Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Episode 95: The Hunt Mien’s expression instantly hardened at my words. She asked me with a look of astonishment. “…What did you just say?” “Um… I have some business to take care of in the Black Street.” Should I not have said that? Judging by her reaction, she clearly knew about the Black Street. I didn’t think she wouldn’t know. No matter how hidden the Underground Plaza was, adventurers who had stayed in Karaldin for a long time would have heard rumors about it. And those rumors certainly wouldn’t be good. Because it really wasn’t a good place. “Laila, how did you find out about that place?” “Well, it just sort of happened…” “It’s not a place you can just stumble upon. Laila, how did you find out about it?” “…It’s a bit of an embarrassing story, but should I tell you honestly?” Before answering her question, I asked Mien a question. I wouldn’t hide it if she asked, but I would have to embellish it a little. Being too honest wouldn’t be good. Mien seemed to sense something in my tone and cleared her throat before correcting herself. “Then just give me the gist of it. The reason you’re going there, who you’re going to meet there, and how long you’ll be staying.” At her words, I organized my answer in my head. The reason I was going to the Underground Plaza was for essence absorption, and the people I was going to meet were, of course, the members of the organization called Sartune. I explained to Mien about the Essence Devouring Art and the purpose of going to the Underground Plaza. I told her that I had developed a connection, though not exactly a good one, with the underworld organization in the Underground Plaza due to a past incident, and that there was no better place than the Underground Plaza to absorb essence from monsters. I didn’t tell her the whole truth. I only explained the most basic aspects of the Essence Devouring Art, and I glossed over the incident with Sartune as “a slight accident.” I hesitated a bit about what I did in the Underground Plaza, but I thought it would be better to tell her. Mien hadn’t seemed too surprised when I told her about the gangbang I had experienced before. She didn’t seem to care much about my promiscuity, which had reached almost rock bottom in terms of sexual matters. And I had to explain my relationship with monsters in order to talk about the Essence Devouring Art, so I had no choice. “…That’s what happened.” After listening to my story, Mien seemed to be deep in thought before nodding her head. Mien had looked shocked when I talked about my relationship with monsters, but after that, she seemed calm. “I understand what you’re saying. I’ve been thinking about it, and after hearing Laila’s story, it’s become clear.” “…Yes?” I tilted my head at her slightly off-kilter response. But Mien looked at me with a serious expression and continued. “I’ve been trying to see Laila as the Laila I know. Someone who is strangely strong, calm but sometimes warm, seemingly smart but occasionally showing a clumsy side, as Laila is. And I thought that was the right thing to do.” That didn’t seem wrong. The real me probably wasn’t much different from what she said. Except that I revealed a little too much. “But now, I’m convinced that I can’t understand you unless I know about the world you came from and the essence of that world.” What did that mean? When I looked at her as if I didn’t understand, Mien continued. “I haven’t asked you about the world you came from or the knowledge in your head. Even though the pursuit of knowledge should be the top priority for a mage.” That was something I had wondered about too. Mien knew about me, El, and Emilie, but she hardly pursued the matter, almost to the point of indifference. It was strange that she didn’t even mention it, even though mages were usually the most proactive when it came to mysterious phenomena. As if she had noticed my question, Mien smiled wryly and replied. “This may not be the right time to talk about it… but it’s for a trivial reason. You could even call it a petty pride. But it was important to me.” “What reason is that?” “…A master can innovate by looking at their disciple, but they can’t learn more than what they taught, can they?” I closed my mouth at Mien’s answer. “Mages are the kind of people who want to understand what they hear, and if they want to understand, they learn. I didn’t want that to happen because I’m your master… but I can’t stay in a distorted state just because I don’t want it to. Laila. Although it may not be about magic, you know too much to just remain a disciple and repeat learning. ” She answered like that and looked into my eyes. There was a refreshing yet bitter smile on her lips. “Laila Freeman. From now on, you are not my disciple, but a formal mage of the Necromancer School.” // It was a sudden declaration, but after hearing her story, I could understand her words. She didn’t want to learn knowledge from another world from me, her disciple, so she tried to suppress her curiosity. But she seemed to have realized that she didn’t need to do that anymore. I didn’t know what aspect of my story made her think that way. In the Necromancer School, when a disciple graduates, they are considered to be on an equal footing with their master from an academic point of view. The master-disciple relationship doesn’t disappear, but they have equal qualifications and exchange what they have learned equally. According to Mien, this was a measure for free and uninhibited discussion. It had its own advantages and disadvantages, but it seemed like a surprisingly progressive idea for something with such a long history. After that, I talked with Mien about the Essence Devouring Art throughout the night. To be exact, it was about absorbing essence from monsters. “Laila, do you know why mages write Grimoires?” “I know it’s to use the energy that comes from the cores of monsters…” “Then why don’t mages put the cores into their own bodies? If they did, they could conveniently spam magic with just tattoos, without the need for an inconvenient tool like a magic book.” …Now that she mentioned it, that was true. When a mage uses magic, they perform spellcraft in some form and then channel mana into it to manifest the magic. Even if a magic book can contain various spells on each page, it is ultimately just a tool. If you lose it, you can’t use magic, and you have to memorize and store it in advance. Moreover, the essence that moves that mana is the insignificant mental power, the power of the mind. It would be overwhelmingly more convenient to use the method of putting a core inside the body and manipulating that mana, like the demons do, even if it was a little inconvenient. There was also the method of manual control. But the reason they don’t do that is… “…Because it’s bad for the body?” It was a bit of a stupid answer, but that was all I could think of. “That’s right. Mana is harmful to the body. The mana of monsters is ultimately the power of another world, so it’s no different from poison to humans and all creatures that are not monsters. If a person carries it in their body, they will gradually weaken and die.” “…Ah.” So when I absorbed essence from Quaidon, it seemed that the weakening was not due to toxicity, but to the problem of mana itself. I wondered if I shouldn’t absorb essence, but Mien’s opinion was a little different. “But Laila survived, and she’s even fine. This doesn’t make sense… but I can understand it when I look at the mechanism of the Essence Devouring Art. Like diluting poison in water, Laila’s body has been strengthened by the essence she has accumulated. And that density is so high that even knights and martial artists who have undergone long training can’t achieve it.” There was no martial arts in this world. The academic discipline of martial arts itself did not appear because there was almost no energy in the atmosphere. The Essence Devouring Art was also something that could only be done if you could manipulate qi, but in order to gather enough qi to manipulate it, you had to perform breathing exercises for years and slowly gather the qi, which was so weak that you could hardly feel it. Who would do such a thing? In the end, the conditions for martial arts to appear were not met. “Laila’s body can withstand it until the poison is digested. In other words, she has an amazing ability to digest mana, which is no different from poison, and make it her own. Especially since she even absorbed the mana of Quaidon, which has a strong toxicity, she won’t die even if she absorbs essence from most monsters. There’s definitely no precedent for this. Maybe…” “Oh, I see.” I nodded my head blankly at Mien’s words, who seemed a little excited. Noticing my expression, Mien tilted her head at me. “…?” “No, it’s just… I thought you’d be uncomfortable with this kind of story, but you seem to be doing well.” Even if it’s called the Essence Devouring Art, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m having sex with monsters. Wouldn’t she be a little reluctant as a woman before being a mage? “Ah.” Mien pondered for a moment, then blushed as if she had finally realized it, and nodded her head. “That’s true. That’s how the Essence Devouring Art works. I was so engrossed in the magical perspective… There was someone who was doing similar research in the past…” “….” Of course, it’s better to be accepted than to be told not to do it, but somehow I felt like I was breeding animals, which made me feel a little strange. She cleared her throat for a moment and continued. “Anyway, do whatever you want when it comes to essence absorption. But you have to get your body checked when you come back.” There were tests to be done, and knowledge to be shared. It seemed like I would be busy in the future. After confiding in Mien, it wasn’t difficult to persuade El and Emilie. They nodded their heads just by me saying that Mien had asked me to do something. Emilie seemed to have noticed something, but she seemed to be going along with it because I gave her a plausible reason. // The next day, Muren came to find me. “Have you made a decision?” “Yes, let’s go.” “…I understand. Then follow me.” When I answered without hesitation, he nodded his head with a slightly subtle expression. He probably thought I was a strange person. Rotuan and Chenber, the bosses of Sartune, had shown the Leopold family’s mark, and given their personalities, they wouldn’t have been spreading that fact around the neighborhood. Muren, who didn’t know about that, was likely treating me as a sex maniac who enjoyed having sex with monsters. That wasn’t really wrong. Muren led me to a shabby warehouse in the slums. I wondered if this was the entrance to the Underground Plaza, but it didn’t seem to be the case. “Did you bring her?” Because there were several men with fierce looks sitting inside the warehouse. There were a total of nine. However, unlike Sartune, those sitting there were not only humans. There were no orcs, but there were beastmen with wolf heads, and hobgoblins with appearances that seemed to be a mix of goblins and humans. “Oh…” I could see some of them looking at me with a gleam in their eyes. As their sticky gazes swept over my body, my body became a little hot even though I didn’t particularly want it to. My beauty was still there. “Yes. She’s a valuable product, so take good care of her.” Muren spoke to them in a condescending tone, unlike when he was talking to me. When I looked closely, some of them had tattoos on their shoulders that were different from Sartune’s. …So that meant they were a different organization. “Hmm, she’s pretty decent. Is she a virgin?” “…I don’t think so.” I found it funny that he was telling such a lie even after seeing me having sex with a giant Doke Do Rong Nyong. But there might be a reason why he had to lie, so I decided to keep my mouth shut for now. I didn’t forget to make a slightly depressed face on purpose. I was being treated as a slave who had been sold off. “Then I guess we can have a taste of her hole before we move her.”

