The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!

Two weeks had passed right by. Arenade continued hosting her Bright Cloister meetings, and their numbers hadn't stopped growing. It got to the point where she started holding their prayer sessions out in public at Parn Park, named after the dark elf elder who had since passed on from old age. Their white robes and impassioned chants of adulation for Demigoddess Arenade has become a sort of spectacle for passersby.

Kanae was running out of excuses to give Arenade in getting out of participating in the prayer sessions. She had more than enough for a single lifetime after the first one. Their shouts were still ringing in her ears.

"Empress? Empress Kanae?" Zadris leaned closer and called out louder.

"Sorry! I think I dozed off." Kanae pinched the bridge of her nose.

A long line of audience still awaited her. The castle began letting in citizens with grievances and concerns first thing in the morning. Kanae had her ass plopped down on the throne seat since, and it was already noon. She opened her sore eyes to find a familiar old human woman, her hair in a bun much more white than gray now, smiling with the warmth of a loving grandmother.

"Headmistress Marnie!" Kanae gasped.

"Hello, Queen Kanae. Or was it 'empress' now?" The elderly teacher, who operated a small school and foster home back in Lograin, walked with a cane that she didn't use before.

Marnie was a good and dear friend. Arenade took a liking to her after learning she took care of and educated destitute children left behind in Lograin. She also helped Kanae and Edina escape from Bardell and the Protectorates during the upheaval in the City of Sin and Piety. When they extended her an offer to open a school in Ehmvier, she didn't hesitate to accept.

"Headmistress Marnie will be the last one I see for today. Everyone else, please come back tomorrow. Thank you!" Kanae nodded to Zadris to begin herding the rest out.

A commotion of disappointment erupted in the chamber.

"But Empress, I beg you to reconsider my offer of marriage!"

"I named my baby after you! Please, bless her with a kiss on the head!"

"I just want to get a closer look at your tits!"

"Oh, my god…" Kanae pressed a hand to her face and grabbed Zadris by the arm. "Tomorrow, vet everyone. Start turning away anyone who just wants to propose to me or get an eyeful of my assets."

"Of course, my empress." Zadris giggled, bowing before setting off to corral the crowd.

Kanae waited until the chamber had cleared, and only a few castle guards stationed in the throne chamber remained. She descended from the few steps to meet Marnie for a warm, familial hug.

"It's so good to see you again, dear!" Marnie exclaimed.

"Same to you! I'm sorry I didn't drop by to say hi. Things got really hectic when I came back. Does the school have everything it needs? How's Kanade and Suvee doing?" Kanae fired off more questions than the headmistress could keep track.

"Yes, yes. We have everything we need thanks to the crown. Your girls integrated back in seamlessly despite being away for a spell. It helped that they have so many friends who have missed them. Oh, and their curriculum in Radevic puts them years ahead in studies," she explained.

The two of them could go on for hours catching up. Headmistress Marnie also had no shortage of good things to say about Kanade and Suvee. They were exemplary students, if not a little mischievous at times. Attending a public school alongside the commonfolk made them very approachable and liked even though they were princesses.

But Kanae recognized that Marnie came to the castle seeking an audience, not just to catch up. However, the old teacher seemed to be avoiding steering the conversation, whether it was out of politeness or courtesy in the difference of their status.

"Alright, out with it. I know you came here for a reason, Marnie. You can tell it to me straight. We've known each other for years. Just treat me as that succubus adventurer you met in Lograin, not the empress you know now," Kanae insisted.

"I… Well, alright." Marnie heaved a sigh and flashed a soft smile. "You and Arenade have always been so good to me. It's hard not to feel some sort of reverence to you both. Recently, Brightwind Academy has faced an upsurge in delinquency. Older students are failing classes, forming gangs, disrupting lessons, playing hooky, and altogether being a bad influence on the younger ones. The other week, my faculty discovered that one of the rowdier groups has been imbibing some kind of alchemical potion to get high."

"Yeesh. I wasn't exactly a model student either, but I never huffed medicine for a trip."

"The young are our future. If we don't do something soon, I fear their delinquency will be irreversible. The faculty and I have tried everything, and I'm ashamed to say I exhausted all that my experience has to offer. So, I've come to you for help. I figured you might have some insight that my age is overlooking," she explained.

