episode_0170

000

After returning to the royal capital with Arachne – no, Anansi, Cleon, spending time to grasp the exact locations where other ley lines besides sustainability flowed in, had a pretty tight schedule of helping Lyla and others with investigation activities during the day, and helping Amelia and Rubella investigate the back alleys at night.

Thanks to this, his lifestyle was completely ruined, and he was living an irregular life, returning in the early morning, sleeping for a short time, and waking up only around noon.

Unable to watch any longer, his party (especially Kuon) asked him to take a break for at least one day, so he skipped the night patrol for one day and left the house early in the morning.

As much as he was spending busy days, it wasn’t like there were no results.

Regarding the ley lines, with Aurelia’s help, the locations of all of them had already been identified, and all that was left was to go to each location and purify the ley lines.

In the back alleys, after smashing Kamala’s shop before, Astaroth seemed to be careful with her actions, so patrols and investigations were proceeding without any major threats.

He did find a few shops aimed at exploiting men’s essence, but even those were too small compared to Kamala’s shop, so they were shops that didn’t matter much whether they existed or not.

Of course, he was smashing those shops without leaving any behind.

Still, `Ishtar` and `Lilim` had not revealed themselves.

“It would be easier for us to deal with them if they caused trouble in conspicuous places…”

Cleon muttered to himself like that, holding a large bag full of reagents received from Lyla in his hand, and walking out into the morning streets.

It was quite heavy, but he thought that he could easily handle this much without enhancing his strength with magic.

Whether it was his imagination or not, compared to about a week ago when he first came to the royal capital, the expressions of the people preparing to open their shops or the citizens walking on the street seemed more haggard.

No, it probably wasn’t his imagination. Cleon and his party had already finished preparing countermeasures against the incubus dream, so it was no problem for them to sleep.

But others couldn’t.

They were having their magic power and life force gradually stolen by demons without even knowing it.

The degree would vary depending on the person, and the succubi wouldn’t want to kill the humans whose essence they were stealing, so they would be adjusting the amount so that they wouldn’t die.

But even specks can pile up into a mountain, so the effects might be gradually showing on the surface.

Thinking that he needed to purify all the ley lines as soon as possible, Cleon stopped his feet at.

A monastery, not affiliated with the religious order, where men who had been turned into women by Astaroth lived.

Anansi would also be helping the nuns here, so he should say hello.

His original purpose wasn’t just to say hello, though.

Cleon quietly stood at the entrance of the monastery and knocked on the door.

Then, after a while, a young nun who looked to be in her mid-teens with a kind impression opened the door and greeted Cleon warmly.

Blonde hair briefly visible behind the veil. And blue eyes. Is she a child from a noble family?

“Welcome. I heard about you from Aruru-nim. You’re Cleon-nim, right?”

Since it was a monastery not affiliated with the religious order, that much introduction was necessary for an outsider to approach, and thanks to having told the Tromaeia family about the reagent, Cleon was able to pass through the entrance without difficulty.

“You knew I was Cleon?”

When Cleon said that, the nun smiled and replied.

“Yes. I heard all sorts of things from Aruru-nim and Anansi-nim. That you’re a tall man with black hair and black eyes.”

Cleon scratched his head at the fact that his story had come out in other places and slowly followed the nun, walking through the passage connecting the entrance to the main building.

The passage was also attached to the garden, and children who seemed to be apprentices of the nuns were gathered and playing on the neat garden with blue grass and trees planted here and there.

And, another thing that caught his eye were the two groups.

One group was a group of women wearing feminine clothes, quietly enjoying tea or looking at each other’s hair and nails.

The other group was a group of women wearing men’s clothes with dissatisfied faces, glancing at those women.

“Are they… doing well?”

When Cleon asked that, the young nun also looked towards the garden and spoke with a bitter smile.

“They split into two groups like that not long after they came here. At first, there were more people in men’s clothes, but now there are more people wearing women’s clothes.”

