Chapter 17: We Need to Talk (1)

Horns. I didn’t think she’d have them.

I’m not too sure if those were demon horns or dragon horns. I’ve seen a number of illustrations involving characters with this sort of feature but this is the first time I’m seeing it with my own two eyes. The pair on the side curled to the front, the two other short stubs sat on top. 

Four black horns pulsing in red.

Pushing past the crowd, I brought Liliath outside the school compound. Damn fuck you Gruan. 

By the way, you should’ve seen the faces of those imbeciles at the sight of Liliath’s magic crushing Gruan at a lift of her finger— he’s not dead.. I think? Either way, get rekt.

Calm down Noel, calm down. 

Now isn’t the time for this.

I need to figure out what’s wrong with Liliath.

Something happened to her that caused her to reveal her horns..? She’s been in a trance-like  state ever since she knocked down that dick head. I tried waving my hand in front of her, but she was unresponsive, for the most part, relatively.

Whatever. I need to remove ourselves from the public eye.

I pulled her over to the gazebo in the garden, nobody in the vicinity— I hope.

I sat Liliath down on the bench and nudged her water bottle up to her hand.

“Liliath.”

“Hm?” her gaze was empty. 

“Drink some water to calm down.”

She gazed down at the bottle for a few seconds, grasped it and brought it to her mouth. Shaking, the water spilt from the bottle as she drank.

She held the bottle with both hands, her gaze casted downwards towards the floor.

“We’ll take a break here first, tell me once you’re ready,” I was worried, her horns were still present— I wouldn’t want people to see her in this condition. Like four horns. FOUR FREAKING HORNS. She’d go viral on the internet if someone found out.

The sultry wind accompanied the silence that ensued.

Seriously, this was my fault. I should’ve taken the side exit not the main gate. Fucking Gruan and those imbeciles.

“Noel.”

Liliath’s voice broke my train of thoughts.

“What is it?”

“Why..?”

“Why?”

“Why did you apologize?”

I don’t know actually...

I mean Liliath, who’s kinda my responsibility, hurt someone right? Be it a friend or foe, so long as anyone did anything to harm someone, it’s normal to apologize right? Maybe it was on a whim? 

“Why didn’t you fight back?”

“Well..”

Oh shit. I can’t tell Liliath how weak I am right? 

“I can’t. It’s impossible. Gruan has twice the strength of a normal person. I’d rather get beaten up once obediently, than to be beaten up twice by retaliating.”

I think-- this is a wise answer?

“And violence doesn’t solve anything either,” I added.

Liliath’s gaze never left the floor.

Her horns seemed to crumble into dust. Feet leaving her sandals, she raised her knees up to her head, and pressed her head into it. 

“Liliath?”

She started weeping.

What kind of past did she have? I’ve asked this a million times but it’s not like I’m going to get any answers unless I ask her about it.

Sigh..

This habit of her’s.. crawling into a ball.. I can only think of it as something an ex-slave would do? Huddled at one corner, knees brought together at the stomach... in a dark corner of a cage..

I’m sorry Liliath. 

I’m sorry I forgot. 

I should’ve taken the other exit. 

We would’ve avoided Gruan.

Then this wouldn’t have happened..

“I’m sorry Liliath.”

 

*

Liliath stopped crying after half an hour. She wasn’t really herself, yet, but was ‘alright’ enough where she was able to start walking again. I didn’t have a watch on me so I could only estimate time. Her horns had disappeared which was a relief— I chose to avoid that topic for now despite dying to know what kind of existence she is— a demon lord? Dragon princess?

Anyhow. We returned home late— my mom fortunately didn’t seem to mind. 

Liliath barely ate anything during lunch, and the mood was somewhat somber. Novelle was curious but wasn’t insensitive as to prod about the matter. Rather, she just stared at Liliath.

Cut it out.. 

While I was washing the plates after the meal, my mom asked.

“What happened?”

“Gruan. That’s what happened. At the same time, I think it’s to do with her past?”

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Yup. I won’t mention the horns just yet?

“Not again,” my mom sighed, her fingers pressing again the point between her eyes.

“She should be alright.” 

I think.. 

I hope..

I’m unfortunately not someone who knows how to sympathize with others. Moreover, I think it would make it more uncomfortable to Liliath if I tried. She’s not that close to me yet.

Finishing the chores, I saw Liliath sitting on the couch, Novelle playing with her-- the television running an advertisement about the latest super glue.

