Chapter 113: Succubus House
The stone interior was inorganic and, together with the dim light source, gave a cold impression.
Yet, the slightly elegant atmosphere was due to the mysteriousness of the woman who governed the place.
A woman sat in a chair and looked over a large group of succubus. She had a mysterious presence. All those who had seen her would hesitate to speak of the impression they had.
It was not that she had a fearsome appearance or a beauty that left one speechless.
The aura-like object she wore tried to prevent her from being remembered. She did not allow all those who came into contact with her to remember her.
She had a childish loveliness, but also a mature sex appeal, and her eyes were warm and receptive, while an unfathomable, extremely cold land was sleeping in the depths of her eyes.
If one had to describe it by force, one had no choice but to express it that way.
“-”
Confronting the mystical woman were numerous of her daughters - all of them are succubus.
Fleshy limbs that aroused boys’ instincts. A seductive, lecherous face that captivated at first sight. A sweet voice that made men want to protect them. However, all of them were quiet, and they looked moist and heavy, as if they were covered with clay from above.
It looked like a machine or a doll that represented a succubus. The twin eyes, out of which all the light had disappeared, reflected a woman.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a visitor…My Queen.”
“Three human males, in their mid-teens. They have a high sex drive and are still in the process of being taken on by the three daughters.”
“I should consider killing them and swallowing their testicles whole.”
“Don’t kill them.”
The woman called the queen quietly announced her intentions to the succubus, who reported the situation in a mechanical tone of voice.
“Succubus in a hurry won’t make much money. It doesn’t matter how much you spend on both the Dark Healing Dark Cure and the Dark Granting Dark Buff. Take your time……and squeeze them until the last minute!”
No succubus objected to the woman’s words.
But this was not the result of the succubus’s wholehearted agreement with the woman’s statement.
The succubi had the order engraved in their instincts not to disobey this woman.
Dark magic, called Adoration/Worship, was so deterrent that it surpassed the charms of enchantment used by succubus.
“I know you’re excited of having a male for the first time in a long time, but if you fail here, you’ll have no child. When the hunger reaches its limit - you never know what’s going to happen.”
The tone was white-knuckled, but what she said was true. What awaited them behind the hunger was the similar end for all creatures.
The succubus was no exception. If she continued to not ingest semen, she would eventually die.
“That Little Succubus, the little whore I released in the forest, hasn’t come back at all. Rumour has it that the guild members are suspicious of us.”
(mishuyu?)
“There are also a number of brothels in the area that imitate succubus. Locally, this building is not the only one that could be suspected.”
“It’s not good to be optimistic. It’s a matter of life and death for us succubi, let alone humans. We can’t leave until we find our next base.”
The Queen, who ruled the succubus, reached for the nearby succubus and hugged her in her chest.
The succubus, embraced without resistance like a plush toy, went limp and became like a threadbare marionette.
It seemed to have sucked the life out of her, not to mention her soul. The succubus, whose originally pale skin had turned even whiter, collapsed on the floor and stopped moving.
“I’m hungry too. If I don’t hurry, all my precious household succubus will be gone.”
None of the succubi showed any interest in the fact that one of their own had been eaten - until the Queen ordered them to clean up.
◇◇◇
Ran was eager to get started, but then he finally realised that there was far too little information about the “succubus” life-form in this world.
As the name existed in the original world, it was easy to imagine, but it was nothing more than a mere fantasy without any support.
Conveniently, Yuri, who had the 『Intelligence gathering:Ultimate Technology Skills』 skill, was in the room, so Ran decided to go out after accumulating the minimum necessary knowledge.
-Firstly, succubi were demons.
According to Misuzu, who was dressed as a succubus, some people had suggested that they should be accepted as demons, but in the book referred to by Yuri, they were described as ‘demons’.
-Secondly, succubus spoke human languages and could communicate and interact with humans.
This seemed to be the overriding reason why the argument was raised that succubus should be treated as a demonic race.
It was generally accepted that creatures similar to demons were unable to communicate with humans.
Special means, for example, telepathy with tree spirits that were subordinated as messengers by superior magicians and spiritists, which could only be used under certain conditions.
This was the case when he had outdoor sex with Kanami and interacted with the demons that had been sent to patrol the area.
It was basically a common belief that demons and monsters could not communicate and understand each other through language.
