Contract (4)

“Not going to talk, huh? Oh, you look even sexier up close.”

“Are you cosplaying? I know a great place. Want to come with us?”

The ogre-like man grabbed Liliana’s left arm, spewing vulgar words.

Smack!

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

Liliana was startled by the dirty and repulsive feeling on her arm and quickly swatted his hand away.

“What?! Just because you’re a woman, don’t think I won’t hurt you.”

The man got angry and raised his fist to retaliate.

“You lowly humans are so cocky, huh?”

Liliana knew that humans were not powerful beings.

She unleashed her mana. Though she hadn’t used her power in decades, being a virgin for 50 years didn’t diminish her abilities. She still had enough charm to captivate the men in front of her.

The ogre-like man’s eyes clouded over, seemingly under the spell’s influence.

“Ha! These horny bastards are all the same.”

However, shortly after, Liliana’s mana was depleted, and the charm wore off the men.

“What’s happening? I don’t remember a thing.”

“What the hell did this crazy woman do? Even I’m an awakened one, you know?”

One man gathered mana in his hand and approached.

“Why… why isn’t it working…?”

Thud.

Liliana suddenly felt drained of energy and strength, then collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon.

She tried to summon her mana back up again, but it wouldn’t manifest. She hadn’t read the contract and had no understanding of her current condition.

Even low-level charm magic required intermediate-level skills. Liliana, who needed to maintain a weaker state than her contractor Lee Hoyeon, wasn’t strong enough to sustain intermediate-level magic for long.

“Charm…!”

“Shut your trap!”

“Aaah!”

The man’s hand holding Liliana’s head tightened as he angrily yanked her hair.

“Hey, hey, easy there. If she gets injured, it won’t be pretty to look at.”

“You idiot. This woman is an awakener too. It could’ve been ugly if I wasn’t one.”

“It hurts… it hurts! Sniff…”

As Liliana groaned, the man’s grip on her hair tightened even more.

‘Ah, this place is really hell…’

Tears welled up in Liliana’s eyes. She couldn’t believe the situation she found herself in.

‘I was just playing a game, how did it end up like this?’

Various thoughts crossed her mind.

‘If only I had listened to my mother, why did I do that? I should have listened to what that contractor said too…’

“Get up, you bitch!”

The man lifted his hand that was holding Liliana’s head. In the recoil, tears streamed down her cheeks, falling along her jawline to the ground.

‘Please someone, anyone, save me…’

“Hey bastards, you dare lay a hand on my summon?!”

Then, Liliana heard a familiar voice. The voice she heard when she first arrived in the human world. When she looked up, the handsome contractor was standing there.

“Don’t you know how much she’s worth?!”

Liliana realized how much she had missed seeing his face again.

***

“How far did she run off?”

To find Liliana, I ventured into the shopping district, but it was too vast to search for just one woman. In the end, I questioned people as they passed by one by one.

“Excuse me, have you seen a woman dressed as a succubus around here?”

“I can do a succubus cosplay for you if you’re interested, so…”

“No, thanks…”

After that, I decided not to ask any more women. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the NovᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Sorry, have you seen a woman dressed as a succubus around here?”

“Oh, I think I saw one. About five minutes ago, a woman was running and screaming.”

Oh, that’s lucky.

After asking about three times, I got the information from a vendor selling fish-shaped pastries.

“I didn’t get a good look, but she ran towards the tower in the center.”

“That should be enough information. Thank you.”

“Young man, what’s with that anyway? Is she your girlfriend or something? What a peculiar hobby.”

“….”

Not wanting to waste time explaining, I hurried towards the center of the shopping district.

“But where did she go from there?”

Even though it’s the center, there were so many alleyways, making it difficult to find her.

It’s only been about five minutes; she couldn’t have gone far…

Just in case, I expanded my mana detection to cover a wide area. With my mana manipulation, I could sense the surroundings within about 500 meters.

“Huh?”

About 10 meters to my right from my current location, I felt Liliana’s mana, which I had sensed earlier.

“Well, that was quick. Found her.”

I was worried that something might have happened to her. I quickly headed toward the alley indicated by my detection.

“Are you cosplaying? I know a great place. Want to come with us?”

Just before entering the alley, I heard a man’s voice with a thick accent.

Cosplay? Sounds like Liliana.

I discreetly extended my face to peek into the alley.

Smack!

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

Liliana fiercely swatted away the hand of that tattooed pig-like man who was trying to grab her. At a glance, it was evident that he was harassing her.

“What?! Just because you’re a woman, don’t think I won’t hurt you.”

The pig raised his fist, seemingly offended.

No, what the heck is that bastard trying to do to my summon?!

I was about to rush to Liliana’s aid, infuriated at the thought of her getting hurt.

“You lowly humans are so cocky, huh?”

But I decided to observe the situation a bit more when I heard her confident words. As Liliana’s mana emanated from her body, the tattooed pig froze in place.

Oh, is that succubus magic? Could that be helpful? Succubi known for their charm magic after all.

Within me, my evaluation of Liliana increased by one point.

But isn’t she in a weaker state than me? Charm magic should be quite advanced magic.

As soon as I had that doubt, the tattooed pig’s body started moving again.

“What’s happening? I don’t remember a thing.”

“What the fuck did this crazy woman do? Even I’m an awakened one, you know?”

One of his cronies behind him made an extra remark. The tattooed pig may be a jerk, but he seemed to have abilities given his reaction to the movement of mana.

This is not good.

As Liliana’s mana was depleted, the charm effect wore off. Seeing her bewildered expression, it seemed she didn’t know that she had entered a contract that made her weaker than me, her contractor.

