Chapter 24

As expected, Saleos was not easily persuaded. He growled loudly and trampled on Herbert’s body. The body, which was already becoming ragged, was almost cut in half. Saleos directed his cruel gaze at Lillian as a warning. You’ll be next.

Lillian felt her spine cool. At any moment, his fearsome feet were likely to trample on her back. Biting her lips, she retorted with a trembling chin.

“It’s not a lie. I don’t belong here by nature. One day, I got into an accident in the original world and came into this body. I don’t know what to say, but when I opened my eyes, I found myself in this world.”

—….Does that mean you are a traveler of dimensions?

It was hard to tell the demon that we were in a book but, well….

Lillian nodded in agreement.

“That’s right.”

Saleos was silent for a moment. Lillian felt his blazing red eyes glancing over her face and held her breath.

She was so nervous and felt her fingernails digging into her palms. After staring at Lillian without saying a word for a while, he opened his mouth.

—The devil is immortal, so he knows a lot of strange things that humans can’t even imagine. I’ve been told sometimes that there are people like you.

“So…Do you believe me?”

asked Lillian, in a slightly breathless voice. Even she, a good actress, couldn’t keep her nerves at bay. Her heart trembled so fast that she felt dizzy.

Then Saleos smiled with a significant face.

—Of course, I believe there is such a presence. But we’ll have to check to see if it’s true, right?

“Do you mean I have to prove that I’m from another world?”

—Yes. The deal has to be clear. Inside this magic circle is a barrier between the demon and the human world. So the smell of your soul, the taste, can’t be felt here.

Lillian blinked, unanswering. She could predict what the next thing would come out of his mouth.

—So come close and prove it. That your soul does not belong here.

Sure enough. The devil began his play. In the first place, the deal with the devil isn’t a buffet, and I can’t just pick out what I like. Saleos whispered stealthily toward Lillian, who was frozen in place.

—Come here, now. Give me a taste of your soul. Come into this magic circle. It will be just a moment.

Saleos’ eyes shone brightly as he stretched out his hand toward her side. He said he couldn’t feel Lillian’s soul because of the protection of the magic circle, so he asked Lillian to come into the magic circle to identify her soul.

‘Why are you spewing such bullshit?’

Lillian murmured irritably inside. The summoner’s blood-mixed with the magic circle played a role in keeping the devil from crossing.

That prevented the demon from arbitrarily hurting the summoner. That’s why Lillian was able to maintain some composure, no matter how loud he was.

But you want me to walk inside on my own two feet? Where the demon’s fearsome claws and fangs can reach me? Just so he can smell me?

Lillian’s green eyes sank heavily with aversion.

‘It would be an act of suicide.’

It would be nicer to throw yourself down a cliff.

However, it was unclear what the devil would do if she did not comply with that condition. Aleyna was sold as a slave after being kidnapped in the original work, and all the devil-worshipers who bought her to use her as a sacrifice were killed by the devil’se own hands. They wouldn’t have died from a rough summoning.

She was sure they had prepared much better than herself, Lillian, a layman. Nevertheless, they all ended up dead.

There could never have been an “absolutely safe” way of dealing with the demon in the first place.

So Lillian held her breath and looked at Saleos, meeting eyes that watched her. He wouldn’t give up until Lillian came into the magic circle. His voice, hoarse with sulfur and ash, strongly urged Lillian.

— What are you hesitating about? It’s just a process of sniffing out souls.

“……do you really need my body to confirm?”

— Of course. A demon can tell the body odor of your body and taste the soul in it.

Lillian drew the desired answer from Saleos. Her eyes sparkled.

Then there was a way—a way to let the devil smell her body without having to go into the magic circle.