The pitter-patter of the rain masked the sound of the girl’s silent sobs.

The girl had been too absorbed by her sorrows that she did not even realise the presence of a demon in her vicinity.

The demon stared at her as he enjoyed the aura of despair emanating off the girl. Mmm, a good scent. The delicious scent of the girl’s despair paired with her pure white soul would cause any demon cultivating the dark arts like him to salivate.

He smiled, causing his already disfigured face to become even more horrid. He approached her silently, then raised the girl’s chin, making eye contact, “I’ll grant you any wish of yours, in exchange for your soul. How about it?” To be honest, he would have preferred a different soul, perhaps one that has blackened completely, but beggars could not be choosers.

“Any wish?” She looked at him dead in the eyes. His face reflected in her eyes, but it was as if the girl did not even see him. Her eyes looked lifeless. Empty.

“Anything you want, sweetheart,” the demon smiled; he was at least strong enough to grant a mortal’s wish, no matter how weak he’d become. If his situation hadn’t been so dire, he wouldn’t have made the offer to just any passing mortal, though.

“Then… can you turn back time? Or perhaps bring the dead back?”

“Turning back time is quite difficult. But I can bring back the dead easy,” the demon said. He raised his less injured hand to caress the girl’s tear-stained cheek, “However, those brought back to life will never be the same as when they were alive.”

He didn’t know what had gotten into him, to warn the girl of the dangers of reviving the dead. Perhaps it was because he was on the brink of death, or perhaps he found that even a malicious person such as him could still have some compassion left.

Well, he was no necromancer, therefore there was bound to be some side effects for summoning the dead.

“Then, there’s no point…” the girl placed her hands over his hand that was on her face. Even though the demon was clearly a gruesome and scary thing, she never once showed any fear or disgust.

“…”

“You are not scared of me, little girl?” He moved closer to the girl, whispering in her ears.

Hearing his question, she merely laughed mirthlessly.

“You are injured; what can you ever do to me?”

She closed her eyes. There was the sound of the drizzling rain. Her clothes were drenched, sticking to her skin. One of her shoes were missing; she hadn’t realised when she had lost it. The bottom of her clothes were stained with mud as she sat on the muddied dirt path.

There was only the girl and the demon.

She opened her eyes, smiling sorrowfully, “Compared to those humans who are worse than evil spirits from the depths of hell, you seem far more harmless to me.”

The demon was speechless.

Harmless? This word was never one that people would use to describe him. A simple glance at his track record would show that nothing he did could ever be associated with the term ‘harmless’.

“You are quite amusing, girl. I wouldn’t mind giving you a discount; how about I grant your wish for half of your soul?”

Suddenly, a spear was thrusted in his face. The owner of the spear jumped back, taking the girl with him.

She looked at the new arrival and offered him a smile. “Put it down, Kureha.” She patted the man’s fiery red hair, as if to soften the fury in his eyes.

The man with the lower body of a horse looked at her, worry, anger and sadness swirling in his eyes. He was unable to locate her for hours on end, and when he finally did, she was confronting an evil demon all by herself. He could not help but worry.

“…”

Wordlessly, he withdrew his weapon.

“Go back; tell them I’m fine,” the girl pulled away from the man’s embrace. “Go,” she waved him away.

The man wanted to stay by her side, but he could not disobey her orders. Their bond would not allow him to. He turned to look at her one last time. His heart was screaming for him to stay, but his body would not follow. In the end, he simply glared at the demon full of hatred, before galloping away to deliver her words.

The demon frowned in annoyance. He hated being interrupted, and that unruly spirit just increased his irritation. “Hmph, just a small fry, yet he dares to raise his arms against me?” If he was not trying to conserve his power, the girl’s familiar would have already turned to dust.

The girl found the demon’s annoyance amusing.

“Demon, I will give you my soul,” she raised her hand to his face, and rested her forehead against his. “In return... ... ... ." Airi whispered her wish slowly into his ears.

The demon, receiving her wish, smiled. "I shall grant you your wish, my sweet, sweet dear..."