Ch.116116. Betrayal

“Ha. Today is not easy.”

Iclit, who was usually skilled at sweet-talking farmers, let out a sigh. Of course, even in this situation, she maintained her artificial smile on the surface.

The place where she was now was a village belonging to ‘Lord Ordellon’s territory.’

Lord Ordellon’s territory. Just an ordinary domain.

If there was anything unusual, it was that the lord was exceptionally skilled with a sword and was once a top knight in the Black Iron Knights, and that he was a current member of the Hero’s party.

That was why Iclit was having trouble.

“…The lord of this place works alongside Count Hero. How could we leave our ancestral homeland just to get a better house? It would be like throwing mud on our lord’s face.”

“Everyone. I don’t think you understand what I’m saying—it’s a dual combustion chamber furnace! It even has magic cast on it so it doesn’t produce soot.”

“Dual combustion or whatever, I’m staying here.”

“…The cost of living is incredibly cheap, so with just 100,000 Lyra, you can buy fuel for the entire year.”

“I can just chop firewood.”

The village chief firmly shook his head, insisting that leaving the village would be disloyal to their lord.

Most villagers generally agreed with him.

They did flinch and gasp whenever Iclit portrayed Wellesley County as paradise, but unlike other villages, their reaction was lukewarm.

However, Iclit had no intention of giving up.

No, she actually found it refreshing.

Commoners trying to remain loyal to their lord? While commoners living within castle walls occasionally showed a sense of belonging, it was extremely rare in rural villages. For Iclit, who had been repeating the same repertoire in twenty villages, this was a moment that finally gave her a sense of challenge.

‘Well, sometimes this kind of flavor is needed.’

Iclit wiped away her smile and sighed.

The farmers flinched and held their breath. They seemed worried that this well-dressed “important person” might get angry.

After some tense moments passed, Iclit looked at the humans with an openly disappointed expression.

“…Sigh.”

“Oh my, Magic Lady. If I’ve made any mistake…”

“That’s not it. Your loyalty to your lord is exceptional. That’s good, really good… but what about your children?”

“Children?”

“Those cute little ones watching nervously from the back. Sure, you can get by farming on this small plot of land and raising livestock. …But are you going to pass down the same life to your sons and daughters?”

“…Well, that…”

The middle-aged villagers couldn’t readily continue.

Passing down one’s occupation to children wasn’t unusual. Most powerless commoners lived that way.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t feel pity for their children. They surely wanted their children to have better lives than their own.

As Iclit exploited this weakness, the atmosphere grew solemn.

“Actually, the Hero told me something. He said he wishes more people could break free from the constraints of their birth, like he did, and enjoy successful lives.”

“…Oh. So, if we go to Wellesley County…”

“Yes. He said he would provide free educational opportunities. His goal is to discover talented commoner children and help them advance to the Academy. He wants to nurture them into knights, mages, soldiers, officials, and so on.”

“The Academy… my child could go there…”

“It’s an opportunity for social advancement. I understand your exceptional loyalty to Lord Ordellon, but I didn’t realize you would prioritize that over your children?”

When Iclit tilted her head and asked this, the humans showed various reactions.

Young parents looking at their children in their arms with complicated expressions, middle-aged women glancing at their grown children with what seemed like regret, and so on.

It was more effective than just talking about good living conditions.

‘I should use this in other villages too. There’s nothing quite like this material.’

Iclit looked around at the humans who still wore troubled expressions. Then she asked again, as if genuinely puzzled.

“Are you really going to give up this opportunity?”

That was the moment when the stubborn villagers crumbled.

Afterward, a record forty households received rights certificates.

It was her best performance yet. Some people even took extra certificates, saying they wanted to bring their relatives from neighboring villages.

Now the commoners were doing the marketing for her.

So far, over eight hundred households had fallen for Iclit’s scam. In terms of headcount, it approached thousands of people.

And it wasn’t just those thousands who would suffer critical damage. The true value of this operation would be revealed after those thousands experienced despair in Wellesley County.

Whether they protested in anger or became homeless because they couldn’t let go of their illusions didn’t matter. Their despair would become a burden directly on the Hero.

‘This is still far from enough. I need to send at least tens of thousands. So it takes years to clean up the mess.’

Fortunately, the Hero—Erick Wellesley—hadn’t yet shown any significant response.

It was somewhat surprising considering his actions before becoming the Hero, but perhaps he was hesitating because he was smart. He probably knew it would be difficult to form a pursuit team to capture her.

By now, she could say she had the upper hand in this battle of wits against the Hero.

The sense of deprivation she felt when she was wiped out by short selling, the bewilderment she experienced when the replica Cordana was blocked early—these feelings were gradually fading.

