[43] SECRET

Medical report huh?

I mulled over the documents required to register Liliath as a citizen of Gilgamesh.

Oh right. I haven’t explain where the frick Gilgamesh actually is huh? It’s actually a fairly recent country built around 70 years ago.

It’s an island like Singapore below the right-wing of Russia, Hokkaido to the left and the United States to the right. It’s a raised-to-land region of the emperor seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean. 

It’s man-made.

Man-made you say? Yeah. A lunatic by the name Gilgamesh was the founder of this country.

One day, Gilgamesh was flying from Japan to the United States. His plane— whoosh— ‘dramatic sound effect’— WHOOOSSSHH. BBBOOOOOMM.

Nope. It’s more like— bloop.

The plane didn’t explode. It just floated on the water. The engine apparently shut off and the system denied access to the pilot. I don’t know what that means but the plane basically crashed.

And so, the survivors were out at sea.. and people were ‘dying’.

Gilgamesh had a sort of earth moulding TALENT. And with that, he managed to raise a small piece of land from the sea, which was what saved the survivors. 

Though.. I imagined how disgusting the sea bed was.. welp. The marine life that got caught up in Gilgamesh’s TALENT became free food. And there has got to be someone in the group with a fire magic TALENT or water purification TALENT, so everyone survived until a rescue team arrived a month later.

That small land Gilgamesh created— became the spark that started the country, Gilgamesh, we all know and loved today. Gilgamesh spent the rest of his life raising the sea bed of the emperor seamounts— that’s why it no longer exists today, replaced by this country.

Other details like how the government infrastructure was developed in such a short span of time after the Second World War remains a mystery. 

My grandparents were converted Gilgamesh citizens, not natives. 

There were no natives to begin with..

Gilgamesh is one of the most ridiculous country built till date. Everything is.. artificial. Like heck, even the land vegetation we have had to be imported from some other countries.

I’m living a dream— Gilgamesh’s dream. He never had the chance to experience this country he built— my condolences..

Eh, wait. Where was I? Oh yeah: Medical report. 

I wonder if demon lords are scared of needles?

The car pulled up into a parking lot and went into Prune's Restaurant– that’s the actual name of the eatery by the way. 

We were guided to a private room away from the main hall.

A large round table and cushioned seats, tablewares were prepared for each person. Chopsticks and spoons— no fork and knives though. 

I glanced at Liliath. She averted my gaze.

What’s up with that?

I sat down— Liliath to the left, my father to the right. My father to the left of my mother and Liliath to the right of Novelle.

Hm.. this is a weird getup. Why is everyone sitting so close together?

Something is suspicious. My father usually sits opposite of me.

“Do your best Liliath,” My mother cheered.

Liliath nodded with a serious expression.

“You can do it Noel. As a father, I am proud that you got yourself a girl at this age.” My father whispered this into my ear with a smirk.

“And?” I raised an eyebrow.

“You’ll see, You’ll see..” 

Shit. Something scary is about to happen isn’t it? 

The waiter— Prune, came over with the menu. Those wolf ears piqued my father’s interest. If he hadn’t practiced self-restraint, I sure he would’ve asked some pretty weird stuff like.. can I do your ears or bushy tail? 

My father wasn’t around when Prune got her TALENT so it was a surprise to him.

And— I’m sad to inform you of this but Prune wasn’t wearing some maid costume, just normal clothes, don’t let your expectations run to high peeps.

Liliath will be choosing a dish. Last time, it was all on mom since she knew the regular dishes. Liliath was still new to the food here.

 The choice she made was.. a weird dumpling.. Is that... ghost pepper sauce?!

No.. fuck..

“Are you sure? This might be very spicy, you know?” My mom warned.

“I don’t think you should go for this.” Prune advised her too.

Hm.. Prune is no longer scared of Liliath? What’s up with that? It’s good and all but it doesn’t make sense. Liliath generates an aura that scares other creatures away right? So how come it’s no longer affecting Prune?

“Spicy? What’s that?” Liliath asked.

Ah seriously? Liliath doesn’t know spicy? WHHHUUUTT?! And she’s aiming straight for the boss?!

