S-Rank Half-Demon Summon Liriz Is Too Cute and Smart

In the quiet of my room, I had dismissed every summon and let myself sink into thought.

I needed to sort out what I had to do next and which direction I was actually heading.

First, my current ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠situation.

I knew it already. Right now, things were going genuinely well for me.

I had gained an EX-rank ability, and with it an entirely new chance.

Even so, despite holding the highest and only rank of its kind, I still had no direct combat power of my own.

That meant I had to become something like a hidden mastermind.

If I simply kept my mouth shut and stopped acting like an idiot, the odds of anyone finding out would drop sharply.

There would come a day when I had to step into the light, but that day was not today.

What I needed to do today was obvious: secure more funds and more summons.

I already had enough money for the moment, but if I wanted to keep creating summons, I would need better materials.

At the same time, I needed to get out of this studio apartment and sign a lease on a larger place with a proper office.

Some people might think I could just keep the summons dismissed and leave it at that, but I intended to treat them like people.

They trusted me completely and followed me without hesitation; I owed them that same trust in return.

I planned to treat my summons not as mere subordinates, but as comrades.

I looked around the studio that was already too big for one person.

I had only signed the lease a few days ago, and already I had three summons.

Starting today, I intended to increase their numbers as much as possible.

Above all, I needed to create a beast-human partner for Luna first.

Same species got along well, of course, but the party bonus buffs were nothing to sneeze at either.

And, more than anything, it would help soothe the heart of Luna, my very first summon.

So my habit of putting the people who followed me first hadn’t been wrong after all?

As the ability leveled up, a new skill had unlocked.

It was completely new to me, yet the moment the status window appeared the information poured in as if I had been using it every day of my life.

So this is what they meant when they said the stronger you get, the more skills unlock, and you can use them right away?

That strange experience every ability user talked about—I finally understood the feeling for myself.

Filled with quiet joy, I decided to test the skill at once.

I chose not the two summons who had gone to the black market with me, but the newly created Liriz.

Those two deserved a little more rest. Right now, only Liriz—with her high intelligence and natural scheming streak—would be enough.

The moment I activated the skill, a translucent window appeared.

Inside the frame, against a dark background, Liriz stood as if on display, staring straight ahead.

The instant our eyes met, her face lit up with pure delight.

"Papa~ Did Papa come to see Liriz himself?"

"Of course. I wanted to talk with you. Is that okay?"

"Talk with Papa? Liriz loves that!"

The words had barely left her mouth before she suddenly leapt out of the translucent window.

A second later the half-demon Liriz stood right in front of me and threw her arms around me without the slightest hesitation.

"Papa~ Papa is the best!"

She was too cute.

Her voice, her Gothic Lolita look, every little movement—everything about her was adorable.

Without thinking, my hand rose to stroke her twin tails.

After spoiling her for a long while, I finally got down to the real conversation.

From the moment she appeared, Liriz had already known I was wrestling with thoughts about a guild.

If her quirks listed her as intelligent and scheming… then even with the face of a cute little girl, she was more than qualified for the guild-master seat.

She could easily act as my public face.

And since she was S-rank to begin with, her combat strength needed no discussion.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Papa~ The second Liriz opened her eyes, she read Papa’s thoughts."

"My thoughts?"

"Mhm! Papa wants to fill a guild with summons who trust him! But you can’t do that."

She spoke her mind with absolute firmness.

Of course, even that stern expression was still ridiculously cute—that was the trap.

If I snapped a photo and posted it to the Hunter Gallery right now, I was confident it would rocket straight to the top posts.

"Hmm. I’d like to hear more of your thoughts."

This was an S-rank summon trying to give me advice.

Listening first and then judging was smarter than shooting her down on principle.

"Okay! In the end, guilds exist for people who have power. Everything Papa has done so far is the right approach. But the way Liriz sees it, that method only works after you’ve already proven you have power of your own."

"……"

Her words struck me like lightning.

The exact reason I had ended up like this matched her critique perfectly.

If I had possessed even an A-rank ability while leading the guild…

I would still be leading it now.

I would still be living proudly as the youngest son of the Cheonwoo Group and its guild.

"Papa~ Don’t look so sad. The Papa of right now is an ability user no one else can ever catch up to."

I gave her a bitter little smile of acknowledgment, and Liriz immediately looked flustered.

"Liriz believes in Papa! Wolf Unnie and Weird Unnie believe in Papa too."

"Weird? Ah…"

"Weird Unnie" clearly wasn’t Luna. She meant Iris, the one who somehow enjoyed pain.

