Chapter 277

Chapter 277

By the way, if Lilith was captured, how did she get caught? The demons didn’t know yet that Lilith had defected to the human side. Even among humans, only a select few knew, so that says it all.

Although I had encountered many demons with her during that time, they had all become beings who could no longer speak, so there was no risk of being discovered. At least among living demons, there was someone who might have figured out Lilith’s identity…

Ah!

As I thought about it carefully, there was one person who realized Lilith was on the human side. A succubus who recognized Lilith and spoke to her a few days ago when we were crossing the first fortress.

At that time, I had only silenced her with a threat to escape the immediate situation, but it seems she immediately spread rumors as soon as she realized we had left. I had expected it, but she’s incredibly infuriating. I should visit her later if I have time after conquering the Demon King.

Of course, it’s all just my speculation, but the situation is roughly sorted out. Since there’s no need to act separately, I headed towards the city, holding Presia in one hand. Still, since it was a city located deeper within the demon territory, the security wasn’t as strict as the first fortress we passed through.

I slid past the gatekeeper as if gliding, without making a sound, but the gatekeeper was too busy yawning to even notice my presence. It was too easy.

Infiltrating the city was simple, but the next part was the problem. There was no clue about Lilith’s disappearance. We couldn’t possibly search every single alley in the vast city. First, I decided to visit the shops that Lilith was expected to visit for her errands.

The problem is that I don’t even know which shops she visited. Even if she went to a grocery store to buy food, there’s no way there’s only one grocery store in the city. It was impossible to guess which of the many shops Lilith visited.

In the end, even though it was somewhat risky, I had no choice but to approach them and ask, even if it meant exposing our presence. If I pull the hood of the robe I’m wearing over my face to cover half of it, and minimize my presence as much as possible like when I’m stealthy, at least they won’t realize I’m human.

“Has a pink-haired succubus been here recently?”

“It seems like she might have been… or maybe not…”

Of course, they didn’t answer easily. Many shopkeepers were playing coy, only answering after I bought something. As a result, the luggage grew, and I ended up buying all the items that I had originally asked Lilith to buy.

It was better when they openly prompted me to buy something.

“It’s not difficult to tell you… but why are you looking for her?”

“What else would it be if we’re looking for a succubus? We’re going to catch the bitch who ran off after cheating.”

Some shopkeepers directly asked what was going on, and I had no choice but to explain the reason to get an answer. But I couldn’t reveal the real reason. So, to give a plausible excuse, I had to lie.

In the first place, I don’t have a lover who would cheat on me, but I put on a passionate performance, clenching my fists and trembling as if I were going to beat up the succubus who had truly run off with my lover.

“Tsk, tsk… You picked the wrong person to mess with. Honestly, succubi like that give women a bad name.”

Well, I only said a pink-haired succubus, and they wouldn’t know it was Lilith, so it should be fine. Even if Lilith’s identity were revealed and her reputation plummeted… what could I do? I wasn’t lying with malicious intent; it was a white lie for the purpose of saving her, so I’m sure she’ll understand.

And besides, she had long since turned her back on the demons and defected to the human side. So, even if her reputation among demons worsened a bit, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

“Wait here for a moment. My husband is watching the shop at lunchtime, so I’ll ask him and come back.”

Whether they are demons or humans, are all middle-aged women the same? The grocery store owner was even more enthusiastic than I asked, as if it were her own business. If I had told a normal, uninteresting lie, she wouldn’t have reacted like this.

“Ah, speaking of which, a succubus did come by earlier today. She was buying mostly preserved food, as if she were planning a trip. Now I see she was running away after being caught cheating. No wonder she kept looking around nervously.”

Lilith was probably just looking around nervously because she was worried about being recognized, but there was no need to correct her.

In any case, thanks to my wit, I was able to find Lilith’s trace not long after.

“Go straight that way, and at the second alley, turn right. There’s a general store right in front. When she asked me to recommend a shop, I told her about one I know, so if you ask there, they’ll probably know.”

“Thank you.”

“Instead of thanking me, hurry up and chase her and beat her up so she can’t do that again. You can even pull out all her hair.”

I left the grocery store owner, who was huffing and puffing as if it were her own business, and began to follow Lilith’s trace, which I had finally caught. On the way, she even bought some street food from a vendor, so I continued the pursuit with Presia, each of us holding a lollipop.

The place I arrived at after asking around was an unexpected location.

The ones who captured Lilith were none other than the Demon King’s army. Among them were some high-ranking executives. I hid and observed, wondering if they were trying to make an example of a traitor, but it didn’t seem like it from the atmosphere.

“Yes! Guard meticulously so she can’t escape! Hey, you! Go fetch Lilith-nim’s favorite snacks!”

Instead of persecuting Lilith, who was locked up, they were even attending to her, as if worried she might be uncomfortable. The guards were so tightly stationed that even I couldn’t guarantee infiltration without being discovered.

But we had Presia. Presia, who looked like an ordinary cat on the outside. While she couldn’t hide her body like me, she could easily dismiss the guards’ suspicions in her cat form.

“Boss! It’s your time to shine, Boss! Please do your best.”

Presia, wagging her tail as if to say not to worry, leaped towards the room where Lilith was imprisoned. The demons on guard noticed the cat and briefly turned their attention, but they were guarding so diligently that they didn’t have the leisure to pay attention to a cat.

Thanks to that, Presia entered without any resistance, slipping through the window frame without a drop of blood.

How much time had passed? Presia returned safely, looking as relaxed as when she entered, as if they had finished their conversation.

“What happened?”

“Meow.”

Presia, in her cat form, let out a cat’s meow. Normally, I wouldn’t understand, but as I was bound by contract with her, I had no problem communicating with her in her cat form.

“This is unexpected.”

After hearing her explanation, it was truly an unexpected situation. It wasn’t wrong to think that Lilith was caught because her identity was revealed. However, the unexpected part was the reason she was captured.

I thought that the succubus I met in the first city had caused Lilith to be captured by exposing our relationship. But that wasn’t it.

Lilith was a well-known Succubus Queen even among demons. In particular, even though she didn’t want to, she was adored by demons who called themselves her fan club and eventually became a Heavenly King. That means she had many subordinates who followed her.

However, Lilith, who had no intention of doing any work, ran away from them and went into hiding. Naturally, her subordinates were in a frenzy when their trusted superior suddenly disappeared overnight.

While searching for her with fiery eyes, she happened to be spotted by them in the city today. From their perspective, they were bringing Lilith back, but from Lilith’s perspective, who didn’t want it, it was a bolt from the blue.

They weren’t just a fan club; they were stalker fans.

After hearing the explanation, although we had avoided the worst-case scenario, the situation was still not good.

Given that Lilith had abandoned them and fled several times before, the Demon King’s army would never let Lilith go. The result was the fierce security situation we saw before us.

How could we safely get Lilith out? After racking our brains with Presia and Bunny, we came up with a plan.

“Let’s try this.”