Liliath, you shouldn’t order that.. please.. you will die.. or at least feel like dying.. trust me..

I retorted in my mind. And fortunately, she changed her mind

Liliath chose some other tofu instead. 

“This pudding— did I say something wrong?” Liliath pointed at the dish... noticing the weird look on Prune’s face as she said.

“N-nothing. That’s tofu.”

“Tofu? The legendary tofu dish?!” 

Tofu is legendary.. I learnt something new today.

“Uh.. yeah..” Prune took two steps backwards.

“Then could you please?”

“Could you please.. what do you mean?”

“This princess here plays arounds with words a lot.. she basically means: yes add that to the menu,” my father said.

“Hah?” um.. give her a second to process it all, um.. even I had trouble catching on to what Liliath was trying to say.

“Could it be that my speech is weird?” Liliath asked.

“I think it’s unique. Just go with it, no problems there,” my father shrugged.

“It makes you feel more like a princess.. though, big sister really is a Princess though..” the little devil commented.

“There’s a lot I don’t know hah...” Prune said in a weak voice, jotting down Liliath’s order.

The drinks arrived— Liliath opted for iced tea.. a tea wizard indeed.

While waiting, my father took a sauce plate, added chilly, garlic and spices to create a mix. Liliath looked at it with interest.

“Ah? You’ve never seen this? It’s called self-service,” my father said, pouring the soy sauce.

“I didn’t see this the last time I came?”

“That’s because only my husband eats the chillies,” My mom said.

“Chillies?”

“Heh?” My father looked at Liliath, then at me in astonishment.

What? Now you know how much of an out-of-place goldfish Liliath is now?

“You should try some,” my father smirked.

“Then I’ll gladly accept.”

“Liliath.. you’ve never eaten anything spicy.. are you sure? I don’t recommend it..”

“Is there anything wrong?”

“Noel, you can’t be too overprotective can you now?” My mom laughed.

Seriously? Right. I suppose I should let Liliath try a bunch of different things in this world instead of telling her to not do this or that.

My father mixed another sauce plate worth of soy sauce, chilli and spices— without garlic— and passed it to Liliath.

Liliath was about to dip her chopsticks and have a taste when my father stopped her saying that it should be eaten together with the meal.

The dishes came in accordance. Only then did we started the meal.

[44]

After enjoying the meal for a few minutes, Dylan-sama gave me a suggestive look.. he must be wondering when the assault would commence.

“Novelle, what should I feed Noel?” I whispered for help.

Novelle-sama turned to me and smirked.

This dreadful feeling.. how embarrassing.. to ask such a thing from another person.. 

“Add this and this meat with the red vegetable together with rice,” Novelle-sama deftly directed my line of sight to the targeted dishes. This would become the base to which I feed Noel.

“The chillies. I haven’t tried but isn’t it something to be avoided..?”

“No, no, trust me big sister. Big brother will absolutely love it,” and Novelle-sama grinned again. Truly the smile of a devil...

“Alright.. I shall heed your advice.”

“What are you two talking about?” 

“I was asking what dishes those are, It’s the first time I’ve tasted this..” I put on a feint, smiling delightfully.

“Seriously?” Noel looked at me with a perplexed expression, he didn’t question further.

Dylan-sama met my eyes again.

What should I do..

Could it be that I should act now?

It’s necessary to resolve myself..

I took the spoon out of my mouth..

This would be akin to an indirect kiss..

But it must be done..

Noel did say he would comply wholeheartedly..

“Hide the red vegetable under the rice,” Novelle-sama hinted.

Nodding, I filled the spoon with rice, a few small pieces of the red round vegetable hidden underneath. On top of the rice, I decorated it with some meat and vegetables, also the ‘tofu’ I requested. It had a surprisingly delicate taste that I enjoyed. I believe Noel felt the same way since he took the initiative to eat most of the dish.

I glanced at Dylan and gave him a nod.

Then I made contact with Noel by touching his hand, I evoked a confusion spell, charm, to divert his consciousness for a moment.

Then Dylan-sama restrained Noel, stunned from confusion.