Considering Kanade and Suvee were also students at Brightwind Academy, Kanae had a personal stake in resolving the delinquency problem before it affected others. She didn't exactly want to deal with rebellious kids. Especially not rebellious succubus kids.

"Say no more. I want to help. I'm sure Arenade would, too, if she wasn't so absorbed with Bright Cloister. How about we head back to the school together, and you can tell me more along the way?" Kanae suggested.

Marnie was overjoyed. Kanae hailed a carriage bound for Brightwind Academy. The large three-story schoolhouse was one of the more ambitious buildings Arenade had ordered to be built. She put more time into it over the years than the castle they lived in now. The school saw multiple iterations and renovations to accommodate an ever-growing population, whose children sought an education.

They typically only taught students from the age five up to sixteen, who at which point graduate and set free to seek their own path in life, continued education elsewhere like in Highgreen's Moonlit Avenue or Aidenhall's Knights' Academy, and whatever else to fulfill their youthful curiosity. Arenade and Headmistress Marnie created a simple framework for the school's curriculum, teaching basic life skills, history, and more. Of course, some Commonwealth-friendly propaganda as well. Kanae contributed an age-graded system that mirrored her own back on Earth, so that instructors weren't overwhelmed teaching varied age groups and lessons.

Theirs was a boarding school that doubled as a foster home for children who had somehow fallen through the cracks in the Commonwealth. The result was a rather successful school that grew in attendance every year.

Classes normally ended around this time. Parents came to pick up their children, and live-in students either returned to their dorms, stayed out to play, or set out into the city. As they walked up the stone path leading into the school, First Sister Lilith emerged holding Kanade and Suvee in each hand.

"Mom!" Suvee let go and raced into her arms. "Are you going to school, too?"

"No, sweetie. Mom is too old for that now! I'm here for work. How was school?" Kanae asked.

"Hehe. I had lots of fun. It's great being back!" Her dark elven daughter beamed like the sun.

"That's good to hear. And thanks for always walking them home, Lilith." She turned to the human half-sucucbus.

"Always happy to do so, Mistress. We were just about to go buy some ice cream. They've been craving it all week." Lilith giggled.

Kanade wasn't showing it on her face, but Kanae knew she also wanted a hug and kneeled down to give her a squeeze. The corners of her mouth creased up ever so slightly.

"Bye, Kanade! Bye, Suvee!"

A bunch of kids their age hung by the door, waving to them. Kanae's children waved back.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Suvee shouted.

Clasping hands again, Lilith bid Kanae goodbye and walked the girls into the city.

"Ever the popular ones, they are." Marnie smiled proudly.

Kanae followed the headmistress into Brightwind Academy. The long corridors were decorated with children's drawings and paintings, with plenty of more blank spaces to be dabbled on. Small footprints marked the floorboards from one end of the hall to the next. Joyful laughter and chatter could be heard behind closed doors.

Children stalked Kanae and Marnie, thinking they were being sneaky. Many were probably just curious to see Kanade and Suvee's mother, the Empress of the Commonwealth in person. To them, this was certainly a much rarer occurrence than Arenade visiting.

Marnie was about to walk past a room until Kanae noticed through the door window a handful of older students still inside class. They were hardly paying attention. One feigned a loud and obnoxious yawn, eliciting some snickering from his peers and a groan from the teacher.

"I thought classes were over. What's going on in there?" Kanae asked.

"Remedial lessons. In fact, I recognize them as some of the usual troublemakers. They purposefully fail exams and have had to be held back in grades. I wish I could help them." Marnie sighed.

They pressed on to the headmistress office, a tidy room full of stuffed bookshelves, stacks of papers on her desk that still needed to be graded, and adorable letters of appreciation from students framed on the wall.

"Okay, let's start with the potion. I think we can easily address that, considering there's only a few alchemists in the city," Kanae said.

"Yes, of course." Marnie rummaged through her desk and produced a pinky finger-sized glass vial. "You remember Alisyn? She discovered a student drinking from this and discarding it in the trash bin. Alisyn picked the vial out and sought to confront him. She noted that his speech slurred somewhat and had trouble focusing on her, which is why we suspect substance abuse. He still feigns ignorance to this day."

