Horns. So she had been hiding it all along.

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 additional body parts but this is the first time I'm seeing someone with four horns. The pair on the top curled upwards while the pair below curled forward— like tusks.

Four black horns that were pulsating in red.

Pushing past the crowd, I brought Liliath outside the school compound with the many gazes on us. Darn fuck you Gruan.

By the way, you should've seen the faces of those imbeciles at the sight crushing Gruan at a lift of a finger— he's not dead..  I think? Either way, IT'S SUPER SATISFYING~

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 looks to be in a trance like state ever since I got beaten up by that dick head. I tried waving my hand in front of her, but she was unresponsive for the most part.

Whatever. I need 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 passed her a water bottle.

"Liliath," I nudged it up to her hand.

"Hm?" She looked up at me with lifeless eyes. Her head tilted at an angle.

"Drink some water to calm down."

She gazed down at her bottle for a few seconds, grasped the bottle and brought to her mouth. Shaking, the water spilt from the bottle as she desperately tried to keep her hands steady.

After drinking, she held the bottle with both hands, her gaze casted downwards at the floor.

Honestly, she looks totally brain dead. I don't mean in a medically bad way but I can tell she's deep in thought.

"We'll take a break here first, tell me once you're ready," to tell you the truth, I'm quite worried about her condition. 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.

Hah...seriously. This was my fault. I should've taken the side exit. Fucking Gruan and the imbeciles.

"Noel."

Liliath's voice broke my train of thoughts.

"What is it?"

"Why..?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you apologize?"

I don't know actually...

"I don't know?"

I mean Liliath, who's kinda my responsibility hurted someone right? Be it a fire or foe, as long as I did something to hurt someone, I guess it's common sense to apologize right? Maybe I just said it 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? Is this a wise answer?

"And violence doesn't solve anything either."

The whole time, Liliath's gaze never left the floor.

Her horns seemed to crumble into dust, leaving her sandals, slowly, she raised her knees up to her head, and rolled up into a ball.

"Liliath?"

She started weeping.

Sigh..

What kind of past did she have?

Now that I think about it, 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 to 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."

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Liliath came to herself after half-an hour— not really herself but was good enough where she could start walking again. I didn't have a watch on me so I could only estimate so. 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?

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..

But my thoughts reached no one.

While I was washing the plates after the meal, my mom came up to me.

"What happened?"

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

Yup. I won't mention about 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 around with her with the television playing an advertisement talking about the latest super glue.

Huh. Looks like my sister found out Liliath was the kind who'd find the intermission 'shows' 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— the collaborative piece with another artist. 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 when reading such a thing. If anything, she should read these works in secret.

No, what the hell. She shouldn't even read it at all! But i'm guilty of such an act too so what right do I have to call her off? Sigh..

...

...

..

.

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 fried.

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 for, 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 appetizers 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's 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? I still remember Prune's reaction towards Liliath— it was fear.

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? Then the magic power she possesses could possibly destroy the world?

I shuddered at the thought. Imagine such a girl ruling the world. 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 isn't like she's tied to a contract or anything. She could very well be your everyday typical demon lord free to rule the world.

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 cataclysm-like existence to stay together with us.

'Her name is Liliath, though I don't think it's appropriate to my familiar but I accidentally summoned her to this world. My talent is a summoning one.'

And send.

Wheewh.

Ding.

What— so quick.

'You summoned that girl!?'

Yup. 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 needed to warn me about 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 anyway you can remove her from your summoning contract?'

Summoning contact. To be honest, almost all summoning TALENTS I've heard talk about something like a contract between the summoner and creature 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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Current Points: 125

Quests: Gaining affection:

Embrace Liliath for half a minute. 20P

...

Quests: Introductions:

Learn about her favorite food. 20P

...

Quests: Gaining trust:

*Do something Liliath asked. 5P

...

Quests: Utilization:

*Have Liliath attack an enemy. 20P

...

Quests will be refreshed daily. Quests that have been completed will be prioritized else the user can select up to 1 quest per category to remove. (removed quests will be refreshed the next day)

Max quest for each category: 1 (Upgradable) (8/20)