Chapter 2

Day 40 of Year 2

Okay. So, my plan was to take some nice naps once the Ivory Festival ended, but at some point I became a real deal pope. I don’t get it. Like, yeah, I founded the religion. So what? Does this world consider all founders of religions to be popes? I told them I just found the bible in the dungeon, didn’t I? How did this happen...? I just wanted to justify my napping...

...What, there was a birth? Someone gave birth in the town for the first time? Congratulations. Wait, what? You want me to baptize them in the Beddhist church? Uh, sure, lemme just sprinkle some water on them... You want a protective charm too? Sheesh, you sure want a lot of things. Uhhh, here, have a holy symbol. Don’t worry about paying, this is the town’s first child. Consider it a gift from me, the town chief. Have an iron one. I get the feeling a baby sucking on copper would be pretty bad, but iron is good for the blood. I think that’s how it works? Yeah. Get healthy, kid.

(From that day onwards, it became a tradition for the church to gift newborn children an iron holy symbol, but that’s another story.)

You want me to name the kid too? Uhhh... It’s a boy? Alright, let’s go with Netaro. This name comes from a story told in the Beddhist bible, that of Sannen Netaro. No, not Netero, I sai— Ah, whatever, go with Netero.

Basically, all sorts of things happened. The number of children in the town increased and every day was busy for the pope of Beddhism. The Silky triplets had gotten used to working in the inn and it was operating more smoothly than ever. The church was doing great too, thanks to the High Priestess Rei’s miraculous massages. For some reason, people were even donating us offerings.

However, I didn’t just have my pope duties to take care of. I was still the town chief. Despite unloading the work onto everyone else, there was still a lot of paperwork that I had to sign myself to keep the flow of red tape going. To avoid causing any problems that I would have to personally resolve, I was indeed looking over the work before signing it. Anyway, I was plugging away at paperwork, stamping my signature on one after another when Wozma—my vice chief—said something pretty out there.

“Keima, shall we open a brothel?”

“...Come again?” A brothel. In other words, a place where customers pay to have sex with professional prostitutes. That wouldn’t be a good place for children to be around. Please, think of the children!

“Shall we open a brothel?”

“Nah, I mean, I heard you. By brothel you mean, uh... That kind of brothel, right? The kind of place where adults do adult things?”

“Yes, that kind of brothel.”

“Do you want to die, Wozma? Don’t forget who’s propping up this town... Or rather, who’s propping up the inn’s owner.” We had some cushions separating the town from the one propping it up, but someone could still figure it out with a little investigation. And Wozma was actually one of Haku’s subordinates already, so yeah. No matter how stealthy Haku’s manipulation could be at times, she sung Wozma’s praises as a skilled administrator. No way he didn’t know what was up here. Haku doted on Rokuko endlessly, and it should have been clear as day that she wouldn’t want a brothel anywhere near her.

“Although the Ivory Festival was a day of great relief to all, there are many men who became restless after the recent birth of a child. There are few women in this town, and if I may be blunt, with every passing day more men become sexually dissatisfied. A brothel will be necessary to control that. At this rate, worse case scenario, your employees will be attacked.”

...Well, it’s true that this is basically a town for adventurers, and most adventurers are guys. Most of the cute girls in the whole town worked for our inn. And now there are three more of them.

“Aaah... I kind of want to tell them to just go to Tsia. Is that too much to ask?”

“This is in heart a mining town. It is more rare for these to lack a brothel than to have one.” Mining towns want brothels, huh? I guess cause digging holes makes you want to dig into other holes. What perverts. Well, the mine here is a dungeon, so nobody actually digs holes.

“The truth is that brothels are institutions that lessen crime and increase stability.” He put some documents on my desk. He went out of his way to make these for me? Man, he’s pretty passionate about this. It may be my imagination, but his eyes look fairly bloodshot.

“Too bad. The answer’s still no. Go to Tsia, we have roads.” I stamped Wozma’s brothel plan with my rejection stamp.

“That is unfortunate. To tell the truth, I was thinking of establishing a foot massage course specifically for you, town chief.”

“Ngh! Gah, ngh, uuuh... N-No. The answer is still no. Bring it up with Haku.” I stamped it again for emphasis. That was close.

“Unfortunate.” Wozma let out a sigh. Yeah, he definitely wanted one for himself. All I have to say to that is go to Tsia, my man. The roads are paved and it’ll only take a few hours by carriage. By the way, are those foot massage courses held in Tsia? Not that I want to go or anything, I’m just asking. This is the kinda thing that, uh, town chiefs just need to know.

“I didn’t expect you to propose something like this, Wozma. Did something happen?”

“Not at all, it was merely suggested to me by a variety of people. Nothing in particular inspired this.” I hope not. But huh, people are asking for a brothel?

“...What do you think about taking the people who suggested the brothel and going to Tsia with them? Take a break from the bar and all. Kinue can take care of it for you while you’re gone, I’m sure she’ll be fine for three days or however long it takes.”

“That won’t be necessary. The bar is in many ways my reason for living. I appreciate your concern, Keima.” To be straight, I was a little interested in the idea, but I cared a lot more about sleep than sex. I knew that wasn’t true for everyone, but still, a brothel just wasn’t going to happen.

＊ ＊ ＊

That night. I was sleeping in bed with Niku as my dakimakura like always, but I was having a weird dream. For some reason, it took place in our inn’s grand suite room, and I was sleeping in its bed. Well... Far from me to complain about what I do in dreams, but why is there a pink-haired loli in bed next to me? I don’t recognize her, and she’s not even wearing clothes. Her skin’s smooth and white as eggshells. Anyway, my main concern here is why am I having a dream like this? I’m not a lolicon.

“Heya, town chief.”

“...Who are you?”

“Ahaha, who indeed? I could be anyo—” I kicked the loli out of my bed. “Wh-Why would you do that?! I’m such a cute girl, too!”

“Dang, sure seems cold out there. That sucks. Anyway, goodnight.”

“Hold on, hold on! Wh-What’s going on here? Was I just not acting shy and vulnerable enough? Hold on, please, let me try again!” I rolled in bed, turning my back to the naked pink-haired loli asking for a second try, and shut my eyes. Zzz...

“D-Don’t just fall asleep. Let’s have some fun together, okay?”

“Weren’t you going to try again and act shy or something? Quit wasting my time. Out.”

“Sorry! I’ll do that now!” The world went dark as if a universal light switch had been flipped. When light returned, the pink-haired loli was in bed next to me again. This time she was wearing a white micro bikini. Didn’t I say I wasn’t a lolicon? Oh, wait, I never said that out loud.

“Th-This is what you like, r-right?” The loli blushed. Without a word, I kicked her out of bed. “Why?! I was perfect this time, wasn’t I?!”

“Zzz...”

“Pretending to be asleep won’t fool me! Come on, you love lolis and one of them is spreading her feet right in front of you. Do whatever you want with me, okaaay? Go right aheaaad.” I wanted to keep ignoring her, but man, it was really hard to sleep with her yapping in my ear.

“...Alright, I can do anything I want, yeah?”

“Yes! And this is all happening in a dream, so you can do this and that and all sorts of things, even things so cruel and perverted that every society to exist would curse your name for eons to come if your secrets were ever to be unearthed! I am but a receptacle for your endless lust!” The loli flashed a peace sign with her tongue stuck out a little.

“Got it. Let’s see... First, a rope and ball gag.” From thin air I conjured rope, a ball gag, and an eyemask for the heck of it.

“Wha? Um, where did you get all that from?”

“This is a dream, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t I be able to summon anything I want? That’s how dreams work.” I’m used to this kinda thing thanks to all my lucid dreams.

“Wow, you’re pretty experienced... Who in the world are you?”

“Just the pope of a rapidly growing religion. Now, sit still.” I put the blindfold on the obediently sitting loli. I then tied her with the rope such that she couldn’t move. Very tightly, too. No wriggling out of these knots.

“Ahn! S-So rooough...”

“Yeah yeah.” I sealed the sweetly moaning loli’s mouth with the ball gag. And now it’s quiet again. Finally. I laid down in bed again.

“Wait, you’re not going to do anythiiing?!”

“Tch, you got out of the ropes... Guess I’ll have to use tape next.”

“Uwaaah! This guy’s messed up in the heaaad!” Woah now. Did this mostly naked loli just say I’m messed up in the head? That’s just not right.

“I dunno, I’m pretty sure I’d be messed up in the head if I actually did anything with a little girl like you.”

“But I mean, this is a dream! Where else are you going to release your pent up lust?”

“I’m good.”

“...What? N-No way, are you saying you’re already having plenty of sex in real life? Y-You’re a real pervert.” No, I’m just getting plenty of sleep. I don’t think it’s fair to call me a pervert for that, jerk.

“Um, it’s getting pretty chilly out here. Do you mind if I get under the covers too?”

“Fine, fine. It’s only cold cause you’re wearing a skimpy outfit like that, y’know. Be more careful.” I let the micro bikini wearing loli into my futon.

“...Town chief, you’re so waaarm!”

“Thanks. Now, oyasuminasai. Sleep tight. Kids who sleep a lot grow big and strong.”

“Okaaay.” I ignored her praise of dubious intent and patted the futon from above steadily. Soon enough, the loli began to doze off. Once I saw her close her eyes and fall asleep, I... fell asleep as well.

Day 41 of Year 2

Anyway, yeah, that was probably a succubus attack.

“Man, that sure was timely. All that business about a brothel has gotta be a plot by some succubi. What the heck is happening in this town?” I woke up and out of habit patted Niku’s head. Her dog tail, sticking out from the covers, wagged as she slept. Aaah... So wholesome.

Also, there was a pink-haired loli sleeping on the other side of me for some reason. She wasn’t naked or in a micro bikini, but suffice to say her outfit showed a lot of skin. I noticed because she was outside of the covers. You wanna catch a cold?

“...Looks like we’ve got an intruder. She must be pretty skilled if Niku didn’t notice her.” Weird, I’m pretty sure I locked the door. I wonder if she has some kind of special power related to infiltration. In any case, while the loli was busy sleeping happily with drool leaking out of her mouth, I checked her dot on the map.

She was earning us 20 DP a day. That was about as much as a normal villager, but considering her status as a loli, it was relatively high. Though I didn’t know how much being a succubus influenced things. Speaking of which, I just remembered that I can buy slave collars with DP. 5000DP each. Hm... You just have to put them on someone, right? No Contract Magic or something necessary?

＊ ＊ ＊

The pink-haired loli awoke beneath the blanket I had put on her.

“...Fwaah, mnnn, that was a nice nap.”

“Heya. Want some breakfast?”

“Yes pleaaase...” I handed her a sandwich that she immediately began munching on. Must be hungry.

“...Wait. I don’t recognize this room.”

“Finally noticed, huh? Didja like the sandwich?”

“Bwuh?! Who are you?! A kidnapper?! Wait... Uwaaah, the town chieeeef?!”

“Hahaha. Good morning, mademoiselle. Did you know that trespassing is a crime? Oh, and don’t run unless you want to die.”

“Eek?! To die?!” I tapped my neck. The loli gasped and touched hers as well, finally realizing that she wearing a collar.

“Wh-What did you do to me?”

“I just put a collar on you. Right, Niku?”

“Yes, Master.” Niku slid up beside me and proudly touched her collar. That collar being a slave collar. Seeing that, the loli paled.

“P... PERVEEEERT?! What do you plan to do with meee?!”

