---

“…Huh?!”

Suddenly!

Neris jumped up from her seat.

Her head and body were surprisingly fine.

She definitely thought her head would explode and she’d be dead…

“Am, am I alive?”

“Nope, you’re dead.”

Neris scratched her head and turned to where the sound was coming from.

There sat a girl named Blodia on a strange rock, with Black Lily’s figure visible behind her.

She was holding a staff and doing something.

“I used a resurrection spell before you could die. You died once and came back.”

“Ah…”

“Anyway. Go now.”

Blodia shifted the rock aside to make room.

Black Lily’s presence was now clearly visible.

She was spilling purple magic endlessly…

‘Is it really okay to go?’

“Won’t things go wrong as soon as I enter?”

“If that were the case, I would’ve done that long ago.”

“…That’s true.”

Phew. Neris sighed deeply and walked slowly.

It felt like she was voluntarily walking into a monster’s mouth, but it was somewhat expected.

With Neris’s ability, she couldn’t do anything to Black Lily, let alone that vampire boss.

All she had to do was accept the quest from her perspective.

As Neris approached Black Lily, who was right in front of her, she withdrew her staff and smiled slyly.

“Nice to meet you, Neris. It’s your first time seeing me in person, right?”

“Ah, yes… hello.”

Neris shook hands with Black Lily.

She had known of Black Lily’s existence for a long time, but this was only her second time meeting her in person.

The first was when she saw her floating in the distant sky during the top-tier undead hunt in the Empire.

The battle between the demon and Black Lily was impressive, but this was her first time seeing her up close.

As Neris waved her hand casually, Black Lily gave a strange smile.

“Hmm…? You really are something.”

“Excuse me?”

“To be beyond merely feeling the flow of power to the point of being ‘insensitive’… If this is a talent, it’s a talent indeed.”

Hehe… Black Lily laughed.

Neris blinked for a moment, unsure of what Black Lily was saying, but then suddenly looked at their clasped hands.

“Ugh?”

Shhhh…

A purple flame shot up from her hand!

While it wasn’t very large, judging by Black Lily’s reaction, it was likely fire made purely of magic.

Startled, she quickly shook her hand to extinguish the flames.

‘It’s more like the fire was given to me by her.’

“Wh-what are you doing…”

“Why did you come here? This is a bit of a dangerous place.”

“Well, it’s that…”

Neris immediately opened her inventory.

Things had turned a bit strange, but anyway, her purpose was the quest.

Even though it was a ‘forced’ quest request, if she had wanted to die, she would’ve done it long ago, as Blodia said.

‘Maybe if I explain the situation, she’ll comply…’

“Hmm?”

“What exactly did you come for?”

“Uh, it’s just that…”

Nothing.

Her forced quest request that she had clearly stored in her inventory had vanished without a trace.

No matter how much she rummaged through it, it was the same.

After searching for a while, she suddenly spotted a piece of paper that Black Lily held.

Flap.

“Are you looking for this?”

The forced quest request.

An item that should have been properly stored in her inventory was in Black Lily’s hands.

Neris’s eyes flickered.

“Then… why is it there?”

“Because it looked interesting, so I brought it. It’s something with the system’s coercive power, so it has some value for research.”

“No, but that’s in the inventory…”

“You mean that nifty dimensional rift?”

Black Lily smiled as she waved her hand.

Then, all the numerous items, equipment, and various odds and ends that Neris had worked hard to gather over the last four years disappeared.

Neris’s face turned pale.

“Hmm~ Now what should I do with this bad thought you brought?”

“…Please, spare me.”

“I didn’t kill you though?”

“Ah, please. If you take that, I’m finished!!”

“Oh my.”

Neris hurriedly knelt down and earnestly begged.

She couldn’t comprehend why the inventory, which was normally thoroughly protected, was vanishing as if hacked, but she had to beg anyway.

‘That’s worth a fortune!!’

The items represented a staggering 60% of Neris’s total assets, and stuff that couldn’t even be bought with money.

