Teaming Up with Erophna and Plotting the Lord's Vault Heist
I'd love to adventure with Erophna.
That's the thought that hits me the moment I first see her.
During the slime incident, I learned the hard way why adventurers shouldn't go solo—body and soul.
In that sense, Erophna's perfect as a party member. She's in the same boat as me, shares my tastes, a high elf with her powers sealed but still packing some magic punch.
Where else am I gonna find a party member this spot-on?
Plus, you've gotta have a front-line female knight and a rear-guard female mage before you can call yourself adventurers anywhere.
But I didn't expect her to agree so quickly.
"Huh? Why are you so flustered? I said let's adventure together."
Erophna flashes a friendly smile.
She answers so straightforwardly that I end up flustered instead.
"I-it's fine? I mean, I'm the one who asked, so it sounds weird coming from me, but... you can decide that fast...?"
"Totally fine. I'm getting bored working at the Perverted Bar anyway. Curious about other countries and cities. Adventuring with you sounds fun, Maltaris. Hehe."
She rests her hand on her cheek, narrowing her eyes in a smile.
Maybe it's from a lifetime of repression. She has this tendency to just dive in when she decides. Fine by me, though.
"Awesome. Then right here, it's official—the formation of the Maltaris and Erophna adventurer team!"
*clap clap clap clap*
Aris gives us a dry round of applause.
"Great. If you're going adventurer, I'll write you a guild recommendation."
"Hehe, thanks, Aris. Looking forward to adventuring with you too, Maltaris. So, what's our team's goal?"
"Goal? Obviously, track down Lilith, the one who made the Trials' Book, and break this curse."
No matter how much I love high-race weakened humiliation defeats and shameful rapes, I don't wanna stay this weak forever.
I tell Erophna everything that's happened so far.
Getting captured by the goblin village.
Rescued by adventurers and settling in Arje.
And the full slime quest disaster.
She blushes enviously at points throughout.
"Hehe, what an enviably epic tale. Hmm. The Church of Depravity and the Great Lilim. That's our only lead right now, huh?"
"Yeah. Searched for Lilith, but nada."
"Same with succubi. They're rare these days anyway. Most hid after the demon hunt about a century ago."
"Demon hunt? What's that?"
"Huh? You don't know the demon hunt?"
"How could you not know?"
They both shoot back like it's the most obvious thing.
As if saying, 'What? Like it's not common sense that the morals committee handles delinquent punks' sexual needs?'
"A century ago, I was holed up in my cave, so..."
More precisely, right around when I first saw goblin gangbangs and started my cave hikikomori wank sessions.
"Ah, got it. The demon hunt was a massive event a hundred years back. Some demon called the 'First Woman' led her demon horde in raising an army. The whole continent was chaos."
"Yes, our elf kingdom Ruen cut off all outside contact back then. Elves are isolationists, after all."
"But a hero took down the 'First Woman,' and her scattered demons lost their glue. Humans, elves, dwarves, and even demons who rebelled against her banded together, drove out the army, and brought peace."
"They hunted down the demons who'd joined the 'First Woman' in the process—that's the demon hunt era. Most were succubi, so they took a huge hit. After that, succubi vanished from the continent."
"The 'First Woman' had succubi under her? So maybe she's Lilith?"
"I get what you're saying, but unlikely. Above all, the 'First Woman' wasn't a succubus—just your standard demon."
"Hmm... I see."
This is all news to me.
Guess holing up for a century had more impact than I thought.
"Anyway, succubi dried up after that. Better to investigate the Church of Depravity if you're hunting Lilith."
"Hmm... Church of Depravity, though. Rings a bell somewhere."
Erophna taps her finger on her chin, deep in thought.
She drums her fingers, squinting as she ponders.
"Church of Depravity... Church of Depravity... Heard it in Ruen... in a report... Ah! I remember."
"Really?"
Honestly, after not seeing any queenly vibes these past few days, I was starting to doubt if she really was one. Guess she is.
"Half a year ago, back when I was queen. Heard the Church of Depravity was tied to Hurnah."
"Hurnah? First time hearing that name. Where?"
Aris pulls out a map.
It's a city at the eastern edge of the Arega Kingdom, near Ruen.
