Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Strange Phenomenon
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“Made it. Hehe.”
Nix nailed the teleport on the first try with the right coordinates. Before I knew it, the two of us were back in front of that rune dungeon where we’d snagged that damn blue locomotive.
I reached out and stroked Nix’s head.
“Good work, Nix.”
“Hiii...”
A thin, drawn-out breath escaped her lips. Nix accepted my touch with her eyes narrowed to slits. A moment later, I pulled my hand away. Her pupils returned to their usual shadowy black.
“Wait here for a bit. I’ll be right back.”
“You can take your time...”
“How could I leave you standing here alone while I kick back and relax?”
She kept showing this affectionate side, and I couldn’t just keep being cold to her.
Sure, Nix was full of secrets and hiding all sorts of weird stuff, not to mention her absurd delusions, but she hadn’t actually harmed us in any real way.
At worst, she’d popped up in the middle of the city and scared the hell out of people, but there were no deaths or serious damage, so it was the kind of incident you could just sweep under the rug.
“Hehe... Then go on ahead.”
With that, Nix leaned back against a rock near the rune dungeon and plopped down. She started to hug her knees but hesitated, then awkwardly lay on her side looking away.
She’d probably meant to hug her knees against the wall. But thanks to those ridiculously huge breasts, she couldn’t pull her knees up, so she ended up like that.
‘Who the hell designed a body like that...?’
Amazed by the depths of human imagination, I headed toward the city. It took about the same time as when I’d gone to the rune dungeon, and soon the towering walls came into view.
A long line snaked in front of the gate. It felt way longer than when I’d left. Instead of waiting at the back, I strode along the side of the line.
Four guards were checking people and carriages by the gate. Naturally, the guards were women, and so were the citizens getting inspected. Their outfits went without saying.
And that wasn’t all. Even in that line stretching at least a hundred meters, I couldn’t spot a single man no matter how hard I looked.
‘Why is everyone here a woman? Did the modder design this city that way?’
It had been the same when I’d stopped by briefly to meet Cassandra before heading to the rune dungeon. I hadn’t seen a single man on the streets back then either.
As I approached the gate, one of the guards stopped me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same one who’d been there last time.
“You can’t come any closer. Please go to the back of the line and wait your turn—”
The guard started to send me to the rear but cut off midsentence before I could even pull out my ID. She scanned me up and down repeatedly.
Then, as if realizing something, she let out an “Ah.”
“Are you Captain Delta of the Jet-Black Starless Knights?”
I paused with my ID half-drawn.
“How’d you know?”
“The lord sent word to the guards. A handsome man with black hair, black eyes, and a gray sword at his waist—let him through. We heard the name then too.”
Even after giving me an ID for entry, she’d given advance notice just in case. I tucked the half-pulled ID back into my inner pocket.
“Welcome. Please enter, Captain.”
The guard stepped aside neatly. I passed her and entered through the gate.
“...?”
The moment I stepped inside, an inexplicable chill hit me, making my body shiver slightly as I scanned my surroundings.
Not just the guard who’d let me in, but the citizens in line, the women walking by, even those just wandering nearby—all of them were staring at me. The gazes were so sticky and clingy I couldn’t ignore them if I tried.
‘What the hell? Are they all crazy?’
I slowly made my way toward Cassandra’s mansion. The stares followed my every move. It was hard to hide the creepy feeling.
Even when I shot them subtle glances, no one looked away. They didn’t care if I was uncomfortable.
‘Still no men in sight.’
I kept looking around as I walked the main street, but it was all women. Hundreds in my view alone.
And every single one was staring right through me.
At this point, anyone would think something was off. The stares were so spine-chilling they’d make you uneasy even if you weren’t before.
A few hours ago, when I’d stopped by with Helga, sure, a few glances had come my way, but nothing like this. Just quick sidelong looks.
I kept heading to the mansion. The deeper into the city I went, the more blatant the stares became.
‘What the hell is going on?’
None of it felt remotely normal.
Walking the city’s main street, yet zero men among thousands of people. And every woman on the street openly gawking at me. Both things.
I ignored the sticky stares as best I could and arrived at the mansion. The knights guarding the front gate turned their eyes on me. They wore baggy white T-shirts and shorts that were basically triangular panties.
And apparently no bras either, because pink silhouettes faintly showed through the bulging chest areas of their shirts.
Just a few hours ago, they’d been in proper armor.
Our eyes met. The knight suddenly fanned herself with her hand, grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, and lifted it to expose her sharply defined abs in an eleven-pack.
She tied the lifted hem tightly under her breasts. It was an outfit that could pass for a lower-tier version of Nix’s.
“Are you Captain Delta of the Jet-Black Starless Knights?”
The knight approached casually. I nodded slowly.
“Yeah.”
“Please enter. The lord is waiting.”
Her hand politely pointed to the marble path leading through the garden to the mansion. I’d walked it recently, but now it felt strangely unsettling.
Maybe because the knights, after saying their piece, stared at me with the same eyes as the street women.