“Now,” Diana-sama chuckled.

With the spoon in hand, I shoved it into Noel’s half-open mouth with prudence.

===

The fuck?

Where am I?

This is Liliath’s hand?

The only thing I could think of was Liliath for some odd reason.

Everything became a blur.

If I were to put it into a wordy illustration.. It's like there’s a bunch of small Liliath flying around me, and all of them are attractive beyond measure..

Then someone— or something fixed me in place.

Was it Liliath?

I had no idea.

Something was shoved into my mouth.

And at that moment I regained consciousness. In front of me was Liliath with a difficult to describe expression.

Cute.

Hm?

My mouth.. and her hand..

Huh?

WWWWHHHATT?!

My mouth.. there was something there.. wait.. Liliath is feeding me?

“Eat it already,” my father, who held my shoulders in place, said.

Eat it?

I looked down to see her hand holding the spoon in my mouth.

...

Liliath... feeding me?

Why?

“Are you not going to accept it?” Liliath quivered.

Shit. No.. I don’t mean that..

I clenched my teeth together and pulled the food into my mouth from the spoon.

The flavor was enchanting somehow.. Was she feeding me with her spoon?

A-AN INDIRECT KISS?!

Liliath pulled the spoon out of my mouth and let out a sigh of relief.

‘Liliath’s Special Quest Completed.’

The sound of the system rang in my ear.

A slow heat enveloped my mouth.

This.. is..

Chilli?!

I behind Liliath I noticed the smug of the little devil.. a few inches longer than usual.

FUCK!?

IT’S SPICY!

Tears spilt from my eyes..

“Noel?” Liliath looked at me both worried and puzzled.

Fuck.. I can't possibly spit this out right?! Liliath fed this to me after all?! Dammit! DAMMIT!

I swallowed it forcibly without another bite.

Bad idea.

Heat spread through my esophagus, then into my stomach. My throat and tongue burned from the pain.

“Water..” I requested in a meek voice.

Damn fuck it’s so spicy..

Was there a need to feed me chillies?!

GODDAMN, I NEED WATER.

“Here you go,” my mother passed my drink over. I hurriedly downed the ice cold passion fruit tea. Yes, also tea but a different kind from the one Liliath ordered.

“Why Liliath.. why..” the heat quelled down somewhat, but the pain remained. 

“D-did I do something w-wrong? W-why is your face so red.. w-why are you in pain?”

“...”

In all seriousness, I wanted payback.

“Ah, you added chilli didn’t you?” my mom announced.

“But Novelle said it was alright..”

I see...

Yea sure, of course, the little devil was the person who instigated it.. but you were at fault too you know?

“Payback.”

“Huh?”

I filled my own spoon with rice and random dishes, making sure it was somewhat ‘palatable’.

“Open your mouth.”

“W-what are you trying to do?!” Liliath tried to shrink away but the little devil was there to hold her in place.

“Fight big brother! I’m rooting for you!” The devil cheered.

Damn. I wonder how I should kill that devil.. she’s the root cause..

“Novelle?! Betrayal!”

I shoved the spoon into Liliath’s mouth.

“Good job,” my father nodded in satisfaction.

“Oh my,” My mom exclaimed.

Liliath had no choice but to accept it... I pulled the spoon away from her mouth.

Her face reddened as she continued to chew— tears spilt from her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand.

“Here’s your drink,” The little devil was kind enough to offer support.

Revenge served.. not yet.. there’s still that devil..

I already warned her.. she took the little devil’s advice instead... have a taste of your own medicine!

“It hurts,” Liliath cried, sucking in the straw while glaring at me.

“Yeah, of course it does. I warned you.”

“But you didn’t have to do that!” Liliath retorted.

“Noel.. y-you..” there was an extra voice.

Everyone turned to the person in question— Prune?

When did she get here.. Wait, she didn’t see that right?!

She stood there with a dish in hand, staring blankly at us. Shit.. she saw it didn’t she?

“Ah.. youth is so wonderful, isn’t that right honey?” my father said.

“I agree,” my mom chuckled.

“Me too!” The little devil cheered.

