Chapter 132
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: 34. Dream Demon (2)
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Puppet's Curse.
I recalled the first time I saw someone bearing that curse.
A shabby mage named Deluna, and then every thug or outlaw I encountered after her—they all had it, one by one.
After going through various incidents and meeting more people, I realized that most folks in the lawless zone had this curse.
Even the most recent ones, the executives from the Blaz clan, carried it.
'This curse is blatantly suspicious.'
Blessings and curses.
That mystery can only be obtained in the Labyrinth.
Even if you asked hundreds of explorers, you'd get the same answer.
There is no way to acquire blessings or curses outside the Labyrinth.
But here was one glaring exception.
Kakchi had gone to the lawless zone—not the Labyrinth—and come back with the Puppet's Curse.
And she hadn't even noticed it herself.
How was that possible?
And why only this curse?
Unless they had a blessing that inscribed curses, it would be impossible.
The more I dug into it, the more questions piled up, until eventually I let it drop. But now Kakchi had brought it up again.
The fact that she mentioned it when I asked where she belonged...
"You don't mean..."
At my question, Kakchi grinned.
"As expected. I figured Master would know."
"...No, I don't know the details. Explain it step by step."
Kakchi nodded at my words and cautiously opened her mouth.
"In the darkest depths of the Labyrinth City's underworld, the lawless zone, there's a being called the Puppeteer."
Puppeteer.
It matches the word "puppet" at least.
"The Puppeteer can inscribe the Puppet's Curse onto others using special puppets."
"Huh..."
"The curse itself doesn't bring any real drawbacks despite the name, but anyone afflicted becomes an object the Puppeteer can observe."
"......"
I gaped blankly at the words spilling from Kakchi's mouth.
Not only could they artificially inscribe curses—which was already beyond comprehension—but they could also watch those afflicted?
"In theory, that means they could monitor the entire Labyrinth City."
"Well, if they went all out, maybe for a short while?"
Kakchi shrugged, as if she wasn't entirely sure herself.
'...Even Diana probably couldn't pull that off.'
Of course, they weren't a god, and keeping tabs on every single one of the thousands of Puppet's Curse bearers would be impossible.
In reality, they'd probably only closely watch a few dozen at most.
Still, it was an outrageous feat.
"The Puppeteer watches those cursed individuals and, when they spot someone with potential, picks them out and raises them—like me."
Curse blanket, voyeur, and now talent scout too?
"Why? Why go so far as assigning a mentor?"
"Ah, usually they don't assign a mentor even for talented ones—just give them a bit of a boost, or so I heard from my mentor."
I recalled the first Puppet's Curse Kakchi had acquired.
'"Boost" means giving stats, huh.'
The reason she kept saying "or so I heard" was probably because it was all secondhand from her mentor.
"The reason my mentor was assigned to me is that my talent was exceptionally high. Something about... my 'compatibility' being off the charts?"
"Compatibility?"
It was an unfamiliar term.
And one that felt oddly unsettling.
"The higher the compatibility, the better the 'link'... or something like that. My mentor didn't explain in detail."
Compatibility and link.
The pairing reeked of something shady.
"That mentor is a puppet too?"
"Not sure exactly, but they followed the Puppeteer and called them 'that one.'"
A chill ran down my spine.
After listening to Kakchi for a while, I rubbed my arms at the eerie sensation.
It was hard to believe a mere mortal could impose curses, something even the inscrutable mystery of the Labyrinth didn't allow.
'...Better not make an enemy of them rashly.'
Plus, from what I heard, it wasn't that the outlaws' organizations had tons of Puppet's Curse bearers.
The Puppeteer's territory just happened to be the lawless zone.
'But there's a reason the Puppeteer sticks to the lawless zone. Has to be.'
Especially for someone into voyeurism and talent scouting.
"Hoo."
I sighed unnecessarily. My head was spinning.
Kakchi herself had more hearsay than solid knowledge.
'The real details are probably with her mentor.'
Kakchi gave me her mentor's name and appearance.
Intert.
A female swordsman with four mechanical arms. Possessor of the Disguise Blessing.
"Really that person?"
"Yes...? Uh, yeah. That's right."
I couldn't help but be surprised at her words.
'Same name as the one I met at Zirnier's workshop when I went to reforge Gluttony!'
—You've got good instincts, kid. Gonna go far. Should've been you marked instead of that precious little bitch...
I recalled Intert muttering as she looked at me.
It had been a bizarre encounter with a level 60s powerhouse, so I still remembered it clearly.
—And after I fixed up that falling-apart girl's limbs, she doesn't even appreciate it!
At the same time, the image of Zirnier, drunk and slurring complaints, came to mind.
Intert and Zirnier seemed to have quite the history.
I'd have to ask Zirnier about Intert in detail once I got out of the Labyrinth.
'Oh yeah, and Zirnier said she was heading to the royal inner castle to repair the Second Princess's armor...'
"Haa."
Damn. Nothing ever resolved easily.
"Why the heavy sigh? It's simple."
As I was deep in thought, Kakchi stared straight into my eyes through my helmet.
"I'm on Master's side. Isn't that enough?"
Huh.
"Yeah. That'll do."
I chuckled and tugged lightly on Kakchi's collar.
If it were Eli, I'd pat her head, but this one responded better to this.
"Kek... Hehe..."
The strangled girl giggled.
