9 Who are You Calling a Harem Protagonist?

Lilith came out from the dungeon's entrance carrying a stack of papers in her embrace. Nayta, who heard the somewhat seductive voice, couldn't help but turn around, only to be surprised. An unbelievable beauty was walking towards them!

"Lilith?!" On the other hand, Ein was genuinely startled.

Lilith was a succubus, a demon. Ein didn't know what treatment demons receive in this world, but it probably isn't that different from Earth's image of demons. Thinking that it'd be bad if the elves knew he had a demon as a follower, he quickly turned around and stood up, about to run to where Lilith was.

Lilith, who was still walking towards them, was slightly different from how he remembered her. First of all, her horns cannot be seen. 'Wait, what's going on?' Ein was confused.

Right now, Lilith appears to be a normal human, albeit one with overflowing charm on par with elves. She looked like a beautiful office lady who got lost in the woods.

"Um, Mr. Tamer, this person is...?" Nayta asked.

Snapping out of his confusion, Ein immediately responded. "A-Ah, she's Lilith, my aide." He stuttered.

Not far from them, Lilith bowed her head slightly in greeting. Before coming out, she already felt the presence of beings not under the dungeon's control. That's why she immediately used an illusion spell to hide her horns, appearing no different than a human.

"I see... So Mr. Tamer is actually a noble?" Nayta wondered.

Only the nobility would bring their aides around with them. Ein, who had such a beautiful and capable aide, must be a high-ranking noble, or so Nayta thought.

"W-well, something like that?" he awkwardly replied.

Ein was so flustered that he feared he might blurt out something he shouldn't. To avoid this, he quickly took the papers that Lilith passed to him, focusing on reading their contents in hopes of earning some time to calm down.

Lilith, on the other hand, was scanning the emotions of the two. As a succubus who manipulates others' feelings, they are sensitive to their target's emotions. Someone on Lilith's level could analyze emotions that the target doesn't even notice.

Her master, Ein, was currently covered with the emotions of panic and surprise. There's also a bit of curiosity mixed in.

'He's probably flustered due to my sudden appearance and curious about how I did it... No, his curiosity towards the paper was higher?' She analyzed.

The other person, Nayta, was mostly tranquil with a splash of surprise and admiration. It was faint, but there's also a faint trace of...

'... Love? I thought elves don't take humans as viable partners?' Lilith was confused. 'Her surprise and admiration are mostly pointed toward me, though? Ah!' Noticing something, Lilith jumped into action.

Lilith, as if a snake slowly coiling around its prey, pulled Ein's arms into her embrace. Ignoring the flustered reaction of Ein, she quickly announced, "I'll be borrowing Master for a minute."

The instant that she did so, without missing a beat, she noticed how the emotions of jealousy and disappointment overpowered the elf's tranquility. However, the faint trace of love Nayta felt grew much clearer. With this reaction, Lilith was convinced.

'This woman loves Master but doesn't notice it herself.' she thought.

Then, as if something joyful had happened, her smile widened into a grin. 'This development looks interesting~!' She honestly thought.

To Nayta, though, the moment she saw Lilith grab Ein's arm intimately, she felt an indescribable pain in her chest. She saw Lilith glancing at her for an instant before grinning, and she felt anger. From Nayta's perspective, it looks like Lilith was provoking her.

With a weird sense of rivalry, she too wanted to stand up, but... She quickly sat down, depressed.

'What am I even doing?' she wondered to herself.

Ein was a boy she met just for a short time. Although he is reliable, she couldn't look at him as a love interest at all. Even if she divided her age by ten, she would probably be older than him, she thought.

Ein was already past 40 before becoming a dungeon master. The term "uncle" fits him much better than "brother." However, after coming to this world, he actually rejuvenated. He currently looks to be in his early twenties, with his features seemingly upgraded, turning him into a pretty boy. If he wore a dress and tied his long hair, he would probably pass for a girl, no doubt.

Unfortunately, Ein failed to notice this. Since there was nowhere he could look to see his reflection, like a mirror or a shiny shield, he still thought that he looked like a long-haired uncle. He did find his arms and legs to be thinner than usual, but since he was wearing a robe similar to those immortal cultivators wear, he basically ignored the fact.

Only Lilith noticed this when she peeked at Ein's soul after she was summoned. She realized that his soul was clearly older than what his appearance suggested and attributed this change to the fact that he became a dungeon master. The influx of strong mana may be the cause of his rejuvenation, where his body returned to an earlier state to be able to handle the strong energy from the injected mana.

...

Ein and Lilith went towards the marbled room. After arriving, Ein quickly let out a long sigh.

'I thought my heart would burst.' Ein wondered as he recalled what happened.

The soft sensation he felt as Lilith led him by the arm wasn't too bad.

"Just say the word, and I'll let you cop a feel~," Lilith, as if reading his mind, joked. "But before that, please confirm the plan I submitted to you."

Ein cleared his throat as if to say, 'I feel like you'll ask for my soul in exchange, so NO', before continuing to read the report she submitted.

"By the way, where did this paper come from?" Remembering his question earlier, Ein asked.

"Ah, that," Lilith said before stretching her hand. In front of her opened palm, a black, foggy, oval-shaped portal appeared. Then she put her hand inside and pulled out more paper.

"I have extradimensional storage where I place a lot of things," she announced. "You name it, I probably have it." She confidently declared.

"Then, do you have any magic items like this necklace?!" Ein excitedly asked, pointing at the mermaid's song hanging on his neck. If he could "borrow" some magic items from Lilith, then he could save his DP for other purposes. However, her answer was disappointing.

"Unfortunately, no. Technically, I do have tons of such magic items, but due to the contract binding us, I can't bring out anything that uses even a trace of mana." Lilith shook her head with an exasperated smile.

"I thought so..." Ein said, disheartened.

Lilith, seeing how down her master was, couldn't help but smile and speak.

"However, as long as I have materials, I could make one," she proudly announced.

"Really?!" Ein asked, surprised.

"Yes. The materials I said are also related to the proposal you are holding right now," Lilith said while pointing toward the pile of paper Ein was holding.

Ein nodded and earnestly started reading the proposal she made.

As he read further and further into her proposal, he was learning a lot of new things. After several minutes of reading, he finally took his eyes off the paper and sighed.

"So this sort of thing is even possible!" he said, enlightened.