“… …”

Cleon was silent for a moment at her words.

The monastery, although not affiliated with the religious order, was a place with powerful divine magic.

Therefore, he thought that it would be nice if he could at least prevent the curse from progressing, even if not completely, or even if he couldn’t cure it.

But, it seemed that it was a wish that could not be fulfilled.

“The will of the person seems to be more connected to preventing the progress of the curse than divine magic. Now they even use separate living quarters, so among those who completely think of themselves as women, there are even those who say they can’t return to their families and will become nuns here.”

“… That’s a big problem.”

“Yes… Of course, I ask them to postpone their thoughts until a means to lift the curse is prepared. But there are even those who say they don’t want to go back to being men…”

Both the nun and Cleon sighed and moved their feet.

`Come to think of it, Eustace wasn’t among them.`

Cleon recalled the last time he saw Eustace in his mind.

He was wearing Aruru’s clothes, which were the closest size to the highly revealing bunny costume he had been wearing, and was passed out when he was moved here.

He hadn’t heard from him since then, so if he had been in the group wearing women’s clothes, Cleon might have been greatly shocked.

“The head is in this room. After you greet her, I’ll guide you again.”

Cleon nodded to the nun who said that, and entered the room he was guided to.

The head’s room was a clean room with a large window, and the brightness outside was almost the same as inside.

An elderly woman – the head of this monastery – got up from her seat as if she had been waiting, and greeted Cleon.

“Welcome. You’re as tall as Aruru-sama said.”

“Thank you.”

After expressing his gratitude to her, who was praising him with a kind expression, he untied the bag he had received from Lyla in front of her and took out a bottle of white medicine.

“Is that… the medicine that Cleon-sama’s party developed that can neutralize the curse?”

“I heard it’s just a medicine that delays the progress as much as possible. If it’s confirmed to be effective, they said they might be able to create a cure based on this medicine…”

“May I take a look for a moment?”

Cleon nodded at the head’s words and carefully handed her the bottle containing the reagent.

She put on an appraisal monocle that was in the drawer on one eye and looked at the reagent.

Cleon was somehow nervous and was looking around the head’s room.

Even though it was originally the room where the head of the monastery, which only had nuns, lived, there were a few things in the room’s decoration that made him tilt his head.

One of them was, of course, the black full-body armor and helmet decorated on the wall.

It, which could be said to be almost jet black, looked quite old.

And on the chest was a half-erased royal family crest… or something similar.

Around the waist, there was a red, worn-out cloth wrapped around it.

Was the material a type of rare metal? He could see a slight amount of magic power dwelling in it.

The design seemed to be a white armor that royal knights mainly wore, but with the color painted black, and more practical auxiliary equipment such as potion belts and straps for carrying daggers attached.

And more than anything –

“Are you bothered by that armor?”

While Cleon was focusing his attention on the armor, he heard the head’s voice.

“…Yes. It’s old but it’s good armor. I can see traces of repairs here and there. It must be armor that has protected its owner many times.”

“Hehe. That’s the armor that my friend used to wear. As you can see, it’s women’s armor.”

Right. The last thing Cleon was bothered by was that the armor was not for men but for women.

“Oh. Come to think of it, you also have a connection with her.”

“…A connection?”

The head smiled faintly as if she had just remembered, and nodded as Cleon asked back.

“The place where you’re staying… the original owner of the Coffin of Palanathea. …Palanathea was the owner of that armor. There was a difference of about 20 years in age between that child and me, though.”

Smiling as if she missed her, she soon turned her gaze away from the armor and returned the medicine she had been observing to Cleon.

“Your colleague’s skills are quite good. There is almost no instability between the materials, and it seems like there will be no side effects with this much. You can use it on the victims in the monastery as it is.”

`Victims` meant the victims of the succubi.

It was a term referring to those who had become women from men.

The woman got up to take the medicine bag, but no matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for an old woman to carry this heavy thing.

