The Hero Became a Succubus! - Chapter 145 (Patreon)

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Chapter 145

Kanae wiped the sweat from her brows after a long journey and sighed. Summer had snuck up on the Commonwealth as it often did. The chilly climate tended to mask the heat, but it couldn't hide the sun's strengthening rays. She gazed northward, back to Talahurah where frost-capped mountains stretched across the borders of her nation. The blanket of white shrank fast and with it came the demon force's greatest opportunity to cross that natural barrier.

"Hey!" Arenade waved from atop a horse, riding out past the gate with Kanade and Suvee to meet them.

Overjoyed to see her family again, Kanae swooped down to embrace them.

"Miss me?" Kanae grinned at her prime consort.

"For leaving me behind to run the Commonwealth alone? Hmph. Not one bit." Arenade turned the other cheek, but Kanae planted a tender kiss on the former demigoddess and left her blushing hard.

"I guess you won't be happy to hear we've got more problems," she said.

They turned around as the rest of Kanae's companions made their way down Queensroad, Renya and Rown Company's next biggest project. The wide, paved road was framed with waist-high stone lanterns every twenty meters. It would serve to connect Ehmvier, Talahurah, Highgreen, and every major city of the Commonwealth. Although not as ambitious as the Imperial Span, its undertaking ran the risk of bankrupting Rown Company.

Just a gamble, was what Renya had said. Completing Queensroad would turn the CEO of Rown Company into an empress, because connecting it to the Imperial Span virtually gave her real estate control over this entire continent.

It was Arenade who had ultimately signed Renya Rown the rights to do so, though not without boasting how much better her ancestors could have achieved the endeavor. Now, however, that high elven pride and arrogance was nowhere to be seen. Her jaws practically hit the ground. She was speechless at the sight of two succubus, Daya and Hilde.

"I didn't turn them if that's what you're thinking. There's a whole lot more skulking around somewhere underground, pissed off and hungry. Your brother is probably planning to attack soon, which means we're looking at a three-way brawl," Kanae said.

"How do you always drag trouble home when you come back?" Arenade groaned aloud to their blissfully unaware children's amusements.

Together, they entered the city and brought their discussions inside the castle. There was much yelling going around and insults being tossed at one another over what to do.

"Five minutes with all eight Saint Priests. Five. That's all it's going to take to get everything we need to know out of them," Ulric said, his restless leg thumping even faster than before.

Kanae shook her head for the hundredth time. "I'm not throwing our captives to the wolves. That's final. Daya and Hilde stay here, and you're welcome to interrogate Hilde as much as you want. Here."

Eliza and Ulric cast their wrathful gaze at the Mistress of Subjugation, who was currently in chains and apprehended by two castle guards.

"Hoh! You may certainly try," Hilde taunted them.

"Take both of them to the most secure cell in the dungeon." Arenade gestured to the guards.

They shoved the two succubi forward to get them moving until Kanae stopped them.

"Not Daya," Kanae said.

"Are you sure about this?" Arenade whispered. "If she succubus hoodoos everyone, we're screwed. You're not making this decision so you can sleep around with her, are you?"

"I-I'm not! Daya isn't that kind of succubus," she assured her, then shooed the guards to continue.

The two holding Daya unlocked her shackles and let go. The others ushered Hilde out of the meeting room and were immediately followed by Eliza.

"If you're not letting the might of Aidenhall interrogate her," Ulric began as he rose from his seat, "then Eliza and I will see what we manage here."

"Only Daya? What about me? Where's my hospitality!" Hilde could be heard shouting as she was led away.

"There are two things we need to carry out before the next demon or succubus attack: send harpy scouts across the Commonwealth to search for Rifts, supply Talahurah with more footsoldiers, and increase patrols and lookouts for demon assassins and succubus infiltrators. Is that understood?" Kanae asked those around the table.

"Understood!" they roared in return.

As everyone was leaving, Edina pulled Kanae aside.

"I'm going to search for a Rift, too. I ain't sitting around and letting others do the work for me," Edina said.

"Fine, but don't go at it alone if you find it. Tell us. We'll help you," Kanae insisted.

Edina flashed a smirk. The two clasped hands. They held it for a moment longer before the necromancer broke off first to leave. Kanae watched her best friend disappear out the door. Their advantage might hinge on Edina after all, since undeads couldn't be charmed or compelled by anyone other than their master. If they could just find the Lich Lord's Skull, then the tides would turn on a dime.

Charm… compel…

There was another way.

"Is it… really okay for me to be free?" Daya asked in an uneasy tone. The canine's furry tail was tucked firmly between her legs.

"You're not exactly free. Besides, I promised to let you meet my daughter. Do you still want to?" Kanae asked.

