And Thus, The Day Proceeded As Usual?

When I woke up, I saw the ceiling of an unfamiliar room. Looking around, I found out that I was resting in the bed of an unused guest room.

The dawn had already broken as the morning sun shone in through a crack in the window curtains.

'It should be about the time Serafi heads to kindergarten.' I silently thought.

Getting up, I stretched my body, moving it around my joints. I find that it doesn't hurt anymore like it did the day before. It was like what had happened was merely a dream. Only that it wasn't.

Having made sure that I was fine, I left the room, moving over to the dining table. Karin was in the middle of cleaning up the table, telling her children to get ready for school.

Not seeing Serafi in sight, I floated over to her room upstairs. The door to her room was opened and I could hear sounds of something moving inside.

Serafi was busy dragging her bag from somewhere, shoving in some books she used in Kindergarten inside.

"Serafi..." I gently called out to her.

Hearing my voice, Serafi looked up abruptly. Her eyes teared up as she ran over to me, crying, "Ange! Ange! Waaaa...."

"Wha... What's wrong, Serafi? Why are you crying? Did something happen?!" I asked anxiously as I received a hug from her. I never actually had many experience dealing with a child, thus, I absolutely had no idea what to do when one cries out like this.

"An...Ange.. Uh... I... I t-thought.. An-Ange... " Serafi sniffled out in between her tears, saying some incomprehensible words. Her tears gushed out like a fountain, staining her adorable face with tears and snot.

Seeing her in such a condition, most likely due to me, I bent down to her height. Stroking on her back gently until she stopped crying, I looked at her and with the most gentlest voice I could muster, I said, "Calm down, Serafi. Take a deep breath." As I showed the motion to her so she would follow me subconsciously.

"Now, will you tell me what's wrong?" I asked when I see that she had calmed down.

Serafi nodded her head slowly as she rubbed away the tears on her face. "Serafi... Serafi thought that Ange left. Did Serafi do something? Was she a bad girl? Serafi... Serafi was scared that she'd never see Ange again... So... so..."

Her voice breaking up, as if about to break into another crying feat, Serafi had done her best to explain herself. Hearing that, I felt something in my heart being tugged. I couldn't bear to see her so hurt.

Hugging her softly, I said, "That won't happen. Serafi had been a very good girl so Ange definitely won't leave her."

It was true. Although I had only known her for a few days, I had properly observed Serafi. If I am to protect someone, I'd like to know that the person I'm protecting will be worth it. At least, it'll get me more motivated. Or so I thought.

Serafi was an obedient girl to her mother. Well, as obedient as a six year old could be anyway. She would sometimes be stubborn but still ultimately listened to her mother in the end.

She still seems to distrust her father over her breakfast but otherwise, she was a loveable child. Behaving and knowing when to bother him and when to give him space. A rather considerate child.

She'd fight with her brother, Dean, over the tiniest things. Though I suspect that Dean had done it deliberately just to tease her. Even so, I could tell that Serafi still loves him dearly.

Even with her friends, she had always been friendly. Bringing everyone to play together, she was always at the centre.

That's why I know, she's a good girl. I don't know what her future will be like but as of now, I think protecting this child will be worth it. I, at least, would like to watch her growth.

"R-really...? Ange won't leave...?" She asked, gazing up at me with her round eyes.

"Yeah. I won't. That's why you don't need to worry anymore, okay?" I comforted her as I gently caressed her head.

Believing my words, Serafi nodded her head, "Okay! Serafi believes Ange! It's a promise, kay?" She raised her hand, showing me her pinky finger, "You can't break it! Definitely! Or else you will have to eat a thousand cakes!"

'Is that considered as a form of punishment?'

Chuckling lightly, I also raised my pinky finger, hooking on to her's. "I promise. Or I'll have to eat a thousand cakes." I said, sealing the promise with a vow.

Serafi smiled brightly, no longer showing any sadness on her face.

"You should hurry and clean up. You don't wanna be late," I said, pointing out to the traces of tears left on her face.

Looking in the mirror, Serafi hurriedly went to the bathroom to wash her face, coming back with half of her shirt wet with water. In the end, I had to get her to change out of her clothes.

...

At the kindergarten, everything went by the same as it usually does.

The Naves loitering there had visibly decreased compared to the last few days. Throughout the whole day, I had only noticed around three or four of them, with them mostly found in the teachers' room.

I had swiftly gotten rid of them all with my right hand's 'Purify'. With the threat of a Devil in the area gone, there won't be a problem if I had gotten rid of the ones here, as the Naves no longer have a leader.

As I was wandering around, looking outside from Serafi's classroom, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hey."

The voice had came from above me so, as I looked up, I saw Kael jumping down from the roof. "What were you doing on the roof?" I subconsciously asked.

Landing successfully without a sound, he replied, "Just wanted to look around." Changing the subject, he asked me instead, "How is your body? It should be fine now, right? That degree of damage to a soul should be able to recover within a night."

"Yeah. I'm fine now," I replied, moving my body to show as proof.

Nodding his head, Kael sighed in relief, "Good. The matter with the Devil should be resolved now. Meril hadn't said anything definite yet though, so at least make sure to keep your eye out to anything strange or out of norm. Tell me if you find any."

"Okay." I nodded in understanding. Suddenly, I thought of a question so I hurriedly asked, "If I, and I mean hypothetically, If I encountered a danger I couldn't handle alone, what should I do?"

Hearing my sudden question, Kael crooked his head to the side, thinking, "Then... use this. Just burn it and help will arrive in three seconds. But! Only use it when you absolutely had to, got it?"

As he said so, he took out a slip of paper from his sleeve. It was a brownish yellow paper, like it had survived through countless years until this day. It had some words written on it, words similar in style to the ones on my palms.

I carefully took the paper in my hand like it was a fragile object, studying it, when I heard Kael's voice again, "Do not burn it unless your very life hangs on it, got it? You don't wanna know the consequences of doing so."

"I gotta go now. I have a job to do after this. You better remember my warning." He said with narrowed eyes.

After saying everything that he had wanted and warning me, Kael left.

Afterwards, the day went by as per usual. Kindergarten ended and Karin came over to pick up Serafi. Then, we all went home. They had dinner, spent some time together after the dinner, and proceeded to head to bed.

After making sure that Serafi had fallen asleep, I decided to look for something to do to pass the night.

And thus, the day had proceeded as usual.

...

From within the shadows of the trees across the street, unbeknownst to Ange, a couple of flaring red eyes stared at the house in silence. It had been there. Observing. From morning till night. Watching.

"Trist..." It growled out an inhumanly eerie voice with various different voices overlapping each other. It was a voice full of hunger, anger and hatred.