And what filled that void was a strange sense of achievement.

The achievement of toying with the Hero, who stood at the pinnacle of both power and might. Something she couldn’t even dream of during her lowly life as a demon.

‘Of course, I can’t let my guard down.’

Just then, the succubi working as Iclit’s attendants approached her.

“…Lady Iclit.”

A succubus called to her with a serious expression. It was a girl named “Leila,” whom she had made her closest aide because of her excellent magical power and competence.

“What is it?”

Even after being asked, Leila hesitated, rolling her eyes.

Sensing her unease, Iclit urged her to speak.

Finally, Leila reported in a shrinking voice, “The Hero has issued a large-scale succubus capture order. It seems some have already been caught.”

“…Ah. Is that so?”

Well, the Hero wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Iclit had anticipated two possible responses from the Hero.

Either he would ignore her and strike at the Demon Lord, the pinnacle of the demon army, or he would use her vulnerable kin to pressure her.

She had thought the former was more likely, but it seemed he had chosen the latter.

‘So predictable. He’ll probably torture them publicly or execute them. He thinks that will make me stop this out of guilt.’

But Iclit wasn’t weak enough to be shaken by such tactics. War inevitably came with sacrifices.

However, she hadn’t forgotten her minimal loyalty to her kin.

“For the time being, or until I give further instructions, tell everyone to lay low. If we’re determined to hide, how will they find us?”

“You mean… stop our livelihoods?”

“Yes. You won’t die just because you can’t feed for a month or two, right? The Hero won’t be able to keep this up for long anyway.”

Iclit reassured her aides with arguments like “The Hero will be politically cornered if he mobilizes forces to capture succubi and fails” and “Soon, when tens of thousands of refugees flood in, he won’t have time to pay attention to us.”

She also added that she was sorry for those already captured, but there was nothing she could do. Fortunately, her aides seemed to understand.

“Just be patient a little longer. The Hero is only doing this because he’s getting desperate.”

She sighed, thinking she would need to be more vigilant from now on. Her aides just stared at her.

***

Selfish bitch.

Leila, the succubus who had reported the capture order to Iclit, cursed inwardly.

She had hidden the fact that Iclit was specifically wanted, but she didn’t feel particularly sorry about it.

Even now, she was under pressure from other succubi saying, “Let’s turn her in quickly and survive. Tell us where she is.”

And even without that pressure, Leila had been watching Iclit’s actions with unease. She knew that what Iclit was doing would provoke the Hero’s anger.

She wondered if it was really wise to provoke someone like the Hero—a human who was already fully formed as soon as he became the Hero, who had broken through thousands of undead forces alone and eliminated the Tetrad.

The bigger problem was that Iclit’s actions were threatening the entire succubus race.

‘Sure, we could survive by hiding like insects.’

If they gave up regular feeding and lived in hiding, the chances of being discovered by humans were almost zero.

But if they had to survive without absorbing enough energy, if they had to ignore tempting men for fear of being caught, was there any point in living? That wasn’t what succubi were.

…At this rate, maybe I should just report her…

‘No. I’m different from the others.’

Leila shook her head, suppressing her treacherous thoughts.

In fact, she had been promised a generous reward by Iclit. She had said that if living in the Empire became difficult, she would let Leila live in the Demon Lord’s castle with several healthy young men.

She felt sorry for her kin, but succubi were inherently selfish creatures. Besides, there was no guarantee the Hero would spare her if she betrayed Iclit.

But then, to her surprise, Iclit stirred Leila’s troubled heart again.

“Ah, Leila. I need you to stay one more day to make sure all the people who received certificates are sent up properly. There are so many that we need to manage them carefully.”

At these words, Leila suddenly felt a surge of anger as she looked at Iclit.

‘Stay one more day in the territory of a Hero party member…?’

Whether aware of her thoughts or not, Iclit gave additional instructions, telling her not to even think about feeding or enchanting anyone, as it might give them an excuse.

In other words, she was giving these instructions knowing full well the danger.

While there was little risk of being caught since the lord was absent and it was such a rural area…

How long could they last like this? She thought this was truly dangerous.

After Iclit left.

Left alone, Leila felt her anxiety continuing to rise as she rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, one of her close succubus friends contacted her.

– Where is Iclit now? You know, don’t you?

– Honestly, what loyalty do we owe her? The gold she got from negotiating with the Demon Lord? How long is she going to milk that?

– I heard they’re offering not only a reward to informants but also arranging safe areas to live in? They’ll probably treat us well to make an example for the demon army.

To think the Hero would offer such rewards.

That was the moment Leila’s deliberation ended. She had to act quickly before another succubus beat her to it.

Guilt? She felt none, of course.