Chapter 72: Recuperation. [II]
"You've turned into a what now?!" My little question about her hair colour took a turn so unexpected that I almost pushed myself off her shoulder.
"A devil." She shrugged making her collar dig into me.
"Ho-Wha- WHEN?!"
"Around a week or two after I got here..." A week or two after she got here. Eh? That was months ago. Why did she not tell me?
I could hear her heartbeat through her back.
"You weren't anywhere close to getting there. At the rate we trained, there was no way you would reach that level within a week. So, please... Please don't tell me that you did the Dark Breath of Mana Induction on your own."
"The cat's outta the bag I guess." She pushed the door to the outside open and the rusty autumn wind came inside. "But it's all in the past... Moving on."
"Don't 'moving on' me young lady, explain yourself!" I pushed myself off her shoulder and stumbled a couple of steps back. "How long did you do it for?!"
"A week."
"A week?"
"Straight." She started looking at the ground. "Look! It's not my fault, okay?! In the village you always stopped me so when I got the freedom I let loose a little."
"Yuuno! You could have died!"
"I didn't. And don't you think that over the years I would have gotten used to this? I had it under control!"
I knew that better than anyone. I was with her throughout her growth. But a week straight was suicide. It only takes a millisecond to accidentally stumble into equilibrium. There were 604800000 instances she could have lost her life in. And this time there wouldn't have been a Mao to save her.
"I seriously can't believe you." I sighed.
"I'm sorryyyy!"
She was safe now. I was pissed, still am, to be honest. But she probably won't have to do the Dark Art of Mana Induction for a while now. Let's just take that as it is.
'I'll take away her protein shakes as punishment.'
"By the way, that still doesn't explain the hair." I started walking down the stairs.
"Ah, this? My hair got really shiny after I became a demon and was almost blinding on a bright day. So I died it black."
I looked over to the side and each thick strand was almost transparent like a polar bear's fur. But at the same time, it dispersed light into its colours. It was beautiful.
"Also, why did you ask me to pick you up, if you could walk?"
"Do you have any right to criticize me after the stunt you pulled?"
"No, sir."
Well, that got me out easy. I wanted to ride her back to mess with her. Luckily she did something way worse that made my endeavour seem tame in retrospect.
"Ah, we're here." She jogged up and stopped after a couple of metres.
There was a black marble statue of Clintarou. A life-sized imitation. Sitting like the good little mutt that he was.
'You can come out now.' I patted my heart and a golden fish came out of my chest. It circled around me before flying towards the statue.
'This is your home now.' Clintarou's soul nodded before swimming into the statue.
"Put a mana field around this place." I told Yuuno.
"Eh?"
"Just do it."
As long as Clintarou's soul got stronger his existence would become more concrete. After that, it would just be a matter of finding a body for him to live in. I couldn't supply him with mana or a place to belong, but this statue could.
"If you say so." With her level of mana, a little field was of no consequence.
The statue started to glow… And then we joined our hands in prayer.
'Clintarou… I'll see you again someday. Definitely.' It was only a small wait.
After a couple of minutes passed, we opened our eyes.
"Let's go for a walk." I suggested before heading in one direction.
There was one more place to go… On the other side of the castle, there was a guest house. Where the older folks were living. They were the final group that I had to check up on.
"Are you sure you can walk fine?" Yuuno followed me before she took the lead. "If you aren't a 100% there, I wouldn't mind picking you up if you ask politely for it."
"I'd say that I'm fine for now." As much as I would like to use her as transport, stretching my legs out felt rather nice.
Fallen leaves along the path and twigs that crackled at every step.
"Did you tak-" I turned to face Yuuno and stopped abruptly after seeing her side profile. Maybe it was the light, maybe she just grew older. It definitely wasn't just her hair.
She looked completely different. It was like the first time I saw her in my previous life- I was mesmerised. She was shorter than me, but not by a lot. Her hair reached the middle of her back. And her eyes shone bright like a pearl.
The last time I saw her was 6 months ago. But these 6 months changed her into someone more stunning than a siren.
