[No title provided]
“Sniff……”
Hmm…… What the hell is going on here?
Lillia, who’d been pummeled by our female club members, was kneeling on the ground with her hands raised above her head like a kid punished in the corner, sniffling through tears. She must’ve taken quite the beating—her hair was a mess, her clothes were in tatters, and her face was so swollen she was unrecognizable. The saintess could heal her easily, but we weren’t about to patch up someone who’d tricked us and put the territory’s people in danger that quickly. We were leaving her like that on purpose.
“So, Lillia…… That’s your real name, right?”
“Yeah, it’s my real name.”
“Alright then, Lillia. Mind telling us why you pulled all this off?”
I approached the utterly dejected Lillia with the kindest smile and gentlest voice I could muster, trying to put her at ease. She’d clearly prepared some big reveal, but the furious ladies had beaten the crap out of her before she could even try. Enemy or not, I felt a little sorry for her.
“Hah, you want me to say it? Piss off, you eunuch! Spineless coward who couldn’t get it up even if I fed it to you! No woman would ever fall for a loser like you—guh!”
Whether it was wounded pride from me not falling for her seduction, Lillia started cursing me out…… only to crumple from a flying kick from the side. I turned in bewilderment, and there was the duke’s daughter—fuming openly, marching toward her like she was about to stomp another footprint on Lillia’s body.
“You’ve got some nerve running your mouth like that! Wanna die?!”
“Calm down, Lady Celine. She’ll pass out at this rate.”
“Aren’t you pissed? Ugh, you’re so frustrating……”
I appreciated Celine getting mad on my behalf, but honestly, I wasn’t bothered at all. In my past life, I’d weathered far more colorful and vicious barrages of insults in my twenties and thirties. Her one-dimensional jabs barely registered—just a tickle.
I helped the groaning Lillia back to her knees and flashed another friendly smile before resuming my questions.
“Okay, different question then. Lillia, you said you absorb essence. How exactly do you do that?”
“Why ask something like that all of a sudden……?”
“Answer.”
“Ugh. W-Well…… Normally, you steal it by pressing skin against skin. But for richer, purer essence, doing it with full intercourse is better.”
Under my insistent gaze, Lillia hesitated but opened up—probably figuring refusal might cost her life. The idea that she could drain someone’s life force, their innate energy, just through contact was astonishing. She added that it was her unique ability, something she’d instinctively discovered as a kid.
The others listening in looked shocked, like they’d never heard of it before. Seemed like a personal power still unknown to the world.
“With a power like that, couldn’t you just latch onto one guy and live easy? Why join a group like the Heaven God Cult and go through all that trouble?”
“You think I started out this strong? At first, it was just making people like me more easily. Some Heaven God Cult freak found me, marveled at my power, took me in, and amped it up. That’s when it evolved into this.”
A power that amplified others’ abilities…… It had gone from charming men effortlessly to forcing absolute obedience, likely twisted by someone in the cult. The thought sent chills down my spine. If the magically gifted Celine or the saintess—God’s chosen daughter—had been snatched and experimented on like that……?
I shoved the horrifying what-if away and glanced at Lillia, who’d started freaking out again.
“You’re gonna kill me, right? Yeah? You’ll definitely kill me? Waaah! Damn it! Dying this pathetically…… There were still so many guys I wanted to devour……”
“Hey. One thing I’m curious about.”
“What……?”
“That offer you made me…… Were you serious?”
I remembered the bizarre proposal she’d made. It’d been too shocking to forget.
“Sigh…… Yeah, dead serious. You’ve got the strongest essence I’ve ever tasted—flavor, density, volume. It’s like the ideal essence I’ve always dreamed of. My power grows stronger and keeps me younger the better the essence, so you’re basically the perfect partner. Happy now?”
“So, if I let you have my essence, you’d betray the Heaven God Cult?”
“What?”
Not just Lillia, but the club members all stared at me with wide eyes.
“No, I don’t mean full-on sex or anything…… You said contact’s enough for essence, right? I’ll share it that way, so work as our spy.”
We’d dealt with plenty of incidents, but our intel on the Heaven God Cult was thin. They hid deep in the shadows, beyond our reach. But flipping one of their executives? That’d make things way easier for us.
“R-Really……?”
“Yeah— ”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Surprisingly, the backlash came from our side. Astraia, Celine, even Hertia jumped in, insisting it was insane.
“Mars! I get what you’re thinking, but no!”
“Indeed. How could we trust a woman who does such vulgar essence-sucking?”
“That’s right……”
I was touched by their instant protectiveness over my “sacrifice,” tears welling up inside, but this wasn’t the time to be picky.
“I get how you feel, but we’re short on enemy intel right now. Trading my essence for info is a steal. Lillia, you said mine’s got more volume than average, right?”
“Uh? Y-Yeah…… I fed for hours and it didn’t run dry, so definitely beyond normal.”
“……Hours?”
No wonder her face had that glow this morning. She’d drained me good while I slept.
“Here’s the deal. Agree to spy for us here, and I’ll share my essence. Not unlimited, but enough to keep you satisfied.”
“B-But spying means I need test subjects…… How do I swing that?”
“Hmm…… The empire’s prisons are full of death row inmates, right? That should work.”
I glanced at Astraia, who sighed and shook her head. She looked headache-y, but the emperor would approve. Clearing out empire-munching vermin while getting a near-free spy? Win-win. Of course, we’d slap a weakening curse on them first so they didn’t boost the enemy.
She bit her lip, agonizing. Made sense—suddenly spying on former enemies? Tough call.
To sway her, I grabbed her hand, letting her taste my essence.
“!!”
She perked up instantly, her sickly vibe vanishing. Somewhere, I heard chilling teeth-grinding and goosebump-inducing cold, but priorities: convince her.
“Ugh…… Fine, haa, I’ll do it. How could I go back after this?”
And so, Lillia joined us as our spy. She owed the cult for honing her power, but being quietly sidelined for her lack of combat strength made the choice easier.
“So, what were you doing here?”
“……Orders from above to procure humans for experiments. Shame, but someone stirred up a fuss and chimera production tanked.”
Now cooperative, she answered briskly.
“Your meddling cut our human supply, so even mid-level execs like me have to step up. Not that ‘exec’ means much—just mind control for leading grunts and brainwashing cultists.”
“Hmm.”
“FYI, even as a spy, you won’t get huge secrets from me. Stuck in rear support, I’m basically a side dish—pushed down the ranks when combat got prioritized after you smashed our execs.”
“Ahem……”
“Mars…… You sure about this?”
Polo, who’d been watching, approached with worried eyes. Even if she wasn’t combat-strong, pulling a mind-controlling villain to our side unnerved him.
“Don’t worry. I’m not taking her word blindly. We’ll take her back, explain the situation, and bind her with a Gias so she can’t betray us easily.”
“……Okay. If that’s what you want.”
Thus, we successfully recruited Lillia—a (demoted) Heaven God Cult executive—as our spy.