Finally, we arrive at the cottage. Just like Sacho said, It’s fairly old, so I walk up to the door and knock politely.

Not a few moments later an old lady comes to the door, and invites us in with a smile.

Inside, the cottage holds a homey and cozy feeling. A family tree is hung high on a mantlepiece.

A warm fire is crackling in the middle, and some old antique chairs bring the place together. But if there’s one thing that stands out to me, it’s the lovely necklace sitting on the mantlepiece. It shimmers in the sunlight.

“As, you can see the place is due for an ol’ sweep up,” the old lady exclaims. “I’ll stop annoying you young folk now. Good luck on your dusting!”

Everyone splits into halves: Megumi and Kanjo handle the dusting, Sacho and I handle the cleaning.

We walk down an old hallway, and start cleaning up the place.

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be a helper?” asks Sacho.

I tell her that I don’t think there’s a need for a helper to clean this cottage.

“Erm…okay!”

After we finish work on the windows, we decide to move to another part of the house. But just as where leaving, I spot something out of the corner of my eye.

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There, emerging from the shadow, is a human (if you can call it that) walking on all fours with ragged sharp teeth, a tail on its back, and scales all over its skin.

Frozen with fear, I watch as the creature slowly makes its way towards me, every inch a true monster.

But before I can scream, Sacho holds out her hand, narrows her eyes, and murmurs something in Latin. “Crickets, musa, crura infusa.”

Suddenly, the monster shoots backwards, slams into a wall, and burns in front of my eyes.

“A devil,” Sacho says.

“They’ve found a way through the portal to the human world. It’s been on our alert recently.”

I can barely make the words. I can barely understand what I’ve seen.

“The criket spell,” Sacho exclaims. “An old one but a good one. It makes the opponent jump back and burn into flames. Higher ranks can even use it on themselves to go faster, and even build up resistance to the flames. Clever, isn’t it?”

Now I’m just numb. How do I even begin to ask questions?

“It’s okay, I have a spell to make you feel better…” she whispers. “Vincla Caro et osmium, ne his timid vadat.”

Suddenly, all the bones in my body ease up, and I feel…calm.

Now, I speak.

“W—”

“Come on you guys”! shouts Megumi. “Stop horsing around!”

***

We all decide to drink a hot chocolate at a local coffee shop.

I finally hope I can gather the courage to ask Sacho out…

Once again, Megumi reads my mind. She gives me a wink, and then turns to Kanjo.

“Hey, Kanjo! I have a surprise for you at my house,” she says.

“Ooooh! I’ll see you guys later, okay?” Then, Kanjo and her run off.

Now’s my chance! Seize it!

“Hey, Sacho?”

“Mm…yeah?”

“Well, uhh…I was wondering…I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date with me.” Sacho’s shocked. Her eyes go wide, and she starts to blush.

Suddenly, she holds my hand, smiles, and kisses me.

She kissed me! I could barely believe it!“

8:00. A walk in the park, and a lunch at a nice restaurant. I’m paying.”

Then, she walked away. And I was still sitting there, gaping.