Clang!
Just as Aurora was complaining, a cold metallic ring sounded beside her ear, and a magnificent Holy Sword, brilliant as the stars, was thrust directly in front of her.
The Wind Clan Chief, already as skittish as a startled bird, jumped in fright. Her teeth began to chatter, and her body shrank back instinctively.
"I've already chosen something that should lure him out. Will this be enough?"
Samael smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. To Aurora, it looked like a demon opening its bloody maw and waiting for its prey to walk into the trap.
In the end, after the Ancient Serpent's "friendly persuasion," Aurora found herself unable to refuse. Trembling, she accepted the Holy Sword and arranged for it to become the final item at tomorrow's auction under the name Steel-Cutting Sword.
Of course, as the supreme creation forged from the power of all six fairy clans, the gods, and even the Star Spirits, using the Star-Forged Holy Sword to lure Foul out would certainly work.
What frightened Aurora was the possibility of something happening to it.
If the sword were lost and that demon came looking for compensation, she could have a dozen lives and it still would not be enough.
But since things had already reached this point, Aurora could only resign herself to her fate. She took temporary custody of the Holy Sword, then hurriedly summoned every informant under the Great Cathedral and ordered them to spread the news throughout the Nameless Forest.
As a result, Samael and the others, despite being at the center of the whole affair, suddenly found themselves with nothing to do.
They idly wandered around and drank tea in the elegant, luxurious courtyard, which looked more like part of a palace.
Basking in the sunlight beneath a pavilion, Samael dangled strips of meat in front of Barghest while watching the fairy girls go about their day with interest.
As a weaving fairy who could never sit still, Habetrot had spent her time since entering the Great Cathedral studying the many artistic and fashionable elements displayed throughout the place, gaining plenty of inspiration along the way.
Her urge to create soon became impossible to suppress.
The moment they settled into the courtyard, Habetrot threw herself into designing and sewing, dragging Freya along to serve as her model.
After several hours of work, the tightly shut door finally opened, and Habetrot led a completely transformed Freya into the courtyard.
The finished piece was a long blue-and-white dress decorated with petal-shaped ornaments.
To Habetrot's credit, she did not share the Wind Fairies' bad habit of piling every fashionable element they could think of into a single outfit. The design was clean and simple.
Worn by Freya, it gave her an even lighter, more delicate appearance, complementing the butterfly-winged girl's natural innocence perfectly.
Mm.
She has that sweet girl-next-door feeling.
Samael carefully looked her over and nodded to himself, giving an impartial assessment.
In the courtyard, Habetrot proudly brought her temporary model over to another fellow enthusiast in art and design to unveil her newest creation.
"Hehehe♪ Baobhan Sith, come look at my new design!"
"Tsk. So tacky. That dress is ridiculously tacky. Wearing something like that would only make you look cheap."
Baobhan Sith barely gave it a glance before dismissively handing down a terrible score.
"No way! This is clearly the most fashionable style right now. My design should be perfect! Forget it, you obviously have no taste. I'll save the rest for Samael and Morgan."
Deeply discouraged, Habetrot puffed out her cheeks and muttered unhappily. She grabbed Freya, who also looked somewhat awkward and disappointed, and prepared to leave.
But Baobhan Sith suddenly caught hold of her.
"Wait, wait! You have more finished pieces? Put them on and let me see!"
"No! You're obviously just going to laugh at us!"
"But this is so interesting! What's the harm? I want to see, I want to see! Show me a few more!"
Eventually, after Baobhan Sith pestered her relentlessly, Habetrot reluctantly gave in.
She took Freya back inside and brought her out again and again in several different outfits.
"This one is outdated! It covers everything. You look like some ancient relic!"
"Ugh! This one shows way too much! How indecent!"
"And this one is far too complicated. You'd step on the hem just trying to walk. Terrible!"
The more Baobhan Sith criticized, the more animated she became.
Seeing the frustration on Habetrot's face, a wicked gleam of amusement appeared in her gray eyes.
Yet without realizing it, she also began staring at each outfit longer and longer.
"I hate this one most of all! It's... it's..."
When they reached the final red dress, Baobhan Sith immediately started criticizing it.
But after racking her brain for quite some time, she found herself unable to think of anything.
Instead, her hands unconsciously kept stroking the dress's exquisite patterns.
"It's... actually really pretty. Damn it, why isn't the prettiest one for me to wear? Right?"
"Yeah, exactly!"
The words beside her happened to perfectly echo what was in her heart, and Baobhan Sith instinctively blurted out the complaint she had been holding back.
The moment she realized what she had just admitted, she raised her head and glared through gritted teeth at Samael, who was struggling not to laugh.
Habetrot and Freya had clearly caught on as well.
"Ah... this is so boring! Sitting around looking at clothes is completely pointless!"
With everyone having seen through her, Baobhan Sith turned her head away and snorted, hurriedly changing the subject.
Then she could not resist shooting a provocative look at the person who had ruined her little act.
"Do you have the guts to come with me somewhere deserted, pitch-black, and amazing... and do something exciting?"
"Sure. Since you're looking for thrills, let's go all the way. Looks like we'll be having mutton tonight."
Samael answered with a smile.
The instant he spoke, Baobhan Sith, who had been acting so aggressive only moments earlier, suddenly remembered the terror of being completely at this demon's mercy.
Her face went pale.
She turned and fled.
"Why are you running? If you don't like mutton, we can always try something else. Exciting games are my favorite."
The Ancient Serpent grinned and deliberately teased her with open malice.
That only frightened Baobhan Sith even more, and she ran away like a startled rabbit.
Seeing this, Freya and Habetrot both burst into smiles, filling the courtyard with cheerful laughter.
Unfortunately, happiness did not last.
Distracted for only a moment, Samael loosened his grip on the strip of meat he had been using to tease Barghest.
The Dog Demon seized the opportunity, leaped up, and snatched it from his hand.
If the Ancient Serpent had not pulled back quickly enough, Barghest's sharp teeth might have taken a chunk of flesh from his hand along with it.
After being properly fed for some time, Barghest had grown at an astonishing rate. She was now around seventy to eighty centimeters tall.
Her head, which had once been covered only in fine down, was now crowned with soft, flexible golden hair. With her delicate features, she looked exquisitely adorable.
"You'll really eat anything. What a glutton. No meat for you tonight. You're getting mashed potatoes instead! A whole basin!"
Recovering from his surprise, Samael immediately flicked Barghest on the back of the head, shamelessly using the opportunity to get even.
The moment she heard that dinner would be vegetarian, and that the mashed potatoes would be measured by the basin, Barghest's little face scrunched up.
She let out an unhappy growl and ground her teeth, her striking mismatched eyes openly displaying a carnivore's dissatisfaction.
The large figure and the small figure glared at each other across the table like two fighting cocks, neither willing to back down.
But the moment Samael noticed Morgan walking past, his expression immediately changed.
He lifted Barghest above his head with both hands.
"Want to hold her? You haven't spent much time with this child lately."
Morgan paused, but did not reach for her.
"No. You're doing better than I am. You're more suited to it too..."
Samael watched Morgan gradually walk away, then lowered the squirming Barghest.
His brow furrowed slightly in confusion.
What's wrong with her?
She's seemed distracted all the time lately.
A light breeze passed through the courtyard.
Samael pushed the thought aside, turned toward the colorful garden, and snorted impatiently.
"If you're done watching, then get out here!"
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