What was it called again? Tsundere?

The soft glow from a single candle had flickered in the cozy room, casting a warm, inviting light on the elegantly patterned walls. The moonlight had streamed through the window, bathing the bed where Claire slept peacefully in a silvery hue. By the standards of this world, the room was quite comfortable and pleasant. Nonetheless, to Momonga, it couldn't compare to the luxuriousness he had become accustomed to in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

Momonga tapped his skeletal fingers on the table; of course, they were still covered by iron gauntlets to hide his true nature. Just stating that the beauty of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was superior in comparison to this inn was an understatement. Merely thinking about it caused memories to flood back from his time in Yggdrasil, meeting his friends Touch Me, Peroroncino, BukubukuChagama, HeroHero, Ulbert Alain Odle, and many more. Even though Momonga knew those days were long past, he couldn't help but still long for it.

He picked up a paper from a neatly organized stack of papers. One stack of paper took precedence over the others scattered all across the desk, indicating that he'd been gathering information for the past few days. Momonga looked through the paper, flipping it to the back, but finding nothing useful, he leaned back in his chair which creaked alongside his movements, the light of the moon gleaming down on his demon-faced mask through the window.

Momonga knew that there was a very slim chance his friends had been transferred over to this world with him. Much to his dismay, he believed he might be the only one, but that's not to say it wasn't worth looking for them; if he could find just one, then everything would change - right? Momonga wouldn't have to constantly manage himself on all fronts, getting tugged by the rope that involved repairing the Great Tomb of Nazarick and keeping it safe, and the other side of the rope that dealt with gathering information about this world and preparing for future threats.

But these floods of memories, the flood of nostalgia and longing he had felt made him question so many things. Could he possibly meet his friends again? There had to be some way, but what if he truly was the only one - was he now truly alone? Momonga even questioned why the emotional suppression had not activated yet; did he break past his inhumanity, or was he not unstable enough yet? Either way, it was times like these where Momonga felt tortured by the gaping hole left without his friends, without his Guild, without his family; deep down, Momonga wished that the emotional suppression would activate to bring him back to his senses.

And in that fleeting moment, a green aura had covered Momonga, his mental state returning to normal. In that exact moment, the bedsheets ruffled as the sound of bare feet stepping onto wood echoed softly in the room, ever so quietly but still present. Momonga turned his head to face Claire, the demon faced mask shined from the moon's light. She rubbed her eyes gently, tiny droplets being swept away, her shirt half-slid down, exposing a bit of cleavage which was alluring but not overwhelming; she radiated pure cuteness, and in Momonga's eyes, she really was adorable, but not enough to cause his mental state to waver unlike the thoughts about his friends.

Momonga turned back to the papers covering the desk, "Good morning," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the demon-faced mask. He picked up another paper and began reading. For the past two days, Momonga had been researching all sorts of topics, politics, the adventurer's guild, dungeons, magic, and much more. Of course, he couldn't attribute these findings to himself but to the adventurer's guild being so kind as to give him access to such a broad network of intel.

Although one could argue it was his own doing since he had recently been promoted to a C-Rank adventurer after being assigned several missions in the Demon's Garden, kill quests, gathering, intel hunting. Momonga at first thought it was normal for D-Ranks but after some investigating, he concluded it wasn't; of course, this must've meant the guild was suspicious. Momonga knew they would be eventually; he did just arrive and not long afterward, an underground slave-ring was massacred, so of course, they were suspicious - if he were the guild master, he would be as well.

However, Momonga knew this brought on a lot of problems instead of it being a rope of just two ends. It was now a complex game with multiple ending routes, and sadly, Momonga knew he picked the genocide route, but maybe he could turn it into the neutral route. Either way, it would be a tricky game of cat and mouse, as Momonga couldn't let any information about himself or the Great Tomb of Nazarick leak out. Momonga took a second to think; he knew he was very close to gaining access to the local dungeon, but would he be able to pull it off in time? Maybe he should start heading toward the Port City of Darth.

No, that would cause more trouble than good; he wasn't sure how the Great Tomb of Nazarick would fend off any external threats yet, Shalltear BloodFallen wasn't even activated much to his disappointment. Momonga was in deep-thought planning for the near future, but when he felt a warm touch on his shoulder he immediately looked over; of course it was just Claire and he felt his worries melt away knowing she wouldn't dare to harm him.

Claire had looked puzzled, as if some confusing thought had been plaguing her. "Uh… Momonga; I couldn't help but notice, have you not slept?" she said, her voice both comforting but having the slight hint of worry mixed in.

Her face showcased a seemingly mixture of emotion, both being tired so it was slightly groggy; but at the same time she showed confusion, awe, and worry, a sentiment that stuck to Momonga, as he forgot there were people who cared still for a beating moment.

Momonga waved his hand in a dismissive manner, remembering the lie that he told Claire earlier in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. "My friends discovered a way to remove all need for sleep; because of that fact I don't require it." Momonga's tone was in such a relaxed manner that it sounded like pure truth, and yet again Claire was absolutely fooled.

She moved her hand off his shoulder, and after a second noticed that her shirt was half-down. Momonga stared at her for a second and her entire face seemed to flush red. Claire turned around and fixed her shirt; although Momonga didn't realize why she was acting so humiliated frantically he entirely forgot.

Claire turned back "W-well ok… if you say you don't need sleep then I'll take your word for it. But; at least take a break or I'll uh- hit you!" she said as an adorable pout formed "I don't want you over-stressing after all," she whispered as she sat down on the side of the bed.

Momonga had thought for a second he knew there was some type of trope that was attributed to what had just happened.

"Oh! I remember now… a tsundere" he had said out loud which Claire reacted in a curious manner having not heard the word before, although she knew it was directed at her somehow.

"What's a tsundere?" she asked, her eyes turned from adorable to piercing as if trying to penetrate Momonga's very soul.

Momonga, noticing that he messed up and let his words slip, panicked to find a solution. "It's uh- It's a type of cheesecake!" he lied through his mask.

In that split moment he realized what he had just said, a tsundere as a cheesecake really? Momoga knew it was only a matter of time until he wasn't able to cover-up such a meaningless lie; he also knew it would eventually come to bite him in his ass.

Nevertheless, Claire being so naive, believed every-word Momonga just spewed, afterall why would the savior of her life lie to her over cake? "Cheesecake!? Oh what I would do to eat some cake right now, it's soft-bread, the sugar cressing my tastebuds; the way a fork slides right through it!" Claire's eyes sparkled with excitement and a tiny bit of drool came down from her mouth.

And in this tiny window of opportunity, Momonga realized that Claire might be just a tiny bit naive; and also that sweets may be used to cover his ass.

A sigh of relief came out of Momonga, he knew it was only a matter of time until she figured that little lie out, cause why would there be a cheesecake named tsundere. Anyway, besides that he had to start heading toward the adventurer's guild; he needed to accept two more C-Rank quests, and finally gain access to the local dungeon.