As the 30-somethingth puppet, Kakchi must be of great interest to the Puppeteer.
Yet for her to state her position so openly in front of me meant her true loyalty lay with me, not the Puppeteer.
"Anyway, enough about puppets. Why were you and Chuchut on the 12th floor, skulking around?"
"Ah, well, one of my blessings lets me command spirits."
Definitely had that blessing.
"While traveling with my mentor, I ran into Chuchut by chance, and somehow ended up subjugating it."
Was that the kind of affinity it meant?
"A slave getting her own slave, huh?"
"Heh heh. Something like that. The reason we came to this floor was that bitch mentor said it was some test and told us to climb to the 15th..."
"The 15th? Just you two? Possible?"
"Spirits oddly take less aggro from Labyrinth monsters. Sneak carefully, and it's doable..."
After that, we spent time catching up on recent events.
"That Blaz clan you were enslaved to? They stupidly attacked the academy and got wiped."
"What?! For real?! Those bitches! I was gonna bleed 'em dry bit by bit..."
Since it had been so long, we had plenty to talk about.
As the conversation flowed, the night sky darkened completely, and soon it was time to sleep.
"Thank you for sharing the cave with us. I have no way to repay you properly, so I'll take the watch instead."
"Mm. No need to refuse."
Kakchi nodded at Joey Hog's offer.
We had way more people, so this was the bare minimum payback for the shelter.
"Yay! Rest time!"
"No. You're doing it."
"You, that's too much...! Stop the heartless acts right now...!"
"How dare you talk back to Master? A slave must absolutely obey their master...!"
Kakchi played the master role, assigning Wind Valley's Chuchut as first watch, then slipped into a sleeping bag.
My sleeping bag.
"Master. Master, come over here."
"...No, that's my spot."
"Do you know why I never catch a cold even wandering around in just a rag? My body's super warm. No one can warm you up as nicely as me in the 12th floor's chill. Come on. Hurry up. I'll soothe your weary body with my warmth."
Kakchi spread her arms wide.
It sounded like sophistry at first, but it was pretty convincing.
That warm, soft body.
Hugging it to sleep would make for a perfect body pillow.
She was a maso bitch slave with no human rights anyway.
Even if I squeezed her hard enough to beg for mercy, she'd probably love it.
"N-No, not that!!"
Eli blocked my trance-like path to the sleeping bag.
"Tch. So close..."
Kakchi clicked her tongue at Eli's interference and emerged from the bag.
Then she crawled into her actual sleeping bag and lay down.
Party members' sleeping bags encircled the central campfire in a ring.
I set the watch rotation with the others.
Chuchut's shift was right before mine.
To squeeze in extra rest, I quickly lay down in my bag.
'...It is warm.'
After just a moment inside, the bag was perfectly warmed.
Kakchi wasn't entirely lying.
"Balkan. Wake up."
"Whoa...!"
Wind Valley's Chuchut poked my cheek with its squishy hand.
I'd dozed off in seconds while spacing out.
Was I that tired?
Or did Kakchi's heated bag induce such deep sleep?
Or something else?
No big deal either way.
"Yawwwn."
"Balkan. There's something unusual."
"Unusual?"
As I yawned and sat up, Chuchut explained what it sensed on watch.
"The spirits' senses are screaming. Something lewd-feeling is around!"
"...Lewd feeling?"
"Like a slime rubbing mucus... My lower belly keeps throbbing...!"
...What? This pervert spirit?
Was it advertising its own horniness?
"Hm... Got it."
Still, it wasn't saying it for nothing, so I nodded.
I felt nothing unusual myself. My dick was lively as ever.
I checked around the cave for potential ambushes—no monsters or explorers, no traces.
After about two hours of watch, I woke the next in line.
"Jubel. Your turn."
"Ugh, grrr..."
Jubel crawled out of his bag, groaning like he was dying.
Drip—driiiip—
A massive flood poured from Jubel's panty-clad lower half.
"Fuck. Jubel. Piss yourself?"
"Yeah. No. Pussy juice. Damn, tonight's got me riled up."
"......"
"Hey, happens sometimes, right? Been in the Labyrinth almost two weeks. Held off jerking for that long. Prime breeding bitch time—pussy's gotta be steaming hot."
"......"
True, Labyrinth life left no outlet for urges.
The liquid running down his thighs was unusually copious, but with Jubel, squirting that much wasn't weird.
I nodded stiffly and relayed Chuchut's oddity.
"Lewd feeling? Pervert spirits indeed. Anyway, good work. Go crash."
"Yeah. You too, Jubel."
"Oya."
I lay back down.
And without time for other thoughts, fell asleep instantly again.
Hot.
My body's burning, mind hazy.
Hard to move. Like sleep paralysis.
Something's pressing on my body.
Not one.
One on the left, one on the right.
Total two.
The left sensation felt strangely familiar.
Soft and jiggly. A touch I'd brushed a few times.
The right was unfamiliar.
But scorching hot, soft, and chewy—felt good too.
I struggled to open my eyes.
Red hair and elf ears, black hair and collar entered my view.
Eli and Kakchi.
"......"
"......"
The two stared down at me with dazed faces.
We three were crammed in one sleeping bag, bodies pressed tight.
"...Huh?"
Before I could figure out the situation.
Slide.
Eli and Kakchi's hands slid toward my lower body.