Starting from Zero to Build a Demon Family
Chapter 20 - Contract Summoning from Another World

Chapter 20: Contract Summoning from Another World

“I-I-Is this… Replenishment Magic?!”

Yotsuya Miko clamped her hands over her face, but her fingers parted just enough for her eyes to stay locked on Lin and Kasumigaoka Utaha. Her voice trembled with disbelief, though the scene before her was far too vivid to deny.

Kasumigaoka-senpai, how can you be so bold?!

Her cheeks burned red-hot, the flush creeping all the way to her ears. Heat coiled through her body, and her thighs squirmed involuntarily beneath her skirt. She felt flushed, restless, overwhelmed.

Moments passed.

Kasumigaoka Utaha slowly pulled away from Lin’s lips. Her gaze lingered, dreamy and heavy-lidded, a hint of languid charm still in her expression. It was as if she hadn’t yet come down from the high of that soft, electric contact.

So moist, Lin noted silently. That was his succinct inner judgment.

Kasumigaoka blinked herself back to reality. Then, as if only just realizing what she’d done, her hands clutched his, and her body jolted.

What—what had she just done?

Dignity! Where was her maidenly dignity?!

She snatched her hands back in a fluster, straightened up stiffly, and tried to pass it all off as casual. Her fingers smoothed the ends of her hair with deliberate poise, though her voice betrayed her.

“N-no, don’t misunderstand. I just think that… providing some benefits to one’s master is a basic duty for any retainer.”

Lin watched her with quiet amusement, letting her explanation run its course before cutting in with a calm reminder.

“Wasn’t that a reward I gave you, not the other way around? After all, you were the one talking about magic replenishment.”

Kasumigaoka stiffened, her eyes twitching in disbelief.

“No magic flowed into me just now. It doesn’t count!”

Then she added, almost to herself, “Next time… I’ll come back and collect.”

Without another word, she turned with wooden steps toward the door, her limbs oddly synchronized and awkward.

“I-I just remembered something. I have to go!”

BANG!

The door to the Supernatural Investigation Club slammed shut behind her.

Outside, she leaned against the wall beside the door, her heart pounding violently in her chest.

“My body… it’s so hot.”

Her breath came shallow. She hugged one arm with the other, her gaze distant and unfocused.

Too impulsive.

She’d just… done that without thinking. Her body had moved on instinct, as if something primal had taken over.

Raising a hand, she touched her lips gently, then smiled foolishly.

Their second kiss. And this time, it had been even more intense than the last. More importantly… she had been the one to initiate it.

“Hehehe…”

Utaha drifted off into the depths of her own daydream, lost in the memory of what had just occurred.

Inspiration surged.

She felt a sudden, irresistible urge to write—to capture the moment while it was still fresh. Material! This was perfect material!

She’d understood now.

“Crap! I forgot to bring my tablet!”

Back inside the clubroom, Lin couldn’t help reflecting again.

So unexpectedly pure.

He thought back to what Himejima Akeno had said about Utaha earlier—it suited her well.

Meanwhile, Yotsuya Miko remained paralyzed in turmoil. She had just witnessed what could only be described as the kiss of the century, and before she could even process that shock, Kasumigaoka-senpai’s departing words had sent her thoughts into a tailspin.

Providing benefits to your master is a retainer’s duty?

Was that true?

Was that just… a demon thing?

Her hands trembled as she flipped through her underworld knowledge guide in a near-panic.

Nothing.

There was nothing written about this!

But Kasumigaoka-senpai had done it without hesitation. And as a fellow retainer, should she not also do something?

If she didn’t—if she ignored it—would something bad happen?

Would Lord Lin reject her?

She remembered the section on stray demons—those who had been abandoned by their masters. Outcasts of the underworld, shunned and hunted, treated like vermin.

No! That mustn’t happen!

Suddenly, Yotsuya Miko stood up and marched toward Lin, her steps unnaturally firm.

Lin blinked.

Why did this feel oddly familiar?

“You—”

Before he could finish, Yotsuya Miko bent down and gave him a swift peck on the cheek. The kiss was light, barely there—like a dragonfly skimming across water.

“This is a benefit for Lord Lin!”

She blurted it out all at once, then turned and bolted, her satchel in hand and her cheeks glowing red. The door banged shut behind her.

Outside, she exhaled deeply, but her face remained flushed. That was when she felt it—a stare, probing, questioning.

Turning her head, she locked eyes with a pair of deep wine-red irises.

“Ahaha… Kasumigaoka-senpai, you’re here too…”

She tried to laugh it off, her voice cracking with nerves.

“I, uh, I’ve got something to do, so I’ll be going now!”

And she ran.

Kasumigaoka Utaha narrowed her eyes.

“She has something to do too?”

Back in the clubroom, Lin touched his cheek, feeling the faint dampness still clinging to his skin. For a moment, he was stunned. Then he rubbed his chin and muttered under his breath.

“Utaha-beast… you really are a good woman.”

From the words Miko left behind, he understood immediately that she had misunderstood something. But that was fine. Lin decided to turn that misunderstanding into truth.

A new message appeared in the group chat for his retainer harem.

[It is the duty of a retainer to provide appropriate benefits to her master.].

After a second’s thought, Lin deleted the words “appropriate” and “some,” then replaced them with “deliver.”

The announcement now read:

[Providing benefits to the master is the duty of a retainer.].

And so, the first rule of Lin’s retainer harem was born.

He nodded in satisfaction.

Suddenly, his expression sharpened.

On the system panel, the skill [Demon Contract] began to flash.

“At last…”

A faint red glow flickered in Lin’s pupils.

Those world-crossing flyers—advertised as contracts—had a hidden purpose. A convenient excuse for demons to invade other worlds, seize resources, and steal away talent.

“They’ve finally taken the bait.”