This was what made the succubus an ambiguous entity.
—Thirdly, succubus had a high amount of magical power held in their bodies and used special magic such as『Illusion』,『Drain』and『Adoration』.
As they had been taught in classroom lectures before, there were four main types of magic in the world. They were : ‘spirit magic’, ‘Unique magic’, ‘dark magic’ and ‘unattributed magic’.
The most basic type of magic used by humans was spirit magic. This was the general healing magic and attribute magic that the saints, including Ran, used on a daily basis.
It could be realised and activated by communicating with spirits and borrowing their power.
Unique magic was, without a doubt, a paraphrase of the ‘skills’ that Ran and his friends were given when they were summoned.
Unique magic equalled skill. There was no problem with that interpretation.
As the name suggested, it was a magic that could not be used by others - it was unique to that person.
Of course, there were also underling training and enhanced recovery in general. Summoning magic was also a magic that can be used by many people in general. But there was also summoning magic, like the one that summoned Ran and the others to this world, that was clearly unique to the individual.
“In recent years, it has become a popular creative writing style, where it is called a unique talent or a unique skill.”
Yuri roughly put it together, while bending her chest.
There were still many parts of inborn unique magic that had not yet been researched, and books did not seem to contain detailed information on the subject.
Non-attribute magic was the common name for magic used by creatures classified as so-called ‘demons’ who had broken their pact with spirits.
It was not that the attributes did not actually exist, but that they did not receive the attributes of the spirit that they should be borrowing power from.
Other abilities of magic used by demons that were not classified as ‘dark magic’ - such as natural healing for life support and hardening for defence - were provisionally classified as non-attribute magic.
There were also those who could use unattributed magic while continuing to have a pact with spirits. Unfortunately they usually preferred not to be remembered. Hence, there had been a little progress in research on unattributed magic.
As an example, it seemed that Ageha could also exercise a reasonable amount of unattributed magic.
And the main focus of this issue wa dark magic.
Dark magic was a highly prestigious form of magic that was considered to be used by the higher demon clans.
It was not a ‘magic’, but was created by using the evil energy woven from within the body as a food source to concoct and produce something equivalent to the magic that humans handled.
As mentioned above, demons were unable to borrow the attribute power of spirits to exercise magic because their pact with spirits had been broken.
Dark magic was completely different from the spirit magic used by humans, and there were many objects that possessed specific effects.
The previously mentioned 『Illusion』, 『Drain』 and
『Adoration』 were exactly the same.
But dark magic was not limited to attacks and destruction.
Some demons were said to be able to amplify their own energy and heal themselves.
Since they could use dark magic, the succubus was still considered a demon. An inferior species abandoned by spirits. The argument for not recognising them as demons seemed to come from that area.
-Fourtly, succubus preferred male semen not only for mating but also as food.
The fact that succubus attacked male of other species was not only an act of predation, but also for the purpose of procreation.
They were said to be equipped with organs that separated the semen they took into their bodies between those for insemination and those for filling their stomachs.
These organs’ tissues seemed to be spread throughout their body, and whether it was taken in through the oral cavity or squeezed out at the vulva, the result was the same.
It was also said to be able to share the male sperm it has sucked up to other succubus.
“Semen sharing……Do they do cum-kissing or something like that?…I might be a bit interested…”
Hearing Yuri’s explanation, Hibiki chirped and stuck out her tongue in a greedy manner.
All the girls were currently gathered in the girls’ room, with the exception of Reika Joougaoka, who was holed up in the luggage room.
Ryuzaki asked Ran not to make too much of it, but as long as there was a possibility of stepping into a danger zone, Ran could not afford not to share the information.
It was important for Ran to share it, because in case he didn’t come back, it would be a big problem.
Without making any secret of it, he told them nakedly about his plans for this evening.
Thanks to this, all the girls in the class found out that the otaku boys were playing with prostitute, though.
“Kyahaha. You go to places like that because you don’t get any girls in real life. It’s really unbelievable.”
“And then the evil succubus catches you, it’s really pathetic.”
Sakuya and Hibiki made fun of the boys in the otaku group.
“Well, don’t worry about it. Boys, you see, can’t stand that sort of thing. There’s no shame in being interested in those shops, you know?”
