There’s something wrong with being a freeloader. These types of people bring nothing of value to our society. Now some people may not care. ‘Why are we obligated to serve society?’ It’s not like these kinds of people will bring harm to our society. The worse that they can do was just take up space. That’s not too bad. It was better than being a criminal. Some people just want to be by themselves. But in the end, we have to show the world that we’re worth something.

I’m one myself actually. I mooch off my parent's money to live in this cheap apartment. My grades were good enough to stay in school so they’re fine with that. I may be lazy but I’m not stupid enough to be completely useless. I have to show some value to them.

Now when you have a freeloader that has nothing else to offer then you should do something about them, right? Even if she was the devil. Lucy doesn’t do much herself. Now that her excuse was gone, I have a reason to get rid of her. And potentially make up with her sister. Two birds with one stone. And I’ll have my apartment all to myself once again.

I couldn’t fall asleep in the middle of the night. Not that I was trying to. I wanted to talk to Lucy. I was hoping she was also not asleep too.

“You awake?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Lucy responded.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Of course.”

I could hear Lucy tossing and turning all night.

What kept me up was the moonlight shining over me in my little corner of the room.

I got up from the floor and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. After I took a sip, I asked Lucy a question.

“Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Sure.”

We walked outside of the building quietly. We tried not to disturb the neighbors. Every little sound we made felt amplified. Each footstep and door creaking felt terribly loud. Everyone else was still asleep at this time of night.

As we step outside, the white light from the streetlamp blended in with the bright moonlight. The street was filled with no parking space left. The night was even quieter outside.

“I finally reread every single book in your shelf twice. It was quite boring if you ask me. You need to visit the library sometime.”

“If you won’t bother going to the library yourself, why should I?”

“Fair enough.”

Lucy and I walked towards a random direction. It was a familiar walk but something was off. It was my usual walk in the morning towards the grocery store except it was at night. The bright white lights made it a completely different than the bright sunlight from the daytime or even the dark orange sky in the evenings.

There was a surprising sound though. Crickets weren’t common the in the city but there were some around the park.

We stopped by the park. I asked if we could sit down on the bench.

“Did you catch up on HellsCraft Online?”

“Yeah, Aegis of Heaven was easy.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“That dungeon was not easy, don’t lie about that. Did you get help from some guild?”

“Uh… yeah.”

I chuckled. But when I stopped, I realized that this was the right opportunity.

The park was completely dark with only a single light shining in from above us. It was almost as if we were in the spotlight. It was my time to continue this play.

“I need to ask you something.”

“What is it.”

“Raphie told me about how you found me.”

Lucy was calm. Her face hasn’t changed a bit from hearing that I knew the truth.

“I want to know why you’re staying with me.”

“Why? Because I needed a place to stay.”

“And it had to be your sister’s next door neighbor?”

Lucy looked away.

“Are you using me not only for my own home but as a buffer between you and your sister?”

“I never really planned it to be this way. I’m not good with confrontation.”

“Right…”

Now I had a better read of the two of them.

“So you needed somewhere to stay and Raphie was the first to offer. But you two had something going on for a while and ever since you two saved me, it got really awkward. Correct?”

Lucy was silent. Looks like I was right.

“You don’t move away too far because you still care for her. Even the devil herself doesn’t want to leave her own sister behind. Raphie was trying her best to live among the humans. You, on the other hand, have been around for long. Too long I assume. I wonder how many humans you’ve leeched off for centuries.”

“So what.”

“Raphie looks after others because that’s who she is. She looked after me ever since I died. Knowing her, she’s still looking after you. Even now.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to have a sibling.”

“I wish I did.”

“You’re just human.”

“So what.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Of course I don’t.”

But I want to.

There was this curiosity. Imagining the difference in life experience was immensely overwhelming. A freeloader like me has nothing against the devil herself.

“Why are you so hard to understand.”

“I’ve been misunderstood since the beginning of time.” For an eternity, I’ve been called the devil. Looked down on. Became the symbol of evil itself. Not that I don’t deserve it.”

“Even a symbol can be redeemed.”

“Not me… Not after what I did.”

“What did you do?”

Lucy continued with a straight face. There was a slight frown but her eyes were serious. She looked straight at me. But I couldn’t help that she was seeing something past me.

“I’ve left behind my sisters. I spent many centuries by myself. And all of a sudden, one wants to bring me back. I couldn’t live up to her expectations.”

“So that’s why you ran away?” I said. “Not too far off if you asked me.” I whispered that last part to myself.

Lucy gritted her teeth. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes widened.

“I’m the devil. And that’s all there is to it.”

“Just because you’re called the devil doesn’t mean you have to be. You’re just some fallen angel who fell too hard.”

“Like I said, you wouldn’t understand.”

“At least I’m trying. Raphie is trying too.”

“I’d just disappoint her.”

“You’d already disappointed me.”

Lucy stared at the ground.

“You’re the devil, but all you’ve done was lie down every day. Use up my computer. Read through all my books. All for nothing. And yet you haven’t done anything that fulfills the expectations of the symbols known as the devil.”

Lucy looked up at me.

“You’re just Lucy. The fallen angel. Not just any devil, Satan, or any other name.”

“Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it.”

“There’s one thing I wanted to know.”

I sat up in surprise.

“What’s up?”

“Why do you care?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, I just wanted to kick you out of my place.”

“Sure.”

I couldn’t see Lucy’s expression from behind me, but she sounded glad.