Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Contract (4)
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"Huh? Not 'go away', come here. Up close, you're even sleeker."
"Doing cosplay or something? We know a good spot—wanna come with?"
The ogre-like man spat his crude words while grabbing Lilia's left arm.
Smack!
"Y-You fucking bastard! How dare you touch my body?!"
Lilia jolted away from the filthy, repulsive sensation on her arm and slapped his hand off.
"Fuck, you hit me? This bitch thinks I go easy 'cause she's a girl—wanna die?"
The man, struck by Lilia's fist, flew into a rage and raised his own fist to hit her.
"The nerve of you humans...!"
The humans Lilia knew weren't beings of great power.
Lilia unleashed her mana. She wasn't some powerless spinster who'd stayed single for fifty years.
It was a power she hadn't used in decades, but her skill was as sharp as ever, effortlessly charming the men before her.
The ogre-man's eyes glazed over—it looked like the charm had worked.
"Phew, horny bastards are all the same."
But moments later, as Lilia's mana depleted entirely, the men's trance broke.
"Gasp! What the hell? I blacked out for a sec."
"Did this crazy bitch do something? Even I am an awakener, you know?"
One man approached, gathering mana in his hand.
"W-Why...?"
Thud.
A sudden wave of exhaustion and helplessness washed over her.
Lilia collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon. She tried to summon her mana, but nothing came.
Having bolted out without reading the contract, Lilia had no grasp of her situation.
Charm magic was mid-tier at minimum, no matter the level.
As the contractor, Lilia had to remain weaker than Lee Ho-yeon, so she lacked the strength to sustain mid-tier magic for long.
"Ch-Charm!"
"Still yapping about charm?!"
"Aaaagh!"
The man's hand seized Lilia's slumped head and yanked it roughly.
"Hey, easy there. Scars would ruin the view."
"You idiot, if I weren't an awakener myself, this bitch is one too!"
"It hurts... Stop, it hurts... Sob..."
The more Lilia groaned, the tighter the grip on her hair became.
Ah, so this is true hell.
Tears welled up in Lilia's eyes.
She still couldn't believe the situation she was in.
I was just playing a game... How did it come to this?
A flurry of thoughts raced through her mind.
I should've listened to Mom... Why didn't I?
Is engineering club running fine without me?
I should've at least heard out that contractor guy...
"Get up, you bitch."
The man yanked Lilia's head upward by the hair.
Tears streamed down her cheeks from the motion, dripping along her jawline to the floor.
She wished anyone would come save her.
"You fucking assholes, hurting my summon?!"
Then, a familiar voice rang out.
The same youthful tone she'd heard upon first arriving in the human world.
Lifting her head slightly, she saw the handsome contractor standing there.
"Do you know how much that costs—no, how precious my summon is?!"
Lilia realized she'd missed that handsome face more than she knew.
*
"How far did she run?"
I'd come to the shopping district to find Lilia, but it was way too big to search for one girl.
In the end, I had to ask passersby one by one, doing some detective work.
"Excuse me, did a woman in succubus cosplay pass by here?"
"I could do succubus cosplay for you... If I'm okay instead...?"
"Sorry."
Won't ask women anymore.
"Hey, did a woman in succubus cosplay pass through around here?"
"Yeah, I think I saw one. About five minutes ago, screaming bloody murder as she ran."
Oh, lucky break.
Third person I asked, and it was the waffle vendor uncle who saw her.
"Didn't see details, but she bolted toward the central tower."
"That's plenty. Thank you."
"No problem at all. Girlfriend? Weird hobby."
"..."
No time to explain—I sprinted to the central shopping area.
"Which way from here?"
Even the center had paths everywhere; tough to pinpoint.
Five minutes ago—she couldn't have gone far...
Just in case, I spread my mana detection wide.
With my mana control, I could sense up to 500 meters around.
"Hm?"
Less than 10 meters to my right from my position—I felt Lilia's mana signature from before.
"Found her already."
I'd been on edge something might happen, but good thing it didn't.
I hurried toward the alley the detection pointed to.
"Doing cosplay or something? We know a good spot—wanna come with?"
Right before entering, I heard a greasy man's voice.
Cosplay? Sounds like Lilia.
I peeked around the corner.
"Y-You fucking bastard! How dare you touch my body?!"
Smack!
Lilia smacked off the tattooed pig's hand gripping her arm.
Looked like the tattooed pig was hitting on her.
"Fuck, you hit me? This bitch thinks I go easy 'cause she's a girl—wanna die?"
The tattooed pig raised his fist, pride wounded.
No way that punk's messing with my summon.
Couldn't let Lilia get hurt, so I was about to jump in.
"The nerve of you humans...!"
But her confident tone made me watch a bit longer.
Mana poured from Lilia's body, freezing the tattooed pig in place.
'Oh, succubus magic?'
That might come in handy. Succubi have charm spells, right?
Lilia's rating in my book went up a point.
'But isn't she supposed to be weaker than me? Charm's pretty high-level magic.'
The moment the doubt hit, the tattooed pig started moving again.
