The dawn broke the horizon with the sky painted in orange orange. Street lights and buildings flickering in the distance like stars… meh. I know it’s inaccurate but I’m doing my best  to describe this picturesque scene so cut me some slack..

Crossing the sky bridge, what I saw below was–

“A traffic jam..”

“Jam?” Liliath glanced at me before turning to look below.

Shouldering a cute school bag behind, she was wearing the school uniform in the official way– white blazer on the outside with a neat blue tie folded into a square bringing her collar together. The skirt wasn't entirely pleated but I wouldn't say they weren’t any fold– a design with a minimal amount of layering.

Her hair was tied to the back with a black ribbon, I have to thank Prune for that. 

The impact of the clothes she wore was totally different when we’re actually going to school.

“Traffic jam. Not the edible kind of jam.”

“Another word I can't seem to understand,” Liliath sounded happy to learn something new.

“Noel, how exactly did you summon Liliath to this world?” Nine asked, puzzled.

“It happened on a whim.. I don't really know if I should tell you the events that happened as is..”

I don’t think it's a good idea to reveal too much about my TALENT to Nine? Telling her/him about the gacha app might lead to a death flag? I’m honestly not too sure but I suppose I'll keep it secretive for now.

“A summoning circle appeared in my room after I did something accidentally and Liliath appeared.”

“Ah? That cliche? What ‘accidental’ thing did you do?” Nine asked again, emphasizing something suggestive.

“Was it really an accident?” Liliath on the other hand, asked, curiously.

“Sorry.. it wasn't an accident.. it just happened.. on a whim..”

I mean.. I could've gotten any other girls from the gacha.. so I suppose it’s a half-accident? Though.. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I got some other girl… maybe she would have a different past from Liliath? Maybe she would’ve come from an entirely different fantasy universe...

HAH? I’m thinking of spinning for a harem? No way.. nah-ah. Not happening.

Prune remained silent, only smiling as we continued our light banter.

Prune obviously looked good with the school uniform, very professional-looking with her silver hair while Nine.. thinking about how she can be both a male and female.. kinda destroys the image of her cuteness.

The sight of Nine wearing a female uniform in her male form comes to mind. I think I might hyperventilate if that happened.

Descending the sky bridge, the four of us walked through the large gate, stepping foot into school grounds. A SUPER LONG path adorned with cherry blossom petals stretched ahead of us. Parents dropping off students on the main road before running into the school compound.

I really dont get why they went with this design.. did the architects build the school with the intent of promoting healthy living? Cuz I’m not buying it. 

Prune who stuck close to Liliath for the effects of the concealment barrier shuddered all of a sudden, turning to Nine she asked.

“Nine, can I ask you an important question?”

“What is it? I’m all ears.” Nine replied in a saluting voice.

“What gender were you originally?”

“Male.”

“YOu…” Prune’s ears and tail stood up on end.

Wait.. I got to ask this. Very important stuff.

“Nine.. doesn't that mean you’re.. no.. which bathroom are you going to use?”

“The female one of course,” Nine siad with a triumphed look.

Hah? Seriously? A legal male allowed to enter and use a female bathroom?  Oh wait.. there’s also the changing room since using the school pool was an inevitable part of being a student..

That makes it even worse..

“Pervert! An actual pervert!” Prune shouted with a red face.

Nine merely shrugged.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Pretty much. WHat? Did you think I could see panties to my heart's content just because I can use a female bathroom? Unlike the male ones, there are only cubicles there,” Nine muttered as if lamenting.

“Male bathrooms differ from female bathrooms?” Liliath who heard it brought up such a question.

“Yes, yes, very. It’s more convenient to use a urinal,” Nine explained.

“Yuri, Nell?”

“Liliath.. don’t listen to his nonsense!” Prune shook Liliath’s shoulders.

Wow.

Taking my eyes off and looking towards the field, I pondered.

That evening when I confessed to Liliath.

I still don't understand what she meant by wait, was it a yes or no? She could just say a direct answer can't she? 

Or not? If I'm in her position, saying either answer would have a tremendous consequence on my life. To Liliath.. maybe, just maybe, she can’t say ‘no’ out of guilt.

Then again… she wouldn’t need to hug me and ask me to wait for her if that were the case, right? What exactly is it that I'm supposed to wait for, I wonder? Liliath didn’t look eager to say what it was so I thought it was best not to ask…

That might be a stupid move.

Though, Liliath still acted as usual. If anything, it feels as if she was more cautious of her actions.

“Noel?” Liliath called out.

“Hm? I’m fine,” and such was what I meant by her being more cautious. She’s definitely started to pay more attention to me ever since then.

Oh well. Time will tell.. I should be patient.

On the way into the school building, there were club booths set up along the entrance. Flyers and confettI were everywhere, with club members clinging to the juniors, asking them to join.

We broke up with Nine and went to class first, since she said she wanted to check out the technology club. Nine was a student of class C so we were bound to split up anyways.

Class E. The seating prepositions were the same, the difference benign the fact that my table was no longer conjoign to Liliath’s table. She still sits beside me though, so it’s a plus. Though.. I wished our seat wasn't in the frontmost seat.