Saki tried to ease the atmosphere by making a follow-up.
“I’ve heard that high school boys’ libido is potentially limitless, but cramming them into a small space doesn’t make a rose bloom from a quicksand…”
Yuri was a yuri, and she was poked by Emi for spouting nonsense in a rosy sense.
The participants to rescue the otaku boys were Aya Mikoshiba, Tsubasa Ryuzaki, Ran Kirishima, Sadogashima Sayaka and Inugami Kanami, making a total of five people.
Originally, Kanami wasn’t in the plan to join.
“Mikoshiba and Ryuzaki, but Sadogashima would not have direct offensive skills. I heard that succubus have the power to take away boys’ reason. If Ran and Ryuzaki were to become useless, Mikoshiba would have to protect the three of them by herself. That would be tough.”
- and offered to accompany Ran.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep the inn safe while Kiririn and the others are away.”
With a flat chest, Saki put her hand on her waist.
“If you haven’t returned after two hours, we’ll go to reinforce you. At that time, we’ll tell the boys why and ask them to form a joint front.”
With a bored look on her face, Hibiki fluttered and raised her hand.
Ran tried not to worry too much but he wouldn’t know what could happen.
It was important to share any information as much as possible for unexpected situations.
Ran didn’t know how willing the boys would be to help the otaku boys that were in the self-destructive behavior,, but whatever it was, if they lost their lives, that was where it ended.
‘This is only the worst case scenario. If it seems impossible to carry out the mission, even if we abandon the otakus, I’ll have to focus on making the girls return safely.’
Although Ran did not say this out loud, he had decided to do so.
“……”
Aya watched the sun setting every second with an anxious look on her face.
‘I’ll do everything I can to bring her smile back.’
Unusually for Ran, his eyes were full of motivation.
◇◇◇
By the time they approached the street in question, their surroundings were beginning to be consumed by the evening darkness.
Ryuzaki, who knew the route well, led the way. He thought that lights might be needed, but it seemed that the shops lining this area were only profitable after dusk, so the still warmly lit alleyways seemed to repel the encroaching dusk.
As he made his way through the streets, which were somewhat livelier than during the day, Ran had a sense of déjà vu about the landscape.
He had a dim sense of this from the time he heard the story, but as he suspected, this place seemed to be very close to the alleyway where he wandered into when he went on a date with Misuzu.
‘Maybe Misuzu was acting strangely at that time because…’
Ran recalled passing a woman with a devilish tail at the end of an alley.
That time they were drawn together and entered the cheap hotel without question.
That was not simply because they were hit by the lewd atmosphere, but it was the work of a passing succubus - or was it?
“Perhaps the succubus’s power could be effective even against girls. Be careful everyone…”
There was no proof, but it was good to be vigilant.
Ran felt bad that it didn’t occur to him until he came to this place.
“…… Mm, I see. Might be a good idea to apply some healing magic on a regular basis.”
“Even Misuzu’s enhanced recovery didn’t completely cure her, so healing magic might not work.”
In hindsight, Misuzu was not physically ill, but strongly lustful.
At that time, Ran couldn’t think normally and could no longer judge right from wrong.
So-called ‘mental and physical hustle’ - that was what it was like.
They did not really get exhausted or morbid back then, but rather had a surplus of energy.
“Let’s point out to each other immediately if we think something is wrong. If you think something’s not right, don’t hesitate to tell us.”
All members were alerted to their surroundings and finally reached the desired building.
The building itself was made of stone, but the entrance-like area was decorated with wooden objects.
It was decorated in a fairy-tale style, like a fashionable coffee shop cafe in the original world.
The sign 『Succubus House』 in round letters with a pink and heart-shaped, also with an illustration of a succubus girl winking at them as if to say ‘Come in’.
The doorbell on the door also looked like Christmas bells and the whole place had a lovely atmosphere.
“『Succubus House』 is what it says…”
Ran, who looked at the sign from a distance, glared at Ryuzaki, saying that he was talking about the wrong thing.
It was true that Ran was told that he might have been attacked by a succubus, but that would have only been a ‘worst case scenario’.
The otaku boys may simply be playing with women in unhealthy establishments but they wanted to check them secretly because they were worried.
“No, not really, it says Succubus House, but there’s no proof that there’s a succubus there.”
