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“Ahhhhh!” Mia screamed as the wolf creature leaped down from its perch above.
“I have it, my lord!” Daria leaped forward to meet it, but the speed of the thing was too quick and it dodged her.
The direction it set out for was between Rosetta and me. I pulled up my sword, but the animal charging towards me wasn’t dark or sinister looking. Rather, it looked just like a wolf. I was never someone prone to killing animals in the first place, and even with Fanreek’s training in me, I hesitated.
Rosetta tried to swing with her staff, a fire springing from the end of it. The wolf turned one-eighty, slamming its side into Rosetta and using her to rebound, pouncing at me.
“Ah, shit! Not again!” I tried to bring up my sword, but I had already hesitated, and the moment was gone.
A moment later, I was shoved to the ground, a massive wolf on top of me. I could smell wet dog and there was fur in my face. Like clockwork, I felt the familiar press of something hard between my legs. The wolf, without any hesitation, started humping me, his dewclaws scratched my side as he clung to my abdomen and pushed are hard nub between my legs. Of course, I was thankfully wearing pants, and this treatment was closer to dry humping than anything improper.
“Aria!” I heard the shout of Jerard through the padding of hair.
A moment later there was the sound of steel ringing and quick yelp. With some effort, the dog was pushed off of me. I casually stood up as best I could, while three girls were given me strange looks. I quickly straightened my hair as Jerard gave me a hand. After that, I started spitting out hair that had gotten in my mouth.
“It’s really weird.” Jerard said, “Usually, we don’t run into this many monsters on the way to the labyrinth.”
“Really, I thought this was fairly standard encounter rate for these parts?” I spat, as I tried to remove matted animal hair from my cloth armor.
“No, not at all.” Jerard shook his head. “Except in places like dungeons and labyrinths, finding a monster is quite rare without a tracker class.”
I nodded, slightly to myself. It made sense. In this world, monsters were basically equivalent to animals. True, they got bigger, were more aggressive, and more dangerous, but that didn’t mean their frequency changed much. If they honestly appeared as frequently as they did in RPGs, the world would quickly fall apart. Just like someone hunting a deer, you might run into one or two on an entire quest, and that’s when you’re looking for them. “Most adventuring quests were scaled in that way. There was nothing like collect 100 lizard tails. Well, when a single animal might have a lot of something like feathers, the quest could be that way, but they were often geared with the assumption they wouldn’t be surrounded by monsters.
In that respect, our party had already been attacked by four monsters. Before, Min always gracefully took care of it when monsters showed up, and it felt about the same rate as when I traveled with Min. Unless… I attracted monsters even when I was not on my period! Was my high charisma acting as a lure for these monsters? Every monster did seem to b-line for me, didn’t they? I quickly hid my features behind my deception, while sniffing myself discretely.
Water and fire, those were the magics that I learned. Why couldn’t I have learned wind magic? It wasn’t an issue when I was traveling with the army, but if I had my period out here, I only had a brutal death to look forward to. I frowned but chose not to say anything to the group. I didn’t want to put them in any jeopardy, but we had handled the problems well enough so far. In the labyrinth, the closed-off environment and lack of wind would probably cool things down a bit. Besides, the way the girls were looking at me earlier, I had a distinct feeling they’d take any excuse to kick me out.
During the fighting, my hood had fallen back. This seemed to have caught Jerard’s eye. He walked up to me to see if I was alright.
“The collar…” Jerard walked beside me, whispering so the other girls didn’t hear. “I’ve seen collars like that before.”
I was broken from my thoughts, I had instinctually risen up to it. “Uh… yeah… I heard that if you wore fake slave collars, it can offer some protection from slavers.”
Jerard nodded slowly. It actually wasn’t a lie. The level of distrust in the city was high, and there were already rumors of people being spirited away to the slaves. Human slavers stealing elves and demon slavers stealing humans were common, and with the armies perched outside, it was a hot stove. Some people wore collars to spread enough doubt. If they were owned, anyone who attempted to steal them could potentially be caught. You never knew what kind of enchantments people put on their slaves. This is why my slave collar didn’t stand out too much.
