Bab 6: Demonic Prejudice
Footsteps came from the stairs, and Emilia walked down from it. "Good Morning Miss Light," she said.
"Good Morning Emilia," Ender replied.
Emilia looked at Marshall in interest for a moment. She was about to step closer towards him only to froze in her tracks. The long cat around her neck opened its eyes and seemingly glared at the demon. "M-Miss Light, who is this?"
"This is my friend Marshall, say hi Marshall,"
"Hi Marshall," the boy joked. He then held out his hand. "You must be Emilia right? It's a pleasure to meet you," he said.
The girl took a step forward, and hastily shook his hand. "Th-the pleasure is mine…" she muttered before jerking her hand away from him like touching the boiling water. "I-I should go… Prepare for the cafe," she said.
Ender watched as the girl walked towards the bar table and started preparing it. The cat around her neck was glaring at Marshall the whole time. Emilia, on the other hand, seems to be desperately avoiding Marshall's presence.
Ender took out her flip phone and started typing:
"You think Emilia knows if you're a demon?"
She sent it to Marshall, and he replied:
"What if she does and what if she doesn't?"
Ender text back at him:
"If she does, then it means that Emilia definitely has some sort of power. If she doesn't, then it means that she has the same sensitivity as the cats in this town or that she can somehow share feelings and or communicate with her cat. Or… her cat is special and is capable of communicating with her."
Ender ignored the amazed expression on Marshall's face and looked back at Emilia. The girl is sweeping the floor. "Emilia,"
"Yes, Miss Light?"
"Why are you preparing the cafe alone? Shouldn't Rena help you?"
The girl looked up with a flat look on her face. "Now that you mention it," she held up her broomstick like a weapon and started walking upstairs.
Ender can hear some faint screaming and yelling sound coming from upstairs. A few minutes later, Emilia returned back to the cafe with a satisfied look on her face. "She's in the bathroom and will go down here shortly," she said before continue cleaning up the cafe.
"Well, I should probably explore the town," Ender said.
"Hold on, Ender," Marshall took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Ender. "I tried to make it as detailed as possible, I hope you like it."
Ender unfolded the paper and found a detailed hand-drawn map of the Mercat Town, complete with the vital landmarks. At the corner of the drawing is Marshall's insignia in the middle of a magic circle resembling a compass. Not only that, but there's a blinking dot near the logo of Black Cat Cafe.
"It's perfect…" Ender said in amazement. "So it tracks my position?"
"That's impossible, believe me, I've tried," Marshall replied. "It tracks the position of the map itself."
Ender folded the paper and pocketed it. "Alright, thanks Marshall, I'm going out now. In the mean time, see what you can find from Rena," she stood up from her seat and stretched her back. "Ahh… Now what should I get for breakfast…"
[[UPF]]
With that, Ender bid Marshall and Emilia farewell before walking out of the cafe. A cool breeze and warm sunlight welcomed her the moment she stepped outside. She looked at the fountain in the middle of the intersection and saw some people jogging around it.
Ender took out the magic map and observed it for a few minutes. She then pocketed it and start walking down the cobblestone path. The girl thought about having breakfast in the Secret Garden restaurant. But she decided against it.
Instead, Ender followed the map towards a spot called 'Fleeting Sorrow Park.' It's a pretty dramatic name for a park, Ender noted, but it gives her an idea to learn more about the origin of these names.
After walking and sightseeing for almost half an hour, Ender found herself in the middle of a beautiful park. She noticed a very familiar person setting up a Crepes stand near the park bench. She jogged towards him and waved at him kindly.
"Good Morning, Christopher," she said.
The boy's eyes widened after hearing that. "I'm sorry, I think you got the wrong person," he said nervously. "Is there anything I can get you?"
Ender smiled sheepishly after hearing that. "Oh, sorry, I just know someone who looked exactly like you," she said while taking a closer look at the teenager. He's using the Crepes uniform and nothing else, so Ender is pretty sure he isn't wearing a disguise. "I'll have strawberry and chocolate ice cream crepe,"
Christopher look-alike started making the Crepes. He's very skilled at it like he's been doing it for years now. After a few minutes, he made a crepe with strawberry chocolate ice cream with all sorts of sweets. "That would be twenty Vrells."
Ender took out some money before taking the crepes from his hand. "Thank you Christopher look alike," she said with a smile before taking a bite out of it. It's cold and sweet. He also added a chocolate bar to make it even more delicious. "You should come to the Black Cat Cafe, there's your twin there."
Christopher meanwhile is currently looking at both of his hands. He even tried to look at his reflection from his shiny cooking utensils. Then he looked back at Ender in disbelief.
"Excuse me…" he said. "Can I ask you something?"
Ender looked up from her crepes. "Hmm?"
"How do you know it's me?"
"What are you…" Ender blinked a little in realization. "Oh… Now that's a twist…" she took out a pair of glasses and wear it. Just like that, the boy was replaced by someone else entirely. "This is… D-Ranked illusion charm. I almost didn't notice it there."
Christopher looked at Ender with fear written all over his face. "Are you… are you going to take me away?"
Ender blinked a little. Sure using illusion spell for work is illegal, but it's mostly overlooked on something petty like this. But of course, Ender isn't an agent for nothing. "Of course I will take you away," she said. "Fooling someone with magical charm is illegal you know?"
The boy looked down nervously. "I'm sorry, please, I'm doing this because…"
"Because?"
"Because I don't want Rena to see me like this!"
'Ah… You are threatening to arrest a lovestruck guy trying to safe his face from his crush. How far have you fallen Ender?' the agent thought to herself.
"Alright then, if you tell me where you learn or get that charm, I will let you go with a warning," Ender replied simply.
