Anemone (3)
"Se-a, what are you staring at so intently?"
"Ah, Team Leader. I was just browsing through the anomaly catalogs I have clearance for."
"Hmm? You've been working awfully hard lately, haven't you? You're not the Se-a I used to know."
"Heh, hehe! Ever since I made contact with that anomaly last time, my interest just sort of... took off."
"I'm not complaining. Honestly, I like the look of it."
Se-a had been committing anomalies to memory exactly as Tentacle had ordered. She was in the middle of weighing which ones might make suitable prey for him when Yu-ra, leader of Team Three, walked over.
"Your recent performance has been excellent. You might even get promoted to agent before long."
"A-an agent!?"
"That's right. I already submitted a recommendation letter, actually."
Unlike administrative staff whose work revolved around paperwork and processing, agents were the ones who made direct contact with anomalies. The job sounded dangerous on paper — and it was — but the Management Bureau treated its agents so well that every employee in the building wanted the promotion. The pay was excellent, of course, but agents also received access to exclusive yin techniques, sanctioned corruption arts, and top-tier weapons and equipment.
Besides, Se-a belonged to Information Management. She wasn't Special Suppression or Investigation & Containment, which meant the odds of her ever ending up in real danger were vanishingly small.
"Hyaaah! So I'm finally becoming an agent!?"
"Haha, nothing's finalized yet. But your contribution during the incident a few days ago was substantial."
"Ah... you mean the Urine Fairy."
"Exactly."
During the Penislime overflow crisis, Se-a had identified both the cause of the outbreak and the method of eliminating it. At the time, the Urine Fairy had developed such refined tastes that only urine from senior-grade agents could elicit a response. Someone of Yu-ra's caliber would have gotten a reaction, certainly, but she never would have extracted enough usable intelligence. Se-a's ability to dig up the critical details had been decisive in resolving the whole affair.
"Because you uncovered the cause and the solution, I was able to identify a Calamity-class anomaly. Upper management is looking at you very favorably."
"Heeh..."
Se-a — spy for that very Calamity-class anomaly — broke into a cold sweat and hastily changed the subject.
"S-so, uh, if I become an agent, I'll have to go through training, right?"
"That's right. Assuming the promotion goes through normally... when was the next training window again? Ah — next month, actually."
"Hehe, that sounds fun!"
"Oh, look at the time. Go on and head home first."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Se-a snapped off a crisp salute and gathered her things. Yu-ra watched her with an expression that said she found the whole display adorable.
Se-a went home buoyed by the prospect of becoming an agent. What greeted her, however, was a distinctly unpleasant onahole sitting on the table.
"A-an anomaly...?"
"Ah, Se-a! Welcome home."
"Yees... but what is this?"
"Someone from the Corrupt Exorcist Association stopped by earlier. I used this to speak with their president."
"Th-the Association!?"
As far as Se-a knew, the Corrupt Exorcist Association was a coalition of people designated as anomalies and genuine anomalies themselves. The agents and civilians who had fallen victim to them could fill a mountain. And the man leading them — the Doll Maker — was an anomaly among anomalies, a creature who had spent centuries turning countless women into onaholes.
"Th-this is dangerous! We need to relocate immediately!"
"Eeh... but he was actually quite the gentleman? And besides, Master is a Calamity-class anomaly. What is there to worry about?"
"Ah... I suppose so? Wait — you've changed how you address him."
"Yes. I was relaying messages on his behalf, and he said he preferred 'Master' over 'Tentacle.'"
"Then I'll call him that too."
The tension of having their address leaked to the Association evaporated the moment she remembered her master was a Calamity-class anomaly. It was almost funny, really — the same Association that had sworn to destroy the Management Bureau had rolled over and submitted the second they stood before Master.
"Let's head to the Nest for now. I need to report the anomaly intel."
Se-a set off toward the Nest, practically bouncing at the thought of earning Master's praise.
So... they still haven't pinpointed my location since the overflow incident?
"Yes, yes! The Management Bureau is searching hard, but this Nest is basically cheating — they keep coming up empty. Of course, they've fully mapped out every place you've hunted."
Hmm. I figured the Penislimes would get caught eventually.
When the Penislimes had run wild through the city, the Management Bureau had rooted out every last one of the hidden specimens. At the time, I'd assumed their countermeasures were airtight.
"I looked into it, and apparently something like the Reality Recreation Eroge only gets detected if the woman is consciously aware she's being violated."
Ahh. So we have the jellyfish to thank.
"Exactly. Because they never register the idea that they're being assaulted."
That explained why the Bureau had caught on to the mass abduction from the shower room last time — there had been women violated without jellyfish present. We'd simply fled fast enough that they never picked up our trail.
