Soul for a Girlfriend?

Lilith was supposed to brief me about the new target that day and last night we actually discussed a lot about the subtle details and mana surges. It indeed intrigued Lilith as well as me, because this anomaly could very well become a problem for me.

Sitting next to me was Tsūmen, who was stretching his arms and shoulders as it was our PE period. Some of the students were sitting in the shade, as others were undergoing the physical test.

Once a year, a physical fitness test used to happen and the students also looked forward to this as it was a rather excellent opportunity for one to flaunt their physical attributes in front of others.

The fitness test was usually held in two groups and unfortunately I was placed in the first group, so I already had done all the tasks. Being tired and out of breath, I was sitting with my hand resting on my knees as I was leaning against the wall..

I was looking at Gaisen doing pull-ups as it was his turn and quite a few girls were gathered around him. It wasn't a big deal since he was single. Now a lot of girls were after him. Even though I have to say that he was quite good at dodging situations like that.

Tsūmen, on the other hand, was talking with Kana a lot recently, and I couldn't help but assume the possibility of either of them liking each other since they didn't talk this much with each other.

Though most of the time they are just joking around with each other, still I had a latent hope that something might develop between the two since I liked the dynamic between them.

Even though it was freezing in the morning and at night, it was scorching hot during the afternoon. I was in my PE uniform, which comprised a jacket, but because of the heat, I wasn't wearing it.

My sleeves were also pulled up to my forearms as sweat was dripping from my forehead. I decided to head towards the washroom and wash my face with cold water since it was always a pleasure to apply cold water on the body during hot weather.

I was immersed in my thoughts and was about to enter the building, when the soft voice of Lilith echoed in my mind and I came to an abrupt stop, "Saishi?"

Shifting my eyes around me for a moment to check if anyone was near me or not, I replied in a plain and sarcastic tone, "Ah, you're here." 

Even though I couldn't see her, I could tell by the slight humming noise she made that she was nodding and opening her eyes, she continued, "I felt like you're in close proximity to the target."

As she said those words, the first thing that striked my mind was me being around my classmates, which led me to assume that the possibility of my next target being from my own class was pretty high, so I asked, "Really? Is she again someone from my class?"

"Well, about that I've no idea." With a hesitant voice and an unsure tone, she said, as I knew that asking her was a waste of time, but containing my curiosity was just as hard. Deciding to change the topic, I chuckled nervously and asked, "Huh? Actually… how do you identify the targets?"

"What?" She asked in a confused tone as I added, "Like you don't seem to know how they look or who they are."

I always found it weird that she could tell me about the inner workings of spells from hell, but couldn't tell me about the contract itself. To think about it from a logical point of view, there was no reason for her to hide such little things

She didn't reply for a while as there was a moment of silence between us and I kept waiting until she gave me an answer, "Well such trivial things could be done later."

"How is personal information about a target?" I asked her in a confused tone, as she would rather give me the details about their firepower than about the clauses of some puny contract? 

"Don't mind my every word." She laughed in an awkward way, as if she was imitating one of those typical laughs that older women give when they are coldly disrespectful towards someone but doesn't want to show it outright.

"I don't need to mind when I'm talking with you." Listening to her comment, I said as she let out a breath of irritation and fumbled with her words for a few moments before shooting back at me, "Oi! What do you mean by that?!"

"See, that's what I was talking about." I said in a sarcastic tone just to piss her off, as I remember her teasing me last night, so it was time for me to get back at her. But she paid little attention to it, "Anyways…"

Seems like it was a failed attempt from my side to annoy her, so I decided to change the topic and ask something that I was quite curious about for a long time. I asked, "So do you identify the targets of that mana thingy?"

"Precisely." She replied instantly with a confident voice as I understood that I hit the nail, chuckling slightly I said, "See I'm not that dumb about this mana and stuff."

"Yeah… I guess?" She replied hesitantly as I understood that she indirectly called me a dumbass, "Huh?"

Even though I had no point asking her these questions, it was better to have some information than none since she would tell me about things as long as it's not related directly to the contract. I was trying to extract as much intel as I could so that I could use them later.

"So Devil-chan… these targets, they are just an empty container for the souls, right?" With a slight pause, I asked as she replied with a soft hum, "Yes…"