Chapter 76
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Familiars
-----------------------------------------------------------------
All the commotion had finally died down, and it was late afternoon as the sun began to set.
Elise and Lily sat facing each other in a quiet corner of a café near the guild.
This was Lily's favorite spot.
The aroma of fragrant coffee mingled perfectly with the soft jazz playing in the background.
Lily wagged her red tail playfully as she gazed at Elise's flushed face, finding it utterly adorable.
She kindly recapped once more.
"So~"
"If beastkin of the same species live together in the same house..."
- Nod, nod.
"Their pheromones can influence each other, syncing up their heat cycles~ That's what you're saying, right~?"
- Nod, nod, nod.
Elise could only nod vigorously, her face red all the way to the nape of her neck.
She had consulted with Lily that morning, but the news of the ocean trench raid had thrown everything into emergency mode, putting their talk on hold for a bit.
Now that it was all over, the two of them were chatting in the café.
Lily propped her chin on her hand, adding with a seductive smile,
"She's probably going through the exact same thing right now, huh?"
Elise had finally learned the blunt truth about her heat cycle.
No wonder her sister, who wasn't usually an early riser, had gotten up at dawn to do laundry.
The pre-heat symptoms hadn't just hit her—Luna was feeling it too.
What should she do?
This was so embarrassing.
She thought it over carefully.
The man in her dream that morning, the one she'd welcomed so eagerly with her whole body... had been the teacher.
Elise asked in a trembling voice,
"Um, could... could the, the target... be the same too?"
Lily nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Exactly the same."
Oh no.
She explained it like a kind sex ed teacher.
"Pheromones wouldn't react to each other in the first place if the targets weren't identical. It's like a little competition signal."
"......"
Elise was at a loss for words.
"Wait... so that means..."
Me and...
Sis and...
The same person...?
The teacher...?
Lily smiled in satisfaction at her conflicted expression.
"Smart girl, my little bunny."
She couldn't deny it.
If she claimed her feelings for the teacher weren't love... that would be a blatant lie.
It had started from that moment at the orphanage, the deepest secret of her heart, when she'd first met him.
Elise had already lost her heart to him.
After that, she'd seen him at the orphanage several more times.
You couldn't harbor ill will toward someone who knew and shared your secrets.
Yeah.
In that case...
'I'm fine with it, sure...'
But the problem was her sister.
Luna and the teacher were in a client-counselor relationship.
She didn't know the details, but she'd heard that counselors and clients couldn't date.
And above all, the teacher didn't seem like the type to break those rules.
He was the picture of professionalism.
Which meant Luna was chasing an impossible dream.
'Falling for the same man as my sister.'
That wasn't a problem.
It wasn't anything special for her.
A superior male claiming two females was natural.
And for sisters to serve the same male? That was common in beastkin society.
But only if it could actually happen.
Living with an unattainable dream... that was different.
How could she make her poor sister's dream come true?
Elise pondered.
There had to be something she could do.
Something...
The counseling sessions proceeded at a brisk pace.
We'd confirmed there was no risk of contamination spreading.
Now that it was clear I was immune, there was no reason to delay.
I quickly checked the states of the ocean trench guild members, starting with those least affected.
From the ones just complaining of hunger—mild contamination—to those with amplified but manageable emotions like sadness.
But the real issue came next.
'......'
Severely affected ones...
The couple who'd openly consummated their marriage inside the dungeon.
They'd been put in the same room, by the way.
The team leader said they'd initially tried separating them into different rooms.
But the pair's overwhelming desire for each other had led them to demolish everything, so this was deemed the most practical solution.
When I opened the door, they seemed surprisingly fine.
Except for one thing.
"Yeah, that was when I felt the strangest."
"Fortunately, it feels a bit better now?"
They answered my questions rationally and clearly.
From the events in the dungeon to their current emotions, in detail.
The only catch was that the entire consultation took place while the white bedsheets heaved vigorously up and down beneath them.
- Creak, creak.
I did my best to ignore the creaking bed and the moans...
Anyway, let's skip that memory.
Only one guild member left.
'Choi Si-hyuk.'
My old classmate.
And Mary's colleague.
- Knock knock.
I entered the isolation counseling room with a knock.
"......"