“Hahaha. Just saying, I’ve thoroughly soundproofed this room. Can you guess why?”

“Why...? N-No way!” Indeed: So I could sleep better at night. That was the one and only reason. Also, in case you were confused, the loli was wearing a simple mid-sized dog collar (10 DP). A slave collar needed the {Contract} skill to work, so I decided to roll with a bluff.

“So, why’d you sneak in here, little thief girl?”

“Thief? Eheh, I don’t steal things! I just came here to investigate you after hearing certain rumors, town chief! That means I am innocent and you have to free me!”

“Give me back the sandwich, then.”

“...I’ll wash dishes, clean, or do anything you ask! Just please spare my chastity!” She’s concerned about her chastity? Maybe she isn’t a succubus. Niku clung to my side, leaning onto me. I patted her head gently and for some reason that made the pink-haired loli panic even more.

“Anything but my chastity! Please, spare me from being defiled! I’ve sworn to give my first to the one I love! Oh, are you asking me to throw up the sandwich? Your goal here is my vomit, isn’t it! You’re a pervert that gets off to girl vomit! You’re planning to fap to the sour smell of a girl’s stomach fluids mixed with half-digested, chewed up food, aren’t you?! Or do you just want to see me tearing up while vomiting?! Is it both?! It’s both, isn’t it?!” said the loli before thrusting her hand into her mouth in an attempt to vomit. Uh, please stop? And holy shit, this girl sure knows a lot about dark fetishes. Your average loli isn’t so informed on the erotic depths of a girl throwing up. She’s gotta be a succubus.

“You don’t have to throw up. Just start by telling me your name.”

“Umm, m-my name is Michiru. I’m not tasty, so don’t eat me!” She spilled the beans on her name instantly. Hmm. Michiru, huh?

“I see. What were those rumors about me you were talking about?”

“...Well, um, that you’re a lolicon that loves little girls! There, I said it...!” Huh. Someone bought those rumors and sent a loli succubus at me, then... They must have a pretty crappy information network.

“Your objective?”

“...Ummm, well... They told me to get blackmail on you...”

“Why?”

“...M-My big sister wants to, um... I don’t know. She just told me to get blackmail. I’m begging you, please let me go. I’ll cry really hard if you don’t!” That big sister is probably the mastermind here. I walked up to the pink-haired loli—that is, to Michiru. She bounced in fear and trembled. But all I did was smoothly take off her collar.

“Bwuh?”

“I’ll let you go for now.” Michiru looked between me and the collar, conflicted. She touched her neck to make sure it had no collar.

“...Heh, it seems you’ve already completely fallen for my charm! I’m amazing!”

“Yup. I’m so head over heels that if you don’t leave right now, I’ll probably lose control of myself and go wild.”

“Eek?! Th-Thank you for the sandwich but I must be gooooiing!” Michiru threw open the window and hurriedly escaped. Oh, she tripped. That’s embarrassing.

“...Master.”

“Hm? What’s up, Niku?”

“Do you... like that kind of girl?”

“Nah. She seems kinda incompetent, so letting her go shouldn’t be a problem.” I marked her on the map, too, so I can find her instantly as long as she’s in dungeon territory... Oh? She’s already gone outside of town. Well, I’ll notice as soon as she comes back.

“...Master, I believe you are too lenient with little girls. Including myself.”

“I can’t deny that, but... Some people say children are a treasure, and anyway, she had a cute expression when she was sleeping.”

“Her expression?” Niku squeezed and rubbed her squishy cheeks while murmuring “sleeping expression” to herself. When I rubbed her head and told her she looked cute when she was asleep too, she wagged her tail.

Suddenly, someone knocked on our door.

“Um, Keima? I just saw a little girl wearing barely anything climb out of your window.” It was Rokuko. Explaining would be a pain, but I didn’t see any way around it. At this rate she would pin me down as a pervert that kidnaps little girls. Was that Michiru’s true goal? Naaah.

I went ahead and gave Rokuko the details on the girl.

“I see. So, to summarize, you tied up a little girl and put a collar on her.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty bad.” It looked like she understood the situation, but... For some reason, she was kicking me in her loli form. It hurt. At least do this in teen form.

“Anyway, if that’s what’s going on, can’t we just summon a Succubus of our own?”

“...Right. Fight fire with fire. We have enough DP to summon a Succubus right now, so let’s do it.” Time for the Catalog. I opened the DP Catalog from the menu and searched for a Succubus... Wait, what? 30,000 DP? That’s a lot cheaper than I remember it.

“Well, whatever. Let’s summon one. If all else fails she can work in the inn too, so yeah.”

“I think we can expect a lot of good things from a Succubus. We might want to make her wear a butler outfit, like Chloe.” And so, we moved to the Master Room to summon a Succubus.

I spent 30,000 DP and a magic circle spread out in front of us. Once it got to be about a full meter wide, a woman... did not appear.

“...Huh?”

“Did something mess up?” I closely investigated where the magic circle had been and found a ring lying on the ground. It was large and had a purple gemstone cut like an emerald fitted onto it. Oh, is this gemstone a magic stone?

“What’s with this ring? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t here a second ago.”

“Oh, wait, Keima. That’s probably the Succubus.”

“...Uh. What?” Succubus? This is a friggin’ ring. It does have a magic stone, though. What’s going on? I picked up the ring, and...

“(Master. Hi!)” A cute voice echoed in my head.

“Hm...? Oooh, I can hear her. Is this the Succubus?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Oh, excuse me. Hello, hello! I used telepathy at first there, sorry.” This time, the voice came from the ring. Is this like a ring-shaped speaker?

“Mhm, mhm. This is definitely the Succubus. Look, Keima, right here.” Rokuko showed me the Catalog. There I saw “Succubus (30,000 DP). Warning: Does not have a real body.”

I had completely missed that second part. How was that even possible? It was written in bright red text, too.

“...Well, cancel the plan to make her an inn employee, I guess. That sucks. I was hoping to get a good daily dose of Succubus feet each morning.”

“Okay, Keima, I’ll see you in my room later. Don’t expect me to go easy.”

“That’s fair,” said the ring.

What?! I don’t get it. Why?

Anyway, why doesn’t she have a body? How is she supposed to do anything if she’s just a ring? I don’t understand this at all.

“Er... So, what can you do? Since you don’t have a body, I mean.”

“I don’t have a body, so my main powers are possession and invading dreams. Though even a normal Succubus can invade dreams.” Which meant that possession was all she had that normal Succubi lacked.

“Possession, huh? So... Once you possess someone, are you stuck there forever?”

“No, I can free them at any time. The possession will end for certain once I, the ring, am removed from their finger. I can take over their body if I try hard, but if they resist me, I’ll only remain in control for about ten seconds on average.”

“Neat. Could you, theoretically, possess me?”

“Yes! Ah... Sorry. Your mana and dream power are so overwhelming, I won’t be able to possess you without your full cooperation!” What the heck is dream power? Also, I can hear Rokuko murmuring about how turning me into a Succubus was a genius idea she hadn’t thought of. The fool. A male “succubus” is actually called an incubus.

“Actually, you can possess men without any problems?”

“Correct. But if I possess a male, they turn into a femboy.” You know. I think I just heard a word I haven’t heard in a long time.

“Sorry, could you say that again?”

“Men possessed by me turn into femboys. That is, they turn into a cute boy dressed in girl’s clothing.” I didn’t mishear her... I’m surprised this world has the concept of femboys too.

“In particular, you have such strong mana and dream power that if I were to possess you, there is no doubt that you would become a stunning world-class beauty. You would be attacked by rabid men if you were to walk the street, and even hiring guards would be fruitless as they would attack you too. You would be among the mightiest Succubi to ever live. You would be... invincible.” Uh... What about that would make me invincible? Anyway, she could invade dreams without possessing anyone, so I decided to put off this whole experimental possession thing. Also, she remained a ring within her dreams, but apparently she could shapeshift at will.

“Alright, Rokuko, here you go.”

“...Wha? I already have a ring. The one you gave me.”

“No, I mean, let her possess you so we can see what happens.”

“Lady Rokuko has... Oooh! Yet more splendid amounts of mana, dream power, and even lust... Geheh... Oh, ahem.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure I just saw the ring flash sensually somehow. That’s a Succubus ring for you. It’s basically a cursed item. Maybe letting it possess Rokuko isn’t the best idea. Especially since I don’t want anything happening to my Dungeon Core.

“Okay, cancel that. Let’s experiment with someone else.”

“Hmph. Well, okay.”

“Awwww?! But she would end up wearing a super slutty Succubus outfit if I were to possess her! Master, don’t you want to see Lady Rokuko wearing a slutty, sexy outfit?!”

“I’m good.”

“I see, you are on such close terms that you have already seen every corner of her body. Excuse my rudeness.” I got the urge to smack the ring, but somehow held it in.

Anyway, who would be best to put the ring on? Rokuko and I decided to just summon the higher ups in our dungeon group by group. Sheesh... Rokuko, stop blushing so hard.

First, we summoned the three monster girls.

“How about these three?”

“Hmm, the silver-haired Vampire has the highest affinity with me. But she is inflicted with a curse I have no power over... The other two are roughly equivalent. Neither are good matches for me. Do those two even have lust at all, hmmm?” Rei’s attack power of zero would be unchanged even if a Succubus possessed her. And apparently the presence of lust was a factor in her compatibility with them. Let’s see... Kinue, the house fairy Silky devoted to doing chores, and Neruneh, the Apprentice Witch obsessed with her research. Yeah, neither of them seem too horny.

“Master. I know that Vampires and Succubi are both creatures of the night, both assume the bodies of humans, and both attack humans! However! Vampires and Succubi are firmly different races!” Rei, having been told she had the highest compatibility with the Succubus, looked a little close to crying. There was a lot about that she wasn’t too happy about. It probably felt like a wolf being called a dog.

“I know that. I was just having her check your Succubus compatibility.”

“In any case, shall I try possessing someone? I would like to experiment with what I can do myself.”

“...Well, you heard her. Any volunteers?”

“Yeees, me pleaaase. Can you let her possess meee?” Oh, surprising. Neruneh was the first to volunteer. Well... Thinking about them as a group, maybe it isn’t that surprising.

I went ahead and gave the ring to Neruneh. She slid it onto the middle finger of her right hand.

“Possession!” With a woosh, wind enveloped Neruneh... and in the next moment, her lab outfit morphed into a small, white swimsuit that only a pervert would wear. It might have been my imagination, but it looked like her chest got bigger too. But my eyes were drawn to her legs.

“Wooow, it changes my clooothes. Maybe we could utilize this to make magic that changes clothes in an instaaant?” Neruneh touched her body experimentally. Her touching was needlessly soft and sexy, her hands stroking her own body as if outlining its shape.

“My chest is bigger toooo. This might be good for body modification magiiic? Ahaha, this is better than I thooought. It feels like my mana is being boosted toooo.” I knew it, her chest did get bigger. “Mhm, this is really interestiiiing.”

“I guess we’ll use Neruneh as the Succubus’ conduit.”

“Aaah, sorry. Can I end the possession now? I feel super drunk... Cancel!” Possession can make her feel drunk? Seriously? Before I could say yes or no, the Succubus ended her possession. Neruneh’s outfit returned to normal. She was once again a fully clothed, bookish-looking cute girl.

“...Whew, I did my best! How was it?”

“What, is there a time limit or something?”

