Shopping Mall Excursion (4)

A succubus— that's the conclusion I came to. Velvety hair that flowed down her shoulders, ruby eyes that glimmered in a bewitching shine, her sensual neckline plus an almost perfect-proportioned body-- if we ruled out the fact that she was only 14 years old. Just imagine how voluptuous she would look when she comes of age.

Ponk.

A plastic fork attacked my head

"Ouch."

The little devil smirked.

"Don't play around with the utensils, Novelle, it's bad table manners," my mom advised.

"Big brother is playing around with his phone though!"

"Noel, you heard her," she turned to me and looked at me with a serious expression.

Yeah. When my mom is serious— it's no fun to poke around. Nodding, I hid my phone away.

"Sorry."

In any case, I couldn't help that my hands were itching to peek at a glimpse of the quest board.

The convenient thing was that there was no need for WiFi to open up the application— the down side was that my manga reader was missing.

The quest board updates automatically. And I have no idea how exactly it detects the completion of the tasks. I want to exploit it if possible

Oh right.. where was I? About Liliath, right?

A succubus.

I think?

If you think about it clearly, there are some novels that talk about demon queen either being demons, fallen angels or succubus'. I'm thinking of option three— I don't know if my hypothesis is right.

I was wary. Liliath's attitude took a 180 turn from the Liliath I knew yesterday. I had no idea what triggered her sudden change but it could be because she was slowly familiarizing herself to the environment.

Or it could be that she's just an obedient child who wishes to do her best in helping me complete the quests..

I'm overthinking things aren't I?

Liliath had a plastic fork in her right hand and a plastic knife in the other, she gently— she was having a hard time though— dragged the soft, wiggling white blade across the rock-hard chicken drumstick.

Her hands holding the knife traced the same spot ever so delicately in a repetitive motion— much like cutting a perfectly marbled steak cooked to a medium rare.

With the meat separated from the rest, she drew a beautiful arc with her fork, before bringing it up to her mouth. She chewed slowly, savoring every flavor— her act of eating was pretty much an art form in itself, beautiful, majestic.

"So this is the legendary fried chicken the heroes coveted," she commented as she chewed.

One of the most dramatic ways to eat a chicken drumstick. Heck, I doubt that movie actors who practiced etiquette in preparation for medieval eating scenes could compare to what I was seeing. The top notch eating techniques Liliath possessed— freaking world-class.

Fuck.

Liliath can't be a succubus can she?!

No fucking way— no damn way someone eating a chicken drumstick with a plastic fork and knife could be a succubus candidate.

No damn fucking—

And my food came, or more accurately, mine and my sister's burger. Freshly made.

Oh, if anyone is confused with the current setting, I'm in a fast food restaurant.

I opened the wrapping and took a big bite from my burger. The juiciness of the meat coupled with the white gravy that tasted of cheese sent me to cloud nine— sorta.

Downing that portion, I opened my mouth.

"Um, Liliath—"

"Noel, just let her be."

My mom waved her free hand with a sympathetic smile, dabbing her mouth with a tissue.

"B-But.."

My mom shook her head. A denial.

I turned to my sister and sent her an SOS with my eyes.

She acted dumb and tilted her head in confusing— her cheeks stuffed full with the burger.

Seriously?

Do they really not mind? Liliath was eating a chicken drumstick with a fork and knife for fuck sake— PLASTIC ONES!

Every time Liliath placed the meat into her mouth, I could somehow sense spectators gasping in awe.

Fuck.

I took another bite of my burger.

Just ignore it.. ignore it.

Yup. I should just repeat that mantra.. ignore it.. ignore it.

"Do you perhaps want some, Noel?"

"Um.. no" I said with my mouth stuffed so it came out muffled.

Liliath nodded, sliced a piece and then brought it in front of me.

I froze.

FUCK, CUFUDP, FUCK.

I didn't pay attention to where my gaze was— right.. my line of sight when I was in my own head, mantra-ing myself about ignoring civilization— was directed at the drumstick. And because of that, I made her think I wanted some of her food.. was my hypothesis. But still— FUCK!

I quickly downed the burger, almost choking.

"No, it's alright Liliath."

"Is that so?" She sounded disappointed..

