Clip-clop~ clip-clop~~ clip-clip-clop~~~
Having acquired an extremely important piece of human military intelligence, Aura was in excellent spirits. She hummed a little tune as she walked home.
It was the perfect time—after academy dismissal and before the Mage Association's rush hour—so the streets were sparsely populated. Aura also deliberately chose a side street to avoid drawing attention with her sneaky behavior.
As a result, she encountered even fewer people.
And even when she did meet someone by chance, humans kept their distance from her. Their eyes slid past her indifferently… until something in their instincts triggered. They would look back, startled—only to find that Aura had already disappeared.
Aura, however, naturally noticed the strange gazes humans kept throwing her way.
She subtly stuffed the confidential documents in her arms into her inner clothes, even tucking them into her fitted dress, and walked home with her arms crossed.
"Humans really are cautious."
Aura didn't understand why. Even though she hadn't revealed anything and her expression was perfectly controlled, remaining calm and composed, these humans kept looking at her.
Had her theft already been exposed?
No… impossible.
She had used Verhüllung: Magic to Alter Perception to slip out of the Association. Even if they noticed something missing, there was no way they'd track her down this quickly.
Once she hid the file in Zanze's room at home, even if they discovered the theft, the blame would fall on Zanze.
And if they didn't discover it?
Then Aura would profit.
She could request a routine inspection trip to a branch office and use that excuse to leave Kribi with the file.
Then she'd head to a border city and secretly pass it to the demons.
Aura would earn massive merit for her people again!
…Again?
Actually, this would be the first time!
Aura grew instantly excited.
She skipped along, humming and hopping her way down the street.
But suddenly—
In the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of orange hair.
Aura froze on the spot.
'Oh no, oh no—Flamme found me… I'm dead… I'm so dead.'
Her pupils shrank.
Her feet refused to stop, so she stiffened her neck and forced herself forward.
She could only pray Flamme was merely suspicious and had no proof. As long as her crime wasn't exposed outright… Aura still had room to maneuver.
As for the consequences of being caught red-handed stealing confidential documents from the Continental Magic Association in the street... Aura couldn't even imagine it.
On the quiet road, Flamme finally caught up to her. She tilted her head in confusion.
She had been standing right there waiting for Aura.
So why did Aura walk past pretending she didn't see her at all?
What a hopelessly careless demon~
"She even took the wrong department's documents when she should've taken her Education Department files."
Flamme glanced down at the folder labeled with Aura's name and sighed helplessly.
Seeing Aura trotting off in the distance, she quickened her pace to catch up.
'I'm done, I'm done, I'm sooooo done!!! She's right behind me! This isn't a coincidence—she's after me! She's after ME!'
Aura, still trying to maintain a calm façade, sneaked a look over her shoulder. Seeing Flamme striding toward her, Aura's face twisted in fear, her teeth chattering.
'She knows I stole the classified file!!!'
Flamme, however, merely noticed Aura speeding up as she approached.
She assumed Aura was eager to get home—it was dinnertime. Zanze had told her Aura was slow with everything except eating; she was always on time for meals.
"In that case, I should hurry too."
Aura darted around a corner and vanished.
Flamme immediately broke into a run.
'AAAAAAAHHHH!!! She's running! FLAMME IS RUNNING!! She's going to kill me! She's going to kill me!!!'
The moment Aura heard fast footsteps behind her, her face drained of color.
Her mind conjured hundreds of gruesome scenarios of Flamme catching her—public execution, beheading, torture, humiliation…
'I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead!!'
In terror, Aura clutched the border-security document and sprinted, weaving through Kribi's twisting streets with her natural demon agility.
"What in the world…? Why is she weaving around the city like this?"
From a distance, Flamme watched the little purple-haired figure zigzagging desperately, looking as if she were about to burst into tears.
Flamme couldn't help but find it funny.
"Did she… get lost? She's walked this road to and from the Association hundreds of times. Even an idiot should remember it by now."
A moment later, Flamme rubbed her forehead.
"Then again… demon logic isn't something humans can understand. Maybe her thoughts hit a dead end and now she can't find her way home."
"Aura is, after all, a stupid demon.
It was best not to expect too much from her.
Flamme sighed again, then lifted off the ground.
Bounding lightly between rooftops, she closed the distance to the fleeing Aura.
Aura felt the fluctuations of mana behind her, and tears almost welled up in her eyes.
'She's FLYING!! I thought Kribi forbade flight magic!! Liar! You liar, Flamme—uuuuwahhh…'
This wasn't fair at all.
Flamme could use magic freely, but if Aura used any magic, the collar on her horns would instantly transmit her status to Serie. And then—not only would Flamme kill her, Serie would personally execute the traitor to the Mage Association.
"Waaaahhh—no more!! Don't chase me!! I don't want the classified file anymore!! Please! Please stop following me!! Spare me! I won't do it again!!!"
Aura threw the document from her corset onto the street, eyes squeezed shut as tears streamed down her face.
Arms flailing, she ran while scattering pearls of tears—leaving a watery trail behind her.
Flamme picked up the discarded document and shook her head again.
"This child… she even dropped her file. Sure, it's the wrong file, but still—she's so carelessly unreliable."
Following the trail of tears increased Flamme's tracking speed significantly.
She sighed again.
"Poor Aura… She must've gotten lost and can't find her way home. No wonder she's terrified."
Following the water droplets with low-altitude levitation, Flamme hummed a tune and effortlessly caught up with her.
"W-why—why are you still chasing me?! I don't even have the file anymore!!"