After the battle, we, the members of the “Princess Harem,” were traveling in two horse-drawn carriages towards the former Wahl Imperial Kingdom territory.
During our journey through the hills, the Great Lust Empire’s Princess was deceived by demons and assisted in a dark ritual.
Furthermore, Ly and Liliana were kidnapped as sacrifices. We had to rescue them, stop the dark ritual, and defeat the demons. It was my first time experiencing such a dire situation, but fortunately, we managed to overcome it without any casualties among the party members.
Ly and Liliana, whom we rescued, had fallen into a “Sleeping Beauty” state from the succubus’s poison, and awakening them was a challenge. The fact that humans could turn into demons after inhaling miasma was shocking, though we had anticipated it. It seemed that the demons causing trouble in the human world were indeed animals and humans who had fallen due to weakened miasma and dark magic.
Meanwhile, we succeeded in removing the dark magic from a demon maiden brought by Swan Hilda, changing her race to that of a human maiden. We had established a certain degree of salvation. However, for demons who had become accustomed to dark magic and acted on their destructive impulses, their very existence dissolved into mist during the process of removing the dark magic. This suggests that demons who can return to human form must retain a certain level of rationality.
Based on past experiences, male demons belonging to the Demon Lord Army who act solely on their brute strength and desires are very unlikely to return to human form. Conversely, female demons, who are less likely to be sent to the battlefield, can largely be saved. In that sense, Edele, who belonged to the Demon Lord Army, was fortunate to be saved, as her existence had begun to dissolve.
We fled the hills, where the deep scars of battle remained, and began our journey towards the border town of Imman. While many victims lay scattered in that area, it was too much for us to investigate and bury them alone. We delegated the cleanup to Count Kol, who was provisionally governing the Former Yangus Kingdom Territory. Count Kol, being a capable official, would likely dispatch the Espana Imperial Army immediately.
It was highly possible that some of the victims were noble individuals. However, the mound of heads, meant for beheading and identification, had been reduced to ashes by Dietlinde under my instructions to destroy the dark magic. Furthermore, the perpetrators themselves dissolved into nothingness when they were defeated. It seemed that confirming the identities of the deceased would take time, even with just the letters I sent. I could vividly imagine Count Kol racking his brain over the matter.
Additionally, upon summoning Sharon Hasishin, who belonged to the Assassin’s Guild, from St. Agnes Abbey in the Imperial Capital Granza of the Espana Imperial Kingdom, Miralca, a former demon maiden, accompanied her. Although we hadn’t informed them of the recent events, it seemed they had gathered some inkling of what had happened, as the saying goes, “There’s no locking people’s mouths.”
“Hey, hey, Lord Hal, the trees around us seem to be thinning out,” Ly said.
“Indeed. By the way, Miralca… could you move a little further away? It’s difficult to control the carriage like this…”
“Is this close enough! I just want you to perform the ‘First Night Ritual’ for me just as kindly as you did for Lady Edele and make me lose my virginity!”
The journey after welcoming Sharon and Miralca, who were quasi-party members, had been smooth, and we were only about half a day away from arriving at the border town of Imman. I held the reins of the leading carriage, while Eria guided the one behind. Miralca sat on the driver’s seat beside me, incessantly pestering me about the “First Night Ritual.” Demon marital customs involved “abduction marriages,” where kidnapped demon maidens were violated, and many had their vaginas torn open by the large penises of men. Miralca had previously mentioned that it was commonplace for them to fall into a tragic state of becoming “female receptacles,” requiring plugs for their vaginas and anuses.
However, Edele, whom Miralca deeply admired, seemed to be doing very well despite having lost her virginity, and Miralca was excitedly asking her about the details of her “First Night Ritual” with me as the reason. Indeed, a sweet and sour scent of a maiden sometimes wafted from Miralca’s lustrous silver hair. Looking down, her breasts had become noticeably more prominent, indicating steady growth. Miralca, who had recently celebrated her 15th birthday with a grand “Coming-of-Age Ceremony,” seemed to be reaching her prime, like a waxing moon.
“Miralca, it’s best to give your precious virginity to someone you love,” I said.
“That’s why… I’m asking you, Lord Hal!” Miralca blushed, her eyes moistening.
“How audacious of you, a mere girl, to become so alluringly mature…”
“Lord Hal, I’ve been wondering, who is the young girl on your lap? I recall a different mysterious young girl riding there each day…”
In fact, a third person was sitting on the driver’s seat. The third person was Lulu, the youngest of the three vampire sisters. As usual, she was sitting on my lap without being summoned.
“…”
“I’ll tell you,” Holy Spirit Serena flew over as I struggled to explain.
However, I had a bad feeling about this. Glancing at Holy Spirit Serena’s expression, I saw a wicked smile stretching across her lips. It seemed I needed to find a way to make her leave before she blurted out something terrible.
“Oh! A fairy! I was wondering about this girl too!”
“That is no mere tiny fairy!”
However, Miralca mistook Holy Spirit Serena for a mere fairy. As expected, the offended Holy Spirit Serena flew away. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“This young girl’s name is ‘Lulu.’ She’s the youngest of the three sisters who are always clinging to us.”
I decided it was better to tell them her name before the sex spirit, who had been reduced to a summoned beast, started spouting nonsense.
