#11 - The Phantom Thief Violated by a Plant-Type Monster
Since this world followed the fantasy framework of an eroge, monsters existed here as well.
The weakest of them all were ordinary animals and plants that had monsterized under mana's influence — creatures so feeble they didn't even qualify as mutant species. Because they became monsters without any significant change in form from the ordinary creatures they once were, unless the original animal or plant happened to be dangerous, they could be dealt with far more easily than one might expect.
A step above them, among the monsters we commonly picture when we hear the word, the weakest were slimes and goblins, whose individual combat strength was pathetic. These, too, could grow stronger depending on their subspecies, but for the most part they were treated as the weakest monsters around.
And, quite obviously, I couldn't guarantee I'd beat even one of these "weakest monsters" in a one-on-one fight.
Fortunately, in the place I needed to go tonight — the Karans Forest — the strongest monster ever discovered was the goblin. In other words, unless things went truly wrong, I should at least be able to run.
Of course, I'd prepared countermeasures as well. Goblins had a habit of swarming together and a knack for cunning strategy; the moment I let my guard down, they'd have me snatched up on the spot.
And that countermeasure was....
Pssht! Pst! Pst!
"Ugh, the smell."
Slightly pungent as it was, this monster-repellent spray could, without question, drive monsters away. I'd made it myself, from spores that monsters despise. Most monsters, goblins included, would presumably refuse to come anywhere near me once this smell was hanging in the air. Of that much, I was certain.
"Whew... the moon is... up, all right."
I glanced up at the sky. What hung there was the moon — not perfectly full, but not so thin as to be a mere sliver, either. A half moon.
There was one more rule to sealing this relic: the sealing could only be performed on a night when the moon was in the sky, whatever shape it took. True, the thinner the moon's phase, the longer the sealing would take, but a waxing crescent or a waning one could be sealed all the same. The only dealbreaker was a new moon, when the moon vanished from the sky entirely.
I lifted the silver plate I'd brought with me. A faint glow shimmered off its surface, and that faint glow was telling me with absolute certainty: this was the right place — this was the sealing point.
With everything confirmed, there was nothing left to hesitate over.
"All right. Let's go."
I began walking slowly into the forest — slowly, carefully, all the while combing my surroundings with my eyes.
Rustle... rustle...
Crackle... crackle...
The deeper I walked, the more sounds of one kind or another began rising from around me. They had the ring of things in flight — most likely monsters catching a whiff of my monster-repellent spray and bolting.
"Thankfully, it works."
I'd assumed it would, naturally, since this spray was mixed from Master's own formula. Even so, I'd been only half convinced until I felt the effects firsthand, so it was a relief that this monster-repellent spray, brewed to Master's formula, seemed to work beautifully in every way.
Perhaps that lent me a touch of confidence, because I walked on a little farther — and at the end of those steps, a monster came into view.
A monster in the shape of a small mushroom: a Mashu. Being a plant-type, it apparently wasn't much bothered by my spore-based spray. For the record, this thing was weaker than even a slime or a goblin. A monster born from a mushroom steeped in mana had no business being strong.
Perhaps it had sensed my presence; the Mashu turned its cap toward me and was trembling, as if preparing an attack.
But look here, my dear little mushroom — I had no intention whatsoever of losing to you.
Brrrrrrrrr...!
The Mashu's trembling grew fiercer and fiercer, and I immediately clamped my cape over my nose.
Psshwaah!!
Spores sprayed out at me. I blocked them with my cape, swept them away a moment later, and then kindly answered in kind with magic.
"Flare!"
Fwoosh!
A small flame flickered to life — a flame so tiny it wouldn't have fazed an ordinary enemy in the slightest, yet by far the most powerful spell in my repertoire.
Fwaaaroom!
Crssshshsh...!
The instant the flame caught, the Mashu's body convulsed tremendously and burst into burning, and before long it breathed its last, shedding every spore it carried.
I'd finished off a monster with almost laughable ease, but that was only because my opponent was a Mashu. If what I'd just met had been a goblin instead, I'd have been in genuinely serious trouble.
Thankful that I'd met no goblin — thankful that this spray, mixed from Master's formula, kept goblins at bay — I walked deeper into the forest.
