Lilith and Sylara sheathed their weapons, agreeing to a temporary truce.

“Liam, I don’t trust the demon. I won’t leave you alone with her.”

“Hah. I should say the same thing about you, elf.”

Sylara’s eyebrow twitched. “Why would I be a danger to Liam?”

“Well… you have threatened me a few times already…” Liam noted.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll kill him,” the demoness clarified. “I just don’t want you trying to seduce him or brainwash him into becoming my enemy.”

“Why would I seduce such a scrawny hero?” asked Sylara.

“Oh, so I can have him? So long as I don’t hurt him of course.”

“Absolutely not.”

Lilith covered her smiling lips with her fingers.

“Um…” Liam attempted to get their attention. “Can you both not talk about me like I’m not here? Nobody is killing or seducing or brainwashing anyone here in this house, okay?”

“Fine,” Sylara agreed.

“After all that wonderful food you served me? And the way you’re trying to win me over with the video game?”

“First of all, I only let you try the game because you were so insistent,” said Liam. “Second, I’m not trying to win you over. I’m trying to figure out how to send you back safely.”

“Well I’m not leaving until that damn elf leaves.”

“And I’m not leaving until that demon bitch leaves. What game are you talking about?” Sylara’s instantaneous pivot from insulting Lilith to inquiring about a game impressed Liam.

“Liam, I have an idea. You should let the elf play the game. I want to see her become addicted.”

It was too early for Liam to prepare more food, so he needed to burn some time anyway. He didn’t see any reason to reject Lilith’s suggestion to let Sylara try the game, her ill-intentions and hypocrisy aside. In fact, it would be kind of unfair for Liam to let a demoness play one of his games but not an elf from the opposing side in their eternal conflict.

They all repositioned to the kitchen, where Liam grabbed the portable console and gave Sylara the same demonstration he had provided Lilith earlier. He handed off the game and Sylara started playing while he discussed what to do next with Lilith.

“In all seriousness, there’s no need for you to stay as long as Sylara does. Once I clear up for her what the circumstances here are regarding dogs, she’ll return through the invisible door. I’m okay with you visiting again, but before that I need your help establishing some type of a cessation of hostilities between your people and hers.”

“That’s going to be difficult…”

“Can you at least try?” Liam was hopeful she’d agree since she at least was invited to return at a later time.

“Liam, there are a few problems. The first is that even for me, it’s not so easy to sneak in and out of the summoning chamber. It was lucky timing that I made it here undetected. Second, my people are over-excited at the promise of victory. Even if your home offers a chance for talking with our enemy, they may not be interested. Also…” She turned her face away as though she was finally feeling shame or embarrassment for the first time. “I want to try more food, video games, and the other things you have here.”

“Fine.”

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Lilith perked up at Liam’s response, but deflated slightly at what he said next.

“You can stay for one more meal since I’ll need to get something good for Sylara anyway. I’ll let you try a different game, but that’s it. After that, figure out how to head back safely and do your best to make my intentions known.”

“Grrr…” she growled again.

“Lilith, what do your people think of the hero? Normally, anyway.”

“The hero is considered a serious threat to us. In the past, the hero has been able to single-handedly turn around the war, although I don’t know how they did it.”

“Well, if your people and their allies agree to some type of non-aggression pact, I’ll allow negotiations here in my house so long as everyone behaves. In exchange, I won’t oppose your people. In fact, I’ll stay here on this side of the invisible door.”

“I’ll think about it,” was all Lilith agreed to. “Let me try a different game.”

Liam sighed deeply.

----------------------------------------

As promised, Liam set Lilith up with a different game. This time, it was a classic side-scrolling platformer displaying on his only television. “You start small, but when you get a mushroom, you get bigger.”

“Why would eating a single mushroom make you bigger?” asked Lilith.

“I don’t know, it just does.” Liam finished his explanation and handed over the controller.

While the elf rogue and demoness assassin played their games, Liam pulled out his notes for his last final examination of the term and reviewed them one last time. In the morning, he’d need to go straight to campus after breakfast. In other words, he needed to get these murderous women out of his house before then.

After putting his notes away, he checked on the status of Sylara and Lilith. Sylara had gotten quite good at rotating and stacking blocks to eliminate lines quickly. She seemed to be taking advantage of her exceptional reflexes. Lilith had progressed through most of the worlds, which was pretty impressive considering she’d never even seen them before.

He hopped on his computer and pulled up the menu for the nearest Chinese takeout restaurant. He wasn’t sure if his two guests would enjoy such cuisine, but he was in the mood for it. “Hey you two, do you have any preferences between chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, and vegetable dishes?”

“Those sound good,” Lilith answered without looking away from the castle she was invading.

“They’re okay, but don’t give me too much meat,” said Sylara.

Liam entered the order. The soup and appetizers were lower in meat, so Sylara would probably prefer them. “Sylara, I’ll get some egg rolls and spring rolls; try both and tell me which you prefer.”

Sylara ignored him and kept playing.

He figured Sylara would probably prefer dumplings and Lilith would like spare ribs, so Liam opted for both. Then, he added several entrees to his cart.

“Are both of you okay with spicy food?”

“No.”

“No.”

They seemed oddly on the same wavelength for once. Liam wasn’t that big on spicy food himself, so he didn’t mind requesting mild seasoning.

“Okay, I put the order in. Both of you will need to hide when the driver arrives.”

“It’s coming via carriage?” asked Sylara.

“No. Er… Yes.” Liam decided not to explain the difference between a car and a carriage.

Before the delivery driver even arrived, Lilith had finished the final world in the game she was playing. Sylara was also reaching world-record levels of performance in her game and could likely move on.

“Liam, that was fun, but don’t you have anything more challenging? Going through all the worlds a second time won’t be that enjoyable…”

“I agree, the blocks aren’t posing much of a challenge, either.”

“That’s because the two of you are ridiculously talented…” Liam was a bit frustrated that the two of them were so easily outclassing him at modern technology even though that should be his one advantage. “Well, whatever. We’re going to eat soon, so there’s no point in starting anything new.”

Sylara and Lilith looked each other in the eye and then scattered. Sylara retreated to the bedroom, whereas Lilith entered the closet and shut the door behind her. A few seconds later, Liam heard a knock on the door.

“Ah, that’s why.” The girls must have noticed the approaching delivery. Liam walked over the door and opened it. Standing there across from him was a delivery driver holding two large bags. He looked around in all directions for Vince, but didn’t spot him lurking anywhere nearby.

The driver looked around too, likely wondering what Liam was searching for, but eventually thrust the two bags forward. Liam accepted them one-at-a-time, thanked the driver, and kicked the door shut behind him. He was elated to see the door actually shut.

Before he made it all the way to the kitchen table, Sylara and Lilith appeared from nowhere and started sniffing the bags.

Liam shook his head in exasperation. “I can see where this is going…”