“Wotchi, I’m worried about this person’s true identity. Master, please examine them for me.”
Holy Spirit Serena earnestly requested, her expression unusually serious.
I too found Astarotte’s true identity intriguing, or rather, inexplicable. Even if she were a demonkin, it was impossible for her to have almost no weight. In my mind, a suspicion arose that Astarotte might be an evil being different from demonkin.
However, it was also true that even with all my knowledge from my past life, I had no recollection of such a being. “Very well, I shall perform an examination of Astarotte. First, I should strip her naked…”
“Ugh, I won’t help with that. There’s no fun in stripping an old woman,” Swan Hilda, who had been evasive from the beginning, retreated.
With no other choice, I re-examined Astarotte’s corpse. Her attire was a black, sleeveless one-piece dress, type that was tied at the chest. Her exposed arms from the shoulders down were youthful. The hem of the dress was a long one-piece that completely covered her legs. However, the tie at the chest had come undone in that instant and fallen to the floor. It appeared she wasn’t wearing any underwear, and her breasts were completely exposed.
Stripping the clothes off the already deceased and limp corpse was quite a lot of hard work. “Don’t resent me, Astarotte.”
Drawing the knife I carried for self-defense, I began to tear the fabric of the dress from the chest area. Astarotte’s body, having died only recently, was still warm. While thinking this, I had already torn it down to her stomach. Her navel was revealed, and her lower abdomen peeked out, but her skin was still smooth and fine-textured, like the soft skin of a maiden.
The knife blade then reached her crotch area, where she was wearing white and blue striped panties. I further cut through the skirt portion all the way to the hem. Despite her head being that of an old woman, her body from the neck down was that of a girl in full bloom of secondary sexual characteristics.
Just in case, I removed her wooden clogs, placed the knife blade on the striped panties, and cut them apart. Astarotte’s crotch area had sparse black pubic hair starting to grow, and her secret slit was that of a beautiful maiden.
At that, the condition of her head from the neck up began to seem suspicious. As I fiddled with the skin around her neck, I found that the skin was peeling away! “It seems the head is wearing an elaborate head covering.”
“Y-you’re right,” Swan Hilda said, having approached and been staring intently without me noticing.
It turned out that what Astarotte was wearing was a “flesh mask” made from the skin of a real old woman’s face. I myself had never seen one before, but according to information I read in a forbidden book housed in the forbidden library during my past life as Cardinal Lester, it was a disguise technique that involved peeling skin from necessary parts of a living human and applying magical treatment to achieve a natural finish. It was supposed to be a forbidden spell designated as top secret.
“Then, I’ll remove the ‘flesh mask’!” Rip, rip, rip. As I peeled off the “flesh mask” as if stripping raw skin, another face appeared beneath it.
“Wh-what! Astarotte’s true identity was a beautiful girl, not an old woman!” Her hair was gathered and tied up, and she had a haughty, noble face with a sharp gaze. She was, to be blunt, a beautiful girl.
“Master, once her clothes are completely removed, please turn her face down.” Following Holy Spirit Serena’s instructions, I further tore away the obstructing fabric and turned her face down in a completely naked state.
“Whoa, Astarotte was a demonkin!” Swan Hilda shouted the moment she saw. This was because Astarotte had small, bat-like wings on her back. She also had a tail growing from the coccyx area of her hips, which drew a captivating curve, which she had also curled up. Both the wings and tail were black, the wings having a thin membrane and atrophied claws. The tail, on the other hand, had a whip-like shape, with a heart shape at the tip.
“Just as Swan Hilda said, Astarotte’s true identity seems to have been a demonkin who infiltrated human society.” With this, the true identities of the fortune teller Astarotte and her self-proclaimed granddaughter, Salitori, were revealed.
“Wotchi has never seen what a demonkin is. However, this one’s true identity is a demon.” At this point, Holy Spirit Serena, who was perched on my shoulder and watching the examination from a prime seat, corrected herself, stating that Astarotte’s true identity was not a demonkin but a demon.
Previously, the ancient text accompanying the wooden box where Holy Spirit Serena was sealed also contained the word “demon.” According to Liliana, who deciphered the ancient text, it was interpreted as an older name for demonkin.
“Hey, Serena. Aren’t demons and demonkin the same thing? I don’t know about demons, could you tell me?”
“Master, I will tell you about the demons that I know of. Demons are—”
And so, Holy Spirit Serena began to speak at length about beings called demons. It was a shocking revelation. First, let’s review the world we live in. The vast land where we live is inhabited by humans, demi-humans, demonkin, and a wide variety of flora and fauna.
There are said to be four major civilization spheres on this continent. They are the Western Nations, Southern Nations, Eastern Nations, and Northern Nations. However, the frigid Northern Nations are currently under the control of demonkin, and it is thought that humans and others may be living in hiding, but the details remain unknown.
Meanwhile, humans were the dominant race in the Western Nations, Southern Nations, and Eastern Nations. And as a world of higher standing than this continent, there is the Divine Realm where the gods dwell. The ‘Garden of the Gods,’ which we were permitted to visit on our return from the First Expedition Trip, was a world inhabited by Valkyries, who are lower god clan beings.
