The Supporting Protagonist Goes to Work - 6
At first glance the Amazons seemed like another gender-reversed world akin to the elves, yet the grain of it was entirely different.
Elves still possessed male bodies. Inside the Amazon tribe, men simply did not exist.
According to the records, they captured men from foreign lands and used them as seed wrappers.
Not seed-bearers—seed wrappers.
In other words, to the Amazons a male was not a person at all, merely a tool.
Elven women respected and cherished men. These ones did not.
[They are the sort who freely shatter a man’s legs and crush him to death under their armpits…]
They even forcibly wrung men dry, conceived, and gave birth. Male infants were thrown to the beasts; female infants were raised as warriors.
How could anyone demand a man’s human rights from a tribe like that with a straight face?
Which is exactly why I have to resist even harder.
[And how, pray, do you intend to resist while trussed up like this?]
Nothing I can do right this second. But an opening will come.
[On what grounds?]
Because this is still a trial. No trial simply murders the challenger without ever giving him a chance.
[A trial, is it… Yet your premise may have been wrong from the start. A dungeon is, by its very nature, a place that excludes intruders.]
True enough—but a mental world that tries to kill you the moment you step inside simply does not exist.
This place was a dungeon and a mental world at once. Creating a mental world that murdered people on sight? Not even the ancient demons, the dragons, or the gods themselves could manage that. And no matter how great a sage Felix had been, he had never been greater than a dragon.
Anyway, the chance will come. And when it does…
[When it does?]
I’ll teach them that men who can make women submit also exist in this world.
[You dress it up so prettily, yet in the end you mean to thrash them into submission with your cock, do you not?]
Th-that’s the backup plan! First I’ll try to subdue them with my own power.
[Even though this is not your body?]
The body changed, but the techniques didn’t vanish. Luckily this body can use magic too. The rank is far below mine, but it can just barely manage fourth-circle spells—that’s enough.
No one outstripped me in the application of magic. Even low-rank spells could produce heaven-and-earth differences in power depending on how you used them. Veteran Amazons or not, the first round would be mine for certain.
[And the plan?]
Starting from the moment we’re locked in the prison…
Even while they dragged me along I explained the entire scheme inside my head to Frach. Whenever an uncertain factor appeared she offered a better alternative, and by the time we had refined the plan between us we had already arrived at the Amazon village.
The tribeswomen inside came pouring out to gawk and shouted at us.
“Whoa~! It’s a man!”
“Been ages since the lower lips got a proper feast!”
“That one! I called dibs on that one! Tonight I’ll wring him until he’s a rag!”
Women spouting crude remarks without the slightest hesitation. In that respect the gender-reversal atmosphere was thick indeed. Yet the gazes that regarded us as prey—or toys—never changed.
“I’ll eat you up nice and tasty, so wait quietly in the prison…!”
“Ugh…!”
A woman who had been eyeing me hungrily from the rear pressed right up against me and seized a firm handful of my ass. Then she whispered low into my ear, and goosebumps raced over my whole body while my spine went rigid.
So sexual harassment from a woman could feel this terrifying too.
Unlike the other soldiers, however, I neither scowled nor wept. I simply lowered my head as if ashamed and smiled where the Amazons could not see.
Tonight, which side is going to get conquered?
The wait in the prison already promised to feel endless. At least Frach’s screams when the Amazons confiscated our weapons had been somewhat entertaining.
[Ah—no! Unhand this body! You bitches!]
Bye-bye, my pretty magic sword…
[You crazy bastard!!]
Even a tribe that shunned civilization was not stupid enough to leave hostages armed. They knew perfectly well that with a blade you could cut the ropes on your wrists and ankles and run. So of course the weapons were taken, and I had to part from Frach for a while.
Still, I planned to reclaim her tonight. I only hoped she would not hold too much of a grudge.
“Captain, what happens to us now?”
“Hm?”
Out of nowhere one of the captured soldiers asked me a question. I glanced left and right. Every other soldier’s eyes were fixed on me as well; apparently I was their captain in this body. Not a common foot soldier—someone given a reasonably important post.
Well, I had read that in the old days only nobles could use magic, so mages had been rare.
“Do you know what becomes of us after the Amazons drag us off?”
