Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Succubus's Temptation
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After finishing his business in the holy city of Benarium, Ken restocked his travel supplies and promptly left the city.
Since he had completed the task of forging the swords entrusted to him by Reynesis and Adrian.
Now, once he delivered the swords to Reynesis waiting in the capital, this mission would be over.
Then he could return to his peaceful daily life afterward.
Ken set off on his journey with hurried yet light steps.
However...
"My legs huuurt... Can't we rest just a little?"
Unlike the trip to Benarium, heading toward the capital now came with an extra piece of annoying baggage.
Jerry Ban Perlion.
Ken gazed at Jerry, who had been dragging the group down from the start of the journey—claiming she was tired whenever she got the chance, or hungry, or her legs hurt, trotting out excuse after excuse.
'Can't exactly leave her behind.'
Jerry was a high-ranking demon with her eyes on the magic sword Ken had crafted.
If the past hadn't changed, she probably would have been a spy infiltrating the academy like the other Demon King's forces, hunting for Rapne's information.
So abandoning her here would just mean she'd come after the magic sword again for sure.
She had skills enough for that.
"If you want to rest, go ahead. But no dinner tonight."
"Eeeek...! Th-that...!"
He knew her game.
She was slowing the group's pace to bide her time for an opportunity.
She didn't look like she'd given up on the magic sword.
Or maybe she was playing the part of troublesome baggage on purpose, trying to goad him into ditching her.
Either way, he had no plans to dance to her tune.
"Ugh, you're so mean, threatening me with food."
Fortunately, her leg pain must have been another lie. At his firm words, she fell silent and started following along again without complaint.
She seemed dead serious about her meals—holding food hostage shut her up completely.
Still...
"Aaaah! I really can't take it anymore! This is too much! Walking this far without a break is insane!"
"You sure you're Demon King's army? Don't they drill marching there or something?"
"Eek! I am Demon King's army, but high-ranking demon! If you wanna nitpick, I'm like one of your fancy human nobles!"
"Even nobles on our side do basic stamina training if they're in the military."
"That's just your human problems!"
Mary, who knew noble society best of them all, fired back, and Jerry flopped onto the ground, throwing a full-on childish tantrum.
"That's it! Starve me or wear me out—either way, I'm done for!"
She lay rigidly on the dirt like she was begging him to leave her behind, showing zero signs of getting up.
Ken let out a small sigh at the sight.
He really couldn't just abandon her.
Maybe sell her off to a slave trader?
The thought crossed his mind, but he dismissed it right away.
No way was he pulling something that barbaric in front of his fiancées.
'Still, I hate wasting time.'
Resting wasn't the issue.
But one delay, two delays—they'd stack up, stretching the trip longer and longer.
Who knew when more Demon King's army goons like Jerry might show up in the meantime.
He wanted to hand off the magic sword to Reynesis ASAP if possible.
"Then how about this?"
Just then, Mary—who'd been staring down at Jerry impassively—made a casual gesture with her hand.
Mana flowed from her palm, swiftly turning to frost.
―Rumble rumble.
"Waaah!"
An enormous hand of ice burst up from beneath Jerry on the dirt.
"This way she won't have to walk, right?"
"Won't that wear you out, Mary?"
It was basic magic, sure—but sustaining it nonstop would drain her mana, putting a real burden on Mary.
But Mary flashed a bright smile and replied with easy confidence.
"Ice magic barely costs me any mana. And..."
Mary turned to glance at Jerry atop the ice hand.
The haughty look was gone from her face, replaced by pale terror as she chattered her teeth and stared at Ken.
"U-ugh... C-cooold..."
Faint wisps of breath leaked from her trembling lips.
A massive hand entirely of ice.
Obviously, it'd feel like being stuck in a freezer.
"If you can't handle it, get down and walk. Friction makes heat, after all."
"Brilliant idea!"
"G-good idea nothing! You trying to freeze me to death?!"
Now if she whined about sore legs, stick her on the ice. If she complained about the cold, make her walk it off.
Jerry's habit of halting the group every five minutes? Solved.
"Alright, let's pick up the pace then? Gotta hit the next village before sundown."
With the headache sorted, Ken grinned and took the lead once more.
Jerry lay atop the ice hand, shooting him a sullen glare.
Ken, Rapne, and Emily strode ahead.
Mary trailed slowly behind, the ice hand lumbering along in her wake.
Her sullen expression twisted into a sly grin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Kinda feel bad 'cause of me. Mary, was it?"
"Yes. If you're sorry, feel free to get down and walk."
"No, no! Still too tired—I'll stay put!"
Lying atop the mana-formed ice hand, Jerry wriggled just enough to poke her head out and chat up Mary.
Right now, the group up ahead had split off to handle a swarm of monsters bursting from the woods, locked in combat elsewhere.
High combat power or not, sheer numbers meant it'd take time.
Jerry seized the opening to strike up conversation.
"So, you girls and that guy. Fiancés, right? Proposing to three at once? Guy's a real piece of work."
"...Piece of work? What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Trash! Total trash!"
―Crunch crunch!
"Guh—ack! S-sorry! My bad!"
Jerry frantically tapped at the icy tendril coiled around her neck like a light smack. Mary eased her sharpened glare and flicked her hand.
The tendrils around Jerry's neck dissolved back into mana and vanished.
"Tr-trash... Yeah, that was too much. Haha."
"You grasp your situation well. I won't kill you, but limbs? Those I can snap."
