The Succubus Declares War
The succubus has declared war.
"Taehun~~ Look at this nyang!! Thirty slime eggs!!"
Mary Jane was hopping around with a bouncy spring in her step, holding one egg in each hand. They were a little larger than chicken eggs.
I worried she might accidentally break them.
"Good work, Lime."
"Lime? Who is Lime nyaong?"
"I told you to name the slime, remember? I’m terrible at naming things… so I just went with Lime. Is it that bad?"
The slime, who had been resting on a pile of hay after giving birth, slowly opened her heavy eyes and looked at me.
No matter how small the eggs were, carrying thirty of them and then laying them all would exhaust anyone.
"Lime… I like it… From today… I am not slime… I am Lime…."
"Oh, that’s the one? Perfect nyang. I’ll store the eggs in the basement so they don’t hatch nyang. Slime eggs hatch if the temperature gets too high, right nyang? Lime?"
"Correct… If I do not incubate them… eggs will not hatch… Basement… should be safe for storage…."
Mary Jane excitedly fetched a basket and began carefully placing the eggs inside.
I sat down beside Lime and took her limp, dangling hand in mine. A gentle warmth traveled through her sticky skin.
Before I realized what I was doing, I had leaned in and kissed her. Lime didn’t seem to mind at all. Her soft, squishy tongue eagerly explored my mouth.
"Oi oi, what are you doing to poor Lime right after she gave birth nyang? She needs proper rest just like humans if she’s going to lay healthy eggs again nyang. Taehun… are you in heat ong?"
I startled at Mary Jane’s words and quickly pulled away from Lime.
"I-it’s not like that. I was just comforting her for all the hard work."
"Oh ho, so Taehun’s version of comfort is kissing nyang? Then back when you worked at the convenience store, you and the female boss…."
"Stop talking nonsense and get to work! Work! We’re supposed to be fixing the fence today, remember?"
I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and practically fled the barn.
Just a few days ago I was wondering if I could even have sex with a monmusu, and now I’m casually kissing Lime…
Humans really are creatures of adaptation, huh?
"Go to bed early tonight nyang. The carpenter is coming first thing tomorrow morning to fix the roof nyang."
Mary Jane handed me a mug of beer while I lay sprawled out on the bed, utterly exhausted from working on the fence.
I somehow managed to lift my lead-heavy body and sit on the edge of the mattress, then downed the entire beer in one go.
"Wow, Taehun, you’re a total boozehound nyang? That was a three-pint mug… A man who can hold his liquor is pretty cool nyang♥"
Mary Jane clutched the tray she’d carried the mug on against her body, wiggling her hips and acting all cute.
Was the alcohol hitting me already? Why did that little performance suddenly look so adorable?
"Hey, Mary Jane. I’ve got a question."
"What is it nyang? My three sizes are top secret ong."
"Shut up. You’re a monmusu too, right? Doesn’t that mean you should be a breeding target as well?"
My question wiped the playful look right off Mary Jane’s face, replacing it with genuine surprise.
This girl could read everyone else’s emotions perfectly but was terrible at hiding her own.
"Ahaha, well… I am a monmusu nyang. Don’t tell me, Taehun… you want me nyang? Hehehe."
"I’m asking as the ranch owner. You’re a monmusu, so I should be able to get you pregnant too, right? If you gave birth and we sold the offspring, it would help with income, wouldn’t it?"
"What nyang… It was just for money nyang? Tch. How boring nyang."
With that, Mary Jane hopped up onto the chair by the coffee table beside the bed. She began grooming her face with one hand while staring absently out the window.
"Taehun. Do you know how many nekomata there are in Highland nyang?"
"No idea. How many?"
"At least as many as there are Highlanders nyang. You practically trip over us everywhere nyang."
"Really? I didn’t see a single one last time I went to the village."
"That’s because it’s far more comfortable and economical to stay in cat form nyang. In Lowland… I mean, in the world you used to live in, there were tons of stray cats too, right nyang?"
"Yeah. There really were."
"The way nekomata are treated in Highland isn’t much different from how stray cats are treated in Lowland nyang. We’re so common that nobody wants to breed with us. If they need one, they just pick a stray off the street… That’s how everyone thinks nyang."
"I had no idea… But if getting pregnant is so difficult, how are there so many of you?"
"Even I don’t know that much nyang. Nekomata live for thousands of years, so the population stays constantly high nyang… But Taehun, aren’t you sleepy nyang? Yawn~ I suddenly feel so drowsy nyang. Good night ong."
Mary Jane abruptly ended the conversation and scampered out of my room.
She paused for a moment just outside the door but never looked back before disappearing down the hall.
Did I ask something I shouldn’t have…?
It clearly wasn’t a pleasant topic for her.
Anyway, the carpenter was coming at dawn. Better get some sleep.
I flopped onto the bed without even bothering to pull up the blanket and closed my eyes.
"Big trouble nyang!! Taehun!! Wake up right now nyang!!"
Early the next morning, Mary Jane shook me awake with frantic energy.
Had the carpenter already arrived? And why was it “big trouble”?
"What’s wrong? Is the carpenter not coming today?"
"N-no, that’s not it nyang. I-I went down to the basement and…!"
"The basement? Don’t tell me Lime’s eggs hatched?"
"I wish they had nyang!! All the eggs are gone nyang!!"
"What?!"
I sprinted down to the basement.