FUCKING SERIOUSLY?!

===

As for the rest of the dinner.. we didn’t say another word to each other. It’s awkward.

I didn’t know what I was doing. I acted on impulse. I wasn’t thinking at all.. and.. Prune saw what happened. Not just Prune but my entire family.

Fuck.

How did this happen?

That was charm magic, right? I lost consciousness there for a moment and a bunch of small little Liliath clouded my mind before she stuck her spoon into my mouth.

...

And indirect kiss?

I can’t believe it..

Just what was the purpose of the quests anyways? For me to grow closer to Liliath to eventually marry her off?

That’s stupid but pleasant to think about at the same time..

Ughh.. why..

Hey developer— are you trying to raise a flag or something? Because it’s working a little too well..

I dilly-dallied in my thoughts, my father had a chat with Liliath.

“Princess Liliath the fourth of Toren Kingdom, I’ll be in your care from now on Dylan.”

“Ho.. That’s interesting. Fourth princess of Toren Kingdom— so what’s it like to live there?”

“...”

“Father um..” It surprised me that Liliath was still unwilling to tell anyone about her past—

“Oh, sorry for asking,” father let out a sigh, he glanced at mom for a second. “I guess you had a pretty hard time. I won’t ask about it too much. Whatever it is— welcome to our family, Liliath,” my father said, raising his drink.

Liliath understood the intention, raised her own half-empty iced tea drink and made a toast with my father.

Huh.. I didn’t think Liliath would know about clinking cups.

“What’s with the mood?” father looked around. 

“Welcome to our family Liliath,” my mom chuckled as if to break the awkward atmosphere.

“Big sister Liliath is now official,” the devil nodded.

“I guess.. welcome to our family Liliath— please take care of us too from now on,” last to speak was me.

“Thank you— I will forever be grateful..”

A debt she can never repay..

That was what she told me that night. What she said was true but— it’s only true because she thinks it is true. From my standpoint, Liliath’s arrival was part of the luck game. My TALENT turned out what it was and her summoning happened on a whim. So.. she’s not being indebted— rather, it’s our responsibility to take care of her.

[45]

Interrupting my thoughts, Prune’s father showed up.

“Long time no see Dylan.”

“Likewise Ugine.”

They shook hands.

“Aren’t you busy? Or you pushed all the work to the other chefs?”

“It’s not that busy at this time. I suppose it’s alright..” Ugine laughed it off.

“Take a seat, oh, where’s your daughter?” My mom asked.

“I appreciate it. Uh, I don't know, she went back into the kitchen, did anything happen?”

“She must have been jealous?” my father questioned.

“I don't understand my daughter all that much but let’s not jump to conclusions?” Ugine had a strangely cramped smile on his face.

Prune is jealous? Hm… now that’s tricky.. I don't think she liked me in the first place..

Crap.. again with my delusions.. Liliath is going on the offensive here and I'm still thinking about Prune? What’s wrong with me?

I noticed Liliath’s questioning gaze.

“What is it?” I asked.

Liliath looked away and asked, “Who is Prune to you?”

“A friend.”
It's true that I liked Prune— keyword: liked— but when I found out that she was going to transfer schools, I somehow just accepted it as it was. Perhaps my ‘like’ towards her wasn't all that deep to begin with— which could be the reason why I didn't feel so much about losing her. 

Though, with the situation now.. we may very well be entering the same school in the near future..

“Ah? So that’s your intention?”

“Yup, so what do you think? The monthly rental is decent for the location of the rental and it’s cheaper than the rentals for the in-school dormitory,” my mom said.

I missed out on some parts but huh? Monthly rental?

“I would have to discuss this with my family before coming to a conclusion,” Ugine said as if troubled.

“It’s alright, we can schedule a later date to give you some time to finalize a decision.”

“Then give me some time to think about it.”

Did I miss something important there?

Huh?

“I better get back to the kitchen, my boys are waiting for me,” Ugine stood up and stretched his back, “Thanks for the offer. And I'll have Prune come over to receive the bills for the meal if that's alright?”

“Yes, thank you,” my mom showed a business-like smile.

