Lilith’s mission

I enter the mansion and see the inside again for the first time in years. I recall there being several maids working here. Perhaps some of them are still present. Since I am a B rank with light and **** magic, I can combine the two to access ghost magic. So, I cast [Ghost Sight] to enable me to see any ghosts that are around here. I expected to see a few, but there was only one. She was floating a bit above the ground, still wearing her maid outfit. She was missing her left arm and has several scratches and bitemarks all over her body. I can only assume she was killed by a group of wild animals as the village got attacked.

“You there.” I say. “You worked for Mr. Enzo. Didn’t you?”

The ghost turns to me and gazes at me with surprise.

“You can … see me?” She asks.

“I can.” I reply. “What’s your …”

“Oh my gosh.” The ghost interrupts me. “There were people here previously. I yelled at them but they couldn’t hear me. I tried to push them but I went through them. I thought nobody would ever see me again.”

The poor girl must have been killed at the initial attack and been a ghost since then. I have not often talked to the recently deceased. Previous times I talked to ghosts, they had all been dead for many years.

“What’s your name?” I ask the ghost.

“It’s Pat. My name is Pat.” The ghost maid says.

“Well Pat. I need you to …”

But the ghost interrupts me again and says “Avenge me. Find the bastards who killed me and slay them.”

Damn ghosts. Always wanting ****.

From my previous experiences with ghosts, I have learned it is not a good idea to argue with them. They are stubborn and have an eternity to yell at me, while I get nauseous when I use this spell for too long. “Tell me what I want to know, and I shall avenge you.”

“Yes.” Pat agrees. “I shall help you, then you shall help me.”

I smile at her and say, “I want you to bring me to Mr. Enzo’s study.”

Pat pulls back and says, “Mr. Enzo will not be pleased.”

“You are dead now.” I tell Pat. “Mr. Enzo can’t hurt you anymore. And I certainly won’t tell him.”

That seems to have done the trick as Pat floats down one of the halls while using her finger to beckon me.

She leads me towards some broken doors. On the other side is a room that used to be lavish, but is now ruined. The carpet has been torn up, some floorboards have been damaged, books are lying around with pages ripped out of them and there are several pieces of broken furniture. It is so very different from the last time I’ve seen it.

I head over to the desk and start exploring the drawers for something incriminating. Like some kind of ledger in which he wrote down whom he all bribed or something like that. I am sure a man like him must have engaged in crime all the time so I am bound to find something.

“Fly through the walls and look for any kind of secret passage.” I tell Pat while I continue searching the desk.

My search ends up being useless as I don’t find anything incriminating. I sure hope he hasn’t taken the evidence with him to Riledo when he escaped this village. I need to find something to ruin him.

Suddenly, Pat partially comes out of the wall and says, “I found something behind the bookcase. A stairway going down. It’s crazy. I never knew this mansion had any secret passages like this.”

Of course. The bookcase. Last time it had been so dark that I was never able to get a good look at it. I walk over to the bookcase Pat is talking about and push it out of the way. Behind it is a door. I open it and see a dark stairway that goes pretty far down. A shiver goes along my spine as I look down. Who would have thought I’d ever stand in front of this place again.

“Is that what you were searching for?” Pat asks. “Are you going to avenge me now?”

“Yes. You’ve been a great help. I will avenge you.” I say. Before I start going down the stairs, I feel a sense of nausea coming over me and I realize I have been using the skill for too long. Instead of giving Pat the lengthy explanation I tell her, “Hey, Pat. I am running out of mana. I will not be able to use the spell that makes me see you for a while. I will use it again before I leave this building. If I end up forgetting, feel free to haunt me until I remember.”

“I will not rest until you do so.” Pat says. There was no anger or compassion in her voice. Just an admission that this is how it shall be. I then end the [Ghost Sight] spell and Pat becomes invisible to me. With that done, I cast [Illuminate]. The spell which causes the stairway in front of me to light up. I finally get to see what this stairway looks like.

I start walking down and try my best not to get any dusty cobwebs caught in my hair. The further down I go, the more chaotic my emotions become. I am feeling all kinds of them, but the most prevalent of them are dread and anxiety. Have the rooms below remained the same? Or has Enzo changed them? But I can’t back down now. I need to push through. Maybe the incriminating evidence I need is down here. If it is, I have to go down and get it.

