Episode 34. Contract (4)

“Huh? No, come here. You look even hotter up close?”

“Are you cosplaying or something? We know a great place, wanna come?”

The ogre man spat out vulgar words as he grabbed Liliana’s left arm.

Pak!

“Y-you, you fucking bastard. You dare touch my body?”

Liliana flinched, startled by the dirty, sordid sensation on her arm, and slapped his hand away.

“Aish, you hit me? You bitch, I went easy on you ’cause you’re a girl, but you wanna die?”

The man, hit by Liliana’s fist, got angry and raised his own fist to strike her.

“Seriously. How dare you, a mere human…!”

Humans, as far as Liliana knew, were not beings with great physical strength.

Liliana unleashed her magic. It wasn’t like she was unable to use magic and had been a spinster for 50 years.

Though she hadn’t used this power in decades, her skills were completely unrusty as she enchanted the men before her.

The ogre man’s eyes glazed over, and it seemed the enchantment was succeeding.

“Hmph, horny bastards are all the same.”

However, moments later, Liliana’s mana was completely depleted, and the men’s enchantment broke.

“Huh! What the? I lost my memory for a second there.”

“Did this crazy bitch do something? I’m an Awakened, you know?”

One man approached, gathering mana in his hand.

“Wh-why…?”

Thud-

A sudden feeling of exhaustion and powerlessness washed over her.

Liliana slumped to the floor like a deflated balloon. She tried to summon her mana, but nothing manifested.

Liliana hadn’t read the contract before rushing out, so she had no idea what her situation was.

Enchantment magic, even at a low level, is fundamentally an intermediate-tier spell.

Liliana, who was supposed to remain weaker than her contractor, Lee Hoyeon, wasn’t strong enough to maintain an intermediate-tier spell for long.

“E-enchant…!”

“Enchant my ass!”

“Aargh!”

The man’s hand grabbed Liliana’s head as she knelt and roughly yanked it back.

“Hey, hey. Go easy. It’ll look ugly if you leave scars.”

“You dumbass. It’s a good thing I’m an Awakened. This chick’s an Awakened, you know?”

“It hurts… It hurts! Sniffle….”

The harder Liliana moaned, the tighter the hand gripping her hair squeezed.

Ah, this is real hell.

Tears welled up in Liliana’s eyes.

Liliana still couldn’t believe her situation.

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

Various thoughts raced through her mind.

I should have listened to Mom, why did I do this?

Is the guild running okay without me?

I should have just listened to that contractor guy….

“Get up. You bitch.”

The man pulled Liliana’s head upward with the hand still gripping her hair.

As a result, tears streamed down Liliana’s cheeks, tracing her jawline before falling to the floor.

She wished anyone would come and save her.

“You bastards, you’re hurting my summon?”

Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

The beautiful voice she’d heard when she first arrived in the human world.

She glanced up to see her handsome contractor standing there.

“That’s a priceless, no. That’s such a precious summon!”

Liliana realized how much she had missed that handsome face.

*

“How far did you run?”

I came out to the shopping district to find Liliana, but it was too vast to search for just one woman.

In the end, I resorted to questioning passersby one by one, conducting an investigation.

“Excuse me, did a woman dressed as a Succubus pass by here?”

“I can cosplay as a Succubus for you too, if you’re interested in me….”

“Sorry.”

I decided not to ask women anymore.

“Excuse me, did a woman dressed as a Succubus pass by this area?”

“Uh, I think I saw her. About five minutes ago, there was a woman running past, screaming her head off.”

Oh, lucky me.

After asking about three times, I finally got a witness account from a man selling bungeoppang.

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

“That’s enough. Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Is she your girlfriend? That’s quite a peculiar hobby.”

“….”

Wasting time on excuses was pointless, so I ran towards the center of the shopping district.

“Where did she go from here?”

Even in the center, there were too many connecting paths, making it hard to find her.

If it was just five minutes ago, she couldn’t have gone too far…

Just in case, I spread out my mana detection.

With my mana control, I could sense things within about 500 meters.

“Huh?”

Less than 10 meters to my right, I sensed Liliana’s mana, the same one I’d felt earlier.

“What the. Found her already.”

I was worried something might happen, so I’m glad.

I quickly headed towards the alley indicated by the detection.

“Are you cosplaying or something? We know a great place, wanna come?”

Just before entering the alley, I heard the voice of a man thick with fat.

Cosplay? Sounds like it’s about Liliana.

I peeked my head in to steal a glance down the alley.

“Y-you, you fucking bastard. You dare touch my body?”

Pak!

Liliana slapped the hand of the tattooed pig holding her arm.

From what I could see, that tattooed pig seemed to be hitting on Liliana.

“Aish, you hit me? You bitch, I went easy on you ’cause you’re a girl, but you wanna die?”

The tattooed pig, perhaps offended, raised his fist.

Wait, what is that guy trying to do to my summon?

I didn’t want Liliana getting hurt, so I prepared to rush in.

“Seriously. How dare you, a mere human…!”

But Liliana’s confident words made me pause and observe the situation a little longer.

Mana emanated from Liliana’s body, and the tattooed pig froze completely.

‘Oh, is that Succubus magic?’

That might be useful? Don’t Succubi have enchantment magic or something?

Liliana’s evaluation score within me increased by one point.

‘But isn’t Liliana supposed to be weaker than me? Enchantment is quite a high-level spell.’

As soon as the question arose, the tattooed pig started moving again.

“Huh! What the? I lost my memory for a second there.”

“Did this crazy bitch do something? I’m an Awakened, you know?”

Tattooed Pig #2, standing behind, made a typical extra’s remark.