Daya nodded slowly.

They left the castle together. Daya's eyes glazed over, seeing Ehmvier city in all its splendor. It was a hodgepodge of races thrown into a cauldron. A stew of different ingredients that somehow blended well together despite their differences. The city was not like the high elven dominated empire of Ortesia, the beastmen-led tribes around Talahurah, or the human run city-state of Radevic. It must be quite the shock for anyone coming here for the first time, witnessing children of all races frolicking about together as equals.

Daya began to sniff the air excitedly. Her eyes zeroed into the busy marketplace, to a stall that was steaming buns out in the open.

"Hungry?" Kanae teased.

"N-Not at all!" Daya hastily answered.

"You don't have to hold back. Come on." She pulled her along by the hand to the front of the stall.

The elven cook regarded Kanae with a big smile.

"Queen Kanae! How about a fresh one on the house to welcome ya back?"

"I'm going to need more than one. How about a dozen?" Kanae dropped a couple of coins onto the counter, and the cook went right to gathering the freshest batch in a paper bag.

"I don't understand. Why pay when you can just compel him to give them to you for free? Aren't they your slaves?" Daya asked.

"No one is a slave here— er, that's not entirely true! Only the sex slaves are slaves here, and you had to have pissed me off real good to end up that way. Everyone else is free. No succubus charm gimmick or anything," she explained.

Daya's troubled demeanor screamed of confusion. She snapped out of it when the bun merchant dropped a thirteenth bun into her hand.

"What's this for? Didn't we already pay for a dozen?" Daya turned quizzically to him.

"I offered ya one for free from the beginning. Don't go making me a liar now!" He smirked.

After staring at the steaming bun for a few seconds, Daya munched into the savory morsel with a big bite. The buns came from Kanae's own recipes from back in Japan. Sweet, crusty dough stuffed with tangy and saucy pork meat. A delicacy that took off and spawned many derivatives across the Commonwealth.

"What do you think?" Kanae asked the stunned succubus. "Tastes a lot better when someone genuinely wants to give it to you, right?"

"I never had something so delicious in my entire life…" Daya said as she teared up.

Kanae smiled at how happy Daya looked and thanked the bun merchant. With a bag full of meat buns, they continued to Rosaline's atelier. She took a deep breath and hoped nothing weird was going on inside.

As soon as Kanae opened the door, a cloud of thick smoke enveloped them whole.

"How did I know?" Kanae complained, then beat her wings to clear the smog.

Inside, Rosaline and Mikki were coughing up a storm. Soot blackened their faces. They stood over a smoking cauldron that dissipated to a thin strands

"Oh, Kanae— haaugghh! Good of you to join us… just in time for a new concoction!" Rosaline exclaimed.

"If my Mikki develops health problems because of you, I'm turning you into a sock puppet." Kanae folded her arms.

"Hi… Mom… just experimenting with Miss Rosaline…" Mikki said between coughs, stumbling blindly out from the counter and into Kanae's arms, where she groomed her daughter's stained face.

Once Kanae wiped away most of the soot, Mikki's eyes snapped open and saw the new guest behind her.

"W-Welcome to Rosaline's Atelier!" Mikki bowed to Daya, who she thought was a customer. "May I help you look for something?"

Taken aback, Daya's mouth flopped open and closed in search of what to say.

"Mikki, this is Daya. As you can see, she's a succubus. We… had a little fight in Talahurah, but we've put aside our differences. Daya's a friend now and will be staying with us from now on," Kanae explained.

"Really? In that case, it's nice to meet you!" Mikki beamed and extended a hand.

Daya squinted at Mikki, inspecting her up and down.

"We're nothing alike…" Daya muttered.

"Ehh?" Mikki retracted her hand and shrunk a little.

Whatever Rosaline and Mikki were doing, they put it off for now to dine on the meat buns Kanae had brought. Mikki caught Kanae up on all the exciting things she had been up to. Meanwhile, Daya sat and watched quietly from the side while nibbling on a bun. Particularly at Mikki, who couldn't help but feel a little awkward the entire time.

"Say, Mikki. Where are your sisters? I didn't see them at the castle. Don't tell me they left you behind to do quests on their own?" Kanae asked.

"Oh, no! They went to take on a quest with Nelly, but I chose to stay behind today to brew potions with Miss Rosaline," Mikki explained, reaching behind the counter to pull out a rack full of vials. "I made all these! Miss Rosaline even gave them all her seal of approval to be sold!"

Kanae stroked Mikki's head for a job well done and noticed Daya, again, staring intently.

"Mikki will become a fine alchemist one day. I can taste it! You introduced me to quite the winner of an apprentice!" Rosaline gushed about Mikki, causing the girl to blush even more.