The forced quest request was about a useless secondary item, but the others were definitely not at that level.

She was even in a situation where her mythical-grade weapon was taken away.

‘Being a person with no abilities would be better!’

How long had it been since her hands and feet felt empty?

Black Lily’s purple eyes were fixed on Neris.

“Please…”

“Hmm… If so, will you make me two requests?”

“Anything! I’ll do anything!”

“Anything?”

“Yes!”

“Then first, would you like to take this?”

“Excuse me?”

The sky opened up.

A small dimensional rift appeared above Neris’s head, and soon after, two people fell in front of her.

With white hair, covered in blood…

“L, Laguiel?! Sandalphon?”

“Oh my. Looks like you’re somewhat close? That’s fortunate.”

“It’s not like we’re close… But why are you here?”

Why was the Angel Guild here?

They had definitely said they would go to the Demon Realm first to confront the demons.

Then they’d prepare a foundation for the users to operate and provide support, but they suddenly got dispersed and couldn’t receive any assistance.

‘To receive help, shouldn’t they at least know where they are?’

Neris looked at Laguiel and Sandalphon’s states.

They were covered in blood, but aside from being unconscious, they didn’t seem to have major injuries.

It seemed like their innate regeneration had healed them…

“…Did Black Lily capture them?”

“Huh? No way. Why would I capture them?”

“…Then?”

“I just casually cast a spell on the demon who seemed to be the lord or captain of the west, to deal with the demons.”

According to Black Lily, as soon as she snapped her fingers above them, the demon made of lightning was obliterated.

The magic blew away half of the land of the west into another dimension, and the Angel Guild nearly flew away due to the repercussions, but they were brought back…

‘…No matter how I think about it, it seems like she just let them die.’

A spell large enough to blow away half a landmass equivalent in size to a continent surely means she wasn’t distinguishing between friend and foe, right?

Neris had questions, but she refrained from speaking them aloud.

Now, it was about getting the quest done and retrieving the items.

“So, you mean to say that Laguiel and Sandalphon were knocked out by the blind magic…”

“Yes~ I’m not Lily, so why would I kill a user contracted with angels? It was just unfortunate they got swept away.”

“…I have one question.”

“What is it?”

“If I had come with a contract with the demons, would you have killed me?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking something so obvious.”

With a grin, Black Lily laughed.

Neris also chuckled as she thought.

She absolutely must not mention Urov’s name.

Although Black Lily’s gaze seemed ominous, Neris tried to avoid that gaze and asked.

“W-what exactly should I do with these two…”

“Take them. You can toss them to fight the demons or return them to the angels… Oh, will Lily try to catch them then?”

“……”

“Hehe… no matter what, it’s quite a beautiful scene to see someone trying to catch demons. Please take care of them moderately.”

“U-uh, I have another question.”

“Yes.”

“What exactly is Black Lily doing here?”

“I’m working on a project to eliminate all the demons. It’s quite a complicated task, so it takes time.”

As Black Lily said that and looked up at the sky, Neris looked as well.

Something was sparkling…

“Hmm…”

“This task will need to be done a few more times.”

“Do you want help?”

“No. Neris, you won’t be any help with this. You have no talent for magic.”

“……”

“But you are not completely useless! You don’t realize the very ‘existence’ of your simple ignorance. You can take pride in that.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“Of course.”

Black Lily gave a thumbs up in praise, but Neris’s expression was not good.

In the end, didn’t that mean she was being told she had no talent?

A talent for ignorance. How many people in this world would wish for that?

“…Then what about you, Lily?”

“?”

“Is your goal to catch angels? Is that why you’re killing them?”

“……”

The expression of Black Lily, who had always been smiling, turned strange.

Black Lily’s goal was to kill all the demons.

If that were so, wouldn’t her counterpart, the original Lily, want to kill all the angels?

She even often walked around despising angels.

“Well, who knows?”

“…?”

Ignorance is the ultimate blessing.

 

---