Then any specimens wandering around without jellyfish will get caught soon enough.
"Most likely, yes."
The ones I'd left inside that anomaly yesterday still had enough yin energy to stay hidden for now. But once their reserves ran dry, they'd start hunting again — and that was when the Bureau would notice and move in to capture them.
"The Urine Fairy is still unusable, by the way. After consecutive deployments, it won't even respond to the Team Leader's urine anymore."
This world really is crawling with the most grotesque anomalies imaginable.
"Eeh..."
What's with that reaction?
"Hehe."
I left Se-a to her impudent little thoughts and sank into consideration. Leveling up by subjugating anomalies was fine, but it left me short on female bodies and Personality Jelly. The Association had promised to supply human women, but factoring in bodies for anemones, bodies for breeding, bodies for yin energy harvesting — it was nowhere near enough.
Human hunting was non-negotiable.
"The Association already agreed to provide them, didn't they? Can't you just demand more?"
That place gives me the creeps.
"Uuugh. They are a pretty shady bunch."
Creepy or not, I'd take what was offered. We were scheduled to meet in three days, so in the meantime I needed to work out a proper method for hunting humans.
The jellyfish were the top priority. According to Se-a's intel, they were the single biggest reason we'd gone undetected.
"Th-then you'll be hunting around my university, I take it?"
Something like that. Introduce me to some cute friends, would you?
"Aaah! All my friends are ugly...!"
As Yu-mi had said, the jellyfish were breeding most vigorously at her university. Fortunately it was a women's college, though the male professors meant we'd still need to be careful.
First, infest the campus. Then expand into the commercial districts and their families.
Alright — time to check on progress.
I borrowed the vision of the lesser specimens stationed at the university.
At dusk, as classes let out, the lively laughter of students filled the streets. Jellyfish drifted through the open air above the campus, slipping into the cracks of courtyard walls, settling onto students' shoulders, and worming their way into the ventilation ducts of lecture halls still lit well into the evening.
"Hhk♥!?"
"Haha! What was that hiccup? That was so damn lewd—hhk♥!?"
"You're one to—euhyat♥!? talk!"
A group of coeds cutting across the athletic field. Without exception, a slender jellyfish tentacle had burrowed into each of their ears. Confirming the connection, Penislimes crept forward and latched onto their legs. Before long, those girls' studio apartments would become breeding chambers.
In a quiet corner of the library reading room, a coed who had dozed off from sheer study fatigue rubbed her eyes and lifted her head.
"Haaang♥!?"
"Huit♥!"
Must be the approaching exam period — the place was dead silent. Was that why I'd drifted off without realizing it?
I glanced around. Everyone else was buried in their books. I wondered if it was okay for me alone to be slacking off like this, but honestly, I just really didn't feel like studying.
Needing to pee, I headed for the restroom — and spotted a study room along the way.
"Hik♥! I-I have to submit the assignment by tomorrow, so, haaut♥!"
"Is the presentation prep, huet♥!? all done?"
Several people were clustered inside the study room working on assignments. Good thing I'd finished mine ahead of time. Otherwise, that could have been my future.
"Hiyahk!?"
The floor must have been slippery — I went down hard on my rear. Strangely, though, it barely hurt. If anything, it felt... a little good.
"Sigh. Exams must be messing with my body."
I dusted myself off, stood up, and stepped into the restroom.
It was crowded. Every stall was occupied, and a line of girls was waiting.
Then a thought surfaced. Did I really need to go into a stall to do my business? Couldn't I just pee right here?
— trickle, trickle...
I simply went. My jeans darkened steadily until a yellow puddle spread across the floor.
"Just pee where you are, everyone. Why are you waiting?"
"Haaut♥! Th-that's a great idea!"
"You're right. What a waste of ti—iihit♥! me."
The other girls in the restroom started peeing on the spot. The floor turned yellow.
A stroke of genius. I savored my own brilliant idea as I looked into the mirror.
"H-huh...?"
My face was flushed red as a tomato, drool spilling freely from my mouth. Something was writhing against my breasts, sucking on my nipples, and inside my jeans a thick, worm-like thing was thrashing wildly about.
"Hikyaat♥!?"
From my still-virgin pussy, love juices poured without pause, and something was plunging in and out of my anus in a relentless rhythm.
Just before the wrongness fully registered, I rubbed my eyes to confirm what I was seeing.
"Eh...?"
What reappeared in the mirror was a perfectly normal, entirely un-lewd, completely unremarkable scene.
"What. Must've been seeing things."
She returned to her seat and resumed studying.
"Haaang♥!?"
"Huit♥!"
With exams approaching, the library remained very, very quiet.