Ch.42Plan – 4

My judgment was swift. As soon as I confirmed the succubus had lost consciousness, I knocked out the other two as well.

Perhaps because they were nuns kept for purposes other than combat, they collapsed surprisingly easily. They didn’t even notice my approach until the moment they fainted, let alone resist.

I arranged the fallen nuns on a nearby bench to make them look like they were merely sleeping, then hoisted only the succubus over my shoulder and headed into the nearby grass. Fortunately, there were no prying eyes around.

It’s not because I looked like a man carrying an unconscious woman to a secluded place. It would become extremely troublesome if news spread that a demon had infiltrated the Academy.

The succubus remained unconscious even after being carried to a sufficiently deep spot and unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

‘…She seems pathetically weak. Did they really send someone like this to capture me?’

She was so insignificant that she barely even registered as a demon. Alexander actually felt more threatening than her. In other words, she wasn’t even close to being a threat to me.

Still, succubus or not, her figure was just as impressive as Rosaria’s, though that wasn’t particularly relevant.

‘No wings. I just need to restrain her arms and legs. If she tries to escape using magic, that’s beyond my control.’

I had no intention of showing misplaced mercy. If I hadn’t used my status ailment dispel magic at the right moment, I would now be on my way to be offered to the Succubus Queen.

In that case, I would have died helplessly or ended up in a fate worse than death. Why should I show mercy to a demon who tried to put me in such a position?

I propped the succubus against a nearby tree, raised her arms above her head, crossed her wrists, and created an Eternity in my right hand, aiming it at the point where her wrists crossed.

—Squelch.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

I drove the Eternity through the point where her wrists crossed. The Eternity cleanly penetrated through to the tree behind, firmly securing her wrists. The succubus woke up with a scream filled with pain.

Seemingly disoriented, she tried to move her body, but after alternately looking at her impaled wrists and me standing before her, she began to shed tears full of agony.

“Hic… huu…”

“Why are you crying as soon as you see me? It makes me look like the bad guy. I’m the one who almost died, aren’t I?”

“Hic… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I was wrong…”

Originally, I should have shattered her ankles too to completely prevent escape, but seeing her already crying, it seemed unnecessary to damage her legs as well.

‘No, wait. This could be an act. Maybe I should break them anyway.’

As I pressed my foot gently on her ankle, the succubus desperately pleaded with tear-soaked eyes.

“I won’t run away! I absolutely won’t run away! So please don’t hurt me anymore! Hic, it hurts so much… please…”

“…”

This really was making me feel like the villain. I quietly eased the pressure on her leg. The succubus sniffled and swallowed her tears.

“Fine. I won’t break your ankles. But in return, you need to answer every question I ask truthfully and completely. If not, well… you know what happens, right?”

As I pressed down on her ankle again, the succubus desperately nodded.

In truth, her life isn’t in my hands. It’s in the domain of the human—no, the dragon—who will arrive shortly. Well, at least I didn’t lie.

“First question. What’s your name? Is there such a thing as a true name for your kind?”

“Ni-Nika. It’s Nika. True name… I don’t know what you mean.”

“Really? You don’t know what a true name is? You’re a demon. I could break one ankle and still have another left. Should I break one to start with, to make sure you can’t escape?”

“Hiiieek! It’s true! Please believe me! I’ve just been called Nika since I was born! I’ve never heard of any other name! I’ve never even heard of demons being called by different names!”

Nika practically bawled, begging me to believe her. It seemed she wasn’t lying. I relaxed my grip.

“Alright. I believe you. Second question. How did you get in here? The entire academy should be surrounded by detection magic.”

“Ca-carriage… hic… the carriage has a special magical device installed that can bypass detection magic…”

“A magical device that can bypass detection magic?”

This was quite intriguing information. I would need to ask the Director to conduct surprise searches of the carriages later. If some unusual device turned up, it would be solid evidence to use against the Order.

“Third. Why did the Succubus Queen order you to bring me to her? Weren’t you here to take Rosaria?”

