NOVEL WEB Chapter 10
The place I was summoned to was, as expected, right in the middle of the underground.
Before my eyes, a dark space stretched endlessly along damp, moist walls.
It didn’t look like a typical underground prison meant to confine a specific being, but rather felt like a secret passage connecting one building to another.
It seemed to be a passage used exclusively by Leticia. As I surveyed my surroundings, I asked,
“Where does this lead to?”
“The Academy.”
“…The Academy?”
“To be exact, it leads to my room in the Academy.”
That’s basically the same thing. Without a hint of a change in expression, Leticia casually replied with a short answer that got straight to the point. But it was sufficient to resolve my curiosity.
Ah, so it was a passage connected to the Academy.
Seeing Leticia speak so nonchalantly, I thought, of course, and moved on. For someone who hadn’t officially made a contract yet, the information she was sharing was pretty decent.
And given her role as a teacher at the most prestigious Academy in the Empire, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have a secret passage.
…Although it felt like something was off about that point.
Leticia was the former mage of the Hero party and the eldest daughter of Riciancia, who rules the entire North. It was entirely plausible for her to have a private laboratory or room within the Academy.
Especially if she had created a secret passage. Beyond that, I shouldn’t concern myself.
I didn’t understand why she was working as a teacher when she had the position of heir, but there was no way Leticia would turn down the title of duchess.
She was a woman full of ambition and desire, that’s the Leticia Riciancia I knew.
I secretly lifted the corners of my mouth.
It was unexpected behavior for someone who had firmly established boundaries since the day the Hero party entered, claiming she couldn’t even give her little sister a chance.
Naturally, I thought she would return to the North to become its new ruler.
So when I heard Leticia was appearing as a teacher in the sequel, I had some expectations, but on the contrary, I thought it was a good example of character setting destruction.
‘If that’s the case, should I have read through the story I avoided because I was worried about spoilers?’
I let out a sigh.
Who would have thought? To be kidnapped twice under the name of possession.
Of course, I wanted to ask if I had turned into a duke, but since we barely even knew each other’s names, I held back from asking directly, fearing it would come off as strange.
From the start, if I brought up matters related to my family, I might raise suspicions, so should I first make casual conversation unrelated to my family to get closer?
As awkward silence continued, I sighed and stared intently at Leticia’s back before breaking the silence.
“Your taste is quite unique. To think you wanted to summon me in a place like this.”
“Don’t you think it’s the perfect place to summon a demon? Who would summon something like a demon in the middle of a prestigious area knowing what would happen?”
It was a sarcastic tone that could have made someone angry, yet Leticia merely scoffed, seemingly unamused. It was certainly a problem if an uncontrollable demon went berserk in the midst of a prestigious area.
As she said, in a place like this, no matter how wild it got, it wouldn’t cause damage to the prestigious area. Her statement implied that she had considered all of that before proceeding with the summoning.
I merely shrugged at Leticia’s response. I didn’t say anything.
Thus, the two of us walked relying on the flickering torch attached to the wall. In fact, without the light, I, being mixed with a vampire’s blood, wouldn’t have any trouble, and Leticia, having good night vision, also didn’t mind much.
Still, having light was better than none.
Wearing a sullen expression, I silently and quietly followed behind her through the underground passage. Then I frowned at the murky water from a filthy sewer that seemed mixed with various pollutants flowing beside us.
I still couldn’t believe that a woman who hated dirt so much would attempt to summon a demon in a place like this.
‘She was never a woman who would do something like summoning a demon in the first place.’
What in the world was going on? As time passed, could a person’s face mature and their personality or state of mind change? I shook my head as I compared my last memory of Leticia with the current Leticia.
There was no comparison to be made.
When I was first summoned, I hadn’t noticed a significant difference to recognize Leticia immediately, but upon closer inspection, they exuded a considerably different aura.
Yet, she was still the Leticia Riciancia I knew.
Not some fool wearing a daytime shell; she was the real Leticia Riciancia.
If she weren’t real, she wouldn’t have needed to summon a demon to make a wish.
Remembering the glimmering madness and obsession in Leticia’s eyes as she asked if she could bring back a person or soul from another world, I momentarily masked my expression of horror.
No matter who the object of her madness and obsession was, I would pretend to be unaware for a lifetime.
No, I didn’t want to know.
If she was talking about someone from another world who fled after receiving the first wish, that could only be me. Most likely, the only person who truly knew the truth would be Leo, the Hero.
Having witnessed Damien Redius vanish into particles right before my eyes, there was no way I could hide that.
It was clear that any information Leo had would have been spilled to Leticia as well as the Saintess and Kanp, including the fact that I was a human from another world.
Imagining the poor friend who had been thoroughly stripped and turned white as a sheet, I silently apologized.
I’m sorry, my friend.
Everyone else was a fierce woman, so I imagined the worst without needing to, knowing what might have happened.
