Chapter 48 - What is the Purpose?

"To revive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sexual function, they were going to use this..."

Even though the weather had cleared up enough to reveal the sky, raindrops were still gently pattering against the ship's rail. Esen, her eyebrows furrowed in a drenched scowl, glared at the orb where the Succubus Queen lay sprawled on her back, snoring away peacefully. She snuck a sideways glance at me, the one who'd handed her the orb.

A bad premonition made the hairs on my body stand on end.

"Unlimited..."

"Why are you looking at me?"

"It's nothing. I was just looking."

"If you want me to believe that 'just looking' bullshit, then stop smacking your lips."

"Tch."

Seeing her stick out her tongue with a sly grin, it seemed like that was her ace in the hole for humor. The effort was commendable. But the atmosphere wasn't light enough to improve with a single quip.

A group of sailors passing by with bandages spotted the sealed orb in Esen's hand and flinched preemptively. From their perspective, it must have felt like the worst nightmare. Bitsurk alone was enough to give them sleepless nights, and now they had to survive another near-death crisis because of a succubus.

The succubus replied without even opening her sleepy eyes. As punishment for irking Esen, the orb was immediately hurled high into the air, spinning dozens of times. The Succubus Queen, subjected to a centrifuge mid-nap, screamed and spewed every curse in the book.

Esen rudely caught the queen's temporary lodging with her foot as it plummeted, then kicked it back up lightly.

"If you're that bored, I'll play with you, you bitch."

Treating the heavy glass orb like a soccer ball, Esen leisurely did foot lifts with both feet. But she couldn't play for long. Someone who couldn't stand the sight snatched the orb away.

It was Nidroga, wrapped in a blanket the sailors had given her. Instead of getting angry, Esen just raised an eyebrow.

"Nidroga? I told you to lie down and rest."

"The monster's screams woke me up. What if you handle it so carelessly and it breaks?"

"So what if it breaks? Can't we just smash this seal orb right here?"

Esen grumbled irritably. Nidroga just smirked.

"The monster would get loose."

"Let it try. I'll beat it to death. Do we really need to drag it all the way to your hometown to deal with it?"

As Esen reached out like a cat swatting with her paw to grab the glass orb, the still-pale Nidroga tossed it to me.

"No."

"What are you scared of? I crushed her easily myself, and you're a dragon—she'd be a snack for you."

"Imagine stuffing so much steak down your throat it chokes you, Esen. Could you fight properly in that state?"

"What? Are you saying I'm total dogshit compared to that fucking monster bitch, and I only won because I happened to have a stomachache when I went after her?"

"It's not a perfect analogy since she's not human, just a monster. But Bitsurk had a population of 63,000."

"What? Bigger than I thought? Say roughly 60,000. Half men, so 30,000. Subtract the elderly and kids, and you've got over 10,000 healthy adult males with full stamina..."

"I heard from Hero Boerden before we set sail: 16,200 people turned into women. Think you could take on 16,200 grown men with your bare fists, Esen?"

"...No reason I couldn't. Break a hundred noses and they'd run scared."

"Is this a game ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠where you guess who wins between ten people and a tiger, you idiot? You're stubbornly refusing to back down just to save face again. If she successfully absorbed that much essence, she's no longer something you can just punch out. It's probably almost fully digested by now, so absolutely do not release her."

Nenya chimed in as she walked onto the deck, supporting the trembling Bilena Nitro under her arm.

"Long ago—back when a village of 500 was an economic hub, and 1,000 men showing up was called a great army."

"When your thousand-year-old mommy Nenya was a little kid your size?"

"Shut your trap, Esen. There was a succubus who conquered an entire kingdom and drained 110,000 men's essence."

The dream demon in my hand puffed up proudly, as if it were her own accomplishment. Irritation surged, and I stuffed it into my backpack before Esen could snap too.

"That bitch won't shut up. So what happened?"

"She took out the era's strongest heroes in mutual destruction. Seventeen hero swords stabbed into her body."

"Whoa. No joke."

"The reason disasters like that don't happen nowadays is because succubi are rare monsters to begin with... and normal ones get caught and dealt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with before they cause that much chaos."

