"Let's get this investigation done." Sae said with a cheerful tone as Leran watched her small expression dance around. "Is it really that interesting?" He found himself asking as he saw that excessive reaction coming out from the Ice Mage. The latter only smiled, then hinted at the demon king to follow her while she was thinking about the answer to his question.

"I guess it is?" The white-haired sorcerer said, almost questioning herself about it. "Well, there's nothing else that interesting when you live alone." She explained, to which Leran could only sneer. He truly wanted to know why she treated people in a way that made them leave but then desired company -- something was definitely wrong with the way she acted -- still, all the time they were passing together helped him understand her a bit better.

"Alright." Sae stopped walking when she was in the living room of the her cottage. "Before we start, I'll assure you nobody will believe you're innocent. That's because people tend to think the easier solution is always correct, so don't get too angry because of it. If we find the person who actually committed the murders, they'll stop bothering you." She explained, to which the demon rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you being a little too trustful? I assumed you'd also turn your back on me." He said, gazing at her with his red eyes. "If I explain what's on my mind, you're going to say it's not something I should be involved in." Sae said, to which his expression turned to one of doubt and confusion as he answered: "I don't think so?" But he couldn't know for sure until she said it.

"You talk really loudly in your sleep." That's all that the Ice Mage said at first. Then, after a few seconds she spoke again: "and I tend to have a definite view on people." That was enough for Leran to understand. She heard about his innocent side and didn't think he could have changed. But he knew he had -- for the better, in his opinion -- as the previous him was just an idiot that tended to trust people way too easily, thinking they were his family while everything they were looking for was his demise. But he truly didn't want to be associated with the stupid kid he once was.

"Listen, that's not me. I am-- why do I even bother?! Don't delve into my life!" Leran screamed, his red eyes turning even redder. His hands started shaking in anger as Sae sighed as she had already known it'd end like that. Still, she chose to be completely defenseless, not even putting one barrier up. That was how confident she was that he hadn't really changed. Leran's angered mind didn't pick up the fact she was not even bothering to protect herself as a way to prove her theory, but it was part of Sae's plan all along.

"I never asked for your help or compassion!" He finished, then tried to calm himself down with deep breaths as he put his hands on his face to avoid doing something he'd regret. That was enough proof he wouldn't like to hurt a person in the Ice Mage's book.

"I don't care." The white-haired sorcerer declared with a low tone of voice, one that showed some emotion, contrary to how she had talked all day long. "I'll help you, that you want it or not. Don't take it personal." That was how she concluded her sentence. Leran's hands still covered his face, which now was redder than before -- not in anger this time, though.

"Then, I've completely lost." He thought to himself. "She is helping me because that's what makes her feel happy, while she manages to make me hate her. It's impressive how subtle she is at reaching her goal." That was his immediate reaction to how Sae had played him the entire conversation. But he was in no state to assault her back with private questions for what she had done.

"Anyway, what could be the reason why a person kills someone else at random?" Leran asked her, now in a calm state. In that precise moment Sae's mind started working to uncover all the reasons why that had happened in her memory. And there were many, many cases, as such it took a few seconds for her to start answering the questions.

"Could be anything. For money, succession issues, political issues, because they're a serial killer and literally enjoy the feeling of murdering and tearing apart a person, I can go on for hours. There are spells that allow you to take the skin of the person you killed. If I can recall correctly, there's even a dish one can make with ten dead bodies and some other random ingredients. But I doubt it's the latter, because it's a secret that's been kept in a book for yea--" The Ice Mage's excited tone of voice as she explained was brutally interrupted by Leran's cough. "If there's no way it's this, then just go on. Let's avoid wasting time." He said, to which she sighed.

"Well, if you want to speedrun this there's a few things I can do to help." She chuckled, then started casting a spell. "Spy Raven." She said with a cold tone of voice as she brought forward the palm of her hand, opening it completely. Suddenly a bird appeared. It was most definitely not a raven and seemed more of a special type of bird, with its main colors being white and light blue, like Sae's own colors. Leran had already realized those were her favorite colors seeing as that was the color of her shirt, of her skirt, of her hair and he could've gone on to explain just how many things had either color in the cottage.

"Alright. Go spy on the village, come to report at midnight." She said, then suddenly more birds appeared, dividing theirselves from the one that had previously been created and becoming smaller and smaller. Eventually they all flew towards the open window and left the cottage. Leran asked with a questioning look on his face: "aren't those colors too recognizable?" But the Ice Mage shrugged it off, then said: "I've used these for quite a long time, people think they're a species now." She then smiled for a second, then returned to her cold appearance. It was nice for her that he was asking things -- it felt new and refreshing.

"You have quite the preference for green yourself, don't you?" She asked. At first, Leran's eyes widened in surprise. He knew he hadn't told her anything about his favourite color, which made this even more suspicious. But he knew that she had found a way to realize, so he started thinking about how. Meanwhile, after a few seconds his response was: "well, it used to be. Now it's azure." With the most idiotic pick-up line he could muster he knew he'd get a decent amount of counter-attack damage. Then, he watched away as he saw her blush for more than a second, then return to normal.

