The Hero Became a Succubus! - Chapter 28

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Chapter 28

After receiving an obscene amount of gold from selling Rosaline the living mana-vamp starfish, Arenade and Edina seemed to have forgotten all about becoming an adventurer. They spent the past week splurging and indulging in the many extravagances their wealth could afford. Edina purchased herself a new staff, and Arenade has been visiting the bath house twice a day. Meanwhile, Kanae was forced to do quests on his own and trying to get their lazy asses back to joining him.

"We can't just laze around in the hall all day like this. Sara will get angry at us for not doing any quests, and I won't charm her to look the other way when she confronts us," Kanae said.

"But it's been soooo long since we were able to relax like this! First we plundered a Necro Lord's tomb, only to be thrown into a crazy, overleveled fight, then we had to deal with running away from a dragon. You can't tell me kicking back isn't nice." Edina commanded a summoned undead to fetch and fell Kanae's glass with wine.

"Great necromancer, huh." He sighed, pushing the glass away and turning to Arenade who was brushing her hair with a jewel-encrusted comb. "What about you? What's your excuse?"

"Don't look at me. Today, I'm going to enjoy a nice dip in the most pristine ocean this world has to offer," Arenade said.

The place Arenade has been throwing so much gold at was the Dreizel's Bath House Wonderland, run by a master illusionist and crew of mages who used illusion magic to create a nice place for guests to bathe in. They had a list of premade places to conjure up, or one could pay extra to have a room design a place straight from a person's imagination. Of course, there were also regular pool baths, but no one went there for just that.

Kanae would be lying if he wasn't curious, but recent events hadn't exactly made him eager to go out and about.

It didn't seem as though Estaline had any intentions of outing him as a succubus. That was a relief. But what was she after then? Was a stalwart night like her really going to let a demon wander around the city unchecked?

As Kanae's two companions were about to leave and waste money away on another leisurely day, he decided enough was enough.

"Sit down," Kanae commanded with a Minor Charm.

Arenade and Edina tensed up, sat down, and gulped hard. He had learned something interesting recently. When first arriving to this world, Minor Charm was one of his first spells. Leveling up made it stronger, and the spell became Charm. But that didn't mean he couldn't make use of the weaker version of the skill.

It became a way for Kanae to make use of the effects to a lesser extent without adjusting his INT stat. Now, as a result of using Minor Charm instead of Charm, the bodies of his errant party members were under his control while they retained their state of mind.

"A-Are we in trouble?" Edina croaked, even her skeletal servant was on its knees.

"It's one thing to enjoy the money we made, but if you two keep this up, we're going to run out. What's it going to be? I dole out some punishment, or we go do some quests?" Kanae asked.

Arenade began sweating bullets and squeezed her legs shut beyond his charm's control. "Look, we hear you! But there's still a pissed off dragon out there. Who knows if we might run into it again. It won't hurt letting Estaline and her group take care of it first. Tomorrow! How about that? We'll start questing again tomorrow and pick ones near the city to do!"

Kanae released the charm effect and sighed. His two companions traded glances. Edina got up to sit next to him on the other side of the table.

"What's wrong, Kanae? Feels like you've been on edge for the past few days. I doubt it's just because we're not questing with you," the squirreling said.

"Like Arenade said, the dragon's still out there. I'm worried about my friends. And after facing Estaline like that, I'm getting even more worried about how much safer being in Orturic is as a succubus," Kanae explained.

Every day was a risk— a gamble on whether or not the next person to find out was going to be as understanding.

"We could move on to another city! Our levels are getting to that point, but, eh… I guess that doesn't change the fact that you're still… Right, I'll be quiet now…" Arenade hung her head.

"Be nice to have a place of my own to live where I don't need to always stay in human form all the time," Kanae grumbled.

"That'd take a lot more money than we already have," Edina added.

The three fell silent together.

If only there was some way to make more money than from the current status quo.

"Forget this!" The demigoddess sprung up from her seat and grabbed Kanae by the hand. "You're obviously down in the dumps. What you need right now is some nice R&R. Let's go to Dreizel's together. I'll… I can't believe I'm saying this… I'll let you do whatever you want with me… Just for today!"

Kanae chuckled and leaned forward with his chin on his hand. "You sure that's a good idea? I might keep you up all night."

"If… If you'll be gentle…" she said, shrinking in her seat and showing a surprisingly demure side herself.

"Alright, fine." He relented. "Let's all go to the bath house together. I've been interested all week after you keep coming back sparkling.