“Neruneh’s brain processes things at such a scary high rate that, well, how do I put this. I’m pretty sure she has no lust at all, except a lust for knowledge...” Huh, so Neruneh’s the type that looks calm but is thinking super fast, huh...? Kinue’s head is so full of recipes and cleaning and so on that I really don’t know if she’s horny at all.

And with that, we gave up on possessing the three monster girls. Too bad about Neruneh’s legs, but hey, there’s always next time.

Next up was Ichika and Niku. We summoned them after the three monster girls left.

“FWUOOOOOH?! What the friggin’ heeeck! Master, there’s a real goody heeere!” The Succubus let out a cry of glee and I could feel the ring shaking. Uuuuuh... Is it Ichika?

“This dog-eared slave girl is a natural succubus! Gehehehe, hey, little girl. W-Want to stick your finger into my hole? Come on, come on, just the tip.” The ring wiggled off my hand itself and rolled towards Niku.

...I had no idea! Why in the world is Niku a natural for being possessed by a succubus? Is it because of her name? Also, don’t say “my hole” like that. It’s not wrong, since you’re a ring, but still. And also, wow, that was some deft movement for a ring with no extremities whatsoever.

“What, dude, is this a succubus? Sorry my man, but she’s not gonna work with me. I’m more about eating than doing that other thing, if you catch my drift.”

“You have a nice body, however. I want to squeeze it. Two parts, specifically. Would you let me possess you so I can squeeze them? Well, all humans have some degree of lust, be it large or small, so we can make this work. Those other three girls were monsters so their relative lack of sexual desire made sense.”

“Isn’t Neruneh a monster descended from humans?” I think I remember Apprentice Witches, or rather Witches being humans who put magic stones into themselves or something like that.

“They have such a lust for knowledge and discovery that they became monsters... Heh, and they truly are monsters. I learned that not through hearsay, but through my body.” Interesting, so they’re not just monsters in name only. And shut it, you don’t have a body.

All that said, it didn’t feel right to let a Succubus possess Niku. I went to get the ring from Niku and...

“Very well.”

“That’s it, right there! That’s the stuff! Aaaahn! Possession!” A burst of light enveloped Niku. Why would she do that? And holy crap, Neruneh didn’t flash with light like that. Once the light dimmed... there was Niku, lying on the floor, wearing a black string outfit and aged to perfection, old enough to suit my tastes exactly. Her bare feet were exposed and her knees were bent such that their soles were pointed in my direction. Her toes wiggled invitingly.

...My heart thumped so hard I could barely breathe. What beautiful, oh so beautiful feet...! Ngggh!

“Here she is! Succubus Puppy!”

“...What she said.” Niku gave an awkward smile. Her conflicted look inspired a strong urge to protect in me. Ah, I want to hug her and lick her all over.

“Oooh... Hold on, Niku... Aren’t you basically just Keima?”

“Wha? Dude, lemme stop you right there, Rokuko. No way does she look at all like Master, for real. I mean, she’s totes radiating a sexy aura that’s making even a max hetero girl like me get a little wet, but she’s still a little girl just like always.”

Rokuko and Ichika gave their thoughts.

...Hm? Wait, there’s some contradiction going on here. It feels like we’re all seeing three different things here. I mean, I haven’t looked at anything but her feet, but still.

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

“I’m sorry, I believe this is the {Charm} passive skill at work. Ichika is likely seeing the most accurate representation of Niku’s true self,” answered the Succubus. In short, Rokuko and I aren’t seeing the real Niku.

“Judging by your reaction, you are quite charmed by her.” No, way... I’m being charmed? That’s impossible. All I’m thinking is that I want to rub my face against her feet and sniff them. Right now.

“...Oh fuck, I’m totally charmed! Ichika, punch the shit out of me! That’s an order!”

“Aye aye sir! Hyah!” Thump! Ichika’s fist dug into my cheek. Just like that, I flew to the side and tumbled across the ground. I felt that resting upon the Master Room’s white floor helped clear my head.

Still on the ground, I sighed.

“Whew. I’m back to my senses.”

“Why would you even do that, Keima? I just don’t get it,” came Rokuko’s exasperated voice. Ngh. I’ve never felt so humiliated in my life before.

“Nothing serious, that was just the closest I’ve come to crossing the line that must not be crossed. Up we go.” I stood up and saw Niku wearing a black bikini. She hadn’t gotten any older. At most her cheeks were a little feverish and her pupils looked redder than before.

...Also, Rokuko was hugging Niku from behind and chomping on her dog ears. Pretty hard, too. She was really into it.

“Fhyaah! R-Rokukooo... That tickles... Mmmph!”

“Keima, haaah, your ears are so delicious. Nom nom.” Niku’s expression was a lot softer than normal, probably due to the Succubus possession. And Rokuko was embarrassing herself a lot more than I had.

“I see... So this is what a charm trance looks like. Good to know.” It was in fact true that if one became too sexy and alluring, even their allies would attack them. Sexually.

“Snap out of it, Rokuko. That’s not me. It’s Niku.”

“Haah, haah... So what? Aaah, Keima’s sweet sceeent, sniff sniff.” Well... Nothing wrong with sitting back and watching this happen.

Wait, crap, no. I’m getting charmed again. I pinched my punched cheek and focused on the pain to retain my sanity.

“Succubus, cancel the possession!”

“Y-Yesh shiiir, aaah, Lady Rokuko, you’re sho good at thiiissh... Cansheeel!” With a flash of light Niku was back in her normal maid outfit. A few seconds later, Rokuko came back to her senses.

“Wha?! Wait, this is Niku. Why am I hugging Niku like she’s a pillow?”

“She charmed the heck out of you.” I said, which must have reminded Rokuko what she had been doing. She stepped away from Niku, adjusted her clothes, and coughed.

“...Succubi sure are scary, huh! I didn’t expect her to charm me too.”

“Yeah, their powers work on women too. That’s pretty intense.” Though actually, it didn’t do much to Ichika. Maybe Rokuko just swings both ways? Now I really don’t know what to think. I mean, in the first place, if Dungeon Cores are just things that Father makes himself, gender shouldn’t even matter to them... There’s a big chance gender is just for show.

...Ah! If they can change their age in a snap, maybe they can change their gender too?!

“Rokuko, turn into a guy for a second.”

“I didn’t know you swung that way, Keima.”

“Hey, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just interested in your gender for tactical reasons. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“Really?” Rokuko gave me a suspicious look. Yes, really. Never once have I thought “It’s not gay if it’s a femboy, as long as they’re cute.” I’m a normal guy with normal tastes that’s into girls, plain and simple. I just have a little foot fetish is all.

“I would need a magic drug to change my gender. I’m pretty sure a magic drug that works on humans will work on me too, so.” Oh, sex change drugs exist in this world, huh? That’s fantasy for you.

“If you’re more into guys, I can ask Haku for some so we can make this work.”

“No thanks. I love the way you are now, Rokuko.”

“L-Love? I’ll stay like this, then! And... By the way, Keima, what’s wrong with your cheek?”

“Don’t worry about it. {Healing}.”

I cast Restoration Magic on the bruise left by Ichika’s brutal hook. The pain faded in moments.

“You okay, Master? I hit you kinda hard, if we’re being real.”

“Yeah, and I appreciate that. Gotta say, I’m impressed that charm didn’t work on you.”

“Yo, to be straight, I was charmed enough that thinking about how you spend each night in bed with Niku was enough to make me hit you with some real deal anger, my dude.”

“My Succubus Puppy is pretty strong, isn’t she? Hmmm?” said the Succubus through the ring. “Gracious, I was only in her for a little, but I sure Succubused a lot there. Charming people is the bread and butter of a Succubus and I loved it! Master, Niku is the girl for me! I want to be good friends with her! So much so that I want to join bodies with her!” Yeah, that’s not happening.

“No. Succubus Puppy is too powerful, we can’t control her. She’d be our Helen of Troy, by which I mean, if we’re not careful she’ll start a war.” She would make a good trump card, but we couldn’t use her on a daily basis. At last... Our dungeon finally has an ultimate weapon.

“...That’s a little disappointing. I thought I would be useful this way...” The fact that my heart thumped a little at the sight of Niku’s tail drooping probably had to do with her Succubus scent still drifting in the air.

Anyway, so just what should we do with this Succubus ring... Ah, I should probably make it a Named Monster. We’ll be using her for defense purposes, so she needs a name for sure.

“Alright, Niku, go ahead and give her a name. It’d be annoying if we had to keep calling her ‘the Succubus ring’ over and over.”

“Oh, truly? Is this really happening? Niku! Please give me a cute name, if you would!”

“You want me to name her?”

“Ichika named the Silkies, so yeah. Have your turn.” Yeah. I’ll save naming monsters myself for when it’s significant enough to hold a naming ceremony.

“...What about Kosaki?”

“Sounds cute to me!”

“Like, Kosaki as in ‘ring sakibus’? That’s not very inspired. I can’t say I’m impressed, Niku.” Rokuko... You named your Phoenix “Phenny,” you can’t talk. And I know you named the Jewel Turtle “Jewely” because it’s on the list of Named Monsters. As an aside, the “ko” part of “kosaki” came from the fantasy world’s word for “ring.” Yep, I don’t understand this fantasy language at all.

“So, Keima, if we’re not giving Niku the ring even though she has the most compatibility with it, what are we going to do with Kosaki? Are you going to carry it around? That’s fine with me, I’m fine with you being a Succubus.”

“...No thanks, I don’t want to turn into a Succubus.” Let’s say that I let Kosaki possess me and turn me into a femboy Succubus. I give myself exactly three seconds before Rokuko’s all over me, probably sucking on my ears. She didn’t even hold back when it was Niku being possessed. Yeah... I couldn’t blame Haku for killing me if that happened!

“But actually, thinking about it, isn’t she supposed to be your Succubus bodyguard? She needs to be around you as much as possible.”

“I mean, uh, yeah, that’s true... But uh...” Now that she mentioned it, yeah, Kosaki was supposed to be my bodyguard. We were dealing with Succubi here and they generally go after dudes, which meant I was the only person in our group they would probably go after... And it wasn’t like Niku was working as my dakimakura at all times.

It took a lot of long, hard thinking, but in the end, I decided to carry Kosaki around myself. I made sure to emphasize that she needed to be around to protect me from invading Succubi, and that under no circumstances was I going to let her possess me.

...Maybe I should morph this ring into a Beddhist holy symbol. No? You’ll die? Crap.

Day 48 of Year 2

A week passed since then, but no other Succubus attacked. We had gone out of our way to summon Kosaki as a bodyguard, but the opportunity for her to earn her keep never arose. Not that I wanted to be attacked by a Succubus again.

Anyway, with that said, I was just lazing around our Beddhist church without doing much. There was no mass today. And you know, I had ended up as pope somehow, but my initial plan was just to serve as a simple priest, showing up at most to offer a prayer at festivals or something. I didn’t know why people started calling me the pope when I was just the founder of the religion and nothing more. They weren’t wrong, but they kinda were too. Which reminded me. Why had I become a pope famous for bringing about the miracle of sleep? I told them that was just Siesta’s powers, not mine.

Speaking of which, the bookshelves had gotten pretty full. I should probably coat them with plastic to protect them from drool. Once again, it’s time for {Create Golem} to shine. I can just reuse the plastic from curry rolls and stuff. Hamburgers are wrapped in paper, so they’re out. It’s gonna be a lot of work to coat every page in every book with plastic, but books are so expensive it’ll be worth it. They’re here for believers to read while falling asleep, after all...