“I figured as much. You don’t act like you were enslaved. Those women have a haunted look to their eye. Plus, if you were a slave, you’d never be out here with us going on adventuring missions!”
“Haha… that’s true…” I provided a fake smile.
“R-rosetta!” Daria cried, trying to lift up Rosetta. “Jerard, Rosetta is hurt!”
Mia and Daria were both shooting Jerard indignant looks. He had curiously come to me first after seeing the collar, but that means he had put them second. It was a fact not lost on the girls. Jerard ran over to them while wearing a guilty expression. I could only shake my head and sigh at how tough it must be for a man like him. Had he even made it to first base with any of them?
When Jerard made it, with Daria’s help he got Rosetta to her feet. She didn’t seem hurt, per se. Rather, she seemed dizzy and had trouble standing. Her eyes seemed unfocused. She took a step forward and suddenly fell back. I knew it was genuine because she fell on Daria as much as Jerard. I had a distinct feeling if she was faking it she would have conveniently fallen completely in Jerard’s grasp.
“Does she have a concussion?” I asked, worriedly.
“Hah? What’s a concussion?” Jerard looked up at me with a questioning look while holding the unsteady Rosetta.
“That monster must have cast daze on her when it slammed into her. It’s a status misalignment.” Daria explained flatly. “That means, we’ll have to return back to the city and try again tomorrow.”
“What? Why?” I asked, a little confused by the sudden moody atmosphere.
“Dazed can last as long as a day.” Jerard explained lightly, “She can barely walk. We can carry her the rest of the way to the dungeon, but it puts us all at risk and someone will have to keep watch of her at all times. It’s safer just to return and try again tomorrow. It’s not that big of a deal. Safety comes first. Sometimes, we have to go out three or four times before we can make a successful expedition.”
I frowned a bit. This really wasn’t the exciting life of an adventurer I was expecting. Playing it safe? Failed expeditions? A single status misalignment ending the entire trip.”
“S-seriously, can’t we just clear the status misalignment?” I asked.
“Do you have a potion that can?”
“Guh…” I looked down, realizing I didn’t. “I guess not.”
Reinhart had said that there were potions for most status misalignments, but that it was only worth learning the ones that were life-threatening, like poisons and substantial weakening effects. Most skilled people could still function under dazed, so it wasn’t considered deadly by any word. Thus, the potions for it were often not carried by adventuring parties and only made sparingly for emergencies.
Jerard nodding, expecting as much. “It’s fine, we’ll just head out tomorrow.”
Of course, Jerard didn’t know that I didn’t have tomorrow free. This was my only chance to slay some monsters. I’m not sure if I got any experience killing the wolves and the last three encounters, but at least one of them, a slime, I had swung my sword at it, so that had to count for something. Was there really nothing I could do? So many skills and…
“W-wait… I do have a means of curing her status misalignment.” I suddenly realized while thinking about my skills, then suddenly coughing. “Ah… but… the casting is a little strange.”
“If you can cure Rosetta, please do it!” Daria declared.
“R-right!” I nodded, walking over to the other woman.
“Wh-what…” Rosetta murmurs incoherently as I move up to her side.
With a glance at Jerard and Daria who were both giving me doubtful looks, I sighed, leaned forward, and kissed Rosetta on the lips. I could practically hear them gasping, but I chose to ignore it while I activated the Princess Kiss. Rosetta’s eyes snapped open in clarity as soon as my lips touched hers. Part of it was the shock of suddenly being kissed. The other part was the effect of Princess Kiss, which removed all status misalignments almost instantly.
“Mm!” Rosetta made a strange noise, causing me to instantly pull away.
I felt no shame, but I quickly put a blush on my face and looked down. I figured if I acted properly shy about it, I could avoid too many questions.
“Th-that…” Jerard’s mouth was open, barely even able to attack.
I grabbed my arm, trying to put on a chastised look, ironically to avoid getting any earfuls. “Th-that’s how it’s activated. I can’t control it.”
The fact that this was the truth didn’t really matter. At this point, I would have been able to tell a lie just as smoothly. Not that I had any interest in kissing Rosetta anyway. I did this purely so we could keep going on. I was determined to get a level and test out my theory today.