They went to Dreizel's on the other side of town that redirected water from the river and used salamander stones to heat up their pools. It reminded Kanae a little of home with all the public bath houses, or sentos as they were called, except this place was grander. Baths were built of marble and floors from smooth granite. If he didn't know better, they had entered some noble lord's villa.

Directly into the lobby, a robed elven man with a nose as sharp as his ears, welcomed them with flamboyant zest.

"Ah! There she is! My favorite customer. Blessed are we to have you grace my establishment. I see you have brought friends. I presume they must also have bursting pockets?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. We're all good for it," Arenade said. "This is Dreizel. He's a former adventurer-turned business owner, using his illusion magic to start a bath house franchise that extends throughout the continent."

"At your service." Dreizel bowed graciously.

"How come the proprietor's set up all the way out here? I imagined you would be in a bigger city," Kanae said.

"Orturic is something of a place of beginnings, you see. Fresh adventurers such as yourselves slaying monsters and the like will return after a long day working up a sweat. Where will you go to wash off such grime? At Dreizel's of course! It is best to leave a lasting impression, that way, you will continue to seek out my establishments in other places," he explained.

Kanae blinked in disbelief. That was a lot more well-thought out than he expected. Looking at Arenade, she had already been made a repeat customer for years to come.

For some reason, Dreizel paid especially close attention to Kanae as if trying to discern something.

"Miss, might you perhaps have an illusion on yourself?" Dreizel asked.

"Eh? It's, uh… well, er…" Kanae froze up.

A master illusionist would obviously have noticed something was up, especially with a spell that was an illusion by nature.

"Scars!" Edina chimed in. "Kanae's got a lot of scars over the years. He's also got an illusion skill to hide the blemishes. You know how it is… We ladies like to look our best… ahaha…"

Thankfully, Dreizel let it go.

They paid a hefty entry fee for a private illusory bath. He almost wanted to slap Arenade after seeing the price. Dreizel gave them towels and a woven basket to hold their belongings, then led them through a wide corridor with many doors on either side, each presumably being the baths.

"For you first timers who wish to create a place to lounge in, place your hand on the magic stone right through the door. Enjoy!" Dreizel opened one door, and a blast of hot steam greeted their entry.

The place was a simple room with a large pool at the center. Like Dreizel explained, there was a large, floating crystal by the door. As soon as Kanae placed a hand on it, the entire place transformed into an open air hot spring in the mountains. Misty green mountains in the distance, bright blue skies and a beaming sun, and a large steaming pool awaited.

"Oh, my. I haven't seen a location like this before. Very aesthetic." Dreizel nodded to himself as if committing to memory in order to recreate this illusion. "Anyway, please enjoy! It goes without saying, stay in your bath and do not intrude into the rooms of other guests. Bye-bye now~"

Arenade and Edina didn't hesitate to dive into the bath, then swam to the edge to gaze out to the mountains.

"This is so beautiful, Kanae. Did you used to live in a place like this?" Edina asked.

"Yeah. Looking at it now, I do kind of miss it," he said.

However, Kanae was distracted by something else other than the sights that took their breaths away. His companions were both naked. He was bathing with a busty elf and a petite squirreling, not a shred of clothing on them to hide their naughty bits.

Edina wasn't very endowed in the chest area, but the cute pink and puffy nipples on her small mounds were something Kanae wanted to get his a taste of. Then there was Arenade, whose enormous cowtits, not held back by her robes, bounced with even the slightest movement. This was the life, and he regretted not coming sooner.

"Time to keep your promise." Kanae snapped his finger and charmed Arenade immediately.

"Eh? N-Now? I can't even enjoy bathing first?!" Arenade cried. "F-Fine… Whatever you're going to do or have me do, just get it over with. I'm ready. I'm used to your succubus lust now anyway!"

Kanae compelled the fallen demigoddess to give him a foot massage. He leaned back in the warm waters, sitting adjacent to Edina who summoned her own skeleton army to aid in the massage, both sighing with bliss.

"Why am I forced to give a massage when Edina's skeletons could do it in my stead?" Arenade wailed.

"You're the one who agreed to do whatever I wanted. Now start licking my feet," Kanae ordered.

"Nnn… lick… lick… I'll get you back for this one day…" The demigoddess's hot breath and tongue worked wonders on his feet, especially when she went between the toes.

"Ahaha! Not so tough now, Arenade? Here, I'll have one of my skeletons give you a nice massage." Edina smirked.

One of her summoned undeads went behind Arenade and pressed a boney finger into the sole of her foot. She jumped out of the water, yelping in pain, but because she was under Kanae's control, couldn't retaliate against Edina and so pouted to show displeasure.

