"Mira, I'll leave Lillian in your hands."
With the commission successfully canceled, Marco smiled as he handed Lillian over to Mira.
The registration and stamping procedures all needed to be arranged for the demon girl.
"Alright, Lillian, what color emblem would you like?"
Mira didn't ask further questions and directly took out the guild's magic emblem.
Given Marco's status, he certainly had the authority to recruit members into the guild, without even needing any assessment.
The demon girl hesitated for a moment.
With her purple skin, colors wouldn't appear in their original hues when stamped on her.
In fact, she had no idea how these colors would actually look on her skin.
"How about choosing red? Purple is originally a mix of red and blue. Choosing bright red won't be too conspicuous, but the red emblem will still be clearly visible."
Mira offered a suggestion, having noticed the demon girl's indecision.
"Okay, thank you, Mira-san."
Lillian immediately nodded, relieved that she didn't have to make the choice herself.
Mira smiled gently.
She reached out and took the demon girl's hand, clearly feeling her slight trembling.
Mira softly stamped the emblem on the back of the demon girl's left hand.
"Am I that frightening?"
Releasing Lillian's trembling hand, Mira asked with some confusion.
When she had held the demon girl's hand, her body had been terrifyingly stiff, as if being watched by some predator.
This puzzled Mira.
She had been acting kind and gentle all along, and this girl shouldn't know what her previous personality was like.
So why would she have such a reaction?
"N-no! I'm not afraid!"
Lillian withdrew her hand and anxiously explained, but her reaction seemed feeble, completely unlike someone who wasn't afraid.
Lillian didn't want to be like this either, but for some reason, standing before Mira, she couldn't help but feel extremely dangerous, scared, and terrified.
"?"
Mira was full of question marks.
This made her somewhat insecure.
Could it be that in this child's eyes, she actually appeared very frightening?
Her expression showed some hurt, looking quite devastated.
"Really, I'm not! Mira-san is a very good person! I... I'm not afraid at all!"
Mirajane's reaction made Lillian increasingly anxious.
She didn't want to leave a bad impression on this gentle white-haired big sister.
"Could it be possible that it's the natural suppression your magic has on demons?"
Watching Lillian's reaction, Marco thought deeply and proposed a possibility.
The child appeared to be experiencing pure physiological fear, and what set Mira apart from others was likely her Take Over Magic that could transform demons into power.
"Ah? But..."
Mira was taken aback, her expression growing even more puzzled.
"Aren't they... cursed into their current form?"
The reason Mira hadn't considered this was because she had preconceived notions, viewing Lillian as a poor human who had been cursed into this form.
And she couldn't perform Take Over on humans.
"Ahem, let me tell you quietly."
Faced with Mira's confusion, Marco cleared his throat, leaned close to her ear, and whispered softly.
"They were originally demons themselves."
Marco quietly revealed the truth to Mira.
While discussing this matter within the guild wouldn't normally be an issue, it was better to keep it confidential—the fewer people who knew, the better. If some fool accidentally let it slip, it could cause trouble.
"What?!" Mira looked shocked, startled by this revelation.
It was just too strange—the people of Galuna Island were... originally a demons?!
"Shh~"
Marco signaled for Mira to lower her voice and not make a fuss.
"No wonder," Mira quieted down and muttered under her breath, "I was just wondering why the curse was so powerful, making me feel like she really was a demon."
Earlier, she had felt uneasy about Lilian too—her instincts told her the girl before her was a demon, yet reality insisted she was merely cursed into that form and originally human.
But if Lilian and the others were "true demons" all along, everything made sense.
Her perception hadn't been wrong, meaning if she wanted to, she could truly "take over" the girl before her.
"..."
Looking at the demon girl standing silently to the side, Mirajane hesitated, wanting to ask Marco why he had brought a demon to the guild.
But seeing the girl's simple, worried, and eager-to-please demeanor, she couldn't bring herself to ask—at least not in front of her.
"Lilian, don't be nervous. Treat the guild like home. Go find Lucy and let her and the others show you to the guild dormitory to get familiar with the environment. You'll be staying in the girls' dorm from now on."
Marco reached out, intending to pat Lilian's head as he spoke, but the girl had two sharp horns on her head, making it rather awkward.
So, he withdrew his hand.
This somewhat embarrassing scene made Mira beside him burst into laughter!
"Okay, Ma... Marco-san."
Lilian, as if granted a release, quickly left to find Lucy.
She and Lucy had quickly formed a friendship.
"Alright, tell me, what's really going on?"
Seeing Lilian leave, Mirajane couldn't hold back any longer and immediately asked.
Marco had sent Lilian away, clearly intending to explain, something Mira had picked up on.
"It's quite a remarkable story."
Marco smiled and sat down on a high stool at the bar, beginning to recount their recent experience.
Mira promptly handed him a glass of iced drink.
She had already seen the local specialties they brought back from "Galuna Island" and planned to examine them later.
"...And that's how it went."
Marco gave a rather concise account of the events, covering the key points clearly enough to leave Mira stunned.
"Gray's senior, Lyon, is indeed a bit extreme."
Mira commented quietly, since she was gossiping behind his back, which made Marco chuckle.
"He's just stuck in a rut. A good beating will set him straight."
Marco said with a laugh.
Of course, it had to be Gray who delivered the beating—that was the right remedy, and the effect would be outstanding.
"To think there's a demon race like this... It feels completely different from the previous Lullaby and this time's Deliora." Mira sighed with emotion.
The demons she had encountered before were basically all wicked beings, including the very first one she had taken in.
It was truly hard for her to imagine that there could exist such a simple and honest group of demons.
"The world is vast and full of wonders."