I need to keep the contract a secret.

Liliana sat down with a disheartened expression, and the man approached her.

“Should I intervene now?”

But I came up with a good idea.

I wonder how many hits from could a succubus withstand.

The contract stated that she had to receive injuries or impairments equivalent to death in order to trigger the article, so no worries. It was unlikely to be fatal anyway.

The amount of mana that guy possessed was pathetic. He was just a beginner who had just awaken and could use a little mana. Ordinary people might be fooled by that, but not me, a Victoria Academy student.

But, would Liliana’s life be threatened by a few blows from such a weakling? Hell no! So I decided to observe the situation.

It was an opportunity to understand Liliana’s personality, and she would be even more grateful if I rescued her in a dire situation.

“Charm…!”

“Shut your trap!”

“Aaah!”

The man grabbed Liliana’s hair and yanked her head.

Oh, she looks like she’s in pain.

“It hurts… it hurts! Sniff…”

Tears welled up in Liliana’s eyes.

Is it time?

“Get up, you bitch!”

The tattooed pig was trying to drag Liliana somewhere, still holding onto her hair.

Okay, that’s enough. Liliana is mine. Do you know how much she’s worth?!

“Hey bastards, you dare lay a hand on my summon?!”

I cursed them sharply as I entered the alley. The tattooed pig was taken aback by the sudden voice, but when he saw my face, he regained his arrogance.

“What’s with this brat? We’re busy right now. Get lost, otherwise…”

How clueless do they have to be not to recognize a student from Victoria Academy, even in this uniform?

The tattooed pig was still holding onto Liliana’s hair.

“Please, help me…! I’ll even apologize for calling you a beggar! Please!”

Liliana looked at me, crying as she pleaded for help.

She changed her tune, huh? Now she’s expecting me to save her?

Her expression had improved significantly. She looked much better than before. Earlier, she had a defiant expression, but now, her teary-eyed look was adorable.

Could it be that I have a slightly sadistic personality?

I decided to intervene while the tattooed pig still held Liliana’s hair and started pulling my mana.

“W-What? You, you little brat. What kind of magic is that?!”

“Well, it’s nothing special. You’ll find out soon.”

Whoosh!

“Aaaaargh!”

The fireball that formed in my hand struck the tattooed pig’s right arm, and he lost strength, letting go of Liliana’s hair, which fell to the ground.

Thud!

“Huh…?”

“Aah! Help! My arm!”

“You okay?! Damn it! That brat!”

“…”

Liliana lay motionless on the ground, seemingly unconscious. The tattooed pig was grabbing his burning right arm and making a fuss.

“R-Run!”

I threw a few more fireballs specifically at the tattooed pig, whose body was on fire. He screamed in pain and ran away.

His arm was already burnt beyond recovery, and whether he lived or died wasn’t my concern.

“Sigh…”

I gently lifted Liliana, who still unconscious, onto my shoulder and headed back to the dormitory.

***

Miraculously, on our way back to the dorm, we didn’t run into anyone.

“Sob… sniff…”

But the moment we stepped inside, Liliana snapped out of her daze, burying her face in her knees, and the waterworks continued.

“Sniff… Sorry… Sniff… I want my mom…”

“Ugh, spare me.”

It’s the same old story with these troublemakers. They only come to their senses once the mess has settled in. By then, it’s already too late.

I was getting hungry. I had ordered two servings of chicken and waited for it to arrive. Not sure if she’d eat or not, but just to be safe, I ordered two.

My wallet seemed pretty relaxed for now, but with her in the picture, I’m not so sure anymore. Dammit.

Ding-dong.

The bell rang, and the chicken was delivered to the doorstep.

“Hiks… sniff… sniff…”

Leaving Liliana to her own devices, I set the chicken on the table.

“Hey, why don’t you eat something?”

“Sniff… Huff, huff…”

When Liliana finally raised her head from her knees, her eyes were all red, and she continued to sniffle.

To think she had been crying just moments ago, and now she recovered so quickly. The resilience was quite impressive.

“What’s that delicious smell?”

“You’re unbelievable…”

Liliana wiped her tears and looked at the table.

“I’m your contractor, remember? I can provide you a meal or two. Let’s eat together.”

“Yes… I understand.”

Why the sudden shift to polite language?

Liliana sat at the table, blinking her eyes at me.

Obviously, she wanted to eat, but she seemed clueless about the whole dining thing. Thank goodness I ordered boneless chicken – I really don’t want to explain how to deal with chicken bones.

“Go ahead, just stuff it in your mouth and chew. Easy, right?”

As a demonstration, I took a bite of chicken. I was a bit worried she might not know how to use chopsticks, but apparently, they existed even in Hell.

“Mmm, delicious! Who would’ve thought I’d feast on such delicacies? Are you truly of royal descent?”

“Royal descent…?”

What is she even on about?

“Apologies, but what exactly is this delightful food called?”

“Ah, this is called chicken.”

“Chi-chicken!”

“Also, quit being so stiff. Just talk casually like you did before.”

“Yes, uh, yes! No, wait, yeah.”

“What strange misconceptions are running wild in your head? I’m just an ordinary contractor, not some noble. And there’s no need to hoard the chicken; no one’s gonna steal it from you.”

“Uh, okay. Got it. You’re a good person.”

Liliana loaded up her plate with ten pieces of chicken meat. Thankfully, after a good meal, she seemed to calm down a bit.

Now, perhaps we can have a proper chat?

“I still don’t know much about succubi. Tell me more about yourself. We’re gonna be living together from now on, after all.”

“Uh, sure.”

And so, the conversation with the perpetually lazy succubus began.

***

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