Suddenly, I woke up and realized that I had fallen asleep. The sun was already setting. Truly, our chapel was perfect for taking afternoon naps. I fell asleep without noticing it and had a great nap.

Alright, time to head home and sleep some more... I thought, before noticing someone else sleeping soundly in the church. They must have come inside and started napping alongside me. That wasn’t too uncommon. Sometimes I even woke up to two or three people. Well. I hate to wake them up, but I guess I should.

“Excuse me, but it’s closing time. Please vacate the... premises...?” A closer look revealed that the napper was wearing a nun outfit. But it wasn’t Rei, Rokuko, or even Niku.

I shook their shoulders to wake them up and the nun hood fell, revealing glossy black hair. For a moment I questioned whether it was a Hero, but when they opened their eyes, I saw red pupils—something no Japanese person would have.

“Mmm... Aaah, it’s already so late... Mmph, I haven’t slept that well in a long time.” The nun rubbed her eyes and soon we made eye contact. “Good morning, and hello. People call me Sister Leona. Yes, I’m seventeen years old.” For some reason, she tacked her age onto the end of her self-introduction.

“Nice to meet you. Is this a raid from another church?”

“No, no, that would be ridiculous. I’m a sister of the Beddhist Church,” smiled Leona. Uhhh... What? She’s trying to call herself a Beddhist nun?

“I heard that a new church for Beddhism had been built so I came as fast as I could.”

“Riiight.” Gonna have to doubt that. The only Beddhist nuns out there were those I appointed myself: Rei, Rokuko, and Niku. Anyone else would have to be a rogue nun acting without official sanction. This was the only church practicing Beddhism in the world, after all, and I was the only one who could appoint nuns.

Leona smiled and continued.

“However, I am not a sister of the Beddhist Church that you know.”

“...What?” There’s a Beddhist Church I don’t know about? Did somebody make a Futon Church? Maybe a Sleeping Bag Church?

“To avoid confusion, I will refer to it as the Old Beddhist Church. You are the pope of the New Beddhist Church, and I am a sister of the Old Beddhist Church. Okay? We on the same page?”

“Y-Yep.” She was claiming her church was the original, but that was fine. I should hear her out.

“The truth is, the Old Beddhist Church permeated throughout all of humanity and became so ingrained in society that it just ceased to be. All modern churches are branches of Old Beddhism, and the fact is Beddhism is the one true church— Oh, excuse me. Putting that aside for now. The Old Beddhist Church worshiped the now-forgotten Creator God and sought peace, harmony, and rest above all else. The bible you found in the dungeon is no doubt an artifact of Old Beddhism.”

“W-Wow.”

“All gods have their origin in the Creator God. Thus, it was acceptable to worship any god of one’s choosing, and the other gods did not interfere with this.”

...Can you summarize a little?

“To put it simply, Beddhism was a religion that worships the Creator God. It became so commonplace in human life that it faded away, until it was recently revived by none other than you yourself.”

“I see...” Yeah, she’s lying to me. I made that Beddhist bible myself after all.

I settled on the fact that Leona was just prattling about nonsense, but she kept on going anyway.

“As a sister of the Old Beddhist Church, I, Leona Godswalker, accept this church. The New Beddhist Chuch is the True Beddhist Church! Beddhism has been reborn, here and now! Oooh Creator God, O Mighty Oht, I thank you for this miracle! Oyasuminasai!” declared Leona, her hands clasped in front of her chest in prayer. Alright... What’s her goal here? Is she trying to seize control of Beddhism? I have no idea why anyone would want to do that, but maybe she just thinks now is the best opportunity to do so since the church is in its infancy.

“Are you really a Beddhist nun?”

“Indeed I am. You can see my holy symbol here.” She held out an iron coin with a hole, the one most commonly sold in Goren thanks to our Iron Golems. Either she made it herself or bought it off someone else. Maybe I should have imprinted serial numbers on them, though there is the possibility she just bought one normally.

“...Speaking of which, the bible had a passage regarding this holy symbol.”

“Oh? You’re familiar?”

“Indeed. I believe the bible described it as thus: This holy symbol with its circular nature represents smooth harmony. The gentle curves encourage peaceful sleep, and dreams rest within the hole.” Consider me surprised. I had written that exact passage yesterday. However, I had not yet publicized it, and not even Rokuko had seen it. Why did she know about it?

“...How do you know that?”

“You confuse me. Is there anything odd about a nun knowing the contents of her bible?”

“Heh. I suppose that’s right.” Was it possible that there truly did exist a Beddhist Church in the past, and by sheer coincidence I wrote a passage that coincided word for word with one from its bible?

...No. I would lose my mind if this world had other bibles as full of made-up nonsense as mine. Leona was definitely pulling something here. I directed my mind to Kosaki, my Succubus ring, and sent my thoughts to her.

“(Hey, Kosaki. Have there been any Succubi sniffing around here lately? Yesterday and today, specifically.)”

“(Nope, not one. I don’t know about any non-Succubi though. It’s possible a Ghost could evade my detection, but well, you would be able to notice one of those yourself, right?)” She transmitted her thoughts from the ring. Yep. Even an invisible Ghost would show up as an intruder on our dungeon’s map. I kept the bible inside my {Storage} at all times, except when writing in it, using it as a pillow, or giving mass. When writing in it I showed Kosaki my map so she could keep watch. There was no chance anyone could spy on it.

...And yet, Leona somehow knew what was written in it. I didn’t know how, but she did. That was as good a reason as any to put my guard up around her.

“Now then, Keima. I would like to stay here for the foreseeable future. Would you be so kind as to lend me a room in the church?”

“...Hmmm.” I wanted to turn her down. I really did, but there was no reason for a Beddhist church to turn away a (self-proclaimed) Beddhist nun. In fact, I had even gotten carried away when building the church and included rooms for nuns, pilgrims, and so on. I hadn’t intended for anyone to ever use them, but well, here we are.

“You wouldn’t refuse me, would you? The Beddhist church preaches acceptance and compassion, remember?”

“...Of course not. Follow me.” Which meant that, despite her being incredibly overwhelmingly horrifyingly suspicious, I elected to let Leona stay in the church. At the very least, I’d rather her stay here than in the inn by the chief residence.

I returned to the chief residence to tell Rokuko about Leona.

“Heeey, Rokuko. Someone suspicious is here.”

“Seems so. You’re talking about that nun, right? Leona.” She had apparently been watching us through the dungeon’s monitor feature. That would save me some explaining time.

“What do you think we should do?”

“Figuring that out is your job, isn’t it? Well, if you ask me... It’s too early to say. Maybe just wait and see for now?” Agreed. We had way too little information.

“Time for some reconnaissance, then. Guess I’ll start by checking her daily DP income to get an idea of how strong she is.” I decided to look at Leona through the map function.

Let’s see... As a base value, a normal human adult gives 20/DP. Ichika the former C-Rank ranger gives 65/DP... Actually, it’s been 75/DP lately. Gozou the C-Rank adventurer representative is 120/DP, and Niku is 160/DP. Wow, Niku sure has gotten stronger. She started off at 0/DP and in just a year she’s gotten this much stronger... I’m getting scared of my own dakimakura.

Moving onto what might be considered the special category, Alca the High Priestess was about 250/DP, Suzuki the Hero was about 600/DP, and the black wolf slime thing Rin was 950/DP. Lately, Wataru’s been earning us 1500/DP. He was casually powering up too.

Okay. Now, how much was Leona?

“0/DP, huh...” Well, that’s how much Niku was way back when. Hooray. Leona’s just a weak small fry.

No, no, no. That’s not it. I know other cases of people earning 0/DP.

“Keima, that’s how much Haku and Chloe earned us too, right?” Indeed. Dungeon Cores and monsters also earned only 0/DP. Rokuko and I were both earning 0/DP too, as were Rei and the other dungeon monsters we had.

“...Don’t tell me that Leona’s a Dungeon Master too. Is she a Core, or maybe a dungeon monster?”

“I’ve never seen her at the Dungeon Core gathering. Though I don’t have everyone’s face memorized, and there’s some Cores in human form I don’t know.” Which meant she could be a spy sent from another Dungeon somewhere.

“It’s possible she has something to do with that Succubus from earlier.”

“But that Succubus had DP income, right? They seem unrelated to me.”

“The Succubus could be helping out of her own volition, just like Niku helps us.”

“...I see. I didn’t consider that possibility. That’s pretty annoying.” Mmm, yeah, I don’t know what to do here. Forcing her out blindly might make her antagonistic, which sounds like a pain. Hopefully there’s some peaceful way to get her to leave.

“Anyway, let’s just keep an eye on her for now. Rei’s our High Priestess and won’t be able to avoid contact with her, but you and Niku should avoid her whenever possible.”

“Okay. I’ll bring Niku up to speed.” Rei and I would be the only ones to interact with Leona, and we would keep said interaction to a bare minimum. That was the best we could do for now.

Day 49 of Year 2

And so, the sun rose on a new day after the incredibly overwhelmingly horrifyingly suspicious Leona spent the night in the church. When I went to offer her a sandwich for breakfast, she smiled at me.

“Keima, would it be acceptable for me to preach today’s mass?”

“...What?” Is she being serious? Wow, she might actually be trying to take over the church. In which case, I’m obviously going to shut her do— Wait.

...Why not let her take over the church? That would be fine with me. More than fine, really, as long as she preserved napping as the main form of prayer, which was the reason I established the church in the first place. The Divine Bedding had inherent protection in that only Rokuko could use it, and worst care scenario I could just give it back to Rokuko for safe keeping.

I would be absolutely fine if she took over the church. It would actually be a big help, too. She’d be doing my job for me, and I always had the inn to make more money. Seriously, this church grew way too big way too fast. It’s cutting into my sleeping time way too much.

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“Leave it to me!” Leona winked a red eye at me with a mischievous smile on her face, then started preparing for morning mass.

＊ ＊ ＊

Mass that day was a little different than normal. Reason being, it normally began with me, the pope, greeting the believers, but today a black-haired, red-eyed woman in a nun outfit was standing behind the podium. Leona.

As an aside, I was participating as a normal citizen, sitting in the furthest back row.

“Hello everyone, today is a perfect day for napping. Oyasuminasai,” said the nun, greeting the believers who did not recognize her. A stir ran through the chapel. Who’s that? Where’s Keima? Is he still asleep? Hey, he’s over here, in the back row! He’s skipping work! The stir grew louder.

Clap! The nun clapped her hands and drew everyone’s attention to her.

“I am Leona and it’s nice to meet you all. I’m a Beddhist nun that came from outside the city. Our leader, His Holiness Pope Keima, directed me to perform mass this morning. I pray that you will forgive my inexperience,” said Leona, bowing her head. Her vaguely alluring smile stopped the stirring believers in a snap. Very impressive.

“Now then, I will begin our morning nap mass. Today’s bedtime story will be... about the Beddhist Church.” Leona didn’t have the bible. She brandished her arms in the air and began speaking, gesturing as the story unfolded. “There was once only a single church in the whole world. It worshiped the one true god, the Creator God Oht, and it was the Beddhist Church of the past—Ancient Beddhism.” Leona was telling the same story she told me yesterday. The only difference was she said Ancient instead of Old.

“The universally known word ‘goodnight’ is actually a corruption of Beddhism’s prayer ‘oyasuminasai.’ They sound quite similar, don’t they?” I heard the believers nodding among themselves. It didn’t make sense to me thanks to the fantasy world’s language getting automatically translated, but hey, I guess coincidences happen. Maybe their word for goodnight was like ‘oyashinasaa’ or something. Interesting. This is the kind of thing I could only learn from someone else.

