After I followed the pink-haired girl outside the arena, she was sitting alone under a cherry blossom tree when I asked her who she really was.
Nessa widened her eyes with surprise and a bit of fear, so I tried to calm her down a little.
"Look..." I said, showing her the relic around my wrist that desperately pointed at her.
"Wh-what is that?" she asked, more nervous than before.
"Well, I’m not sure. But it keeps pointing at you, so tell , what are you hiding?"
"I..." she spoke up with a tear forming under her eyes.
"Okay, stop!" I exclaid.
Letting out a tired sigh, I stood up and extended my hand towards the girl to help her stand up.
It didn’t matter how suspicious I was. Making a girl cry always made feel like a complete asshole.
’Let’s think of a better question...’ I thought.
"Do you know a man nad Jackson?" I asked, making her a bit nervous again.
"Y-yes. I think I do..."
"Red-haired, likes to smile a lot... That guy." I continued, making Nessa nod in agreent.
"I see... Then, you must be Nexa, correct?" I asked directly.
The girl widened her eyes and took a step back with caution, so I raised my hands to show that I didn’t an harm.
Yes, devils were evil and a danger to this world. However, in my defense, the very first devil I t was Jackson, and if he was able to change for the better, then there was no reason for the others to be that different.
In fact, when Jackson first talked to about the devils, he ntioned a female demon called Nexa, who he said shared so of his values of wanting to live peacefully.
Seeing this pink-haired girl acting so nervously and scared at the fact that soone found out she was a devil made believe that she was the person Jackson was talking about back then.
"Look, Jackson is my friend, so he told a little bit about you..." I said, explaining to her everything I had been through with the other devils.
When I told her that Jackson and I were good friends, Nexa relaxed a bit more, giving ti to tell her about our encounter with Armaros and Zagor.
Of course, she knew about Zagor’s defeat since it beca news all over the world, but she wasn’t aware that I was the one who killed him.
"I have no problems with devils wanting to live peacefully here. Still, I need to make sure that you are not going to be a threat... You understand?" I elaborated.
This world already had its fair share of discrimination, be it towards the poor or other races, so I wasn’t going to be another one of those.
Nexa explained that she was curious about the tournant, which was the reason she joined.
From what she told , Nexa enjoyed hand-to-hand combat, and she had been working as an adventurer like Jackson, hunting down monsters around the eastern continent.
Funnily enough, she was an adamantite adventurer, so she was one rank under lina and , but it was still a pretty high rank.
When I asked her why she ca out to the park, she explained that she wasn’t as good at controlling her demonic energy as Jackson.
I didn’t know this, but when devils hid their demonic powers, it took a toll on their bodies as it made them feel like their energy was trying to overflow out of them.
Then, I rembered Jackson’s story with Karla, where he lost control of his powers and released a vast amount of demonic energy that ended up alerting all of the knights at Sephyr.
Jackson had been holding his demonic energy for a long ti, so he was used to the toll that it took on his body. Still, it made a bit uncomfortable to think that my friend had been in pain all along.
At nightti, Nexa would go away from people so that if she released so of her demonic energy by mistake, nobody would be able to sense it.
I asked why she joined the tournant, considering it was dangerous for her if people found out about her true nature. Nonetheless, she expressed her passion for martial arts, saying that she wanted to test her skills against other fighters.
She had been fighting monsters alone for a long ti as an adventurer and felt curious how her skills would fare against others.
However, as she kept talking enthusiastically about her interest in wanting to improve her fighting skills, she suddenly flinched and kneeled on the ground in pain.
"Arrgh, not now..." she muttered between heavy breaths.
"Are you alri-..." I tried to speak up while helping her back up.
Nonetheless, as soon as my words ca out of my mouth, Nexa’s demonic energy overflowed out of her body like a torrent.
It only lasted for two seconds, but it was enough to make freeze and pull out my bo out of pure instinct.
As the demonic energy quickly dissipated and went back inside Nexa’s body, she panted for a bit with sweat dripping down her face.
"I’m sorry..." she muttered, still on the ground, regaining her senses.
Now, I was able to understand what she ant when she said that controlling their energy from overflowing was a much harder task than Jackson made it seem.
I stowed away my bo, realizing that I overreacted, and knelt before her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Look. You can stay in the tournant. However, if just a tiny bit of demonic energy cos out of your body during a match, I will end it imdiately..." I said.
It was a safety asure for both her and the other participants, and after she regained her composure, she accepted my condition.
When she stood up, I heard her stomach growling, making realize that she didn’t get to eat much at the feast since she had to leave.
Of course, that was not a problem for , so I just opened my void pocket and took out a rice bowl with redback boar that I had prepared and gave it to her.
Seeing the pink-haired devil eating with a smile and not a care in the world made quite happy, knowing that it was the outco that Jackson wanted for her.
’Speaking of Jackson... I wonder where he is right now...’ I thought.
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