I walked past without giving them a glance and entered the mansion. I ignored the stares fixed on my back.
The mansion inside was quiet.
Too quiet—that was the problem.
I checked the chandeliers on the ceiling, all unlit, and the candelabras along the corridor walls, their wax hardened. With no light sources, the corridor felt dimly dark even in broad daylight.
‘Come to think of it, the curtains...’
It was midday, so why so dim? Every window in the corridor had curtains drawn. Seeing that, I gripped the hilt of Wingless Nightmare, ready to draw at any moment.
First, I’d look for anyone. In a mansion this big, someone had to be around. If I found no one, that meant something had happened.
I yanked open every curtain I passed as I searched every corner of the mansion.
“Something’s gone down.”
Not a soul.
‘No way just because I thought nothing would happen after getting that bloodlust urge...’
I recalled thinking mere hours after gaining the impulse that nothing bad could possibly occur. Shouldn’t have jinxed it. Should’ve just stayed quiet.
It wasn’t like something happened because I thought it wouldn’t, but the unease lingered. Grumbling inwardly, I climbed to the top floor of the mansion. The last place to check.
The top floor had only a massive corridor and one ornate door. Probably Cassandra’s room.
I drew Wingless Nightmare. I could end up looking like a lunatic bursting into the lord’s room with a sword, but better than entering unarmed and getting ambushed.
At least in the former, I’d have a chance to explain.
“C-Captain...?”
I reached for the door but froze at the faint voice calling me. I turned. From the dim end of the corridor, someone staggered toward me.
Pink bunny ears perked up on her head. X-shaped stickers barely covered her nipples and crotch. Her breasts and stomach fully exposed. In contrast, her arms and legs were wrapped tight without a gap.
It was Helga.
“Helga? Where’ve you been, showing up now...”
I instinctively moved toward her but hesitated. In this situation, hard to blindly trust someone stumbling in looking that bizarre—even if it was someone I knew.
I turned the tip of Wingless Nightmare toward her. Sorry, but verifying if that was really Helga came first.
“Stop there, Helga. Don’t come closer. Talk from right there.”
“C-Captain... Captain...”
Despite my sword aimed at her and the order to stop, Helga kept staggering forward. No intention of halting.
The distance closed. Her barely covered chest jiggled lewdly with each step.
“That’s an order, Captain’s command. Halt right there, Helga.”
“Order... Yes. Understood.”
Her obedient nature kicked in even in her dazed state—she reacted to the word “command.”
The moment I said “Captain’s command,” Helga froze in place. Wingless Nightmare was inches from her throat. One more step, and it would’ve pierced her.
I’d have yanked it back in panic first, though. No way I’d actually stab Helga.
Anyway, that confirmed one thing. Helga wasn’t in her right mind. Normal Helga wouldn’t have approached to sword-point like that.
The corridor was still dim, so only now, with her so close, could I clearly see her face.
Flushed red cheeks and face. Breath heavy with heat. Glazed, distant eyes. Burning-hot skin dotted with sweat beads.
Crude comparison, but she looked like Lize when she’d get all worked up during sex with me.
“Now we can talk. Helga, what happened? What’s going on? Where’s Lord Cassandra and the others?”
“Nothing... happened.”
“Nothing? That’s obviously a lie.”
The moment I entered the city, every woman’s eyes locked on me, no men anywhere, the mansion empty, and the one person I find, Helga, out of it? Nothing?
I stared at her in disbelief. But Helga ignored my reaction and started staggering forward again.
“Captain...”
“I said don’t come closer. Talk from there.”
I sheathed Wingless Nightmare and prodded her back with the scabbard end. Looked like if I tried pushing with my hand, she’d grab it before I could.
Helga’s body reeled back, nearly toppling before she caught her balance. With glazed eyes, she panted hot breaths and fixed her gaze on me.
Then, suddenly, she licked her lips. Her bunny ears twitched.
“You’re... a man, right, Captain?”
“What’s that out of nowhere?”
“Captain. You’re a man, right?”
One step. That’s how far Helga’s lower body advanced. Her breasts bounced up and down.
“I’m a woman. See? These are on my chest.”
Helga’s hands each grabbed a breast.
Then she started kneading them like dough.
She pulled them outward to expose her sweat-slick cleavage fully, or mashed them together in the middle to rub against each other, or shook them up and down to show off their weight.
It was an incredibly erotic sight, but right now, the absurdity outweighed any arousal surging through me. The extended sword tip trembled faintly.
“Helga, you...”
“Captain. Don’t you get it yet?”
Her body took another step forward. Her hands fell from her breasts. She’d kneaded so hard red marks remained on her skin.
“When a man has an aroused woman right in front of him... there’s only one thing to do, right?”
Her fingers reached for the X-sticker over her nipple. Left hand supporting under her right breast, right hand picking at the sticker on her nipple.
Tap, tap. Her index fingernail nudged the sticker’s edge. Pink flesh peeked through the gap. No hesitation in her movements.
The sticker began peeling off little by little.