Not long after I'd entered the forest, what I laid eyes on was water. Yes — water. Following that stream, I soon found myself at a stretch of water large enough to be called a river, and I naturally began to walk upstream. If I went up that far, I was certain I would find the place corresponding to the Eye of the Northern Rapids.
A "rapids," as the word was used here, meant the water that came pushing and surging into a river or a lake. So what, then, was the "eye" of the rapids? I turned the question over any number of times, and the answer that always emerged was this: the one spot amid all that crashing water where nothing crashed. That was what I pictured the "eye of the rapids" to be — a place like the eye of a storm.
So onward, then — upstream first, and then slowly back down along the river. It would be there somewhere. The "Eye of the Northern Rapids," where I could seal the silver plate I carried. I was still thinking exactly that when—
Swish!
"Oh my god!?"
Swish! Thwack!
A plant root had hooked my ankle out of nowhere. Thankfully, though my combat arts were poor, I was something of an expert at running away, so rather than falling flat I rolled once and landed cleanly on my feet. But there was one thing I couldn't make sense of: why had my foot caught on a plant root in the first place? It feels odd to say about myself, but thanks to the merciless training Master put me through, I don't fall for basic floor traps or trip-up snares. And yet I'd been tripped?
Something had hooked my foot with intent. The moment that thought took shape, I made ready to bolt — and what appeared before me was....
"A flower...?"
It was a gigantic flower. A flower with a grotesque maw, at that.
KYAAAAAAH!
And I knew that monster's name.
"Mans Eater...?"
The Mans Eater. In ordinary times it hid itself away like any common plant, but the moment prey drew near, it bound them with its roots and stalks.
"Nobody ever said anything about a Mans Eater being out here...!?"
According to everything I'd researched, the only monsters in this area were supposed to be goblins and small fry...! With ordinary combat strength, going up against a Mans Eater wasn't even an option — which meant I had to get away from here, right now. First I'd break out of this spot, shake off the Mans Eater, and from there either go straight on and seal the silver plate, or flee again, work out a plan for dealing with the thing, and come back. And so I moved to make a strategic retreat — but....
Swish-swish!
Kwaaack!!
"Kyaah!?"
The vines buried in the earth rose up all at once and bound my body perfectly tight.
"Ugh... ugh...! Get this... off meee...!"
I jerked and twisted, trying somehow to work the vines loose, but it was no use.
Kwaaaack...!
"Uuuugh...!"
The more I struggled to free myself, the harder the Mans Eater simply cinched its vines around me. Still, escape wasn't out of the question yet — only my waist and my ankles were bound. So I had to get away somehow, by any means necessary. That was what I was thinking, right up until....
Slick... slip... shloop...
"Huh...?"
Two more vines had risen up at some point and stripped my clothes away. Or, more precisely, I should say they'd cleared my clothes aside just enough to bare my chest.
"Wh-what are you... trying to do...!"
The instant those words left my mouth, I remembered exactly what kind of monster the Mans Eater was. It was a monster that "devoured" its prey. And this world was the world of an eroge. So what happened when a Mans Eater like that caught me — caught a woman?
Two plant stalks — stripped of every petal, as if nothing remained but the seed-bud and the calyx — came toward me, toward my chest. Their intent was so vividly, unmistakably clear that I twisted my body every way I could in a desperate bid to escape.
"No... don't — don't suck them, don't suck theeeem...!"
Chup!
Chup!
The two vines latched onto the tips of my chest — onto my nipples—
Shluuuurp!
Shluuuurp!
"Hnyaaaaaaah♡"
And in that very instant, they began sucking on both of my nipples at once.
Slurp! Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!
Slurp! Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!
Toying with both my nipples at the same time, they sucked away at me without mercy.
"Hnngh♡ Ahn♡ Aaah...♡ I'm telling... you...♡ nothing like milk...♡ is coming ooout...♡ Hiiyn...♡"
I tried somehow to grab those stalks and tear them away, but the harder I tried, the more fiercely the two stalks clamped to my nipples simply sucked at me. And within that, there was only one thing left for me to do.
"Haaaahn♡"
All I could do was vent the wanton cries of a female in heat while I was violated, powerless to resist. That was all.