Leona continued to talk about Ancient Beddhism. The believers all listened to her with rapt attention.

“Ancient Beddhism lived on to this day through the impact it had on culture. The fact that His Holiness Pope Keima rediscovered the Beddhist Church and began rebuilding it from the ground up is unmistakable evidence that he is a true Servant of God. There could be no man more fit to be the Beddhist Pope. You would all do well to learn from His Holiness’s example. Let us all work hard and sleep harder.” The prayer kind of ended with a brown nosing about me, but once she was done the audience still clapped.

Okay. So far, so good. Just the prayer left. I wonder how she’ll do without my trusty blade Siesta. If she handles this fine, yeah, I’ll give her full reign over this place.

“Let us begin our prayer. Wan shep ova za fens.” Leona faced the believers and began chanting the holy prayer.

“Wan shep ova za fens,” returned the crowd.

“Too shep ova za fens.”

“Too shep ova za fens.” The crowd chanted back at Leona. This continued until five sheep (shep?), at which point Leona mumbled something. A wave of sleep immediately pulsed out from her. I heard heavy thumps. The believers around her had all fallen asleep so fast their heads hit their desks.

Was that magic? Weird, she couldn’t have chanted for long. She must have a sleep-related skill... One of those probably exists somewhere. Either way, I’m fine as long as people are being put to sleep. I think I’ll just go along with them and snooze a little.

...Man, being a believer is so much easier than being the pope. I could get used to this... Zzz.

＊ ＊ ＊

I left mass entirely to Leona and she managed to pull it off without a hitch. I decided to talk to her about it in the church conference room. Rei, who had been working backstage so to speak, came with me.

“That was a good mass.”

“For you to say that, Keima, it must have been a major success.” During mass she had been casually calling me His Holiness Pope Keima, but now she was back to just Keima. Well, that was fine with me. A grandiose title would just waste time.

I checked the Catalog after mass and found {Sleep}, a Low-Rank Darkness spell. With a spell like that it wouldn’t be too hard to put the believers to sleep without Siesta’s help. Which meant that... In other words... I didn’t have to preach mass myself. Rei, Niku, Rokuko, or basically anyone could do it for me. Discovering that made this whole thing worth it.

“Let’s just say I learned a lot from it.”

“In that case, you will allow me to continue residing in the church?”

“...Yeah, sure. We have the space.” It helped that I had no reason to refuse her. However, Leona didn’t stop there.

“Incidentally, I am also willing to perform massages as a sister of Beddhism.”

“Oh? You can give massages too?”

“Not ones comparable to the High Priestess’s, unfortunately, but I have some confidence in them. Shall I assist the church there as well?” No way, she can take care of mass AND give massages? She can do everything.

“Wait just a moment. I have something to say about that,” interrupted Rei, the High Priestess of Beddhism. “I believe it will be necessary to check her massages to make sure they are fit for our customers. Anyone can claim to have skills they lack.”

“Ahaha, certainly. Does that mean you volunteer to experience one of my massages, High Priestess?” Leona flicked her wrists, but Rei stood strong.

“...It does. Do your worst!” Rei headed to the massage parlor. Leona followed after her... and then said something out of the blue.

“I’ll warn you now... I love women too.”

“...Wait. Why would you say that now?” Rei stopped in her tracks. Her face was scrunched up.

“You won’t be able to judge my massage if you fall asleep midway, right? And if you fall asleep knowing my tastes... Well, I don’t think you can complain about what I do.”

“Um, what?! You don’t have to go that far! If I fall asleep during the massage, that’s just proof you’re fit for the job.” Rei looked to me for help. I avoided eye contact.

“Then there won’t be any problems at all. Now, High Priestess. I’ll massage you until you fall asleep, nice and cozy.”

“T-Ten minutes! We stop after ten minutes! That will be long enough for me to judge your massage and avoid falling asleep!” No, Rei, don’t say it like that! You’re dooming yourself! I thought while watching Leona practically drag Rei to the massage parlor.

Ten minutes later, Rei had fallen completely asleep. Bravo.

...Oh, don’t worry, I was standing guard. She didn’t do anything weird. It was just a normal massage. I didn’t see her use {Sleep} or any other magic skill. Yet here lies Rei, so deeply asleep that she’s drooling. She... She must’ve been pretty tired.

Naturally, that meant Leona would be contributing massages in the future as well. I would probably have to pay her a wage, then... How much should it be? The same as Rei’s? Regardless, both her massage and her preaching were perfect. I had no idea who she was, but Leona was exactly what our our church needed.

...Maybe I should let her handle managing Beddhism in its entirety? Hahaha.

Day 53 of Year 2

Now then. Since Leona ended up being a very competent individual who could bring a lot to the church, I thought it would be best to introduce her to everyone. Up until now only Rei—famous as the High Priestess of Beddhism as she was—and I had been interacting with her on the business side of things, but if she was going to be living with us as a nun for a long time, it would be important for her to meet with the other nuns, Rokuko and Niku, as well. To be honest, I wasn’t that into the idea, but a simple meeting should be harmless.

...Ahhh, but it might be dangerous if she’s after Rokuko. Though this would be a good opportunity to find that out in the first place.

And so, I planned to have the three of them meet in the church’s conference room. To keep things under my control, I would be the one calling Rokuko and Niku over. The three of them would be meeting in the church regardless, so this way was more productive than calling Leona over to the inn.

“I haven’t mentioned this before, but this church actually has two more nuns.”

“The inn’s owner and her bodyguard, yes? I’m looking forward to meeting them.”

Seconds later, there came a knock on the door. Rokuko and Niku were here.

“I’m coming in.”

“Excuse... me...” Rokuko was the same as always. But Niku, who came in with her, was obviously acting weird. She’s... nervous? Is Leona radiating a powerful aura that I can’t pick up on? Maybe she’s pretty dangerous after all.

“I’ve heard about you. My name is Rokuko Labyrinthart and I own the nearby inn.”

“I’m Leona. Nice to meet you.” The two of them smiled at each other. Then, Leona walked over to Niku. It was hard to tell due to her dark skin, but she clearly looked unwell.

“...You’re Toi, aren’t you?”

“Ngh!” Niku trembled with a jerk. Toi...? What’s she talking about?

“I wonder what in the world you’re doing here, Toi. But regardless, long time no see?”

“Nnnn...! N-No, I’m not... not Toi...! I’m, Niku. Niku Kuroinu...!” Seriously, Niku was acting beyond strange. Fear, panic, and shock were radiating off her.

“Oh please, don’t hurt me like that. Don’t you remember how often I used to pat your head back then?” said Leona, stretching out her hand. But Niku slapped her hand away and keeled over. Sweat was bursting from her skin and I could tell from here that she was shaking, hard. Judging by what Leona said, they knew each other from the past. That said.

“Get away from her, Leona,” I stepped in between them. Regardless of the circumstances, it was clear I shouldn’t let her get any closer to Niku.

“...It seems I mistook her for someone else. I’m sorry for scaring her. She looks very much like an old friend of mine.” Leona took several steps back.

Niku was still shaking. I wasn’t dumb enough to see that and actually believe that Leona actually mistook her for someone else.

“Rokuko, go take Kuro somewhere to rest.”

“R-Right. I’m on it. Can you stand?”

“...Yes.” Rokuko lent Niku her shoulder. The two of them unsteadily walked out of the room. The meeting had gone in an entirely unexpected direction. To think that Niku would be the one to have a history with her.

“Alright, let’s hear an explanation for that. What was all that about Toi?”

“Toi is the name of my long lost little sister. Well, like I said, I had the wrong person.” Little sister? She thought Niku was her little sister? That didn’t make sense. She was a human and Niku was a beastkin. Their skin colors were different, as were their eye colors. Their faces... well, it was hard to tell if they looked similar or not. They kinda did, but they kinda didn’t.

“You two look pretty different for you to mistake her as your little sister.”

“We have different mothers. Different fathers, too.”

“You’re saying she’s your little sister and you’re not blood related?”

“We’re of the same family, so we are blood related. Our black hair is proof of that, and why I mistook that girl for her,” said Leona, touching her hair.

“Our faces look quite similar as well. We both have two eyes, one nose, and even one mouth. Oh, and speaking of which, you have black hair as well, Keima. My long lost little brother!”

“Not in the mood for jokes.”

“What a shame. If you were my little brother, I would have liked to take a bath with you and wash your back,” giggled Leona, teasingly.

“Like I said, not in the mood for jokes. I’m being serious here. Also, I’m over 20 years old.”

“Oh my, but you look so young. So, is there anything else you want to ask?”

I got back on the subject.

“Let’s assume she’s Toi. Getting that scared isn’t normal. What did you do to her?”

“Who can say? That girl isn’t Toi, so her being afraid has nothing to do with me.”

“You honestly think I’m going to believe that?”

“The real Toi would have wagged her tail and peed herself with joy to see me, certainly.” The hell? She’s not a dog, she won’t pee herself... Well, I guess she kinda is.

“...She’s your little sister?”

“Yes. What of it?” Yeaaah... I’m not gonna get anything out of her. I’m just gonna ask Niku.

And so, I cut the conversation with Leona short and went to see Niku. She was lying on a bed in the chief residence, looking exhausted.

“How’s she doing?”

“She just calmed down. What in the world happened?” Rokuko gently stroked Niku’s head.

“No clue. All I could get from Leona was that she mistook Niku for her little sister named Toi.”

“Little sister? Didn’t she say she looked like an old friend?” Wait... Yeah, I think she did. Things don’t add up here. Something’s not right about Leona, I knew it. Might have been a mistake to set up this meeting so soon.

“Master...”

“Niku. Feeling better?” Niku sat up, her small body trembling. She still looked sick.

“...Can you explain to me what happened?”

“I’m not sure... The second I saw her, my whole body started trembling... I couldn’t move my legs... My head went totally blank...”

“If it hurts to talk about, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“It’s okay. I’m... fine. I think... this is because it happened before I became a slave.” Speaking of which, Niku had said her memories before I saved her were all fuzzy. She must have been pretty young if it was before she was enslaved in the slums.

Now that I thought about it, there were a lot of mysteries surrounding Niku. In this world it was rare for those other than Heroes to have black hair and black eyes. Putting aside her dark skin, those dog ears of hers proved she wasn’t entirely Japanese. And finally, although she was getting assistance from the Wearable Golems I made, she was a ferociously powerful fighter.

The easiest way to judge someone’s strength was by their daily DP income. Niku earned more than not just Ichika, a trained ranger, but a dwarf adventurer specializing in close range combat. That just didn’t make sense. The Golem’s assistance didn’t factor into how much DP she earned. It was just her equipment; all Golems I made with {Create Golem} earned only 0/DP.

And yet, a little girl somewhere around 10 years old was stronger than veteran C-Rank adventurers. That wasn’t something you could pass off as simple talent.

“...Niku. Can you remember your past before you became a slave now? Any information would help here.”

“Umm... Sorry. I can’t remember.”

“Well, that’s fine.” I rubbed Niku’s head. She lowered her eyes in regret.

“Want a hamburger? You can eat as many as you want.”

“...Yes please.” Anyway, I wasn’t trying to bribe her with food or anything. I just wanted her to cheer up as soon as possible. It was only after seeing Niku munching away at hamburgers that I could relax and assure myself that she was okay.