Nenya's tone felt oddly uneasy. And rightly so. No matter how remote a city on the map, 60,000 people is no small number. With a port, it's not completely isolated. Yet newlywed husbands vanished, grown sons were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragged away, and even the sleazy playboys who'd been hitting on married women and widows until yesterday suddenly disappeared from taverns—only after the whole city fell into their hands did the request reach the party federation?

"Yeah. Something's seriously off."

Unable to sleep from the battle? Or crying in fear of losing her sight? Bilena rubbed her reddened eyes and ground her teeth.

"Don't act irrationally like Nidroga—let's think about this logically."

Neither, apparently. She'd been worried sick about her friend. The haggard Nidroga gave an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry. I thought I'd be able to calm her down easily."

"Yeah, right. Anyway, is it really plausible that no one noticed until Bitsurk was in that state? It's a port city. Ships mean manual labor."

"True. And?"

"As workers dwindle one by one, shipments stop, fishing boats can't launch—no one in Bitsurk would be the only ones to notice something's wrong. Places trading with Bitsurk via merchant ships would pick up on the weirdness too. Ports aren't isolated spaces."

"Makes sense."

"So, two possibilities come to mind first. Either a succubus strong enough to subdue 60,000 in days and isolate them dropped from the sky like an ant lion at an anthill. Or someone backed her up and controlled information with gag orders. Or maybe both."

"A monster with backers?"

"Were there no religious buildings in Bitsurk at all?"

Bilena shifted the conversation oddly, and Esen scratched her head, puzzled.

"Religious buildings? Temples or chapels? But why bring that up suddenly?"

"Were there, or weren't there?"

"Lemme think. Right across from that building where we yanked those bitches by the hair, there was a Mitra church spire standing tall, I think."

"No other denominations besides Mitra?"

"Nah, nothing like th—"

Esen froze. And so did I, having been too panicked to even notice the Mitra church back then.

Priests who could sense a monster's alien aura through faith—there had to be at least one in a city of 60,000. It's natural for a few outsiders to infiltrate as neighbors, preaching their god's gospel. Where had they all gone?

Nenya drooped her long ears sideways, her face hardening coldly.

"Esen, where did you say the queen you caught was hiding that day?"

"Mitra church prayer hall. Those fucking bastards. From start to finish...?"

"...No evidence, so it's just a hypothesis, but let's consider it. If those closest to the scene, with the ability to prepare in advance, failed to stop it."

"They'd top the suspect list. We might be tangled in something bigger than we thought."

"They knew what kind of monster it was ahead of time and prepared accordingly."

The party members turned to me as I continued. I tried to speak calmly, but my lips kept trembling.

"As Bilena said, for cleanup—"

"So they sent paladins to Bitsurk? Staging a crisis for Mitra to resolve? You already suspected that."

"No. They sent assassins across this sea. Probably thinking we'd figured out they deliberately let the succubus run wild. No leaving witnesses. This isn't just some official battle where they secretly know the monster's identity. It's an incident with stakes so high they'd eliminate heroes or dragons without hesitation."

"Exactly. So they sent us on a suicide mission by pairing trash sailors who'll do anything for money with one burly idiot hero. The hero turned out spineless and useless, though."

Tomco poked his hooked nose between us. Esen and Bilena recoiled in horror, then Esen scratched her head as something dawned on her.

"Hey, old man? You sure about that? Those Mitra guys blocked our path in the City of All Gods, yelling their heads off for the monster seal orb. If we died in a few days, wouldn't everyone think they ordered it?"

"Who'd notice backers in a storm wreck? Deny it even if suspected."

"Ah."

Esen nodded, convinced. Then she glared murderously at the door to the lower hold where Adamanthon was locked.

The captain slowly approached me and pulled the monster seal orb from his bag with wrinkled hands.

"Mitra clearly tried to drown all us witnesses from that day. Probably the same pressure Boerden's greenhorn side sensed. Hope that idiot realized his neck was nearly snapped and got away in time."

"Still worried about him. Back at the port, you and your daughter tag-teamed berating that bearded old fart."

