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「Anyway, let’s sit down.」
「ImsorryImsorryImsorry」
「Hmm…… Now, how should I go from here…」

Although I brought the girl to our room to hear her story, she’s been like this ever since. Old man Kent and Barry are busy with the mansion clean up, while Urania is guarding them as requested by me, so the girl and I are the only people here.

Naturally, the three of them didn’t readily agree with us being left alone together. While I can understand old man Kent and Barry since the girl probably attacked them, I didn’t expect even Urania to be against it.

「Lily.」
「It’ll be fine, Urania.」
「…… On one condition. Kiss… me.」
「W-why…… Ahh, geez, fine.」

And while Urania’s condition surprised me, if she says so, there’s nothing else I can do. I lightly brush my lips against hers. And to my surprise, a large amount of life essence flowed in from her.

「Mmn!? U-Urania!?」
「You’re exhausted. That’s all I can give, but be careful.」

It really startled me. I’m happy that Urania’s worried about me and gave me life essence out of concern, but what shocked me the most was the fact that Urania controlled her life essence on her own and could give it to me.

Life essence, as a concept, is the foundation of life, no, all of creation. I take people’s life essence when the other party allows it. Since extracting life essence is normally impossible and the process would feel severely uncomfortable for the other party, making the individual feel aroused or having them mistake you for their lover is necessary to suck it out.

Obviously, willingly giving away one’s own life essence, one’s own foundation, is unbelievable; and even I, who excels at handling life essence, absolutely don’t think ‌I can surrender my life essence to another person.

And then Urania did so with ease. Despite this practically chipping away her life, there are no signs of her getting physically ill, nor did it seem like she felt uncomfortable while doing so. Although I ‌suck from Urania regularly, I can only admire her devotion.

So, after clearing that condition, the girl and I are now alone by ourselves. I’ll just say this, but this isn’t cheating at all!

Anyway, while I was already in the room, the girl was still frozen stiff and continued to apologize, so I cast “Wind” magic on her. A gentle breeze embraces the girl and forcefully guides her to the sofa.

「Eh? Ah!?」

Seemingly unable to comprehend what’s happening to her own body, the girl let out a confused shriek. While “Levitation” and “Move” would’ve done a good enough job, this magic is the more gentle alternative for moving things.

「First‌, no more “I’m sorry”, okay?」
「Eh, ah, my apologies.」
「No apologies either.」
「Please have mercy!」
「Eei!! None of that either!」

How much does she want to apologize? That’s plain cheating.

「You can just… uhhh… leave the apology for later. For now, please answer. Why did you attack this mansion? Is the reason ‌related to this?」

As I asked her, I took out the black crystal. The eerie crystal is cold and inorganic, but despite that, it seems to have a strange pulse.

「Hii!? N-no! Please, not that! I’ll do anything you ask! Please, anything but that! Please! Please! Have mercy! Please have mercy!!」
「Wa!? Sto-! I won’t! I’m not putting it back in your head, okay! Look! It’s gone! I put it away now! Calm down!」

The instant she saw the crystal, the girl turned pale and began begging for mercy, and as it shocked me, I quickly stored it away in panic. I never imagined her to react this strongly, but I guess this is just natural. This girl was embedded with the crystal and stolen of her free will. Besides, I can feel great malice from the crystal as well. Being in direct contact with that malice, it should’ve been obvious that she would be so flustered. I didn’t have enough consideration.

「You, were you conscious at that time?」
「… Yes. It was like… I was… deep in dark waters…… Like I was looking from a distance…… But; I ‌remember what was happening… and, um… 」　
「You need not apologize. It was all caused by that crystal. You…… Ahh, I haven’t introduced myself yet, huh? I’m Lily, just a normal sorceress. What can I call you?」
「I… don’t… have a name… People called me by… this… or that…」

Even if this girl was a slave, it’s bizarre that she doesn’t even have a name. Crime slaves, debt slaves, whichever a person might be, having their own lives ‌until that point, every one of them should have their own name. And if she doesn’t have one, that means to say that she must have been born a slave.

While it’s not as if slaves never give birth, since the child is unrelated to the parent’s crime, they aren’t turned into slaves. Cases are that the slave’s master or their blood relatives would adopt the child, but in most cases, they’re sent to an orphanage. Either way, turning someone into a slave, carving a contract sigil onto someone who wasn’t even given a name is unforgivable.

I couldn’t help but be enraged by the irrational treatment done against this girl. If possible, I’d really love to find the mastermind right now and immediately beat him to a pulp, but unfortunately, I can’t.

Our only clues are the girl before me and the black crystal. From here on, I’ll have to tread carefully for more clues.