The playtime lasted for a while. However, Xiao Rou’s energy was ultimately not good, and she soon showed signs of exhaustion.

Noticing this, Monica immediately stopped playing with the children and helped the Director take her back to her room.

Before leaving, she crouched by Xiao Rou’s bed again and said earnestly:

“Xiao Rou, you need to rest well. I will find you an even better doctor, so you are not allowed to give up either, understood?”

Xiao Rou knew Monica was leaving, and a reluctant expression appeared on her face, but she still nodded sensibly.

Then, Monica looked at the Director.

“Director Grandma, Xiao Rou looks much better today.”

The Director nodded gently.

“Yes.”

As if grasping onto some hope, Monica’s tone became firm.

“So please absolutely do not give up, there must be another way.”

The Director looked at her, her eyes gentle yet complex.

“Yes, we won’t give up.”

By the time they left the Orphanage, the sky had grown completely dark.

The nights in X City weren’t as bright as those in W City. The streetlights lined the road one by one, looking like gentle stars.

Monica walked along the road, no longer carrying those gift bags in her hands, her footsteps much lighter than when they had arrived.

After walking for a while, she suddenly said:

“Miss Phil, thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for this time?”

“Thank you for keeping me company today. I’m really happy today, super happy.”

Monica repeated the words she had already said countless times today, yet felt she could never say them enough. She looked up at the night sky and gestured a massive circle with her hands.

“I’m this—this happy!”

Phil’s tone was casual.

“Even without me, you’d still be happy. You’re naturally just an optimistic person.”

Monica, however, shook her head.

“You’re wrong, Miss Phil.”

Monica’s smile was still bright, but her voice was much more serious than usual.

As if recounting a perfectly ordinary matter, she softly began to tell a story Phil had never heard before:

“One day, a long time ago, Director Grandma saw a very small little girl at the entrance of the Orphanage.”

“With just one look, you could tell that the little girl wasn’t from District 1.”

“Director Grandma asked her what her name was.”

“She said, Monica.”

“Director Grandma then asked her, where are her mom and dad?”

Monica paused for a moment.

“She said she didn’t know.”

“She only knew that her parents told her to stand there and not move.”

“And then they never came back.”

Under the streetlight, Monica’s shadow was stretched out long.

Phil was the best listener; she didn’t say a word and just listened quietly.

“Later, Director Grandma took that little girl to search for a long time and even reported it to the police, but they never found her parents.”

“So Director Grandma took her in, and that little girl grew up in the Orphanage.”

She smiled.

“Anyway, it’s been a long time. Talking about these things now, I really don’t feel sad at all. What I want to say is that I really love it here.”

“Director Grandma, and the children, they are all family, younger brothers, and little sisters to me.”

“So I don’t want them to worry. I just want to show them my happy side.”

She lowered her head and kicked a small pebble by the road.

“As for the people I know from the Calamity Hunters, it’s because everyone is doing dangerous work. We might be drinking together today, and tomorrow someone might never come back.”

“So people don’t place too much weight on friendships.”

“I can understand it, but sometimes, I still feel a bit lonely.”

“In the end, no one can see me, and I found that I can’t seem to talk to anyone about the bitterness in my heart. Is everyone out in the real world like this? Everyone is so amazing…”

Loneliness in a crowd is a disease that slowly gnaws at the soul.

Monica turned her head and smiled at Phil.

“Previously, Xiao Rou’s illness was getting worse, and I couldn’t scrape together the medical fees. I was actually quite lost for a while, which is why I went to challenge a C-Class Calamity.”

She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

“Then, as Miss Phil saw, I almost got myself killed.”

“It was indeed incredibly stupid.”

“Waaah, I can say that about myself, but Miss Phil isn’t allowed to scold me!”

Monica puffed out her cheeks.

But soon, she playfully stuck out her tongue.

“But in a way, I guess it was a good thing.”

“Because that’s how I met Miss Phil.”

Phil froze, but Monica didn’t look at her, merely continuing to walk forward.

“Even now, I don’t know why Miss Phil chose me. Nor do I know what making a deal with a Devil really means.”

“But I do know one thing.”

“I am really—very happy right now.”

Monica repeated it once more, turned around, and walked backwards, looking at Phil who was standing frozen in place.

“I earned Xiao Rou’s medical fees.”

“My strength seems to have improved a bit too, and I’m no longer unable to adapt to the work of a Calamity Hunter like before.”

“I also bought a lot of gifts today, and I got to see Xiao Rou wake up.”

“I’ve had a very, very happy day.”

“And, I’ve become friends with Miss Phil!”

“Maybe these things don’t mean much to you, Miss Phil, but in my eyes, everything is truly getting better.”

Her eyes were astonishingly bright under the streetlight.

“So, Miss Phil. In every sense of the word, you saved me. Thank you.”

Phil fell silent.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to reply.

Unknowingly, the two had walked into an alley, and Monica stopped in front of an old apartment building.

“We’re here.”

She pointed upstairs, looking a little embarrassed.

“My place is just up there, but the room is very small, and I don’t have anything to host Miss Phil with. I won’t invite you up today.”

After saying that, as if realizing she had rambled on too much, her cheeks flushed slightly.

“Um… well, I guess I accidentally got a little too happy just now and said a lot of unnecessary things. You can just pretend you didn’t hear them.”

“No one could hear all that and just pretend they didn’t, right?”

“Uu.”

Monica covered her face, showing a rare moment of shyness.

“T-Then, just treat it as a secret between friends.”

She lowered her hands and waved at Phil.

“Out of all the ways to say goodbye, my favorite is ‘see you tomorrow’—Miss Phil, I’ll be able to see you tomorrow, right?”

Monica’s expression was filled with anticipation.

Phil did not answer right away.

After a moment, she replied softly:

“Mhm.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Monica’s smile instantly grew radiant.

Monica had already gone upstairs.

Phil stood in the alley, looking in the direction she had left, feeling an indescribable sensation in her chest.

“Thanking me like this, how is it supposed to make me feel when I only treated this as a game at first…”

However, it turns out that being needed and genuinely thanked by someone else could make a person feel this happy.

Phil looked up at the dim sky and let out a soft sigh.

“Idiot.”

She didn’t know if she was talking about Monica or herself.

If this were a storybook, it would be best if the story ended right here.

The epilogue might read like this—

Xiao Rou would recover smoothly.

The children of the Orphanage would continue growing up amidst their noisy squabbles.

The tough-talking but soft-hearted Devil and the kind but reckless Calamity Hunter would slowly become true friends through their endless bickering.

Everything would head in a positive direction.

At least, that was what Phil truly thought that night.

And it was precisely because she had thought so that she felt such intense anger…

“Miss Phil…”

When she logged in the next day as agreed, Phil did not hear the energetic voice she had expected.

Replacing it was a stifled sob that sounded on the verge of shattering.

Monica raised her head and looked at Phil, her eyes devoid of focus.

“The Orphanage is gone… and Xiao Rou is… missing.”

—Furious that the beautiful ending she had envisioned was cruelly torn to shreds.