"The times are getting longer." He pointed out in his mind, then Sae coughed and spoke again: "anyway, meanwhile you can go to my library and find out some information about murders. I remember every book there is quite well, so there's no reason for me to do it, but it's easier for me to talk about these things if you can understand." She explained, to which he nodded and left the room.

It took a bit for Leran to realize that the cottage was way bigger than it showed on the outside. There was definitely a magic trick used for such a thing, because there was literally no way that a library as big as a city could fit in a small house. Yet, there he was, admiring more than ten thousand books. "So, this is how she hasn't gotten bored in such a long time." He said as he gazed at the books around him. The place he was in felt like a canyon. There were lateral stairs and all the walls were full of books. The ceiling was more than a hundred metres away, which was a testament to just how many books were kept in this city-like place.

"But how am I meant to find what I need?" He asked himself, extremely irritated. Did Sae not realize that he didn't have time to waste on dozens and dozens of shelves full of books that nobody cared about? Then, suddenly, an owl appeared, flying down the walls of books and sitting on a lamp at the entrance. Raising his eyebrow, Leran expected this owl would suddenly talk to him -- after all, most mages have familiars -- and he wasn't wrong.

"Salut. I am Jerome Saizar, the guardian of this library. I know every book by memory, every single word. So, if you need to find anything or you need a suggestion about what you should read, feel free to ask." The owl said in a respectful tone. What Leran wanted to say was that those weren't the usual colors for an owl -- of course it was white and light blue -- but he avoided doing so, then said: "Hmm, I'd like to know if there are any previous stories of mauled bodies in this library. Oh, without any fantasy books please." Leran explained with the same respectful tone, remembering the words his clone had heard. Everyone was talking about the brutal detail of bodies being mauled, so the demon king felt it might have been important.

"Yessir. There are twenty-nine books that are written about such a matter. Three of them have been written by Master Saelyne, so I'm not allowed to make you read them." Jerome explained, to which Leran again was confused. "Hm?" The white-haired demon asked, to which the owl explained: "My master had already told me you were coming and ordered me not to let you read her books." 

Leran smiled at that. If it was such an important matter -- he thought -- Jerome wouldn't even have mentioned it. Which left only one possibility: there were things in this library that Sae was embarassed the demon could read. "Oh, I'll have to spend more time than usual here in the following days to look for them. Plus, her name's Saelyne?" Leran thought to himself naughtily, then added the last detail to the information he knew with haste and confusion.

Before he knew, Jerome the owl had grasped his shirt with its paws that weren't sharp at all and had started flying, bringing him to where the books were. The owl didn't seem to have any difficulty doing such a thing, which made Leran realize just how strong it actually was. "No way I'll fight with this thing for information in my current form, though." He thought to himself as the owl arrived to their destination with twenty-six books perfectly aligned. "Are they like this because you were already expecting me to ask for that matter?" Leran said, curious, as he saw that group of books alone.

"Of course not. Mind reading doesn't exist, it's the way this library works. If you look for something, you'll just as easily find it." Jerome laughed, then flew away leaving Leran to his reading session.

While the afternoon was spent by the demon in a way that he'd normally consider boring, every book he read felt interesting and he couldn't stop reading and gathering information. That was because the books in the library were made to be perfect, completely enslaving the person's mind until they were finished.

One of the books was even more interesting. It was a recipe book, which was strange in itself because it wasn't meant to talk about mauled bodies but as Leran randomly opened a page the power of magic showed him the one matter in the book that could be important to him.

"The Annaryttisia dish.

Required: ten dead mauled bodies, water from the Trekorax fountain, a deer's horns
Result: it's an aesthetically beautiful and delicious dish with the power to bend the person who eats it to the will of the nearest person for twenty-four hours."

Leran read outloud, then closed the book and realized he had finished all of them. "There was really nothing important, then. Every single book talked about lost myths and legends that nobody would know about. Still, I feel refreshed now." Exactly as he had finished reading, the demon was teleported back to the entrance of the library. "I'm hungry. I should find Sae for dinner." As he said that, he saw the white-haired girl enter the room with a cheerful expression.

"Did you like the experience?" She immediately asked, impatient. Leran nodded, feeling a plan bottle up in his mind. "Yes, miss Saelyne. Especially your books were very interesting." The Ice Mage's flustered expression followed such a declaration, which was obviously not true, but she soon said: "You're bluffing. Jerome wouldn't let you read those books." 

"Are you sure? I must say I enjoyed reading about that one book that detailedly praised every good-looking man you met so far and their appearance, though?" He said, hoping something like that really existed. With how many books there were, there was a pretty good chance it was the case, but the only true answer would be Sae's expression.

As he saw her blush and run away from that same entrance she had happily came through just twenty seconds prior, he knew he had hit the right spot. "N-n-no way?!" She had cutely exclaimed before leaving, to which the demon laughed, feeling like he had played her, atleast partly, to get back some of the pride he had lost that day.