He left the room.

It could’ve been another awkward silence if it were not for the sound of the little devil teaching Liliath how to eat ice.

That was literally bribery to have Liliath create more ice for the devil to snack on with such useless knowledge in exchange..

“Hey mom, what was that about?”

“Hm?” my mom looked at me puzzled.

“What is it?”

“Should we tell you?” she contemplated, “What do you think dear? Do you think it would spoil the surprise?”

“Noel, listen up. This is what you call anticipation. Brace yourself for what’s to come,” my father talking nonsense…

“What..”
“Liliath, don't tell Noel alright~” my mom said in sequence.

Liliath knows?!

“Tell what?” Liliath spoke in a cute, muffled tone. A piece of ice in her mouth impeded her normal voice.

Or not..

“I guess the secret is safe in her hands,” my father sounded relieved.

SO SHE KNOWS ABOUT IT?!

“What is it? What about monthly rent and the school dorms?”

“You’ll know in time, Noel,” my father said with a natural smirk.

Seriously..

This is bad.. 

“Liliath?” 

“Don't tell him Liliath, it’s a surprise.” 

Mom.. don't instigate her. I really, really, absolutely fucking need to know what the hell this is about. 

Liliath tilted her head.

My shoulders dropped and I just stared at her with my dead eyes. Apparently, a frown surfaced on my face.

She pouted. So cute.

I’ve been telling myself that Liliath is cute quite often these past few days.. 

“They’re flirting again.”

I switched targets and fired imaginary laser beams at the little devil. Speaking of which, I still haven’t gotten my revenge on this twerp.

But no ideas come to mind.. she's too ‘clean’, no weaknesses, no gaps. I wish she got herself a boyfriend so I could tease her to the point of hell. Heck, I doubt telling mom and father about her stash of porn I found in her room would really do anything at this point. Because as I said, it runs in the family.

The door of the room slid open again and appeared Prune— I felt her gaze brush past me for a moment, it’s obvious she was avoiding Liliath’s gaze. Holding the bill, she was beckoned over by my mom who took out her wallet.

Liliath was staring intently at the exchange of Prune and mom— or more accurately— at the machine and card, and the receipt being spit out from the head of the machine. I’m sure Liliath must be thinking somewhere along the lines of ‘ancient artifact’.

Prune was about to leave when my mom tugged at her shirt and whispered something into her ear— to learn that she whispered at the wrong place because her ears were no longer there. It’s those two ears up on top.

Cringe. 

I understand how you must feel mom— not.

Ignoring my father who was desperately holding in his laughter, my mom told Prune something. Prune nodded a few times and sent me a weird look for some odd reason.

“Don't tell Noel yet alright?” was the only thing I heard my mom say loudly, on purpose.

Grrr… what in the world.. 

Prune nodded, seemingly dazed. Just before she exited, she looked at me one last time— with a smile, a trace of sorrow could be seen from her eyes.

“What?” I spoke my thoughts.

“What?” just as the little devil repeated a second after.

“I still haven’t had my payback on you, stop repeating my words as if you don't understand what’s going on,” I glared at her.
“But I really don’t know what’s going on though? Big sister Liliath, what is this about, why am I and big brother left out?” the little devil showed a genuinely confused expression— seriously? This supposed all-knowing devil doesn't know?

“...”

“So that’s what it is..” the devil showed me a grin.

“Liliath.. you..”

“I only spoke what I knew?”

“So what did you tell my sister?”

“I don’t know?”

SERIOUSLY?!

I gave up. I sipped on my tea and tuned my mind elsewhere.

I’m sure I'll figure out what it is in the future. It’s something to do with real estate, renting and Prune.

Prune.

I might just be imagining things.. yeah. There’s no way she likes me.

[46]

“Liliath sure picked herself a pretty good night clothes don't you think?”

“Yeah sure.. that’s quite a suggestive remark you got there father,” I spoke, sitting on the couch as I updated my Arthub profile.

Finally, there’s some momentum in growth— I’m going to break into my first ten thousand.