"Speaking of apprentice," Kanae began, "it still boggles my mind that you apprenticed under Elizabeth Bedlam… How did you become so—"

"Masterful?" She swelled her chest up pridefully.

"Eccentric…"

"A matter of skill, that is! Which reminds me…" The lamia alchemist slithered into the back and returned with a brass instrument, consisting of a large base container and a smaller container at the top connected by a thin tube. Bandings etched with runic symbols ran along the central shaft.

Kanae recognized it as the contraption Eliza wanted her to deliver to Rosaline after being knighted as Amethyst.

"I'd like your help," Rosaline said.

"Okay, girls. Let's go back to the castle." Kanae got up and tried to leave.

"It's nothing dangerous, I swear!" She intercepted Kanae's escape. "A simple quest. To collect the hides of magmadillos, so that Mikki and I may finally make use of Master Elizabeth's gift!"

"Why not put in a request to the adventurer's hall?"

"When you have the capable Queen Kanae herself, why rely on anyone else?"

Kanae was about to decline until Mikki's pleading gaze shattered her resistance.

"Fine." Kanae relented. "Daya, you want to come with me?"

"Uh… sure." Daya reluctantly accepted.

"I know where to find the magmadillos! Can I go with you two, Mom?" Mikki asked.

It couldn't hurt. They set out from Ehmvier together with Mikki leading the way. Their destination was a localized stretch of burnt forest with petrified trees.

"Your children." Daya flew level with Kanae as they soared over the trees. "How come the hobgoblins are so different in age from the two elves? Don't you have Versatile Womb like Hilde?"

"Well, Arenade gave birth to Kanade, so she was going to age normally. Before I had Suvee with Noah, another one of my concubines, we agreed to birth her without Versatile Womb to give Kanade a sibling to grow up with," Kanae explained.

She sulked. "You… give a lot more thought to your children than the Queen-Mother could ever muster in her lifetime."

"We're almost there!" Mikki hollered to them from the front and pointed to the smokey, petrified forest ahead. "Daya, stay close to me and Mom, and we'll protect you!"

Daya pursed her lips and glanced away.

They descended into the petrified forest, kicking up puffs of ashes upon landing. The trees were barren and looked like spikes jutting out of the earth. Apparently, dire beasts with fiery attributes had made their home here, turning the place into a perpetually burning landscape rife with its own unique ecosystem.

Kanae caught the gaze of a red wolf in the distance. Cinders flicked off its fur coat as it took off running.

"Okay, everyone. We should take a fire resistance potion just in case," Mikki said, handing a vial out to each of them before drinking one herself.

"Did you really make this?" Daya asked in disbelief. "How can I be sure you and that lamia klutz of an alchemist aren't just playing with water?

Mikki pressed her fingers together. "I-I did mess up a lot, but it really is a strong fire resistance potion!"

After drinking the vial, the search for magmadillos began. They spent the better part of an hour, shoveling the ash-matted dirt to find underground burrows.

"I think I found one!" Daya alerted the others as the dirt beneath her feet shifted.

Something shot out from the ground. A red, armadillo-like creature with a craggy shell of shifting magma scurried past Mikki. She dove to the ground in an attempt to catch it, only to eat a mouthful of ashes.

"What do you think you're doing? Fly! You're a succubus!" Daya shouted.

"Ah! I forgot!" Mikki cried.

"You forgot?!" the canine succubus groaned.

Kanae watched as both of them gave chase from different directions. Their eyes were on the magmadillo, so neither saw the other coming until it was too late.

"Girls, look up!" Kanae warned.

They crashed head-first into each other so hard that it made Kanae wince.

"Ugh… You… How is such a skilled alchemist so clumsy…" Daya rubbed her aching head while glaring at Mikki.

"Sorry…" Mikki frowned.

The ground under Kanae's feet rumbled. She fired her tail maw-open into the dirt and snatched up a wriggling magmadillo. It was a little warm, but the creature's fiery hide didn't hurt at all. As she made her way to join them, a giant magmadillo crawled out from the earth.

It had a large, bright red shell and spikes along the edges. The dire beast rolled up into a ball and barreled right for them. Kanae cursed under her breath and tapped her Collar of Domination, but the magmadillo was too far for the effect to reach. She wasn't going to make it.

Daya picked up Mikki and flew up.

"Curse of Binding!" Daya incanted a spell that wrapped ethereal chains around the magmadillo, binding it in place and to the ground.

However, the magmadillo spewed a jet of lava after the two. The powerful geyser knocked them falling to the earth. Kanae swooped in and caught them both, then landed safely away from the beast.

"Are you two okay?" Kanae asked worriedly.

