Gabriel fell silent again for a moment. After thinking for a while, he gave a small nod.
"But... Ash can still add your request."
Kuroka's ears twitched reflexively.
"...Really?"
"However, that means Ash will also ask for a greater price than merely being taught Senjutsu." Gabriel raised one finger for emphasis. "Would that be acceptable?"
Kuroka did not answer immediately. She simply stared at the mysterious man before her for several seconds.
The longer she listened to the way he spoke, the stronger the strange feeling in her mind became.
Everything Ash said sounded too straightforward, too certain, and strangely... too reasonable according to his own logic.
Eventually, she could no longer hold back the question that had been circling in her mind.
"...Are you actually a devil, nyaa?"
Gabriel blinked slowly.
"For some reason," Kuroka continued while rubbing her temple, "the way you talk about contracts... makes me feel like I just made a deal with a devil."
Gabriel shook his head without hesitation.
"Ash is not a devil." He placed his left hand against his chest again before giving a slight, polite bow. "Ash is the Lord of the Pale Mist."
Silence descended between them once more.
Kuroka stared at Gabriel with a blank expression. Rather than easing her suspicions, that answer somehow made the mysterious man sound even more suspicious.
"...That answer," she muttered, "doesn't make me feel any safer, nyaa."
Gabriel tilted his head slightly, as though trying to understand where the problem lay.
"Ash would never bite a Nekomata," he said calmly. "So you have nothing to worry about."
Kuroka fell silent.
A few seconds later, her cat ears stood straight up.
"That isn't the problem, nyaa!!"
Kuroka continued rubbing her temple. She had already lost count of how many times the mysterious man before her had somehow sent the conversation veering far away from her original plan.
"...Ash really doesn't understand what I'm saying, does he?"
Gabriel looked at her calmly before slowly shaking his head.
"On the contrary. Ash understands."
"...Hm?"
"A person's request generally has four stages."
That statement caused Kuroka to furrow her brow. She tilted her head slightly, signaling for Gabriel to continue.
"Four stages?"
Gabriel nodded.
"The first is curiosity. The second is seeking certainty. The third is testing."
He paused for a moment, giving Kuroka time to process each explanation.
"And the last... is the true desire."
Kuroka's golden eyes remained fixed on him without blinking.
Seeing that she was still listening, Gabriel continued in the same calm tone, as though he were merely explaining a simple theory.
"Your words began with curiosity. After that, you sought certainty as to whether Ash would truly fulfill your request. Then you tested me with several requests that you believed were impossible."
He paused briefly.
"Since those three stages have been completed... Ash concluded that your final request was your true desire."
Silence once again settled over the forest. The rustling of leaves in the wind became the only sound between them.
Kuroka opened her mouth, but not a single word came out.
She wanted to argue. She really did.
Yet when she recalled their entire conversation from the beginning, she had to admit that Gabriel's line of reasoning did have its own logic.
It was strange, even somewhat twisted... but it was structured so neatly that it was difficult to refute.
In the end, Kuroka could only let out a long sigh.
"...Fine."
Her cat ears drooped in resignation.
"Come with me, nyaa~," she continued. "I'll teach you Senjutsu."
Gabriel placed his left hand against his chest and gave a slight bow as a gesture of respect before following Kuroka without another word.
The two of them began walking through the quiet forest. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the trees, while their footsteps blended with the sounds of snapping twigs and rustling leaves beneath their feet.
Kuroka continued staring straight ahead. Yet the longer she recalled their conversation, the stronger the strange premonition growing in the back of her mind became, like a tiny seed quietly beginning to take root.
For some reason, she had a feeling that one day, she really might have a child with that mysterious man.
The thought nearly brought her to a halt.
"...Impossible, nyaa," she muttered softly. "I barely even know him, and he's not even a Dragon!"
She quickly shook her head several times, as though trying to drive away the ridiculous image that had just appeared in her mind.
Unfortunately, the harder she tried to forget it, the more deeply that premonition seemed to linger, stubbornly refusing to disappear.
***
"...All right."
The brief answer finally came from the lips of the Dragon Goddess of Infinity.
A faint smile immediately appeared at the corner of Kuro's lips, as though he had expected Ophis to agree all along.
Ophis hopped down from her chair and walked a short distance away.
Kuro then pulled a Ruby gemstone from the pocket of his trench coat and used it as a catalyst for the concealment Magecraft he had once learned from Ishtar.
In an instant, the space around them seemed to lose its color.
Their presence became hazy, while everything that occurred within the area would be overlooked by ordinary humans, perhaps without them even realizing anything had happened at all.
At the same time, Ophis raised her hand and opened a black portal beside herself.
Its diameter was dozens of times larger than a basketball, and from the darkness beyond it, several objects began to fall.
Large black scales, sharp claws, and several sturdy-looking white fangs dropped one after another onto the ground.
Each one radiated such a powerful aura that the air around them trembled faintly.
Kuro observed the pile for several moments before raising his right hand and snapping his fingers.
A golden portal immediately opened beneath it. The pile of scales, claws, and fangs was slowly drawn inside, as though they were nothing more than ordinary items being transferred from one place to another.
After a while, Kuro raised both hands and clapped his palms together once.
"That should be enough."
Ophis, who had been silently watching the entire process, tilted her head slightly.
After seeing Kuro nod, she gave a small nod of her own and deactivated her portal.
The black portal disappeared just as easily as it had appeared, as though it had never existed.
Kuro then reached into his trench coat and pulled out a black card.
He handed it to Ophis, who accepted it with both hands and examined the object curiously.
"This is a magic card," Kuro explained. "You can use it to buy whatever you want."
Ophis looked up.
"...Anything?"
"Almost anything," Kuro corrected with a small smile. "A country might be a little difficult."
Ophis looked at the card again.
"You can hand it to the cashier when buying something. At cafés, supermarkets, convenience stores, or anywhere else that accepts credit payments. So if you want some snacks..."
Kuro pointed at the card in Ophis's hands.
"...just use that."
Ophis remained silent for several moments.
Her gaze fell upon the black card before returning to Kuro.
"...Free?"
Kuro chuckled softly.
"Yes," he said, emphasizing the answer once more. "As long as you're not buying a country."
Ophis nodded slowly.
She stared at the black card in her hands for a moment before looking back at Kuro.
Her half-lidded eyes remained as calm as ever, but up close, there was a faint fluctuation of emotion within them.
"...I like it."
Kuro simply smiled.
"I figured you would."
A moment later, Kuro noticed Ophis's body beginning to dissolve into particles of darkness.
Slowly, the Dragon Goddess of Infinity's figure became more and more indistinct until only a faint shadow remained in the air.
"...We'll meet again."
Those were Ophis's final words before her figure disappeared completely, as though she had never been standing there in the first place.
Kuro merely shrugged and let out a quiet sigh.
A faint smile remained at the corner of his lips as he stared at the place where Ophis had vanished.
"I suppose..." he muttered, slipping both hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "What should my next destination be?"
After that, Kuro dispelled the Bounded Field Magecraft concealing the surrounding area.
The colors of the world returned to normal, while the still-quiet café once again appeared exactly as it had before, leaving no trace of their conversation behind.
Kuro then turned around and walked back toward the café.
He had been outside for quite some time, and there were still a few things he needed to take care of before leaving.
At the very least, he needed to pay for all the food and drinks he had ordered for Ophis earlier.