“Wh-what?! A young girl clinging to you while you’re traveling by carriage?! …Well, never mind! My name is Miralca, nice to meet you. Lulu, can you greet your big sister?”
“C-come…u… My name is Lulu… Nice to meet you, big sister Miralca♪”
Now that she knew her name, Miralca put on a more mature air and asked if Lulu could greet her. Lulu_Berze, the troll-hag that was Lulu, briefly emanated a surge of anger, but when I discreetly feigned gathering Holy Aura, Lulu seemed to resign herself and played along with Miralca. It seemed she didn’t want the “Seiken-gan” to misfire and turn her into a mass of miasma.
“By the way, Miralca, what race were you when you were a demon?” I tried to change the subject before Lulu’s true identity was revealed by her conversation with Miralca.
If I recalled correctly… Miralca, when she was a demon, had beautiful blood-red hair and purple eyes. As a demon, she had long canine teeth and a black whip-like tail.
“When I was a demon, I was a proud progenitor of vampires. It is said that a noble blood flows through vampires.”
What! Miralca was a vampire!
“Big sister Miralca, you were a progenitor of vampires? I am the progenitor of vampires, so I am stronger.”
“Lulu, you can only say that because you’ve never seen a vampire before. I used to be amazing!”
“Just a mere progenitor! Demons are nothing more than inferior versions of demons—”
“Lulu, that’s too much! Do I need to punish you?”
“S-sorry, Master Harem! I just got excited when I heard ‘vampire.’ No punishment, please.”
“Lulu, do you also like vampires? It seems we have a lot in common.”
“Yes, big sister Miralca. Speaking of vampires…”
This “vampire” remark triggered a conversation between Miralca, a former vampire, and Lulu_Berze, a current vampire, about vampires.
“Master Harem, Master Harem, I smell a rotten odor and miasma in the wind,” Lulu said as the city of Imman finally appeared in the distance.
Last time, Holy Spirit Serena had been the one to report, and this time I had a bad feeling again. Meanwhile, Holy Spirit Serena, offended at being called a fairy by Miralca, was nowhere to be seen. Glancing through the carriage window, I saw Sharon had become quite friendly with the party members. Sharon herself wished to escape the Assassin’s Guild. Her job, hunting her companions, was a brutal mission of finding and assassinating traitors. Although the Assassin’s Guild itself had been destroyed by the Hero Party, there was a possibility that some remnants had survived. I intended to quietly support Sharon as she tried to live an honest life.
“Lulu, can you pinpoint the source of the foul odor?”
“Of course, it’s a piece of cake♪” Lulu replied confidently to my question.
“A rotten odor and miasma? Lord Hal, what is miasma?” Miralca seemed unfamiliar with miasma.
“Miasma is a concentrated form of the dark magic that demons possess,” I explained.
“It feels very unpleasant,” Miralca grimaced after hearing my explanation of miasma. She then leaned closer to me.
“Alright then, Lulu, tell me when we get closer to the source.”
“Yes, Master Harem.”
I slowed down the carriage and proceeded slowly. The road was wide enough for carriages to pass, paved with cobblestones, but the worn ruts from years of use caused the carriage to sway. The city of Imman was sometimes visible ahead, but it was still distant. The road had been passing through a forest for some time, and occasionally, large, strange vertical holes appeared on either side—gaping open.
“Master Harem, the source of the smell seems to be coming from that vertical hole.” Lulu, who had been tracking the scent, pointed to a vertical hole that opened up in the forest—a gaping maw. Looking in that direction, I saw a giant vertical hole a short distance from the road, its bottom invisible from here. It was an ominous vertical hole that seemed to lead to the abyss. It would be extremely difficult for an ordinary person to reach the bottom of the vertical hole.
“It stinks from down there, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.” Lulu nodded in response to my question. Meanwhile, Miralca, her sense of smell dulled by her transformation into a human, tilted her head. We stopped the carriage and stood at the edge of the vertical hole, peering down. The vertical hole had sheer, vertical cliffs carved into the ground. Although vegetation was visible far below, the source of the foul odor remained unknown.
“Swan Hilda, I’m sorry, but could you take me down to the bottom of the vertical hole?”
“Certainly. If it’s Lord Hal’s request.” Swan Hilda, clad in her light armor, embraced me and slowly descended into the vertical hole. The surrounding cliffs were steep and treacherous, making it difficult to find footholds. It seemed that only someone with flight capabilities, like Swan Hilda, could reach the bottom.
“Huh, there’s miasma accumulating at the bottom.”
“Indeed, the air is stagnant. I can smell the foul odor too,” I said.
When we finally confirmed the bottom of the vertical hole, I was horrified. Although it wasn’t visible from above, countless undead were writhing there. Skeletons that had become mere bone and zombies, their bodies riddled with holes, were wandering about! Moreover, upon closer inspection, all the zombies appeared to be young women. It seemed this place was a dumping ground for the corpses of young women who had been killed after their bodies were pierced with holes.
“This is terrible…”
“Y-yes. Are we really going down to the bottom like this?”
“It’s too dangerous to go down alone. Let’s return to everyone else.”
“Understood.” And so, before reaching the border town of Imman, it appeared we had uncovered the dark underbelly of the town.
Thank you for reading.
Episode 41-9, “Imman: The City of Lust and Gore,” has been reserved for posting at 0:00 on March 26th.
