"I feel like things are developing a bit differently from what we agreed on."
Lucius, sitting cross-legged on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, abandoning the so-called "meditative stance" He had been attempting.
"You give me power, and at the end of my life, I grant you freedom—that was our deal."
"Now, where's the power?" Lucius's face darkened as he spoke.
"Ugh~" The loli demon lowered her head, her face a mask of embarrassment.
There was also a hint of nervousness.
Then, she raised her head and began to argue back.
"How should I know? I already told you the method to get stronger!"
Lucius fell silent.
He began to think.
Then, he gave up thinking, grabbed the bottle from the bedside, and started heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" The loli demon's heart sank with a bad feeling, and she asked warily.
"The beach."
"The beach… Practicing there won't do you any good," The demon said, her face a mix of awkwardness and forced flattery. "After all, you don't have something like a sea god's blessing…"
"No, I'm going to throw you into the ocean depths," Lucius said leisurely.
The demon was sealed in the bottle, capable only of mental communication with Lucius and nothing more.
Yet, in his eyes, she remained an invaluable treasure.
After all, the knowledge of a powerful being, even to someone like him who had never touched the supernatural, was unimaginably precious.
But—
"You want power? It's simple. First, try to tap into the magic within your body."
"Oh."
Wait, wasn't something crucial skipped?
Where's my magic?
"Huh? You don't have magic?" The demon in the bottle was even more shocked than Lucius. "Are you joking?"
"???"
"Wait, no problem! No magic? That's easy to fix!" Seeing Lucius's face darken rapidly, the loli demon hurried to salvage the situation. "Just create some magic, and you're good!"
"Do tell."
"Try making your heart beat faster? That should spark some magic from your heart," The demon said with conviction.
"You idiot, are you saying my heart wasn't beating before?"
"Huh? If that doesn't work, no worries! If you can't generate magic from your heart, why not try drawing it from a concept?"
"..."
What kind of nonsense is this?
"You absolute loser, stay in the ocean depths until the world ends!"
"No! Forgive me!"
The demon immediately began pleading.
This loli demon's personality was wildly inconsistent—sometimes goofy, sometimes volatile, and at times deeply calculating.
So, even though Lucius felt oddly charmed by her, as if under some enchantment, one thing would never change.
He would never trust this loli demon.
Trust comes from understanding, and he lacked the means to truly know her.
He couldn't tell if what she showed was genuine or just a performance for his benefit.
Humans are creatures of emotion and desire, but only those who can control their emotions and desires deserve to be called human.
To throw everything aside for the sake of feelings and desires? Lucius couldn't do that.
In his heart, survival always came first.
There was only one scenario in which he would release this demon from her sealed bottle.
That would be when he no longer cared what the freed loli demon might do to him.
In other words… when he was about to die.
No matter when, he couldn't guarantee that, once freed, the demon wouldn't tear him to pieces out of spite.
If this demon could truly give him a path to pursue power, then at the end of his life, as repayment, he wouldn't hesitate to set her free.
Even if she might grind his bones to dust afterward.
But if she couldn't help him, then no matter how much he liked this little demon, he would never give her the chance to take revenge.
"I'm off to the beach," Lucius said coldly, casting a glance at the bottle that screamed "you absolute loser." "Get ready for your life at the bottom of the sea."
Utterly useless.
She couldn't even help him gain magic.
"You might want to talk to me a bit more while you can. Who knows when you'll next meet someone who can communicate with you? I'd hate for you to feel lonely."
"No—" The little demon burst into pitiful sobs. "Wah, wah, I'm sorry, I'm a useless loser… Please don't throw me into the sea—"
But Lucius remained unmoved.
Even though, in his mind, he had already imagined posing this little demon in countless ways.
Truthfully, whether she could grant him magic wasn't all that important.
After all, in a world brimming with supernatural forces, acquiring magic might not be so out of reach for him.
But… he needed to know whether this demon genuinely didn't know how to generate magic from nothing or was simply refusing to cooperate in a softer way.
Perhaps, deep down, she was secretly hoping he'd die quickly. If so, it would make sense for her to withhold power.
Over the past few days, Lucius had tried countless methods suggested by the little demon to gain magic.
Things like "meditative stances" or "focusing inward"…
All utterly useless.
"I can't trust you." Lifting the bottle, Lucius spoke calmly, voicing his true thoughts.
"Before I die, I'll give you your freedom."
"But I can't know how you'll treat me once you're free."
"Will you let bygones be bygones with a smile?"
"Will you be grateful and see me as a friend?"
"Or… will you harbor resentment and tear me to pieces?"
"Even in death, I'd prefer a slightly more comfortable end."
"So… let me owe you a debt—a debt of freedom, even if it means you might grind my bones to dust."
Leading him onto this path and merely offering pointers along the way were not the same.
"So, do I seek power from someone else, or do you figure out a way to give it to me?"
The little demon's fake sobbing stopped abruptly. She lowered the hands covering her eyes, her dark golden gaze tinged with exasperation.
"I see…" She sighed. "I understand. If I'm not the one to guide you onto this path, it's meaningless…"
The debt of guidance… could not be left to someone else.
***
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