As I winced at the bite mark on my arm, the bedroom door suddenly swung open. Mira poked half her body out, clutching a rolled-up parchment. Could this be the legendary magic scroll?

【Mr. Luo Sa, tear this scroll open. It contains a spirit-healing spell.】 After handing it to me, Mira shut the door again. This was pure, unadulterated love!

I tore the scroll as instructed. A beam of white light shot out, intelligent as a living thing, and settled over my wound. The gash knitted itself shut before my eyes. No pain, no itching—just like the books never described. No scar remained either, as if I’d never been bitten.

Once the wound vanished, I headed straight for the shower. The clothes I’d worn for two months got tossed without hesitation. Cheap junk anyway.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I found my old clothes gone. In their place lay an ornate black dress… No need to guess who’d done this. Nia, expecting me to wear women’s clothing? Impossible! She was definitely lurking outside, waiting to laugh.

So I walked out wrapped only in a towel. Sure enough, the moment I opened the door, Nia stood there with Aefina beside her.

"Hmph…" Just as I’d thought. Nia’s face fell when she saw I hadn’t put on the dress.

"Where are my clothes?" I crossed my arms, using my height to loom over her, forcing my voice cold.

"Aren’t they right there?" Nia pointed at the dress, making a last-ditch effort.

"Dream on." I crushed her hope without mercy.

"Fine… They’re in the closet." Nia surrendered.

After this little detour, we returned to the room just as Mira’s group emerged.

"How is she?" Nia asked first.

"She’s stable. Now we wait for her to wake." Pity spoke up. Though it felt like post-surgery solemnity, all they’d done was clean the little one, cast a healing spell, apply ointment, and wrap bandages.

"Can I see her?" I was curious what she looked like washed up.

【You may. But stay gentle.】 Seriously, Mira—such a meme queen. Are you even a native here?

So the four of us—me, Aefina, Nia, and Mo Mo—crowded into the room, eyes fixed on the tiny figure in bed.

She wore clean clothes now, most of her body swathed in bandages. Only her small face was visible. She slept peacefully, occasionally smacking her lips. Catching a glimpse of her tiny white teeth, my left arm throbbed faintly…

"Whoa… Those teeth look painful," Nia murmured. I nodded in agreement.

"Hmm? I heard Luo Sa found a baby demon?" Lilith phased up through the floorboards. For a spirit, passing through walls was as easy as walking—but it still gave me chills.

By the way, Lilith had been staying here since her arrival. As Lord of the Dark Trace, her prolonged absence might let the realm’s death energy spawn a new ruler. But birthing a top-tier undead like her? Without outside interference, it’d take decades. So staying a year or two was fine. She claimed she usually lingered thirty days to half a season—depending on her mood.

"Shh! Quiet! Don’t wake her," Nia hissed, lowering her voice.

"This is a High Demon… Did you use Appraisal?" Lilith studied Mo Mo.

"Not yet… I’ll do it now." When we first met, the kid looked half-dead, so Mo Mo hadn’t bothered. We’d only just entered the room.

Mo Mo waved her hand, then swiped through the air twice. A translucent screen materialized—flat yet perfectly visible from any angle. It displayed:

[Name:

Age: 132 (Juvenile)

Race: Doomsday Archfiend

Health: Critical (Recovering) (Unconscious)

Affection Status: None?

Abilities: Seven Sins Bell (Unavailable)

Threat Level: Low (Low)

Combat Power: 9,900 (165,000)]

Several details stood out. The name field was blank. "Affection Status: None?"—why even list that? The ability "Seven Sins Bell" was grayed out while other entries were white. And both Threat Level and Combat Power had parentheses—apparently her pre-injury stats.

Even wounded, she had nearly 10,000 combat power. Did that mean she could crush me while unconscious?

"Why’s this appraisal so weird?" I asked.

"What’s weird? It’s normal," Nia said, baffled.

"Why’s the name blank?"

"No name, obviously."

"And ‘Affection Status: None?’ with a question mark?"

"‘None’ means none. The question mark means… maybe none?"

"That’s normal?"

"The appraisal’s fine. She’s just weird."

"You make terrifying sense. I yield."

"Let’s step out… Don’t crowd her," Lilith said, shaking her head at Nia and me bickering.

