Chapter 49: Let No One Sleep (2)

“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

At my words, Ibi immediately showed a dumbfounded reaction.

“You’re suddenly looking for that nun again here?”

The way she crossed her arms with a laugh of disbelief looked exactly like the usual Ibi.

Of course, it would.

Because that Ibi was an Ibi created based on my ‘consciousness’.

She was an AI Ibi, so to speak, created based on the big data accumulated in my consciousness of how I thought Ibi would act.

So.

“──Just a moment ago.”

When I strode up to her, grabbed her chin, and pulled her face close.

“You were acting like you were going to eat me alive.”

Hwaak, and.

As you can see from Ibi's face, which had turned beet red.

“But now that the tables have turned, you’re getting shy?”

“…!”

When faced with an unexpected variable like this, an ‘error’ was bound to occur.

In the end, she wasn't the real thing, but just something that was reading my memories and imitating the real thing.

“Ah, uh, ugh…”

Her reaction to the sudden, unexpected change in the situation couldn't help but be unnatural and awkward.

I, who had raised the corners of my mouth, then slowly approached Ibi(?)'s ear, and.

“Let's get out of here.”

To emphasize that I already knew we were ‘inside’ this.

I deliberately whispered small and ticklishly.

“I want to talk to the real you, Lily.”

* * *

A little later, the place I woke up in was, as expected, not outside, but inside my tent.

Next to me, Lily was kneeling very demurely.

Just like a child who had been caught playing a prank and sensed they were about to be scolded.

“…….”

With her gaze cast down as if to hide her face, which was so red I thought smoke might come out of it.

Seeing her, a small laugh escaped me without me realizing it.

“I never thought you’d use the fact that I have no memory of Stout.”

And the moment I spoke, I could see Lily's body tremble slightly.

Succubi mainly drain essence through dreams.

Therefore, the amount and quality of the essence they can absorb depends on how deeply the prey is immersed in the dream, so they have a habit of instinctively digging into the prey's subconscious to find a ‘weakness’.

The most representative example would be ‘preferences’.

The more you hit their preferences, the less they'll want to escape the dream.

Or, information that gives such strong persuasiveness that they won't easily realize that this is a dream.

The fact that she used my hazy memory of the last night I spent in Stout to create this dream was part of that.

In fact, I was so flustered that I was almost swept away by the atmosphere.

“But the details were lacking.”

She had pinpointed the key weakness well, but she had missed other information.

Things like the guard duty that was definitely not my turn, or the ‘strength’ difference between me and Ibi.

How could one pay attention to trivial things like table manners or order when one was so hungry that their eyes were spinning?

Of course, the biggest reason I was able to see through the fact that this was a dream created by Lily was that I already knew about this ‘first dream event’.

At first, like all dreams, I didn't recognize the fact that I was dreaming, but from the moment I did, it was a different story.

In the end, since I am the one dreaming, if I put my mind to it, I can easily take control of the dream, just as I did earlier.

“Still, I’m glad you came to me and not the others.”

“──Ugh.”

Just then, Lily, who was still kneeling and trembling.

“I-I'm sorry!”

Suddenly bowed her head so low it was almost a full prostration.

“I-I just, couldn't hold it back…!”

“Wai── D-Don’t do that, Lily. It’s really okay.”

Strictly speaking, I was the one who was attacked, and this was an apology for that, but… for some reason, I felt like I was doing something very wrong, so I hastily tried to help Lily up.

…To be precise, I was trying to.

“Keuk…!”

If it wasn't for my damn 2-point ‘strength’.

“P-Please, get up, Lily…!”

“I can’t! I…! A troublesome cleric like me who can't control her desires deserves to be punished…!”

“But why do I feel like I'm the one being punished…?!”

As someone who had brought her along knowing full well that Lily would go on a rampage again, this… literally ‘being forced to accept an apology’ situation… pricked my conscience too much.

“I’ll do anything, to atone…!”

“So can we please just stand up for a bit…!?”

After finally managing to [Persuade] Lily, who had been trying to hold her prostrated position to the end, to stand up, I had to take a moment to catch my breath.

I don't know why, but the guilt was no joke….

“You don't need to apologize. I was really thinking it was a relief.”

“A relief, you say…”

“I said I'd take responsibility, right? That wasn't just an empty promise.”

As I said before, I had already expected this situation, this ‘event’.

Though it was a little earlier than I had initially expected.

Usually, this kind of rampage event with Lily would trigger at least a few days after recruiting her as a companion, but I honestly didn't expect it to happen the very day we left the village, so I was caught off guard.

Don't tell me this is really because of my charm?

Was I so beautiful that Lily couldn't hold back any longer…?

Well, anyway, what happened, happened.

“Hey, Lily.”

What I had to do hadn't changed at all.

“By any chance, what do you think was the reason the villagers collapsed one after another?”

Flinch.

Lily, who heard my question, trembled again.

“I-I… because I couldn't control my own instincts…”

“Th-That could be said to be the fundamental reason, but it's not the direct cause.”

Then she started to whimper as if she were about to prostrate herself again, so I quickly continued.

“…Pardon?”

“Actually, a person doesn't get that weakened from a normal succubus's draining.”

Right.

Usually, it's just a matter of being tired for the day.

Of course, if it were to the point of being drained to death, it would be a different story, but the victims' lives were not in danger.

