Chapter 91: Chapter 75 – The First Strike

At long last, Kanae released the charm spell over the two nuns from the Cathedral of One. However, after possessing them for so long, it left some lasting impressions on both of them.

"Please, allow us to enter your service!"

"We'll devote our all to the Eminence of Sin from now on, High Priestess!"

Meidina was the name of the young elven woman, who wore her hair in a single thick blonde braid going down her back. She lacked the gold tint, high cheekbones, and porcelain skin to be a high elf, but that didn't make her any less pretty. Especially with bright aquamarine eyes.

The other was Tabitha, a human, possibly in her 30s. Dark brown hair draped freely down her shoulders, freckles blanketed cheek to cheek across the nose, and she bounced with as much vigor as her younger companion.

Kanae pursed her lips, feeling somewhat guilty that keeping them charmed for so long must have altered their minds to some extent.

On the other hand, it was easy to tell by their fervor that they were serious.

"Do you two have family in Lograin? Maybe you could go stay with them and think it over," Kanae said.

"My family lives in Radevic." Tabitha frowned. "It would be a great inconvenience to travel there, especially since I served as a nun for most of my life. I have little money to do as I wish."

"I'm a recovering alcoholic. My parents forced me into a monastic lifestyle, believing it would reform my sinful ways," Meidina said.

"What's up with the stark contrast in both your issues?"  Kanae narrowed her eyes at the elf with judging intent.

There was no reforming any sinful ways at the Eminence of Sin, but it didn't sound like either of them were interested in returning to their original service.

Kanae placed a hand on Meidina's cheek and reeled her in for a deep kiss. The elf turned into mush, sinking into her embrace. She didn't have the same enthusiasm as Arenade, but it was nothing a little training couldn't achieve. 

When Meidina was on the verge of swooning, Kanae moved onto Tabitha. The human woman had more experience, reciprocating a matching lust with full body contact.

"I welcome you into the Eminence of Sin. Report to Lilith. She will get you two started on your duties. From henceforth, I expect your absolute devotion. Love me, and I shall love you just as much," Kanae whispered, stroking their cheeks with the back of her hands.

Meidina and Tabitha straightened up.

"Yes, High Priestess!"

"Mama!" Teana came trotting down the walkway between the pews.

"You're walking and running now!" Kanae picked Teana up, lifting the girl as high as she could stretch both arms. "Good girl."

A flying goblin was the biggest giveaway to being a succubus. Having Teana stay grounded kept most of the suspicions at bay. Thankfully, succubi wings in this world were rather small. It was probably magic that kept them afloat and not flapping. They could easily be hidden underneath the right clothing just like the tail. As for horns, people didn't seem to think them out of the ordinary for a goblin. Even then, a hood did just the trick.

With people like Arenade and Edina around not reacting to it seemed to deter others from treating it like a big deal.

"Mama, present!" Teana pinched Kanae's cheek to get her attention.

"Present?" Kanae followed her daughter's pointing finger to a trio of magically charmed men, walking awkwardly up to them.

"We're here to serve you, Mistress."

They started unbuttoning the top of their shirts.

"NO, WAIT!" Kanae exclaimed.

The three men stopped, but some parishioners in the pews glanced in their direction from her outburst.

"Uhh… S-Sorry, I'm not holding any confessions today. Please, come back another time," she quickly added, overtaking Teana's charm to send them away.

Once they had gone, Kanae breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mama… doesn't like present?" Teana asked.

"N-No, that's not it! Mama's just…" Kanae lowered her voice. "Not hungry right now. I'm really happy though! You don't have to do that next time, okay?"

The goblin girl hung her head dejectedly.

God. Why was raising a baby so difficult? Kanae loved Teana to death, but she wasn't mature enough to understand how dangerous using her succubus powers in the open were.

"Whew. The children in Lograin are a lot worse off than I thought. We ran out of food at the soup kitchen fast," Arenade said on her way in.

"Perfect timing, Arenade. Can you look after Teana?" Kanae asked, passing her daughter over.

"What? Where in the three hells are you going?" she asked as Teana immediately started playing bongos on her giant boobs.

"Milk!" Teana exclaimed.

"Stop that. There's no milk in there!"

"Mrrr… Auntie, milk!" Teana looked Arenade in the eyes, causing her to tense up. 

"Hey, your kid just put a charm on me." Arenade shot Kanae a glare. "Tell her to stop. I don't have milk to give!"

"I'm going to meet up with Edina in the city. I'll get you something nice as thanks!" Kanae left quickly to give Arenade no chance to protest.

"Kanae, damn it!"

Following the elections, Lograin had fallen into an odd lull of calm. Nothing had changed for most people. It was business as usual. The crowded streets had no shortage of traffic. Business in the Carnal District flourished again without Bishop Rudo screwing them over. He had apparently disappeared from the public eye. Whether he was holed up in the Cathedral of One or somewhere else, good riddance either way.

