In the camp outside the city, Celes reunited with her family, pulled up the covers, and prepared to drift into dreamland.
Her mother’s words from earlier in the day still echoed in her ears, making the young girl feel as if she’d finally figured everything out.
Ella was just Ella—gentle and obedient, yet also mysterious, decisive, and even a little bit ruthless.
And to her, the one who would offer her a soft embrace, who would hold her head and comfort her, was the real Ella.
All things considered, Celes came to a conclusion—for her, Ella was a much closer companion.
After all, they were both girls, and hugging each other definitely counted as being companions.
Though, perhaps, she was the only one who would secretly hug her.
With these slightly subtle thoughts, the girl closed her eyes and, in the tent, sank into a deep sleep.
Zzzz
In the Royal Capital of Humanity, inside the Cathedral of Light, within the mysterious Purification Booth, a fierce battle was underway.
Lacking experience and relevant knowledge, Leah had no idea how to proceed, so she just kept trying beginner-level attempts, driven by her excitement.
Fumbling and bumbling.
Even so, she was still full of energy, muttering words of encouragement to herself:
“I am the chosen of Light, the strongest Saintess in history! Goddess of Light above, evil below, grant me strength to subdue all evil!”
Ella, already muddled by the incense, became even more dazed upon hearing this.
Who am I, where am I, what am I doing, and why am I pinned underneath someone?
No one answered her.
All she could hear was a pleasant voice coming from above:
“Today’s story is about the righteous Saint triumphing over the evil Lala. Mmm… hmm… ha… The Saintess claims victory!”
Did she win?
Ah, no, does that mean I lost?
Ella felt weak, able only to lie there limply, but upon hearing those words, a sudden competitiveness welled up from who knows where, and she struggled with all her might.
Even if she couldn’t remember who she was, being beneath someone, helplessly whimpering—how could she possibly accept that?
“Hmph! Evil dares to resist!”
Light pressed down hard.
“Ugh…”
Accepted.
Lacking any real technique, that long night was filled with nothing but endless warfare and criticism.
And, of course, the Saintess’ impassioned battle cries—
“Such massive evil, I will never show mercy!!”
***
The height of summer never lacks for clear days.
The sunlight on the second morning was even brighter, streaming into every room with an open window.
As a sanctuary devoted to the worship of Light, every window in the chapel was thrown open to greet the dawn—except for one place.
The mysterious, solitary Purification Booth, which no one approached.
“Mmmmmm~”
A pink-haired girl let out a soft moan, her drifting consciousness seeming to return to her body. Countless memories paraded through her mind like a timeline, and only now did she truly realize—she was herself.
She was once an Earthling, who’d endured all the hardships of life, and then, one day, was hit by a truck and sent to another world.
She became the Demon King, roamed the world for decades, was betrayed by the Hero Squad, forced to turn into a beautiful girl and infiltrate them, then experienced a few minor and major events, before finally being invited home by the Saintess to study the Incense of Arousal together.
And then something terrifying happened.
“Mmm—”
Leah slowly woke up, yawned, stretched, and felt refreshed:
“Ella, let me tell you, I had a dream last night. I dreamed the two of us fought naked! It was so weird and so funny, don’t you think?”
But as soon as the Saintess opened her eyes, she found that Ella wasn’t smiling at all. Instead, she was looking at her with an indescribable gaze—and she was so fair-skinned…
“Ella, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
“And what about you, are you wearing any?”
“Me…?”
Leah’s gaze dropped, and she saw two snowy-white mounds.
She froze for a moment.
“I’m not wearing anything either?”
“That’s right.”
“Why aren’t either of us wearing anything?”
Ella took a deep breath and, as calmly as possible, told her: “Because you used up the entire stick of incense, then closed the window so there was no ventilation, and we both got hit.”
“Me? Hit? Impossible.”
Leah blurted out, “I am the Saintess of the Church of Light, blessed by Light, immune to all poisons. How could I fall to such a base toxin?”
Ella didn’t say another word. At this moment, her mood was very gloomy.
Not because she’d spent the night naked with Leah, but because she’d been pinned underneath, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t win.
How did it come to this?
She thought of her once-powerful demon body—that was her lost youth.
At this point, Leah finally started to process everything.
She grabbed the instruction sheet she’d brought back yesterday and read it carefully.
“Herbal, all-natural, crafted using ancient methods… If the instruction sheet isn’t lying, then it’s not actually a poison.”
The Saintess’ beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.
“How is this possible? Don’t merchants always try to pull tricks? How… how could they do this!”
The craftsmanship shown by the black market sellers of Incense of Arousal left her deeply shaken.
“So, so…”
Putting down the instruction sheet, Leah, still naked, looked at the equally unclothed Ella and blinked:
“Did we really spend the whole night hugging… and fighting?”
Ella looked back at her and nodded with a conflicted expression.
Strictly speaking, it was one-sided—she was the only one taking the hits. If you checked the surveillance and took it to court, it wouldn’t even count as a mutual brawl; those few flailing moves at the start were just self-defense.
But for the dignity of the Demon King—
“That’s right,” Ella gritted her silver teeth, “we spent the whole night hugging and fighting each other.”
Leah closed her eyes, carefully recalling last night’s “dream,” and more details floated up in her mind.
“Last night, did I… crash into your chest?”
“Yes.”
“And did I say I would defeat you in the name of Light?”
“That’s right.”
“And I called you Lala?”
“…That happened.”
After cross-checking everything, Leah’s vision went black, and she slumped against the wall, gasping: “How could this happen? What have I done? Thankfully I closed the window…”
“If you hadn’t closed the window, we wouldn’t have gotten hit.” Ella couldn’t help but say.
Leah’s beautiful eyes widened: “If I didn’t close the window, wouldn’t the Goddess of Light have seen us?”
She’d rather close the window and fight naked with Lala than open it and let the Goddess see her fiddling with contraband.
In any case, what’s done is done.
Yesterday can’t be undone; what shouldn’t have happened has already happened.
All they could do was accept reality and calmly sit down to discuss it together.
It’s worth mentioning that because last night’s battle was so intense, they had no idea where their discarded clothes had ended up, so the two girls were still naked.
But that wasn’t important… probably.
“First,” Ella said seriously, “this absolutely has to be kept secret.”
Leah had wanted to say “of course, no need to stress it,” but when she heard the pink-haired girl say “No matter what, don’t let Zero know, absolutely don’t let Celes know, and you must never, ever let Vina find out,” she felt a strange sense of dissatisfaction.
“Why? Don’t tell me you’ve also… with them?”