Chapter 171 - Impure String Of Their Emotions

"I'm not making them fall in love with me, rather, what I'm doing is helping them to detach an impurity from their emotions." As those words left my mouth, Lilith's eyes grew wide in shock as a moment of awkward silence continued between us.

After staring at each other for a few moments, she opened her mouth with a sigh and asked, "And how did you arrive at that answer?"

I didn't give it much of a thought as I answered her honestly, "Well, recalling the mana surge with Saki that you were concerned about… I can safely conclude it was from the detachment of that impurity from her emotions."

A smile formed on her face, by which I could clearly tell that she was satisfied with my answer. She nodded her head in approval as she said, "Well… you're absolutely correct."

Though my observation was based on merely two targets, I've encountered them. As I continued, "As for Reina, her impurity detached once she realised her own value. She had an extreme inferiority complex."

"Yes, but inferiority wasn't the main thing with her." A frown formed on her face, but her smile was still there as she shook her index finger, showing I was wrong.

Though I had a feeling that it would be wrong since I had thought of another thing which I actually witnessed myself but overlooked at that time. I stared at her for a few moments before asking in a hesitant tone, "Jealousy?"

"Ding! Ding! You're absolutely correct!" Lilith said while making that sound effect as I gave her a cringe look and she looked away feeling embarrassed.

Not paying much attention to her, I continued, "I guessed that, but it seemed rather unlikely relative to her inferiority complex."

Lilith again looked back at me and nodded while saying, "Yeah, since her jealousy is what led her to doubt herself."

As she said that, something felt out of place in the instant. She talked about Reina and her problems, despite the fact she was a target and Lilith wasn't supposed to talk about them. Then was she purposely saying that to make it harder for me?

With a hint of surprise in my tone, I asked, "So you can talk about the targets?"

She gave me an affirmative nod, as she said with a straight face, "Only after they aren't a target anymore."

Well, that made sense. But then, was there something that was forbidding her to talk about the targets with me? If there was, then it would make sense to me as to why Lilith was so desperate whenever I asked her for something.

Though I knew that talking about it won't bear any fruitful conclusion so I avoided that and continued talking about Reina, "Reina often used to compare herself with Gaisen and Kizhashi…"

"Yes… because she felt jealous of Kizhashi." Lilith nodded her head instantly, by which I could tell that she was very well aware of everything that was going on with her. 

That means that she knows exactly why Naoto hasn't been captured yet, but because of her own circumstances she can't tell me about that. Without saying much, I slightly nodded my head, "Interesting…"

I remember last time when we had a conversation like this; she ended up trying to choke me to death. But judging by her reaction back then, she actually looked really hurt by the things I said. Maybe I wasn't aware of her past, so I shouldn't have said those things.

Rather than saying something blunt, I softly smiled at her and said in a warm tone, "I can't say you lied to me since you mentioned that to overcome a negative emotion, only love can faze their heart."

There was no reason to accuse her of something she didn't have control of, but I added with a slight chuckle, "But I can definitely say that you haven't told me the entire truth about this contract yet."

She burst into a chuckle as her shoulders moved, and she nodded positively while saying, "That is true. And neither can I tell you the reason for that."

Her hair fell in front of her face as she cradled them over her shoulders and said, "If you want to ask about the prior targets… then I can tell you but not about the contract itself."

Recalling some of the trends I noticed with Reina and Saki, and was now slightly visible with Naoto too, I said, "I also noticed a pattern of the negative emotions that these girls held inside them."

"Yeah? What is that?" She looked at me curiously and I answered in a haughty tone, "That's not necessary right now, but I'm sure that there's still something inside Naoto that isn't letting her free her negative energy."

"And that's the reason you couldn't capture her yet?" She asked, as I gave her a slight nod, "Positively."

Lilith chuckled softly as she said in her soft voice, "You're definitely smarter than what I imagined you to be."

Her voice was sounding quite a bit more seductive than usual, maybe because she was feeling sleepy. Looking away from her, I asked in a sarcastic tone, "Am I?"

She didn't say anything as her crimson eyes kept piercing through me. Feeling a bit awkward, I said nervously, "I think I'm just desperate to stay alive."

"You can put it anyway you want." Lilith said in a casual tone, as I walked up to my bed and said, "Anyway, next week, I have to see what's wrong with Naoto. What is holding her down? She is already the most weird target I've come across so far."

Lilith chuckled at me as I looked at her in confusion and she said, "Oh, don't worry, there are still weirder ones to come."

"Naoto… what might be pulling the strings inside her heart?" I turned around and mumbled under my breath as I closed my eyes and tried to sleep for the rest of the night.