“Teacher… why did we have to come… here?”
Ingrid once again couldn’t help but tilt her head up to gaze at the ceiling.
Ange had taken her away from the Academy and brought her into a restaurant that looked impossibly upscale.
“Why here? Of course, to eat.”
Ange swirled her wine glass, the familiar motion matched by her pure silver hair, her violet eyes half-lidded and filled with intoxicated delight.
“Hey, look at that lady over there.”
“Wow, she’s gorgeous…”
“She’s wearing makeup, right? Has to be all makeup.”
“Hey, enough, quiet down. You’re making us look cheap.”
Hearing the comments from other guests, whether intentional or not, Ingrid’s posture on the chair grew a little stiff.
She had never been good at handling situations like this.
All these gazes, the need to maintain etiquette for elegance, especially having to be quiet in such a setting—she was thoroughly uncomfortable.
“What’s wrong? Not used to it?”
Ange took a small sip of wine. Honestly, she didn’t know a thing about drinking, but since it was served, why not have some?
She’d noticed Ingrid’s oddness. This kid seemed shy—or maybe she just wasn’t used to being around so many people.
That actually surprised Ange a bit.
After all, sitting around them, across from them, who knew if any were young heirs and heiresses from great families?
But none could compare to the girl sitting across from her with that stoic face—Ingrid.
The Beltans family, one of the Academy’s major shareholders—rich, outrageously rich.
Yet Ingrid herself clearly didn’t care about any of that. She was used to a comfortable life, and utterly insensitive to money.
With that, Ange decided to quiz her, to see what her concept of money was like.
“Ingrid, how’s the food at home?”
“The food?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure. I guess it’s okay. The head chef always ensures there’s something different every day. My parents usually have him make me a late-night snack too, though I don’t always eat it.”
“How many dishes?”
“Uh… probably fills the whole table?”
“How much do you think that costs?”
“How much… five hundred?”
Well… just as she’d thought. Ingrid’s idea of money was in a whole different league from normal people.
A table full of dishes—if Ange guessed right, the ingredients were definitely not ordinary.
By that calculation, it had to start at least in the five digits. Only a family like the Beltans could afford that.
Damn.
The more Ange thought about it, the more irked she felt. While she’d been scraping for a hot meal, this golden-haired girl had been living like a princess—and now she wanted to hunt Demons? Was she just here for the experience?
“Sigh, you should start spending less, Ingrid.”
“Why, Teacher?”
Ingrid was completely baffled. Why was her teacher Ange telling her not to spend money just because of a single answer?
Could it be! The teacher hated her again?!
“It’s nothing, really. I just don’t want you getting swindled and selling yourself for five thousand or something.”
“How could I possibly sell myself! What are you talking about!”
“Heh, did you notice, Ingrid?”
“Notice what?”
“Since we started chatting, lots of people have been glaring at us, you know.”
“T-then… should we quiet down, then…”
Feeling all those gazes, Ingrid wanted to hide her face in her hands. They really had talked too much—not at all in line with the refined, quiet atmosphere here.
“Don’t mind them. Just do what we came to do.”
“Ah… alright…”
Even though they were still chatting, the whispering around them had noticeably faded. Ingrid tilted her head, puzzled by the reason.
Of course, she didn’t notice—or even if she had, wouldn’t have understood—that Ange had already laid her Black Card right out on the table, in an extremely conspicuous spot.
“It’s about time.”
“Time for what?”
“Time to take you somewhere.”
“Huh? Then why did we just sit here for so long?”
Ingrid stared at the empty table. They’d been here for ages but hadn’t ordered a thing.
“Hehe, don’t worry about it. It’s rare for me to have money—shouldn’t I enjoy it a little?”
“Enjoy… uh… of course, no problem…”
All of a sudden, Ingrid began to suspect—was her teacher maybe a bit obsessed with money?
The next moment, Ange’s expression grew serious.
She tapped and slid her finger across the table, and a faint blue light began to glow—it was actually a Magic Circle.
“All right, now we can talk freely. This is an Illusion Barrier. It changes what other people see and hear from us.”
“An Illusion Barrier? In a place like this?”
“Of course. Up next, the Transmission Circle should be activating soon.”
“Soon? Wait, we were just waiting for a transmission this whole time?”
“That’s right. I was thinking of ordering something, but everything was so expensive I changed my mind. If it arrived, we wouldn’t even get to finish it before leaving.”
Ange picked up the menu again, clicking her tongue—clearly displeased with the prices.
“Get ready to go.”
As the blue light surrounding the table burst fully forth, the two enveloped within vanished from the glow.
“Here you go—the underground Heixi. Not a place just anyone can enter.”
“Heixi?”
Following Ange’s lead, Ingrid looked closely at this unfamiliar, unknown place.
It was a space built entirely underground, the bustling streets constructed around a central pillar, so lively it hardly seemed subterranean. Ingrid was nearly stunned.
“The largest Heixi in the Kingdom of Huang. Here, you can hear Demons, see Demons, even buy Demons.”
“Buy Demons? Doesn’t the Academy do anything about this?!”
Ingrid gazed down the main street. Sure enough, she could see plenty of figures who clearly weren’t human, hauling their own goods, all looking extremely busy.
Ange tapped Ingrid’s forehead, pulling back her combative glare.
The silver-haired, commanding beauty stood with one hand on her hip, stepping out first with effortless elegance.
“The Demons here don’t do bad things—at least, they won’t harm others. So the Academy can’t be bothered to get involved.”
“But… they’re Demons.”
“Hey, hey, Ingrid, don’t be so black and white about it. You and I both have Demon blood flowing through us. We just happen to look more human, is all.”
“Even so…”
“Relax. I know everyone here—some of them even married humans! For Demons, just accepting marriage is already unthinkable. These old-timers have lived peacefully in the world for decades. They won’t cause any trouble.”
“Okay… so what are we here for?”
“To find work.”
Ange walked into a bar called May of the Crying Demon.
The moment she entered, her sharp presence drew the attention of a large crowd—more precisely, the attention of the Demons.