“Where would you find a museum without art or a library without books?”
“You can’t be sure that all the objects on display in museums are authentic. Some of them may even be replicas for display.”
Aya, Kanami and Sayaka also looked at Ryuzaki’s cryptic rebuttal quizzically.
It seemed uncomfortable to have no allies.
“…… The point is that there are places where fake human women dressed as succubus offer such services and are also sign-posted as ‘succubus house’.”
“Why are you doing such a troublesome thing?”
“I don’t know the details either. I read in a book once that the name ‘succubus’ itself became popular because it came to mean ‘sexy, good-for-you sister’, so maybe that’s what it’s about. ……”
“It’s not like slang…”
‘Is it a cloak or a common name? It seems, in this world, prostitutes are often referred to as succubus.’
Ran glanced at the other shops that lined the street, and then he was sure enough.
The signage was similar to that of the other shops in the area, with words such as 『Superb Succubus Castle』and 『Succubus Bath』.
“So not all of those things are shops run by succubus.”
There were so many shops like that just by looking around a little, one would think that they must be very unlucky to be the first one to enter a shop where a real succubus was lurking.
‘Is she touting?’
A big-breasted woman dressed almost naked was sweet-talking men who were probably on their way home from work.
“……Uwa, that woman’s got a whole arse naked, doesn’t she? I don’t think I’ve ever seen any woman dress like that in the open air.”
Aya said so with a dumbfounded look on her face. Sayaka had also been clinging to Ran since a while ago, and she turned over, red to the ears, whispering 『filthy』and 『disgusting』in a whisper.
It seemed that as long as they voluntarily followed Ran, they couldn’t complain openly, but as a healthy high school girl,the girls thought that they didn’t seem to fit in with this kind of place.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the desire to expose one’s bottom in the open air……”
Kanami was a little further away, her lips pouting and mumbling something.
“But this is not going to get us anywhere. Because from the outside, it’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to determine whether it’s dangerous or not.”
Kanami sniffed as if she had changed her mind, folded her arms under her chest and fluttered her ponytail softly.
“You guys wait here. I’ll go and ask him first.”
“Is Inugami going to be okay on her own?”
Aya asked worriedly, but Kanami nodded emphatically, saying “leave it to me”.
“As long as we cannot wipe out the possibility that there is a real succubus, we cannot rely on Ran and Ryuzaki, who are boys……Don’t worry, I have a good plan.”
With a confident smile, Kanami knocked on the door of the Succubus House.
A moment later, a sweet sound of voices could be heard from inside the shop.
“Yes…What is it?”
The door opened and a beautiful woman emerged from inside.
A beautiful woman with shaking pink fluffy hair and a loving smile.
Ryuzaki straightened his back in a way that was easy to understand. It was a funny gesture, but this was not the time to be laughing at other people.
The moment he came face to face with the pink-haired woman, he could feel some kind of sweetness blossoming in him.
Perhaps this was as Ryuzaki had feared.
“Ara, swordfighter-san. welcome, Don’t just stand there, you can come in.”
“No, here’s fine. Sorry to interrupt your work, but I need to ask you something. I’m looking for someone, here, dressed like me――”
“Uun. You have great abs, but you’re a woman. I’m sorry, but could you try another establishment? We don’t serve any female customers.”
“No-. I’m not a customer! I didn’t come here with the intention of-”
The beautiful woman had a colossally cute smile on her face, but as soon as she heard Kanami’s words, her tone suddenly turned cold.
“If you’re not a customer, then get the hell out of here. It’s not nice to be visited by a woman who just comes to chill.”
“…… W-wait! Don’t close the door. Just listen to what I have to say. I just want to know if anyone I know is here!”
“I can’t answer that question because it’s personal information.”
In a clerical tone, the pink-haired woman forced the door shut.
Kanami, being a calm and sensible person, did not do anything so insane as to keep knocking on the silent door, and soon returned to Ran and the others.
“No good. It’s unapproachable…”
“Inugami-san was a girl, so I think she was alarmed… I’ll try it this time, or……?”
A breathless Ryuzaki advised, leaning forward.
Aya looked doubtful at Ryuzaki, whose eyes had clearly changed colour.
“Hey, Ryuzaki, what’s wrong with you?”