“You…” Rosetta’s eyes darkened slightly before she turned her head with a flush.
She glared at the other two girls, who decided to look the other way and stay quiet. Meanwhile, I frowned slightly. I supposed it would have been too much to expect a thank you, but I did cure her status misalignment. She could at least stop glaring at me.
“I cured your status alignment, so we should be good, right?” I tried to remind her of my good deed to keep her anger in check.
“Hmph! I never would have been hit if it wasn’t for you! All the monsters keep charging you… what are you doing? Daria is supposed to tank the hits.” Rosetta snapped, most of her negative attitude returning from this morning despite my best efforts.
I sighed, only slightly regretting healing her. If she couldn’t be happy with the favor I granted her, there was nothing I could do about it.
“N-nothing…” I defended. “Perhaps, my charm stat is just too high?”
Rosetta let out a laugh. “Your charm? You couldn’t possibly have a charm much higher than me. My charm is nearly 55. What is yours?”
Nearly 55? What does nearly 55 mean? Does that mean it’s 54? If your stat is 54, just say 54!
I put aside my distaste once again, looking down cautiously. “Uh… 70…”
“70!” Rosetta looked shocked for a second but then turned angry. “I-if you’re just going to make up numbers, don’t bother saying anything!”
“Eh?” I balked as every ounce of goodwill I had made with the women disappeared in an instant.
She turned away angrily while everyone else tried to pretend they didn’t overhear. However, I could see flashes of disbelief in their eyes. It seemed everyone held the same opinion as Rosetta. Seventy was too unbelievable for a level 41. Had I told them my true charisma level, they might have even been angry. It was hard to believe I was at 94 Charisma. Soon, I’d be breaking the 100 barrier, what it supposedly means to be human. My charm would become superhuman, at that point, or so the stories say.
Charm was already giving me enough problems now. I only felt lucky that the group was wearing anticharm stuff. Most adventurers did. It was for this reason that Cambion’s were so weak. My own charm was also a source of weakness for this reason. When I approached a commoner, I could probably overwhelm them, but anyone with enough money/foresight would prevent themselves from being manipulated in that way. This was doubly true out in a border area like this one. With humans not trusting demons and demons not trusting humans, few people were affected by my charms.
At this point, if I walked through a normal village, people would be tripping over themselves to proclaim me the world’s greatest beauty. Where I am now? I’m only an immaculate beauty, something that seems to be easy enough to cover up with the hood of a cloak. It seemed like charm resistances didn’t remove people’s awareness of your charm and beauty, but remove the urge and desire to act on it. Like giving Nicotine to a smoker, it dulls things so you can make conscious decisions. This still meant I kept my cloak up most of the time. There was no use creating more issues like the one that happened in front of the bar.
I lifted my hood and the batch of us continued on our journey. The path leading the labyrinth wasn’t a safe path, but it was fairly well traveled. Uncountable numbers of adventurers heading to the labyrinth to hunt and farm had created a path through the forest, especially now that the area has become quite busy for the peace talks. Some monsters had already learned to avoid this path, well, when a beacon like me wasn’t walking along.
“We’re almost there.” Jerard breathed out a sigh of relief. “The entrance of the labyrinth has a small camp. It’s typically quite safe. We shouldn’t run into anymore-“
Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwrr…
The sound exploded from the woods over to our right. It was so sudden that Jerard froze in shock. Meanwhile, Mia had actually stumbled and fell on the ground. There was a snapping of a tree and a moment later a massive creature burst from the brush line.
“An ogre, here?” Daria screamed.
I had also seen an ogre once before. They were large green hulking creatures who wore animal fur. Their intelligence was less than a goblin, but for me, they were much too large. Ten feet tall, I could see it’s massive horse cock swinging from under its loincloth. I personally liked my vagina and wasn’t the kind of woman that wanted it destroyed. I had little doubt that if this creature was allowed to fuck me, it would kill me in the process.
“Guy’s run!” Jerard shook out of his surprise.
Like before, the monster’s eyes fell on me, and a look the rest of the party probably didn’t recognize slipped on its face. It was a lewd look that said it wanted sex. Practically drooling, the monster started lumbering towards me. Rosetta stepped forward, chanting a spell.
