Ch.111Liberation – 2

“Wait a minute. That ‘heat’ you’re talking about—is it what I think it means?”

“Yes. A state of sexual arousal where one desires intercourse with the opposite sex—”

“Stop. That’s enough. I get it, so explain in more detail.”

I pressed my throbbing temples firmly. Just when I thought she was doing well, she suddenly went into heat. While it’s not strange for a succubus to experience this, it was too abrupt.

Unlike me, who was dumbfounded, Beatrice continued her explanation with her usual calm demeanor.

“I noticed something was off for the past few weeks. My body temperature was slightly higher than usual, I would become short of breath even when standing still, my vision would blur, and I found myself lingering near your room for long periods.”

As these suspicious behaviors became more frequent, what confirmed something was wrong was when all the tattoos I had marked her with began glowing pink.

She said she moved to her own room to hide the tattoos, but she couldn’t leave things that way forever. Given her true identity, consulting anyone else was impossible, so she urgently came to me.

“Even lying in my room, she somehow got hold of your belongings and tried to pleasure herself while sucking on them. She barely regained her senses after I scolded her, but I don’t think it will last long.”

“Why are my belongings in your room?”

“For cleaning purposes. Items too dirty to clean on the spot, I take to my room to clean more thoroughly.”

“Don’t you personally clean my room? And yet there are still items dirty enough to need cleaning in your room?”

“…Yes. I’ve reduced the cleaning frequency recently.”

It sounded like a normal answer, but I didn’t miss the pause. I looked at Beatrice’s face, which seemed more worried than usual, then decided to let it slide.

“So you thought things would get worse if left alone, and came to find me?”

“To ask the head of the household for help would inevitably require explaining her true identity, which I couldn’t do. This is a secret between only you and me, young master.”

Beatrice emphasized “just between us” with gleaming eyes.

Indeed, this was a problem beyond Beatrice’s ability to solve. No matter how excellent a maid she was, she wouldn’t know how to restore a succubus in heat to normal.

‘I understand the reason…’

Considering that Yustera’s condition started changing around the same time Astaroth died, it seemed that Nika was awakening as the next Queen, inheriting the bloodline after the previous Queen’s death.

Since the power of a Succubus Queen is inherited, it’s not unusual. Astaroth was the abnormal one, driven by power lust to maintain her position by killing other candidates.

“Alright. I’ll handle it. Prepare a carriage right away.”

“I’ll prepare it immediately. What about your lectures? Should I inform the professors that you’ll be absent for a few days?”

“No. It’s fine if I skip them. The chairman himself told me I could attend or not as I please since there’s nothing more to teach at the academy level.”

“Really? That’s impressive, young master.”

Beatrice smiled with genuine joy, then stopped as she was about to leave to prepare the carriage and turned back.

“…Young master. I know this is an impertinent question, but are you planning to resolve her heat by directly satisfying her—”

“Absolutely not, so don’t worry.”

“Yes. Thank you for answering. I’ll be ready whenever you come down.”

Beatrice left with a relieved expression. I returned to the club room to explain that I needed to go home for a day or two. Everyone seemed to understand when I mentioned family matters.

“Hey. What about Priscilla and Laura if you just leave?”

“It’s fine. I believe in the Saint. She’ll figure something out, won’t she?”

“What?”

There was a minor incident where Rosaria almost grabbed my collar, but ultimately we reached a dramatic agreement that I would change into new clothes before leaving. The fresh clothes were in Rosaria’s hands.

“Don’t get any strange ideas.”

“What? Ha, hah! Really! Do I look like that kind of pervert to you?!”

With Rosaria pushing me to return quickly, and Brunhild and Aria awkwardly seeing me off, I headed toward the dimensional gate. I could see the carriage led by a magic golem and Beatrice standing beside it.

Upon boarding the carriage, Beatrice naturally sat right next to me. It was her usual spot since childhood, in case I might collapse.

“What about Yustera aside, how have you been, Beatrice? Have you been well?”

“I’ve been worried about you, young master.”

“…About me?”

“Yes. There have been several serious incidents at Bellium Academy. Especially the recent one, which was much larger in scale than the Bellium Forest incident at the beginning of the semester. I had quite a struggle convincing the master and madam not to call you back home.”

Beatrice puffed out her chest proudly. I had wondered why my parents hadn’t tried to make me withdraw immediately despite hearing about the accidents—it seems Beatrice had been shielding me.

I could hardly believe this was the same Beatrice who had worried all day when I first entered the academy alone. I patted her head affectionately in gratitude.

“Thank you, Beatrice.”

“I only did what was natural. As your most trusted maid, the only one you share secrets with.”

Beatrice made a proud face. I continued patting her head. While we were doing this, the carriage, having crossed the dimensional gate, soon arrived at the mansion.

Beatrice, back to being the perfect maid, stayed by my side.

“Would you like to see the master and madam first? They should both be in the mansion now.”

“Hmm… No. Let’s solve Yustera’s problem first.”

We need to address Nika’s heat first. She said the symptoms were getting progressively worse, so even a small delay could make a difference.

“Yes, young master. I’ll guide you right away.”

Beatrice’s room was like the chairman’s office, occupying the entire top floor of the annex where the servants stayed, making it one of the least frequented places in the mansion.

She cleaned it herself, it was at the very top of the annex far from the main building, and other maids and servants had no reason to visit their superior’s room.

