Chapter 310: You Don’t Deserve to Be a Succubus!
Morning came.
Eila left to strengthen Ras Vegas’s defense forces, and Shaitan and I headed to where the union boss was.
"...You’re here?"
The union boss greeted me with a sleepy face. The dark circles under his eyes were so thick they looked like age spots. He clearly looked tired enough to drop dead, but he definitely forced himself up just because I came.
"When did you sleep?"
"...I fell asleep 30 minutes ago."
"...Sorry about that. I’ll just grab the item and head back. Did you finish that thing?"
"It’s over there. I haven’t packaged it yet, but..."
The union boss pointed at the wall. There stood a slime mannequin shaped like a woman’s body, wearing the outfit I’d ordered.
"Is that a sweater?"
Shaitan approached with an innocent expression and examined the clothing. Then the moment she saw the back, her face froze.
"Master...?"
"You’re going to wear it."
"What?"
"It must be so inconvenient to have to cut the back of your clothes every time you bring out your wings and tail. Just open up the back section entirely and you’re good."
A virgin-killer outfit. Starting from a turtleneck sweater with the back section opened wide, it was unintentionally optimized for succubi.
’It’d be good to put this on others with wings on their backs too, but that’s a different story.’
"Put it on."
"..."
Shaitan obediently stripped the turtleneck sweater from the mannequin and disappeared into the storage room. While Shaitan was changing, I carefully examined the other clothes the union boss had made.
"From thigh-highs to garter belts... hmm, good. Now we should start mass-producing these too... Union boss?"
"Yes?"
"You can go to bed."
"No need."
The union boss was wide awake like someone who’d just woken up. Even if I deliberately threw him onto a bed to sleep, he’d probably pop right back up like a roly-poly toy. His body was soaked in fatigue, but something was definitely keeping his mind firmly alert.
"...Look here, union boss."
"Please speak."
"While you make various clothes for my women, I trust that you have no sexual desire whatsoever toward my women."
"Of course."
"So as a pure clothing industry worker, you must view them solely as a designer."
It was a dilemma.
If the craftsman making the clothes were a woman, she could help with fittings from inside, but the union boss is clearly an XY chromosome human, so I can’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable.
’I heard top models all know when designers are looking at them sexually.’
Can a male designer really look at female models without any lustful thoughts? No matter how much the union boss’s appearance looks like an old man past fifty, he’s still a man.
"So while I keep getting your help, remember this: this relationship can only continue if we both maintain proper boundaries."
"How could I do otherwise? Master, please enjoy yourself to your heart’s content. I’m... just an old man who lives for the pleasure of seeing the clothing you’ve taught me about being worn by the women of this world. Hehe."
There’s a pervert right here. And precisely because he’s that kind of pervert, he’s also a man who greatly helps our legion.
"Right. Like with Eila’s school swimsuit, this is purely as the creator who made the clothes..."
"I-I’m done changing. Master."
Shaitan was peeking just her head out from the storage room, looking at me. Wondering what could be so embarrassing, I strode over and flung the storage room door wide open.
"...I tried to change according to your intentions as much as possible. How is it?"
"As expected of a succubus. As expected of Shaitan."
I pushed Shaitan further inside and turned her around. Her back, fully exposed below the turtleneck, showed nothing all the way down to where her butt crack was slightly visible.
"No bra strap either, and you’ve got your tail sticking out from the end of the skirt section. Black panties and the sweater—nothing else. Not even stockings. As expected of Shaitan!"
If a succubus appeared before a virgin wearing this outfit, the virgin would definitely die of a heart attack. That’s how powerful the sweater Shaitan wore was.
’From the front it looks modest, but the back has almost no coverage.’
"But Shaitan, how is the side chest area sticking so perfectly? I can’t see inside at all."
"I-It was too loose just leaving it, so I adjusted it with mana. ...Do you want others to see my side boobs, Master?"
"No. Good job. Now, let’s go outside."
I linked arms with Shaitan and pointed outside. The union boss went into his bedroom with a smile like he’d ascended to heaven.
"Huh?"
But what’s this—Shaitan adamantly refused to go outside. She linked arms with me, pulled me back, and shook her head repeatedly.
"Th-This outfit is embarrassing! You’re not seriously planning to make me walk around outside in this right now, are you?!"
"Well, of course. Weren’t you supposed to be my partner today? This is... a date, right?"
Work and dating would overlap, but still, touring our legion’s territory together and talking isn’t so different.
"I made this outfit for you. You gotta show it off to the others, right?"
"That’s what’s most embarrassing..."
"A succubus embarrassed about wearing sexy clothes—you don’t deserve to be a succubus!"
"If I wore a micro bikini, I could step out confidently like a proper succubus! B-But this outfit is somehow... I mean..."
Shaitan buried her face in my arm and muttered very quietly.
"It definitely covers what needs to be covered, but my back’s all exposed so it feels like I’m naked..."
"...True, you said you were a succubus madam, and from the moment you first came here you dressed in business suits like Estu. That outfit buttoned all the way from the top was really—"
Suddenly, I realized a problem I’d never thought about before.
"...Shaitan. I’m the kind of existence I am, so I know about these kinds of clothes, and you know too because you accessed my dreams, right?"
"That’s... right?"
At my suddenly serious tone, Shaitan’s voice dropped too. But thinking about it carefully, it really was a serious problem.
"Does it make sense for an OL succubus in a business suit to exist? Where’d you get those clothes?"
"I’m also an existence born from an egg with time-acceleration magic, so I was wearing them from birth. ...If I know anyone who would know, it’d have to be—"
"Estu."