And so did the spectators— I could sense a few glares..

Disappointed.. my heart fluttered.

Fuck.. what did I just do? I flat out rejected her, my once-in-a-lifetime offer! The hell in the world am I going to find a girl willing to feed me something.

AH FUCK, DUCK, DUCK!

I should just accept it..

Give it up already Noel. You totally want Liliath to feed you don't you. Just accept it, you were charmed by the bewitching demon queen in front of you. Just admit it and eat the damn food and accept her indirect kiss.

"I—"

"Thank you!"

FUCK!

"Hm.. I feel chicken tastes better when big sister feeds me," the little devil commented.

I realized that Liliath had changed her feeding target from me to my sister during brief seconds of precious time I spaced out.

"Is that so. Then I shall continue eating it in this way I suppose. Though, this isn't the proper manner of eating meat in this restaurant?"

"It's alright. Big sister's way of eating is very elegant."

"I do not deserve such praise," Liliath chuckled before bringing another slice of meat to the devil's mouth— which she gladly accepted with glee.

Hah.

I took a bite from my burger.

Ignore it.. ignore it..

Deep breaths, deep breaths. In— out— in— out--

I finally finished my burger after much hardship— not really, the burger tasted amazing but I think the meat Liliath wanted to serve me would've tasted better...

Moving on..

"Right. Mom. I just realized a problem about Liliath being a summoned person."

"Hm?" My mom looked at me as she drank from a straw.

"She's an immigrant."

To cut short. Yes. Liliath could be said as an immigrant.

"I wonder what we should do about Liliath's identity.. I was thinking something along the lines of registering her at the summoners guild but she's a person, not a creature."

As Liliath tuned in to my words, she looked at me with upturned eyes, seductively sucking away at the straw that to her, was a novel way to take in fluids. A very soft pop sound could be heard when her lips parted with the opening, an ephemeral silver string connected the two points.

Yeah.. 100 percent a succubus: confirmed.

"Hm.. the last time you brought Liliath to meet the principal, did she say anything?"

"Oh, that's right!"

That explained why Principal Rachel wanted to meet Liliath. One of the responsibilities of the school was to accommodate the student to cope with their TALENTS, however troublesome it may be. So if students were to be found possessing TALENTS that troubled their lives, the school authorities may have to report it to the government TALENTS management department for review. Aid would be provided depending on the type and severity of the problematic TALENTS.

Oh yeah. There are TALENTS that do more harm than good. Not everyone was blessed with beneficial TALENTS, some TALENTS came together with severe adverse effects.

I won't go too deep— it's scary to just think about the dark truth behind some of the most coveted TALENTS. Though 99 percent of the time, TALENTS that manifested in people were positive ones.

"No.. she didn't say anything."

"You should talk to her about it. I remember correctly, we have to visit the summoning department to register for a summoned creature, but we need a letter of introduction."

"Huh, really?"

That's weird, but I guess that's just how the system works?

I need to contact the principal when I have the chance.

"Noel, since I should be your familiar— s-should I call you m-master from now on?" Liliath spoke with a flustered tone.

Not again.

My ear drums bled.

Not literally, I mean it in a figurative sense.

"No. I may be the one who summoned you but I'm not your master. There's no contract between us like most normal summons and you're a person with free will."

I'm surprised I even said that much. Ain't no way would I want Liliath to call me 'master'.

"Is that so, master..?"

The little devil bawled out laughing.

What the fuck did I just hear?

"D-did I do something, master?"

"Liliath. Stop. Please.. this isn't a joke."

"Noel is right. Please have some self-respect for yourself Liliath," my mom added.

It's seriously unnerving for someone like Liliath to call me master.. seriously. This isn't some kind of era where master and slave relationships were the norm.

Liliath nodded, a little sad.

I don't get her logic at all..

"I understand. I will refrain from doing that— Noel."

"Thanks.." I drank my carbonated drink, relieved I—

"T-then.. should I call you boss?"

—spat the drink back into the cup.

"Oh my.. I didn't think Liliath had this sort of personality," my mom chuckled while I choked on my drink.

My sister was wheezing whilst holding her stomach.

LILIATH SAID THAT ON PURPOSE!