"Fortress city Hurnah. Used as a stronghold when Arega and Ruen were at war. But after the peace treaty with Ruen, it got mostly abandoned."
Then Erophna speaks up.
"Also known as the sealed city Hurnah. Half a year ago, the whole area around the fortress walls got locked down."
"Sealed? Why?"
"No one knows. They suddenly shut the walls and cut all outside links. The kingdom sent investigation teams multiple times—no one's come back. The army's got it surrounded and basically left it alone."
"And that's linked to the Church of Depravity? Did succubi do something...?"
"No clue. Ruen couldn't figure out more. But a succubus affecting a whole city? That'd be a disaster for sure."
"But we have no choice if we wanna find Lilith."
After the humiliation from apprentice succubus Lena.
Walking straight into a city gripped by succubi.
What the hell are they gonna do to me... Eut... ♡
-Kyung♡
The super-perv womb sensor in my lower belly throbs dokun dokun, tsuk tsuk in reaction♡
*gulp*
My swallow echoes loudly in the quiet room.
Our eyes meet with Erophna—we exchange quiet smirks.
"Hehe. But we have to go, right?"
"Y-yeah. No choice."
"Haa..."
Aris sighs deeply.
"Alright. Then our team's first goal: infiltrate Hurnah and investigate the Church of Depravity!"
"Sounds good!"
Erophna and I strike triumphant poses, pumped after forming the team and setting our first goal.
Then Aris raises her hand.
"Sorry to pour cold water, but... you got travel funds? Hurnah's pretty far from here."
"Ah."
Money... not much.
"Even if Maltaris's light experiments are paid off, what about gold for Erophna's guild registration?"
"Ah."
That too!
"O-okay. Then team goal: take quests and earn money first!"
Changing goals looks a bit lame, but reality waits for no one.
"And one more issue."
Another problem?!
"Sealed city Hurnah's off-limits by army order. Need at least city lord-level entry permit to get in. You can get the paperwork via an official Hurnah investigation quest, but Arje's city lord is a real piece of work."
"City lord, huh. Yeah, never heard anything good. Everyone's always cursing him out."
Arje's city lord, Pabera Habok.
He's got a rotten rep.
Born third son of nobility, living off daddy's gifted city lord seat—a worthless guy.
Looks nothing likeable.
Dyed tacky blond hair. Tanned brown skin. Piercings everywhere on a sleazy face.
Personality's all greed, lust, and bullying the weak.
Loves sex.
Hobby: sex.
Swings his city lord power freely to build a luxury mansion, calls in whores daily to torment—that's his jam.
A punk golden boy banking solely on his noble dad's clout.
"Hmm... City lord Pabera..."
"Ask him for a permit, and what'll he demand in return?"
Two famous beauty adventurers begging a favor only they could.
No legit backing, no reason to help.
100% gonna demand our bodies. I'd do the same ♡
Pabera's the type who loves tormenting women slow and steady, right?
Oh, that doesn't sound bad at all ♡
Then a brilliant idea sparks in my head.
"Travel funds and permit—I've got a way to solve both."
"What is it?"
"Heard rumors Pabera's mansion has a massive vault stuffed with insane cash. How about we borrow a bit?"
"Wh-what? Steal? That's... tricky..."
"Not stealing, Erophna. Just relocating Pabera's money to my pocket. Think about it—money he earned? No way it's legit."
"Yeah, smuggling, loansharking, drugs—anything that pays, he's in."
What a scumbag.
"It's piled sky-high, so skimming a little? He won't notice."
"Oho, that's tempting. Hehe, back in the day I admired phantom thieves of justice."
Aris, who'd been watching our scheming, suddenly bursts out laughing.
"Kukuku... Raiding his mansion, huh? High races alright—thinking on a different scale. Fine, I'll help. Lucky for you, I designed Pabera's vault. That creep strong-armed the guild to save cash, half-forced me into it. Made it solid for guild face, but with my help? Piece of cake. And I hated how he looked at me anyway."
Aris pulls a money pouch from her desk drawer and hands it to me.
"Ten gold here. Use it for guild registration tomorrow. Then contact Pabera for the Hurnah permit right away. He'll probably summon you to his mansion that night. We raid the vault. I'll tell you the security magic bypass later."
Hehe. Things are falling into place nicely.
"Got it."
I take the ten gold with a satisfied grin.