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By the way, if Lilith got caught, how did it happen? The demonic race still didn’t know that Lilith had switched sides to the humans. Even among humans, only a select few were aware, so that says it all.

During the time I spent with her, I encountered many demons, but they had all become beings that could not afford to gossip any longer, so there was no way they could get caught. At least among the living demons, there shouldn’t be anyone who would be aware of Lilith’s identity…

Ah!

Thinking it over, there was one person who seemed to have noticed that Lilith was on the human side. A succubus who recognized Lilith and started talking to her a few days ago when we crossed through the First Fortress.

At the time, I had merely threatened her to keep quiet, but as soon as she realized we had left, she likely spread the rumor immediately. I did expect it, but it’s downright infuriating. If I have the chance on my way back after taking down the Demon King, I’ll have to pay her a visit.

Of course, it’s all just speculation, but that roughly sums up the situation. There was no need for us to act separately, so I held Frecia in one arm and headed toward the city. It might be inside the domain of the demon race, but the vigilance here wasn’t as tight as in the fortress we passed through earlier.

I glided past the gatekeeper without making a sound, but the gatekeeper was too busy yawning to notice my presence. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

Getting into the city was simple, but the next part was the problem. There were no clues about Lilith’s whereabouts. I couldn’t search through the entire vast city alley by alley. So I decided to visit the shops she probably went to for errands.

The problem was I had no idea which shops she had visited. Even if she stopped by a grocery store to buy food, it wouldn’t be the only one in the city. It was impossible to guess where Lilith could have gone out of all those shops.

In the end, while it carried some risk, I would have to expose our presence and just start asking around. I pulled the hood of my robe down to cover half my face and tried to suppress my presence as much as possible, thinking at least no one would catch on that I was human.

“Is there a succubus with pink hair who came by here?”

“Maybe… I think she did… but maybe not…”

Of course, they didn’t answer easily. There were plenty of shopkeepers who seemed on the verge of answering but wouldn’t without buying something, so I ended up buying various items that Lilith had initially tasked me with.

It was better when they outright encouraged me to buy.

“Why is it so hard to tell me? What’s the business you’re looking for?”

“If I’m looking for a succubus, what else could it be? I’m chasing after a woman who ran off while having an affair.”

Some merchants openly asked what the deal was; to get a response, I had to explain the reason. But revealing the actual reason was impossible. So I ended up having to lie to come up with a plausible explanation.

I didn’t even have a lover to cheat with, but I clenched my fists and shook with a quaking voice, trying to dramatize that I would brutally take down the succubus who ran off with my lover.

“Ugh, tsk tsk… you’ve really messed with the wrong person. Those succubus gals, they sure know how to humiliate a woman.”

I only mentioned a succubus with pink hair, so they wouldn’t know it was Lilith. Even if Lilith’s identity were revealed, it would just tarnish her reputation… but what can you do? I wasn’t lying with bad intentions; it was just a white lie for the good cause of rescuing her, so I was sure she would understand.

And besides, she had long since turned her back on the demon race and switched sides to humans. Her reputation among demons suffering a slight decrease wouldn’t be a huge issue.

“Just wait here a minute. During lunch, my husband watches the shop, so I’ll go ask him.”

Whether demon or human, an auntie is still an auntie, I guess? The grocery store owner was so enthusiastic that it felt as if she was treating it as her own matter. I thought it was a fitting lie. If I had told a boring, uninteresting lie, I doubt I would have received such a reaction.

“Oh, now that you mention it, a succubus came by earlier today. She was buying mostly preserved food, maybe planning a trip or something. Now it seems like she was caught having an affair and is on the run. No wonder she kept looking around nervously.”

Lilith looking around was just her worrying about someone recognizing her, but there was no need for me to correct her.

Anyway, thanks to my wit, it didn’t take long to track down Lilith’s whereabouts.

“Go straight down that way and turn right at the Second Alley. There’s a general store right in front; when I asked them to introduce me, I directed them to one of my acquaintances, so if you ask there, they should know.”

“Thank you.”

“Thanks are nice and all, but hurry and go smack that girl! You can even pull out all her hair to make sure she never pulls a stunt like that again.”

Nodding in agreement, I left the excited grocery store owner behind and began to follow the trail I’d finally caught on Lilith. Along the way, I bought some street food from a vendor and happily shared a lollipop with Frecia as we continued our search.

The place we arrived at, after asking around, was unexpected.

Those who had taken Lilith were none other than the Demon King’s Army. And they appeared to be higher-ranking officers among them. Were they planning to use her as an example for betrayers? I tried to sneakily observe, but the atmosphere flowing felt like it was not quite the case.

“That’s right! Make sure you patrol carefully so she can’t escape! Hey, you! Go get some treats that Lady Lilith likes!”

Instead of persecuting the imprisoned Lilith, they seemed to be treating her more than comfortable. The guards were so tightly gathered that even for me, there was no assurance of sneaking in unnoticed.

But we had Frecia. Outwardly, she looked like an utterly ordinary cat. While she couldn’t hide like me, she could easily deflect the suspicions of the guards in her cat form.

“Boss! It’s your time to shine! I’m counting on you!”

Frecia bounded toward the room where Lilith was held, wagging her tail as if to say not to worry. The guards caught sight of the cat for a moment and turned their attention, but they were busy enough with their duties to show enough interest to the cat.

Thanks to this, Frecia slipped through the window frame without any hindrance.

How much time had passed? After exchanging all the information, Frecia returned, looking as nonchalant as when she entered.

“What happened?”

“Meow.”

Frecia made a meowing sound as a cat. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to understand that, but since we were contracted, I had no problem communicating with her in her cat form.

“This is unexpected.”

Listening to the explanation, the situation was indeed unforeseen. It was true that Lilith had been caught after her identity was discovered. However, the unexpected part was the reason she had been captured.

I had thought that the succubus I met during our first visit to the city had revealed Lilith and my connection, leading to her capture. But that wasn’t the case.

Lilith was, in fact, a well-known Succubus Queen among the demon race. Especially against her will, she was worshipped by demons who claimed to be part of her fan club and ended up rising to the ranks of the Four Heavenly Kings. That meant she had a considerable number of followers.

However, Lilith, who wanted nothing to do with work, had been evading them. Naturally, her followers were in a frenzy when their trusted superior suddenly disappeared overnight.

In a moment of desperation, they happened to spot her in the city today. While it would be them who brought her back, for Lilith, it was like being struck by lightning out of a clear blue sky.

It was beyond mere fan club nonsense; they were acting like stalkers.

Realizing the explanation revealed that I had avoided the worst-case scenario, it still wasn’t a good situation.

Given that Lilith had previously run away from them several times, the Demon King’s Army would definitely want to avoid losing her this time. The result was a fierce surveillance situation standing right before me.

How could I safely get Lilith out? After brainstorming with Frecia and Tokki, I finally thought of a plan.

“Let’s try this.”

 

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