Because Lily, even while being swept away by her instincts, had never crossed that line.

And yet, they had collapsed and not regained consciousness for a while.

Why?

“It's because you didn't know the right way to drain.”

“…!”

In the first place, she didn't even know she was a succubus, so how would she know?

So, as a result of wringing out not just the essence she needed, but all sorts of miscellaneous things, the commotion in Sista Village had occurred.

She needed to stick a straw in the right place and selectively extract only the necessary parts, but since she didn't know what those necessary parts were or how to extract them, she had just followed the lead of her hunger and greedily chewed on everything, bones and all, like a beast.

It was not much different from chewing on a pineapple or a watermelon with the peel on and then saying, ‘So what does this taste like?’

And in the midst of that, Lily, while being dominated by her desires, had also tried to keep the line of not harming their lives, so the amount of pure essence she had actually absorbed was very little.

That's why she could never properly satisfy her hunger and had to keep needing new prey.

“The right way… to drain…?”

According to the instincts of a succubus, she could make someone have a lustful dream, but she didn't know what to do in that dream.

So…… to be blunt, she hadn't been properly ‘sexually educated’.

I mean… she's a cleric, right?

In any case, since they had to teach her to stay away from it, they might have taught her the general concept, but would they have taught her the detailed methods?

Moreover, since she had spent her whole life in a church, among clerics who valued abstinence, there was no chance of an unfortunate incident(?) like accidentally seeing something.

The reason she had set the mood in the dream earlier, but then didn't know what to do next and had only given a ‘child's play’ level of a kiss, was precisely because of that.

Therefore, since she couldn't drain in the right way, the dreams the victims would have had would have been, in essence, closer to ‘nightmares’ than lustful dreams.

As was mentioned by Lily herself.

That everyone was asleep and in pain, as if they were having a nightmare.

……Given that, the question of whether it was right or wrong for me, a non-expert, to teach her from the basics was one thing, but in the first place, there was no time for that now.

“Lily, by any chance, do you know how babies are made?”

“Pardon? Ah, babies?”

As soon as she heard my question, Lily tilted her head in confusion, as if wondering why I was suddenly asking such a thing.

“When two people's hearts connect… when the time is right, an angel brings one from the sky…”

“Yeah, I see.”

I've got a good grasp on your level now.

See?

It’s impossible.

Just by looking at her expression, which was asking what that had to do with anything, the road ahead was too long and arduous.

She hadn't even learned the basics of the basics, so when, how, and with what qualifications could I teach her the advanced course and its variations?

So, I decided to think about that part responsibly later… when a more appropriate time came, and.

“Then──”

For now, let's start by teaching her how to fill her stomach.

“──?!”

When I slightly lowered the top of my pajamas to expose my shoulder, Lily was startled and covered her eyes with both hands.

“S-Suddenly, what──”

And yet, through the gaps between her spread fingers, her wide-open eyes were clearly visible from my side, so I immediately pushed my hair to the side as well and pointed at my exposed neck.

“I-Immoral!”

“Lily.”

“Y-Yes, sir!?”

“Suck my blood.”

“……Pardon?”

At that, Lily's hands, which had been pretending… to cover her eyes, gradually came down.

“B-Blood…?”

“Yup.”

I nodded and lightly tapped my neck again.

“It's one of the main draining methods of succubi. You put the target to sleep in a dream, and at the same time, in reality, you drain their essence through bloodsucking.”

It's literally a ‘Two Track’ system.

You're sticking in one more passage to drain the essence.

Of course, it wasn't just about drinking blood to drain essence; there was also the purpose of directly injecting the succubus's saliva, which had an aphrodisiac effect, into the target's blood vessels.

Then the prey would have an even harder time waking up from the lustful dream, and she would be able to drain the essence more efficiently with the added passage.

A win-win situation.

From the succubi's perspective.

“In other words, just by sucking blood, you can absorb a sufficient amount of essence, even if it's a bit slow.”

However, from a human's perspective, the act of drinking another's blood itself would be repulsive.

For reasons of squeamishness, or various other reasons.

“U-Um…”

That's why Lily was also hesitating like this, looking troubled.

“You said it was one of the methods, so by any chance, are there other methods…”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“This is the best way. Trust me.”

But at my firm response, Lily eventually, while still hesitating, slowly approached me.

The problem was the aphrodisiac effect that naturally occurs during the bloodsucking process, but in the end, that too was a type of status effect.

One that is resisted based on the Charisma stat.

Therefore, just as I had not been 「Charmed」 last time, I was practically immune to most of the status effects that a succubus could inflict.

“B-But… if I lose control again…!”

“I’m here too.”

“Again… like those people…!”

“That won't happen to me.”

At least, I would never be withered like that.

That's why, to reassure Lily, I gave a grin and immediately added.

“My blood… how should I put it, it will be very ‘efficient’ for you.”

To use an analogy, it has very good ‘fuel efficiency’.

Or you could say it has good ‘cost-performance’.

“Efficient… you say?”

Lily didn't understand what I meant, but once she had a taste, she would immediately understand.

That I wasn't just saying it to reassure her, but that I was telling the truth.

“Probably… demon blood flows in my veins.”

“…!”

Actually, it wasn't probably, it was certain.

Because I am the Demon King's ‘vessel’.