Your Tastes
17 - Your Tastes.
At that moment, my brain began spinning at five hundred thousand kilometers per second. Let me sort this out. A suspicious-looking erotic novel. Me frantically stuffing it into Letia's pocket. Letia staring in confusion. And Lilith watching the whole scene unfold.
The conclusion my brain reached was simple. No way out.
"Ah, I'm screwed."
My brain gave up thinking entirely.
----
By the time I came to my senses, class had already ended. My memory had cut off completely, as if my brain had overloaded and blown a fuse.
"See you tomorrow, Arthur!"
Letia gathered her textbooks and stood up first, but I couldn't move from my seat. Because Lilith was staring straight at me.
"........"
"........"
The silence stretched on until I could barely breathe. The sound finally came just as I was on the verge of suffocating in the now-empty classroom.
".....That kind of preference?"
Lilith's red eyes narrowed.
"No!? Absolutely not! Letia just brought that on her own. It's definitely not my preference!"
"Hmm~"
"Lilith, please...."
Lilith had been watching me rub my hands together and beg for forgiveness with half-lidded eyes when she finally spoke.
"Fine."
"Huuu...."
Only then could I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.
"Let's go eat—"
Just as I caught Lilith leaping into my arms and tried to stand, she casually dropped another line.
"Mr. Tentacle Fetish."
I collapsed right back into my seat. Ah, I'm going insane.
----
It's freezing. Her gaze feels like it's piercing straight into my chest.
"Hmm~"
"W-what is it."
"Nothing, just~"
This is unbearable. Even the Old One Roast I'd always loved and the sweet golden honey wine tasted like chewing dirt and drinking river water. All thanks to Lilith sitting across from me, giving me that meaningful look while making those strange little sounds.
Damn it, Letia! Just you wait until tomorrow!
"Hehe~"
"......"
Ah, I think I'm going to choke.... Just as tears were starting to well up, Lilith spoke.
"Arthur."
Before I knew it, she had moved from across the table to the seat right beside me.
"Who do I cherish the most?"
"...Me."
"So no matter what your preferences are, I'm willing to accept them—"
I couldn't stand hearing those words come out of Lilith's mouth. I quickly swallowed the food in my mouth and sealed her lips with mine.
"Mmph... mmph!"
Lilith mumbled in protest, but it only lasted a moment before she started responding in kind. When our lips parted with a silver thread between them, we found ourselves staring into each other's eyes from up close.
"If you bring that up again, I'll shut you up again."
Lilith smiled brightly at my bold declaration.
"So if I keep talking about it, you'll keep kissing me?"
"......What?"
She interpreted it that way?
"Tentacle fetishist."
After tossing out that single phrase, Lilith closed her eyes and waited. While I stared at her in disbelief, she peeked one eye open and tapped her lips.
"Why? You said you'd shut me up, didn't you? Tentacle—"
To hell with it. I lunged forward and covered her lips with mine.
—Smooch
"Pervert—"
—Smooch
"Tentacle—"
—Smooch
"Weird fetish—"
—Smooch
Every time a gap opened between our lips, she kept firing off those words, forcing me to keep sealing her mouth. Before I knew it, we'd finished Lilith's meal as well and were already in bed.
"Hehe, we went pretty far."
"Please refrain from saying things that could be misunderstood if someone overheard."
"It's not entirely wrong though, is it?"
"Lilith, please...."
How many times have I said this today?
"Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing.... Just answer one thing for me."
"...What is it?"
Nothing but anxiety filled my heart. Lilith continued with a playful smile.
"The best way to avoid misunderstandings is knowing the truth, right?"
"I suppose so?"
"So then. You just need to tell me your real preference."
"......Huh?"
What is this...
"Come on, tell me? Arthur's true preference."
"No.... Even if you ask so suddenly..."
There was something that immediately came to mind, but....
"Oh my, are you embarrassed?"
Isn't that natural? Confessing your preferences to family, to the person you like?
"Well, if you're embarrassed you don't have to say it. Though I'll keep calling you Tentacle Fetishist until you do."
Urgh... No escape. Confess my preference or remain a tentacle fetishist. In the end—
"My preference is...."
I slowly opened my trembling mouth. Then, facing Lilith whose eyes sparkled with anticipation....
"Black hair."
".....Huh?"
"And red lips."
"......"
"Pale skin.... Ah, and a straight nose is nice too."
"Warm body heat is good as well."
"A cozy embrace too."
"Slender fingers, and the sharp nails at their tips—I like all of it."
Lilith's expression slowly changed. The playfulness disappeared, replaced by a faint blush of embarrassment.
"Eyes as dark as the night sky.... Ah! And ruby-like beautiful eyes too."