“The medicine I brought is quite heavy, so I’ll move it.”

When Cleon said that,

“You’re kind. Then, there’s a dedicated room for storing medicines. The child outside will guide you.”

When Cleon picked up the bag of medicine and left the head’s room, he could see the nun who had guided him earlier waiting.

“I heard there’s a room to store medicine-”

“Ah~ It’s right next to the infirmary in the west wing. I’ll guide you.”

Cleon and the nun walked in a different direction from the hallway they had used to come to the head’s room.

That place was also connected to a place similar to a garden in the middle, and people –

“Huh…?”

Cleon was about to look at the people like before, but he stopped his gaze by discovering a noticeable woman.

There was a woman wearing men’s clothes, somehow tying up her abundant hair, sweating profusely, and swinging a wooden sword.

“Is that… Eustace?”

“That’s right!”

Because they were talking a little far away, Cleon and the nun’s voices wouldn’t have been heard.

Eustace was panting tiredly, but still swinging his wooden sword at the training scarecrow in front of him.

“Why are there training equipment in the monastery…”

“Iona-nim, who came to visit, left them behind. It wasn’t originally there.”

“Is it for Eustace…”

Cleon understood that Iona would do that.

Regardless, Eustace kept swinging his wooden sword, but then he dropped it as if his grip had run out of strength.

“Oh, oh… Where did the sword go…”

Eustace, not even realizing that he had dropped his sword, was looking down at his hand.

His wooden sword had left his hand, went over Eustace’s head, and was falling back towards his head.

“Eustace-ssi!”

Seeing that, the nun raised her voice to inform him, but when a tired Eustace looked back, it was already –

In the next moment, the wooden sword stopped in mid-air with a `thud`.

No, to be exact, it would be `caught`.

“How hard are you focusing on training that you’re doing swings until you’re about to faint…”

When Eustace, who thought there was a shadow over him, looked up, Cleon was there, holding the wooden sword he had dropped with a bitter smile.

“Oh, suddenly!?”

The nun, who had been next to Cleon until just now, was surprised and raised her voice as he had moved to a place several meters away in an instant.

“Cl, Cleon…”

Eustace looked up at Cleon in a rough and flushed state.

He – no, she – with eyes half glazed over and full of exhaustion, faced Cleon’s face in the blurry vision.

Jet-black hair, abyss-like eyes. A body hardened in battle and masculine limbs and muscles.

And above all, his expression of looking at her with a bitter smile as if he was worried.

`Thump…`

“Ugh…!”

Because of the sudden pain in his heart, he knelt down and sat down on the spot.

As he put both hands on his left chest and was in pain, Cleon approached him, worried about such Eustace.

“Hey, aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

“Wa, wait! I, I’m okay, so. Don’t touch me.”

When Cleon tried to grab Eustace’s shoulder, Eustace hurriedly flinched and spoke to Cleon.

“I, I see. If you’re okay, then it’s fine, but…”

Cleon was also embarrassed by such Eustace’s actions, but he stopped his hand as she said.

“Meeting you doesn’t seem good for my heart… Cleon.”

“Don’t say things I don’t understand… Training is good, but think about your body too.”

“Cleon-ssi! Eustace-ssi! Are you okay!?”

The nun, leaving the bag containing the reagent in the hallway, was approaching Cleon and Eustace.

“Ah, I’m fine. Liza.”

“Liza?”

“Ah! That’s my name. Come to think of it, I didn’t tell you my name.”

Watching her doing the act of tapping her head with a `dehet`, Eustace sighed.

“Why is Cleon here? Was Liza guiding you?”

“Yes! Cleon-ssi brought medicine for everyone.”

At Liza’s story, Cleon also nodded and explained.

“Yeah. It’s a medicine that can weaken the progress of the curse. But, why are you sitting with your back to me, Eustace?”

“…Sh, shut up. I’m in this state right now. I’m wet with sweat and everything… It’s see-through.”

