Ch.103Back to Riverside

Having accepted the request from Succubus Queen Anastasia, we escaped with her and returned to our campsite.

Peter, who had been resting at the campsite, seemed quite surprised to see Anastasia appear with us, but when Anastasia looked into his eyes and said, “I have been traveling with this man from the beginning,” he immediately accepted it and backed off.

“Hmm? That man is a colonist, yet my ability works easily on him. Perhaps you are indeed special?”

“What did you just do?”

“A form of hypnosis. I slightly distorted his perception and memories.”

Wow, that’s scary. It’s like a hypnosis app.

I’m really fortunate to be immune to this succubus’s special ability.

“Don’t be so frightened. It’s merely a deception to avoid suspicion. I have no intention of harming humans with this ability.”

“Well, if that’s the case… Anyway, since I’ve brought you outside, I should get the promised reward, right?”

“When did I ask you to help me escape the dungeon? By ‘outside,’ I naturally meant beyond this space—your city.”

“What!? You want to enter the Western City? A succubus?”

Having inadvertently revealed Anastasia’s identity in a loud voice, Mina covered her mouth with a “hup” and looked toward Peter, but he wasn’t paying any attention to us, just lazing around in Phyllis’s tent.

“Phew, I thought we were in trouble.”

“That man will no longer concern himself with me anyway, so there’s no need to worry. However, if you make the same mistake in the city, more people will fall under hypnosis.”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“But Anastasia, as Mina said, isn’t it dangerous for a succubus to enter a human city? The colonist cities have barriers that purify black mana. If you, a monster, enter…”

“Oh? Are you worried about me, you adorable little elf girl?”

Chuckling playfully, Anastasia raised her hand, and mana like a heat haze began to rise from her fingertips.

The energy emanating from that mana felt similar to Hector’s when he was preparing grand magic.

“As you can see, the mana of us succubi has not been corrupted into darkness. The reason this tower was sealed in the first place was for that purpose. If my mana flows like yours, I should not be harmed by entering your barrier.”

“I see… Come to think of it, that makes sense.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by ‘makes sense’?”

“It wasn’t just the five races classified as ‘people’ who devised countermeasures to survive the black mana that swept in like a disaster. Even among creatures classified as monsters, there are intelligent species.”

“You’re a quick learner. It saves me the trouble of explaining.”

Anastasia was smiling with satisfaction as she praised Jessica, but suddenly her expression changed as if she had remembered something.

“Speaking of which, I wonder how much human food culture has evolved over the centuries. Since it’s almost sunset, why don’t you prepare a meal?”

“Um… our food is designed for preservation, so it’s not particularly delicious.”

“It must be better than the roots and tree bark that refugees used to gnaw on. Stop complaining and bring it out.”

“Well, I guess I have no choice… I’ll prepare dinner, even though we just had snacks not long ago.”

I took out bread and jerky from Ancestor’s luggage and distributed them to everyone.

Anastasia looked curiously at the hard bread and jerky, but ate them without showing any displeasure, chewing slowly.

“Hmm, the taste of bread and meat hasn’t changed much even after hundreds of years. What’s in that packet?”

“It’s soup powder that you mix with hot water, but we can’t light a campfire right now, so it would be difficult to eat.”

“Would you like some whiskey instead?”

“Alcohol? Excellent. Pour me a glass.”

The Queen of Succubi freely helped herself to our food and drink as if they had been hers from the start.

One could say it was a fair exchange since she had served us tea and refreshments in her room, but watching Anastasia devour enough food for four meals in one sitting, I couldn’t help but wonder where all that food went in her small body.

After finishing her meal, Anastasia asked us to tell her about our adventures so far, and thus our last night of the quest passed in lively conversation.

The next day, April 8th, Day of Fire, at noon.

The gate back to Riverside appeared at exactly the time and place we had agreed upon before departure.

“Well then, shall we head back?”

“I hope nothing goes wrong…”

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll just slightly twist that client’s perception, and he won’t even be curious about me.”

“I’m not sure if it’s right to bring along a succubus who boldly declares she’ll hypnotize innocent citizens.”

Despite saying this, Jessica took the lead and entered the blue gate.

It seems she has no intention of missing the opportunity to acquire the Grand Sage’s magic, regardless of the circumstances.

After confirming that everyone had passed through the gate one by one following Jessica, I was about to enter last when I looked back at the two small tombstones erected next to where Phyllis’s tent had been.

Those humble tombstones, made of flat stones smaller than B5-sized paper, were graves for the victims that Peter had set up with Mina’s help.

– Hector Jones, Year 101, April 6th, Day of Darkness, died during dungeon exploration.

– Rick Anderson, Year 101, April 6th, Day of Darkness, died during dungeon exploration.

In Grantis, it’s customary not to bury bodies in coffins or create burial mounds, but to leave only gravestones engraved with names and dates of death.

Citizens’ gravestones are placed in the communal cemetery outside the city, while adventurers’ gravestones are placed at the location where they met their death.