By this point, it was obvious—I was describing Lilith. Lying in the same bed under the same blanket, I was looking at her in real time and listing her features. For the finale—
"A kind and warm heart, a sharp yet playful personality, seductive yet adorable behavior—I like all of it."
After describing her inner qualities to match the outer ones, I finished my confession. Not once had I said her name, yet the subject of my description was unmistakably clear. Lilith seemed to be trying to act nonchalant, but—
"Ah, one more thing. Even the way your ears turn red without you realizing when you're embarrassed.... I like that too."
Lilith hurriedly covered her ears. See? How could I not fall for someone so adorable?
".....Really?"
After hearing everything, that was her first word. If she wanted a denial, I'd have to crush that expectation.
"Completely serious."
"Uuu...."
Ah, she's embarrassed. Lilith turned away, covering her face like last time.
"Uuuu...."
If I push any further, something might happen. For now, I should give her time to calm down.
----
"Have you calmed down?"
"Yeah."
Her earlobes were still a little red, but I decided to let it pass.
"There's something I want to ask."
"...What?"
"That beam you showed today. Was that you going all out?"
At the change of topic, Lilith quickly composed herself.
"Hmm.... Not exactly. Though it might be hard to go much stronger than that right now."
"Because your power hasn't recovered yet?"
"That's part of it, but like with the blessing, it's also because someone might see."
Hmm.... There seem to be various restrictions. I can't just fire it off freely—
"Ah, but something at the level of that beam, I can use as much as I want."
....As much as she wants? The academy destruction scenario Lilith had muttered about wasn't a lie after all.
'S-so this is an Outer God?'
Once again, I was reminded of the gap between Outer Gods and humans. The problem was—
'If other people find out about this, it'll immediately be judged as dangerous. Then the academy destruction scenario starts right away.'
"Lilith, do you have any other abilities.... something less extreme?"
"You need something with adjustable power, right? Barrier, magic, black magic, curse, teleportation. Which one do you want to pick?"
I stared blankly at Lilith as she listed the words.
...How does she have so many?
"First, when dealing with humans, it shouldn't be enough to kill them."
The roar of that beam suddenly flashed through my mind. Just thinking about it made my ears hurt.
"And if possible, something quiet."
"Hmm... Then a curse would be best."
"...A curse?"
Just hearing the name made me anxious. Lilith read my expression and smiled brightly.
"Don't worry. Most curses focus more on tormenting than killing."
"For example...?"
"For instance..... A curse that makes your hair never grow again?"
Isn't that more vicious than murder?!
"Ah, there's also one that changes men into women—"
"Lilith."
"Okay, okay. I'll stop. I was joking, but a curse really is the most recommended. The biggest advantage of curses is their secrecy."
"Then for the professor, I'll mention the beam and the curse for now. Let's agree not to use the others in front of people."
"Add the barrier too. We can't have a situation where I can't protect you because I'm worried about other people's eyes."
"Yes, then the barrier as well."
Honestly, this alone had long surpassed the level of an ordinary summon. Shooting beams with meteor-level destructive power, plus a secret curse and a barrier... Even a master of summoning magic wouldn't be able to handle a summon like this.
"By the way, Lilith.... You said you were the goddess of the night, right?"
Looking at her abilities, I was starting to suspect she might be the goddess of war instead.
"The name 'goddess of the night' was just something humans gave me in the first place. Those who truly know me call me the Queen of Night."
So titles and abilities don't necessarily match. Outer Gods really do seem different from other gods.
"We—that is, Outer Gods—are beings on a higher plane than what humans call gods. If my power were intact, I could easily destroy a planet."
....The scale is completely different. I was an idiot for thinking it was only at the level of a single country at most.
"But the Outer Gods who came before didn't show that level of power, did they?"
"Ah, those are Great Old Ones. They don't even fall into the Outer God category."
What.... A whole city disappears in an instant, though?
"For reference, among Outer Gods it's not particularly meaningful, but if I had to rank it, I'm at the upper-middle level."
At this point, a question occurred to me.
"How strong is the strongest Outer God?"
Ranking debates are always fun.
"Hmm.... Measuring that being's power is foolish in itself. There's no chance of ever fighting anyway."
Just how strong is it? Seeing my shocked expression, Lilith chuckled briefly.
"Hehe, that being sleeps at the center of the universe. No one knows when it will wake."
"What happens if it wakes up?"
For the briefest moment, I caught a flash of fear cross Lilith's face.
"Well..... The only thing we can do is hope it never wakes."
A being that even other Outer Gods speak of with honorifics and fear.... I couldn't even imagine it. A strong curiosity about that existence welled up, but as always, my eyelids grew heavy.
With Lilith's goodnight kiss as the last thing I felt, just before falling asleep, a thought crossed my mind.
'....I wonder if the Necronomicon has anything about that Outer God?'
I should look it up sometime....... Mmm....