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Chapter 100. Encounter With An Extinct Species

Today, I'm at Solomon's Bookstore in the royal capital for a change of pace from the tedious task of deciphering ancient texts. Normally, I wouldn’t care much about the store's name, but this Solomon's Bookstore is... incredibly massive. To be specific, the building is three stories tall, and every inch is filled with bookshelves.

In this world's civilization, paper isn't exactly precious, but it’s not something you find everywhere either. Yet, this bookstore has an insane amount of books.

"Alright, let’s meet up later."

"Huh, are we splitting up?"

"Elixira and I have different tastes in books."

"That’s true, but... well, okay."

Hmm? Even on a date with a girl, you’d usually split up in a bookstore, right? I think it's more enjoyable to go find the books we like, and then talk about what we discovered afterward. I can already imagine Jeremiah saying that this is why I can’t get girls, but we just don't vibe on that fundamental level.

After parting ways with Elixira, I arrived at the third floor, where there are bookshelves filled with strategies and magic used in past wars. For some reason, there are surprisingly few people here. Well, it’s not exactly a popular genre, but... is it normal for it to be this empty?

"Huh? Why are there humans here?"

"Huh?"

As I thought it was a bit lucky that there were so few people, I moved deeper into the shelves, and a woman dressed in an incredibly indecent manner appeared from the back.

Isn’t that... barely clothing? She has huge breasts, yet she's only wearing an apron... If the wind blows, wouldn’t everything fly up? This is not appropriate attire in front of a healthy high school boy.

"Hey, you’re just staring at my chest... how cute."

"Um, are you a pervert?"

"Who are you calling a slut?"

I didn’t say that much.

"But why did you even come in here? There should have been a barrier keeping people out... Is it possible our magical affinities are compatible?"

"Bouncy, bouncy!"

Why is she moving around so much with such big breasts? With that barely-there slutty outfit, if she moves like that, everything should be visible... but it’s not at all. How is she hiding it... It’s not like she has one of those mysterious lights you see in anime.

"Well, maybe I should charm you and take you home since you’re kind of cute."

My gaze was completely entranced by her swaying chest, but... suddenly, the woman released magical energy, and when I looked directly at her, she cast magic in the bookstore.

"Hey! You’re going to be mine!"

"What?"

Seeing the magic cast by the slut made my body freeze.

"Now you’re mine!"

A magic that doesn’t require a magic circle? She didn’t even seem to activate a Grimoire, but can she really do that... Wait, what even is her magic? Is there really a spell that can directly interfere with someone’s mind without touching them?

"Uh, what?"

The endless questions were enough to immobilize me with the unknown. Just from my current thoughts... I reached a temporary conclusion. The magic she uses is fundamentally different from the magic humans use. It hasn’t evolved alongside human civilization... this is something else.

"You’re a demon, aren’t you?"

"Geez."

The woman’s true identity is... a demon.

The moment I figured out who she was, the illusionary magic that had covered her body disappeared. She had bat-like wings on her back and goat horns on her head... typical symbols of a devil. The hair and eye color that were a dull brown changed to a deep blue and pink. She may look slutty, but I don’t think she’s a succubus... There shouldn’t be such beings in this world, right? It’s just that this slut in front of me happens to be one.

"You’re pretty cocky for a human... I thought you were kind of cute."

"What’s an extinct species demon complaining about? Should I protect you for the sake of nature, hmm?"

"What?"

Oh, she’s getting angry.

"You all are the ones who made us extinct!"

Well, that’s true... but still... the extinction war escalated because the demons invaded humans first, so it’s hard to say who’s at fault.

"Die—"

"Don’t cause a ruckus in the bookstore... Want to take it outside?"

"Wh-what!?"

She was gathering magical power, so I grabbed her right arm and threw her out the window behind me. If we fight inside the bookstore, we might lose valuable books.

The demon that was thrown into the air somehow managed to stabilize herself with her wings. Those wings... seem a bit inadequate for a humanoid to fly.

"You lowly human... don’t mock me!"

"You were just speaking like an idiot a moment ago. Besides... you don’t seem to have aged a day?"

"Hah! What does a short-lived species know?"

"Oh?"

So demons are a long-lived species... Then maybe they might know something about the apocalypse dragon as well.

I can’t fly, so I’m stuck on the rooftop of the bookstore... How am I supposed to shoot that flying one down... No, if I shoot it down in the city, it’ll be a nuisance. I guess I should just escape outside the royal capital quickly.

"Wait!"

"If we do this here, it’ll bother others."

"I don’t care about that!"

Well, for demons, it probably doesn't matter how much damage they cause in a human city; that's a fair point. However... that doesn’t mean I can just let it go.

She unleashed a spell of black flames. It really looks like it’s fundamentally different from the magic that humans use... I’d like to research that more in detail, but right now, preventing collateral damage is the priority.

"[Yaldabaoth]"

"A Grimoire!?"

Oh, so demons know about Grimoires too.

I absorbed the unleashed black flames with [Yaldabaoth] and landed on the roof of a nearby house, where the demon also landed beside me, surprisingly calm.

"...I’m going to thoroughly deal with you."

"Before that, could you at least tell me your name? Being called a slut or a demon can’t be pleasant, right?"

"Everything you say is infuriating... My name is Vanessa."

"Really...?"

That’s a bit hard to pronounce.

"Now then, let’s go to the outskirts of the royal capital... there, we can cause a ruckus and blame it on magical beasts... and if a demon goes wild, it probably won’t be noticed."

"That’s right... I won’t be satisfied until I engrave the horror of demons into your very bones."

Hmm... where is her strong hostility towards me coming from? I am aware that I provoked her, but... her hostility clearly intensified after she saw my Grimoire, and her killing intent swelled. Until just now, she was looking down on me as a demon, but suddenly she started seeing me as an individual.

Could it be that demons know the secrets of Grimoires? If so, that’s exciting... I should incapacitate her and interrogate her as soon as possible.