“…If you lay a hand on the merchandise, know that the name of Karapha will be dragged through the mud.” “You’re so uptight. It’s not like it’ll wear out if we use it a little.” The werewolf who seemed to be the leader grumbled at Muren’s words, and chuckles erupted here and there. It seemed that the two weren’t on very good terms. For some reason, underworld organizations often coexist. This place would be especially so. From the perspective of the ruling nobles, it’s easier to handle them if they’re divided and hostile to each other. …To be honest, it wouldn’t matter if they tasted as much as they wanted. Like that wolf said, it’s not like it’ll wear out just because they poke around a bit. But if I said something like that here, Muren would be in a difficult position, so I should keep quiet. Anyway, it’s enough to be taken advantage of when we get to the underground arena. They’ll probably make up all sorts of reasons and take turns using me to their heart’s content. “If you don’t want the deal to fall through, go ahead and try it. There are plenty of smugglers besides you.” “…You’re so stiff. I was just joking.” The two-legged wolf said that, then looked at me and grinned. It was an expression closer to a human consumed by desire than a wolf. Well, that’s why they’re werewolves. Even if beastmen have strong animalistic traits, they’re still ultimately human. The wolf beastman scanned my body for a while, then suddenly opened his mouth. “Strip.” “…Excuse me?” Oh, so suddenly? He just said he wouldn’t, but his words and actions are different. “It’s heavy to move you with your clothes on, so strip.” “…Haa.” “Ah, don’t worry, we won’t touch you, like you said.” Muren wore a bitter expression, but he didn’t stop them, probably because he wasn’t in a position to be as strong with them as he had been earlier. Is this the sorrow of a manager caught in the middle? “…Okay.” Anyway, taking off my clothes in front of others is nothing to me. I nodded and slowly took off my clothes. If I took them off too quickly, they might get suspicious, so I did it a little slower with trembling hands. As I unbuttoned the brown tunic and black shirt, my fair skin and chest were revealed. My chest, which seemed to have grown a little recently, still maintained its shape and color despite being sucked and kissed so much. “Heh heh, this slave is proactive, which is good.” …Was I too fast? I don’t know the standards of other women, so there’s nothing I can do. I didn’t feel bad about being seen naked by others. I especially like these coercive situations. Like a situation where you’re embarrassed but have no choice but to do what you’re told. Actually, I’m not embarrassed at all, but if I just strip off on my own, it feels like something’s missing.