Kanae took it from Marnie's hand to inspect it more closely. Whatever liquid was in there had since dried off. Only dust remained. A deep whiff did give a sort of faint citrus scent. However, since Alisyn had taken this from the trash, there was no telling what other smell might have mixed in.

"Just in case, I'm going to keep this and take it to an alchemist I know later. She might be able to ascertain what was in it. Can you also tell me about the student Alisyn found that was drinking it?" Kanae asked.

"Tarric." Marnie pursed her lips. "Common elven ancestry. Eighteen years old as of four months ago. Five years ago, Tarric wandered into the city malnourished and alone. Guards led him to the Eminence church to be fed, then First Sister Lilith escorted him here to be looked after. He has no recollection of what happened to his parents, only that they ushered him into the city and disappeared. He's actually a great student. Diligent. Hardworking. Up until he reached sixteen and was set to graduate, but failed his graduation exam and continued to fail twice more."

The headmistress fished through a cabinet of files and handed Kanae a document about Tarric, his grades and exam scores over the years, and recorded physical health. He was only five foot tall, growth stunted compared to other boys likely as a result of being malnourished previously. Short and messy dark brown hair. A baby face. Incredible grades followed by a sudden sharp decline.

"I have a feeling about what he's going through. Do you know if he's around? I'd speak with him, alone though, since he might not open up if you're there," Kanae explained.

"Tarric normally spends afternoons in his room. C32 on the third floor. I'll be here if you need me, and thank you so much for doing this!" Marnie grabbed her hands.

Kanae left the room and headed upstairs. Each floor was separated into each grade. The first was for primary students between the ages of five and nine. The second floor, ten and twelve. Finally, the third was thirteen to sixteen. These segregated age grades worked well so far and allowed students to make friends closer to their ages. Additionally, the first two floors had dormitory rooms where boarding students slept together in one big unit. It wasn't until the third age bracket did they start getting their own rooms on the third floor.

For Tarric, his room was at the end of the hall on the corner side of the building. These halls were also drawn and graffitied to students' likings. Some rooms led into play rooms, libraries, quiet study areas, and more for them to spend time in. Kanae finally reached Tarric's room and knocked on the door.

"Beat it!" a peeved voice called out.

"I'm not Headmistress Marnie, Alisyn, or any of the other faculty. I'm Kanae Toyomi. You might know me as the empress of—"

"I don't care if you're the queen of the world. Quit bothering me!" he shouted again.

Kanae reined in the urge to yell back. That would only make it harder to get through to him. Kindness. Use kindness!

"Please, let me in. I just want to talk to you face to face. I'm not here to yell at you in your teachers' places or anything," Kanae assured him.

A sigh let out from the other side, and the door slowly creaked open to a rowdy-looking elf in a simple tan tunic and pants.

"Holy shit. You really are Kanade and Suvee's mom!" Tarric gasped.

"You know my kids? I guess that makes us somewhat acquainted then. So, may I come in?" Kanae asked.

"Sure. Whatever." He left the door open and wandered back into his room.

Kanae entered after, closing it behind herself. Brightwind Academy's bedrooms for the older students were incredibly modest and even cramped. The small room was as wide as two desks, furnished with a simple bed, closet, and bookshelf.

"Alright. What is it?" Tarric asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about this." Kanae showed him the vial.

He clicked his tongue and said, "Ugh. Like I already told Instructor Alisyn, I don't know anything about it. Really. I swear. Now, are we done? I wanna lay down and take a nap, and the last thing I need is a succubus hag taking up my space."

A pang of fury swelled up in Kanae's chest. Hag? She was still in her 20s! Nothing about that was old at all! She forced the anger back down, swallowed a deep breath, and took a different approach.

"You miss your parents. Don't you, Tarric?" Kanae asked.

"Huh? Says who?" Tarric played dumb.

"Don't lie. I already talked to the headmistress about you, and it's easy to see what you're going through."

"Pft. I don't care about them, and they never cared about me. If anything, I'm glad they're gone. I can do whatever I want now." His twitching eyes betrayed how he really felt.

"I think I know what you need. If you never had parents to show you love, I'll do it in their place. Come here!" She yanked the elf in for a hug, wrapping him in her arms and wings.