“Noel, you have decided right?” Placing our bags down on our seat, Liliath asked.

“Uh, yeah. It’s not like we can hide it forever, better do it now.”

Fear. Fear of my TALENT being exploited by the government. It’s a stupid way to put it actually. If the government was here to exploit TALENTS, why would they need to build a special school like MondaI for the likes of us in the first place?

Well.. I can't say they aren’t exploiting TALENTS but the purpose of it was to protect us citizens in the first place.

“Where could teacher Glib be I wonder,” with an anticipating smile, Liliath held my hand and pulled me out of class. I could only accept being dragged by her in this way.

There weren’t all that many students in class so Prune would have plenty of chances to meet new friends– good luck.

“Third floor maybe.”

Liliath let go of me after a while and we walked side by side. Passing by idle students now and then.. eh wait, that guy looks familiar somehow. Why does he have bandages around his arms and legs? Weird. If i’m not wrong he’s the person with the slime pet the other time I saw him at the summoner’s department.

WHat happened to him?

“I sense Teacher Glib’s presence there,” Liliath pointed to the wall– more accurately, at the teacher’s exact location. Which means we aren’t far.

“Let’s go.”

The staff room.

Knocking the door twice, Liliath and I entered. The smell of tidbits and coffee tickled my nose.

Office-like desks were arranged in rows, teachers chatting with one another, teachers working away on a laptop, teachers making tea.. Liliath you should stop staring.

At the corner of the staff room that looked like a small meeting space with two sofas and a coffee table present, I saw teacher Glib chatting with a colleague of hers.

Liliath in tow, we went over.

“Excuse me, teacher Glib um..”

“Hm? Morning Noel, anything?” Teacher Glib turned to me with her usual flat expression. 

“OH my, it is as the rumor says,” her colleague.. the teacher sitting on the other sofa exclaimed as she stared at Liliath– Eyl was the name on her name tag.

“Good morning,” Liliath said in a cheerful voice, following up with a bow.

“Teacher Glib, can I talk to you about my TALENT? There’s more to it than what I've reported before.”

“So you’ve discovered something new? Okay, sorry Eyl, I have to attend to this student of mine for a bit,” Teacher Glib downed her drink and stood up.

“Something like that.. sorry for disturbing you two,” I said apologetically.

“NO worries.. ah, we’ll meet again in biology class, see you two then,” that was the last thing Eyl said before we were ushered elsewhere by teacher Glib.

Huh. So Eyl is our biology teacher.

Teacher Glib brought us to the counseling room.

The room was rather specious, light poured in from the outside that had slowly become blue.

“So, what did you discover?”

I suppose I'll just play along.. I initially thought that I would need to confess my mistake of not telling about it earlier… but something feels off. Did she need to bring us to the counseling room?

Taking out my phone from my pocket and placing it on the table– I took a deep breath and turned on my phone, pointing at ‘that’ app.

“W-what is it that you’re trying to show me?”Teacher Glib was obviously trying to suppress her laughter. Ah fuck you app developer.

“It's weird but.. it appeared out of nowhere because of my TALENT and is the app I used to summon Liliath by accident,” I said in a shaky voice due to embarrassment.

“Is that so? Do you mind showing it to me?”

“That was our intention to begin with,” Liliath followed up. 

Then I tapped on the application.

And it disappeared.

“”Huh?””

It disappeared?

“Did something happen?”

“I-it’s not supposed to be like this..”

Something isn’t right. What? This is the first time this has ever happened.

“Liliath, how about yours?”

Liliath blinked at me before taking her phone out and tried to access the app, but again, it vanished.

“Noel.. this is unprecedented. What is going on?”

“Okay, let me get this straight, you can’t use the app anymore?” to teacher Glib’s conclusion, both of us nodded.

“Noel, there’s one more thing we can try– status window open.. ah?”

Liliath stared into the air– her status window didn’t appear.

No wait.. What the hell is going on?

“Noel… try yours..”

Everything can't just disappear all of a sudden right?

“Status window open.”

A blue loading screen appeared in front of me. A spinning cog with a chibI Liliath running on top of it. OH MY GOD HOW CUTE!!

Ah, I got distracted. Hold up– a system update?

“System update..”

“I can't see anything you know?” 

Teacher Glib’s words brought me back to reality.

Ah, she must see us as some luny chunI now that we’ve reached this stage.

“Um.. it seems that a system update is happening at this time..”

“Stop wasting my time..” 

“Huh?”

“Come meet me again once everything has settled down. You two can go.”

Teacher Glib sounded pissed.

“S-Sorry..”

I didn’t mean it.. it happened on a whim. I..

“Noel, let’s go,” Liliath beckoned me with her eyes.

Liliath and I left the counseling office in a stunned state. On the way back to class I asked–

“Hey Liliath, can you see my status screen?”

“No, I believe it’s the same for you, my screen is visible to me, and a cute you is running on a wheel.” Liliath giggled.

“Really now?” I smiled wryly.

Hah. There’s finally a chibI for me huh?