Tattooed Pig #1 might be a weakling, but he seemed to have sensed the mana movement, being an Awakened.

Damn.

Liliana’s mana faded, and the enchantment broke.

Judging by her panicked expression, Liliana seemed unaware of the contract that bound her to be weaker than her contractor.

I knew I should have hidden the contract.

Liliana collapsed onto the ground looking utterly bewildered, and the man approached her.

‘Should I step in now?’

Hmm. But, a good idea occurred to me.

Would a demonic Succubus die from taking a few hits?

No matter how I thought about it, that seemed unlikely.

The contract clearly stated she would die or suffer equivalent incapacitation.

That guy’s mana level was pathetic.

He was just an Awakened who could barely use a little mana, a beginner.

While that might fool ordinary people, it couldn’t fool me, an Academy student.

So, would taking a few hits from such a beginner pose a threat to Liliana’s life?

Impossible.

So, I decided to wait and see.

It was a chance to gauge Liliana’s personality, and besides, she’d be more grateful if I saved her when things got worse.

“E-enchant…!”

“Enchant my ass!”

“Aargh!”

The man grabbed Liliana’s head and yanked it back.

‘Ouch, that looks painful.’

“It hurts… It hurts! Sniffle….”

Tears welled up in Liliana’s eyes.

Maybe it’s about time for me to step in?

“Get up. You bitch.”

Tattooed Pig #3 grabbed Liliana by the hair and tried to drag her somewhere.

No way. Liliana is mine. Do you know how valuable she is, punk?

“You bastards, you’re hurting my summon?”

I burst into the alley, leading with a string of curses.

The tattooed pigs were startled by the sudden voice, but seeing my face, they regained their confidence.

“What’s this brat? We’re busy right now, so piss off while you’re still able to.”

How pathetic are these guys if they can’t even recognize a Victoria Academy student uniform?

The tattooed pig was still holding Liliana’s hair.

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

Liliana made eye contact with me and cried out for help.

She used informal speech earlier, but now it’s formal? Guess it’s because I’m saving her later.

Her expression also improved significantly. She had a rude look before, but now she looked cute, whimpering.

Am I maybe a bit of an S-type?

First, I focused on the tattooed pig holding Liliana’s hair and summoned my mana.

“W-wha? Kid, what kind of magic is that?!”

“What do you think it is, bastard? You’ll find out when you get hit.”

Fwoosh-!

“Aargh!”

The fireball generated instantly from my hand struck the tattooed pig’s right arm. Losing his grip due to the sudden force, Liliana’s head slammed directly onto the floor.

Thump!

“Huh…?”

“Aaaargh! M-my arm!”

“A-are you okay?! Damn it! That bastard!”

“….”

Liliana seemed to have fainted, motionless with her head embedded in the concrete floor.

The tattooed pigs were writhing in agony, clutching their burning right arm.

“Get lost, you bastards.”

I threw a few more fireballs at the tattooed pigs. Engulfed in flames, they fled, screaming like pigs being slaughtered.

Their arms were burned beyond recovery, and whether they died from the fire was none of my business.

“Haa.”

Still motionless, I slung Liliana over my shoulder and headed back to the dormitory.

*

By sheer luck, I didn’t run into anyone on the way back to the dormitory.

“Sob. Gasp.”

Liliana came to soon after we got back to the dorm, burying her face in her knees, still in that state.

“Sob. Gasp. Mom. I miss youuu.”

“Sigh.”

Troublemakers always come to their senses after causing trouble. By then, it’s already too late.

I was hungry too, so I ordered two chickens and waited.

I didn’t know if she’d eat, but since my wallet was feeling generous, I ordered two just in case.

Come to think of it, thanks to this bitch, my wallet isn’t so generous anymore. Fuck.

Ding-dong-

When the bell rang, I opened the door to find the chicken delivery.

“Sob. Sniffle. Sob sob.”

Leaving Liliana still crying, I set the chicken on the dining table.

“Hey, just eat.”

“Sob sob… Sniffle sniffle.”

Liliana lifted her head from her knees, her eyes red as she sniffled.

Gulp.

Her recovery was unbelievable for someone who was just crying.

“What’s that smell?”

“…I’m speechless.

Liliana looked at the table, tears still flowing.

“I’m your contractor, so I can provide meals. Let’s eat together.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Why is she speaking formally?

Liliana sat down at the table, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

She clearly wanted to eat but seemed unsure how.

Good thing I ordered boneless. Teaching her how to eat around bones would have been a hassle.

“Here, just put it in your mouth and chew. Easy, right?”

I took a bite of chicken myself as a demonstration.

Chicken is always right.

I worried she might not know how to use chopsticks, but apparently, they have chopsticks even in the Underworld.

“I-it’s delicious! To eat food like this, are you royalty…?”

“Royalty…?”

What kind of bullshit is this?

“W-what kind of food is this?”

“Ah, this is called chicken.”

“Ch-chicken!”

“And stop being awkward, speak informally like you were.”

“Y-yes! No. Uh-huh.”

“I don’t know what strange misunderstandings you have, but I’m just a normal contractor. Treat me comfortably. And I won’t steal your food, so don’t move the chicken to your plate.”

“Uh-huh, okay. You’re a nice person.”

Liliana piled up about 10 pieces of chicken in front of herself.

Thankfully, she seemed a bit calmer after eating. Maybe now we can have a proper conversation?

“I don’t know much about Succubi yet, so how about you tell me about yourself? We’ll be living together from now on, right?”

“Uh, uh-huh.”

And so began the tale of the Succubus, a master weaver of webs.