When I get to the bottom, the place is dark again. It seems the [Illuminate] spell didn’t reach this far, so I cast it again. As soon as the place lights up, I recognize it is basically still the same. The same wide hall as before, with two doors leading to bedroom to the left, one door leading to a living room on the right, and a fourth door at then end of the hall, leading to a kitchen. There are just a lot more dust and cobwebs now then back then. I can only assume Enzo stopped using this place since back then. I walk over to the first door on my left and go through it. Inside I find a very familiar bed and some broken toys. There is a wooden doll which draws my attention. I get on my knees, pick her up and inspect her. Her dress is dirty, but otherwise still intact. Holding her again like this makes me think about the first twelve years of my life and how they were nothing like they should have been. How other girls had normal lives while I didn’t. I take a deep breath and hold the doll close to my chest. Then I finally stop holding on to the form I now have and let everything go. Wings sprout from my back, not reptilian ones like I use in public, but batlike wings. I grow a tail as well. Again, not reptilian but a clubbed one. And finally, a pair of horns are coming from my head. It has been a long time since I’ve last expressed my true form. The one I was born with. Living amongst humans has **** me to keep it hidden for so long and whenever I get emotional, I am at risk of it breaking through. But here, in this forgotten hole, there is nobody to see me, to judge me. So, for once, I can finally be my other self.

It actually feels good to reveal my half-demon shape. I don’t need to holdback my emotions any more. So, I take a deep breath and scream in anger. “Fuck you, Enzooo!” After that, I let my tears flow. I wipe my tears off my face and feel relieved that I can finally actually cry. Up until I hear a voice behind me.

“Stand up, you.”

Fear quickly takes hold of me as I realize I have been caught. But by who? I made sure nobody followed me here. I quickly turn to check, and it’s Kenji. The bunny boy I had sex with about half an hour ago. I did that so he would feel tired and fall asleep. Now he is here, brandishing his shield and sword as if he is ready to attack me.

“Kenji.” I say. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to go to the bathroom too.” He answers. “When I got back to the tent, you still weren’t there. So, I went and searched for you. It was easy enough because of my [Tracking] skill. I found it strange you went all the way to this mansion in the dead of night. At first, I thought you wanted to catch some loot before anyone else. But now your cover has been blown, demon.”

Fuck, he thinks I’m with the demons. Exactly what I worried people would think of me when they saw my true form. It won’t matter that I say I’m on the humans’ side. He won’t believe me. But I still have one way I can prove myself to him.

“Fine. You got me. I give up.” I sigh. “I was sent here to collect this.”

I grab the orb I use to communicate to Zhoron and roll it over the ground to Kenji. He stops it with his foot, puts his shield away, then carefully picks it up without lowering his sword.

“Is this some kind of artifact?” He asks.

“It is.” I answer. Then I say “Zhoron” loud enough for the ball to activate.

Zhoron’s face quickly appears inside the orb and asks, “Alright Lilith. What is it you …” But when he notices the person holding the orb is not me, he stops and asks, “Who are you?”

Kenji is too shocked to say anything. He must have thought he’d be seeing some demon’s face in the orb, not the queen’s personal guard.

“That is Kenji.” I say to the orb. “He is an adventurer with the Kedamono brigade. I messed up, Zhoron. I showed my true form and Kenji saw it.”

Zhoron was silent for a moment, then he asked, “Who else saw you.”

“I am not going to keep my secret by killing him, Zhoron.” I tell my superior. “We can’t afford to kill good adventurers.”

Kenji lookup up to me dumbfounded. I bet none of this makes sense to him. A demoness working with the humans and standing up for him? He probably thinks he’s dreaming or something.

“I just want to know how many found out, Lilith.” Zhoron replies.

“Just him.” I answer. “Only he knows.”

“Alright.” Zhoron says. “You, Kenji. Lilith is a trusted member of the royal guard. She has proven her loyalty on multiple occasions. You are to keep her safe.”

“Uhm. Right, sir.” A still surprised Kenji replies.

“And you, Lilith.” Zhoron addresses me. “You should have known better then to mess up like this.”

I sigh and say, “Yes, Zhoron. I know. Sorry.”

After that, the orb deactivates and Zhoron’s face disappears from the orb. It is also when Kenji finally relaxes and lowers his sword.

“So, you really aren’t with the demons?” He asks.

“I’m not.” I answer. “I have never even been to the demon realm. The only thing I know of them are the same stories you have heard.”

Kenji frowns in confusion and asks, “I don’t get it. You’re not with them, but you look like one of them, despite never having seen any of them? What are you?”

At this rate, I am going to have to tell him the whole story. Yet, despite it being a long story, I feel myself eager at telling him. Last time I had to tell my story was to Zhoron, and he only wanted to know because he was investigating, because of his job. I may be wrong but Kenji instead seems interested for the sake of simple curiosity. He feels more genuine in wanting to know at least.

I take a deep breath and say, “The whole thing started long ago, before I was born, with a woman named Livia.”