“Rosetta, no, watch out!” I tried to grab her, but she shook me off, her eyes turning somewhat hysterical.
“I got this!” She shouted, pushing out her hands.
The ogre raised its hand up, reaching for me, but I was behind Rosetta. Just as it went to swap her away, a giant fireball erupted from her hand. The heat caused me to jump back. Even then, I was convinced I just lost my eyebrows, my entire body feeling hots. Rosetta and the ogre got hit much harder. The ogre roared, smacking Rosetta with the back of its hand. There was a loud thunk and Rosetta went flying, hitting the side of a tree trunk.
I wanted to see if she was okay, but the monster, even while still partially on fire, its green skin boiling and festering, still started stumbling towards me, although slower than before. Despite my high mental resistance, I still felt fear. The ten-foot-tall, blistering, howling ogre reaching for me while flames still burned on its shoulders and arms was the absolutely most scene I had ever seen. For a brief moment, I felt like the same girl who had suddenly teleported to this world a year ago. It was like the time those goblins tackled me to the ground. The time when they…
“No…” My eyes hardened, as I rolled back, narrowly avoiding its grip.
I pulled out my sword, but I knew I wasn’t a sufficient enough swordsman yet to take an ogre. It’d take a team of five trained soldiers to bring an ogre down safely. I wasn’t so skilled as even one soldier yet. That meant, I had to use my own strengths and powers. Therefore, I equipped The Reborn and God Killer, my status, particularly my charm, exploding monstrously. Pulling back my hood, I glared at the ogre, who froze suddenly, complete shock shooting through its system.
People may wear charm protection, but monsters do not. That means, even while my strongest skills may be defeated with ease in the demon realm, they were lethal with monsters. How else could the Cambions who were pushed to the edge of the earth survive in such a harsh environment? It was because they could manipulate monsters. They could bedazzle, confuse, and ultimately defeat monsters of greater strength. Therein lied the true power of illusion.
“Seduction…” I murmured, striking him one.
The monster seemed uncertain, its small brain knowing it was being manipulated, but seemingly unable to wrap his head around this. From my experience with the slave traders, if I was this forceful with a human, they would reject my charm and magic and flee or possibly kill themselves. I use magical accentuation, dumping mana into my charm stat, causing it to grow even more. A supernatural beauty at the level of a goddess was exceeding 100 charm. At this exact moment, I didn’t know how high my charm was, but it should have exceeded 200. What did that make me in this world?
“Monster… be mine!” I commanded, activating the monster tamer ability.
There was almost no resistance. The monster had already been seeking me out because of hormones, so you could say it was already attracted to my scent. Less intelligent than a wolf, and charm amplified to the max, this monster fell to the monster tamer ability with ease. It collapsed to its knees. Although it didn’t talk, I could swear I almost heard its thoughts. All of those thoughts were on me. It’s an expression and its eyes seemed to say one thing.
Command me, mistress.
I approached the hulking monster, which even on its knees was still slightly taller than me. I had no desire to take this ugly monster home with me. I didn’t trust it, and I didn’t care for it. It had barreled into our party and even hurt Rosetta. I didn’t care about Rosetta, but I did care that it was likely me who made her get hurt. I was the one attracting these monsters. However, ultimately, it was the monsters coming that I hated. Thus, all of my anger was focused on them. I couldn’t control my scent or my hormones. However, these fucking rape monsters, they are what’s wrong with this world.
“You wish for me to command you?” My voice came out dry and emotionless, somewhat terrifying if someone was close enough to hear it.
The monster’s eyes brightened as if it understood me, and eager desire to please in its eyes.
“Then die for me.” I lifted the sword.
I didn’t have the power to hack off this monster’s head, so instead, using both hands, I pushed it up against the soft part of the monster’s neck. Using all my strength, I pushed forward, the sword sliding through his throat. The monster didn’t pull back. He didn’t resist. He wore the same smile as my blade slid true. A gurgle and a spurt of blood later, the monster collapsed to the ground.
{Congratulations! You have increased to Level 13 Enchantress!}