"Kanae!"

Edina waved excitedly from the front of a tailor shop. She wasn't dressed in her usual tunic and cloak anymore. Instead, the squirreling wore a black robe separated at the midriff and connected by straps, with stitchings of a ribcage on the chest and skulls along the bottom of the skirt. Wielded in her right hand was a smooth staff, topped by a tusked skull missing its lower jaw. Two crystals were embedded into the eye sockets.

Everything about Edina looked the part of a necromancer now.

"How do I look?" Edina asked, her tail swaying back and forth from a cutout in the back.

"You look like an authentic necromancer now." Kanae nodded with approval.

"Oi, I've been an authentic necromancer! This robe empowers my undeads with stronger attack, and the staff with greater defense. Paired with your Bond, we're going to be unstoppable!" she cackled so loudly that they began to draw attention.

"That's great, but maybe tone down the 'evil' laughter… How much did all this cost anyway?"

Edina's laughter came to an abrupt stop with a twitch and squeak.

"Edina…" Kanae folded her arms.

"You know what they say. Money is earned to be spent, right? Aha… haha…" Edina chuckled nervously, pressing her index fingers together.

Kanae grabbed Edina by the shoulders and forced the squirreling to face her.

"How much did you spend?" Kanae asked again, casting a minor charm spell.

"Guh… That's not fair… The total cost… was 900 grand," Edina answered through a clenched jaw.

"A-Almost… a million…?"

"Enchanted gear goes for a lot… but I helped earn a lot of that, remember! I just… wanna be prepared for when Bardell gets here." She sulked.

Kanae released the charm from Edina and still felt her shoulders trembling. Even now as they had grown in levels and strength, made connections with people a commoner could only dream of, and earned gold that rivaled great adventurers, there was still an uncertainty whether they could hang onto it all.

"Bardell still terrifies you?" Kanae asked.

Edina nodded.

"You gotta understand, no low is too low for that centaur bastard," she said.

You are reading story The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?! at novel35.com

"No, I know. He's the guy that went from crime boss to Knight of Color in the span of a few months. Pulled the strings of a bishop to try and put him in the seat of Mayor of Lograin. Worst of all, he hurt you. That's unforgivable." Kanae grinned.

"Heh…" Edina tugged on the hood to cover her face. "If someone had told me I would one day become best buds with a succubus, I'd think they were crazy. Now I can't think of anyone else I'd jump into the fire for."

And that fire had already been lit. Bardell wasn't going to hold back, so Edina was right. They shouldn't pull back their punches either.

The two of them headed for the Carnal District to move forward with their plans. There, surrounded by an angry mob shouting obscenities and blocking the way in, was the brothel and casino Jewel. Tough-looking bouncers more armed than city guards were all that protected the building.

People parted ways to let Kanae and Edina through. At the top of the steps, the line of Jewel bouncers tightened in formation.

"Your manager is expecting me. I bet he's eager to get Jewel up and running again before Bardell arrives, and I'm the only one who can possibly get these people off your backs. Your move." Kanae smirked.

The guards traded uneasy glances with each other.

Edina tapped her new staff a few times on the ground, each clack summoning a skeletal humanoid. Just like she described, they emerged with sharp and pristine weapons, donned steel armor that had spiked pauldrons, and were much taller than her previous summons.

"We can barge our way in if you wanna do it the hard way." Edina sneered.

They relented and opened the doors for them to go inside. There were no workers this time around. The entire building was empty save for one table where three gentleman and a lady of varying races sat, waiting for them. Behind the seated four were a large group of Jewel's employees, ranging from dealers, prostitutes, and cooks.

A fat human with many rings on his fingers tapped impatiently on the table. 

"You have any idea who you're fucking with?" He growled. "When Bardell gets here. He's—"

"Going to take his anger out on you four first for not being able to take care of some religious nuts," Kanae finished his sentence, then waited to gauge each of their reactions.

The four were understandably nervous. Jewel made the Outriders a lot of money. A few days out of operation could ruin the place entirely.

"So, what is this? Scorched earth? Bardell will come after you, too. What then?" The cat girl in a glittering red dress bared her fangs.

"We're not here to talk about Bardell. I'm here to offer you an out. All you have to do is hand over Jewel's deed to me. I've prepared a million gold for you each to take and get out of town while you can." Kanae slid an enchanted banknote across the table.

It was mostly donations from parishioners, including gold earned from quests and income from sex toys.

Four pairs of eyes fell upon the large sum of gold and erupted into laughter.

"A meager million? Ha! I bet you don't even know how much Jewel makes in a week!" An elven man picked up his enchanted banknote and incinerated it with magical fire.

"You knife-eared prick!" Edina shot up from her seat, and Kanae had to usher her back down.