"Father-in-law~" Nia nudged me with an elbow, grinning wickedly. "What name will you give your daughter?"

"What are you babbling about?" I deadpanned.

"What name for your daughter?" She jabbed a tentacle toward the room.

"Daughter? What nonsense." I glared. This troublemaker never quit.

"You found her. She’s your daughter! She has no name—her father should give her one. Totally reasonable!"

"Why must a foundling be a daughter? What if I picked up a wife instead?"

"Hello, 110? We have a pervert—wait, Aefina! Stay away from Luo Sa!" Nia leapt between us, shielding Aefina.

"……" Aefina blinked at Nia, then at me, utterly lost.

"Ignore her. It’s late. Bedtime, Aefina." I took Aefina’s hand and walked past Nia.

"Luo Sa and Nia… always so much to say to each other." Aefina lowered her head, silver hair curtaining her face. Her expression vanished.

"Huh? She just loves arguing with me." I missed the abnormality entirely. For a Great Dragon whose pride was bone-deep, walking with head bowed was unthinkable.

"……" Nia, Mo Mo, and Lilith sighed in perfect unison behind us.

"This might be serious…" Nia muttered helplessly.

"How can Luo Sa notice nothing? How dense can one person be?" Mo Mo facepalmed.

Lilith glanced toward the kid’s room. "Trouble’s coming soon."

The next day passed uneventfully. I’d expected changes with Fire Season’s arrival, but aside from the heat… nothing. Honestly, folks—I hate summer.

The kid didn’t wake all day. But when I checked that night, she’d changed position. Her status still read "Critical," but she seemed fine.

On the third day of Fire Season, lunchtime. Mira announced the kid had woken. We skipped lunch entirely, rushing to her room—even Spirit came, though Mercy was absent.

"……" The kid had been sitting up, examining the room. Seeing our group flood in, she shot upright like a startled kitten, scrambling into the farthest corner. Her wide eyes darted between us, fur practically standing on end.

"Did you scare her?" Nia scolded us, acting utterly innocent. As if she weren’t the scariest one here.

Mira paced behind us, blocked by the crowd at the door. She simply teleported past us, appearing before the kid. Her form had changed: black-red bat wings spread from her back, a spiked tail lashed behind her, and curved horns crowned her head. Majestic. Terrifying.

The kid’s tension eased slightly—not relaxed, but her fear shifted to confusion as she stared at Mira.

"What’s happening with Mira…?" I whispered, stunned.

"Mira’s a Life Demon. This is her true form." Mo Mo explained. So much for calling her my "little angel." She was a Greater Demon all along.

Mira murmured something to the kid. The child studied Mira’s face, nodded once, shook her head, then glanced warily at us. Since Mira faced away and communicated uniquely, we caught nothing.

But it worked. The kid uncurled from the corner, inching toward us. We held our breath, watching her crawl those twenty meters for five agonizing minutes. By then, Mira had reverted to her usual self—wings and tail gone.

Then, abruptly, the kid lunged forward—and landed squarely in my arms.

"……" Her aim was perfect. Even standing still, I caught her clinging to my neck.

All eyes turned to me. She trusted me most, so I had to speak. I used the language she’d spoken before: "Um… what’s your name?"

"……" She blinked up at me, thinking hard. Then shook her head. "I have no name."

"She says she has no name," I translated. Everyone stared blankly—even Mira shook her head. No one understood her tongue.

"Father-in-law! Name her already!" Nia egged me on from the back.

"I’m terrible at names!" My naming skills peaked at middle-school level.

"……" The kid understood. Her big eyes fixed on me, hopeful.

"Then… we’ll call you Loli?" Naming a loli "Loli"—pretty creative, right?

"What kind of name is that?!"

Nia jumped up in frustration from behind. "Change it! Change it!"

"Lo...li?" the little one repeated, then nodded with great satisfaction. If you used the Scouting Skill on her now, the previously blank name field would show "Loli."

"Pick a prettier name... What kind of lousy name is this..." Nia shot me a deeply resentful look.

Loli stuck out her tongue at Nia, "nyah nyah nyah," as if she truly understood every word.

Seeing her so pleased... my naming skills must be fine, right?