"H-Hey, stop!" He struggled to push off.

Too bad, Kanae was much stronger. The more he resisted, the harder she embraced. Eventually, he stopped struggling. She felt a wetness on her chest from his eyes welling with tears.

"I thought if I was a good student for long, they might come back… When I realized it wasn't going to happen, I just… stopped caring…" Tarric mumbled.

"I'm proud of you. You've been doing so well. If you want to start taking it easy, I won't blame you." Kanae stroked the back of his head.

They stayed like that for a little while, Tarric sobbing into Kanae's chest, and her holding him there and providing comforting words.

"Uhm… Can you let go of me now?" Tarric asked sheepishly.

"Nu uh. Not until you promise to be a good boy and start behaving aga—" Kanae stopped short of finishing her sentence, feeling the real reason between her legs why he had asked that.

A hard sensation pressed against her thighs. It came as no surprise, considering Kanae was a succubus. She didn't want to let go yet. Teasing him tickled something inside her.

"Tarric~" Kanae whispered sweetly into his ear. "Do you promise to be a good boy for me?"

"Y-Yes…" Tarric stammered.

"Really? I'm so happy to hear that! In that case, I think you deserve a reward. Don't you think?" She finally released him.

Tarric staggered back a few steps, deeply red in the face and bowed legs squeezed together to hide the erection. Kanae undid the lace to her royal purple gown, spilling out her chest to him. His eyes went wide. His boner thrusted forward.

"Eh? Huh? Eh… Ahh…" Tarric turned into a doddering mess, too transfixed on her breasts to form words.

Kanae sat down on the bed and motioned for him to lie his head down on her lap. In a trance, Tarric did as she instructed. Nursing lips latched onto one nipple as he sucked almost instinctively. Kanae winced as pleasure rippled through her body. She used her tail to tug his pants down, grabbed hold of his dick with her hand. He trembled intensely and climaxed from just having it touched.

"Don't worry, Tarric. I'm not angry. Let's keep going," Kanae said, casting Turn Horny to get him hard again.

"Ahhh! What did you… do?" Tarric asked.

"Just a little encouragement." She winked.

Slowly and gently, Kanae performed a handjob, using his fresh cum as lube. Her delicate strokes caused his entire body to shudder. Tarric continued to lick and suck on her nipple. Luckily for him, she still had some milk to squeeze out after birthing dreadmourns a month ago.

"That's it. You're doing so good. Keep it up for me~" Kanae cooed and gradually picked up speed.

"Nnh…" Tarric's twitching intensified as he was getting close again.

"Do you like that? Tell mommy how it feels," she said.

"Good… it feels good, mommy… I'm so close! Ahhh!" He blew such a hard load that it squirted up and got some air time.

Kanae wrung every last drop from his dick. Spent, Tarric relaxed into her lap, gasping for breath. She didn't have a wand on her to cast Prestidigitation, and settled on grabbing a tissue from his bed to wipe her hand and his dick clean. They got up to get dressed, but he was still redder than a tomato.

"I'm sooo proud of you for holding it in for as long as you did! Are you feeling better now?" Kanae asked.

"Yeah…" Tarric avoided eye-contact again, but this time for a much different reason.

"Alright. Now, are you willing to tell me how you got those potions? I tried getting the information out of you the easy way, but a succubus still has the 'hard' way with Charm," she said.

"Guh. You really are a demon… Fine. I'll tell you. It was Motta. He's been stealing potions from this lamia alchemist's place and giving them to us. Rose… or something." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Nove1Fire.net

"Rosaline?"

"That one. Apparently, she forgets to lock the outside basement entrance behind her place," he explained.

Damn it, Rosaline. These students had been getting high off potions lifted from her atelier storage basement.

"Guess I'll have to pay her a visit. As for you…" Kanae cupped Tarric's face with both hands. "You're going to be a good boy like you promised?"

He nodded.

"And you're going to pass your exam to graduate this year?" Kanae asked.

He nodded again.

"Good! Keep it up, and mommy will give you an even better reward as your graduation gift." Kanae purred.

Tarric gulped hard and couldn't utter another word. One troublemaker down, still many more to go. If it was that easy to set someone back on the straight and narrow, she might have to exercise her succubus wiles more often. Charm wasn't even needed.

