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“Wait a second!”

With a loud voice that gathered everyone’s attention, a figure spun and squeezed between us and the demonic race.

I tried to raise my alertness even higher, thinking it might be a new enemy, but it seemed the approaching demons were just as bewildered and took a step back, making it hard to judge.

“Can’t you put that hand down right now? You too, cancel that magic immediately!”

The newly appeared figure, commanding and pointing at the demons, seemed to also be one of them—but her words were oddly helpful to me.

But why does her voice sound so familiar?

“Do you even know who this person is? It’s a disgrace to be so rude! I thought you knuckleheads only knew how to use force, but do you really think you can freely identify yourselves as Lilith’s fans… or rather, her subordinates?”

The similar-looking tail and wings, despite her smaller size compared to Lilith, indicated she was a succubus. And aside from Lilith, there was only one other succubus I knew.

Of course, I only knew her and wouldn’t dare say I had any relationship with her. If anything, it was more of a nemesis than a connection.

“Do you realize what kind of mistake you’ve made? Well, I guess you wouldn’t have that expression if you did.”

She wasn’t just shouting at the demons that looked like allies, but actually critiquing them sharply. The demons surrounding us looked even more crumpled than when they were staring at me.

“Camila. No matter how much of a founding member you were, if you keep spouting insults, we won’t hold back.”

Eventually, the largest and seemingly most battle-ready demon stepped forward and spoke up.

“So what if we don’t hold back? What are you going to do about it?”

“Well, for now, since fighting among members is prohibited, I can’t do anything to you right at this moment… but let’s just say I’ll formalize a proposal to strip you of your officer position later.”

His surprisingly calm voice was contrasted by the excited shouts from other demons around him.

By the way, the founder of the fan club that Lilith dreaded was this succubus right in front of me. I learned information I never wanted to know, that I really didn’t need to know. So that’s why I was especially eager to see Lilith last time.

“No need for that. Not only will I step down from my officer position, but I’ll leave on my own. All of it completely by my own will.”

“…I don’t know why you’re excited, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, so cool your head first.”

“No. Though watching you all is frustrating, I’m more composed than ever.”

That said, why is she defending us? She should have no reason to. During our last encounter, she realized that Lilith had betrayed the demons and allied with us, so to avoid a hassle, I issued her a fierce threat.

Fortunately, she was quick-witted enough at the time to bow her head and swear never to speak of it, and because she kept her promise, we managed to come here without interference.

But now it’s different. All around her were her fellow demons. The moment she reveals our identities, dozens of demons will target us. And since we snuck in to rescue Lilith, all our friends are outside the city, making it even more dangerous.

“Was your sincerity towards Lilith really only that shallow? I thought of you as a true comrade, but I’m really disappointed.”

“I don’t know what you think, but my love for Lilith is still beyond doubt, you know?”

“So then why say you’re quitting? You know the rules against rejoining, right?”

“My reasons for boasting to you aren’t much different.”

Responding briefly to the large demon’s question, the succubus named Camila shot me a glance and grinned.

What’s that about?

I made a perplexed face, but she had already turned her back, not seeing my expression.

“Instead! I’ll propose the establishment of Emily’s fan club right here!”

She raised her voice as if to make sure everyone heard. A moment of silence followed her declaration, but then the demons started murmuring and it quickly became noisy.

“What’s an Emily? Do you know?”

“I think I’ve heard that name before… but why is she suddenly acting bold?”

Despite her enthusiastic declaration, nobody responded.

“It’s hard to sit still and listen to your proud declaration of betrayal. I suppose you haven’t forgotten that the rule against fighting among members can no longer protect you now that you’ve quit?”

The demons’ expressions turned even more hostile than before. However, Camila faced their animosity head-on without a hint of fear, showing a demeanor far more confident than anyone else.

“What? Lilith, do you know who Emily is?”

In that interval, I couldn’t contain my curiosity and asked Lilith, who was nestled in my arms. She mumbled, still blushing red.

“That, um…”

“Ah! I remember!”

However, someone’s shout cut off what Lilith was about to say. I looked towards the source of the noise to see one of the demons clapping their hands excitedly.

“I’ve heard that name before; it’s the First Succubus Queen! That was her name!”

“If she’s the First Succubus Queen… isn’t she said to have the most outstanding beauty and charm and strength of all the Succubus Queens?”