"That's too bad." Kanae sighed. "That was your million, and it doesn't matter how much Jewel makes in a week because you won't be running it anymore."

"Say what you will. We're not budging. Our workers are employed by the Outriders. Even if you somehow take this place with your mob of churchgoers, none of them will work for you."

"Well, why don't we ask them?" She gestured towards the group of Jewel employees as they began to switch sides.

In a matter of seconds, the whole staff fell in line behind Kanae and Edina.

"Fuck Jewel and fuck the Outriders!" an angry cook shouted.

"I was sold and forced to work here against my will!" A prostitute flipped them the bird.

Kanae stood up, braced her hands on the table , and leaned forward. "Looks like you should have treated and paid them better. Even if you somehow keep this place, they won't work for you anymore. So I suggest you four take your— sorry, the three of you take your million and the idiot who burned it leaves empty-handed now before I make you leave."

All four clenched their fists on the table sweating bullets. It was enough for Kanae to note that none of them had sigils on their wrists.

"Screw it!" the fat one exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table. "If none of you will work, then you're all fired. We'll employ new workers before Bardell gets here. Guards—"

Kanae muttered the charm spell under her breath, seizing control of the irate Jewel owner.

"On… On second thought… stand down," he said.

The other three looked at him with surprise.

"Oh? Did you have a change of heart?" Kanae asked.

"I had a change of heart," he repeated.

"Maybe this is all too much for you to handle. Leave the deed to me, and I'll take care of Bardell."

"You're right… Bardell will kill us. I don't want Jewel." He pulled the rolled up parchment from his dress suit and extended it to Kanae.

When his co-owners leapt to voice their opinion, Kanae placed a charm on them, too.  She grabbed the other end of the parchment, and a surge of magical energy disenchanted from the owner's hands. Magical energy from Kanae seeped into the parchment, rendering it into her possession.

"I'm glad we can come to an agreement. I don't want to shake your dirty hands, so just take the money and get out of my sight," Kanae ordered.

They did exactly that, picking up what little belongings they had and corralling the confused guards to leave with them. As the doors shut, Kanae expelled an exhausted breath.

"The Many be damned. That was a show!" Edina lightly punched Kanae in the arm. "How come you gave them the money? Could have easily had them leave it behind, right?"

"Eventually the charm will snap. Better to leave someone comfortable than with nothing. Otherwise, someone with nothing to lose might come for payback." Kanae stretched her arms, then frowned the ashes of one million on the table.

The squirreling rubbed her chin. "Sounds to me like Renya's rubbing off on you."

When both of them turned around, they were met with the many expectant employees of Jewel. Some were uneasy, likely because they weren't sure if they had traded one tyrant for another.

Kanae addressed them with a friendly demeanor. "I understand many of you were forcibly employed here. As the new owner of Jewel, I'm letting whoever wants to go free to do so. Those who wish to continue working here will be able to as free individuals. You'll be paid properly for your work. Bardell and the Outriders won't dare touch this place, because under the management of the Eminence of Sin, he would be attacking a religious organization that is punishable by execution."

About half the group of employees didn't waste their chance to hightail it out of the building. The other half…

"Well, Proprietress?" The prostitute that spoke up earlier stepped forward. "Shall we open the doors?"

Kanae patted Edina on the back.

"What do you say, co-owner?"

"Right after taking over one of Bardell's biggest establishments? Hell yeah. Open the doors! We're also gonna need new hires to make up for the half that left!" Edina declared.

As Edina opened Jewel for business, the mob that protested outside immediately became customers once they heard of the change in ownership. The place filled up right away, and since they had workers at the ready, it went off without a hitch.

"Huuu! Feels so fucking good!" Edina shouted to the skies as they headed back to the church.

"At least now, you can get your gambling fix within our own casino and not risk losing it." Kanae teased.

They came to a massive gathering in the main thoroughfare in trying to cross from the Carnal District to the religious ward. People were packed shoulder to shoulder, gazing down the streets.

"What's with the hold up?" Edina asked someone at random.

"The Knights of Colors! They arrived early!" the man exclaimed.

Kanae and Edina gulped.

They were already here?

It was hard to see because of all the crowds, but Kanae got on her toes and made out two rather tall individuals riding side by side into the city. 

The upper half of the centaur was visible. He had a braided black beard, much like the fur coat over his body. Although he was bare chested, a giant greataxe was slung over his back. The man had a sneering grin on his face, soaking in the cheers and applause.

"Bardell." Edina growled, trembling where she stood.

What surprised Kanae the most wasn't Bardell. She already knew he was coming weeks in advance. It was the person next to him. They couldn't mistake her for anyone else. The drakeling knight who was the one that truly slayed the dragon in Orturic. The Knight of Silver, Estaline von Cleisseldor.

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