Ch.263Side Story: Elder Lich? – 2

“Fortunately, one doesn’t actually die from embarrassment.”

“You should have called more people to watch. It might have been different with a larger audience.”

“I can’t really imagine a more embarrassed expression than that.”

“What an unfortunate situation.”

Erestica smiled meltingly as she lifted me onto her lap.

I obediently followed her wishes. I felt something soft against the back of my head, and soon my entire head was nestled in a valley. Her enormous breasts enveloped my head, nearly burying it.

“I don’t know who this is, but judging by how she acts like a succubus, she must have some of their blood mixed in.”

“……”

Erestica openly mocked the Elder Lich, clearly intending for her to hear. On the smartphone, a video of the Elder Lich acting cutesy was playing.

It was a video of her with both hands on her head, looking mortified, making “boing boing” sounds with her mouth, wiggling her hands enthusiastically, and swaying her hips from side to side in rhythm.

She knew what we were watching. After all, I was the one who recorded it. The Elder Lich had literally tried to die from embarrassment, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

“This video is too good to keep to ourselves. Why don’t we watch it together?”

“Why not? Come over here.”

“Ugh… ungh……”

The Elder Lich approached us with a stiff body, moving creakily.

I turned up the volume. With perfect timing, the Elder Lich on screen began acting coquettishly.

—Boing boing~ I’m Master’s bunny Aronia~! Aronia is…

“AAAAAAHHH! AAAHHH! AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Screams immediately erupted. I figured that was probably enough. I turned off the smartphone. The Elder Lich looked on the verge of tears, but because I had ordered her not to cry, she could only twitch the corners of her mouth.

“You really do have talent as a succubus, don’t you?”

“I think even succubi would find this embarrassing, wouldn’t they?”

Of course, that wouldn’t be the case. A succubus wouldn’t find acting cutesy embarrassing, though they might draw the line at wearing modest clothing.

“Kuk… kuk… heuik……”

The Elder Lich was now half-sobbing. Still, every time she asked me to kill her, I made her act cutesy, saying I’d let her die from embarrassment—which stopped her from asking further.

“To… to enjoy seeing me like this… you perverted bastard—”

“I didn’t enjoy it at all. I’m doing this because I have no intention of treating you nicely.”

I meant it. No matter how exceptional her appearance might be—enough to warrant sarcastic comments about using her as a succubus—she was still a Demon Lord’s Army Commander. One who had once caused mass slaughter.

The reason I kept her alive was because simply killing her seemed too lenient. Otherwise, I would have killed her on the spot where her mind broke, regardless of any biological experiments.

“Child, so how can I help you?”

Erestica stroked my head and wrapped her remaining arm around me, hugging me tightly. Her attitude suggested she had already crossed a line and had nothing more to hold back.

“I need a pretext to allow that one to move around the academy. What would you suggest?”

“As it happens, the White Tower Master sent some things along. Take a look.”

Documents from the desk floated up and flew toward us.

“Human target… that’s a good option, but I’ll put it on hold since we can’t let her die.”

“Do as you wish, child.”

Naturally, the scene shifted to one where Erestica, the chairwoman, stepped back and I, the student, took control with her permission, but neither of us commented on this point.

Rather, Erestica was squeezing me with her entire body, hugging me tightly as if she found me irresistibly cute sitting on her lap looking through the documents.

You know how three or four-year-old children hug their dolls with all their might? That exact same thing was happening behind me.

“Maid, pass. Pet, pass. Cleaning duty? What’s this? Street tree…? Seems like they got tired of writing suggestions.”

“I’ll pass that along.”

As each option provided by the White Tower Master was mentioned, the Elder Lich’s face grew increasingly pale. There wasn’t a single normal option among them.

I was also deliberately speaking loudly so she could hear.

“This is the last one. If there’s nothing good, I guess we’ll go with human target after all… Wait, personal slave to the Saint?”

I paused at the final words. This option had a brief explanation attached.

It suggested announcing that this demon was the former 5th Commander of the Demon Lord’s Army, Elder Lich, and declaring the Empire’s victory by making her the Saint’s personal slave.

If she stayed with the Saint, students wouldn’t feel anxious, and since the Saint currently had only one attendant, this would also address concerns about the church’s prestige—killing two birds with one stone.

‘This seems pretty good.’

In truth, I didn’t really need a personal slave. Rosaria wasn’t a psychopath who tortured her subordinates for pleasure like in the original story.

But that was just the opinion of us who had possessed these bodies—to the people of this world, it was different. There had been persistent suggestions that the Saint needed more attendants, though they had all been rejected.

So keeping a former Demon Lord’s Army Commander by her side for the purpose of rehabilitation seemed reasonable. As stated in the document, it could both enhance the Saint’s prestige and boost people’s morale.

“A personal slave to the Saint—that sounds quite good. Though I’m not sure if that child needs a slave.”

Erestica seemed to like the idea as well.

“It’s fine since we’re not getting one out of necessity. If we really need to give her something to do, maybe cleaning the club room…?”

I nodded but then froze. The hand that had been stroking my head gradually moved lower until it was touching between my legs.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m responding to the child’s desires. Hehe, if there’s something to make a slave do, it’s already decided—ah!”

I forcibly removed the hand that was about to grab my lower body and made it wrap around my waist instead. I didn’t intend to remove it completely, but I wasn’t planning to let things progress further either.

“How disappointing.”

“Not at all.”

