Chapter Volume 9 5: The Truth about the Orphanage

"Fuaa... Anyway, it's so peaceful inside the walls."

Fenelieka, a beautiful woman with red hair and wings like that of a bat, muttered it to herself with a sigh as she walked along the bustling street of the royal capital.

She looked at the people who were working on the reconstruction of the royal capital early in the morning and muttered to herself as though she were talking about something else.

She leaned back as though she were a cat, emphasizing her overly ample breasts, her smooth abdomen, and her firm waist, causing the men who noticed her to stop in their tracks to admire Fenelieka's beautiful body.

"Jeez. I don't understand what the fun is in seducing men like that."

"Because succubus is a creature that seduces men. Being directed with such desires is one of their meals, you know?"

"Fuu... so you can fill your stomach that way. I didn't know that."

"It's like a dessert...... more like a pre-meal snack."

The two of them walked down the street without seeming to pay much attention to their surroundings while having a conversation that would make Meltia and Mariabelle blush if they heard it.

The royal capital, which was in the process of reconstruction, was full of activity from the morning, with craftsmen specializing in construction, merchants selling hammers and nails like street vendors on the side of the street to sell tools, and restaurants preparing light meals for people to snack on while they work.

Kara, who had breakfast at the royal castle too, but perhaps because she was not very good at formal etiquette, bought a simple but fresh grilled animal meat skewer on the way to enjoy and bit into it as she walked along.

The succubus was a race that ate male's essence as food, just as humans eat things.

After hearing one of their ecologies, Kara nodded with interest and took the skewer into her mouth.

"Succubus and incubus feed on the life force of the opposite sex, but what about other monsters? Goblins and orcs which are supposed to be carnivores."

"I don't really care much, but sex monsters and some immortals...... vampires, for example, also feed on life force. The rest were supposed to be carnivorous. Because the demon king made us that way."

"I see. The sex monsters ensnare the opposite sex, and some immortals bind the living with seduction and contracts. And many monsters were carnivorous in order to destroy humans."

"Yes, yes. Well, now they realized that grilled and seasoned meat tastes better than eating raw human meat."

With that said, Fenelieka looked at the lizardmen and orcs who were carrying heavy timbers and iron along with the human craftsmen.

Although they could not speak human language, they had fought together with humans against the Black Ooze and no longer had the will to fight.

And as Fenelieka said, many monsters have learned that they could fill their bellies without eating humans―― the circle of killing between humans and monsters was finally being broken after the Demon King was defeated 20 years ago.......

It was because Mariabelle helped Fenelieka and her friends, proving that it was possible to communicate with monsters, and Fenelieka and the other succubus were able to persuade the monsters, who were unable to communicate.

Although it was still only seen in Fonteau, there may come a time in the future when people and monsters could live in harmony.

The coexistence of humans and monsters, which even the previous hero who defeated the Demon King could not achieve.

The female hero who achieved that, the second hero Mariabelle, was already becoming an existence that was sung in songs.

"It's kind of nice, to hear someone you know being sung in songs, right?"

"Hee―― I didn't know succubus had that kind of sensitivity. Interesting discovery."

"Yes, yes. I guess for you, we are the object of your study."

Kara's words were rude to anyone who heard them, but Fenelieka didn't seem particularly bothered by them.

Rather, it was safe to say that the red-haired succubus preferred that kind of personality.

She had the same attitude toward everyone and was honest.

It was easy to talk to her.

She knew that keeping secrets was tiring.

"So what are you going to do now? Are you really just going back to that place called the laboratory?"

"I am. What about Fenelieka?"

"Me, that's right... I'm afraid I'll get in trouble again for drinking in the daytime, so I'll go back to my friends today."

"Haha. After all, you care about Meltia-sama."

"It's natural, right? It's amusing when I make fun of her, and I've never been with someone who was too wary of me."

When Fenelieka smiled cheerfully, it was as though a large flower had bloomed.

With her red hair and red clothing, she looked like a red rose in full bloom.

Her seductive smile made all the men around look back at her, but Kara smiled at Fenelieka's attitude and finished all the remaining skewers.

"I'm quite fond of it―― well, Maria and I don't mind the lively interaction between the two of you. Just continue to have fun, as long as you don't offend her too much."

"Ara, you're not going to stop me?"

"...I'm sure Meltia-sama is enjoying herself too. Surprisingly, if you don't bother her for a while, maybe she'll be the one going to bother you, you know?"

"If you can't push it, try pulling it."

(I think that's wrong.)

