"Sometimes, I really think Jashin-chan deliberately plays along with Yurine," Li Mo mused.
"Why's that?"
"Because that way, Yurine gets to indulge in her favorite pastime. Pekora, did you know? Yurine *loves* B-grade horror films."
Pekora rubbed her round belly and nodded absently. "Is that so?"
The rare feast had left her stuffed—A3-grade beef in hot pot was *unbelievably* delicious. And with the extra meat delivered later, there had been more than enough to go around.
Normally, Pekora survived on rice with soy sauce. On better days, she might add some vegetables—but meat? That was a luxury beyond her reach.
She was so full that her blood seemed to have all rushed to her stomach, leaving her brain sluggish.
Li Mo didn't really need a response—he just wanted someone to listen. His words were little more than idle reflections on the dinner at Yurine's place.
"I kinda expected Yurine to go all out—maybe break out a chainsaw and cosplay a slasher villain. But in the end, she just used a dull knife. Though, gotta admit, Jashin-chan's regeneration is *insane*. It's basically an all-you-can-eat barbecue."
"…Huh?" Pekora belatedly realized—was this mage talking about something *horrifying*?
Now that she thought about it… Yurine *was* a dark magician. Jashin-chan and the others *were* demons. Did that mean this mage was also… a dark mage? But they all seemed so *nice*…
*Ahh, what do I do?*
Pekora suddenly felt like she was being corrupted just by associating with them.
Meanwhile, Li Mo was still reminiscing.
After Jashin-chan hogged all the beef, Yurine had snapped. She tied the demon up on the cutting board, lopped off her tail, and started slicing the meat for dinner.
—Of course, the delivery arrived before they could actually cook it. But if they *had* eaten Jashin-chan's tail…
*Unlimited buffet?*
Yurine chopping in the front, the rest of them tossing tail meat into the pot—it would've been a perfect assembly line.
Not that anyone was *that* deranged.
After dinner, everyone went their separate ways. Since Pekora's makeshift home was in a park along the way to the train station, Li Mo walked with her.
"Pekora."
"Y-Yeah? What is it?"
"What're your plans from now on?"
Pekora sighed. "I'll just tough it out until my halo recovers, then go back to Heaven."
"Really? I've got a feeling you *won't* be going back," Li Mo said. "Ever thought about settling down in the human world?"
"That's too hard…" Pekora slumped.
After losing her halo, Pekora had been living as an undocumented drifter, scrambling for odd jobs. Her story was nothing short of tragic.
*Exhausting* didn't even begin to cover it.
Li Mo clasped his hands behind his head. "That's life, Pekora. But if you had proper identification, things would be easier. Tohru probably has connections for that, right?"
Tohru was a dragon from another world and didn't know much about Earth. But Lucoa—who'd been here for ages, once worshipped as the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl—*definitely* had connections.
*Probably.*
He then advised Pekora to be less naive. Modern society was full of scams disguised as charity. Even seemingly legitimate organizations could be shady.
He remembered a scene from a manga where Pekola, after finally getting her paycheck, was swindled by "donation collectors" and ended up giving away all her money.
*No good deed goes unpunished.*
By the time they reached the park, Pekora's "home" came into view—a cardboard shack, no different from a homeless person's shelter.
Li Mo suddenly stopped talking. Not because they'd reached their parting point, but because he sensed a *third presence*.
The park was eerily quiet at night. After the hot pot feast, it was already late, and the emptiness should've been normal—but something felt *off*.
His senses sharpened under the influence of mystery, allowing him to perceive things others couldn't.
Like the figure in the darkness, radiant as the sun.
His gaze locked onto a golden-haired girl—adorable, more so than any idol. But the light didn't come from her. It came from the halo above her head.
An angel.
Christianity was a monotheistic faith, its sole deity being Yahweh. Beneath Him existed the angels—divine messengers.
Li Mo had met angels before. Not Pekora, but Raphael from the A Certain Magical Index universe—a being human in form yet unsettlingly not, enough to trigger the uncanny valley effect.
But that was another story. This angel wasn't eerie. She was cute.
Pekora's face lit up. "Poporon! Did you come to take me back to Heaven? That's great—"
"Nope~" The angel—Poporon—smiled sweetly. "Everyone thought you'd gone missing, so I took your place, Pekora-sama."
"…Huh?" Pekora froze. "B-But my halo was stolen by a demon!"
"Exactly~" Poporon's grin turned saccharine. "Pekora-sama had such a cushy position. I don't want to give it up. So… could you stay in the human world forever?"
Her voice dripped with faux innocence, but the malice was unmistakable.
Pekora paled. "Poporon… you're joking, right?"
"Not at all~" Poporon giggled. "I came here specifically to make sure Pekora-sama never returns."
Pekora whirled around and screamed:
"LI MO, SAVE ME!!"