“……”

The Elder Lich watched us with eyes full of astonishment.

“Human, you… were you in that kind of relationship with the Black Dragon?”

“Indeed we are.”

Erestica answered before I could. A seductive laugh echoed.

“We’ve already shared plenty of intimacy. Why, are you jealous? If so, give up. He’s not someone the likes of you can set your sights on.”

“What nonsense you spout. It just explains why you had that human on your back when you came to capture me. How absurd that a dragon would fall for a mere human.”

“…You should watch your tongue, little one. I’ll overlook what you say about me out of generosity, but I won’t let it slide if you touch the child.”

The voice dripping with honey instantly turned murderous. A sneer appeared at the corner of the Elder Lich’s mouth.

“And what will you do if you don’t let it slide? Ah, I understand. Judging by your temper, you must be sexually frustrated. A big, fat body like yours couldn’t possibly be satisfied by such a frail human’s genitals—”

“Let’s calm down.”

I quickly grabbed Erestica’s thigh to stop her before she could rise. Her vertically slit yellow pupils flashed dangerously, emitting a yellow glow.

“You expect me to remain calm while that inferior creature insults the child? I’ll just teach her some manners. I won’t kill her, so don’t worry.”

“I feel the same way. I have no intention of tolerating insults toward you, Erestica. But isn’t there a better way than resorting to violence?”

The Elder Lich bit her lip nervously. She seemed to have guessed what I meant by “a better way than violence.”

“Apologize to Erestica in the way you find most humiliating, and continue begging until she personally tells you she’s satisfied, also in the way you find most humiliating.”

“Kuh, ugh…! I… won’t…! Can’t… bear… this…!”

My hand gripping her waistband tightened. The Elder Lich’s body trembled. She seemed to be trying to resist the command somehow.

But her resistance attempt didn’t last more than three seconds before she fell to her knees. The Elder Lich put both hands in front of her forehead and slowly bent her waist. It was what’s commonly known as a dogeza position.

Though not naked, at least.

“I, I, a mere undead fool who is nothing but decaying waste product, deeply apologize for insulting the ruler of the world, a living being… P-please forgive this rotting flesh that is merely a pile of decayed corpse…”

‘Ah, so that’s what she considers most humiliating.’

It seems that as a former Elder Lich, she thinks the most humiliating thing is to disparage the undead. It’s ridiculous, but if that’s what she considers most humiliating, what can we do?

“What will you do, Erestica? Will you forgive her?”

I asked while resting my head against her chest. Erestica hugged me tightly.

“I don’t feel her sincerity enough to forgive her. It seems difficult.”

“Did you hear that? Continue until she feels your sincerity.”

“Kuk… just kill me…”

She already proved herself that one doesn’t die from embarrassment, so I don’t know what she’s talking about.

“So that’s what happened. Lucky you, getting a new slave and all.”

“Huh? Eh? Is that so?”

Rosaria looked at the Elder Lich kneeling beside her with a dumbfounded expression. Laura, who had been looking uncomfortable since she first came in, spoke up.

“Another woman?”

“It’s not a woman.”

“If it’s not a woman, does that mean with this appearance, it’s a man?”

“Don’t say weird things. Remember I told you before that I caught an Elder Lich and gave it to the Mages’ Association for experiments? This is that one.”

“The word ‘succubus’ seems more fitting than ‘undead.'”

“……”

The Elder Lich trembled but couldn’t do anything more.

“But even if it’s a slave… I don’t really have any use for one?”

“It’s just nominal, so it’s fine. You just need to keep her by your side. Even just doing that will make people happy about the Saint subjugating a Demon Lord’s Army Commander.”

“Hasn’t the Demon Lord already been defeated?”

“People don’t know that yet. Even the news about the Succubus Queen proposing an alliance is only spreading through rumors.”

Speaking of which, I wonder what Nika is doing right now. She still hasn’t returned, which is starting to worry me.

“Alright, I understand. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I’ll try. It’s perfect timing since I needed a test subject anyway.”

“Test subject? What kind of test subject?”

At my question, Rosaria closed her mouth with an “oops” expression. Judging by Laura and Priscilla’s contemptuous looks, it seems related to them.

“It’s fine. Feel free to do whatever strange things you want.”

“…Wouldn’t you normally say not to do that?”

“Not really? I don’t care what happens to her. And the more humiliating things you make her do, the more people will like it, right? She was a Demon Lord’s Army Commander after all.”

“Hmm… I guess so.”

While we were deliberating, Priscilla, who had approached the Elder Lich and was poking at the blue inscriptions carved all over her face, spoke up.

“Is this the annihilation magic you mentioned?”

“That’s right. They told me to activate it if something happens and it looks like students or the academy might be harmed.”

The Elder Lich’s eyes flashed.

“Though she can’t do anything anyway, and I won’t let her.”

The flashing eyes dimmed again. Latina examined the body from various angles and tilted her head.

“How does she only listen to Mira? Is there a special method?”

“There is. Wait, I’ll show you.”

“Wait—”

As soon as I pressed the switch, the Elder Lich froze stiffly like an unplugged electronic device. A short exclamation of “Oh” escaped from Latina’s lips.

“In this state, if you reawaken her surface consciousness and fully activate her with the trigger word, she’ll only follow orders from the person who said it… Why are you looking at me like that?”

The four of them were staring at me intently.

“That kind of concept isn’t bad—”

“That’s enough.”

I wonder what she was about to say.