‘…As expected.’

That’s why there were no victims despite the pheromones spreading this much. I frowned as I detected the intense pheromones halfway up the stairs to the top floor.

It was truly fortunate this hadn’t happened inside the mansion proper. Just imagining this tremendous concentration of pheromones spreading throughout the main building made me shudder.

Using purification magic repeatedly, I asked:

“Was everything fine before you put her in the room? Like any strange sweet smell?”

“…”

“Beatrice?”

Wondering why there was no answer, I turned around. And I found Beatrice staring at me with dreamy eyes.

Her thighs, wrapped in her maid uniform skirt, were constantly rubbing against each other, and her hips kept shifting backward, seductively emphasizing her waistline. When I saw her hands moving toward her chest, I immediately cast purification magic.

“…Young master?”

Her eyes returned to normal. Beatrice looked down at her hands in confusion, just before they would have grabbed her chest.

“Just now, what was I…”

“You were entranced by the succubus’s pheromones. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about you.”

“It’s alright. It was my carelessness, so please don’t apologize. Could you repeat what you asked earlier?”

“I asked if anyone in the mansion showed symptoms similar to what just happened.”

“Not that I recall.”

If Beatrice didn’t see it, then it didn’t happen. I nodded and cast a barrier to prevent the pheromones from entering.

“Wait here and don’t let anyone come up. Even if it’s my parents.”

“Yes, young master. I’ll wait here.”

Leaving Beatrice standing in the middle of the staircase, I entered the room. Immediately, I felt a thick, sweet scent. The entire room was drenched in pheromones. The air itself seemed slightly hazy.

In one corner of the spacious room, on a large bed, lay Nika, sucking on something with a lovely face.

“Mmph… ugh… slurp…”

What she had in her mouth was a wooden sword I once used.

Nika was holding the wooden sword upside down, gripping the handle while rubbing the tip between her thighs and diligently licking the handle. With each movement of her tongue, lewd slurping sounds could be heard.

It would only taste like wood anyway.

“Nika. Snap out of it.”

I approached her while purifying the pheromones scattered throughout the room. Nika, who had been mindlessly sucking on the wooden sword handle, looked at me with a flushed face. Then, gasping for breath, she pleaded:

“M-Master… Master… My body feels strange… It’s hot… My lower abdomen is throbbing… Between my legs is aching…”

“I know.”

First, I snatched the sword from her hand and threw it far away. Her tongue, suddenly unemployed, extended between her lips and trembled pitifully.

When I offered my finger instead, Nika immediately grabbed it and licked it ravenously. Her movements were much more passionate than when she was sucking on the wooden sword, and her pupils were half-rolled back in pleasure.

Whether she had experience with energy absorption or not, a succubus was still a succubus—even the simple act of sucking on a finger made my entire body tingle. I suppressed the slight heaviness developing in my lower body.

“Slurp… mm, mnh… hnngh?!”

“Don’t touch yourself.”

When her hand tried to slip under her skirt, I firmly pinched her tongue between my index and middle fingers. Nika trembled but desperately nodded.

“Yesh, yesh…”

Leaving Nika to lick my fingers in her half-delirious state, I took out my necklace and put it on. A voice immediately came through.

“My friend. We have a problem.”

However, it seemed I wasn’t the only one waiting for contact.

“What problem?”

“The 2nd Legion Commander has disappeared.”

“The 2nd Legion Commander… you mean the witch?”

The witch Circe.

She was the 2nd Legion Commander of the Demon King’s Army, also known as a witch or alchemist. While her individual combat power ranked low among the commanders, she specialized in creating all sorts of poisons to torment the hero’s party.

“That woman has been missing for ten days. Currently, all the commanders are mobilized to investigate, but the only clue they’ve found is that she disappeared from her workshop.”

“It’s even stranger that she disappeared from her own workshop. Who could have broken in there?”

“There were no signs of battle. The fact that there were no signs of battle yet no clues suggests either she left voluntarily or was overwhelmed by such a crushing power difference that she couldn’t even resist… Either way, it’s not good. I wanted to warn you to be careful.”

The lack of any clues in the workshop made it difficult to definitively blame the Divine Spirit. If there had been dark energy left behind, they would surely have detected it.

“I have said what I needed to say. Why did you seek me?”

“I think Nika is in heat. Do you know why this is happening? We don’t know much about succubi, so I need your help.”

“…Did you say ‘heat’? Succubi are creatures in perpetual heat year-round, so what… Ah. I understand now. The succession has begun, which is why she’s showing these symptoms.”

“Succession? So Nika might soon awaken as a Queen?”

“It’s not that she might awaken—she will awaken. Astaroth is dead, isn’t she? The power that lost its vessel will flow to the next Queen. This is natural for succubi.”

“Is there any way to prevent it?”

If Nika is certain to awaken as a Queen, I’ll have to deal with her beforehand, as unfortunate as that is. I can’t leave a ticking time bomb unattended.

“There’s no way to stop the succession, but there is another method. It would be very difficult normally, but for you, it’s quite simple.”

Elysiere continued in a matter-of-fact tone:

“Bring her to the demon realm and let her awaken as Queen, then beat her to within an inch of her life once she’s awakened. Then she will obey your commands from now on.”

“…What are you telling me to do?”

“Whether she’s a Succubus Queen or whatever, her essence is still a female demon. It is natural for her to absolutely obey someone stronger than herself.”