"You got prettier, huh?" Wait? What did I just say? I didn't mean to- not out loud at least!
Tch. God damn it! I ended up complimenting her. This was her fault! Who asked her to get this much prettier all of a sudden?!
"Eh? W-what? Don't say stuff like that!" Yuuno jumped ahead... her cheeks burning.
Yes! I could salvage this. She was in a position of embarrassment. Mao, play it cool. Play it cool!
Find something cool to say!
"And your boobs got bigger too. Did being a devil make them bigger or did you finally get enough food to eat? Haha." Frigging damn it! My loose tongue!
"And now you're back to being a pervert." Her face turned disdainful.
"There is nothing perverted about this! A proud demon doesn't think sexual thoughts. It's just that I noticed something different and pointed it out."
"Uh huh. Sure." She nodded. "Well, you for one, haven't changed. You're still the same beansprout you were months ago."
Are we just throwing insults around now? Sure. Two can play that game.
"Hoh? And you still haven't moved on from that cheap shampoo!"
"Says the person who started skipping bathing on Sundays." Nevermind. That was personal.
"Look! I didn't get sweaty in an AC ventilated room just lazing around. There was no need for me to shower! Plus Obaa-chan would kill my mood every ti-"
"Obaa-chan would what?" A wrinkly old lady put her hand on our shoulders.
WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?!
"EEK!" We both jumped back.
"Nothing, ma'am!" I bowed respectfully. This was a 'make it or break it' moment. I needed to get as much favour as I could. Especially after the thing I pulled back in the village. "I am happy to see you in good health, ma'am!"
Please don't remember. Please don't remember. Please don't remember.
"Don't try to act nice now. You're still going to get a lecture."
"Tsk." God damn it! She remembered!
"Did you just click your tongue?"
"No, ma'am. My tongue seems to be loose because of all the slacking."
"Whatever. The lecture can wait for a little. There are more important things you need to attend to. Follow me."
Obaa-chan led the way inside a small palace.
[What did you do now?] Yuuno bent next to me.
[I- I sorta shouted at her. And said that she couldn't stop me from going outside. And I called her dead weight.]
[Yikes. Did you have a death wish?]
[Look I wasn't at my sanest back then, okay? Cut me some slack woman.]
[I don't think I'm the one you should be asking if you want some slack cut.] She eyed Obaa-chan. [Well, this will be entertaining for me.]
[You sadist. You heathe-]
"And we're here."
"Yes." I shot back up. No. She wasn't talking to me. Obaa-chan announced to the room.
The doors opened and inside were a bunch of old people. And the kids from the mech club? All lined up.
"What's going on?" I tapped Obaa-chan's shoulder.
And then instantly, in a single motion, they all bent down and mouthed in unison.
"Thank you!!" A single, wholesome, and sincere gesture.
"If it weren't for you the terrorist would have-" The vice-captain of the mecha club said. What was his name again? Nito?
"If you didn't warn the outside we wouldn't have gotten any help." An old man said.
"If you didn't say anything about the terrorist's location, then we wouldn't have been able to avoid them."
"If you didn't hold off against those two all of us wouldn't be here." JiiJii said. "As their leader, and your onlooker I am not only proud of you but I'm also thankful. You did the job we were unable to do."
This was sooo- I was sooo...
I was totally overcome with emotion.
In my previous life, I was treated with admiration. But that admiration was the one I claimed out of tyranny. It was an admiration burdened with a certain fear.
And then in this life- to hear people feel grateful towards me and only that- I was moved.
"Mao~" Yuuno looked over with a smile.
"SHUT UP I'M NOT CRYING."
"I didn't even say anything. But is that a tear I see?"
"UUUU" I grabbed her back and shoved my face in it.
Maybe being a hero wasn't all that bad.
"Ah, just so you know, this little thing doesn't mean that you escaped from your lecture, do you understand?" The old lady said.
Damn it.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
bligboi
bligboi Ehehe... Fun chapter to write.
The dichotomy is wild. The action filled chapters aren't that fun... but the simpler chapters like these probably don't do well... Welp.