“In here~” Finn said, still posing as Evelyn. He took careful care to make his voice as alluring and soft as possible, just like Evelyn’s. After spending three whole days learning her habits and observing her carefully, he knew exactly how to act to be convincing. The evidence of that was the lustful look hidden beneath that pig-mask of Lorenzo, who was practically dripping saliva from his mouth. After so long, he would finally get to have his way with the woman he wanted!

Finn led the man into the private room Evelyn had cleared out beforehand, then promptly shut the door. Inside, there was yet another girl—Iris, in a maid outfit and blushing furiously.

“Oho…? And this is…?” Lorenzo rubbed his chin as he lustfully gazed over Iris, and Finn did his best to giggle.

“Fufu… she is my maid, Daisy. I thought you would like it if she joined us for tonight as well…”

“Oh! Yes! That would be the best…!” Lorenzo clapped his hands together excitedly, clearly very satisfied with this decision. Iris forced a smile and bowed.

“I-I’ll be servicing you tonight, master~”

“Heheheh… then let’s not waste any more time.”

Lorenzo suddenly stepped forward to Finn and grabbed him by the shoulders, then removed his own mask and tossed it to one side. It took everything Finn had not to cower away in disgust at the man’s foul breath and pig-like face, but he played along and sat down on the bed, pulling Lorenzo with him.

Being the lustful man he was, Lorenzo wasted no time in going for his chest, attempting to tear away the clothes with a nasty grin on his face.

But that would be the last thing he ever did.

Click.

In the next instant, a bullet shot out of Iris’s silenced revolver, and pierced through Lorenzo’s forehead.

His body froze for a second, then collapsed, killed instantly.

“… Tch.” Finn gave a disgusted snort and pushed the body away from him, then stood up from the bed and undid his Shapeshift. Then, to make the sword happy, he cut off Lorenzo’s head cleanly and allowed the sword to drink up the man’s remaining lifeforce. That was how the sword demon worked—it had to first sever a head, and then and only then could it absorb the person’s power. That power, called lifeforce, was like food to the sword. Although it wasn’t necessary, the sword loved it when it could eat.

“Fufu, you’ve done well,” the real Evelyn said, walking into the room. “And the body has even already been completely erased, leaving no evidence behind. How nice… this saves me a lot of trouble.”

“… With this, our deal is complete,” Finn said, strapping the sword back onto his back. “I hope you fulfill your end of the agreement.”

“Worry not, I will,” Evelyn said, waving her hand as if they need not be concerned. “Feel free to head down and enjoy the party now, or just return to your room to get some rest. I will take care of things from here.”

“But… won’t that man’s lackeys realize if he’s gone…?”

“Fufu… what he doesn’t realize, is all his subordinates hate him to the gut,” Evelyn said with a soft giggle. “They’ll take any lie I fabricate and accept it. Even if I told them their boss got too drunk and fell out the window from twenty floors up, they won’t question at all.”

“I see… but if they hate him so much, why haven’t they revolted?”

“That’s simple,” Iris said with a smirk. “He has hired bodyguards. Mercenaries. I saw them down in the party earlier. When you lured him away, he told them to just stay behind with a small hand gesture.”

“Oh my… you noticed such a fine detail?” Evelyn asked in surprise, blinking at Iris, who laughed awkwardly in response.

“Ehehe… well, I do have the Oculus Angelica… my eyes are all I’m good for.”

“Fufu… I see. Well, enjoy the rest of your night. Good work—you have my thanks.”

Without another word, Finn left the room, and Iris trailed after him with her newfound legs. Evelyn had told them they could enjoy the party now, but neither Finn nor Iris felt like it. Instead, they both headed for their room on instinct without one needing to tell the other, like they were communicating inside their minds.

“You’re getting better with the leg armor,” Finn remarked while they were in the elevator and heading up.

“Hm? Oh, yeah… I did spend three whole days practicing with it, after all,” Iris said with a smug grin. “I can even do jumps! See- woah!”

She tried to jump, but because they were in a rising elevator, the floor caught up with her feet in the air, and that sudden impact threw her off-balance. She may be used to walking with the legs now, but they were far from feeling like her own two legs, and thus she stumbled and nearly fell.

Thankfully, Finn was there to catch her. He heard the noise and swept under her like a prince, catching her by the back and slowly easing her back up to her feet.

“… Be careful.”

“A-Ah, right…” Iris murmured, blushing faintly. ‘I know I probably shouldn’t be thinking this, but… if I try doing that again sometime and purposely fall, will he catch me…?’, she thought.

Soon, they arrived back in their room, and they took turns taking showers, with Finn going first. Iris finished soon after, and climbed onto the only bed in the room, the same one Finn was already lying in. She nestled against his warm arms, enjoying the feeling, and Finn didn’t push her away.

“… Tomorrow, we head back to the surface world,” he said. “We’ll be going back into the Temple, if it hasn’t already been conquered.”

“Sounds good to me,” Iris replied. “With these new legs, I should be able to fight more capably than before.”

“You’ll be fine,” Finn said quietly, the first words of true encouragement that left his mouth since a long time. “I’m sure of it.”

Iris smiled.