A man stood there, his back turned.
A familiar silhouette.
"Hello. I'm Counselor Yoo Seon-woo."
We knew each other, but... we weren't on good terms, as I recalled.
...I won't get into it. Our personalities just didn't mesh.
Personal feelings aside. Right now, I was his counselor, not his classmate.
I followed protocol and opened with the standard line.
Choi Si-hyuk turned slowly at the sound of my voice.
His eyes weren't vacant.
No strong signs of contamination.
Most heavily eroded people had clouded pupils.
This could be a good sign.
"Due to mental contamination from the Chain Hell, I'm here for a confirmation check. Any unusual feelings or incidents from inside the dungeon..."
But before I could finish,
"Hah."
He smirked.
And looked me up and down.
"Suit looks good on you."
He sat and kept scanning me.
"Hey, congrats. It does suit you. Counselor."
His voice dripped with mockery.
"Heard about it. Quitting as a hunter. Smart move. World's too harsh for someone without talent."
"Thank you."
I nodded calmly at his brazen rudeness.
This reminded me exactly why Choi Si-hyuk and I never got along.
He always had this undercurrent of looking down on others.
Not always this extreme...
But now, the contamination had amplified that trait.
No hard feelings.
I cut straight to the point.
"First, a simple question. When did you first notice the contamination..."
"Save it. What're you gonna figure out just by looking? It's a curse."
He cut me off.
"I'm fine."
[Rude and ill-mannered client!! ( `д´*)]
I met his gaze silently.
No interest in verbal sparring.
That would just be exhausting.
Better than a hundred words: I checked his status.
[I am perfect. I am never wrong. I won't accept pity or diagnosis from Yoo Seon-woo. I absolutely cannot show weakness in front of that guy.]
A highly defensive inner stance stared back at me.
It made sense on its own. Trapped somewhere unpleasant, so a self-protective attitude emerges.
I get the stance...
Oh, right.
I pulled the portable contamination detector the team leader had given me from my pocket.
No need for debates.
If it beeps... he's not fine.
If not... maybe he really is.
I held the device up to Choi Si-hyuk through the glass wall.
- ......
But the detector stayed silent.
No contamination?
If it doesn't register, he's clean, obviously.
Just like I thought.
I nodded.
The most natural conclusion.
A perfectly logical deduction.
Choi Si-hyuk...
Was not contaminated.
"Mm... I see. So what's your goal then?"
Mary lay comfortably on her bed in her camera-free bedroom.
She peered into a small rainbow-colored orb resting on her palm, carrying on the conversation.
- Our goal is mental contamination of the hosts...
Mary cut in with a yawn.
"Should I smash this orb?"
- No! Mistress! We'll tell you everything!
- Our ultimate goal is... turning all of humanity into demon familiars!
"Familiars?"
- Yes...
Abstract term.
"Care to explain in more detail?"
- Understood...
The demon continued in a glum voice.
- Once mental contamination begins, the host blindly pursues their deepest desire.
"Mm-hmm."
- But the stronger the amplified desire, the greater the despair when they realize their own powerlessness. That's stage two.
- That's when we—or our lord—slip into their weakened minds and offer familiarization. We grant the power to fulfill their desires in exchange for their souls.
Mary listened quietly to it all.
"That's pretty scary stuff."
She thought.
Inflame emotions to drive desire.
Then, when they realize it's impossible and fall into despair...
Present a tempting option.
But Mary spotted the flaw immediately.
Familiarizing all humanity.
That meant rapid, widespread transfer was priority one.
"But you're all isolated now. Doesn't that mean you've already failed?"
- ......You're right... We didn't expect humanity to be this prepared.
Mary shrugged.
Fine then.
The ocean trench guild members? Not her problem.
She didn't care what happened to them.
Only one thing mattered.
"Got it."
- Clap.
Mary clapped her hands once.
"Enough of the boring talk."
She peered back into the orb on her pillow.
Her voice brimmed with anticipation now.
"Shall we pick up where we left off? Where were we?"
- We got to... the 218th one...
"Okay, next up."
- Yes... Then, Technique for Sending a Man Packing, number 219...
Mary never became a demon familiar.
Instead...
She gained a new one.
A rather capable one, at that.