“But she’s supposed to have already passed away, right? What’s with the talk of a fan club now?”

“No, thinking back, while there are records of Emily disappearing, none explicitly say she died.”

“Tsk… so it means you all have quite the blind spots.”

As the commotion grew louder, Camila wore a look of disdain, raising her finger and swaying it lightly.

“This person right here is none other than her, Emily!”

Then she spun around quickly, stretching her arms to point behind me.

Damn it. We’re already at a disadvantage being surrounded by demons, and now the most powerful Succubus Queen is joining in too. I turned to see where she was pointing.

“Huh?”

I locked eyes with a pig-faced demon staring blankly at me.

…That’s a bit different from the succubus I knew?

Well, we’re talking about the First Succubus Queen, so she must date back hundreds or even thousands of years. Standards of beauty can change over time, so maybe that face was considered attractive back then. Of course, I couldn’t understand it at all.

“That said, the closeness between her and Lilith could mean she is indeed the Succubus Queen, so it’s not surprising…”

“However, no matter how I look at it, she appears human, right? She has neither the wings nor the tail that are the symbols of a succubus…”

But listening to the buzzing voices around me revealed some inconsistencies. It seemed that the one Camila referred to as Emily was somehow pointing at me.

In case I was mistaken, I raised my finger to point at myself and looked at Lilith, who awkwardly smiled and nodded.

There’s no way they would realize my true identity here, but it was enough to recall memories from the past.

When I first met Camila, she had been talking about me being the First Succubus Queen and carrying on with her act.

She was continuing that charade right here and now.

Only then did I realize she had no intention of revealing our identities. And the reason she wouldn’t reveal it, of course, stemmed from the fierce threat I had whispered to her before.

No matter how advantageous the situation seemed, my threat had undoubtedly become a kind of curse to her.

Being the continent’s top Assassin, my threat was, frankly speaking, incredibly brutal.

“Well, to you ordinary demons, I can see how I might look that way. But I can spot everything as a succubus. Perhaps some of you sharp-eyed ones have already sensed it, right?”

“Y-yes, maybe, but I thought it was because of Lilith… but everything was because of Emily…”

“Now that I think about it, I did run into Lilith before, and I found it puzzling since it wasn’t like this then.”

“Well, with such appearance, there’s no way she’s human. It makes sense that Emily would be known as the most beautiful among Succubus Queens.”

Camila’s lie was so skillfully told that more and more began to fall for her act, agreeing and supporting her.

What are they even sensing? It sounds like they’re talking about me, but I, the subject, couldn’t follow along. Even Lilith was nodding as if she agreed.

“I, I’ll join!”

“Me too, me too!”

Before long, one by one, hands were raised, and there were cries of willingness to join from everywhere.

As it turned out, those who wanted to join naturally moved closer to Camila, while the remaining demons clustered around the bulky demon who had initially stepped forward.

The formation that had me and Lilith surrounded had now split into two large groups.

At this point, I thought it might be a good time to escape, but it still wasn’t the right moment, so I decided to wait a bit longer. It felt like a better opportunity would surely arise.

By the way, it seemed only female demons were gathered around Camila, while male demons flocked to the large demon.

It appeared that demons, like humans, might also have a slightly more emotional side, falling easily under Camila’s performance.

In contrast, the males probably realized her lies were somewhat clumsy and remained steadfast.

“Ugh… How can that human girl act so freely after witnessing Lilith’s attempted abduction?”

“Watch your mouth! They’re standing with each other, calling it abduction! We support Emily x Lilith! Rather, you ignorant ones who don’t understand the beauty of Emily x Lilith are the ones to be pitied.”

“You betrayers! You’ve already forgotten the principle of ‘only Lilith’! From now on, I’ll designate all of you as heretics!”

“You’re talking nonsense. You antiquated old fools.”

As they began to exchange insults, the entire group erupted in harsh words toward one another. Before long, some even drew their weapons, preparing for a confrontation. The interest in Lilith and me seemed to have been overshadowed by hostilities toward each other.

“Let’s take this chance to escape.”

Cradling the nodding Lilith against me, I quietly made my exit, hoping to go unnoticed.

I could hear weapons clashing and loud explosions behind us, but I did my best to ignore them as I hurriedly moved.

I found it hard to comprehend how the situation was unfolding, but at least it didn’t seem to spell trouble for us, so I decided not to worry.