“No… hic. Using the Holy Maiden candidate as an excuse to come here was just a pretext… the real purpose was to take you to the Queen… The Queen ordered us to capture you at all costs… *sniff*…”

“The Succubus Queen? Me?”

“Yes…”

“Why?”

Could the Demon Lord have ordered it?

“Well, because you fought and won against a Maker… and you essentially defeated the 6th Legion Commander at our base… and most of all, you resisted a succubus’s seduction. The Queen’s pride was deeply wounded because of that. So…”

‘I didn’t exactly resist it.’

I merely dispelled it with a status ailment removal spell. They seemed to be making an incorrect assumption. I’m not some superhuman—how could I withstand a mental attack with just my bare will?

But I decided not to correct the misunderstanding. If they wanted to misinterpret things in my favor, that was fine by me.

“Next question. What did you do to me?”

Nika immediately launched into a detailed explanation about a technique called “Suggestion.” From her explanation, it was a skill that could completely dominate someone’s mind simply by making eye contact.

The spiritual energy consumed was proportional to the target’s strength, so it wasn’t a technique that could be used carelessly.

‘That was a close call, wasn’t it?’

If I hadn’t made my judgment in that brief moment just before the suggestion took effect, I would have been in serious trouble. I didn’t even know such a technique existed, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have known the nun was a succubus anyway.

I continued asking questions, and Nika trembled as she answered each one. Thanks to this, I was able to collect a substantial amount of information.

“So he took pheromones from you?”

“Yes, yes… I’m certain. He said he would use it in the carriage on the way back, and demanded I give it to him right away because he needed to confirm its effectiveness.”

Just as I suspected, Alexander had taken pheromones from the succubus, and planned to use them immediately in the carriage on the return journey.

Rosaria had clearly said she would return in three days, but he took the pheromones as soon as he heard that—he must have been quite eager.

After finishing all my questions, I finally removed my foot from her ankle, which I had been pressing down on the whole time. Nika started to sigh in relief but winced in pain from her wrists and made a tearful face again.

This had been quite a productive encounter. I had nearly been dragged off to the Succubus Queen, but the risk had been worth it.

Neither the danger nor the reward had been intentional, but the outcome was good.

‘What if this whole demeanor is an act, and everything she’s said is a lie… No, let’s not think that far yet.’

I could worry about that after finding the device in the carriage or the pheromones Alexander had. If those two things proved true, the probability of her other answers being truthful would be quite high.

Instead of pressing on her ankle, I gripped the Eternity embedded in her wrists and spoke. Nika started trembling again.

“Why, why are you doing that… Wasn’t it all over…?”

“One thing remains. This is a purely personal question.”

“…A personal question?”

“Why do you seduce men? Aren’t succubi supposed to seduce women?”

This had been bothering me for a while.

The qualifier “for now” that I’d heard when being told about this world was quite concerning, but this was supposedly a yuri light novel world. Yet reflecting on Roxanna’s behavior, she seemed to have no hesitation in seducing men.

In fact, she seemed more focused on seducing men. I needed to know whether this was just my misunderstanding or a keen insight.

“What… what do you mean…?”

At my question, Nika blinked as if she’d heard something strange.

“Why would we seduce women when there are men available…? If you’re confusing us with incubi, they’ve been extinct for over a thousand years…”

Since I couldn’t explain that this was supposed to be a yuri light novel world, I had only stated the core of my question, but Nika seemed to misunderstand that I was confusing succubi with incubi.

Since I couldn’t reveal the truth, I decided to let her continue thinking that way.

“So you have no interest in women at all? You can’t absorb spiritual energy from them?”

“No, that’s not it. We’re not completely uninterested. We can absorb spiritual energy from them, though the efficiency is terrible. But for a succubus to absorb a woman’s spiritual energy… it’s like… for humans… um… right, it’s exactly like eating green vegetables.”

It was a surprisingly relatable comparison for a demon succubus. Unaware of my silent admiration, Nika continued her halting explanation.

