“Huh? You… what are you doing? Let go of me!”
Finally realizing something was wrong, Lilith began struggling desperately, but it only made Xisi’s grip tighten further.
After confirming that Lilith truly couldn’t use her magic power anymore, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Xisi’s mouth, while the Demon Princess’s eyes were filled with panic.
“What? Not using magic to run away this time?”
“How… how did you know?”
Xisi let out a light chuckle.
“How did I know? I should be thanking you for that.”
“I really didn’t expect this. It’s strange. There wasn’t a single bit of magic power in your body. That was when I thought…”
“What… what does that have to do with anything?”
“Did you forget? Last time you ran over to our side, if you hadn’t voluntarily reminded me that you were Lila, I would have…”
By all logic, even the most ordinary human should have at least a little bit of magic power fluctuation in their body, but you didn’t have a single trace back then. That could only mean some kind of power had sealed it.
“B-but I used magic right in front of you last night! Aren’t you afraid I might…”
“Then go ahead and use it.”
Xisi raised an eyebrow.
“Come on, you came to find me because the Gray Crystal weapons I developed have been causing your Demon Race a lot of trouble, right? I’m right in front of you now. If you really want to solve the problem at its root, go ahead and do it.”
“You! Fine! You said it yourself!”
Lilith extended her other hand, pretending to gather magic power, trying to scare Xisi off with the gesture.
But Xisi wasn’t buying it at all. He showed no sign of dodging.
“What’s wrong? Looks like our Princess is having a little magic trouble?”
Knowing she could no longer fool Xisi, Lilith instead let her entire body relax.
“Fine then. Since you already know, there’s no point in me putting on an act. I came to you because the Gray Crystal weapons really have been causing major problems for our Demon Race.”
Lilith continued: “Originally, I planned to threaten you with force, but for some reason, the moment I step into your human territory, the magic power in my body starts draining rapidly.”
“So last night, you settled for the next best option and chose to negotiate?”
Seeing that Lilith was laying her cards on the table, Xisi also released his grip on her wrist.
Lilith rubbed her wrist and continued: “Yeah, actually, yesterday I still had a little bit of magic power left, so even if you’d refused, I could have forcefully hypnotized you…”
“Hey hey hey, when you were working as my maid, I never made things difficult for you, did I? Why would you come at me with such terrifying things right off the bat? Forceful threats and hypnosis…”
“I can’t help it. Things are really complicated inside the Demon Race.”
Lilith shrugged.
“Don’t let the title Demon Princess fool you. The higher-ups in the Demon Race don’t think much of me. My father is getting older by the day, and those guys are all thinking about replacing him now.”
“So I have to produce some achievements to show them.”
“So in your eyes, I’m just an achievement?”
Xisi said with a bitter smile.
“Not entirely, eh, you wouldn’t understand…”
Lilith waved her hand.
The atmosphere between the two suddenly became a bit lighter, no longer as tense as before.
“Are you sure it’s okay to tell me all this?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You don’t have any decision-making power over on your side anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Did you know?”
“Huh?”
“Your Demon Race has started actively launching wars at the border again.”
“This… Gray Crystal weapons…”
Lilith’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Are they insane? They know full well that the human knight orders are all equipped with Gray Crystal weapons…”
“Maybe they’ve already found a way to counter the Gray Crystal weapons.”
Xisi shrugged.
“That’s impossible.”
Lilith flatly denied that possibility.
“Hm? Why?”
Just as she said that, the smile on Lilith’s face suddenly disappeared.
“Heh heh, I can’t tell you that.”
“Hey, wait…”
“What now?”
“Could it be… Father noticed I’m missing, figured out I came over here again, and that’s why…”
“Huh?”
Xisi was completely confused by Lilith’s words.
“Why would discovering you’re missing make him start a war at the border?”
“This…”
Lilith hesitated for a moment before finally speaking: “It’s sort of an agreement between us. Since I often sneak out to play, Father set a rule with me. Whenever I hear that the Demonic Realm has started attacking the border, that’s his signal for me to come home quickly.”
“You treat war like a joke?!”
“Huh?!!”
Xisi looked at her in disbelief.
“Are you people treating war like a joke?!”
So it turned out that the thing he’d been worrying about for so long was actually this world’s version of the Beacon of the Border?
This world was doomed!
“Well… Father’s always been a bit…”
Lilith also felt a little embarrassed and turned her face away, unable to look Xisi in the eye.
“So the Sword Maiden of the Kingdom wasn’t here today because she’d been deployed due to the border conflict?”
“Oh? So your brain can actually think? Sorry, I thought…”
“Stop teasing me.”
Lilith let out a light laugh.
“At least you don’t have to worry about her safety. Father’s attacks launched just to call me back are all fake anyway. They only put on a big show, nothing that would cause casualties.”
“I hope so…”
“Relax.”
Lilith patted Xisi’s shoulder.
“Since Father has summoned me now, I should be heading back. Let’s meet again if fate allows, Young Master Xisi~”
“Wait.”
“Is there something else? Young Master Xisi~”
After chatting with Xisi for a while, Lilith had reverted to her playful Demon Princess demeanor.
“Since you’ve told me so much, wouldn’t it be rude of me if I didn’t exchange some information with you?”
“Oh? You mean you want to share intel with me?”
Lilith perked up immediately at Xisi’s words.
“If you go back empty-handed without any useful information, that Father of yours probably won’t go easy on you, right?”
“It’s not like I have no useful information at all. I did learn that the Gray Crystal weapons were made by you, Young Master Xisi~”
Lilith narrowed her eyes and smiled at Xisi.
“Threat!”
That was definitely a threat!
“Ahem.”
Xisi cleared his throat.
“What I want to tell you is exactly that.”
“What?”
Lilith looked at Xisi with confusion.
“Actually, I don’t have much say over the Gray Crystal weapons anymore.”
Xisi put on a sorrowful expression.
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Lilith asked in surprise.
“I asked around in your Royal Capital, and everyone says the Gray Crystal weapons came from the Blackstone Family. How could you not have any say?”
“Sigh, it’s a long story…”
Xisi let out a sigh.
“My Gray Crystal weapons were so effective that they caught the attention of the Church of Light. They went straight to our King, forced me to sign some kind of contract, and now the entire Gray Crystal weapon production chain belongs to them.”
“So you just… just handed it over to them?”
“What?”
Lilith grabbed Xisi’s arms and shook him.
“What else could I do? They have a huge amount of power on our side. How could I dare to resist?”
“This this this…”
Lilith released her grip in disbelief.
“So… does that mean this trip of mine was for nothing?”
“How could it be for nothing? Now you know that the Gray Crystal weapons are controlled by the Church of Light, right?”
“That’s true…”
For some reason, Lilith felt that simply handing over his hard-earned business like that didn’t seem like Xisi’s style at all, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong.
“Are you telling me all this because you want to use our Demon Race to help you take your business back from the Church of Light?”
“How could that be? Those things are a huge threat to you. If they fell into your hands, would you even give them back to me?”
Xisi smiled and shook his head.
“I’m just pointing you in the right direction. After all, the next person the Demon Race sends to find me might not be as easy to deal with as you. I don’t want to take the blame for the Church of Light for no reason.”
“Hmm…”
Lilith pondered for a moment.
“Alright, thank you for the intel.”
“Well… you’re a good person, Young Master Xisi~”
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