Eustace was quiet for a moment, but then spoke in a loud voice.

“I, I see. I didn’t think about that.”

“Oh, but before, you were normal with the other victims-”

“Th, that’s more! If you brought such medicine, can you give me one right away?”

Hurriedly interrupting Liza’s words, Eustace said, and Cleon and Liza’s eyes met once.

“There’s not much of a problem with that, but… I’m telling you, it’s not like your body will immediately return to normal.”

At Cleon’s words, Liza also nodded as if she was worried, but Eustace only turned her head and spoke with a tearful expression.

“Just give it to me. It feels like the curse will get worse even now.”

Looking at Eustace saying that, Cleon also couldn’t help but bring a medicine bottle from the medicine bag at Eustace’s request, who seemed to have a decidedly feminine expression.

Eustace frowned as she looked at the white, viscous medicine that Cleon handed her.

“…This, by any chance-”

“It’s not what you’re thinking. However, due to the nature of the magic potion, it plays a role in returning femininity to masculinity, so that concept also appears in the form or properties of the reagent…”

“That?”

Only Liza tilted her head as if she didn’t know what he meant, and Cleon cleared his throat while watching Eustace swallow the medicine.

“…Th, that’s right. It’s definitely a bit sticky and looks like that. But the taste and smell aren’t bad.”

“Heeh- I see. If I drink this, will my body become more feminine?”

“No. It doesn’t work on women.”

“Hing.”

Leaving Liza, who seemed disappointed, next to her, Cleon looked at the empty medicine bottle with an expression of thinking about something for a moment.

“…Hoo. For some reason, I feel a little calmer after taking the medicine.”

“I see, then that’s a relief.”

Cleon said that and took his gaze away from Eustace, who was stroking her chest, and looked at the wooden sword and the scarecrow.

“…You were training, huh.”

“Yeah. Not relying only on the power of the Holy Sword is how I survive. Even if I become this body, I have to train in preparation for emergencies.”

When Eustace nodded and answered, Cleon closed his mouth for a moment and then sighed.

“It’s a great mindset, but. As I said before, only do it to the point where you don’t ruin your body.”

“…Are you worried about me?”

“Of course. You’re my and Iona’s disciple.”

At Cleon’s words, a sound of exhaling was heard from Eustace. It was a breath that contained some kind of emotion, different from a sigh.

“I’m going to bring the medicine and leave right away. This is goodbye here. Then, see you later.”

“…Th, then… Cleon. You too, be careful.”

Eustace felt her heartbeat getting faster again even after taking the medicine and flinched again.

Cleon and Liza also looked at such Eustace for a moment, and then picked up the bag with the medicine and headed to the west wing.

While heading there, Liza quietly opened her mouth.

“Cleon-nim. You’ve looked a little worried since Eustace-ssi drank the medicine… Is something wrong?”

“…Not really, is that… No, you guys are managing them, so you need to know, huh.”

Cleon sighed softly at Liza’s question and hesitated, but then answered her question.

“Lyla said that this medicine… has a terrible bitter smell to people who haven’t had their minds and souls feminized much… to people who are still close to being men.”

“Heeh~ I see. Is that like bitter medicine is good for the body?”

“…That’s not it. Conversely, it means that people who have had a lot of feminization can drink or smell it without much problem.”

“Hoohoo… … Huh? Earlier, Eustace-ssi said it tasted good-”

Liza answered like that, but then suddenly recalled Eustace from a while ago and turned her head with a surprised face.

It was the direction where Eustace was, although it couldn’t be seen from here now.

“…Maybe it’s in a more dangerous state than I thought. That Eustace.”

“I, is there anything we can do for you?”

At Liza’s words, Cleon pondered for a moment before opening his mouth.

“…I don’t know why that guy’s feminization is happening so fast, but… Anyway, if it’s an environment where he can show off his masculine side, he’ll keep feeling like he’s a man.”

