Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: Unable to Endure
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Yuris fell deep into thought.
“Haah, I need a day off.”
Ever since the Saintess discovered the succubus, the Imperial Knights had strengthened their alert status.
Upon hearing from the Church that a demon might have arrived in the empire's capital, the Emperor went all out to bolster security in order to protect not just himself, but the civilians as well.
And with Yuris, the Goddess of Victory, taking command, she became the overall commander of the capital's defense, spending every single day on duty without a moment's rest.
All-nighters were a given, and she personally patrolled the vast capital every day to maintain public order.
She occasionally wanted to slack off, but contrary to her wishes, she couldn't properly shirk her duties.
This capital defense wasn't just the affair of the 1st Knight Order.
The 2nd Knight Order Captain, Leon Silbestar; Asuka, the capital's Guard Captain and defense commander; and even the heads of various magic schools.
All the key figures with any real power had been summoned to defend the empire, and they were all suffering together.
There was no excuse to rest.
‘I want to rest.’
Of course, the fatigue Yuris felt, having transcended humanity, wasn't mere physical exhaustion.
She wasn't so frail that a few sleepless nights would wear her down.
In fact, among those gathered for the defense, she was the most energetic.
But what had built up in her was...
‘I miss Max.’
Lust.
For the past few days—no, nearly weeks now—she hadn't visited Max's shop.
If it weren't for this special situation, she would have summoned Max to her barracks.
But even that was impossible now, so she soothed her lust with masturbation once every three days.
However, as time passed, the frequency increased, and now she was doing it almost every day.
Yet it still wasn't enough.
‘It has to be Max.’
No one but Max could fill her up, could fill that emptiness...
“Haah.”
“You've been sighing a lot lately.”
Her vice-captain, Jeko, remarked upon hearing her sigh.
“Have I?”
“Yes. It seems like once every twenty minutes or so. Has something been worrying you lately?”
“Worries, yeah. The Demon King was subjugated just a few years ago, and now a new demon shows up in the empire.”
“Is that really the reason?”
She looked at Jeko.
He was gazing at her with a faint smile.
“Is it because of that guy?”
“Who?”
“The man named Max you personally called to your office last time.”
“......”
She couldn't deny it.
Her sighs had increased because she hadn't seen Max.
“We've all been really busy lately. With this emergency, we can't even go home properly, and the knights under me are complaining that they miss their families and lovers. Overtime and all-nighters every day.”
“It'll be over soon.”
“I understand. When you can't see the one you love, worries pile up. I'm the same.”
The one you love?
Yuris furrowed her brow at Jeko's words.
“Jeko, what are you talking about?”
“What else? I'm just cheering on our captain's love.”
“W-Who said anything about love?”
She jumped in surprise at the sudden comment.
“Huh? It isn't? I thought you were having a private talk with that guy named Max who came by.”
“Th-That, what are you even saying.”
Of course, she had called Max and used illusions for real sex.
But it wasn't because of love...
It was due to her desires, which were hard to even speak of.
“It isn't? The look on your face when you saw him off... it was like a woman completely smitten.”
“Jeko, you've never even had a girlfriend.”
“Doesn't mean I don't know the theory.”
“...Virgins' words have no credibility.”
Yuris denied Jeko's claim.
Love for Max? No way.
Their relationship was customer and shop owner.
They used each other for pleasure.
It was nothing like a romance where love could bloom.
Of course, she thought of him more often lately.
She masturbated more while imagining his cock.
Recently, Max wouldn't leave her mind.
‘I shouldn't fall in love.’
Yuris shook her head.
When she was with Max, she felt the urge to abandon her own status, but Yuris was the 1st Knight Order Captain safeguarding the empire's security, and the Goddess of Victory.
With so much responsibility on her shoulders, she couldn't afford to waste time on soft, sweet emotions like love.
Hadn't she vowed upon becoming the Goddess of Victory?
That she would devote herself fully to protecting the empire.
“Could it be because of the oath you made when you first took office as captain?”
On the day she was appointed, she had read a declaration before the Emperor, pledging her devotion to the empire.
Devotion to the empire.
That was what held Yuris back.
“......It's not that.”
“So why did you bring that friend all the way to your office for a private meeting?”
Yuris shut her mouth at Jeko's question.
She had no excuse.
While everyone else was training, she had been doing it with Max in her office.
