“Puhah!”
Kesu Su suddenly downed an entire bottle of butterbeer, slammed the empty bottle onto the table, wiped the white foam from her little mouth with the back of her fair hand, and let out a long, satisfied breath.
“A mug of butterbeer in winter is just the best~!”
The small tavern was warm and cozy, the guests loudly chatting, drinking, and feasting—a lively scene. In Dreamscape City, taverns allowed students to enter, but students weren’t allowed to drink anything alcoholic.
Even though the youngest students who came were at least thirty or forty years old, the two lolis who looked barely into their teens were actually thousands of years old evil gods.
Also, despite the name, butterbeer was actually a sweet creamy soda and contained no alcohol at all.
Sitting in the corner, Xiye was hugging a glass of milk, sipping it slowly. After a long day, she really wanted to gulp down a cold beer, but as a student, she could only settle for something less.
Mm, the milk was sweet and tasty.
“Thank you, Xueli.” Kesu Su patted Xueli’s back as she spoke.
Please, not so hard. I’m a fragile, wounded patient right now. What if I start coughing up blood again?
“Ow.” Xiye murmured, a milky mark still hanging on her lips.
“Hehe, sorry, I forgot Xueli’s so weak now.” Kesu Su stuck out her tongue.
She’s really sorry for being this weak, huh.
“But, what exactly does ‘friend’ mean?” She tilted her head, her small white feet swinging back and forth, unable to touch the floor from the high stool.
After Kesu Su apologized to Xiye, she cheerfully accepted the apology, but only on the condition that she, Kesu Su, and Huang Xiaoyi would become friends.
That’s right—this was Xiye’s first step in her plan to win over the evil god girls.
Since her ultimate goal was to have the evil god girls become human, it meant they not only needed to learn human knowledge, but more importantly, understand human emotions. For evil gods who had no concept of emotions, this was an extremely difficult task.
So, Xiye decided to start with the simplest emotion—friendship.
After she made the request, Huang Xiaoyi gave no reply, but Kesu Su agreed right away.
But now, it looked like this girl had no idea what “friend” actually meant.
“If you didn’t understand, Su Su, why did you agree just now?” Xiye asked curiously.
“Hmm? No reason, just that the word ‘friend’ sounds nice when you say it. It kind of feels…sensual, maybe it’s like those slave things or a Fiji cup?”
No, it’s very different.
What on earth had this child watched before for her sense of things to be this warped?
Was it from that time I hit her in the head with my boat and made her dumb?
“That can’t be right, idiot Su Su.”
On the other side, Huang Xiaoyi kept drawing, a glass of hawthorn juice in front of her, not a single sugar cube added. She turned her head, gave Kesu Su a look reserved for idiots, and said:
“Didn’t mom say it before? A friend is someone who provides sacrifices when you need them, and if there aren’t any, becomes the sacrifice themselves—a useful tool. Xueli probably means that from now on, you’re each other’s tools, so just say so when you want to use the other.”
This one’s on another level entirely.
“Oh, I see, I totally get it now!” Kesu Su nodded seriously.
“Don’t get it!”
Xiye hurried to stop her, afraid Huang Xiaoyi’s terrifying definition of friend would take root in Kesu Su’s mind.
“Listen carefully, Su Su, Xiaoyi…”
“Huang Xiaoyi.” Huang Xiaoyi interrupted. “Only Su Su can call me Xiaoyi. We’re not that close yet, are we?”
“Ugh…”
The attempt to get closer had failed.
Xiye rubbed her face and changed her words:
“Fine, Huang Xiaoyi… Anyway, a friend is someone you connect with, who shares your thoughts and feelings.”
“What’s ‘nai feelings’?” Kesu Su blinked.
“Feelings!”
Xiye almost ground her back teeth to bits. Clearly, you can’t use idioms with these evil god girls. She thought for a moment, then rephrased:
“Ahem… Simply put, it means someone you can laugh with, cry with, play with, and work hard together with.”
If this was an anime, there’d be a warm light right now, and some touching background music…
“Hooray, let’s play together!” Kesu Su raised her hands, showing her rosy armpits.
“……” Xiye was speechless.
Maybe she only understood a quarter of that, but…well, it wasn’t all bad. At least playing together was a good first step in getting closer.
“So where are we going to play next?”
Kesu Su’s starry eyes sparkled as her little head zoomed in close, and Xiye blocked her forehead with her finger.
“Ow!”
“First, we need to buy you some clothes.” Xiye spun her fingertip on Kesu Su’s smooth forehead.
“Why? I have clothes right now, don’t I?”
Kesu Su tugged at her cloak, and her tender flower bud was instantly exposed to the air.
“Ugh…”
Xiye covered her face with her hand, peeking through her fingers at Kesu Su’s delicate little body:
“That’s just it… Everyone can see you. That’s not okay.”
“Hm? So what?” Kesu Su shrugged, completely unfazed. “So they see. My body is perfect, after all—if no one admires it, wouldn’t that be a waste?”
“……”
“Wow!”
Fifteen minutes later, inside a children’s clothing store at the department store, Kesu Su, wearing a pale blue dress, exclaimed in front of the mirror, spinning left and right, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
“This outfit is so cute too!”
She threw on a white knitted cardigan with slightly long sleeves over the dress, tucking her hands inside to pretend she was a ghost.
“Try these on.”
Xiye handed over some white ankle socks and short boots she’d picked out. Kesu Su put them on at once, then, as happy as a kid getting a PS5 for New Year’s, danced circles around Xiye.
Definitely just a kid—though she was an evil god…
Xiye, dragged along by the hand, could only smile helplessly.
“If you like it, I’ll go pay, okay?”
“Mm, thank you, Xueli!”
Kesu Su Friendship Progress +5%, Total Progress 20%.
Before leaving, Xiye noticed that Kesu Su’s starry cloak had transformed into a crossbody bag, matching her light-colored outfit rather well.
“Hello, could you ring this up, please?”
The cashier at the counter was a human-shaped mannequin, dressed in an overcoat and a deerstalker hat, with its face sewn together with needle and thread and buttons.
Hearing Xiye wanted to check out, its yarn-stitched mouth curled into a smile, and a deep, sultry male voice rumbled from its chest:
“That’s 126 Dream Points in total, cash or scan?”
“Ah, yes, sure.”
Xiye instinctively pulled out her phone, opened the blue app, and saw her balance—“0.”
“……”
A bead of cold sweat slid down her forehead.
She’d forgotten she didn’t have a single coin left!