“A, a masculine side, huh. For example, moving heavy luggage…?”

Cleon sighed softly and answered Liza.

“Anyway. He’s that kind of guy, but for now, he’s a guy with the same master. I hope you can be a strength to him.”

“…Yes. We too, will do our best to heal the victims.”

001

Cleon, who was about to leave the monastery after helping with the storage of the medicine, unknowingly raised his head at the gaze and presence he felt from above while walking back through the hallway leading to the entrance.

In the next moment, something clinging to him and attacking him from above with sparkling eyes from the shadows behind the ceiling.

“Husband!”

“Ah, Anansi…”

Come to think of it, he forgot to show his face, Cleon thought, and just allowed her to kiss his forehead and cheeks.

“A, Anansi-nim. Hiding on the ceiling will surprise the other nuns, so you can’t!”

Liza also complained while looking at such Anansi, but Anansi only clung to Cleon, whom she had met in a few days, while smiling.

“Anansi. Please get along well with the people here.”

“Of course. The children also follow me so well.”

` ` The children aren’t afraid, so…“

Liza and Cleon had the same thought and sighed.

“How is it? Are you doing well in this monastery too?”

“Yes. As Husband-nim said, I’m also watching out for whether demons are coming close.”

When Cleon nodded at her words, Anansi gently held out her head to Cleon.

Then, as if he couldn’t help it, Cleon’s hand went up to that head and stroked her.

What he asked Anansi to do was to protect the monastery from demons.

With a spider web so fine that it couldn’t be seen, to wrap around the monastery so that she could know at any time if someone touched it.

And, with the divine magic power she had gained by acquiring divinity, she would be able to fight demons on equal terms, or even more than that.

If it was a fight to protect somewhere, there would be no one more suitable than her.

“I’m counting on you until the situation is over. After that, you can do whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want…! That means I can live with Husband-nim, right!?”

“U, um… Until then, if you don’t find something else you want to do.”

Anansi’s eyes sparkled at Cleon’s words, and Liza only shook her head.

When he brought Anansi to this place, he had already asked Aurelia to explain to the nuns.

The fact that they accepted Anansi despite her being a different divinity from the god they worshiped was probably thanks to the head’s generous heart.

“…I, I’ll definitely become Husband-nim’s strength. So, please don’t forget me either, Husband-nim.”

“…Of course.”

He had forgotten to greet them. While thinking the same guilty thought, Cleon nodded.

Eventually, Cleon left the monastery while being seen off by Liza and Anansi.

Unaware that there was a gaze watching him.

000.5

“So… If I take this medicine, I can go back from this damn woman’s body, right?”

“Th, that seemed to be the case. Older brother!”

“Damn it… Why do we have to suffer like this, older brother. We just did what the boss told us to do…”

“I don’t know. But the boss is definitely waiting for us too… Let’s pack a reasonable amount and leave this place even tonight.”

“Yes, older brother!”

“Finally, we’re saying goodbye to this boring place…!”

001

“The medicine and people have disappeared?”

Cleon, who was told that by Iona, who had come to find him early in the morning, almost dropped the glass of water he was holding.

Iona was not in civilian clothes, but in equipment like an adventurer going out on a request.

“Some of the missing medicine, and three people have disappeared. All three people were people to be careful of who refused cooperation with identity verification.”

“…That’s a big problem. If the existence of the victims is revealed to the general public or the religious order…”

There is a possibility that various facts that have been well hidden until now will be revealed in a chain reaction.

“…I don’t think that’s a concern. Anansi said that she can tell where they went with the thread she attached. It seems that they left the castle gates without meeting anyone during the night and headed to `Horseshoe Mountain` east of the royal capital.”

“Horseshoe Mountain… Lyla investigated it. She said it’s a place where the `Wind` attribute ley line flows… But why there…”

Iona was silent for a moment at Cleon’s words and made a groaning sound of `euuung…`.

And then she opened her mouth with an uncomfortable expression.