Rokuko and I left Niku to rest and went to my room to discuss things. Niku had fallen asleep and I was tired enough to want to sleep myself, but Rokuko butted in before I could.

“Niku can’t be a nun as long as Leona’s around. I’ll have Ichika take her place.”

“That sounds like a good idea. She should have just about finished training the Silkies by now. Kinue can take care of the rest.”

“You should stay away from the church too, Rokuko. Rei and Ichika can take care of things.” The church could operate with only three nuns, the same number I appointed initially. If we included Leona in that number, Rokuko didn’t need to go herself.

“I hate to admit it, but the church will do fine as long as Leona’s around.” Really, I kinda wished that Leona was just a normal human.

“Did you ever figure out why she only earns 0/DP?”

“Nope, not at all.” I had considered the possibility that she was a human-shaped monster like our own monster girls, but couldn’t confirm anything. Maybe I should try asking Ittetsu, the Dungeon Core of our neighboring dungeon the [Flame Caverns]. He was old and knew a lot about a lot of things.

“Oh hey, Keima, you have your {Ultra Transformation} skill. Maybe transforming into her will reveal something?”

“Oh. Nice thinking, Rokuko. Let’s try it.” I went ahead and used {Ultra Transformation}.

Day 5X of Year 2

“Uh... Hmm?”

“Ah! Keima! Keimaaa!” I woke up and Rokuko immediately hugged me.

“...Wait, Rokuko? What happened to me...” Ngggh. My head hurt. It felt like a split watermelon. What is this, a hangover? I don’t remember drinking last night...

“Don’t you remember, Keima? You exploded somehow. Then you slept a whole day.” Exploded? Slept a whole day?

“Hold up, hold up. What’re you talking about? What actually happened?”

“Ummm, there’s a recording. Hold on a second, I’ll show you.” Still clinging to me, Rokuko navigated through the menu. A clear window appeared in front of me.

“Oh hey, Keima, you have your {Ultra Transformation} skill. Maybe transforming into her will reveal something?”

“Oh. Great idea, Rokuko. Let’s try it.” The me on the screen used {Ultra Transformation}, shown from Rokuko’s perspective. My body shined briefly with light, and Leona’s silhouette became visible. The next moment my body exploded in all directions with only my clothes being left behind. The room was coated in the shower of blood and the video being painted pure red showed that the blood got in Rokuko’s eyes too.

“Kei...ma? Wha, I, what?! No way! Keima?!” Rokuko, in a panicked state, looked at my scattered body parts. It was pretty grotesque. My ruptured heart was lying of the floor still beating. This needs some mosaics... Eugh. I might have nightmares about this.

“What just... happened?! No way, is he... dead?” The second after she said that, the remains of my body vanished in bursts of light and gathered all in one place. When the light faded, I was lying in bed. With my clothes still on the floor. I would normally be covered in blood, but the light must have cleaned me off. And yeah, I was naked.

“Keima?! You’re alive... Thank goodness... Thank gooooodness...” The video ended after Rokuko checked that I had a heartbeat. I hadn’t noticed until now despite her continual clinging, but Rokuko’s eyes were a little red and puffy.

“Rokuko?” She sniffed. Incidentally, I was wearing clothes now, probably because Rokuko put them on me. I want to call her a pervert, but I don’t think now’s the right time for that. Yeaaah.

“...Keima. Do you feel okay? Are you hurting anywhere?” Just a headache, nothing else... Oh crap, I’ve got some pretty bad muscle pain. But this is the kind of pain that feels like it’ll go away soon. It’s probably just happening ’cause I spent a whole day in bed.

“I’m not feeling perfect, but I’m fine. {Healing}.” A warm light embraced my body. My body’s pain disappeared, but not my headache. Man... I’m hungry. “Yeah, my head still hurts a little, but it should be fine soon.”

“I’m so glad... I thought you had died, and I... Sorry, if I hadn’t suggested that...”

“Don’t worry about it, nobody could have predicted that. You’d have to be a time traveler or something.”

“But still, sorry...” Rokuko squeezed me tightly. It hurt a little, but I still patted her head.

After a bit, she calmed down.

“...Hey, Keima. Do you remember anything?”

“Hmmm, let’s see.” I tried transforming into that nun, Leona, and... Right. I suddenly felt an intense chill, then felt heat rapidly building up in my body. I probably died after that. Then I was brought back, thanks to {Ultra Transformation}. I could tell that somehow. Jesus. If my {Ultra Transformation} wasn’t Level 3, I would have died for good then and there.

“All I know is that I died because I transformed into Leona.”

“Why would a simple transformation do that? I don’t get it.” I didn’t want to think about my death, but I could feel some malice in it. Maybe she inflicted a curse on me?

“...I don’t get it either. Could be some kind of defense system.”

“A defense against {Ultra Transformation}...? Isn’t that a little too specific?”

“Not just that, but anything that ‘identifies’ her, so to speak. We should probably stop trying to look at her DP income. It’s just zero anyway. Oh, that might be because of the defense system.”

“Maybe.” Rokuko nodded, still clinging to me. Uh... Rokuko? It’s kinda hard to move, could you let go of me already?

“By the way, Rokuko. Mind if I ask something?”

“And what’s that?” Rokuko replied, having finally let go of me after I gave her a melon roll.

“That video was from your perspective, right? Are you recording everything all the time?” Indeed, in order to record footage like that, you had to activate the recording function in the menu ahead of time. The dungeon didn’t just automatically record everything we saw. As an aside, you could edit and delete saved footage.

“...Not everything. I only start recording when I’m with you.”

“Uh. Why are you doing that?” That kinda makes it sound like Rokuko is a stalker. All that video footage would take up a lot of space. I wonder how much space the menu even has in the first place. We might be nearing its limit already.

“...You won’t laugh?”

“Nope. You can tell me.” If she was recording it for a weird reason, I could tell her to delete it all.

“Well. You’re eventually going to die before me, right? You can tell just by looking at Haku that we Dungeon Cores live a lot, lot longer than humans. I’m... I’m preparing for when that happens.” Holy crap that’s a lot more heavy than I expected! Geez. Rokuko’s thinking that far ahead...? I see, she’s not a stalker, she’s like a parent recording an album of her growing child! “...Should I stop?”

“.........Nah, it’s fine. Feel free.” Rokuko burst into a bright smile. How could I turn her down?!

“So, so, I can record a lot more?”

“D-Don’t record too much, okay?!” Crap... W-Well, I can’t blame her. Her lifespan is a lot longer than mine. Unless I become immortal somehow, I’m either going to die with Rokuko or die and leave her to live alone.

“By the way, I wonder if Dungeon Cores can have children with humans? What do you think, Keima?”

“Ahhh, anyway, I wonder what’s going on with Leona and the others.” I blatantly changed the subject.

“...Umm, Niku went back to the inn. Leona discussed selling holy water with Ichika. It’s water mixed with a herb that encourages peaceful sleep.” Holy water exists in this world too, huh? I wonder if it does damage to undead monsters like Zombies.

“Rei drank some with herbal tea, so probably not.” Oh right... Rei was a Vampire, which were classified as undead. I forgot that all the time.

Day 56 of Year 2

In the end, we never figured out why Leona earned us 0/DP a day. And thus I decided to ask the gullimander (gullible Salamander) Ittetsu for his advice. As neighbors, when one of us was in trouble, both of us were in trouble. Though as it stood it was mainly just me asking him for advice and help all the time.

I asked to meet him in our shared secret meeting room and he agreed casually. I then showed him Leona on the menu, talked about how she was earning 0/DP, and asked if he had any idea. While I was at it I mentioned that he and I were both 0/DP a day.

“What’s so fuckin’ weird about that? You’re only gettin’ 0/DP too, yeah?”

“Sure, but she’s a human.”

“Yeah? And what the fuck are you? You’re human too, ain’t ya?”

“That’s different. I’m a Dungeon Master.”

“Guess that means she’s a Dungeon Master too, huh?” A human Dungeon Master, or possibly a Dungeon Master hiding themselves in human form? That was possible, but not what I wanted to ask.

“Have you ever seen something other than Dungeon Masters or Dungeon Cores earning 0/DP? I was thinking you might know something about that since you’re so much older than us.”

“Ah... Sorry, but I’m just now learnin’ you can even see daily DP income like this. Between you and me, most of my DP comes from the fuckin’ Tsia Mountains. We don’t give too much of a shit about intruder DP. Though we can tell how strong they are.” For real? I hadn’t expected that Ittetsu would know less about dungeons that I did. “Eh, all I can say is, she’s probably got somethin’ to do with dungeons. Probably not a Dungeon Core though. I’ve never seen someone like her at the Core gathering, and... Wait.” Ittetsu, remembering something, put a claw on his chin and scratched.

“...Nah. Forget it.”

“C’mon, you gotta tell me now.”

“It’s nothin’, just something Core 5 was telling me. You know anything about Core 4?”

“I saw Core 5 and Core 6 recently, but not Core 4.”

“The hell are you doing? Ah, right. Core 695— Wait, Rokuko now. She had a little fight there. Seems like she got a last name... You musta won then, huh?” I wonder what unrelated Dungeon Cores knew about our triple threat Dungeon Battle. I was a little curious.

“Yeah, we won.”

“Heheh, figures. Wouldn’t expect anything less from the team that beat me. The fuckin’ brats Core 5 had to deal with are one thing, but beating Core 6’s Core 666 is somethin’ else. Heh, good job, yeah.” Ittetsu’s lizard face broke into a happy grin. The idiot trio we fought were like little kids to him, it seemed.

“By the way, I suggested her last name.”

“Y’did? Let’s check it out with my name, alright? Ittetsu Labyrinthart. Pretty cool, huh?” His flaming lizard tail slapped the ground in amusement. Uh... Sorry, I should have thought up a better name. It kinda feels like Lovelyhart when he says it like that and I hate it.

“More importantly, what was all that about Core 4?”

“Right. I heard Core 4 has black hair in her human form. Core 5 was pissed about it ’cause it’s like she’s a Hero. The thing is, though...”

“Yeah?”

“She only ever went to the gathering once. Before I was born, too, so we’re talking more than four, five hundred years ago. Rumors say she’s already dead.” Ittetsu was so old he forgot how many centuries he’s been alive? I guess one’s sense of time would go wonky if you were an immortal Salamander living with a Dragon.

In any case, if she hadn’t gone to the gathering in that long of a time, it wouldn’t be odd at all for her to have died. But Cores are immortal. It was possible.

“Know anything else about Core 4?”

“Ehhh, yeah. Consider this a gift, a’ight? Her last name’s the same as the one you thought up,” Ittetsu cackled. I’m glad you’re enjoying this.

“Seems that people called her Chaos.”

“Chaos...? Why’s that?”

“Who the fuck knows? Same reason Core 5’s called the Dragon King and Core 6’s called the Demon Emperor, I’d say. Cores with just one number all have second names.” Haku had two digits, but she was called Traitor by some. Did that count as a second name? Or was it just an insult?

“Eh, anyway, I dunno. I’ve never seen her before.”

“Alright.” I gestured Ittetsu over. He leaned over the table so I could whisper into his ear (the side of his head?). We were the only ones in the room so we didn’t really have to do that, but hey, I appreciated him playing along.

“...I want to experiment a little with this DP income stuff. Mind helping?”

“Sure, I’m gettin’ interested in it myself. Just share the loot, alright?”

“Of course. Thanks, neighbor.”