“Starting tonight you’ll probably receive sexual torture. If you can’t endure it, you die. Even if you’re lucky enough to survive, you’ll be sold to enemy nations.”
“Th-that can’t be!”
“This has to be a dream! It has to be!”
“My wife is waiting for me back home…!”
The realistic answer plunged every one of them into panic. Despair, rage, sorrow—each man displayed a different emotion while denying reality. Watching them, I let out a short laugh.
“Captain, how can you smile in a situation this miserable?”
“Because I only told you what happens if we do nothing—and you’re already giving up.”
“D-does that mean you have some secret plan to break out of this?”
“Who knows? I can’t be certain either. But it’s better than sitting still.”
“Please tell us the method too!”
“We don’t want to just take it lying down!”
The men who had been drowning in despair only moments earlier were now burning with fighting spirit so fiercely I almost doubted they were the same people. The commander I had been assigned was neither brilliant nor incompetent, it seemed. A few words and the troops’ morale was climbing; he must have treated his subordinates well. Their trust looked solid enough that I could use them like my own limbs.
“Quiet down, you lot. The Amazons outside will hear and come storming in.”
“S-sorry.”
“Let’s see. So every last one of you wants to live, right?”
“Of course.”
“Who would want to die here?”
“Good. Then I’ll give you a crash course on how to survive. Watch my movements carefully and copy them.”
Until sunset we were supposed to wait quietly in the prison. In that short span I taught the men how to stay alive on their own—how to endure the warrior women’s attacks, how to resist, and how to create openings.
I delivered it in a serious tone, yet the actual content was night techniques and hip rotation. Even so the soldiers absorbed every word without a trace of playfulness. They must have truly wanted to live.
In any case, after I freely advised them that the only way to survive was to dominate the Amazons on the bed, the dark curtain of night finally fell.
And new visitors arrived at the barren prison.
“The ones I name, come out at once! Resist and you won’t like what happens.”
“Damn it…!”
“You first.”
The Amazons began pointing at the prisoners one by one and hauling them out. Each man who was called shot me a sidelong glance and gave a tiny nod. Resolve to try exactly what I had taught them shone in their eyes.
Tch…
Even with my instruction, whether more than ten would actually survive was still an open question. Time had been far too short, and more importantly their specs were nothing like mine. I was practically carrying an extra sword hidden in my lower half; the other soldiers… who knew.
Against inexperienced Amazons it might be relatively easy, but a veteran who had already given birth would be a brutal fight. I could only hope as many as possible made it through.
“You too. Out.”
“Captain…!”
“Go. Don’t forget what I taught you.”
“Yes sir! Please stay safe yourself, Captain…!”
“Worry about yourself, not me.”
The last man left in the prison was taken away. I alone remained, sitting by myself.
Honestly I had expected them to call me early; being last felt a little strange. There had even been a warrior woman who had her eye on me.
I lay back on the straw covering the floor and quietly stared at the ceiling. If they would just call my name already I could start the escape—and once free I could still rescue the soldiers who had been taken first.
Yet no matter how much time passed, no one came looking for me.
Where the hell did that warrior who grabbed my ass go?
Irritation was just beginning to rise when—
Thud, thud—!
The footsteps I had been waiting for finally echoed. At the thought of “at last” I sat bolt upright and turned my head toward the stairs.
“Everyone clear the way! The Queen approaches!”
Queen?
The queen herself was coming for me? Not the warrior from earlier?
The unfamiliar word left me briefly flustered. Still, not a bad development. If I could make the queen submit, the game was essentially over. Imprint the existence of a man named me upon her, train her thoroughly, and this entire tribe would be mine to mold as I pleased…
“Mee~!”
“Huh…?”
A bleat I had heard many times before rang out. At the same moment the Amazon queen revealed herself.
She wore the various bone ornaments befitting a queen. The only problem was that she was not human—she was a sheep demi-human.
“I’ve finally found you!”
“Meril? Why are you here…?”
“Because the guest ran away without even solving the problem, Meril left the library and followed after you!”
“Th-that’s possible?”
“Hehe! Normally I can’t leave the library at all, but for some reason this time I just walked right out! Maybe the dungeon’s will allowed me to chase the guest!”
Felix… no, Perris, you bastard?