Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"Uhh… yes and no."

"I was looking for you earlier. Even though I was the one hiding, I had to search for you because you didn't come to find me. I was scared, so I ran out of the forest even when you had warned me. And I looked around the houses, but you weren't there."

She hugged Rudy and said, "It was so scary. I thought you left me behind like mommy did. But I finally found you! Let's never play that game again. I don't want to be alone."

'She seems to be the same age as… wait… she is nine years old, isn't she?' Rudy asked himself. 'That's when 'someone' asked Lilim to be Maria's bodyguard.'

Rudy patted Lilim's head and asked, "How old are you, Lilim?"

"Nine! Today is my birthday!" Lilim said cheerfully.

"Oh, is it?" Rudy conjured an ice cream cone and handed it to Lilim. "Here."

Since Jessica always demanded ice cream, Rudy copied one and conjured it whenever she asked for it.

"What is this?" Lilim asked while sniffing it.

"Lick it."

"Is it food?"

"Yes."

Lilim licked it and immediately covered her mouth.

"It's so cold!"

'She is acting as if it's her first time eating it.'

Rudy sat on the couch, and Lilim sat on his lap as if it was a normal thing to do.

"Where did you come from?"

"Hell. You said we are going to look for mommy and brought me here."

'Hell?!' Rudy exclaimed inwardly. 'Like hell hell?'

Rudy had scanned the entire forest using his all-vision ability but couldn't find a single sign of anyone else around.

'It's not like she popped out of nowhere. Someone obviously brought her here and abandoned her in the forest. Who could do such a thing? That person wasn't me, obviously.

There is no way I am her daddy or whatever. I haven't even been born yet. Since she is a kid, she should be easy to interrogate. I will ask her the questions I couldn't get the answers of-- in 2008. Let's hope I find a clue or a lead.'

"Say, Lilim."

"Hmm?" she asked while taking a bite.

"What is the name of your mother?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know what she looks like?"

Lilim shook her head and said, "No. But you said we would find her here."

'Yeah, her answers aren't useful.'

"What were you doing before you came here?"

"I was in the forest."

"And before that?"

"We were in hell."

"Yes. What were you doing in hell?"

"I don't know. I was just there."

Lilim finished the ice cream, but she was still hungry, so Rudy went to the kitchen and made some food for her.

Lilim was sitting on the platform while Rudy cooked, but she got bored soon and started exploring the house. She checked upstairs and also the other room downstairs except the room Rebecca and Jessica were sleeping in as it was closed— but not locked.

She returned a few minutes later and said, "There was water in the room."

"That's called a bathroom."

"What do they do there?"

"We take a bath."

'Why is she asking questions like that? Well, she might be raised in hell, but she should know this stuff, right? I don't know how the civilization in hell works, but her questions are the same as a three-year-old.'

Rudy served the food to Lilim on a plate and sat on the couch with her. She looked at the food on the plate and asked, "What is this?"

"Noodles."

"They look like worms."

"..."

"Can I eat them?"

"Let it cool down a little. It would be too hot for you."

Lilim didn't listen and started eating hot noodles with her hands.

"What are you doing… is it not hot?"

"No."

Even when the steam was coming out, Lilim didn't feel hot or get burned.

'Well, it makes sense since she is a demon.'

Rudy handed her the fork and said, "Use this."

Lilim stared at the fork for a few seconds and started biting it.

"It's hard."

SIGH!

"You don't have to eat it. You have to use it." Rudy took the fork from Lilim's hand and ate a bite to show Lilim.

Lilim puckered her lips and asked, "Why would you eat like that?"

"Because that's how we are supposed to eat?"

Lilim looked at her hands and asked, "Then what are these hands for?"

"...you are not wrong. But it's better to eat some dishes using a spoon and fork as it could be hard to eat with your hands." Rudy pointed his finger at the soup Lilim had spilled while eating and said, "Look. You use a fork and spoon to ensure such things don't happen."

Lilim obediently followed Rudy's guidance and finished eating the noodles, but she had soup left in the bowl.

She tried to use a fork to drink it, but that obviously didn't work. So she used a spoon, but Rudy asked her to drink directly from the bowl.

"It's better that way," he said.

After drinking the soup, she looked at Rudy and said, "Daddy knows everything! He is smart!"

"Err… you should stop calling me that."

"But you are smart!"

"Not that. I think you should stop calling me daddy," he said calmly.

"Why?" Lilim puffed her cheeks and said, "Do you not want to be my daddy anymore?"

"It's not like that."

"Then do you not love Lilim anymore?" she asked with teary eyes.

SIGH!

"Let's forget about it. Go take a bath. I changed the water a while ago."

"How do you do that?" she asked curiously.

"You spill water on your body to clean. And soap too."

"What is soap?"

'Seriously? I don't mind her asking these questions, but… I am worried about why she is asking such simple questions. Lilim had said that hell is also well civilized, so she should know these things, right?' Rudy wondered.

Lilim grabbed Rudy's hand and said, "Let's spill water together!"

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Thanks, @Meiyo_Whoknows, for the gift