able to work harder than he ever had before. That’s what he thought from the bottom of his heart.

†

Thanks to the use of healing magic, the treatment of Latina’s wound was finished before too long. The reason she was held at the clinic was because she was still weak from blood loss and her mental state was still unstable.

By the time Dale launched his assault on the temple of Asfar, Latina had already been discharged from the clinic. She continued her treatment and also took it easy at the Dancing Ocelot, but that was more because of the worrying adults than her own choice.

It was around that time that Chloe came to visit, and learned for the first time of what Latina had done. She’d thought that Latina had been resting due to the shock of the incident. She never would have thought that Latina had broken off her own horn, losing enough blood in the process that she could’ve even lost her life as well.

And as a result, a soft smack sound reverberated through the attic. Having been hit, Latina opened her eyes wide. And the one who had done the hitting, Chloe, had broken out in tears. Sobbing heavily, she hit her friend again.

Considering she regularly beat boys into submission, it was obvious that Chloe wasn’t putting her full strength into the blows, but Latina was still shocked enough that she couldn’t speak. Even if Chloe had used violence to protect Latina before, she’d never turned it on the young girl herself.

“You idiot! How could you be so dumb, Latina?! Why would you do something like that?!”

And all the while, Chloe wore a pained expression on her face.

“Your horn was so pretty! And whether you had it or not, you’re still you! And...”

It was the first time Latina had ever seen Chloe cry. Seeing her strong- willed best friend, braver than any boy, look so hurt, Latina wanted to break out in tears as well.

“Latina, you could have died... you big dummy!”

Seeing Chloe raise her voice with tears running down her face, Latina at last understood. She’d made her precious friend feel that same fear, and terror, and helplessness.

“Latina’s sorry... so sorry, Chloe...” said Latina, her voice cutting off midway through as she started sobbing hard as well.

Afterwards, the two held each other close and kept on crying loudly. Hearing this, Dale turned back around and descended the stairs. He was truly grateful that Latina had a girl like that as her best friend. He may have been the most important persona to Latina right now, but he’d have to work hard to maintain that position.

Dale had also heard of how Chloe acted to protect Latina before anyone else at the school. She really was quite a gallant young girl.

Having let out her emotions in front of her precious father and friend, Latina seemed completely relieved, almost like something had been exorcised from inside her.

The truth could not be changed; that was something the clever young girl understood full well, but she had been driven this far by feelings of not wanting to accept it. Now, however, Latina was able to process it, and she realized that there were people who would accept her no matter what.

“Latina is very happy,” whispered the girl, letting down her hair.

Even without her ribbons, there were no longer any horns to be seen on her head. If you looked very closely, then you could see the remains of them hidden under her hair, but at a glance, it was hard to tell that she was a devil. “When Rag died, Latina thought that she would die, too. But then Dale found her and said she could come with him, which made her so very happy.

And then Rita and Kenneth were so nice, and Latina met Chloe and them, and every day became so fun... So Latina had started to forget...”

Latina rested in Dale’s arms, showing no sign of the swell of emotions she’d shown the other day. She really was quite mature for her age. As Dale stroked her hair, she wore a peaceful, happy expression on her face.

“Rag taught Latina that everyone needs to part someday, when they die...

Latina wanted things to stay like they were, so she was afraid of having to say goodbye.”

“Everyone finds that scary. I mean, when I heard you were hurt so badly, I felt like my heart had stopped.”

“Chloe cried, too. And so Latina realized how lucky she was. Chloe didn’t want to say goodbye to her either, so that made Latina really happy,” she said, with a smile that looked more suited to an adult on her young face. She was still quite young, but she looked truly lovely as she put all of her joy and gratitude into that smile pointed at Dale.

“Latina is glad she came to Kreuz, and that she met everyone... Latina’s so happy right now, and it’s all because Dale found her. Thank you, Dale!”

†

“I thought I was going to cry when Latina said that,” Dale said half- braggingly as he actually drank wine that hadn’t been watered down for once.

Kenneth looked a bit disgusted as he slammed down a plate of bar snacks in front of him, but he also knew just how panicked Dale had been until Latina’s condition stabilized and he was able to finally calm down. Well, even Rita had been unable to keep her mind on work and had made mistakes that she normally never would, so Kenneth kept his mouth shut.

By now, Latina was already a precious fixture of the Dancing Ocelot.

“Today we’re celebrating Latina getting better, so everyone can have a single drink on me!” Dale shouted out, only to get a chorus of boos in return.

“You cheapskate!”

“You should say you’ll pick up the entire tab in this kind of situation, right?”

“Oh, shut it! If I said that, then you’d all drink me into bankruptcy!” Undaunted, Dale yelled back, and the bar erupted in booming laughter.

“That’s for sure!”

“Rita, get everyone a glass of the best booze in the joint!”

“You mean the stuff we have set aside?” asked Rita, with a beaming smile on her face.

“Oh, so you’re gonna bring out stuff you don’t usually have on sale?” “Even if they did put it out, it’s too expensive to actually sell, probably.” “It’s a special occasion, so let’s use the biggest mugs we’ve got,” said

Kenneth.

“Kenneth?! This sort of stuff isn’t usually served in a mug, right?!” Dale protested.

“What are you saying?” Kenneth shot back. “If the owner says it can be served in a mug, then it can be served in a mug.”

Rita nodded. “That’s right.” “What a pair!”

With this exchange, the laughs only grew louder. Amongst all the merrymaking, a troubadour started performing, which was usually banned in the shop. Of course, this performance wasn’t for profit, but instead kicked off a singing contest, with the regulars joining in.

The cheerfulness only drew even more cheer, and soon the normally quiet Dancing Ocelot was engulfed in an unheard-of level of liveliness.

“What is it? Why’s everyone so rowdy?” said Latina while rubbing her eyes, having been woken by the noise. For pajamas, she had on a simple lavender dress.

When the gruff men all called out her name at once, even Latina couldn’t help but be startled. However, the drunken outlaws were too out of it to take that into account.

“Here’s the star of the show!” they cried out, and she was carried to the center of the shop.

“What? Huh?”

Latina blinked in amazement as her confusion was met with a round of applause rather than an answer.

Even Rita, who normally would have stopped them, simply smiled as she carried out large mugs. Seeing Dale and Kenneth grinning as well, Latina remained calm, despite being surprised.

A merry melody rang through the air.

Seeing everyone around her smile, Latina started to look happy herself. After some encouragement, she gave herself over to the music on the temporary stage erected in the center of the shop.

And so on that day, a new fact came to light:

Though Latina seemed to be skilled at everything, with no weaknesses to speak of, it turned out that she utterly lacked a sense of rhythm and had no ear for music.

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