Huh. Looks like my sister found out Liliath was the kind who’d find the ads more entertaining than the cartoon. They were discussing the use of super glue. Now that’s just weird.

Relieved that Novelle took the chance to accompany her, and kinda sad that I couldn’t do anything to help, I went upstairs to my own room.

I still have an art project I need to work on— that collaborative piece. I’ll leave Liliath to the little devil since I bet they make a good demon-devil pair. After all— I’m sure my sister was the one who helped Liliath acquire volumes 2 to 7 of that manga.

Speaking of manga— I should properly educate Liliath about the do’s and don'ts of society. If she really wanted to, she should read those works in secret.

No, what the hell. She shouldn’t even be reading those at all! Wait, no, I'm guilty of this too so what right do I have to call her off? ...

An hour passed, two hours passed— and now I’m stuck. Adding the base colour to the sketch and then polishing the rest— it only made the illustration worse. Ughhh...

That’s the weird phenomenon I found out when doing illustrations. There will always be this one point in time where everything falls apart before coming back together in one piece.

Fucking frustrating... I hate it. 

Why does drawing a half-naked anime girl be so hard?

I think I should take a break. Yeah. Me brain is water.

Oh right. The quest board. I have a feeling that Liliath and I had completed one or two by accident.

Hm?

A notification— a message from Prune? Wow. What a coincidence.. I wasn't expecting that— or not. 

‘Noel, congratulations on getting first place. Hahaha, looks like I lost to you yet again...’

Alright. An introductory message praising me for my academics... seriously? Come on, you don’t need to try to cover up your main point with a bunch of florishings right?

‘I wanted to know who’s that person you brought together with you this morning?’

Yup. Knew it.

I have a slight premonition that she was jealous— fuck. I’m sure it’s just my self-delusions. To start. I doubt Prune even likes me. Anyhow, why would she ask about Liliath? 

And Liliath said something about ‘it being the same here’— which I assume ‘here’ is this world. So beastkins fear her?

Demon lord.. could Liliath actually be a demon lord? Oh damn.. that would mean... I guess that would explain why she would be considered a five-star summon? Doesn’t that mean she could possibly destroy the world?

I shuddered at the thought. Imagine such a small girl ruling Earth. Shit.. just what kind of existence did I bring to our world!?

And I don’t have anything to control her with, do I? It wasn’t like she’s tied to a contract or anything. She could very well be your everyday, typical, free, unrestrained, demon lord.

Fuck. Do I need to talk to her about this? Liliath doesn’t seem like she’s going to cause any harm to the world though... She's cute, obedient, tactful and cares about the people around her a lot.

That said— I think it’s better to draw a line. If she’s the person I think she is, I don’t think there would be any problem for a cataclysmic existence to stay together with us. 

‘Her name is Liliath, though I don’t think it’s appropriate to call her my familiar, but I did accidentally summoned her. My talent is summoning, or something along those lines.’

And send.

Wheewh.

Ding.

What— so quick.

‘You summoned that girl!?’

Prune’s reaction was to be expected.

‘Yes.’

‘If that’s the case then.. all I can say is congratulations? But be careful.. my instincts are telling me that there's something about her.. just be careful.’

‘Yeah, yeah. I think she’s a dangerous existence too.’

I’m just gonna hint.

Hm.. Something about Liliath. So assuming Liliath is a demon lord, it’s a surprise that Prune’s instinct was able to pick up something. 

Eh... wait. That means the magic she demonstrated was a fraction to the full extent of her magic abilities? I wonder what she could actually do if she were serious.

That said, I didn’t think Prune would warn me about something like that.

Yup, she’s totally jealous seeing me with a beauty like Liliath. Else why would she still try to message me even though we’re probably never going to meet each other again—

Fucking stop it with me and my own delusions already.

‘I’m serious about this Noel. Can you return her to her summoning plane? Or something? She’s really dangerous. Really.’

What. Prune’s that scared? Why?

‘She’s not the kind of summon that I can return. Are you really that scared of her?’

‘It’s not about me. It’s about you. Is there any way you can remove her from the summoning contract?’

Summoning contact. To be honest, almost all summoning TALENTS I’ve heard talk about something like a contract between the summoner and summoned during their first encounter. Unlike Liliath— who’s free to bring destruction to the world. 

‘I don’t know how?’

And the conversation ended there.

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