I’ve been growing my account for almost a year now. I can't tell if I’m being impatient with this because I’m being corrupted by all other accounts that shot into 6-digit follower range in 3 months or something else— feels kinda meek. I should be happy about hitting my goal but.. rather.. I feel like this achievement no longer means anything anymore..

It doesn’t matter how many followers I have, there’s always another mountain to climb so might as well just enjoy it.

It’s a conflicting feeling.. I know I shouldn't really be anxious about these things because it doesn’t help one bit— at the same time, I feel the fear of falling complacent if I don't feel anxious about going further— urgghh..

“Oh, congratulations, very close to 10k, that’s an incredible achievement.”

“Yeah..” I don't know what I should be feeling.

“You don't seem all that happy?”

“If I feel happy about 10k then I’ll feel sad that I’m not at 20k, or when I'm happy when I'm at 20k, I'll be unhappy because I haven't reached 50k.. it’s an endless cycle..”

Hearing that, my father laughed, “Good to hear that you noticed. In fact, you should aim to build ‘real’ fans, not the following. Those who are truly interested in your work will definitely keep up with you, and that’s where you should drop whatever value you can for these people.”

“Makes sense..”

I’ve heard about this before. It’s taking what I have and then trying to monetize it a little. Of course, based on logic, it’ll take a long time before I can actually earn a living through this. It’s like an investment.

I don't know how my father did it— rather, I do, he’s got a cheat TALENT so go figure. But his TALENT didn’t allow him to cheat his way through social media, the art industry or manga industry though..

Hard work, smart work, and perseverance— I guess? No. That is the answer.

“Oh yeah, you asked me about how I summoned Liliath?” 

I picked up my phone— fingers all shaky.

“Before I show it to you, father, promise me that you won't laugh.”

“Of course I'll definitely break that promise,” my father grinned.

What a devil..

Letting loose a sigh to prepare my mind, I first showed him the gacha app— with that eerie diva face.

He shuddered for a second.

Then tapped the app— nothing happened. 

To be expected.

“Huh?”

“That’s just how it is, only Liliath and I can access the app for some reason,” saying that, I casually brought up the main page of the app.

“That’s some good security you got there.”

“Ah, well, it’s not like I intended it, it just is.”

“Gacha— pffttt..” 

And he laughed.

Liliath and the little devil, sitting on the table nearby, looked our way.

I waved my arm in response, gesturing it was nothing too serious— since there’s really nothing too serious about someone laughing at a girly interface being displayed on my phone.

If anything, Novelle was doing a good job teaching Liliath about technology. I wonder what video they're watching. Hopefully not porn.. or that cartoon.. or Super Glue..

I don’t know if my ears were playing tricks on me but I'm hearing some rather obscene sounds of mouthing. S

My mom was in father’s office, working. And the only reason father was here with me was because he wanted to spend some time with us, since he just returned from Orlando.

Anyways.. back to the topic.

“So the shop is where you get the gacha tickets?”

“Yeah.”

“These points— ah, so you get them from doing ‘stuff’ with Liliath right?”

“Basically.”

“And quests?”

“Also a source of these points.”

Ah crap.. I forgot to attend to some of these quests. I’ve actually set a target of 2 a day. Wait. Liliath and I did actually complete 2 quests, just that those quests were ‘special’ quests. 

Hm..

The special quests don't add to the upgrade gauge it seems..

“PPFFT—- HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA”

Father.. please.. that’s deafening. And it’s 9 pm at night, what would the neighbours think if they heard us?

“MAKE LOVE? SERIOUSLY? AHAHAHAHAHA”

Ah yes.. it’s worth 200 points, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon, you’re not going to have a grandchild so soon, sorry to disappoint you. 

You know what, I’m going to trash it right this instant. And I'll also get rid of the ‘finding Liliath’s favourite food’ because she might never come to a decision in the next few weeks. 

“WAIT, no?! How can you?! That’s 200 points! 200 points!”  his voice mingled with laughter.

“Give it up already— you pervert.”
His laughter only grew crazier.

30 seconds went by. 

“Ahem,” he faked a cough, citing that he had finished laughing his ass off.