On the way to Rosaline's atelier, Kanae spotted Arenade at Parn Park. The rectangular park was surrounded by large conifers and pines, split into two equal squares by a wide promenade for pedestrians and a large pavilion at the center. Beautiful flowers and shrubs decorated the corners of the fields, and a bed of sunflowers grew on a secluded spot that marked Elder Parn's resting place.

Families and children often played here. Recently, however, Bright Cloister's weekly meeting had scared some of them away, and the park was looking quite deserted today, too.

Arenade was leading a ground of goblin laborers pushing carts filled with crates towards the pavilion. Kanae landed in front of them to say hi. Some of the goblins whistled sharply, giving her body a lecherous eyeful.

"Kanae! Here early to help me set up for my prayer session?" Arenade asked.

"Er, no. I'm actually a little busy. I just wanted to drop by and say hi, but… You're still using those potions? If someone starts suspecting your methods of faking Demigoddess Arenade speaking to them, it might blow up in your face," Kanae quietly warned.

She brushed off her concerns. "It's going to be fine, you worrywart! We only do this once a week. Anyway, we're doing another prayer session later. You're coming, right? Right?"

Kanae leaned away as Arenade cornered her up against the wall, eyes glinting and growing more unhinged after every 'right?'.

"I-I'll think about it. I have things to do though, so don't wait up if I'm not there. Love you!" Kanae pecked Arenade on the lips and hurried off.

Thankfully, the high elf didn't give chase or press the matter. Kanae definitely would have been screwed. She descended down to Rosaline's atelier just as the lamia herself was on the way out.

"Hello, Kanae! Good to see you again. Have you come back for more of the sex potions?" Rosaline asked.

"Sure, but I actually came for a very different reason. Are you busy though? I can come back later," Kanae offered.

"Nonsense! I can always make time for the Demon Empress herself!" she exclaimed.

Kanae recoiled a little. It was only a matter of time before someone uttered that title. She just didn't expect Rosaline to be the one to coin it first.

"I was just about to go shopping for more reagents, but that can wait. How can I help?" Rosaline asked.

"This. Can you tell me if this came from you? And maybe detect what the residuals are?" Kanae pulled out the potion.

"Oh, this vial is certainly mine." The lamia snatched it from her hand and turned it to the bottom side. "Very, very, very small indents at the bottom of the glass indicate it came from me. That's because the glassblowers I commission from do this at my behest. As for the residual…"

Kanae gagged when Rosaline stuck her long and thin serpentine tongue into. She licked everywhere, up and down the interior of the glass.

"Ewwww. Do you HAVE to use your tongue? There was no other way? You don't know where that might have been!" Kanae struggled not to barf.

"Why not? My tongue is a specialized tool that can detect chemicals a normal person cannot. I would be remiss— remiss, I tell you— not to make use of it. Ah!" Lamia retracted her tongue.

"What?"

"This potion contained the same contents I often sell to Arenade. It is very likely this is one such potion," she explained.

That meant Tarric's friend Motta was stealing these spiritual potions and handing them out to the other delinquents? Why? Weird thing to steal. At their age, they could buy alcohol from the local bars and taverns at eighteen in the Commonwealth.

When Kanae explained to Rosaline what the older students at Brightwind Academy had been doing, she was flummoxed. In absolute disbelief— until they went around to the back of her atelier, where only a shoulder-high wooden fence had been erected for privacy. Here, she grew all sorts of plants, exotic and native, in raised garden beds.

"Here, I'll prove to you that I do, in fact, lock my basement!" Rosaline grabbed the handles and effortlessly threw open the doors leading in.

"Well?" Kanae glared.

"Kanae, I seemed to have forgotten to lock my basement!" the lamia cried.

"I CAN SEE THAT!" She slapped her own face. "How do you forget? When was the last time you even used this entrance?"

Rosaline thought for a little too long for comfort.

"Ooooh. I left it unlocked because repeatedly locking and unlocking when I wanted to come out and collect some plants became too inconvenient. Silly me!" Rosaline guffawed.

"Just, please do your due diligence and lock your doors from now on. Front door and basement hatch." Kanae sighed.

"Yes, yes. I will! How about some discounted sex potions to make up for this mistake of mine?" she suggested.