Soul for a Girlfriend?

Lilith's POV

I was lying on a bed under a warm blanket as it was sort of a cold night in the human realm. But never had I imagined that a day will come when I'll be sleeping on the same bed as him. Lying next to me was the figure of Saishi who was facing the walls.

He had been a bit worried about me for the past few days. My health has been deteriorating since the start of this week. It was almost like the mana from inside me was getting sucked out. 

I have been growing weaker day by day. I hated the human realm. Crawling with so many lives but none of them was sustainable of mana within them. If this keeps happening then I would've to convert their life energy into mana to keep myself alive.

As long as I can keep my sanity, I can get through this. But I still couldn't understand why it was happening. My intuitions have been feeling something wrong since last month. There was this underlying feeling that something sinister was brewing right under my nose.

If my intuitions weren't wrong then I had a pretty good idea about what that sinister feeling was. But the possibility of that seemed rather impossible but my intuitions are never wrong. After all, my senses reside in a realm higher than humans.

I was deciding to be on guard from that point because if it was affecting me that much, it would affect Saishi too. I must protect him from that at any cost. He is my last hope and I can't lose him.

Just a few more to go.

Though I was surprised at the fact Saishi was being considerate to me. He has been checking up on me for the past few days. I wasn't actually sick like humans get but what I was experiencing was a kind of sickness too.

If I don't replenish my mana soon, I'll keep growing weak and perish at last but unfortunately I can't die. Saishi told me to come under the covers because he thought I was cold but I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

It was after an eternity that someone did something nice for me. I couldn't help but feel a bit weird in my heart. That's how humans term that feeling. A subtle flow of happiness washing over someone for a short amount of time.

I wasn't as heartless as I thought I was.

"So… what did you want to talk about?" I asked, my eyes looking at his back turned towards me as he was facing the wall. Even I was one who threatened him to remain like that. I could tell he was caught off guard by my sudden switch in tones.

"So… suppose if I were to ask you something regarding the targets… will you answer it?" I heard his hesitant voice ask that, as I replied quite diplomatically, "Depends on what you're asking."

"Understandable." He instantly agreed, as if he was prepared for that. I have noticed one thing over the past few months, that he was trying his best to figure out this contract. Knowing him, I knew he was planning to exploit any loophole he could find.

My father always used to tell me, 'Don't be afraid of a loud man. But always be wary of the quiet one.' And Saishi was a living example of that.

"Tell me one thing…" I asked him in a curious tone, as he answered, "Yeah?"

"Why are you so keen to know about this contract?" I asked him as the sound of him letting out a sigh came to my ears. It wasn't the first time I asked him that as he said in a plain tone, "Because I'm the one doing it so I need to know what exactly am I doing."

He had a valid point there. It's rare to see him talking bullshit unless he is with that one friend of his. Tsūmen was his name if I'm not wrong. There was a brief moment of silence between us, before I called out his name softly, "Say Saishi…"

"Hmm?" He hummed from the other side, as I continued, "Say… If I told you everything about this contract… Will you be delighted?"

He didn't reply instantly, as it appeared like he was giving it some thought. In an uncertain tone, he replied, "I don't know… but my curiosity will be satisfied for sure."

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. He sure was curious enough that a few months ago, his neck was between my fingers as he struggled for his life. I said while laughing, "Curiosity… such an amazing prospect in one's life."

"Well, curiosity is the reason behind most of the theories we know today." He replied promptly, and I nodded, "I'll have to agree with you."

The theories and inventions he was talking about were something that I witnessed with my own eyes. I lost track of time, but I had probably spent centuries, if not millennials, in the human realm.

I looked at his back, moving subtly as he was breathing softly. Everything was audible more clearly on a cold winter night. I don't know what I was thinking at that time but I started a conversation, "So… to begin with, what do you think I'll do after this contract gets completed?"

"Quite ironic that you started with how this will end." With a slight chuckle, he said as I chuckled a bit and said, "That wasn't intentional at all."

"You'll return to hell." He replied as soon as I finished. By his tone, I could tell that he was quite delighted at the fact that I would leave him alone. 

Of course, I was just as irritated as him about this entire ordeal. But the difference was that since this ordeal wrapped around his neck, it has only been half a human year and he was already frustrated. 

Imagining my life without this curse was something that I have done a lot. I've spent several sleepless nights thinking about my life once I'm done with this.. At first it seemed really great to get this burden off my chest, but after this long my only wish was, "I'll be free."