“Compared to spiritual energy from men, it tastes bland and the efficiency is terrible… You could survive on it alone, but it’s barely better than nothing. So I’ve heard that most just casually collect it when it’s not too much trouble, then mix it with men’s spiritual energy. There are supposedly some odd succubi who prefer women’s spiritual energy, but I’ve never met one…”

‘…Something seems off.’

My admiration gave way to confusion.

‘Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a yuri light novel?’

Shouldn’t succubi be lesbians, then? Don’t tell me this is a yuri light novel because the heroine is one of those rare succubi who prefer women’s spiritual energy.

At this point, I really wanted to peek inside the original author’s head. I was extremely curious about what they were thinking when they created this world setting.

I’m not an expert on light novels, but I know enough to realize that this kind of setting is perfect for getting criticized by both fandoms. There are plenty of examples of works that try to appeal to both sides and end up pleasing neither.

‘…Still, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.’

Priscilla and Rosaria’s behavior was still bothering me.

The qualifier “for now, it’s a yuri light novel” and the way they acted not as if they’d forgotten the original work but as if they had no memory of it at all.

Perhaps something was distorted when I was reincarnated here. Just as Priscilla and Rosaria were able to break free from the endlessly repeating cycles.

‘Maybe I should ask the Demon Lord about this later.’

I decided to learn more about this gradually. If I revealed myself as a fellow reincarnator, she’d probably tell me everything she knows.

“I’ve answered everything. You’ll let me live now, right…?”

Nika looked up at me with eyes brimming with tears.

“About that. I’m not the one who decides your fate.”

“…What?”

She had answered my questions much better than I expected, so I felt a bit guilty, but it was too late to turn back now. I glanced at the sky. It was about time for the arrival.

—BOOM!

The Director, having detected the scent of demon blood.

Someone landed behind me with a tremendous shockwave. Without the silencing magic I had set up beforehand, the noise would have drawn every student in the vicinity.

Seeing who had landed, Nika began trembling in extreme fear. The Director, with an expression of intense fury, was glaring at Nika as if ready to devour her.

“That’s him.”

“…Based on what you’ve told me.”

The Director paused momentarily, sighed deeply, and took a sip of tea.

Thanks to my strong request, the situation didn’t escalate further. I woke up the nuns who had been left on the bench and sent them back, bringing only Nika to the Director’s office.

The Director personally restrained Nika and threw her in prison, he said. I had wondered why an academy would have a prison, but apparently demons had targeted this place more than once.

The nuns looked bewildered when they woke up to find the Director sending them away, but they had no choice but to comply.

Dealing with Alexander’s anger wasn’t my concern.

“…So Alexander brought demons into my academy, tried to harm my student, and if that wasn’t enough, tried to take my student to that filthy whore?”

“You’ve understood perfectly.”

He was surprisingly unrestrained in his choice of words. Calling the Succubus Queen a filthy whore.

—Crack!

The teacup in his hand shattered as easily as a reed. Hot tea spilled onto his thigh, but the Director showed no sign of concern.

“How dare they… attempt such a despicable act twice in my academy that I built with my own hands…? These presumptuous creatures…”

His golden pupils dilated menacingly. As expected of a dragon—even though the killing intent wasn’t directed at me, my skin crawled.

After trembling with rage for a while, the Director composed himself and spoke.

“I will formally charge the Starlight Order for this incident. I swear by all my names, I will tear that man to shreds.”

“That might be difficult. Since everything was orchestrated by the Succubus Queen, as she said, they probably prepared for the possibility of being caught by you. They can easily cut ties. They might claim they were attacked by a succubus on the way and brainwashed. They’ll be criticized for incompetence as escorts, but that’s a much smaller price to pay than being accused of collaborating with demons.”

“…You’re right. Yes. That loose woman would certainly have made such preparations.”

Knowing the Succubus Queen’s cunning, the Director sighed deeply.

“That’s why I’m suggesting this.”

The vertical golden pupils turned toward me.

“Would you consider trying a different plan?”