Poor Leo.
It was the first time I felt sorry for Leo, who always returned looking haggard every night before we parted ways.
– At this rate, if I die first, I’ll make sure to leave a tombstone for you.
– You bastard, that’s just deception. Anyone else would be envious to death. Don’t worry, the Hero’s body is strong, right? He won’t die easily.
– That’s why I said it’s more suffering, you bastard. Being strong is not an advantage.
Ignoring the echoing voices in my ears, I fixed my gaze firmly on Leticia. Her question of whether I could summon a human living in another dimension was undoubtedly aimed at summoning me.
If I had been summoned as a woman, in my original body from Earth instead of a new one, I would have had no strength to resist, and I would have been locked up without any chance to escape… Ugh, just thinking about it is horrible.
I shrugged off Leticia’s changed personality as no big deal.
What mattered now wasn’t that. After all, a person could become obsessed with another to the point of madness as time went on.
With the existence of possessors like me, it wasn’t strange for someone’s personality to change a bit.
Leticia wasn’t the only one like that. People are creatures that can change as long as there’s a trigger. Taking a deep breath, I tried to think positively.
The problem was me.
If my identity was revealed, I wondered if I could handle the aftermath that would follow.
If I formalized the contract and my identity was exposed, my life would be over. Just the idea of being locked up, let alone something more extreme, sent chills down my spine.
I couldn’t shake off the thought of whether Leticia was also a possessor like me. I had asked about things that only someone who lived on Earth would know, but her response was that she didn’t know.
“If there’s an item used by Mazoku, I’d be interested. If you can bring it from the Demon World, would you consider re-summoning me?”
“… I’m following you because I have nowhere else to go, but have you really decided to use me as a shuttle?”
“If you’re going to play the maid role, you ought to endure this much. If you have any complaints, kill me your way and escape. This place is just perfect for disposing of a body.”
Except that the curse embedded in your heart would activate, and you would blow up with me. Leticia said casually, touching the area near my heart.
The slight curling of her lips as she grinned was an added touch.
At Leticia’s words, I kept my mouth shut. While I might not know about the curse on my heart, since we hadn’t formalized a contract yet, if I killed my summoner and escaped, I would become a free person.
However, the woman in front of me wasn’t an ordinary woman.
Given my current specs, it was questionable whether I could even inflict a proper wound, let alone harm her. As I mentioned earlier, if I confronted her, I would face death. I was someone who didn’t take risks when the odds were against me, so I readily admitted defeat.
“I don’t go for fights I can’t win. As long as I’m bound by summoning magic, I can’t kill you anyway, so just calm down.”
“… You have a good sense of humor. Mazoku can live without a heart for a little while, right? So dying from a heart explosion wouldn’t be a problem.”
“I’m not joking; I’m serious. How could I win against the esteemed Hero party’s sage?”
“What? You already knew. By the way, stop with the pathetic flattery. Fine, let’s discuss the contract when we get back to the room. No objections, right?”
“There’s no way I would.”
Showing her white fangs, she exaggeratedly smiled, and muttered, “So she really was a vampire…” Leticia quietly murmured as she locked eyes with me, her pretty purple eyes narrowing.
Then she placed her hands against my cheeks.
Startled.
Leticia’s hands were as cold as ice. For a moment, I was surprised by the sudden action, but I quickly adapted, feeling a mischievous impulse and purposely lowered my head to meet her gaze.
We were close enough that we could kiss with just a step forward, and this time, Leticia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You…!”
“Why are you so surprised? Did I end up resembling someone you wanted to see?”
It was a question with a predetermined answer. There was no need for a reply, as it was an obvious question. Of course, Leticia would tell me that I looked nothing like Damian, considering not only our appearances but also our genders were different.
Surprised for just a moment, Leticia narrowed her eyes and scrutinized my face before smirking.
Just as I expected…
“…Well. You do resemble him a little.”
Huh?
“You damnable resemblance. Just looking at your face annoys me.”
As she released my cheeks and slowly opened her mouth, Leticia’s response was not what I had anticipated. I thought there might be some curses thrown in for good measure, urging her not to insult Damien. I was even prepared for that.
The unexpected response left me dumbfounded, which only brought a smile to Leticia’s lips.
“I like a proactive woman. A girl knows how to charm people; are you sure you’re not half Succubus instead of just a vampire?”
I didn’t even get the chance to ask what exactly I resembled. Leticia dropped everything she wanted to say and turned her back without a hint of regret.
Then, as she walked ahead perfectly, she stopped and asked me, still in a daze.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you coming?”
“…Ah, no. I’ll go, yeah.”
Looks like checking my stats and skill window will have to be pushed back again.
Grumbling to myself, I hurriedly chased after Leticia’s footsteps toward the room. At this moment, I had no idea that I would end up regretting it later. Forget about the contract; I should have escaped instead.