Not pointing that out, Kara walked down the street, playing with the wooden stick in her hand with her fingers.

Fenelieka was slow on her feet, mindful of her surroundings, but Kara matched her speed a little slower.

It was her first day off in a while, she won't get offended by a little distraction.

"I hope Maria is doing well and getting some proper rest."

"She's trying to take on everything on her own. If you don't watch her, she'll be more reckless than Meltia."

"I know."

When Kara smiled at those words―― suddenly, Fenelieka stopped in her tracks when she saw something.

A single ordinary orphanage was in sight...... It was a building that was once destroyed by the Black Ooze's attack and was rebuilt as a priority to give shelter for the increased number of orphans due to the current disturbance.

Both Kara and Fenelieka knew of its existence, yet it was somewhat of a strange sight to see a succubus stop and gaze at it, and even Kara stopped.

"What wrong?"

"No... it might be my imagination."

Fenelieka's men-attracting features were tense and she focused her attention on something.

She sniffed, smelling something from the orphanage.

"Something, like the presence of a monster......"

"A monster? Isn't it just a lizardmen or goblins?"

In addition to humanoid monsters like Fenelieka, there were several other races living in Fonteau today.

Kara thought it might be a sign of them, but Fenelieka seemed to sense a disturbing atmosphere.

Maybe there were things she sensed because she was a monster and not a human.

Kara felt that way and decided to wait there until Fenelieka was satisfied.

A few minutes later.

"Yup. It might just be my imagination."

"If you're curious, just ask them. It's just an orphanage, right?"

Apart from that, it was not a ruin inhabited by evil spirits or the castle of the Demon King.

The building in front of Kara and Fenelieka was a wooden one-story house with a carved wooden deity of the goddess Fasalina on the roof, a common sight even in a rural village.

She could knock on its door, call out, and ask if anything disturbing was going on.

Kara thought so, but Fenelieka shook her head with a pout on her lips.

"......Because there's a carved wooden statue of a goddess on display there. I don't like it."

"You're putting your likes and dislikes in the strangest places......."

Kara shrugged her shoulders in dismay, but it seemed to be of great concern to Fenelieka.

Kara was a little surprised to see the succubus's expression contorted in unusual displeasure.

"Isn't it just a carved wooden statue?"

"I don't know how to say it. But we are born to fight against the forces of the goddess, so we are not good at anything related to the goddess in the first place. Priestesses, for example."

"The hero's equipment also has something to do with goddesses, right?"

"That's why, I'm actually kind of bad at it...... didn't I tell you that before?"

Feeling like she heard it, Kara explored her memory.

Was it when she first met Fenelieka and we went to the abandoned mithril mine?

She remembered her saying she wasn't good at the goddess and the hero.

"Well, it doesn't matter, but...... all I have to do is just ask, right?

"That's right. Please?"

Her tone was matter-of-fact, and Kara thought but did not say, that she was really just too lazy to talk to others and imposed herself on them.

Thinking that it would be a waste of time to ask and answer questions here and that it would be troublesome if there were some disturbing problems, she decided to quickly knock on the door of the orphanage and investigate the presence that Fenelieka felt.

"Excuse me―― is anyone here?"

"Yes, please wait!"

With a thump, Kara banged a little harder on the wooden door, and after a dozen seconds, footsteps could be heard through the door.

The door immediately opened and a female priestess appeared from inside, her magnificent peach-colored hair hidden by a black veil.

With a childlike face and beauty that retained the liveliness of a young girl, a sister appeared, a girl, a woman, or somewhere in between, a young girl and a mature woman.

She was also tall, not as tall as Fenelieka or Mariabelle.

However, it was not her beauty, which was neither a girl nor a woman, that caught Kara's attention.

In front of Kara's eyes, who was short for an adult woman and looked like a little girl with a bad eyesight, an explosive breast that could have rivaled Fenelieka's appeared, pressed into a stuffy sister dress, swaying boldly as she walked.

......Kara was overwhelmed by the sight of her explosive breasts swaying in front of her eyes, and she was at a loss for words for a moment.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Ah, yeah... sorry, I work on a research institute built on the outskirts of the royal capital."

Unusually perturb by Freia's appearance, a peach-haired sister with big breasts, Kara first introduced herself.

No, she defended herself in her mind that anyone would be troubled if a pair of swaying breasts suddenly appeared in front of them when meeting for the first time.

Her eyes, which had been shaking with agitation behind her black-rimmed glasses, blinked a few times, and after a few seconds to calm down, she asked a question.

"My companion said that she felt the presence of a monster in the vicinity, but did you notice anything unusual?"

"Anything unusual...?"

The peach-haired sister rested her slender, supple white fingers on her shapely chin as though in distress.

At that time, her elbow hits her breast and obscenely distorted its shape, creating a lewd distortion in the fabric of the black sister's dress.

She may not be aware of it, but her breasts were poison for the eyes.

But then again, Kara had never been that concerned about feminine charms.

Once she calmed down, she was no longer concerned about Freia's large breasts, and now she calmly waited for her next words.

......If she looked behind her, she would see that Fenelieka was watching from a distance.

She could hear her talking to a man.

Did the guy ask her or did she ask him?

Since last night was a full moon, the darkness was bright and close to the azure sky.

Under the moonlight, she saw something black and small climb over the locked iron door of the orphanage and enter the building.

"What is......?"

Its petite figure looked like that of a human child, but it moved too softly to be a child and did not appear to be wearing protective gear like a knight or an adventurer.

Kara could not tell what it was from a distance, so she whispered to herself and stood up, holding her beloved sword that was resting by her side.

She hung the sword, still in its scabbard, on her waist belt, and ate a piece of sour fruit just to make sure her drowsiness was completely dispelled.

"~ ~...... alright."

She recalled that when she asked about the orphanage during the day, the sisters said there was nothing unusual.

They might say the same thing if she visited tomorrow.

With that in mind, Kara wanted to check the situation tonight while the "something" she saw earlier was still inside the orphanage.

(At a time like this, it would have been nice if Fenelieka had been here too.)

Kara didn't really like the idea of being alone.

If something unforeseen happened that she could not handle on her own, she would not be able to leave information behind.

But this time, if something happened, Fenelieka would know that Kara was checking the orphanage in question.

Worst of all, if something happened to her, Fenelieka would tell the knights or maybe...... even tell it to Mariabelle and the others.

"...She said that she felt a presence of a monster."

Just in case, Kara had also prepared Valhari's Blessed Water during the day.

In today's peaceful world, it was easy to obtain Valhari flowers, which were growing everywhere in Fonteau.

The blessed water was also sold in stores in the royal capital, and she prepared two bottles of it.

(......Well, it would be important if the slime had invaded the Royal Capital.)

Just in case...... knowing the threat of the slime, Kara was concerned about it and went to the first floor of the inn without making a sound.

Everyone in the inn was already asleep, and she opened the locked door from the inside and stepped outside.

"Well then."

The nighttime, which was devoid of people, in the royal capital was still in the middle of a reconstruction, and some places looked like ruins.

The moonlight made these buildings look like haunted houses, a bit eerie.

However, in this world where undead were common, no one was afraid of ghosts.

Evil spirits were simply dispelled by the miracles of the goddesses used by the priests.

So, although it was eerie to see the ruins illuminated by the moonlight, Kara went outside and headed for the orphanage without any sign of fear.

(How did it get in?)

Kara felt it would be troublesome if she called out to the figures and they ran away, so she ended up jumping over the iron fence at the front of the orphanage like the figures she had just seen, and decided to go inside.

Although she called herself a scientist, she was a swordswoman who was selected as a warrior priest of Lishlua and had high expectations for her skills in the sword.

She had the ability to do so, and easily jumped over the iron fence and entered the yard of the orphanage.

She put her hand on the door, but of course, it was locked.

(Where did the figures get in?)

If the front was impossible, was there an open window somewhere, or was there some sort of opening that Kara didn't know about?

She felt like what she saw was a small figure, like a child, and she thought that maybe it was an orphan who was not satisfied with the rationed food and stole some in the neighborhood.

(For that matter, the footprints...)

All that remained in the yard were those of children, who probably played in the orphanage yard during the day.

She chose one of them that was relatively new―― the footprints that have not sunk into the soil and follow it.

From the garden to the back door.

“............”

(The back door is open...... Is this where they come in and out?)

Careless, Kara thought.

Well, it probably didn't think about being followed this late at night.

A naive thought―― it was probably a child, after all, she thought.

Kara wondered if she should check with her friends just to be sure.

The wind blew, and the air that had been accumulating inside the orphanage flowed out......

"..."

There was a strong smell.

A strange smell that seemed to bend her nose and bring tears to her eyes at the slightest sniff.

At the same time, Kara had an idea of what the smell was.

(Why does this smell come from the inside...)

It was the smell of an aphrodisiac that a Lishlua's greedy priest had commissioned her to make shortly before she was attacked by the Black Ooze.

But why does the smell of the aphrodisiac come from the orphanage?

Karla stiffened in doubt, gripping the hilt of the sword that hang from her left hip.

She felt the hard hilt of the sword and two bottles filled with Valhari's Blessed Water inside her white robe.

(Should I go or call for help?......)

When she was at a loss, Kara heard an owl hooting in her ear on a quiet night.

Owls were sensitive to changes in their surroundings, and the fact that their hooting hasn't stopped meant that at least no major changes have occurred in the royal capital.

Maybe the problem was just in the orphanage, or maybe it was happening in a very limited area.

(First, I'll go and check it...)

Kara thought that she would have to get some information before she could report to the Knights.

Otherwise, there might be casualties.

Kara had seen many deaths in her life.

Her colleagues at the Lishlua's research tower, the warrior priests, and many warriors lost their lives during the time of the Black Ooze.

Therefore, it would be better if there were no sacrifices. The fewer the better. She thought so.

In order to do so, she should get some information and bring it back.

(My presence should not have been noticed yet.)

If the owner of the aphrodisiac in the orphanage―― the humanoid slime that attacked Kara in Lishlua's research tower and absorbed the aphrodisiac is here, it would have taken some action when it entered the orphanage.

It was an odd individual which was clearly different from previous slimes in its ability to think, act, and...... keeping a human by its side.

With that in mind, her presence had not yet been noticed yet―― with that certainty, Kara opened the back door in such a way that it didn't make a sound and proceeded inside of the orphanage.

(Alright.)

After muttering that in her mind, Kara pulled out a pill wrapped in a small piece of paper from the pocket of her white coat.

She took it twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, to suppress the effects of the aphrodisiac she was forced to ingest in large doses by the humanoid.

She had yet to create the perfect antidote, and managed to live her daily life by taking the pills twice daily to suppress the effects―― if she forgot to take these pills, she would be overcome by sexual desires so strong that she could not think straight, and she would become a bitch that would involuntarily seek sexual stimulations.

...In order to forget her shameful self, Kara took another pill even though she had taken one after dinner, just in case.

(If it smells like an aphrodisiac...)

In that short time, she could feel her sweating limbs cool down over time, just by smelling the scent, which had faded as the air flowed.

Then, after the heat had completely receded, Kara entered the orphanage.

The orphanage was built so spacious inside that it was hard to believe it had been improvised.

The number of orphans was increasing every day, not only because of the Black Ooze's attack but also because of the soldiers and knights killed by the new monster-shaped slime that still appeared outside Fonteau.

It was not only the reconstruction of the royal capital.

What to do with these orphans was also one of the major problems in the royal capital.

It seemed that this orphanage was built especially large so it could accommodate these children.

(As I recall, there used to be an orphanage in this location.)

From what she heard during the daytime, it used to be a small, decrepit orphanage.

She also heard that the peach-haired Sister Freia had worked at the orphanage since that time and was one of the people attacked by the Black Ooze.

"――――"

The floor creaked as she made her way along the wooden floor, taking great care not to make a sound with her footsteps.

The floor was hollow underneath, or so it seemed, and even though she put only a little weight on it, she felt a strange sensation in the soles of her feet.

(Shit.)

She put her hand on the long sword at her waist and watch her surroundings.

She remained motionless until the sound disappear completely, but there was no change in her surroundings―― and then.

"?"

By stopping and listening carefully, she heard a sound.

No, it was a voice.

(Who?)

Was someone from the orphanage awake at this hour?

Kara wondered, and moved toward the voice, avoiding the hollow area under the floor so as not to make a sound.

Gradually, the voices grew louder.

It was――.

(Moaning voice, huh...)

The smell of aphrodisiac became stronger.

The smell alone caused a strong aching in the back of her waist, and she unconsciously rubbed her legs together, which were wrapped in black stockings, and became aware of hot love juices seeping from the depths of her crotch, which was covered in hot pants.

"..."

(Wha, the medicine is certainly...)

The female scientist with the chestnut-colored hair was upset by the sexual arousal so strong that it could not be suppressed by the medicine that Kara had taken.

The aftereffects of the aphrodisiac she had just endured, the strong arousal far exceeding that of the aphrodisiac she had created.

It was no longer the aphrodisiac created by Kara, but something completely different―― a genuine love potion that made women go into heat, modified by the humanoid.

Feeling the strength of the effect from the smell alone, Kara reached for the door of the room where she could hear the moans, at least to check the situation, which was probably the sisters' bedroom, according to the layout of the orphanage.