“If you’re lying here... Uh, what’s that thing you do? Bite on a thousand needles?”

“The punishment for breaking promises passed down by Soldiers of God? That’s swallowing a thousand needles. It probably wouldn’t be too bad for a Salamander or a Dragon, given how you two can eat swords no problem, but a normal human would definitely die. In other words, it signifies that the person will keep their promise or die.”

“Seriously? Humans are hardcore.”

“Yeah, but there’s a loophole here. In Japanese, ‘a thousand needles’ is the name for pufferfish, so you can...” As we bonded over talk about how much Soldiers of God sucked, we performed a simple experiment. I didn’t want to swallow a thousand needles, so I told him the results in full.

By utilizing the door leading to the [Flame Caverns] in the [Phenny’s Playground] area Rokuko made, I learned that common monsters from other dungeons did in fact earn a slight amount of DP. However, monsters which had the power to use the menu went straight down to 0/DP. That was probably why Chloe from Haku’s dungeon only earned 0/DP.

“Huh. Goes down to 0 when they can use the menu, huh? That’ll be all, Burning Fire,” said Ittetsu, after which the Flame Spirit in our dungeon let out a puff of fire and returned home. Incidentally, Burning Fire meant “burning fire” in Dragon language. The auto translator made them sound like the same thing to me, though, so Redra had probably named it herself. It looked like a floating ball of fire. Maybe to Dragons, there was some fire that... didn’t burn...?

“Those guy’s are real cheap and useful for our dungeon. They don’t need food or nothing, you just gotta give ’em some magma to hang around.”

“Interesting... They probably wouldn’t be a good fit for my dungeon, though. Maybe I could put a few in Phenny’s place.” I checked my catalog and saw [Flame Spirit (400,000 DP)]. That’s expensive.

“Yeah? Only costs 200,000 DP for us. Probably just ’cause I’m a Salamander, or whatever.”

“Oh yeah, that could be it. Or maybe it’s because your dungeon’s most of a volcano?” Either way, Ittetsu was the Dungeon Core and the Dungeon Master was a Dragon. Their dungeon being in a volcano just strengthened their fire specialization. It was perfectly natural that Flame Spirits would be cheaper for them.

“Want to trade normal monsters so we can make extra DP?”

“...That ain’t gonna work. Those normal Flame Spirits only give 20/DP, yeah? It’d take years to be worth it.”

“That’s true. And I can’t even think of which monsters I would send over. Hm... Do you want about a hundred Goblins?”

“HELL NO!” Ittetsu roared with laughter. Well, at least now I know what makes someone worth 0/DP. Monsters sent to other dungeons stick out a lot. Those that can use the menu end up at 0/DP and those that can’t barely give any DP at all.

That said, not even Ittetsu knew about the daily DP income. It wouldn’t be weird for someone to send a dungeon monster not knowing how obvious it would be. Which meant that indeed Leona could have been sent here from another dungeon. I’ll keep an eye on her and see if she tries contacting anyone on the outside.

Day 62 of Year 2

Half a month had passed since Leona arrived. She had become a natural part of our church. She took her job as a nun seriously and the Beddhist faith was growing stronger with each day, spreading onto many of the merchants passing through town. Sure, she was insisting on Beddhism being a proper church with a long history, but that was fine. It had nothing to do with me.

Leona led mass and gave massages alongside Rei, but apparently she was so incredibly better at massages than Rei that she was becoming more popular. As of yet, she had not contacted anyone from the outside. Most of those whom she gave massages to were normal merchants and travelers. Though there were endless methods by which she could be secretly communicating with people. Long distance telepathy or something of the sort would fly completely under my radar. Nothing I could do about that.

...But honestly, I was scared of how much of a perfect nun she was. Rei was even learning the ins and outs of giving good massages from Leona... Wait, when did they get so close? Being a little friendly to avoid suspicion was one thing, but Leona posed a lot of danger to our dungeon. Rei better not be leaking any secrets.

The days passed uneventfully until an unexpected visitor arrived.

“Keima, I don’t know the details, but it looks like Kinue has captured that Succubus from before. The pink loli you bullied with the collar.”

“...Oh yeah, I forgot about her.” Our uninvited visitor had returned. But wait, what does she mean Kinue “captured” her? She’s been poking around here and there, but I’ve been ignoring her since she never came close to the chief residence or the inn. Leona’s been keeping me too busy to worry about anything else.

“How’d she end up, uh, capturing her?”

“I thought you’d ask that, so I called her over here.” Rokuko called for Kinue, and she came into the room with a bow. Guess I’ll ask for the details.

# Michiru’s Perspective

Michiru, the pink-haired loli that invaded the town, had a job. That job was to get blackmail on the town chief. Information had led her organization to believe that the town chief was just for show and that the vice chief Wozma, owner of the local bar, had all the real power... but in reality, the town chief had ultimate authority and was capable of vetoing the vice chief’s suggestions. Thanks to that blunder, the brothel documents her ally had engineered had been shot down, which ruined their plan to infiltrate the town by posing as prostitutes.

Which is why her new job was to get dirt on him. Research suggested that he was a lolicon down to the bone with a profound love for little girls, which is why this job fell on Michiru, the youngest and least developed of her allies. There were few foes as great to Succubi as lolicons, for in their passion they could easily detect when an adult Succubus was morphing into loli form for the purposes of deception. But as Michiru was a true loli, there was no deception to be seen through. They had thus sent her with great anticipation for success... only for her to solidly fail.

“...But I won’t give up! I’ll wrap that town chief around my thumb if it’s the last thing I do!” said Michiru, clenching a fist. She had more than enough enthusiasm. But failing once and being sent fleeing into the forest put a shadow over her.

With a growl, her stomach grumbled. She had run out of food. There was a limit to how much food she could scavenge from the forest.

“Ngh... If only there was lust around, I wouldn’t need food. Maybe I could try and find some animals...” But the town was a recently founded mining town of adventurers. No homes had any domesticated pets. There weren’t even any Tamers who had monster familiars. And unfortunately, seducing an adventurer was too great a task for Michiru.

With her strength failing, she ended up wandering to the inn, but she was so depressed about her failure that she sat on the ground sadly. That was when someone found her.

“Oh my, hello young lady. What are you doing there?”

“Bwuh?” She looked up and saw a pretty, green-haired woman wearing a frilly outfit. That outfit... If Michiru remembered correctly, it was the uniform worn by those working in the inn.

“Are you the child of one of our visitors? May I ask where your mother and father are?”

“Um, ummm... Ummm...!” Michiru began floundering. She was in enemy territory and had to watch everything she said.

But her body was honest. Her stomach let out a cute growl. Michiru blushed.

“Oh my, it sounds like you’re hungry. Would you like some of our leftover rolls?”

“A-Are you a goddess?”

“My my, I’m afraid not. I’m a simple maid.”

“Ah! But my sister says I shouldn’t go places with strangers...”

“Then shall we introduce ourselves? I am Kinue. I work at this inn. Who are you?”

“M-Michiru...”

“Michiru, hm? That is a nice name. Now we aren’t strangers anymore, are we?” The woman... Kinue smiled and held out her hand. Michiru timidly took her outstretched hand. The hand gently squeezed hers and helped her stand up. If I had a mother, maybe she would be like this, thought Michiru.

“Um... I’m not one of this inn’s customers. Is that okay?”

“My my, then I’ll treat you with food as a friend. Michiru.”

“Ah...! O-Okay! Friends! We’re friends, Kinue!” And so, Michiru followed the green maid into the inn and then into the cafeteria.

# Keima’s Perspective

“And so, I captured the target. How did I do?” I took a look at the map and saw Michiru sleeping in Kinue’s room. Her sleeping expression was that of an innocent, pure child. Apparently, Kinue knew all that stuff about her sneaking around due to her confessing everything while eating bread rolls and crying. What an easy nut to crack. Anyway, what to do with her...

“Shall I eliminate her for you?” asked Kinue. I froze in shock. What did she just say, with a warm smile on her face?

“I suggested that I eliminate her for you.” I didn’t mishear?!

“Wow, Kinue. I’m like a Core and stuff, but I’m still surprised you’d say that after calling her a friend.”

“I am a maid. I prioritize my job over my personal feelings at all times.” She was the epitome of an ideal maid and a shining example of a loyal monster, but man. I wanted Kinue to be more, like, soft! More gentle, more kind!

“...And what do you want to do with her, personally?”

“Ahaha. I would like to teach her to work and help her adjust to life here. She is my first friend, after all.” Whew. My dreams haven’t been completely crushed.

“But Kinue, don’t a lot of adventurers ask you to be their friends? Do they not count?”

“My my, Rokuko. Those men are not seeking friendship, they are in truth asking me to consider dating them. But my heart has already deeply fallen for housework, my one true love, and thus I turn them all down.” Oh, really? Man, Kinue sure is popular, huh? “I might consider their offers if they gave me a large building to clean as a wedding gift, however.”

“...I’m not giving you Keima, okay?”

“I am well aware, Rokuko,” said Kinue with a smile. Man, I wonder if Kinue has a lot of affection points for me. I gave her a name in a grand ceremony, an inn to clean, a chief residence to clean, a dungeon to clean, and I’m letting her cook as much as she wants. Not to mention that I recently gave her three subordinates. Yeaaah... She definitely has a ton of affection points for me. I might just be on the Kinue route here.

“Also, aren’t Rei and Neruneh your friends?”

“We’re friendly, but I feel that they are more coworkers than friends. We all serve the dungeon, after all.”

“That makes sense. You’re surprisingly dry about all this. Buuut anyway, we got off topic. Keima, what are we going to do with that little girl?”

“Good question.” Given our circumstances, I wanted to settle this as soon as possible. Which meant it would be best to contact the mastermind guiding Michiru from the shadows. I spoke to my ring.

“Hey, Kosaki, it’s time to work.”

“Okaaay! It’s Succubus extermination time!”

“No, I just want you to protect me. In my dreams, I mean.”

“As a bodyguard? Why do you want me to do that?” I’m just thinking I want to sit back and see what she does for a bit. Just a bit.

# Michiru’s Perspective

Michiru followed Kinue to the room where the town chief was sleeping. Apparently he had moved back to sleeping in the inn as a protective measure against Succubi. But that had ended up working against him.

“Th-Thank you, Kinue. You didn’t have to go this far to help me.”

“My my, aren’t we friends? Don’t worry about it. I’m glad to help you, Michiru.”

“Friends... Kinue, if you ever need my help, just say anything! I’ll be right there!”

“Ahaha. In that case, once this is over, would you mind helping me work in the inn?”

“Sure, I’ll help!” Michiru beamed a broad smile at Kinue, who smiled warmly back. She put a hand on the door, but it didn’t open.

“It seems to be locked. Whatever shall we do?” They were in trouble, but Michiru was unfazed.

“It’ll be okay! I’m a Succubus, so I can use my dream walking skill to sneak into his room! If I actually fall asleep my real body will end up in there, though.”

“Does that mean you intend to sleep on the floor? It’s not dirty thanks to our cleaning, but still. Wait one moment, I’ll bring a blanket.”

“Don’t worry, my body disappears while I’m dream walking. See you in a bit!” said Michiru before using her dream walking skill. Her body vanished into thin air.

Michiru’s vision shifted. She saw through doors, walls, and even the floor, seeing only people sleeping. It was vision that only those who walked among dreams, such as Succubi and Incubi, could ever have. The souls of those sleeping gleamed white and everything else was dark.