“Don't overthink it. It's a time of peace now, and until this crisis, you've devoted yourself to the empire. You can live a little for yourself now. Everyone would probably be fine with it.”
“......”
She couldn't respond to Jeko's words.
Because his advice to live for herself struck deep in her heart.
It was then.
“Good morning.”
“Captain, have you been well?”
Guard Captain Asuka arrived with the security captains in tow.
For someone overseeing patrols of the entire outer districts, her face was far too energetic.
Those areas were so vast that even seasoned knights would be drained after a few days.
“You look cheerful.”
“Oh, do I? Haha!”
Asuka laughed heartily and spoke.
“My troops looked exhausted these past few days, so for the outer districts, I left minimal personnel and rotated rest shifts.”
One of the security captains chimed in.
“In a situation where we don't know when the demon might strike, we can't have everyone pulling all-nighters. It was an order to maintain peak condition.”
Yuris furrowed her brow at that.
“You left only minimal personnel during this emergency?”
“Yes. It was the choice to get everyone back to duty-ready as fast as possible. Otherwise, their bodies wouldn't hold up.”
Yuris pressed her forehead.
To maintain maximum alert, they had deployed every available knight.
They had barely slept at all.
Even knights who transcended humanity through mana were still human.
No matter how strong, a few sleepless days would wear anyone down.
She had deployed as many as possible for any emergency, so hearing that the Guard had pulled personnel felt like betrayal.
“How can you be so lax? We need to maintain this alert until the hero sent to subjugate the demon returns.”
“But Lady Yuris, it's been over a week already. Civilians can't endure it.”
She knew that.
That's why she hadn't made the rotations too tight.
It was at a level trained soldiers could handle.
“Knights get one day off every three! I haven't slept a wink this whole time!”
“......”
Vice-Captain Jeko beside her hadn't slept either.
At best, a one-hour nap during shift changes.
That one hour a day was the knights' allowed rest.
Irritation surged.
But Yuris clenched her eyes shut.
She knew all too well that fracturing unity here would do no good.
“Fine. Since you're in charge of the Guard overall, I won't say more. Lower the alert intensity. But from now on, the Knight Order will increase days off too.”
“......”
The Guard Captain nodded.
“We'll do that.”
“But the Imperial Palace Guard serving His Majesty—never slacken your vigilance!”
“Understood.”
With that, Yuris stood up.
“Captain, where are you going?”
Jeko asked in surprise at her sudden move.
“I need a break too.”
“Good choice. You've been pushing too hard lately.”
“Jeko, you rest too.”
“No. I can't leave while you're away. I'll rest when you return.”
Yuris smiled faintly at him.
“......Thanks.”
“Take care.”
“You expect me to learn all this?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh......”
“What, you hate it?”
I glared at the succubus Prelia, who was hesitating in front of the magic circle set up in the customer service workshop.
“No, but even without this magic circle, one of my dreams could...”
“Didn't I tell you? Relying solely on dreams will end up draining their essence.”
“......”
“I ordered you. Never drain a human's essence.”
The backlash from that would be beyond even my control.
A succubus's dream ultimately aimed to steal essence.
No matter the method, without taking essence, the illusion wouldn't end.
So her task was to use her dream abilities while creating illusions via magic circles that could end without draining essence.
“You're using my abilities, aren't you?”
“I am. But there are lines.”
“Ugh......”
Meeting my eyes, she bowed her head.
“So, use illusion magic circle principles to craft dreams and serve them to customers.”
“Understood.”
Prelia nodded.
She didn't argue further.
Her obedience made her easy to handle.
Probably thanks to the lewd seal.
With the new employee, our shop schedule changed a bit.
Thanks to her handling indoor cleaning, I had more time for side gigs and illusion magic research.
We could now cover rent without side gigs, but materials like magic reagents still required them.
Tia sent profits from mana battery development, but we set some aside as emergency funds.
Most went back into shop growth.
‘When will I achieve financial freedom?’
Anyway, Prelia helped surprisingly well with chores and research, freeing up even more time.
Enough for a cup of coffee in peace.
It was then.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A rough knocking echoed.
“Eek!”
Prelia yelped and hid behind the sofa—it was that loud.
Who could it be?
I'd paid off all loans.
I opened the door to greet the intruder.
And there stood...
“Haah, haah. Max......”
Yuris, breathing heavily.
“I can't hold back anymore.”
Pardon? What do you mean?