“Can we continue?” I said in a slightly irritable tone.

“Please.”

Since my father was unable to touch, let alone scroll through the app, I had to assist him in his quest to find the most exotic item in the Liliath specific shop.

“Huh?! You can buy these here?”

“...”

I'm just as surprised as my father. Is it just me or does the store change with time? I remembered seeing the rare-candy that increases the level of a ‘creature’ by one, but it had disappeared for some reason.

Oh, right, you were wondering what in the heck my father was surprised about right?

It’s called:

An aphrodisiac.

Literally— an illegal item.

There’s one in powder form, another in liquid form, not to mention one in gas form. And with scalable potency too. Now that’s downright amazing…

It’s as if the system wants me to do it. But no fucking way, I’m prioritizing my chastisy.

Like holy fuck… this is scary stuff. I hope Liliath doesn't get access to this app when she gets her own phone..

I’m raising a flag, aren’t I?

I felt a shiver down my spine.

“Alright, alright, scroll on.”

“Y-yeah..”

Passing through the fantasy metal section—

“Orichalcum? Ah.. the price though.. 10000 for ten grams? That’s insane—”
“It is.”

“— ly cheap.”

That caught me off guard somewhat.

10000 points are equivalent to me catching Liliath naked 200 times. I wish my father knew the struggles I'm going through just to rack up these points.

“You know it’s pretty hard to collect these points right?”

“Hm? Really? All you need to do is marry Liliath and you two can do everything possible thing you two want, I'm sure you’d be 100 times more efficient in points collection in that way don't you think?” he spoke as if whispering.

I had no words to retort. Sometimes I wonder what goes through my father’s mind. How did my mom fall for such a guy again?

“I give you my blessings as your father, go for it,” he pushed me a thumbs up.

Disgusting..

“Which kind of reminds me, Liliath is a princess right? And you said she was a slave before she arrived. Do you know about her situation? I’m not forcing you to tell me but I’m somewhat worried.”

Huh? 

“Hasn’t mom told you the reason why Liliath became a slave in the first place?”

“She doesn’t know anything about it though?”

So does this mean Liliath hasn’t told mom yet? About her being a demon lord?

I glanced over in Liliath’s direction. She and Novelle were still engrossed watching videos on a laptop.

Those two are close— so has Liliath told my sister about it?

“Well.. I’m thinking it’s best if she told you about it herself.. I was told to not talk about it. She’ll tell you when she’s ready.”

“Okay.”

“I guess?”

It’s been about a week, I guess it’ll take more time for Liliath to open up. Which reminds me—

I returned my gaze to my phone.

“I-Is this.. a philosopher’s stone?” my father stuttered.

“Oh, yeah it is.”

5000 points. A single philosopher’s stone. The description there says: core of a demon lord; evolution material.

“Can I assume Liliath came from a world of demons and dragons? Demon lord, specifically.”

I felt a stare— it was Liliath. Looked like she heard— she probably paid attention to my conversation with m-my father?! She didn’t hear anything weird like marrying me off to Liliath right?

“Yeah, your typical fantasy isekai, with demi-humans and such.”

“OOooh, so there are dungeons too?”

“Not sure about that?” I might have to ask Liliath. There are many different kinds of isekai after all.

“Interesting.. evolution material huh?”

Hm.. now that he said it, it is weird how the description describes it as an evolution material. Aren’t philosopher stones supposed to be a perpetual powersource? 

Or…

“It’s great how you don't even need to kill a demon lord to get this item, Noel, your TALENT is a cheat,” my father turned to me and grinned.

“Uh.. yeah. Actually, I haven't tested what would happen if I lost my phone so..”

“Ah, you’re right.. I guess it's a good idea to get you another device.”

“Uh..” I wanted to say that he didn't need to go that far but.. for safety purposes, it would be better to go with his opinion, “Thanks”

“And one for Liliath too,” he added. “Speaking of which, about Liliath’s medical checkup, I’ll bring you two to the hospital so get ready for tomorrow.”

“Got it.”

We left it at that. 

Shitty stuff becomes the topic of a conversation but— it’s to me, what it means to be a family.