I suddenly got goosebumps.
"Solomon, could it be..."
"...Nah, no way. It’s just a coincidence. Maybe she met someone like you, Master, and took knowledge from that person..."
"..."
"..."
For a moment, Shaitan and I stopped thinking. Just from our eyes, the thought we shared was ’let’s bury this.’ Digging into the Demon King’s identity would just complicate things.
’I’ll just take whatever crumbs the Demon King throws my way.’
Acting stupid might get the system confiscated, so I just decided to acknowledge that possibility exists and not think any deeper about it.
"Ah, enough with the random thoughts. Shaitan, let’s hurry to the next place."
"Yes. I’ll escort you. Where shall we go?"
"Next... yeah."
I stroked Shaitan’s wings and pointed at the portal.
"Let’s go show off your outfit to a woman who just grew wings."
Shaitan and I headed to Gremory’s dungeon.
***
"Did you have any discomfort last night?"
"None at all. Thanks to you, Baroness, I rested comfortably. Thank you."
The Saintess barely held back her trembling lips as she bowed her head. Not much time had passed since the rooster announced dawn, but the Saintess hastened her departure preparations.
"I apologize. I should have cleared out the dungeon before leaving..."
"Not at all. Just having you come all this way despite being busy has greatly reassured the territory’s citizens. Plus, you even provided support from the Holy Knights. Is there anything else you need? Perhaps some knights from our house as escorts..."
"No, it’s fine. This one man is enough."
The Saintess pointed to the black-robed giant standing behind her. The Baroness admired the golden embroidery on the robe.
"That’s from Lady Meri’s trading company. I’ve never seen a robe like that before..."
"...It’s not something they sell separately—I borrowed something the company uses. They said it’s an overcoat for long-term peddling."
In reality, she’d basically bought the robe with holy water rather than borrowed it, but the Saintess vaguely deflected, sensing some creepy energy flowing from the Baroness.
"Then I’ll be going. Please discuss the rest with the knight commander."
"Yes. Safe travels. ...Still, Saintess, until you leave the territory, our knights—"
"That’s enough. Baroness Virginia Virgo."
The Saintess left a benevolent smile and quickly exited the lord’s residence. Those who’d come out to farm since dawn prostrated themselves on the ground as they saw the Saintess riding away on horseback.
"..."
"What troubles you so?"
"What do you think? The way humans look at the ’Saintess.’"
"They have high expectations. Like the gaze people had toward the heroes in the book you gave me."
The Saintess got a bit choked up at Brug’s words. And at the same time, she felt self-loathing.
"Don’t you think I’m strange? Everyone else reveres me, but the girl they call Saintess is bringing women to her bedroom to vent her anger."
"Orcs have only one standard for judging humans: strong or weak. You are a strong human. You can take pride in that."
"...Hmph, whatever. I know I’m strong, I was just throwing a little tantrum. The one who’s supposed to listen to prayers is in that state now... tsk."
The Saintess exhaled deeply. She used to pray to the goddess to soothe her mind and body, but as the war with the Demon King’s army intensified, the goddess only kept giving oracles like ’bear children.’
"We’re stopping by the Elven Forest now, so don’t do anything weird and wait far away from elf territory. I’ll meet with the elders and be right back."
"Aren’t the elves dangerous?"
"It’s more dangerous for you to enter elf territory. Can you even win against elves?"
"I’d have to fight them directly to know."
"...The elves won’t spare you just because you’re the Hero of the Holy Sword. So just listen to me for once."
The Saintess and Brug bickered as they headed toward the Elven Forest. Because of that, the Saintess didn’t notice.
The 2nd Elder of the Elven Forest, whom she’d met several times before, was leading elves out of the forest.
***
"Welcome—it’s your first time as a fallen angel, right?"
"Already treating it carelessly when it’s not even your body. Your posture’s getting bad."
Gremory greeted us while lying back in a chair. Despite probably wanting to rest more after eating and drinking plenty during the night, Gremory had woken up early to quickly process the backlog of work after returning as dungeon master.
"Everyone who went out for the festival has returned. We’re planning to restart the ranch operations in earnest from this afternoon. Then more eggs will come out, and our food supply will increase."
"That’s why I came. I’m thinking of changing the ranch’s composition a bit."
"The composition?"
"Taking out the avian monsters."
I carefully explained my thoughts to Gremory. She listened to me for a long while, then nodded as soon as I finished speaking.
"So basically you want them to live according to the dungeon structure. So the harpy species can fly around freely."
"Right. Ninety percent of the harpies will go to Halphas’s dungeon."
The majority of harpies and Harpy Angels occupying the ranch will now nest in the newly acquired Halphas’s dungeon.
"The harpy-loving ones will hate that. The Andras types will be sad too."
"I’ll leave some harpies behind. They’ll remain purely as production workers."
Looking back on the war with Halphas’s forces, there’s one thing I’m reflecting on:
[The monsters on the egg-production side had such low combat power they couldn’t even be deployed to the battlefield.]
’If you add up all the harpies and Andras, there’s easily 200 of them.’
Not a single harpy was 3-star. There wasn’t even a 3-star demi-human among the Andras. In other words, both species were just workers in a chicken farm laying eggs.
"About a quarter of our capacity being non-combatants is really disappointing. So I’m gonna make them at least somewhat combat-capable."
In urgent battlefield moments, even workers need to come out and fight. I can’t have situations where the dungeon master has to send avatars multiple times to die in their place just because enemies attacked.
"Gremory, here’s the first directive."
"What is it?"
"Restructuring."
I drew my blade with the heavy heart of someone who must execute even loyal subjects.