Chapter 99 - Walking With Lilith

After they were done, Albert and Maya left the guild.

"Thank you for your help. It seems I've judged you wrong. For that, I apologize," said Maya with a serious expression.

Albert nodded. "It's fine. I've gotten some benefits too. So, it doesn't matter."

Maya then lifted her hand and pointed at the temple. "Then, do you want to go back to the temple?"

"No. I need to go somewhere else." Albert shook his head. There were two reasons why he actually wanted to leave. The first reason was his job in supervising the slime king.

As for the second reason, when healing the people in the guild, he took a peek of what was inside the robe Maya wore.

He was shocked to see roots curving around her chest, stomach, and crotch. He almost forgot the fact that he was in the Lust Kingdom, so he should expect Maya to be horny.

'Morning Wood' even appeared in his thoughts. It was a slang that Albert thought since the one that circled around her body was similar to a root from a tree instead of a rope.

In the end, it was better to separate himself from her. Even if he wanted to learn more healing spells, he should go to the temple in Xander Town.

After going separate ways, Albert made his way to the town's gate, planning to visit Yale, who had been standing by on the site.

However, his peace was broken the moment he stepped outside the town as a sweet smell started permeating the air.

"…" Albert came to a halt and turned around, finding a succubus behind him.

She waved her hand with her right hand while putting on a sweet smile, complimenting her beautiful face and enchanting red eyes. She fixed her fluttering red hair.

Due to her raising both hands, her breast raised and joined a bit, making it look bigger.

"Hello." Her gentle and soothing voice entered Albert's ears.

"What are you doing here?" Albert frowned and took a step back, wary of her. After all, the succubus before him was none other than the succubus queen, Lilith.

"I'm here to supervise the entire operation. Also, I've told you that I'll ask you about your reward here, right?"

"That's true, but why do you appear right now? Hmm… It seems that you've been waiting for me or…" His gaze became sharper as he looked Lilith in the eyes. "Have you been stalking me this whole time?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lilith stuck her tongue out. She looked extremely cute, but there was no change in Albert's expression.

Seeing Albert's poker face made Lilith smile. She decided to answer him properly. "Yes. I've been following you ever since you visited the temple."

"Hmm…" Albert squinted his eyes and asked, "What's your purpose for coming out right now?"

"I think the answer to this question is…" She paused for a moment and looked back at the town. "I can't simply make my appearance known."

"Because you're their queen?"

"No." Lilith shook her head. Her lips curved upward as she said with a sad tone. "If I visited you in the town, I would have charmed my people.

"Even if I didn't wish to release my own charm, we, succubus, emanated this naturally. So, there's no way for me to stop enchanting those people. And this is not something I would like to see.

"So, I wait for you to leave the town before visiting you. Would you mind if I accompanied you when walking toward the lake?" She politely asked.

Albert fell silent for a moment. Although he was a bit suspicious of her intention, Albert ultimately nodded. "Be my guest."

"Hehe. Thank you." Lilith chuckled and immediately positioned herself next to Albert as they started walking toward the lake.

"So, why do you come to me? Is it about the reward?"

"That's one of the reasons… But most of all, I just want to have someone to talk to."

"Someone to talk to? I've seen you together with those people around your throne. I think they're more appropriate."

"No, no. Do you know how long our court session is?"

"Nope."

"We hold that kind of session every hour. The meeting will last for thirty minutes before they need to cool down their heads to remove the charm that has affected them." She let out a long sigh while looking at the blue sky. "Because they've been with me for a long time, they can resist it for some time.

"However, they, by no means, are immune to my charm. So, it's impossible for me to talk with them like I'm talking to you. Even if I am here in front of me, your expression remains indifferent. So, I think I can just be me when I'm with you."

"That's…" Albert fell silent. Although their cases were a bit different, Albert found himself in Lilith.

On Earth, Albert didn't have many acquaintances simply because they were scared of him due to his scars and background. It was something he received from his parents, so in the end, he died without anyone on his side.

Meanwhile, Lilith emanated her charm naturally, stunning everyone near her. This prevented her from talking to other people easily. Even when they could resist her charm, they wouldn't be able to hold a normal conversation as their hearts were filled with admiration toward Lilith.

What he had seen in Lilith was her loneliness. In her life, no one treated her like a normal living being and it had been planted for as long as she remembered, like him.

"That's sad. I can somehow understand you." Albert nodded with a calm expression.

"Is that so?" Lilith smiled again while looking at his face. "Well, that's how it is. You don't need to pity me or something because I'm just a stranger to you."