"Gasp! What the hell? I blacked out for a sec."
"Did this crazy bitch do something? Even I am an awakener, you know?"
The two extra tattooed pigs chimed in like proper mobsters.
Tattooed Pig #1 was trash, but he sensed the mana as an awakener.
Shit.
Lilia's mana cut off, charm broken.
Her panicked face showed she didn't know about the contract weakening her.
Definitely gotta hide that contract.
Lilia slumped in despair as the man approached her.
'Time to step in?'
Hm. But a good idea struck.
Would a demon succubus die from a few punches?
No way, no matter how I thought about it.
The contract said only death or equivalent disability counts.
That guy's mana was pathetic.
A total newbie who could just barely use a bit after awakening.
Might fool normals, but not a Victoria Academy cadet like me.
Would a few hits from a scrub like that threaten Lilia's life?
No chance.
So I decided to watch.
Chance to gauge her personality, and saving her at the last second would make her more grateful.
"Ch-Charm!"
"Still yapping about charm?!"
"Aaaagh!"
The man grabbed Lilia's head and yanked.
'Oof, that looks painful.'
"It hurts... Stop, it hurts... Sob..."
Tears pooled in Lilia's eyes.
Okay, about time to jump in.
"Get up, you bitch."
Tattooed Pig Chief tried dragging Lilia off by her hair.
Nope, can't have that. She's mine. Know how much she's worth, asshole?
"You fucking assholes, hurting my summon?!"
I led with a double curse and stormed into the alley.
The tattooed pig startled at the sudden voice, but spotting my face, he puffed up with false bravado.
"What the fuck, some kid? Big brothers are busy—scram while we're nice."
How lame can you get? Can't even recognize a Victoria Academy uniform?
The tattooed pig still clutched Lilia's hair.
"S-Save me...! I'll apologize for calling you trash! Please!"
Lilia locked eyes with me and pleaded.
Half-assed attitude before, now polite? Saving her later paid off, huh.
Her expression was way better too. From bitchy to teary-eyed cute.
Am I a bit of a sadist?
Anyway, I focused my mana on the tattooed pig holding Lilia's hair.
"Wh-What? K-Kid, what the hell's that magic?!"
"What else? You'll find out when it hits."
Whoosh!
"Gaaah!"
A fireball formed in my hand and slammed into the tattooed pig's right arm. His grip slackened suddenly, and Lilia's head smacked the ground.
Thud!
"Huh...?"
"Aaaagh! M-My arm!"
"Y-You okay?! Fuck! That bastard!"
"..."
Lilia lay motionless, head planted on concrete—knocked out?
The tattooed pigs flailed, clutching their burning right arm.
"Fuck off already, you pigs."
I hurled a few more fireballs. The ones engulfed in flames squealed like stuck pigs and fled.
His arm was beyond saving already; whether they burned to death wasn't my problem.
"Haa."
I hoisted the still-unmoving Lilia over my shoulder and headed back to the dorm.
*
By some miracle, no one crossed paths on the way back.
"Sob sob. Sniffle."
Lilia came to soon after arriving at the dorm and buried her face in her knees, staying like that.
"Hic-hic-sob. Mommm. I wanna see youuu."
"Sigh."
Typical spoiled brats only wise up after the mess. Too late by then.
I was hungry anyway. Ordered two chickens and waited.
Not sure if she'd eat, but wallet's got room—better safe.
Wait, thinking about it, this bitch drained my wallet dry. Fuck.
Ding-dong.
Doorbell—I grabbed the chicken.
"Sniff-hic. Snort. Sob sob."
Left the still-crying Lilia and set the chickens on the table.
"Hey, eat something."
"Sob... Sniff."
Lilia lifted her head from her knees, red-eyed and sniffling.
Gulp.
Hard to believe she'd been bawling seconds ago—insane recovery.
"What's that smell?"
"...Unbelievable."
Lilia stared at the table, tears streaming.
"I'm your contractor. Least I can do is feed you. Let's eat."
"...Yes. Understood."
Why the sudden formal speech?
Lilia sat at the table, eyes sparkling as she looked at me.
She clearly wanted to dig in but had no clue how.
Lucky I ordered boneless. Bones are a hassle to explain.
"Here, just shove it in your mouth and chew. Easy, right?"
I demonstrated, chomping a piece.
Chicken's always right.
Worried about chopsticks, but hell must have them too.
"D-Delicious! Eating food like this... You must be royalty...?"
"Royalty...?"
What nonsense?
"Wh-What's this food?"
"Oh, this? It's called chicken."
"Chiiicken!"
"And drop the formal talk—it's weird. Use casual like before."
"Y-Yeah! No, uh, sure."
"Dunno what misunderstanding you've got, but I'm a normal contractor. Treat me casual. And I won't steal your food, so don't pile it all on your plate."
"Mhm, got it. You're a good guy."
Lilia stacked ten pieces in front of her.
Good, she's calming down after eating. Time to talk properly?
"I don't know much about succubi yet, so tell me about yourself? We're stuck together from now on."
"Uh, sure."
And so began the web-spinning succubus master's tale.