In the center of the mansion was a great hall equipped with a throne, and to it, a figure wearing a metal mask returned. However, the figure no longer carried the gloom it had been clad in when it left the hall.

Now then, shall we begin—

Coai took out a strange small object she had tucked away. It was something she had received from that girl before they parted, but what kind of tool could it possibly be? Coai held the small object in her hand and gazed at it, but she had no idea.
But remembering her made Coai happy.

Coai knelt and placed the small object in her hand gently, softly on the floor. If, just if, someone who knew her had seen this sight, they would surely have been greatly alarmed and caused a stir, wondering what was happening. But such a person no longer existed in this land, and the surroundings were very quiet.
But the blowing wind sounded like her breathing, and it made Coai happy.

Coai touched the finger she had bitten when she attacked the Green Demon Tribe earlier, confirming that the wound had not yet fully closed. Then, she dug her nail into the wound, making it bleed. By commanding it from there, she could draw a summoning circle—a pentagram—without creating any new injuries. However, for some reason, she hesitated to use the blood flowing from it again. She didn't know why; she just couldn't understand it.
But if it was for the sake of meeting her, Coai felt that even gaining another wound would bring her joy.

Coai bit another fingertip. Then, after confirming it was bleeding, just as she was about to command it to draw the summoning circle... the sensation of the girl's hand came back to her.

A soft, slightly damp, warm palm. I want to get closer, I want to touch it, I want to hold it.

And just for a moment, to taste that skin—

But she felt that would be wrong to do to the girl, and Coai desperately tried to shake off the desire that had suddenly surfaced. "That" was, without a doubt, the first time Coai had ever felt, had ever perceived, such a desire.
Until now, she had treated various things and various beings as prey. But that was purely an act to supplement her own flesh and blood. No matter how much she needed them, she had never once craved the act itself, never once thought, "I want to taste it."

However, Coai might not have noticed another, separate change. The very consciousness of feeling hesitant or holding back for someone else's sake... was something her former self never possessed.

...What am I thinking? Right now, the most important thing is to be in a perfect state—to not think of unnecessary things and to summon that girl without fail.

Coai composed herself, focused her consciousness on the fingertip she had just bitten, and commanded the blood: Draw a summoning circle on the floor, surrounding the girl's small object placed before her.
From her fingertip, the blood began to flow out briskly. The flowing blood ran nimbly, avoiding contact with any objects, and formed the shape of the summoning circle. After watching it complete, Coai raised her left hand high and pointed her fingertips toward the circle.

And then,

"mgthathunhuag Moo-la-la!!"

Coai uttered an incantation in a language different from that of this world, one she wasn't even certain where she had learned.
The summoning circle, formed by red lines, lost its color. It changed to a faint, blurred yellow, absorbing the surrounding colors and light...

Eventually, everything, including the caster, was submerged in a soft, gentle warmth—

Afterward, a human figure was there.

This time, too, the girl was lying where the summoning circle had been. Coai felt a sense of relief as she confirmed the face of the prone girl, while also noticing that her clothes were of a very different style than last time.
The color was a subdued, matte black like charcoal, which wasn't particularly unusual, but... she had no memory of seeing this kind of tailoring in this world. It was hard to express in words, but it seemed somewhat... formal?

In any case, the girl had been summoned to this world again. At least, in appearance. In that case, I shall leisurely gaze upon her form... no, I shall wait, praying for her complete well-being.

Coai sat down on the floor. She kept a certain distance from the sleeping girl—neither too close nor too far—just enough to be able to see her entire body.

Around the mansion, the sun was beginning to set, and the calls of evening birds echoed.
In the settlement near the mansion, where several people had not returned, the confused voices of the Green Demon Tribe echoed.