Though..

I didn’t mean to trouble teacher Glib.. what now?

Why did the update happen and when would it complete? There’s no gauge or anything to refer to… in the first place, was it necessary to even show us an update screen? I don't get what the ‘developer’ of the system is thinking.

While contemplating, Liliath walked up to me and whispered into my right ear.

“Noel, she was testing us.”

“Huh? Testing us?”

To my question, Liliath only smiled.

The same smile she showed me when I confessed to her– as if she was hiding something.

“What?”

Why that smile again?

“Noel, are you scared?”

“Scared? No, I'm just curious.”

“Me. Are you not scared of me?” Liliath tilted her head cutely with a sadistic smile.

I’ve already gotten used to that smile of hers. She has sadistic tendencies– im guessing it’s a norm for a demon lord like her but– i’ve already resolved to accept her all when I confessed to her before– whatever it may be.

“Maybe, sometimes. But it’s just me. Fear is something that depends on the individual. Some people fear height, others don't. The difference between them is perception or past experiences.. whatever it may be.”

“I-Is that so?” Liliath’s smile cramped. She looked relieved for some reason?

“Did I do something wrong?” I smirked.

To my reply, Liliath laughed. After all, I was mimicking her voice when saying that signature phrase of hers

“Thank you Noel.”

78.

“Noel, your position as the class helper will be reassigned to Eunice, is that alright?” 

First period was English, teacher Glib’s class. 

“I don't mind.”

And honestly, I don't really get what Liliath meant about Teacher Glib testing us. Though, she sounded genuinely apologetic when talking about my change of position for some reason, a stark contrast from her pissed attitude earlier. It wasn't a simple ‘I feel sorry for changing your post’ kind of apologetic– but there was a little reverence to it.

After shifting the post from me to Eunice– a life saver– teacher Glib continued with class as usual.

KaI looked pretty gloomy when he heard that, but he didn’t try to reprove it. In any case, all troublesome tasks are now pushed to them. Things like taking attendance each morning, keeping the class in shape, silencing loud students, and assigning students to a class cleaning duty.

At least that creates distance between him and Liliath– though, nothing is for certain.

Biology class was next and everyone was to head over to the laboratory. It’s the first time I've come to the laboratory in this school so you could say I was quite interested.

Of course, Liliath asked if the lab was some creature dissecting cult or something–

There, teacher Eyl– wore a white coat over her work clothes. 

The lab was for the most part, clean and neat, infographics on the wall stating the regulations in the lab, and numerous models of various sciency stuff– atoms, skeletal system, volcano model, etcetera.

8 large tables– supposedly where students would do experiments in groups were arranged in columns of 2, stools were used instead of lean-able chairs.

“Take a seat class, anywhere is fine, limit yourselves to 5 to 6 students at a table, giddy yup!” teacher Eyl exclaimed.

The students in Class E numbered 36.

Liliath and I exchanged gazes– and we parted ways.

It isn't all that good to stick together all the time.. is probably what I felt when I saw her eyes. I don't really get why either but it just happened.

In any case, I was sitting in the middle back row, together with Voux when KaI joined in.

Teacher Eyl introduced herself– a young maiden whose age was unknown– literally inciting the class to roast her when the truth would be revealed.

It was a tradition of hers to give out pizzas to the class who managed to figure out her age– you could call it bribery to shut the student’s mouth but it was considerably effective? Since she mentioned that a number of her ex-students managed to guess it correctly– but they kept their word.

Jokes aside, teacher Eyl started to teach while us students sat and listened– at least that was supposed to be how it is.

Referring to the notes I've created before on enzyme function, I listened as teacher Eyl’s voice brought me closer and closer to dreamland.

“You’re quite the hardworking person Noel.”

“Hm? Not really..”

“Noel, can I ask– who is Liliath, by the way?”

“Hm? Liliath?” I turned to Kai, the person who asked such a question, “What? You fancy her?”

“Come on.. I don't mean that. I was just curious. Her mental aptitude is amazing, not to mention her EQ. I remember the first time we met, I felt a shiver down my spine. I literally ran away after that,” KaI laughed. “Must be her TALENT.”

Bloodlust? Did Liliath use bloodlust back then?

“Probably. And you’re still trying to approach her?”

“Well, of course. Why not? Everyone is curious about her, you know? She has like– purple hair, natural purple hair. Where else can you find someone like that? ” KaI tilted his head.

“True...”

I looked to the front of the group where Liliath was sitting. Sure enough, she’s getting quite a bit of attention. Those from the other tables were obviously trying to strike up a chat with her. Same goes for Prune. The two stand out a lot.

Wait.. what kind of person is KaI again?

Liliath told me to be careful about KaI but– he doesn't seem to be all that bad of a guy..?

That time KaI may have just been scared away by Liliath on purpose– then the reason why he wanted Liliath to be the class helper may have been justified as Liliath being the most suitable candidate. KaI can tell one’s mental ability to a certain extent after all..

Could Lilaith be over sensitive?

Confusing.. no.. iIm judging people, that’s why I’m confused. That’s not good..

“Liliath is my summon,” I confessed.

“Really? Figured as much. Though summoning a girl is as ridiculous as it gets,” Kai’s eyes were wide open.

“It is.. I suppose… you’re not surprised?”

I might have held the wrong image about Kai?

From the corner of my eye, I checked the update screen on the status window again– Liliath was still walking on the cog. Darn, I wish the update had a status bar where Liliath was walking on a straight line instead, then I’d be able to tell the progress of completion.

“I’ve heard of worse..” KaI said in a gloomy tone.

“Are we going to do the– what’s the weirdest TALENT we’ve encountered challenge?” Voux chided all of a sudden.

“Good idea, who goes first?” Kai’s expression brightened.

Weirdest TALENT. The first person that comes to mind is Nine.

“You go, since you said you’ve seen ones weirder than Noel’s TALENT,” Voux recommended.

“Have you heard of the guy who poops coal?”

“What, seriously?”

Poops coal.. poops coal.. what in the fuck? 

“Yeah, dead serious,” KaI gave us an unnerving stare. “I’m not here to divulge who he is but– his TALENT is the ability to eat plastic forks and turn them into coal and oil through defecation. No joke, I pity him… luckily he’s not in our class.”

“Says the guy who already divulged the guy’s gender and narrowing his general whereabouts,”Voux laughed.

I have no words to comment. And here I thought Nine was the weirdest. Honestly– wow.

“Noel?”

“No, you go next Voux, I don't think mine is that great.”

“Okay, here it goes,” Voux takes in a deep breath, and in the most regal tone he could muster, he made a hissing shout-like whisper,“MAKE PUBERTY GREAT AGAIN!”

“PFFTT..””

“Ahahahah..”

I choked on my breath while KaI let loose a silent laugh, clenching his stomach.

“What the hell, explain Voux,” KaI asked, choking in between breaths.

“I know a friend of a friend that has a TALENT that makes it so his pimple grows diamonds.”

“Hah?! What?? PFFTT. AHAHHAHAHA,” KaI slammed his head on the table.

While I'm here wheezing, trying not to laugh. 

Oh my god, the guy is absolutely rich– provided his diamonds sell well. Truly a blessing for those who grow up to have a lot of pimples. Heck, with this TALENT, pimples are very much welcomed. Puberty sure is great for a guy like that~

“Too loud, too loud!” Voux hushed.

The two of us went silent in the next moment and shot a look in front where the teacher was teaching– she didn’t notice us. Luckily.

KaI let out a relieved exhale, his shoulder shaking, trying to stifle his laughter.

I noticed Liliath turning to look at me with a worried look.

I placed my hands together and made a bow in apology.

Must be the effects of the concealment barrier. Thanks for covering for us Liliath.

“We’re lucky, hey, Noel, what are you apologizing for?” KaI asked.

“Nah. We were probably saved by Liliath.”

“Saved by Liliath? What do you mean.”

“Concealment spell. That’s why the teacher didn’t notice.”

“What?”

“Noel, you said Liliath came from a different world right?” Voux asked.

“Well, yeah. In fact, she can use all sorts of magic.. not limited to concealment spells, elemental magic and– bloodlust.”

“No way.. she’s a jerk! No wonder she’s so scary to be...hiikkh?!” KaI suddenly sat up straight. Looking to the front, Liliath was glaring this way.

I gestured an apology once again.

She dismissed it with something like a ‘hmph!’.

I’m sorry..

“Wow, so that’s bloodlust,” Voux was surprised. “You have to be careful Kai, no badmouthing or you’ll be dead.”

“I envy you Noel, you have an overprotective summon..” KaI whispered the latter part as if to prevent Liliath from hearing. Ah– no. 

“Yeah, yeah,” I dismissed it by checking the update screen again. The chibI Liliath on the cog was glaring at me, and I instinctively flinched. What the hell, don't tell me even the UI has a personality?! For the moment our eyes met, she averted my eyes by looking away in the next second.

“Noel, why do you keep staring at the table?”

“Yeah, you’ve been looking at ‘something’ for a while now.”

You know.. since it has already come to this–

“Uh.. it’s my TALENT. I kinda messed up this morning. I actually wanted to explain my TALENT in depth but.. it’s.. updating? You know those kinds of status screen windows in anime? That kind of thing..”

“Huh? I thought your TALENT is summoning?”

“Apparently not,” I scratched my head.

I’ve already decided to reveal my TALENT anyways, so there’s no risk in telling them.

“So what exactly is your TALENT then Noel?” KaI pressed me this question.

“Manifestation into Reality, that’s what Enoch calls it. You two know Enoch right?”

“Yeah– That sounds.. deep,” KaI expressed his surprise while Voux furrowed his brow. 

“I don't even know the full extent of my TALENT you know? It’s confusing. Before this it was just a simple status screen, I wonder what’s next after the update.”

“By the way, what is the weirdest TALENT you’ve encountered? It’s your turn right Noel?”

“Oh yeah, about that, it’s..”

“Let’s see… Voux, can you please come up and answer this question here,” Eyl, who fumbled through the students list glanced around class, cutting our conversation short.

Looks like Voux had been chosen on a whim. 

“Oh no… Noel, save me..”

“Here,” I point to the answer to the question on that black board that had been highlighted in my notes.

In the end, we weren’t found out for not paying attention in class.

79.

“Noel, enzymes exist in our bodies? How many of these enzymes exist? What’s the purpose of their existence? Why do enzymes look like worms? Could an enzyme be a kind of worm?” 

Liliath bombarded me with questions, her small little notebook filled with ‘problems’.

As for me.. 

“I should probably consider getting the academic basics I skill book for Liliath,” I muttered under my breath..

“Noel?”

“It’s complicated if you still don't understand how atoms work..”

“Atoms are the building blocks of matter, correct? I do understand what atoms are.”

“Cells?”

“Cells… prison cell?”

KaI who was sitting next to me– who had his chair dragged over since he forgot his textbook from the previous class– slammed his head on the table, bawling out in laughter.

Liliath sent him a chilly gaze.

“I suppose the teacher should’ve started with animal and plant cells,” She probably forgot Liliath is a newbie to science, so she skipped the cells chapter since normal students have already learnt about it last year during junior high school. “I’ll teach you about it when we get home since there’s quite a bit to explain..”

“Alright, sorry for troubling you.. though, how do prison cells relate to enzymes?”

“Just cells.. there’s no prison. Uh.. to put it basically– it’s complicated? Enzymes are like the factories that generate materials for the cells which can be represented as a kingdom– something like that?”

“What’s a factory?”

Ugghh… ah shit. I give up...

“Uh, Noel, I need to do something so see ya,” KaI who was beckoned by Eunice said before leaving the class– probably to the staff room.

When he left, Liliath spoke.

“Nevermind the academic stuff, Noel, be careful around Kai.” 

“Got it.. but why? I’m just wondering..”

“Because I'm worried, that’s why,” Lilith pouted.

Worried.. Liliath is worried about me. Cuteness is justice? I think I lost my head there. What did Liliath tell me again?

“Okay, I will try to be careful?”

Liliath nodded with a wary look on her face.

“You two aren’t eating?” Voux, who arrived in class with food he bought from the cafeteria, asked. In his hand was a small box of potato fries and tomato sauce.

“Liliath, do you want to eat anything?”

To my question, she only shook her head.

“Well, there you go..”

“Liliath is so small though, you still growing aren’t you?” Saria who tagged along with Voux said out of worried.

“It’s alright Saria, I'm fine,” Liliath tried to dismiss but..

“Here, you can share these with me,” Saria offered the chocolate cupcakes. It came in a pack of six.

“Then I will take up the offer, much appreciated..“ Liliath decided to accept it but when she was about to grab one of the cupcakes, Saria pulled back.
“We have to wash our hands first, I forgot! Let’s go to the bathroom together Liliath,” Saria said with sparkling eyes.

Uh.. why do I have a feeling that Saria planned all this? 

“Yes, let’s go together.”

And with that, the two left off on a journey to the girl’s washroom. I could never understand why girls do that in the first place.. it’s the number one cause of bathroom congestion isn't it?

“Those two are pretty sweet together,” Voux said, looking towards the door they were last seen.

“Yeah..”

“Here, want one,” Voux offered a potato fry.

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” He tossed the fry he offered me into his mouth.

Following that, Prune came in with her food– also potato fries.

“You’re not eating again Noel?”

“Nope.”

Prune proceeded to her seat– right behind me and offered a fry, likewise, I turned it down. She nibbled on it one at a time.

Following that, Nine came in with her food– her group of ‘girl’ friends.

“Is Liliath around?”

“Nope.”

“Where is she?”

“Noel, who is she?” Voux asked.

“Don’t ask.”

“Tsk, so mean.. so where’s Liliath? Tell me Noel, tell me~” Nine begged like a cute ass puppy. Her friends who were looking at us from the door showed a similar puppy-like look.

“What did you do Nine? What are they here for?” referring to the group of girls outside.

“They wanted to see Liliath, I told them about her purple hair and how you’re her summoner~”

“You..”

“Owh, they went to the girl’s washroom,” Voux casually answered.

Oh fuck, why did you have to tell her Voux!? WWWHHHYYY?! Do you know what the hell Nine is??!!

“Voux!” Prune shuddered.

“W-what?” Voux stuttered.

“Thank you! You heard em’ girls! Let’s go!”

“Nine! Don't you dare!” I grabbed hold of her arm.

“Let go! AH! You molester! YOU MOLESTER!?” she shrilled.

“Says the pervert! You haven’t told anyone your TALENT yet have you!?”

“MOLESTER! MOLESTER!”

Nine managed to tear herself away and ran with the group– not before she snicker at me in triumph..

“N-noel.. what now.. what now..” Prune fell into a state of chaos..

“Should I chase after her..?”

Ughh.. but those stabbing stares from the other girls! If only they knew the truth about Nine, damn bitch. No damn way I’m letting Nine see Liliath in the bathroom...

“Noel.. what’s going on?” Voux asked.

“It’s you–” Prune growled, glaring at him.

“W-what? I don’t get it..”

“You shouldn’t have told him.. her..!”

“W-what.. don’t strangle me, hey..”

“Did I miss something?” 

“””Huh?”””

Liliath and Saria suddenly appeared behind us– Saria, dead on the table.

“H-How.. I thought you were going to the washroom..” Voux stuttered as he voiced.

“Ah, about that, I intended to ‘troll’ the pursuers,” Liliath chuckled.

Prune and I looked at each other and let loose a sigh of relief.

That bitch Nine had failed in her attempts– not really, she’s still going to enjoy the scene in the bathroom with the other girls. Damn, she’s a pervert.

“Did something happen?”

“No.. luckily you teleported here if not.. you’d be pinned down by Nine at the washroom..”

“Is that so? Quite fortunate indeed,” Liiath replied in an expression of wonder.

Wait, she didn’t know?

“Huh? Did you just say teleport?” Voux looked at me and Liliath bewildered.

“You didn’t know that Nine was coming for you?”

Liliath shook her head in denial.

“Then..”

“Ahem. You can actually teleport, Liliath?”

“I attest to Liliath’s power,” Saria shot up from her seat and jumped at Liliath, rubbing her face against her. Liliath didn't seem to mind however. “Liliath is amazing~ ufufufu.”

“Yes, I can bring a number of people along, however it does expend a good amount of mana which would take a few hours to replenish,” Liliath added, gently pushing Saria away.

“Noel, You really got yourself a cheat summon..” Voux jaw seemed to drop.

“Yeah, I think so too..”

“Liliath, if it isn’t Nine then– who exactly are the pursuers?” Prune asked the question I was wondering also.

“Is that so? Then I suppose– it’s a secret,” Liliath placed her index finger to her lips.

A new crazy mystery is unfolding.. ugghh.. 

But at least Nine failed..

“Um.. what is Nine’s TALENT?” Voux’s question faded into the wind.

===

“WAAAAHHH!! PERIOD CRAMPS SUCK!!” Nine who was sprawled on the living room couch, head first in the cushion, complained.

“Why did you choose to be a girl in the first place, huh?” I scowled.

“UWAA… Noel onii-chan is so mean! So mean!” Nine started beating her fist against the innocent couch.

“You can turn back into a male and the period would disappear right?”

“Oh yeah, you’re right,” Nine twisted her head to look at me.

“So?”

“I’ll eventually have to face the pain either way.. better now than later.. uwuwuwuw..” She cried.

“Can you just wait it out?”

Change to a male– wait two weeks– back into a female and period gone– or is it that he’ll get a period as a male if she swaps gender at this point in time? I don't dare to imagine the sight of that..

“I can’t. It’s like this, when I'm in my female body, the male one is frozen– in a ‘save’ file– vice versa. So if I change into a male, I won't have a period but once I change into a female, it would continue where I left off on my female ‘save’. Uwuuwuwuwu..”

“Suit yourself.. pervert..”

“So mean.. Uwuwuwu..”

I think it’s karma though?

I got up from the other couch and headed towards the kitchen where Liliath and Prune were cooking a meal to celebrate our first day of school– instant noodles. Yes. Your typical college food– except this isn’t college but it’s very similar.

“Should we add one of these sauces?” Liliath asked Prune who wore a yellow apron.

“Not recommended. If you want, you could always add it separately on your own plate later,” Prune tossed the sliced carrots and tomato into the pot.

“Smells good,” I said.

“Noel, what sauce do you think would suit the noodles?” Liliath asked, pointing towards the row of condiments she bought last time.

“ChillI paste.”

“I will add lots on your plate later Noel, hmph!” Liliath turned away.

Hahaha. Looks like Liliath has gotten better at common sense.

The noodles were done, the entire pot was brought to the table– let’s not forget the coaster. Nine dragged her tiny body over, and took a seat.

Liliath consoled the suffering Nine while Prune took a photo of the meal before we started eating.

Liliath poured some of the tea she made into her own noodle broth. Eating heartily, I could only smile wryly at that.

Nine didn’t have much of an appetite– and she was adamant on facing the pain head on. She could always change to her male form and eat but wasn’t keen on doing so– saying something like bringing justice to those who always complain males don't understand the pain of period.

Makes sense..?

Though, my hypothesis is that Nine’s female form would remain hungry if she ate with her male form– since she sometimes eats double the portion when switching between male and female during the meal. It was a weird sight to behold.

“So is it?” Prune asked.

“It tastes good.”

“That’s great to hear.”

“Noel, you wanted chilly paste didn’t you?” Liliath who sat beside me pushed the said item over.

“No thanks..” I pushed it back..

“I knew it,” Liliath puffed her cheeks.

Ignoring that..

“Thank you two for cooking this though.. rather.. for every other meal..”

Meals, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner were all cooked by either Liliath or Prune. The two girls in the apartment– not..

“Don't look at me like that.. I'll cry, you know?” Nine looked at us with teary eyes.

“Isn’t it a disgrace for a woman to not know how to cook?” Prune smiled.

“I’m a half-woman!” Nine complained.

Half-woman.

The three of us laughed at her response.

80.

The meal finished with Nine and I responsible for cleaning up the plates.

“Noel onii-chan.”

“Stop calling me that– what?” still bubbling the plates.

“Do I not look cute?”

“I wouldn't want to be gay, sorry. But yes, you are disgustingly cute.”

“The LGBT group would be so disappointed if they heard that.”

“Yeah. Right.”

Nine brushed her hair against my arm.

“Are you trying something on me?” I glared at her, an eyebrow raised.

“It’s revenge,” Nine grinned. 

“What kind of revenge is this?!“

I don't think I would be swayed by Nine. If it was Prune then yes but Nine? This perverted bitch? Nay way. 

“Feeling touchy touchy?” Nine giggled.

“Not in the slightest you pervert.”

True.. why is it that there’s at least one pervert in my vicinity? Back at home, it’s obvious every other family member is a pervert one way or another. I’m not a magnet for these kinds of people am I now? Oh, I think I got it, it runs in the family, that’s why

“Got-chya’,” saying that Nine continued washing the dishes as if nothing had happened.

“Hey Nine… just curious, what do you do holling up in your room so often?”

Since the day Nine arrived, she’s most often found behind the door to her own room, coming out during the rare few occasions to scavenge meals– to put it bluntly.

“Streaming.”

“Huh? Come again?”

“I’m a gamer,” Nine paused her hands and looked me right in the eye.

“Seriously?” I said after a blink.

“Wanna smash?”

“What the f– Pervert. Ludicrous pervert– I shouldn’t have asked..”

“Hahahahaha.”

Streaming huh? I wonder how far she’s gone with her own fan base..

“Noel, do you play games? The wifI is amazingly good here.”

“No, I do art instead.”

“Owh, so you’re that kind huh? Surprising. We should do a collab sometime,” NIne grinned, putting the last plate onto the rack.

“Nine, does your stomach still hurt? Prune said she has some medicine,” Liliath appeared from the corner and.. “Did I miss something?”

“How about Liliath? Is she good with games?”

“Last time she managed to reach a record of more than 500 pipes in the flappy pig game.”

“Oh, how about the three of us have a bout in my room.”

“Noel?”Liliath tilted her head.

“Liliath, do you want to try playing games? Nine here is a professional.”

“You aren’t joining Noel?” Nine asked in exaggeration.

“You make it sound as if I'm going to do ‘that’.”

“Yeah, ‘that’. Ah thanks Liliath, you want to try your hands on games right? Gimme a sec,” Nine promptly ate the medicine presented by Liliath and went to her room to prepare.

“Noel, what do you mean by playing games?”

“Do you not want to? Well.. it’s hard to explain, but basically, it’s like the time you saw my sister and father running around and screaming their heads off.”

There was this time in the past where Liliath was confused over why Novelle and my father were yelling coordinates at each other when playing an open world FPS game, thus she asked me about it.

She couldn’t understand why such a ‘thing’– the game– was created in the first place.

“I see…”

“Liliath, everything is ready to go, you coming or what!” Nine who returned, tugged at Liliath’s hand.

“I heard you get to kill people– is that correct?” Liliath stared at me with her beautiful crimson eyes.

Wow. Damn. What a way to put it– she isn’t wrong, though..

To her sadistic manner of phrasing it, I replied.

“Yes, but don't do it in real life.”

“I see.. I suppose I should try such a convenient thing..”

“FPS was it? No problem!”

Nine successfully dragged Liliath into her room. Honestly, it sounds pretty odd considering the fact that Nine is a half-male. Well… if Nine wanted to try anything against Liliath, he could– I would even allow it since– I’m sure he’ll regret it for life.

Well, with this extra time in hand, finishing up the cleaning, I picked up the light novel I was still reading and headed to the living room.

The sun was setting, the light pouring into the room, colouring Prune’s silver hair in orange. She was scrolling through social media, as usual.

I made myself comfortable by playing some orchestral music on the speaker.

“Is this music alright?”

“It’s alright,” Prune replied with a nod.

I read, and read.

The sun slowly sinking into the horizon.

I then realized that Prune had shifted her attention to the city view.

Snap.

She took a picture, and probably posted it.

“The view here is amazing.”

“Sure is..”

If anything, with the sun at this opposition, the city streets were as if liquid gold had been poured atop it, skyscrapers that reflected the sky that had gradient into beautiful shades of pink, purple, red and blue.

“You sure do read a lot,” Prune pointed at the pile of books on the table.

“Hm? I suppose, they’re mostly the ones Liliath brought over from my home.”

“A lot of them are philosophical.. I don't think I could survive if I was forced to finish these books,” Prune said with a slack voice.

“But it’s jam packed with good information though?”

“I suppose it’s not my thing,” Prune went back to scrolling her social media, “Look at this!”

Bringing the phone to my face, it was a video of a bird pecking on wood. Sorry, not ‘bird’, it’s ‘birds’. Bird harassing tree.

“Heh.. Interesting..”

“But you don't really use social media do you?”

“I prefer reading novels and manga.”

“Everyone has a difference in tastes,” Prune nodded to herself.

“I guess..”

Looking down at the many self-help books stacked upon each other, though I have my own opinion about why one ‘should’ and ‘must’ read these, I tried to convince myself that everyone’s life path is different.

“Status window open… huh?”

“Noel?”

“Finally..”

An update bar– or gauge, whatever you call it. 7 days left.

The Liliath running on top of a cog has changed to Liliath waving an entire PC at me. But she was just standing there.. the bar wasn’t moving.

You could just walk over to the finish line can’t you? It’s like less than 2 dozen steps away, why 7 days?

To that thought of mine, it seemed chibI Liliath reacted by pointing at the upper right corner with an angry look. There was a mail icon there with a red dot.

Okay.. got it, got it..

===

Dear Noel,

The system is going through some dramatic changes thus this is a big update, the team would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused, corresponding compensation will be paid out as a bonus during the completion of the update. 

During this period of a week, I hope you will continue to support Liliath with utmost care in the absence of the system aid.

Regards,

UNKNOWN.

===

What in the..

===

“Take care, you two,” my mom said.

“I miss you big brother! Big sister Liliath! Good night! Take care!”Novelle, who was squeezed in between mom and father said.

“Good night, take care,” was my father’s words instead.

“Will do.” 

“Have a pleasant evening yourselves, see you,” Liliath waved at the camera awkwardly.

The voice call was cut off and I slumped down my chair, the call was over, I felt rather homesick. Liliath on the other hand got up and just walked out of my room without saying a thing.

Hm?

What’s going on?

I walked towards the door, planning to follow her to find out where she was going, but it was unnecessary as she called out behind me. 

Teleportation magic again..

Standing at the door, I turned around to see Liliath hugging a bulky biology reference book. Which reminds me..

“Sorry.. I almost forgot. You wanted me to teach you about cells right?”

“Please do, I'm sorry for the trouble..”

“Nah. It’s alright.”

Liliath and I got down to business– my room somehow became the make-shift teacher quarter. Liliath earnestly listened to my answers to the questions she had, and she would make some new ones to clarify her understanding.

The questions and answers came and went for the next dozen or so minutes.

“To sum it up, cells consist of atoms, while us humans consist of cells?” was the conclusion Liliath came to.

“Yes, something like that.”

“How peculiar..”

“Anything else you want to ask? I haven't explained about single celled organisms yet.”

“Pause a moment Noel,” Lilith scanned through the text with a serious expression, then, “These cells are also the cause of various diseases?”

“These cells, microorganisms, yup. Our body is like a kingdom, having many moving parts to sustain it as a whole while these microorganisms are like the monsters that have to be exterminated. Every now and then they would infiltrate into the kingdom and turn the people into monsters and this is how it spread.. metaphorically.”

Hahaha. Yup. I literally had to come up with these analogues to explain to Liliath.

“I nearly died to creatures that aren’t even the size of a pinky?” Liliath was shaking in fear, “ I-I’m not going to die again am I now.. Noel?”

I ruffled her hair to calm her down.

“You’re safe. Think of it in this way, your body, the entire kingdom was suddenly transported to a world with entirely different monster types. If you lack the necessary info, then it’s inevitable that the defences would be breached as the defences didn’t know how to handle the new monster species, however, since you’ve gotten the immunity serum– metaphorically, it’s like a catalog of monster weaknesses and the way to fight each monster knowing their weak points, your body would know how to best defend against them.”

“I didn’t think our bodies were that smart,” Liliath down at herself– more accurately, she was fondling her own breasts. Um..

“It’s weird how it works but yeah, the human body is weird.”

“Though nothing here explains how the body is a catalyst for magic, is there?”

“There’s no explanation for TALENTS either.”

“Thank you Noel– I have one more topic I would like to ask about,” Liliath opened up a book marked page–

The anatomy of the heart?

“Could you explain the heart?”

“Heart? In what sense, it’s a broad topic.”

“Just.. explain it?”

“It’s a pump, you know blood? It’s the organ responsible for moving it around the body.”

“T-that I know, anything else?” Liliath stuttered.

Hm? Why is she so flustered.. wait, she can't possibly be thinking that the heart is an organ of love can she now? The heart is just an expression, the real organ itself isn’t really related to love, it’s related to life and death.

“What is it Liliath? Why the heart all of a sudden?” something smells fishy.

“N-nevermind..” Liliath shut the book and stood up. “Thank you for today Noel, I learnt a lot. Good night.”

“Are you okay Liliath? You don't look too good..”

She looked afraid for some reason. Afraid of me?

“I-I’m alright Noel, believe me.”

Nay way, you’re stuttering.

“O-okay.. tell me if there’s anything troubling you alright Liliath?”

Liliath nodded, quickly hugging me.

“Please wait for me,” she whispered.. again.

“Liliat… good night.”

But before I could call out to her, she had disappeared– teleported away.

Haah.. not this again.

Seriously, what in the world is Liliath planning?