Christopher bit his lip and looked down.
"It's… Emilia…"
"She gave it to you?"
The boy looked like he's about to cry when he shook his head.
"You stole it?"
"I'm sorry!"
Ender narrowed her eyes. She put her Crepe on the stall and folded her arms. "Show me the charm," she said.
Christopher held out his right arm, showing her a white ring with a very familiar logo. It's a logo that Ender has seen her entire life. The logo of the Universal Peace Foundation and a number etched below it, Elliot's designation number. "Where did you get this? Emilia's room?"
The boy shook his head.
"Is it room three and a half?"
The boy nodded a little.
'Goddammit you idiot! Of course! That room is his armory, what else could it be!?' Ender thought to herself.
"So how did you enter that room?"
"I sneaked in when Emilia entered that room. It just appears whenever she wills it."
"What's in that room?"
Christopher looked down. "I can't tell you,"
Ender sneakily took out an analog stopwatch from her pocket. It is cased in pure gold with numbers counting from one to sixty. It has two silver arrows pointing at the number sixty. She clicked it, and one of the hands start moving with every second.
Then she looked at Christopher's fearful face. "Because something scary in there threatens you not to?" Ender asked.
The boy nodded hastily.
"Is it…" Ender wracked her brains, trying to find the best question to narrow it down. "Does it have something to do with the cats and or Emilia?"
"Yes..."
The moment he said that. Ender felt like being transported into a different world. The very air around them stood still, and everything went silent. It's like the entire world just stopped breathing. Ender can't even feel any signs of life.
"Miss Light…" Christopher whispered, his eyes wide in terror. "Wh-what's happening?"
"The scary thing in room 3.5 being mad at you," Ender replied calmly.
Then, the ground near them started to ripple like water, and a particular figure ascended from within. It looks like Emilia, only older. She has long, snow-white hair and glowing blue cat-like eyes. She has cat-like ears on her head and a long white cat tail.
"I'm starting to think that Elliot didn't marry a human…" Ender muttered to herself. She then moved between the Crepe stall and the woman. "Let me guess, Alicia?"
The woman hissed at her. "Silence demon worshipper," she snapped.
"I think you have that backwards," Ender commented. "But whatever, you don't seem to be the type who listens to reason," she crackled her knuckles threateningly. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, which do you prefer?"
There was a flash of light, but Ender didn't flinch. Her hand caught an arm that was about to scratch her, and she twisted it. "AAIIIEEE!!!" the woman yelled in agony. She dropped to the ground and looked at Ender in disbelief. "Wh-what… are you?"
"Agent Ender, UPF, and you are going to answer some of my question," Ender replied.
"As if-AAAH!" the woman yelled in agony when the girl broke one of her fingers. "Im-impossible…" she waved her hand around, but Ender doesn't budge. "Kill me!" she spat at her.
'Goddamn she's persistent,' Ender thought. 'Let's see what she think of her own daughter.'
"I will kill you, after I torture Emilia to death, in front of your face, how about that?" she asked her.
Alicia paled, and her body shook. "N-no!" she struggled desperately under Ender's grip. The ground shook, and reality was torn asunder. But Ender stood firm as if the world itself isn't collapsing around her. "No, please!" she said desperately.
"Then I want you to answer all my questions, can you do that?"
Alicia gritted her teeth before slowly nodding in defeat.
With that, Ender started interrogating the possibly godlike entity in front of her. She didn't stop until she can find everything about her and more.
Apparently, this was Alicia, Emilia's mother. Her soul was transferred into the cat upon her death. Since then, she has been protecting Emilia for a long time. She doesn't know how she gets this power, just that she got this power after her death.
Ender tried asking her about Emilia's power, but the cat woman looked like she's ready to call her bluff. So she decided that it's as much as she can get from her.
"Huh… Interesting," Ender said before letting go of the cat.
Alicia glared at the girl. "Leave this town… You are not welcome here…" she said.
"Yeah, why do you hate demon so much anyway?"
"A demon killed my mother…" Alicia hissed, her voice dripping with malice.
"Yeah, a human killed both of my parents, do I have anything against them? No, because I'm not a racist idiot," Ender retorted.
Alicia narrowed her eyes. "Not all humans…"
"Not all demons are evil," Ender replied. "Sure they are naturally cruel creatures who enjoy suffering in other creatures, but… sometimes there are demons who are a necessary evil for everything in this world."
"This changes nothing…" Alicia said. "I will make sure you leave this town if it's the last thing I do…"
Ender sneakily took out an analog stopwatch from her pocket.
The stopwatch is cased in pure gold with numbers counting from one to sixty. It has two silver arrows pointing at the numbers around it. She clicked the button on top of it, and the hands reset itself.
[[FPU]]
Ender looked at Christopher's fearful face. "It's okay Christopher, you don't have to tell me," she told him. "I'll go check out that room myself."
"Thank you…"
The girl grabbed the Crepe ice cream she put on the stall. She took a big bite out of it, noticing that even the crepe wrap itself taste really good. "You know, I think you should come clean with Rena," she said after enjoying the cold and sweet sensation.
"Wh-what?"
"Come on, Rena is a nice girl, I'm sure she will understand," Ender replied.
Christopher looked down. "But I… I lied to her…"
"Everybody lies, big deal," Ender held out her hand. "Now give me that ring, I will return it to Emilia," she told him.
The boy sighed and took off the ring. Ender grabbed the ring and took a closer look at it. It looks brand new like it's the first time being worn.
"Well, good luck on your work Christopher," Ender said. "Have some confidence, relationship built on lies is a very bad idea."
"I will, thank you Ender…"
"Your welcome!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone