The Phantom (With a Bounty)

Once decided, we trailed the strange man into a deserted alley.

As soon as I entered the alley, I shivered.

“Ailen?”

Noticing my unusual reaction, Young Miss asked, puzzled.

“No… nothing… just a bad premonition.”

I rubbed my arms, trying to suppress the unease within me.

Whenever a chill ran through my body, something bad always happened.

This time, too, will it…

Thinking this, I hid in a recess in the alley and peeked my head out towards its depths.

However, what I saw was an inappropriate scene.

A dozen or so men, completely naked, their eyes hollow, knew nothing but to engage in indecent acts… And the black-haired woman in the center of the crowd, with her fair and voluptuous body, sat steadily on a throne made of several stacked men, like an empress, wantonly toying with all the men present.

…If it were just that, it would be fine. Such matters, though unethical, wouldn’t require intervention. But the problem lay in the goat horns on her head, which did not belong to a human.

The coiled black horns clearly indicated she was not human.

“Ailen? What did you see?”

Suddenly, Young Miss spoke.

Saying this, she also tried to peek, wanting to see what was there.

“Young Miss, you must not look!”

I hastily covered Young Miss’s eyes.

“Ailen!? What are you doing!”

“Anyway, Young Miss must not look! This scene is too filthy! It must not dirty your noble eyes!”

“What exactly did you see!?”

Perhaps we were being too noisy, as the woman noticed us.

She crossed her legs and said condescendingly:

“Similar scent, indeed… Although this concubine is desperate with hunger to hunt during the day, has no one taught you not to disturb others when they are ‘dining’? Or do you intend to snatch my prey?”

There was no other choice; since we were discovered, I might as well reveal myself directly.

I walked into her line of sight.

“…A child? With this much magic, I thought an old geezer had arrived.”

“…Although I don’t quite understand your demon race’s rules, shouldn’t you at least put on some clothes first?”

“You are truly strange… This is almost like a human’s demand…”

This demoness was quite agreeable. She snapped her fingers, and suddenly, an outfit appeared on her. The men also began to put on their respective trousers.

…But her deeply cut, form-fitting, body-hhighlighting clothes, why do they feel even more unbearable to look at…? Wouldn’t it be better if she didn’t wear anything at all?

Then, she examined me carefully, showing a puzzled expression.

“Hmm…? You, in this state, are you human?”

Before I could speak, she mumbled to herself.

“No… This concubine’s senses shouldn’t be wrong… Could it be impure? But she is clearly preying…”

“…?”

Her words utterly confused me.

“Ailen, can I look now?”

“Ah…”

Only then did I remember that I was still covering Young Miss’s eyes.

I quickly released Young Miss, allowing her to see the black-haired woman’s full appearance.

“…A succubus?”

Young Miss immediately identified the other party.

…Just like in many Western fantasy works, this kind of demon specializes in seducing humans and feeding on their essence.

This also explained why so many opposite-s*x individuals gathered around her.

“Oh dear… a human’s designation, this concubine dislikes it. This concubine has the name Lilith, you know.”

It seems demons dislike human-given epithets… Vladimir was the same.

“More words are useless. I advise you to quickly release these innocent commoners now!”

Young Miss drew her sword, its tip accurately pointing at Lilith’s head.

But Lilith merely curled her lips, not looking at Young Miss at all, instead turning her gaze towards me.

“Your prey is quite fierce~ The type this concubine would like~ Such proud and arrogant prey, controlling only their bodies while preserving their consciousness can torment them into a mental breakdown~ This concubine truly enjoys that process~ It’s just a pity…”

Glancing at Young Miss, Lilith smirked playfully:

“Although her physique is quite similar to a man’s, she is ultimately female. This concubine still prefers men~”

“What?”

Hearing this, veins bulged on Young Miss’s forehead, and the blood vessels in her sword-wielding hand were clearly visible.

Oh no… These words must have hit her sore spot…

But Lilith remained completely oblivious, still leisurely chatting with me.

“Hmm… Your interests, this concubine can somewhat understand, after all, everyone has their preferences.”

“…”

Honestly, I didn’t understand what she meant at all.

But I knew that Young Miss was very angry now…

“You… I’ll make you regret underestimating me.”

Young Miss charged forward, closing in on Lilith in a blink with her impressive agility!

“Go to hell and repent!”

Just as Young Miss was about to strike Lilith, she calmly raised her hand.

The next moment, the men gathered in front of her, forming a human wall.

…It was almost like she was manipulating puppets on strings.

“…Tsk!”

Unable to harm the victims, Young Miss had no choice but to retract her attack, instead kicking the human wall, pushing off with force, and backflipping to a safe distance.

Meanwhile, Lilith gave orders to the men.

“Go, go catch that girl who’s running around.”

As soon as she spoke, the men suddenly twisted their heads, their numerous hollow eyes fixed on Young Miss, a sight that looked eerily strange.

Soon, they swarmed forward.

Due to the narrow terrain and the long sword’s tendency to injure these victims, Young Miss was momentarily at a loss.

“Young Miss, I’m here to help you!”

Since these commoners are annoying, let’s make them unable to be annoying for a while!

“Freeze! Don’t move!”

I channeled my magic, and thick ice blocks solidified around their feet. Stuck to the ground, they couldn’t take another step.

Then, I took the opportunity to close in, delivering two swift hand chops, easily knocking out two people.

After all, freezing them for too long might affect their bodies, and some might even have conditions like rheumatism, so it was better to finish quickly.

Upon seeing my actions, Young Miss understood immediately and quickly followed me, starting to knock out the commoners one by one and dragging them to an out-of-the-way spot.

In less than a minute, most of the men present had been knocked down by us, forming a tall “mountain of corpses” behind us.

“Oh dear… You two are more capable than this concubine imagined.”

Even though only a few puppets remained by her side, why was this fellow still so unhurried and composed?

Is she really holding some trump card? Or are the remaining few by her side martial arts masters, or perhaps grand experts in magic?

My heart couldn’t help but grow tense, my eyes fixed on her, not missing any of her small movements.

Soon, she made a move.

She raised her hand and placed her slender finger on her lips…

Is she going to use magic!?

I quickly began to construct a defensive magic circle.

“Uma~”

But to my surprise, she merely winked and blew a kiss at us.

…Huh? What kind of move is that?