Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 125 Mission: 06-4 Shadows Move
The next few days were relatively peaceful. No demons appeared, no students disappeared, and every day after school Nero would either work a part-time job, talk about constellations with Deng in the astronomy club, or chat about interesting things about school with Aine.

After several days without any stimulation, Dante quickly reverted to his sleepy lifestyle, becoming a sundae monster who always slept soundly during the day. If Lenai hadn't occasionally come over and asked him to go out for parfait, he would probably have sunk into the takeout box and not even left the house.

"Uncle." Nero, returning to the apartment, pushed open Dante's door and sighed as he looked at the piles of plastic bags and thermal boxes inside. "I made some strawberry pie today. Do you want some?"

Dante got up from the bed, threw away the comic in his hand, and greeted her with a somewhat stiff smile: "Oh, oh... Thank you."

Fortunately, Nero didn't need to clean the room; the apartment she rented came with its own hourly maid. Otherwise, she would have scolded Dante, even though he was her uncle—at least he should have taken out the trash from the takeout.

But for Dante, Nero's unconditional tolerance was more frightening than Tracy's preaching. Every time he saw Nero sigh, Dante felt a little scared.

After all, unlike Tracy, Nero was a junior and not yet an adult. Dante felt that it was a bit unreasonable for him to cause trouble for her.

"But Nero, you don't need to do such troublesome things for me." Dante looked at the freshly baked pie on the dining table, feeling happy and uncomfortable at the same time.

"It's no trouble, as long as you like it."

Nero said this, hung his apron in the kitchen, and walked out.

Seeing Nero coming out, Dante realized that she was not wearing her school uniform. She had changed into her casual clothes after returning home, which seemed to mean that she was getting ready to go out.

"Ready to go out?" He stopped the knife and fork in his hand and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yes." Nero replied casually, "I found out something a while ago and I plan to verify it tonight."

He found out something, which was obviously related to the devil. Dante quickly got into the state, straightened up and asked, "Do you need my help?"

"I'm not sure if I'll run into a demon yet." Nero walked to the entrance, turned around, and nodded with a smile: "Uncle, enjoy the food first. We'll still have time to go out after we finish eating."

She closed the door.

Yes, today, Nero finally found a chance to meet with Sumimi's former member, "Sad" Mikado Hatsuka's partner, and still an active idol, Mana Junta.

From her, Nero might be able to learn what happened to Triangle Hatsuka before it completely disappeared and turned into the "sorrow" of the Wanfu Carnival.

Stepping out of the elevator, Nero blended into the city that was brightly lit in the night.

Under the same lights, Nagasaki Soyo looked at the ring sparkling on his finger and stood up from the balcony.

"Will the devil appear tonight as well?"

From the shadows behind her, a strange creature named "Little Ace" emerged. It leaped onto the round table in front of Shuangshi and said, "Not only that, the demon you were hoping to see tonight should also appear."

Hearing this, Shuangshi's eyes flashed with surprise, followed by joy: "You mean..."

"Yes, Wakaba Mu will be here too. Toyokawa Shoko didn't wake up that quickly, but it shouldn't be long."

Shuangshi stretched out his hand, looked at the ring on his hand, and asked absentmindedly: "According to what you said, can they really be turned back into humans?"

"of course."

Little Ace replied confidently, "The Yama Blade is a weapon left behind by the missing magic swordsman Sparda. It's a treasure that can separate humans from demons. If you can obtain it, you'll naturally be able to expel the demons that have taken over their bodies." Seeing that Shuangshi was still silent, Little Ace couldn't help but remind her, "Okay, you should leave. Otherwise, you'll be late."

But Shuangshi didn't move. She stroked the ring in her hand twice and said softly, "You know, I'm so glad I chose this wish."

"Really? That's good."

Little Ace nodded, jumped off the table, and turned around to say, "But is this really okay? This wish only leaves you with a 'maybe'. No one can say whether it will eventually come true."

"That's enough."

Shuangshi drew his twin swords, Shikoti, from the ring and leaped into the depths of the night sky: "As long as there is still hope, that's enough."

Shuangshi didn't want to experience the powerless feeling of his parents' divorce again. As long as there was still hope, there was still a possibility of redemption, and there was still a direction to work towards—

Shuangshi believed that she could hold the flowing sand firmly in her hands and not let it slip away.

"Hehe." An evil laugh came from the shadow of Shuangshijia's balcony. The one who laughed was the one named "Little Ace".

It laughed. It laughed at the world that had left, at these innocent girls, at these easily deceived humans.

"That's what humans are like," it said. "Just tell them 'your wish has come true,' and even if the facts don't quite match that, they'll desperately try to deceive themselves and find an explanation that has nothing to do with the shattering of their wish."

To accomplish all this, all you need is a not-so-clever lie, some manipulative rhetoric, and a pair of eyes that can see through people's hearts.

As it happens, little Ace has it all.

It jumped onto the balcony railing and looked at Shuangshi blending into the shadows of the city, and things about her emerged in its mind.

When Little Ace first saw Shuangshi, he knew he was the right person. She harbored a longing, a longing born from the shattering of her family. If she wanted to restore it, Little Ace, skilled at controlling people, could help—but how long that would last was not his concern.

Anyway, these girls are just consumables to it.

But after a real conversation, it discovered that Shuangshi no longer longed for her father to return. Her inner longing was the fear of "losing" itself.

Even a father who is related by blood can disappear without a word, so what else can be kept for sure?

After seeing through this, Xiao Ace had an idea on how to manipulate Shuangshi. Since Shuangshi was afraid of losing, he would use this to his advantage and set a trap through words, tricking Shuangshi into saying the wish Xiao Ace hoped to hear.

"I hope that whatever I have lost, I can find it back..."

That's right, a play on words. It's not "will not be lost," but "can be found." So as long as there seems to be hope of recovering those things, even if they never return to Shuangshi's hands, it's not Little Ace's problem.

And now, after helping her regain her lost memories, her trust in little Ace should be close to blind obedience.

The white demon hid in the shadows and let out a gloomy, evil laugh.

(End of this chapter)