I still had no idea how a summon with that kind of personality had come out of me, and a small laugh slipped free.

"Then what should Papa do from now on?"

Liriz folded her small hands in front of her.

The atmosphere cooled in an instant, as if she were an interrogating detective.

Only moments ago she had been the little girl endlessly calling me "Papa~."

"Honestly, Papa is kind. You have this idealistic idea of getting along with people and growing together."

"But! A kind person can build a nice guild, sure—yet in the end a guild is still a company, isn’t it?"

That single line sank into my chest with strange weight.

It somehow reminded me of the father who had declared me disowned.

I couldn’t say a word.

Liriz watched my face quietly, then continued.

"Papa thought of everyone like family. That part was right. But people don’t follow someone because they’re family. They follow because there’s profit in it."

My mind went blank for a moment. No counterargument came.

Even so, Liriz kept speaking.

"Papa~ When you were kicked out of the guild… how many people followed you?"

How many times was she going to hit the exact bullseye?

I had nothing to say. No—I simply couldn’t speak.

All that left my mouth was a short sigh.

"…Not even one."

"Mhm! That’s the answer."

Liriz nodded with complete calm.

"Papa trusted those people. I know that. But treating them well and actual leadership are different things. You mixed the two up."

My heart dropped.

No one had ever said this to me before.

My father called me incompetent. My older brother and sister called me baggage.

The guild members simply went their own ways without a word.

But Liriz was different.

She wasn’t rejecting me.

She was explaining why I had failed.

"People move for money and power. For honor and greed. And because the work is dangerous, for safety. Only after those four things are satisfied do you start being kind."

The moment I heard that, every memory from the guild rose one after another.

I had improved their welfare. Covered medical costs.

Provided gear. Treated them like family.

And yet the second I left the guild, every single one of them stayed behind.

More precisely, they had no choice but to stay.

To them the guild was both a job and the foundation of their lives.

They hadn’t betrayed me.

They had simply made the more realistic choice.

"…Ha."

A bitter laugh escaped on its own.

I had been far too naïve—or, put more bluntly, my head had been full of flowers.

"I really was pretty green, wasn’t I?"

At those words Liriz hopped down from wherever she had been sitting and climbed onto my lap.

She leaned her back against my chest, nuzzled against me with shameless affection, then tightly took my hand.

"Papa! The way Liriz sees it, you still need people. But don’t go recruiting them yourself. You need to build a guild that people apply to on their own. Right, Papa?"

That was when I truly understood.

Liriz only looked cute on the outside. Inside, she was a summon fully capable of serving as someone’s shadow mastermind.

Did that scare me?

No. If anything, I loved it!

Having a genius little-daughter type of summon like her was both adorable and deeply reassuring.

"And so, Papa~"

Liriz spoke in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a voice dripping with affection.

"I want to know Papa’s past in detail. Everything Liriz knows about you is still only fragments. Okay?"

"So you can teach me what I should do from now on?"

"Mhm! So Papa won’t have to suffer later~ Liriz is going to work hard!"

It might have sounded cheeky, but coming from a half-demon Gothic Lolita who only thought of me, it was just too cute.

To that summon who already saw me as her papa—her dad—I found myself spilling my entire past as if under a spell.

From the moment I was born as the youngest son of Cheonwoo, through the mission laid on my shoulders, all the way to everything that had happened up to now.

I told her the important events, the ones that had left the deepest marks on me.

Liriz listened with such seriousness that for a moment I almost mistook her for an adult.

"Mmm… I see. Papa really had it rough, didn’t you? Right? Right? Yeah?"

After hearing everything, Liriz hugged me tightly and asked.

Even her little demon wings tried to wrap around me, and the sight was so endearing it felt like pure healing.

"From now on Liriz is going to help Papa a lot. So that Papa becomes the center of the world, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Liriz will be the shadow behind everything!"

"Is that so? Just hearing you say it already gives me strength."

"Hehe~ But there’s just one thing that bothers me a little, Papa!"

"What is it?"

Liriz was about to answer with a bright smile when—

Knock knock!

"Are you there, Mr. Kang Geonwoo? I’m really sorry to visit again today! But there’s something I need to tell you!"

That voice belonged to the woman from the Hunter Association—someone already connected to me by fate.

I had no idea why she had come back. Had she somehow discovered my identity?

For now, since I didn’t know, I prepared to dismiss Liriz and open the door.

"In Papa’s country there’s a saying that even a tiger comes when you speak of it, right? And look who just arrived… Kuhuhuhu…!"