Following this custom, Hector and Rick’s final resting place became the small clearing in front of the dungeon, the exact location of which is unknown.

‘I won’t say I’m sorry. Rest in peace.’

After leaving my farewell to the two men at their graves, I entered the gate heading to Riverside.

Although I entered only a few dozen seconds later than Jessica, who was first, Anastasia’s hypnosis work had already been completed. Our client, Sam McClain, welcomed “seven people” who had returned to the mansion without feeling any discomfort about Anastasia’s presence.

After closing the gate and moving to the reception room, we reported the results of our dungeon investigation.

The first things to report were the deaths of Hector and Rick, which forced us to abandon our plan to split the party for the investigation, and how we hired the surviving Peter to continue our exploration activities.

After that, we laid out the maps drawn by Mina and the items both teams had discovered in the dungeon on the table, and explained what had happened during the exploration.

The client’s expression, which had initially shown undisguised joy at seeing the perfectly drawn maps, gradually darkened as our report progressed.

The danger of the dungeon, inhabited by black slimes, rumbling centipedes, and even a minotaur, far exceeded his expectations.

“…That concludes our report.”

“Hmm… you’ve all worked hard. The sacrifice was great, but the results exceeded expectations.”

“Will there be a second investigation request in the future?”

“Regrettably, I don’t think so. The minotaur is one thing, but even the rumbling centipedes pose too great a risk to send miners. The remaining ore veins and fertile soil in the dungeon are a shame to lose, but it would be best not to meddle with this dungeon any further.”

“A wise decision. If the dungeon boss isn’t defeated, the monsters these adventurers killed will eventually revive, and sending people in carelessly would result in mass casualties.”

At this unexpected information, I glanced at Jessica, who nodded slightly.

Anastasia’s claim that “monsters revive if the dungeon boss isn’t defeated” appears to be true.

While black slimes and rumbling centipedes are one thing, if even the minotaur revives, it would be impossible to recklessly dispatch personnel with low combat abilities.

“Now that the report is done and the quest completion confirmed, shall we move on to payment?”

“Yes, let’s do that. As promised, I’ll pay 1,000 gold to Jessica Walter, the C-rank adventurer, and for the spoils obtained from the dungeon, you can take either the minotaur’s mana stone or one of the two axes, whichever you don’t need.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“The mana stone! Let’s keep the axes!”

When given the choice of which spoils to submit to the client, Mina quickly raised her hand and insisted on keeping the axes.

Thinking she must have her reasons for advocating so strongly, I expressed my agreement, and Seti and Phyllis also concurred. We handed over the minotaur’s mana stone to the client, received a bundle of 1,000 gold coins, and left the client’s mansion.

“Well then, Peter, I’m counting on you for the remaining task?”

“Understood. Today I’ll visit the clinic, replenish supplies, and depart tomorrow.”

“Remaining task? Did you ask Peter to do something?”

“I asked him to deliver Hector’s belongings to the Academy in Mothertown. We can’t let a mage’s possessions be sold off carelessly.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

Peter bowed at the waist and headed toward the city district.

I had thought this from our first conversation, but he was a young man with polite speech and manners unlike most adventurers.

With his skills and character, he would have been a good party member even though he’s male.

As I was thinking this, someone poked my side from behind.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t just stand there dazed. We need to complete our transaction as well. Here, the magic formula I promised.”

“Ah, right. That’s right.”

I took the scroll Anastasia handed me and passed it to Jessica, who immediately tried to break the seal to check its contents before coming to her senses and tucking the scroll into Ancestor’s bag.

“For Jessica’s sake too, we should find lodging again soon. Or will you be staying at the Pioneer Bureau’s editorial office tonight?”

“Hmm… I think I should go to our lodging first and try to decipher this. I’m not sure if I can do it with my current skill level though.”

“What are you going to do now, Anastasia? Are you coming with us?”

“Oh? Would that be alright? Your man might fall head over heels for me in just a few days, you know?”

“Ah…”

As Anastasia stroked around my stomach with a seductive expression, Seti and Jessica’s gazes sharpened. Anastasia then pushed me away with a burst of laughter and looked toward the city district where Peter had gone.

“I’m just joking. I’ll stay in this city for a while and observe the lives of these colonists.”

“Will you be alright? Living in a colonist city requires quite a bit of money. And without obtaining a Frontier License as identification, it would be difficult to even earn that money…”

“If I sell just a few of the jewels I’ve grown tired of, I could live lavishly for about half a year. Set aside your worries about me and go your own way.”

“Well, if you insist…”

“Don’t cause unnecessary trouble with your succubus abilities, okay? This city is already quite wary of non-human races.”

“Hehe, I’ll keep that in mind. Until fate brings us together again, farewell.”

Anastasia walked toward the city district with a curious expression.

After confirming that she had disappeared into the crowd, we headed toward the Grace Hotel where we had stayed previously.