According to the explanation from the Valkyrie sisters, gods of higher standing than them are high-dimensional spiritual beings freed from the shackles of physical bodies, and they reside in dimensions higher than the ‘Garden of the Gods.’ High-ranking gods can also incarnate and descend to this world where we live, but due to the immense influence they would exert on their surroundings, they refrain from doing so.
In this context, the methods by which they influence this world are indirect. For example, Holy Spirit Serena is a being formed by gathering and condensing Holy Element Spirits that existed in this world. Other methods include bestowing divine artifacts from high-ranking gods, or through quests called oracles undertaken by heroes or prophetesses.
And according to Holy Spirit Serena’s account, there are worlds even lower than the one we inhabit. That world is called the Demon Realm, where beings corrupted by evil miasma roam freely. Furthermore, according to Holy Spirit Serena’s explanation, if inhabitants of this world are exposed to the miasma emanating from demons, their bodies will transform and they will fall into an evil existence. And the characteristics of those individuals matched the demonkin, who pose a threat to this world.
Speaking of which, the Valkyries also said that demonkin were no match for them. In other words, the true enemies of the gods were demons.
“According to my memories, Astarotte is a lower-ranking demon, a species called a succubus.” Holy Spirit Serena further deduced and explained Astarotte’s true identity in detail. A succubus is a beautiful demon in the form of a beautiful maiden. While they themselves possess little combat power, they are a type of dream demon specializing in manipulating others through dreams and siphoning their vital energy. Perhaps due to this characteristic, succubi are dispatched as vanguards when demons from the Demon Realm attack the human world.
Especially for an invasion of the human world, which has been long absent, it is customary for the most beautiful and intelligent succubus princess among the clan to undertake such an important mission.Incidentally, demons, like high-ranking gods, are spiritual beings. Of course, they possess characteristics opposite to those of gods…
For such demons to invade the human world, they need to incarnate into a temporary physical body. Alternatively, they may possess humans. Demons that invade the human world with a temporary physical body will dissolve into nothingness and scatter when they are defeated. Therefore, although Astarotte currently appears to be only a corpse, she is not completely dead and is in a state of suspended animation.
“Now, I have a proposal for you, Master. Instead of destroying this Astarotte, why not make her a summoned beast?”
“Make this succubus princess a summoned beast!?”
“Yes. In our profession, it’s a reward.” And now, when she is weakened in a state of suspended animation, this is the best opportunity. Incidentally, to destroy her, one must sever her neck, which will cause her essence to dissolve and disappear. Furthermore, her current abnormally light weight is because she is wearing a temporary physical body and her connection to this human world is tenuous.
Then, Holy Spirit Serena passionately and fervently explained about employing Astarotte. In the world where Holy Spirit Serena was created, it was common practice to summon and employ succubi from the Demon Realm. Summoned succubi were a source of admiration for their summoner’s skill. Succubi relegated to summoned beasts were popular due to their obedience to their summoner and their beautiful appearance.
In most cases, succubi were used as communal toilets for the Party Members, but there were also those who pursued true love. In such cases, succubi who awakened to true love would fall and gain a real body in this world. It is no exaggeration to say that such succubi could already be considered human. Of course, they could also become pregnant and bear children, with the succubi’s superior traits of beauty passed down to their offspring. What a delightful prospect!
“Then, tell me how to make Astarotte a summoned beast.”
“Master… the method is to enter the dream world of the slumbering Astarotte, release her from the shackles she is bound by, and make her fall in love with you.”
“To enter the dream world of a succubus… isn’t that a difficult task!”
“You just need to sleep together with Astarotte while touching her body.”
Following Holy Spirit Serena’s instructions, I picked up the completely naked Astarotte in a princess carry, left the fortune-telling room, and headed to the second-floor living quarters. Then, after opening several doors, I searched for Astarotte’s bedroom. The discovered bedroom was, in a way, very embarrassing for me, who had a clear maidenly taste. The pillowcase was decorated with a patchwork of a deformed chick, and next to it were stuffed strawberries and teddy bears. However, the sheets were pure white.
In the center of the bed was a cute pink pajama with abundant frills, folded neatly. As for Salitori’s bedroom, it was a desolate room with only the bare minimum of bedding.
“Then, please pray for the success of the plan in the waiting room on the first floor.”
“Master, understood.”
“U-, I understand too!”
Thus, Swan Hilda and Holy Spirit Serena, who accompanied me on this plan, were asked to wait in the waiting room on the first floor. This way, even if there were unexpected visitors, Swan Hilda would drive them away.
Then, I also became completely naked and decided to sleep embracing Astarotte, who was also completely naked. Astarotte, with the ‘flesh mask’ covering her head removed, was a mysterious and beautiful sleeping girl. However, her left breast, which was burned and damaged by the ‘breast-squeezing’ attack from the ‘sex spirit old man,’ looked painful. Currently, Astarotte is only wearing a temporary physical body to stay in this world, so if she is healed in her dreams, this wound will also be healed.
I worried that I might not be able to sleep due to arousal in this position, but surprisingly, sleepiness came upon me easily. Perhaps it was because Astarotte, a succubus, was sleeping next to me. What kind of dreams was the young and beautiful succubus princess Astarotte having…?
Thank you for reading.
episode36-5 Some Day My Prince Will Come① has been scheduled for posting on August 28th at 0:00.