Albert scratched the back of his head and said, "I can still meet with people and talk to them while you are being forced to be alone because of your natural charm…"

"And when they're charmed, they can't even do anything. Not moving, not talking, not even looking at me. I'm sure you've seen it at Prince Yale back then."

"Indeed." Albert nodded with a serious expression.

"Well, I shouldn't talk much about myself. I still have my priority." She walked a bit faster to stop Albert right in front of him. She then smiled and said, "Thank you for capturing the slime king. Although I haven't heard what you want as a reward, I think this is what I ought to do before anything else.

"I want to thank you for what you have done. A slime king can indeed bring a catastrophe. In the best-case scenario, only this town will be destroyed. In the worst-case scenario, I'm afraid the destruction will spread to a few towns.

"When that happens, the war will stop because of the instability of the kingdom. And it will give the hero and his colleagues a chance to become stronger. I'm afraid more people will die in this situation.

"At the same time, because of the loss of the towns, the economy will receive a big hit and the kingdoms nearby will try to take advantage of this situation to force me to promise something to them.

"That's why sealing the slime king might be worth more than you think. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Albert raised his eyebrows, never expecting that Lilith could be so sincere. The fierceness that she showed when they first met felt like an illusion.

He even thought Lilith actually had two personalities.

Since he was a bit curious, he hinted to her, "It's fine. No need to think about it. Looking at you this sincere makes me wonder whether the first time we met was a lie or not. You were so fierce back then."

"Ah, that." Lilith scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "I apologize for attacking you out of nowhere.

"This is just an excuse, but I would like you to listen to me. First of all, the Pride Kingdom sent their prince, who was an anomaly. Normally, people would believe this as an insult to our kingdom as they didn't take us seriously like other kingdoms. You should have seen the representatives of other kingdoms, right? They were ministers, a strong one at that.

"So, as a payback for that insult, I wanted to beat Yale but certainly left him alive before sending him back. At the very least, he would be bedridden for a year, but there should be no aftereffect. That was my plan to pay back for the insult thrown by the Pride Kingdom.

"I never planned to kill someone. Of course, when you actually appeared, I was bewildered to find someone who could resist my charm. So, I tested you by attacking you. I didn't plan to harm you at that.

"In fact, I rarely killed my enemies. I usually investigated their motives and background first and if they didn't have any use to me, I would kill them at that time." Lilith explained with a serious expression, showing Albert that her answer wasn't a lie.

"Hmm…" Albert squinted his eyes and asked, "So, I guess I'm not a useless person in your eyes right now."

"Haha, that's true. However, I put you into a new category. That's how special your existence is to me." She chuckled.

Albert shrugged his shoulders. "So, what are you planning to do to me now? This is your chance to capture me or kill me, considering I'm the bane of your existence."

"A bane of my race's existence, huh. What my people think at first is surely something like that. However, in my eyes, you're someone who can lift up the curse of my race.

"What if you were born as a succubus and raised to have sex for your entire life? You surely don't like to have that, right?"

"That's true." Albert nodded in agreement.

"That's what I want to ask you… Can you truly lift this curse from us?" Lilith asked.

"If I say no, will you kill me?"

"No. Why would I make business with you? It's because you're unique. As long as you don't oppose me directly, like destroying this Lust Kingdom, then I wish for us to coexist like normal." Lilith answered without hesitation.

"Hmm…" Albert narrowed his eyes and eventually nodded his head. "Well, I can't say I have confidence in that. But I can say the possibility is there. I don't know how the future unfolds though."

"I see." Lilith made a smile of relief. "Well, since the misunderstanding between us is solved, how do you want me to reward you for your achievement? I will weigh it down whether your achievement can be traded for that or not."

Albert thought for a moment and sighed. "To be honest, I have no idea right now. All I can think is to have a bit of money and another place to live… I guess. Like the one you gave me in Xander Town."

"Well, with the reward from killing a disaster-level monster… I mean, the monetary reward alone should be massive. You shouldn't have a problem buying another place like that and still have a lot of money. Do you wish to use that money to buy a new place or should I give you another one? I don't mind either way."

"I will buy another one then if I have that kind of money."

"Then, I will raise your adventurer rank to C Rank. Although your power is still a bit lower than the average C Rank, it doesn't sit to me that someone who can seal a slime king to be placed under that. In fact, I want to raise it to either B or A Rank, but I believe there are many oppositions and your life won't be comfortable later due to the pressure from your environment."

"Thank you." Albert smiled at her thoughtfulness. It seemed the admiration of her people also came from this thoughtfulness.