“…From here on out, it’s just my guess. I think they are members of the bandit group that has been rampant on Horseshoe Mountain recently.”

“…Bandits?”

“Yes. It’s a group led by a leader calling himself the Bandit King. They say they have survived by avoiding the suppression of the royal soldiers and adventurers several times.”

Cleon almost dropped the glass of water he was holding again at those words.

Adventurers may have differences in skill, so it depends on who received the request.

Among the royal soldiers, those who perform suppression missions in the royal capital must be quite skilled.

To have survived for several months avoiding their search net, it is understandable that there is a leader worthy of calling himself a `Bandit King`.

Cleon sighed after thinking that far.

“I have to go catch them. I don’t know where the information will leak out if I leave them alone… Also, the purification of the ley lines is also necessary.”

“Yes. I think so too. So, I came to ask you to go with me.”

Iona shrugged and showed Cleon a smile.

“…Okay.”

When Cleon nodded and was about to go upstairs to prepare –

Kuon, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, ran out and shouted as she went up to her room as well.

“I, I’ll go too! Wait a moment while I prepare!”

Cleon and Iona watched that figure for a moment, and then Iona quietly opened her mouth.

“…She’s strangely motivated. Kuon-yang, did something happen?”

“The purification of the ley lines is something that she, a priest, can do… I think she wants to help.”

“I see… I feel sorry for Kuon-yang…”

“Why?”

When Iona said something strange, Cleon answered as if she didn’t know.

Iona watched Cleon’s reaction and said quietly, `I understand Kuon-yang’s feelings.` and then sighed.

002

“Yo, you guys! Let me go! Do you not know who we are!?”

“What are you saying, you bitches!”

The deepest part of a dark and crude mountain cave.

Bandits who looked rough at a glance were grabbing the arms of three women and dragging them in roughly.

“…It’s noisy. What’s going on?”

A black-haired man, sitting in a body slumped in a giant chair that looked like a throne of the room, slightly opened his eyes and glared at his subordinates as they made a commotion in front of him.

Then, the subordinates unknowingly stiffened and knelt the women they had dragged in in front of their boss.

“…These guys said they were members of our bandit group and came into the hideout, so we caught them.”

“…These women?”

The boss shone his eyes and then stood up from his seat.

His height, two heads taller than the average person, seemed to reach the ceiling.

And then, he picked up the black greatsword and stood in front of the women.

“You guys… tell me your names.”

“B, boss. It’s us! `Norman` `Gishid` `Sam`!”

The boss, who heard her names, paused for a moment and then made a bitter smile and spread his hands.

“… … Ah. Those guys I sent to `her`. You survived and came back safely.”

And then, he reached out his hand to `Norman`, who was the leader among them.

The rough appearance from his man days was all gone, and now there was a beauty with reddish-brown hair, but.

`Norman` was touched by the same touch as when he accepted her as a subordinate and grabbed his hand at that moment.

The boss grabbed her arm and pulled her, and then tore off the clothes she was wearing in an instant with the other hand.

“B, boss!?”

“Look at this. Didn’t it become quite an interesting body? I was already having a hard time because my subordinates couldn’t taste women. The high-ranking guys came rolling in on their own.”

A sound of `heek` flowed out from Gishid and Sam.

“I’m going to take this one and enjoy her now. Drag the other two away.”

“Yes!”

Gishid and Sam, who were screaming to be saved, were dragged away.

The boss was holding Norman’s head with one hand and smiling while making eye contact with him.

“You’re lucky. The bandit king and Talcheck’s disciple. And, the only surviving member of the Black Magic clan…”

Red eyes shone in his eyes.

“Because you can handle Cleon’s sexual desire.”

“B, boss! Please wait! I, I was originally a man! Boss! A, ah… Aaaaaah!”

A scream echoed from the hideout of Horseshoe Mountain.

It was a miserable sound suitable for a place dominated by madness and violence.