“……Kirishima-kun, your face is also red from earlier, what’s wrong?”
Sayaka put her hand on Ran’s forehead and looked troubled.
“Maybe that woman……was a succubus?”
“Could be. The moment I saw her, I was surprised and something came over me.”
Ran nodded his head in agreement with Ryuzaki’s confession, saying the same.
It wasn’t enough to make him lose his reason, but there was no doubt that something happened inside Ran.
If there was a switch in the body that governed adoration, it was as if that switch was pressed for a moment and then quickly switched off again.
A light elation played in Ran’s head, like when he saw a very nice opposite sex in a crowd.
“Is Kanami okay?”
“I am all right. What’s more, what are you going to do about them? It seems impossible to do it the right way, and I can’t believe that after only this much contact, they’re both like this……”
Blinking her slitted eyes, Kanami looked up at the shop in question.
“The guild must have communicated to everyone that there has been an increase in succubus sightings, including them. They knew I was a swordsman, and they didn’t even ask me if it was a request to look for someone. It’s obviously suspicious.”
Kanami’s opinion was that there seemed to be something dark behind the woman’s back, although she did not rule out that the woman was a succubus.
There were two options for Ran to choose from here.
One was to decide that it was dangerous to go deeper, abandon the otaku boys and share the information between the men and women to avoid causing further unnecessary damage.
The other was to sneak into the shop by other than straightforward means and rescue Megane and his colleagues, knowing the risks involved.
The answer was as good as decided.
“We now know the dangers of succubus, at this rate we sho-”
Give up and warn the remaining Saints. Ran was going to continue like that, but he stopped as soon as he looked at Aya.
“Aya”
Holding her mouth, Aya was shivering as if she had a chill.
Ran felt an emotion akin to irritation at the sight of her.
Not against Aya’s obsession with the otaku group.
It was also not against her past self, who, like Misuzu, had not ordered her not to show interest in other boys.
“I have no idea how anxious Aya is……”
How brokenhearted she was when she learned that her friend was in danger.
This was something that Ran was completely unable to comprehend.
Ran lost his parents at a very young age, and the experience of having someone to support and interact with, someone with whom he felt safe, was taken away.
Formal friendships. Superficial interactions. He never had the experience of a deep, heart-to-heart relationship with anyone.
Valuable strangers. Ran could not even imagine how important it was to him.
“……What can we do about it?”
He didn’t know if he could continue to put up with Aya like this.
What might be unimportant to Ran may be a life-changing incident for Aya from now on.
In the future, Aya would not be able to smile from the heart. Ran absolutely did not want that.
“…Aya”
Ran reached out to Aya’s pale cheeks.
Aya, who had been absent-minded, was startled by the touch of her beloved Ran.
“Sorry Kirishima. I zoned out a bit……”
“Shall we go and help?”
It was not a question. Let Aya give him the answer - He didn’t want to do things like running away.
Aya chewed over Ran’s words and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Are you sure…?”
“I can’t have my precious girlfriend Aya looking like that.”
Aya hurriedly tried to mend the situation, but Ran returned with a flirty smile.
“Because of my selfishness - As long as ‘it’ doesn’t show on your face or anything like that, you don’t have to worry about it.”
“B-but……Kirishima hates sacrificing himself for someone else more than anything else,right? …”
Aya was right. Self-sacrifice. Neighbourly love. These would be words far removed from the way of life of Ran.
“It’s what I want to do for Aya. I didn’t do it by choice. With my own will, I wanted to do my best for Aya.”
“『How can you say that when you’ve made them fall” in love with you with your underling training skills?』” — Ran heard Ryuzaki’s venomous voice, but he didn’t care.
‘If Ryuzaki wants to be jealous,then so be it.’
It was the same as the fact that Ran, who had no friends, could not understand Aya’s feelings. Those who didn’t have it might not be able to grasp the subtleties of this delicate heart.
The lingering feelings of regret he had for the pink-haired woman disappeared as if the fog cleared.
The woman who was important to Ran was not that succubus woman. They were the nine lovers, united by the underling training skill.
“…… so can I also rely on my precious girl Sayaka?”
“Fine. That’s why I forced myself to come along.”
Sayaka, who had been clinging to his arm for a long time, nodded her head cockily.
The dark purple electricity emitted from her fingertips was very reliable.