After finishing our visit at Isis's castle, we teleported back to Kuro's house to figure out our next move.
"So, Kuro, what's the plan? We still have plenty of acquaintances left to see in the Demon Realm. Should we keep making the rounds?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. But before we do that, let's finish up with the Six Kings."
"...Wait, what?"
That was a strange thing to say. I was pretty sure we’d already finished visiting everyone on that list. Lilliwood, Magnawell, Megiddo, Isis... Yep, we’d seen them all.
Still, the way Kuro said it gave me a bad feeling. And just as that dread started to settle in, someone who clearly felt it even more strongly than I did manifested and spoke up.
"...Um, no. It's over. We already visited all the Six Kings, didn't we?"
"Nope. We still have Shaltier left."
"No, no, no! This is my third time! Why on earth do I have to give my opinion three times on a topic I have zero interest in? It’s a chore to answer even once! Isn't this getting to be a bit much for me?"
"Yeah, you're right. I'm really grateful for all the help you've given me, Shaltier... So, do you have any other ideas?"
"...Are you actually a devil? How can you keep a straight face while steamrolling me like that?"
There was no doubt in my mind—she was definitely the Baby Castella Devil. To be fair, Kuro really was pestering Alice. Since they were so close, she was probably doing it half to tease her, but Alice was surprisingly dutiful and kept playing along despite the complaining.
"...Fine. Sigh. Why don't you just dip them in soup or something?"
"Isn't that a bit lazy? Sure, you can change the taste by making a separate soup or sauce, but does that really count as expanding the potential of the baby castella? I want to see you put some heart into changing the core of the snack itself, rather than taking the easy way out with external flavor changes."
"Why are you being so hard on me?! Up until now, you’ve been saying 'Oh, I see!' to every half-assed idea we came across!"
It was actually the first time Kuro had shot down an idea. It really felt like she was only being this picky because she was talking to Alice.
"...I don't know, intuition?"
"...Kuro-san, I just realized something. I've been confiscating your baby castellas a lot lately... You're using this as an excuse to get back at me, aren't you?"
".........Ah, Shaltier, thanks for the great input! Okay, Kaito-kun, let's move on!"
"I totally hit the mark! You were planning on making me do this a few more times by making up whatever excuse you could, weren't you?!"
Kuro looked away with an incredibly transparent, guilty expression as she tried to change the subject, prompting a sharp retort from Alice.
Still, both of them had wry smiles on their faces, making it clear they were just teasing each other. It really drove home how close they actually were, just like Kuro had said, and I found the whole exchange rather heartwarming.
Serious-senpai: They certainly do seem to get along well. Kuro is interacting with her in a way that's close to her true self...