"Okay, okay. I'll quit torturing ya," the necromancer commanded her skeletons to massage Arenade more properly and was enough to placate her.

The idea of building his own place to live was becoming more and more attractive. Takumi, Manabe, and Ichi wouldn't have to live in the wilds. After all, Kanae was a succubus. He could rule the place like an actual succubus, filled with charmed thralls to do his bidding and serve as sex slaves.

"Hey, back in the forest, why did Estaline treat me as someone just as dangerous as a dragon? Are succubi really that bad?" Kanae asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Edina answered promptly. "Your whole shtick is to control people to do your bidding. That's pretty nutty. To a lot of adventurers, you're a demon that takes an organized party to deal with."

"Succubi are pretty rare to come by, too. Your subrace isn't a dime a dozen among demons," Arenade said.

Well, that explained why Redmane purchased a succubus to be a prostitute for as much as he did. A succubus was rare. Did Charron actually turn him into something to be reckoned with? Or maybe the demon lord expected him to perish very early on.

Whatever the case was, Kanae had come to the point where he would rather thank Charron for this opportunity.

"Come here, Arenade." Kanae broke the charm effect and beckoned her closer.

The high elf, even though not under his control anymore, shyly and obediently crawled up to him. Their breasts squished together with how close they were and their faces were inches apart. He raised a hand to her smooth face and brushed a finger across the plump lips. She swallowed hard, almost as if trying to suppress her own desires.

"I think I want to start my own kingdom. In order to do that, I'm going to need a lot more people on my side. What do you guys say?" Kanae asked.

"You got big ambitions," Edina said, placing a wet towel over her face. "But I like it. I need me a place to practice necromancy without the local cemetery getting pissed off, so count me in."

Suddenly, the door to their room bursted open. Half a dozen male adventurers poured in, and Dreizel was clamoring to push them back.

"I-I'm sorry, ladies!" Dreizel apologized profusely. "These gentlemen barged their way through and wouldn't take no for an answer. Please, return to the counter or I will have my mages throw you out!"

One of the adventurers shoved Dreizel onto his butt, then drew a sword to point at Edina.

"Nice little party. Hope you don't mind a couple of guys to balance this out."

"Hey, Pipsqueak. I thought I saw your furry-tailed ass waltzing in here," another said.

Edina's eyes widened with recognition. The only thing Kanae could think was that they were the same trio from the cave, but they should be dead and their faces weren't among six that were present.

"What do you guys want?" Edina growled.

"Bardell wants his money, and since Hugo and them haven't checked in, we've come to check on you guys ourselves. Imagine my surprise to learn those three bit the dust. Where's the loot, Edina?" the leader of them asked.

Could the man have meant the loot from the Necro Lord's dungeon? When Kanae glanced at Edina, she was filled with fear having heard the name 'Bardell'.

"Are they bad guys?" Kanae asked Edina in a whisper.

"Bardell… runs a syndicate I used to be a pack mule for… I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I thought cutting ties with Hugo would mean the end of it." She frowned.

Anyone that Edina didn't like was automatically an enemy to Kanae, and he didn't like that they barged in uninvited.

"I'll go get the guards." Dreizel quickly got to his feet. "I'm so sorry. This will be on the house—"

"No, don't worry about it. I won't mind a little company. I'll pay for these six when we come out, so can you look the other way?" Kanae asked.

"W-What are you doing?" Arenade shook his shoulders.

Dreizel seemed unsure, and that hesitation was enough to tell Kanae that he had nothing to do with this. The proprietor reluctantly acquiesced and exited the bath.

"Looks like you made a smart friend, Edina. At least this pretty little girl knows how to make friends." A slimy-looking guy knelt down and squeezed a handful of Kanae's breasts with a plated gauntlet.

"I hope you guys know what kind of trouble you're getting yourselves into," Kanae warned them.

"Whatcha gonna do about it? All of us are level 20s. What are you? 15 at best? Haahhaa!"

Their totally off the mark assumption made Kanae laugh out loud. None of them had any idea what he and his party had faced to get to where they were.

Kanae stood up, giving them a full frontal of his naked body that was glistening wet from the water. No doubt their minds were swirling with ideas of how to ravish this female body of his. In that case, it was only appropriate to show them what they were lusting after.

He then dropped his human form, letting the succubus features emerge. Their lascivious smiles flipped, realizing who the prey really were.

"Nice to meet you. I'm a succubus who happened to turn level 25 this morning after having my way with a dire beast. Your clothes look a little heavy. Why don't you take them off, and we can have a nice little chat together?" Kanae licked his lips.