Personality Theft Parasite (11)
In the world of Sonisia Fantasy, the demand for healing potions is absolute. In most situations, people rely on potions to heal wounds and injuries. That's why thousands of workers toil away in potion factories to produce them, yet supply always falls short of demand.
Still, healing potion prices never skyrocket thanks to an unspoken agreement. Every quarter, the Adventurer's Guild consults with the Merchants' Guild to set an upper price limit. With rare exceptions, they ensure prices never explode no matter the circumstances.
In exchange, the Adventurer's Guild provides key ingredients for potion production at fixed prices, prioritizing the Merchants' Guild. These items are designated by the Governor-General as legally prohibited for private trade, preventing any leaks.
In short, healing potion prices have stayed stable thanks to the consensus between the Governor-General, the Adventurer's Guild, and the Merchants' Guild. The Governor gets a steady supply to the city, the Guild eases the burden on struggling adventurers who can't afford potions otherwise, and the Merchants' Guild monopolizes the market without competition worries.
But that agreement is broken. By me—or more precisely, by Kyle, whom I'm currently possessing.
Kyle holds a high position in the Alchemist Society and owns the largest stake in the potion factories producing healing potions. His words carry weight not just in the Society but across the Merchants' Guild too.
Of course, my unilateral declaration to scrap the deal faced massive backlash. But I didn't care. I had more than enough ways to silence the opposition.
With forced unanimous consent, I pushed forward.
"What are you scheming?! Breaking the agreement and arbitrarily raising healing potion prices!"
Elia, the Adventurer's Guild Master, summoned me upon hearing the news and demanded answers.
"Doing that will make it impossible for poor, unskilled adventurers to buy potions!"
That was her surface-level excuse, at least. In reality, she was on her knees under the chair I sat in, pleasuring my cock with her ample breasts and mouth.
"Then should I not?" I teased.
Elia instantly switched to a fawning smile, licking my shaft as she replied, "Nooo♥ Those small fry don't matter at all. Everything according to Papa's will♥"
She grabbed the sides of her breasts and started rubbing them eagerly.
"How's your side? Any progress?" I asked.
Elia paused her greedy sucking, looked up, licked her precum-smeared lips, and said, "Yes. All clerks have been 'Familied'. No one's left inside to make noise or disrupt Papa's plans. My little sisters would gladly throw away their lives for Papa."
"Good. That's fast. Well done."
I placed a hand on Elia's head and stroked her. Her face flushed like an innocent girl's.
"You're too kind. For Papa, Elia can do anything."
"Even betraying your mentor?"
Elia tilted her head. "My mentor?"
Then realization dawned. "Oh, that woman? You plan to kill her?"
"Not quite. Turning her into you seems far more useful."
"True enough. She's famous, after all. If you entrust it to me and my sisters, we'll burn our bodies to ashes to complete it."
Her earnest, respectful demeanor really appealed to me. She looked like a woman in her prime, but she'd lived over a century, holding the Guild Master position for ages—her sense of responsibility was ironclad.
"But... could I humbly request a reward, Papa?"
She pressed her cheek against my cock, gazing up with desperate eyes.
Her self-serving side wasn't bad either.
"Do as you like."
"Thank you, Papa!"
At my permission, Elia pounced, straddling me and guiding my cock into her pussy.
"Ahh...♥ Papa's cock fits Elia's pussy perfectly...♥"
Of course it did. She'd been stuffing herself with the toy Rena gave her nonstop. She'd even been masturbating with it when I arrived.
Honestly, I preferred tighter ones, but saying that would sour the mood, so I held back. It was a superb pussy as is.
"Papa♥ Kiss♥ Kiss me please♥"
Elia begged, shaking her hips while in my arms. I pulled her close and pressed my lips to hers.
It was a bizarre scene, really. Everyone in the know hated how much Elia, the Guild Master, despised Kyle, the Alchemist Society executive. Yet here they were, intimately coupled like a married pair.
The irony? I wasn't Kyle, and the Elia before me was hardly the old one.
"Hehe♥ Gotta brag to Mama later♥ Got a kiss from Papa and reward sex too♥"
Elia giggled innocently, burying her face in my chest.
"That happy?"
"Yes♥ Happiest I've been since birth, Papa♥"
I wonder when that was. Probably a few days ago.
In the end, shit hit the fan. As healing potion prices surged wildly, Guild Master Elia revealed the truth in parliament.
"The Alchemist Society decided to raise prices unilaterally, without any valid reason or proposal. They've chosen to break the long-standing unspoken agreement themselves. This shameless betrayal of trust demands condemnation, so as part of that, I declare a full halt to supplying raw materials for potion production."
This meant the potion factories would shut down. Without Guild materials, production would halt in a week.
The city plunged into near-panic upon hearing this. The outcome was obvious.
Regardless of who started it, the conflict between these powers would lead to skyrocketing potion prices—the worst possible result.
And that fear became reality. The very next day, prices jumped several-fold.
The rapid shift stemmed from panic-buying to stockpile before supplies cut off. Some for resale at profit, others to hoard while cheap—people bought in bulk despite not needing them immediately.
Normally, the Guild would cap purchases to calm things, but for some reason, they stayed passive throughout.
As a result, within three days, prices soared beyond what average citizens or adventurers could dream of touching.
The city government tried summoning Alchemist executives for talks to stabilize things, but they dodged with vague claims that "the Guild broke the promise first."
Amid the growing chaos, an unforeseen plan progressed smoothly.
When I first saw the potion factories—Kyle's cash cow—the perfect scheme hit me. An easy way to seize the city was right there.
Secretly lace them with Parasite β, and everyone who drinks would be infiltrated undetected.
But it wasn't that simple. Factory potions go to the Governor's inspection department for quality checks. In this world, healing potions are like essential medicine—ubiquitous and critical. The government verifies no contaminants or anomalies.
Though rumor has it the "inspection fee" is just a tax grab.
Anyway, blindly adding parasites would get caught during checks, causing a huge uproar.
Pondering solutions, I devised a bypass: If inspections are the issue, flood the market with uninspected potions.
For that, two preconditions:
1. Officially circulating healing potions lose purchase value for some reason.
2. The city tolerates unregulated potions due to dire urgency.
With both, consumers would buy unverified but still-effective alternatives over verified ones.
The process was complex and tedious, but it worked. The manufactured Alchemist-Guild conflict plunged the city into panic as planned.
Verified potions lost edge from price hikes; people craved substitutes. Potions tie directly to survival here—without them, most adventurers can't dungeon-dive for income.
Adventurers dominate the population; sidelining them hits the economy hard. The city felt the pressure too.
At the right moment, I had my parasitized pharmacists release small batches into the market. They sold out in half a day.
I passed some to Elia for Guild distribution. Everything went smoothly.
Once the city is mine, the next target is the Silver Knight.