"Y-yes..."
Mary's flat tone rang utterly sincere. Jerry shrank back on instinct.
"Anyway...! Wasn't meant bad—just curious, y'know."
She'd just gotten thoroughly dressed down, but Jerry pressed on regardless.
Mary sighed in clear annoyance, shooting her a lazy side-eye.
"What's got you so curious? We're a weird case, sure. But same as any couple otherwise."
"That's the point! Looks that way to me too."
"......Huh?"
"If you're just like any normal romance."
Jerry peeked her head out from the ice hand again, peering down at Mary's blank face.
"Which one does he love the most?"
Jerry caught the flicker in Mary's eyes at the question.
But Mary masked her unease and looked straight ahead, avoiding Jerry's gaze as she walked on.
The ice hand carrying Jerry trailed dutifully after.
The fight up ahead had just wrapped up.
"What a stupid question."
Dodging the answer only made it seem like the question got to her.
So Mary replied in a voice cold and crystal clear.
"Doesn't matter who Ken loves or how much."
She whipped her head around and fixed Jerry with a glare.
"What matters is how big my heart is. That's it. End of story."
"Hmm... Real romantic."
Jerry smirked, clearly amused by the response.
That odd glint in her eyes—what did it mean?
Mary's mood soured. She scowled faintly and gestured into empty air.
The towering ice hand shattered into powder, scattering on the wind.
"Guek!"
Naturally, Jerry tumbled from the air to the ground with a bizarre yelp.
"Plenty of energy for chit-chat? Means you can walk."
"Eeeek! I-I'm still beat!"
"That's not 'beat.' Get up and move."
"Ugh, my question rude earlier? Sorry—don't be mad!"
It'd been comfy despite the chill—no walking required. Now Jerry glued herself to Mary's side, beaming up at her with obsequious flattery.
"Just curious! Loves you all enough to propose, sure—but not equally, right?"
"......"
"Pure curiosity! No intent to upset."
For some reason, even as she apologized and explained, she kept needling at Mary's nerves. A true demon through and through.
Worse, Mary's chest stirred uneasily the more she heard that voice.
The question itself?
No—something about the voice itself tickled her ears, prodding at her deepest thoughts.
"Faint, and I'll carry you then. Not before."
"Y-you can't mean that...!"
Whatever—the whole exchange left Mary in a foul mood. She stalked toward the front with uncharacteristically snappish strides.
And took it out on...
"Huh? Mary?"
"I'm beat."
"Y-yeah, figured. All that mana drain..."
She latched onto Ken's arm, playing up the spoiled act for all it was worth.
Jerry watched the scene with a peculiar gaze.
Satisfied by the reaction, she grinned.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thanks to Mary's quick thinking, Ken's group made it to the village without Jerry's whining slowing them down.
It was cutting it close to sunset—a little longer tangled up with Jerry, and they'd have been camping rough.
"Aah~ Made it! Nothing beats a real bed over a sleeping bag!"
The village's sole inn.
After unpacking in their room, Emily flopped onto the bed and hugged the fluffy quilt like a treasured plush.
"Villages pop up more the closer we get to the capital. Push hard, and we'll camp way less than before."
"For real? Gotta hustle then. Rent a carriage maybe?"
"Too pricey."
Once or twice? Fine.
But riding carriages straight to the capital? Waste of coin.
He wasn't broke, but Ken wasn't one for extravagance.
"I like traveling, though."
"Rapne, you get to run wild nonstop. Frail girls like me? Not so much."
"I-I'm frail too, y'know?!"
"Says the girl who punches Redstone Golems to rubble."
"U-uwah...! K-Keeen...!"
"It's fine, it's fine. Rapne's frail to me too."
"Really...?"
"Y-yeah. Totally."
Ken couldn't fib to save his life—his face gave it away instantly. Still, Rapne lit up and buried herself in his arms.
Mary watched the pair with an odd look.
'Working like a charm.'
Ken hugging and petting Rapne.
Mary staring at him.
Jerry observed it all from the corner where she'd flopped like discarded luggage, a wicked smile creeping across her face.
That dissonant feeling in Mary's voice earlier during their chat? Totally deliberate on Jerry's part.
A succubus staple: illusion magic.
Voice of Enchantment.
Simply infuse mana into her voice, channeling the succubus's innate charm straight into the listener's ears.
A basic spell, so the seduction effect was mild.
But those who heard it? Easily swayed by her words, the conversation lingering long in their minds.
Usually for seducing men while disguised as human.
Plenty useful for engineering Jerry's desired scenarios.
'This cursed chain guzzles too much mana, though.'
The mana-absorbing stone chain Ken had bound her with to block spatial magic.
But Ken had missed something.
Mana stones did absorb mana and disrupt spells.
They didn't suck up every last drop, though.
Spatial magic mana? Near-totally absorbed—unusable.
But piggyback a trivial spell on top while it drained? Possible.
Normally, the power would be so pathetic nobody bothered.
For a succubus like Jerry? Voice of Enchantment was plenty.
Sure, burning spatial-magic levels of mana just for that? Awful return.
'Laid the groundwork at least...'
Deep into the night, everyone else asleep.
Jerry alone lay awake, snapping her mana-flecked eyes open.
Rough, exhausted breaths. Sweat beading on her skin.
She'd burned through a massive amount of mana.
'Sweet dreams, Mary.'
She gazed at Mary slumbering soundly on her bed, a weary, lascivious smile twisting her lips.