Since Michiru was a Succubus, the souls of men had a red border. That border signified dreams she could enter. (Though with some effort, she could also enter those without a red border.)

It was nighttime in an inn and she could thus see many people sleeping, but she ignored everyone except her target, the town chief. She passed through the door, unfazed by anything that did not reflect in her vision, and approached the town chief’s white soul. She caressed the red border and then plopped into his dream. Inside was the same extravagant bedroom as last time. And indeed, just like last time, he was sleeping soundly in the bed.

“...This time for sure, I’ll seduce him!” Michiru slid into the bed. It was such a comfy bed that she felt herself getting sleepy... but if she did fall asleep, she’d be banished from the dream and her physical body would reappear. (Though apparently she wouldn’t be banished as long as the one having the dream was watching her.)

Michiru resisted the bed’s comfiness and held her head over the town chief’s. With their bodies close together beneath the covers, she shook the town chief to wake him up.

“Town chief, town chief.”

“Mnnn... Ah! Y-You’re that loli from before.”

“U-Um. Would you like to... h-have fun with me?” She had worn fairly sexy clothes during her failed attempt, so this time she was wearing her normal clothes. Though the normal clothes of a Succubus still showed a lot of skin.

“Mmm, hell yeah. Love me some loli, haaah haah.”

“Kyaaah?! T-Town chief?!” The town chief pushed down Michiru, looking aroused. She first renewed her respect for traditional succubus clothing, since it alone was apparently enough to seduce a man, but then found herself afraid of the town chief’s bloodshot eyes.

“U-Um, please be gentle... I’ll be fine since this is in a dream, but um, just to be safe, ummm, please?”

“Heheh. Leave it to me. I’m a gentleman lolicon.”

“Kyaah! Ah, n-not there... nmm! Kyaah, hyaaah?!” The town chief began tickling the bottom of Michiru’s feet.

“Haaah haaah, loli feet, haaah haaah.”

“Kyahahaha! Th-That tickles, ahaah! Hyaah, ahahahaha!” And so, the town chief tickled the bottom of Michiru’s feet until he was satisfied. It ended up being pretty good exercise... Albeit dream exercise.

# Keima’s Perspective

“It’s kinda hard to sleep with all this noise... I mean, I’m in a dream, but still,” I murmured to myself in my futon under the bed, listening to the loli laughing. Kosaki was taking my place in the bed. Succubi could freely change their shape within their dreams. I had Kosaki pretend to be me in a charmed state so we could later investigate our target. Basically, a common decoy strategy.

I would have to act like I was charmed after waking up, but Succubi generally only performed their seduction within dreams. She wouldn’t notice if I did some decent acting after waking up, apparently. That seemed fishy to me, but this plan failing wouldn’t be a big deal to me.

But anyway... Just what does Kosaki think I act like? She was going too far if you asked me. I would have liked her to be a bit more tame... or so I thought before Kosaki telepathically contacted me.

“(If I don’t go this far, it won’t feel like you’ve been charmed.)”

“Seriously...?”

“(Don’t speak, please. This will all be ruined if she finds you.)”

Yeah, we can just talk through pure telepathy. Just don’t go too far with her, please.

“(Okay, I’ll just have to act even harder! Do your best to follow this up, okay?)” said Kosaki through telepathy. The sounds on the bed then intensified. She was attacking Michiru harder than before.

“...You don’t mind me licking your feet, right?”

“Hyhiiih! P-Please, sto— ...Ah, I mean, I don’t dislike it, but... I-It’s kind of hard to breathe... Also, at this rate, I might pee myself... Among other things...”

“Lick lick lick lick lick lick liiiiick!”

“Nyaahiiih! Kyaah, hihaaah! Aaah, hyaaah!” I could hear Michiru breathlessly bouncing around on the bed above me. Man... She and her whole organization are gonna think I did this, huh? I don’t know how I feel about that. I guess I’m just gonna put in ear plugs and go to sleep. Please... Please don’t pee so hard it soaks through the bed and gets on me. I’m begging you.

Day 63 of Year 1

Thus came morning.

“...Ehhh. Feels kinda like I slept well, kinda like I didn’t... Whoa!” I woke up and looked only to see a pink-haired loli... Michiru in bed next to me. But her eyes were hollow, making it hard to tell if she was even conscious, and she would occasionally go into a fit of spasms. There were red marks beneath her eyes, indicating tears. Her mouth weakly hung open with drool dripping out of it.

Should I be worried about this? Uhhhh... Her eyes are open, so she must not be asleep, right?

“H-Hey?”

“Hyaaahiih! Ah, ah, haaaah! I-I’m alive... Aaah, to think that just breathing could feel so wonderful!” Oh, whew. She’s fine. Michiru breathed in and out deeply. She then said “Okay!” to herself and looked around the room, eventually making eye contact with me.

“...Ah?! T-Town chieeef?!”

“’S-Sup?” She immediately dashed to the wall, getting as much distance between me and her as possible. Not sure what I should say here... Oh, right, I have to act charmed.

“L-Last night sure was something else, huh, baby? I would do anything for you right now.”

“.........” An awkward silence. Crap. That was way too obvious, I guess. Might as well just go for broke.

“Whew. You sure are an attractive girl, Michiru. You’ve totally charmed me.”

“Bwuh?!” Yeah, even I think this is kinda painful. But I mean, I’m definitely not gonna act like Kosaki did in my dream. Not a chance. Just when I was about to give up on our plan, Michiru said “Wait, really?!” and peered into my eyes.

“You’re super cute, Michiru.”

“Eheheh...” At a loss, I complimented Michiru and she laughed shyly, looking pleased. Did... Did she really fall for it?

“S-So, you’ll do anything I say?”

“Yep, anything, ’cause you’re just sooo cute.” I said in a monotone, causing Michiru to beam.

“O-Okay then, spin around while waving your hands!” Seriously? I thought before spinning once and waving at her as requested.

“Yay! Now try doing a handstand!”

“Ah, sorry. I can’t actually do that.”

“Please, just try it!”

“...If I mess up and fall over, the shock might make the charm wear off. Hmmm.”

“Well, I guess you don’t have to do it, then.” She’s really falling for it. I gotta say, acting charmed is a lot easier than I thought. Kosaki was clearly just messing around. I glanced at my ring, Kosaki. It flashed a little, maybe in self-defense. Well, no use crying over spilt milk.

“So, what do you want me to do to you, Michiru? Some tickling?”

“Eek?! No tickling! Y-You can only play with me inside of dreams! Ah, umm. There’s somewhere I want to take you. But it’s, umm, outside of town.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Ah, but I’m hungry, so I request breakfast before we go!”

“Makes sense. How about a sandwich?”

“Okay!” She smiled a dazzling smile. Uh, honestly, I’m starting to feel bad for tricking her like this. Wait... Am I feeling bad because she’s starting to charm me? I gotta get a grip.

After Michiru polished off the sandwich I brought her, we stealthily left the inn and headed for the outside of town. That meant leaving dungeon territory, but I had my Wearable Golem on, and in truth, I was actually using {Ultra Transformation} to transform into myself. Seventy-two hours had easily passed since I exploded by transforming into Leona so I once again had an extra life I could rely on. There was a fair margin of safety here. Everything would be fine, probably.

The one problem with the transformation strategy was that my {Sleep Resistance} skill was weakened and I couldn’t use mid-rank spells, but with my ring Succubus Kosaki I would still be able to defend myself even if put to sleep and attacked in my dreams. Worst case scenario, I let her possess me and turn into a Succubus, but... I didn’t want to think about that.

The forest opened up into a clearing. Michiru had come this far without getting lost for a moment, but now she was standing in place and looking around. She hadn’t gotten lost, though. It appeared like she was looking around for someone she had planned to meet here. She put her fingers in her mouth and blew them hard, resulting in a “pbbhttth”-esque sound.

“Huh? But... When my sister did this it made a loud noise.”

“...Were you trying to whistle with your fingers?”

“U-Um. Please don’t worry about it.”

“Ahhh, yeah. I’ll just be glad I got to see another cute side of you, Michiru. Maybe you should just shout for her?”

“Good idea... Sisteeer! It’s Michiru, I did iiit!” Michiru shouted pretty loudly. It kinda hurt my ears.

After a moment, some nearby bushes rustled, an adult woman with a fairly curvy body and hair as pink as Michiru’s walked out. Mmm, those are some nice legs. Her feet aren’t bad either... Gulp.

“Sister! I did it!”

“Shh! You’re being loud. But regardless, you did well, Michiru. I’m so glad you’re alive... Everyone was worried about you. It’s been so long, we thought you had been killed.”

“S-Sorry. I just thought I shouldn’t go back until I succeeded...!”

“Yes, I know. You worked hard and I appreciate it. We’re all so proud to have a little sister like you.” The woman, wearing a skimpy outfit that made it clear she was a Succubus, stroked Michiru’s head. Michiru clung to her happily and rubbed her cheek against the woman’s exposed stomach like a puppy.

Guess this is that older sister Michiru kept mentioning. Which means she must be a Succubus too. Not that her outfit leaves any room for doubt.

“So this is the town chief? I had heard rumors about him, but I see he truly is young. Mmm.” The Succubus licked her lips.

“Nice to meet you. Might I ask your name?”

“Before that. Michiru, are you sure that he is charmed?”

“Yes!”

“Interesting... Then could you order him to prostate before me and lick my feet?”

“Of course! Town chi—”

“As you wish, my queen! Please allow me to lick your feet! If possible, remove your shoes so I may service them directly!” I practically slammed my face onto the ground in front of her. My hands were tied here, I had to act charmed. Aaah, acting is so hard. I can’t believe I have to grovel like this. It sure sucks. Suuure sucks.

“...I see, he would actively obey a humiliating order from a woman who isn’t even his type. There is no doubt that he’s charmed right now.”

“Right? Eheheh.” My stunning performance tricked even the elder Succubus. So, how about the feet...? Uh, I mean, nevermind.

“You wanted to know my name, right? It’s Suilla. As you know, I am the older sister of your master.” Master... Ahhh, she’s talking about Michiru.

“So, what would you have me do, my queen?”

“Initially we were planning to make you agree to the brothel construction plans, but the situation has changed. But either way, this is fine. Michiru, could you bring him here again tonight?”

“Certainly, sister! Umm... Will the charm last that long?”

“It should be fine if you order him to act normal until night, then come here. Good luck, Michiru!”

“I’ll do my best! Ummm... Town chief. Please come here again tonight! For now, return to town and act normal!” That was a pretty vague order all things considered, but whatever. I nodded.

“Okay. No way I could turn down a request from the one and only cutest girl in the world, Michiru. Later, I’ll be back tonight. Probably around midnight so nobody sees me.” Okay, back to base. I’ll expand our dungeon territory to cover this bit of the forest before I come back.

＊ ＊ ＊

Time passed and the sun set. It was pitch black outside. After getting Rokuko and the others ready in the Master Room such that they could provide backup in the event of something unexpected, I returned to the forest and the clearing within. Suilla and Michiru were waiting for me there.

“Congratulations, Michiru! It worked!”

“Yes... sniff, and now I’m finally, finally a proper Sucubuuuus!” Sorry. I’m really sorry, but I’m not charmed at all.

“Now then, there’s no time to waste. Would you two be kind and follow me?” asked Suilla before walking off with us behind her. Man... I can basically see her entire bare ass. No pants at all.

She took us back to town. To be specific, to the church. Yeah, I was expecting this.