"They tried to kill us. That's fact. The question now is how important this seal orb is to them. Do they want it—or want it gone?"

"Good point."

They hounded our party relentlessly in the City of All Gods, so why risk it vanishing at sea?

A succubus who'd absorbed a city's essence couldn't be purified with one prayer. If priests struggled in groups, Mitra priests would soon kick down rival temple doors, raging. All day long—that'd piss off sisters and party members plenty. They sensed evil so well, yet stayed silent in Bitsurk. The more I thought, the more infuriating.

"Whatever they planned for their nurtured monster, if they were okay with it sinking at sea... maybe they don't value it that much?"

"I see it differently. The hastily hired hero was just a moron—they really want this thing. Think how motivated that worm below is."

I'd seen Adamanthon's eyes too. When he mentioned the Succubus Queen, they nearly popped out. Like when he encountered that rare hydra by chance. Pure greed, that face.

The more I thought, the bigger the headache. Knowing even part of the Succubus Queen's secrets was dangerous. Holding her seal orb painted a target from the world's largest denomination. And if it broke by accident? Disaster.

"This is a real head-scratcher."

"Head-scratcher? With Mitra aiming for your skull, and you call it a headache."

Tomco doffed his captain's hat and scratched his long hair vigorously. Then he sighed with a hint of melancholy.

"Fine. With that much grit, at least you can hold out."

"What do you...?"

"Nothing. Anyway, Morgan wants to see you. Said she has something to say."

The bold daughter who used a man like Tomco as a messenger was at the mast's lookout, of all places.

"Lookout? Observation post? Watchtower? What do you call it?"

"Call it whatever. It's all the same."

Morgan, her blue hair stuffed into a hood, grumbled in a slightly sulky tone. Now I knew why she'd grinned down from the railing. She wanted to watch me struggle up the tall ladder.

But I had an artifact that let me scale cliffs in five seconds flat. I coiled my grappling hook and stowed it in my bag as I asked,

"You wanted me?"

"I was thinking of riding with your party awhile, but Dad said no. So here's the deal."

Morgan's half-lidded smile felt ominous for reasons beyond Esen's predator vibe.

"Join our party. Porter spot's open."

"...Already signed the contract."

With Esen and the sisters, switching was impossible now. Honestly, I didn't love ship travel anyway. Humans need feet on solid ground.

But Morgan lifted her chin triumphantly.

"What about our kid?"

What? My vision blurred.

While I stood stunned by the unexpected bombshell, Morgan raised her chin even higher, more boldly.

"Yeah. I'm pregnant."

"How?"

Trying for a seductive vibe, maybe, she whipped off her hood and shook her hair. Freshly wet blue locks slapped my face like a wet towel. Her looks barely saved the messy attempt from total failure.

"How? How could it not happen? While waves battered the hull so fiercely, pirate swords clashed desperately, sparking flames."

"...Sparking flames?"

I wiped rain-splashed face and asked flatly. Morgan subtly tugged her tight leather pants sideways.

"Fought the whole battle with 'yours' stuffed right here."

What? After prying for details and turning her cheeks pink, I realized her misunderstanding.

With someone so innocently naive, maximum tact was humane. I put in the effort.

No matter what, contraception was ultimately the sisters' power. Otherwise, Esen or Monica would've been pregnant ages ago. Plus, to begin with—

"Couldn't cum?"

"Don't phrase it so crudely—soften it a bi—"

"You couldn't cum."

"...That's how it went."

Morgan scratched her head, then told me to turn around. Rustling followed as she unbuckled her belt to check something.

Turning back, I saw her flushed red, averting her eyes, leaning on the railing. I pretended not to notice.

First times aren't always perfect. Rumors of a hero's daughter—thought to be male as a crossdressing sailor—fooling around with a porter would be trouble.

Her words were just a joke, meant to cherish as a one-night memory. If one of ours had died, she wouldn't dare. So her childish babble about pregnancy? I could smile it off as excitement.

All things considered, we'd cleared a major hurdle. That's what I thought, relaxing—until her openly teary voice hit me, sending chills down my spine.

"Was it that bad?"

"Pardon?"