The door was wide open.
I hadn’t even stepped inside yet and the damp, musty smell was already stabbing my nose from the stairs.
I took the torch from Mary Jane, who had run after me, and peered into the basement.
The basket Mary Jane had so excitedly filled with eggs yesterday was lying on the floor, completely empty.
"Mary Jane. Did you forget to lock the basement door yesterday?"
"I locked it nyang!! But when I woke up this morning, the key was stuck in the door nyang…."
"We didn’t finish repairing the fence, so maybe a thief got in… It’s okay, Mary Jane. This isn’t your fault. I feel bad for Lime, but I’ll ask her today if she’s ready to breed again."
"Sniff… She worked so hard to lay those eggs… I’m so upset nyang."
"Once the fence is fixed, this won’t happen again. Don’t worry."
"It’s not a fence problem, you idiots."
At the unfamiliar voice, Mary Jane and I spun around together.
There stood a monmusu with two horns rising from gray hair, crimson eyes like aged wine, bat wings, and a devil’s tail. She had her arms crossed and was sneering at us.
Anyone could tell at a glance… this was a succubus.
"Succubus? What are you doing at our ranch?"
"What am I doing here, idiot? Who do you think stole those slime eggs?"
"Don’t tell me it was you nyang?! You evil bitch!! Take my claws nyang!!"
Mary Jane closed the distance in an instant and swung her arm.
Her nails sliced through nothing but air. Unable to stop her momentum, she slammed into the stairs with a loud thud.
The succubus had already moved to stand directly in front of me.
"A nekomata? Why are you keeping such a useless monmusu around?"
"Shut up. Why did you steal the eggs? Where are they?"
"One question at a time. I stole them because I needed to. I wanted to smash them all. I just finished breaking every last one."
"What?"
"Second question. It would’ve been a waste to just smash them, right? So I ate them all. Slime eggs aren’t exactly my favorite, but they’re not bad once in a while."
"Y-you…"
My hands shook as I clenched them into fists.
But if even Mary Jane’s speed couldn’t keep up with her, what chance did I have of catching this succubus?
Could I even do any damage if I did? I was just an ordinary human.
"Hey, big-dick young man. You skipped the next question. You’re supposed to ask why I did it."
Big-dick young man? Was she talking about me?
I instinctively covered my crotch with both hands.
The succubus, who seemed to have already scanned my size right through my pants, simply giggled with mocking laughter.
"You dared to interfere with our business, so I destroyed the eggs. Honestly, I only came today to deliver that message."
"Business? Oh, you mean making men in the real world have wet dreams so you can steal their semen?!"
"That’s a little… unpleasant, but I’ll overlook it just this once. If you spout that kind of filth in front of me again, I’ll kill you. Anyway, my business here is finished. Let’s see… This nekomata’s fainted? Go fetch some cold water from the well and splash it on her face. With this level of weakness, there’s no fun in raising her at all. Kick kick—!"
The succubus gave Mary Jane’s cheek a light slap, then flew out of the warehouse in a blur.
Incredible speed and overwhelming presence…
And… in the middle of all that… her breasts were seriously no joke…
God… what the hell is wrong with me…?
"Ugh… ugh."
"M-Mary Jane!! Are you awake?!"
"Where am I, who am I… Wait, never mind that—where did that succubus bitch go nyang?!"
I laid the newly awakened Mary Jane on my lap and spent a long time calming her down.
Then I relayed every single word the succubus had left me with, without missing a single detail.
"This won’t do, Taehun. We need to bolster our forces nyang."
"Forces? Where are we supposed to get the money to hire bodyguards?"
"Bodyguards~ We’ve got monmusu right here nyang. Taehun, we have to fix the roof today so that’s out… Tomorrow!! Yes, tomorrow we’ll head to the Southern Forest nyang."
"The Southern Forest? What’s there?"
Mary Jane sprang up from my lap like a coiled spring.
Her jump was as energetic as ever, so it looked like she was fine.
"Lots of low-level monmusu live in the Southern Forest nyang. We have the weapons and armor Sir Vojtech used to use, so let’s go together and capture some nyang!!"
"What kind of nonsense is that? How am I supposed to catch monmusu?!"
"Hehe, don’t worry nyang. Taehun has a secret weapon nyang!!"
With that, Mary Jane stared pointedly at my crotch.
N-no way.
Was her so-called secret weapon my Big-Ja??
"Hehe, that’s right nyang. The monmusu living in the forest will pounce on any adult male they see nyang. If you climax first and ejaculate, you’ll just get devoured nyang. But if you hold your ejaculation back and make the monmusu climax first?! From that point on they’ll turn as docile as lambs nyang. Hehe."
"S-so in the end it’s still sex."
"Didn’t some Lowland philosopher say libido is the energy of life nyang? Sex is the energy of life nyang."
I left the basement with Mary Jane, who was spouting incomprehensible philosophy.
The carpenter had arrived just in time. I spent the rest of the day helping him repair the roof.
In the evening I stopped by the barn and broke the news to Lime that her eggs had been stolen.
Lime shed sticky tears and looked utterly heartbroken. Mary Jane and I comforted her with all our hearts.
Lime said she would need two more days of rest before she could breed again. I told her we’d make new eggs in two days’ time.
And I promised her we would definitely protect them.
The next day—the day we would set out on our expedition to the Southern Forest—dawned bright and clear.
