Not long after Alesha finished enjoying the chocolate she'd been given, there was a knock on the door. A normal knock, unlike Delilah's.
Flynn got up to answer the door. When Flynn was halfway to the door, Delilah got up from the couch and rushed over, bopping him on the head and moving to get the door instead, at which point she found herself tackled to the ground.
As they began to bicker and fight, the System unexpectedly spoke up, [Now! Now's your chance, slip Korak into their drinks!]
Alesha realized the System was probably right. With the two of them distracted, she could slip Korak into their drinks with no issues, and what were the odds she'd run into either of them again after this? Sure, they were being friendly, but she was, in the end, just another demon that a younger student had summoned. During their conversation, she'd learned that Delilah was a 4th year student specializing in Potions and Poisons, and Flynn was a 3rd year specializing in Undead Command. They were in neither the same year nor the same specialty as her Summoner and would therefore be unlikely to see her again.
Quickly, glancing towards the door and seeing the two still grappling each other, she withdrew a vial of Korak from her inventory, unstopped it, moved over to Flynn's spot, and poured the vial into his half-full cup. Hopefully he'd drink it instead of dump it. She returned the empty bottle to her inventory, relieved that she could do so. Gaze flicking back up to the doorway, she found that Flynn and Delilah had managed to reach the door and were starting to open it.
She decided she didn't have time to spike Delilah's drink as well, since she didn't want to risk getting caught. Instead, she swiped another chocolate bar (the last one remaining) and returned to her spot, though she sat on a chair this time since she'd finished her plate of raw meat. She took a triumphant bite of the chocolate bar. Another dose of Korak, successfully distributed.
[Well done,] the System praised. [Who knew you had it in you? You sly dog!]
Annoyed, Alesha mentally responded, "I'm not a dog, and I'm not sly, not really. Though I suppose snagging the chocolate bar was pretty sly of me." This way, if they noticed she had been near Flynn's spot, they'd assume the chocolate bar was the reason -- and the only reason.
To Alesha's surprise, Flynn and Delilah returned with Seth behind them, his deep purple hair and icy blue eyes memorable enough that she recognized him right away. "My deepest apologies, Alesha. I appear to have lost track of time in the library while researching what we discussed. I see you have met Delilah and Flynn."
"Yeah, do you know them?" she asked, confused. Were they popular or something?
"Yes. It was quite a fortuitous meeting. You see, Flynn is quite knowledgeable of demonkind, and Delilah makes the best improvement potions. I had been intending to ask him and Delilah for their aid in helping you grow stronger before the exam."
Alesha felt her stomach drop. Well, perhaps it was a good thing she'd only gotten to spiking one of their drinks. It looked like she'd be seeing these two quite a lot after all.
The System chuckled at the irony of the situation, and Alesha told it to shut up.
----
Six Days Later
Alesha huffed in frustration as she laid on the bed she'd been provided, examining her nails -- which she'd temporarily transformed into claws. She'd successfully spiked another person's drink before that stupid quest's time limit had run out. She'd earned the quest reward, "answers" and 100 XP. But she was far from satisfied. She still didn't know how Korak had affected Flynn, not even after almost a week of observing him during their training sessions, and the random other person she'd given it to had died the next day. He had freaking died!! This confirmed that Korak could be fatal. And she hated the realization.
Sure, he'd come back to life a few minutes later, but he was reportedly insane.
What disturbed Alesha more about this was that when she'd gone to investigate in her free time, under the guise of being simply curious like everyone else, she'd found that his "insanity" involved talking about another world called "Earth." Students and staff had initially thought he'd been possessed by a demon, but when the forced demon contract magic didn't work, they decided he'd simply gone insane. He was then sent home to recover.
Alesha, however, thought it was more likely that Korak had somehow sent his consciousness to Earth or given him knowledge of the planet. Either possibility was disturbing.
[Sheesh, you're taking all of this way too seriously,] the System remarked. [Lighten up a bit! At least the person you're closer to didn't get hurt that way. Honestly, you're so concerned about people you have no connection to that I just don't get it.]
"You wouldn't," Alesha mumbled.
Why had the demonic contract magic worked on her, when she was a descendant of the humans from Earth, but not on the student? What exactly had Korak done to that student? What had he learned about Earth in the process? Was he a reincarnated soul from there, or had he perhaps visited there and forgotten his life here? She had so many questions, and not enough answers.
[Alas,] the System said in an overly dramatic voice, [I haven't the answers to give you this time, else I would gladly give you another quest in order to reward you with such!]
"Shut up," Alesha replied venomously, "I don't want your answers, and I don't want your quests."
She remembered the "answers" the System had dispensed during the quest reward and the distasteful feeling they had given her. The System had made her do such a stressful quest for such an unsatisfying, worrisome reward…