Saya looked at the tense, fidgety girl and, for a moment, couldn’t understand what the emotions she was showing meant.

Unlike the five basic emotions—joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust—the emotions the girl was showing were much more complicated. Saya couldn’t read them.

Saya tilted her head. Never mind. She didn’t feel like thinking about it.

…

Though it was a monster, Lin Jianxue thought the monster girl before her was beautiful.

For some reason, now that she was actually face-to-face with the girl, Lin Jianxue no longer felt the fear of the unknown. Instead, she felt strangely at ease.

Was it because the girl looked like a human girl?

What’s more, the inhuman traits about her blended perfectly with her human form. It all looked completely natural, without a hint of discord.

Lin Jianxue never thought she’d fall for someone she’d just met—and that someone would be a monster.

She’s so cute!

“Miss Monster, were you the one who saved me?”

Lin Jianxue thought it over, then just barely managed to get the words “Miss Monster” out. She honestly couldn’t think of anything else to call her.

Judging by their appearances, Lin Jianxue seemed to be the older one…

But that was only how it looked, right?

In terms of actual age, the girl might be a few hundred years older than her, for all she knew.

At the question, Saya lowered her head and pondered for a moment. Her tail, which had been swaying behind her, slowed and drooped a little.

“Girls shouldn’t walk alone at night.”

That was what you were supposed to say in a situation like this, right?

Saya spoke with some uncertainty, and her tail drooped a little farther.

It was a sign of hesitation.

“I ran away from home because… because… Okay, I won’t do it again.”

Lin Jianxue spoke, still shaken.

She never wanted to feel that desperate and helpless again.

“You should be able to stand now.”

Lin Jianxue froze at Saya’s words. The abrupt change of subject had caught her off guard.

Only then did she realize she wasn’t leaning against the wall with her whole body. She was crouching, and the fact that she’d already managed to cover her head with her hand meant she’d regained some ability to move.

Lin Jianxue tried standing up. Her legs were still a little numb, but she could walk.

“Since you can move now, I’ll be going.”

When Lin Jianxue saw Saya turn to leave, she panicked.

“Wait, please!”

Lin Jianxue saw the monster girl stop in her tracks and let out a quiet breath of relief. Without thinking, she blurted out:

“Could you take me with you… Miss Monster…?”

“You need to go home.”

Saya said it flatly.

“But I… I don’t have a home anymore.”

“Didn’t you run away from home? Now that you’ve seen how harsh and dangerous the world can be, shouldn’t you go back?”

Saya turned around and looked at the girl in confusion. She didn’t really understand what was going through her head.

Under Saya’s gaze, Lin Jianxue felt her cheeks grow hot. She lightly bit her lip, as if weighing something in her mind.

Then Lin Jianxue steeled herself, reached out, and pulled up her sleeve.

Bruises, some blue and some purple, showed on the girl’s pale arm.

Saya understood at once—domestic abuse.

The two of them fell silent in the alley.

Lin Jianxue quietly pulled her sleeve back down.

What a hassle.

That was Saya’s first thought.

Still, it made sense. Public safety in this city was so bad that everyone who lived here had to know how dark it was. Their parents would surely have warned them about it.

And the girl was around high school or college age. She knew all about these things.

Yet even so, she’d dared to walk the streets alone in the middle of the night. She’d rather follow a monster than go home. That alone said a lot about her parents.

The emotions Saya felt most often in this city were oppression and numbness.

But she hadn’t paid them much mind before. She’d thought all that oppression and numbness came from the poor and homeless living in the underground city.

Now it seemed the rot ran much deeper. The city itself was rotten at its core.

“You really want to come with me?”

Lin Jianxue nodded without hesitation.

“Don’t be so quick to say yes. Aren’t you afraid I’ll eat you? I am a monster, after all.”

As she spoke, Saya pressed her tail against the girl’s chin.

The cold sensation sent a shiver across Lin Jianxue’s sensitive skin. She swallowed. She was a little scared, but she didn’t waver.

Her instincts told her the monster girl before her wouldn’t hurt her. She was taking a gamble.

“If you really wanted to eat me, you would’ve done it already. You wouldn’t have put up with me again and again.”

“Don’t try to play games in front of a monster.”

Saya said calmly.

She didn’t dislike the girl. Of course, she didn’t admire or pity her, either.

After all, she was a monster without emotions. Curiosity was the exception.

At most, Saya was a little curious about this strange human girl. She wasn’t paying her all that much attention.

Lin Jianxue’s heart pounded, but she forced herself to stay calm and shook her head. Her voice turned a little bitter as she said:

“How could I? It’s just… I really have nowhere else to go. If you’ll let me come with you, I’ll do anything.”

Saya watched her for a long moment, then pulled her tail away.

“Really? Then I’ll be charging you a fee.”

Lin Jianxue froze. Monsters needed money, too?

She didn’t quite understand, but Lin Jianxue quickly answered anyway.

“I left in a hurry, but I’d been preparing money in case I ever really ran away from home.”

As the girl started to reach into the gap at the waist of her long skirt, Saya’s tail whipped out and smacked her on the forehead with a sharp smack.

The sound rang out clearly.

“Oof…”

Wincing in pain, Lin Jianxue crouched down. With tears in her eyes, she rubbed her forehead and looked at Saya, puzzled.

“I didn’t mean money. When have you ever seen a monster strutting around the streets and going shopping at the market?”

“Oh. Then what’s the fee?”

Saya calmly looked at the girl, who was crouched down with her hands over her head.

As Lin Jianxue’s scalp started to prickle under that stare, Saya said in a low, eerie voice:

“Human blood.”

“Huh?”

——

“Ah! Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

“I haven’t even stuck it in yet…”

“Oh, sorry.”

Saya looked at the girl’s timid, terrified, yet stubborn expression and shook her head.

How did the girl manage to make so many different expressions at once?

Saya extended her tail, and its sharp tip pierced the visible vein in the girl’s arm.

Lin Jianxue had squeezed her eyes shut in fear. She felt a brief sting, then nothing but a slight coolness.

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Jianxue opened her eyes. The monster girl was quietly watching the point where her tail touched Lin Jianxue’s arm.

She was utterly absorbed.