"Just fine…" Daya muttered, having taken the brunt of the attack to protect Mikki. "I can't believe that potion really worked… I saw my life flash before my eyes."

"You can trust in me a little!" Mikki pouted and blushed, then pulled out a healing potion.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's a healing potion! You still got hurt… because of me. J-Just drink it already. You know my fire resistance potion worked, so this one will, too!"

Daya snatched the potion and drank it whole. The cuts and sprains she sustained from the fall vanished immediately, replaced with clear skin.

"Thanks…" Daya said quietly.

All's well that ends well, Kanae thought.

Time to finish this.

"You girls stay here. I'll take care of the rest." Kanae dropped the small magmadillo caught in her tail into Mikki's hand, then flew right up to the immobilized one. "Sorry, but I need you to stay still for this." Close enough now, she tapped the Collar of Domination to put the beast under her control. It stayed still enough for her to deal a quick, killing blow with Lust to the back of the neck.

All there was left to do was skin the hide, and everyone pitched in to help. They carried the heavy hide back home together, including the live sample for the eager lamia alchemist. With steaming hide in on the floor of her atelier, Rosaline cradled the young magmadillo like an evil scientist.

"Yes… Yes… I shall make good use of this." Rosaline flicked her long, serpent tongue at the beast.

"What did you need the hide for anyway?" Kanae asked.

"Master Elizabeth's instrument requires an incredibly large amount of heat to work. Paradoxically, it vents the heat it creates during the transmutation process. Magmadillo hides serve as very robust insulators to trap the heat within the apparatus! Thank you once again, Kanae! This shall enable Mikki and I to brew more powerful potions from now on," she explained.

Daya and Mikki were still bickering off to the side.

"I admit, your potions were second to none. However… as I thought, we're still nothing alike," Daya huffed.

"I-I don't even know why you keep bringing that up, but you recognize me, right? Right? I can show you the stronger concoctions I've made!" Mikki insisted, searching Daya for validation.

Night fell and Kanae returned to the castle with Daya and Mikki. She gave Daya her own bedroom and assigned two guards to watch over her. It felt like ages since Kanae was so at peace. Home tended to have that effect, she supposed.

"How was your trip with Mikki and that succubus? Think Daya will try and escape?" Arenade asked while combing her hair at the vanity desk before bed.

"You really don't trust them at all? Not every succubus wants to rule the world and make every living being their cattle," Kanae said.

"Yeah… hard to believe when you're about to make a meal out of me. Don't lie! We haven't seen each other in months. That's the usual course for you," she fired accusingly.

Kanae rose from the bed and tiptoed over to Arenade, then scooped her breasts from behind. Arenade jumped and shot Kanae an angry, rosy-cheeked look.

"Maybe later. I'm going to take a walk. Make yourself nice and ready for when I get back," Kanae teased.

"Guh… See how I care? You're out of luck if I'm asleep by the time you're back, buster!" Arenade yelled to Kanae as she walked out.

Though, the truth was Kanae was a little bothered that Daya might have escaped. She flew leisurely but briskly down the corridors. As soon as she reached Daya's room, the two guards didn't salute her. Instead, they stood perfectly still.

"You're charmed, aren't you?" Kanae sighed. She pushed past them and opened the door. Sure enough, Daya was missing.

A moment of panic set in until Kanae heard murmuring from down the hall. She followed the voices to Mikki's personal study. The door had been left ajar, so she peeked in. Sitting at the desk, chairs scooted together and with shoulders touching, were Mikki and Daya.

"So, that's why catalysis is important in alchemy! Sometimes, a substance denatures too fast in the cauldron. You have to be quick or the concoction won't succeed," Mikki explained.

"Huh… You really do know your stuff," Daya said playfully.

"O-Of course, I do! I am an alchemist!" She shoulder-bumped the other succubus, drawing from her an almost inaudible giggle. "Hey, are you sure you don't want to go to bed yet? It's getting awfully late."

Daya shook her head. "Not yet. Tell me more about alchemy. I need to be absolutely sure you're up to snuff. Don't want you feeding me potentially dangerous potions in the future."

"There you go again doubting my alchemical knowledge… Alright, fine. Last lesson. How about the differences between elixirs and potions?" Mikki asked.

Kanae backed away slowly so as to not disturb them. However, she walked right into Revah and almost shrieked.

"Revah, what are you doing here?" Kanae whispered.

"Nothing," Revah answered promptly.

"Oh? Are you jealous that Mikki found a new friend?" she asked.

Revah faced away and said, "No… Just making sure that girl isn't hurting Mikki."

Without another word, Revah melded into the darkness and disappeared like a rogue. Kanae chuckled to herself. They were probably going to be just fine.