-Swish.

As I pulled down the remaining pants and took off my underwear, I felt the men’s gazes fall on my entire body. It wasn’t just a feeling; they were all staring intently. While pretending not to, Muren was also subtly looking. It must be a little humiliating for him, but is he still tempted to look? Well, desire isn’t that simple, so he might want to see.

-Shhh.

After standing still naked, I finally remembered and covered my chest and groin. It doesn’t matter if I don’t cover them, but usually, it’s normal to cover them. Still, I was ready to show them without hesitation if they ordered me not to cover them. My body, trained with Yin Demon Arts, has good curves that I myself consider beautiful, even if it’s still a bit small, so I can confidently show it off. “I thought you were just a kid, but you’re pretty good, aren’t you?” But they were somewhat gentlemanly and didn’t even order that. Come to think of it, they’re not exactly gentlemen, and they might have secretly liked the fact that I was only covering my vital parts. And that striptease of mine came to an end with Muren’s words. “Don’t try anything funny. Have you already forgotten the details of the request?” “Geez. You really don’t know how to have fun. Hey, get in there.” The werewolf grumbled and pointed to a wooden box. It wasn’t a common box made of planks, but a box with some kind of antique engraving. The box, which looked like it was for transporting valuables, was small enough that I had to crouch to fit inside. …Come to think of it, I was dragged to the underground arena last time, I didn’t go there on my own. Can’t I enter without permission? “…Okay.” I nodded and crouched down to get into the box. It was a little cramped, but unlike what it looked like, there was some space left when I crouched down. “Endure it, even if it’s a little stuffy.”

-Thud.

The werewolf said that and immediately closed the lid of the box. Soon, pitch-black darkness enveloped me. It was a little stuffy, but I could handle it. …Being treated like an object like this might be okay in its own way. ———= Author’s Notes ———= I’m not sure how to write only the scenes with the novel scenes…. It would be nice to have more diverse subheadings, but I’m worried it might get too complicated. And the novel scenes will probably appear more often in the future. It seems like all the necessary developments for the story have come out, so I can run a bit now, right?