Then, the next question is: where did this succubus come from?
“Then why were you alone in the Empire?”
It seems certain that she belongs to the Demon King’s army.
There’s also the possibility that she’s a wild succubus.
During the war with the Demon King, wild succubus feared they might become targets, so they disguised themselves as humans.
So, this woman, who couldn’t act in time, is probably part of the Demon King’s army.
“I-I originally served under the Succubus Queen, commander of the 12th legion of the Demon King’s army.”
“The Succubus Queen? The one at the forefront of the invasion of the Empire?”
“Y-Yes.”
The Succubus Queen—literally the queen of succubus.
A monster who at least made succubus appear somewhat threatening.
“I remember the Imperial Army defending the border successfully. Didn’t the Hero Party join the battle and cut off one of the Succubus Queen’s arms?”
“Y-Yes. That… that did happen.”
The succubus lowered her head.
“What was your mission? Come to think of it, weren’t the Succubus Queen’s forces small at that time?”
succubus aren’t originally fighters.
Of course, the succubus under the Succubus Queen weren’t part of the combat forces either, and their numbers were likely small.
“Our unit attempted to ambush villages in the border region to increase our numbers.”
“So, you targeted men there?”
“Yes. The area where the Imperial Army was stationed was more of a fortress than a village, and it had been a long time since they’d had any connection with women.”
‘How bold of them to attempt such a thing.’
“You thought you could easily corrupt them, didn’t you?”
‘What a reckless challenge.’
But considering the situation of the Demon King’s army at the time, it wasn’t completely unreasonable.
The Empire had severed all supply routes supporting the Kingdom, and the Demon King’s forces were gaining momentum.
“To turn men into incubus?”
Claire responded with a disgusted tone.
‘No, that’s not it.’
incubus weren’t really in demand during the war.
Well, it wasn’t that they were entirely useless.
Some incubus took advantage of husbands going off to war to seduce the Empire’s women and corrupt them into succubus.
There had been some success in that regard.
However, since women weren’t soldiers, this didn’t weaken the Empire’s military strength.
So, succubus, who could seduce both men and women, were more efficient and valuable.
“You were probably trying to turn men into succubus because that would be more effective in a male-dominated war.”
“What? But men should become incubus, right?”
‘I was wondering when she’d ask that.’
Could it be that Claire doesn’t know?
Not all men automatically turn into incubus.
“When a woman falls, she becomes a succubus, and when a man falls, he becomes an incubus. That’s the common belief, but actually, succubus can turn men into succubus as well. Not that I care about the details of how that works.”
I had seen it once before.
There were quite a few bandits in the outskirts of the Kingdom.
War made life difficult, and bandits naturally appeared.
When bandit activity surged, the Kingdom sent its army, only to find that some of these ‘bandits’ were succubus claiming to be bandits themselves.
Women usually become succubus either because they were already corrupted or had been slowly lured over time, allowing them to retain most of their sanity.
However, men often kept their personalities intact at first, which is why many of the captured succubus revealed themselves as bandits.
The Kingdom then claimed success in eradicating the bandits.
In other words, succubus unintentionally helped the Kingdom take down the bandits.
“Turn men into succubus, who then corrupt other men.”
But even that strategy wouldn’t succeed easily.
‘A strategy fitting for succubus, but you failed, didn’t you?’
“…Yes.”
The Hero Party is called the Hero Party for a reason, and information about the war between the Demon King and humans is accessible to them.
According to the Imperial Army’s commander at the time, the succubus plan failed due to the Hero Party’s support.
Even if we’ve already dealt with it on our end, it’s worth hearing the succubus’s side of the story.
Who knows? There might still be remnants.
Since I’m now Olivia, I plan to act as an Imperial citizen.
There aren’t many succubus capable of turning men into succubus, either.
By now, the picture is clear.
“The Succubus Queen probably fled after losing an arm, and the rest were either killed or scattered across the Empire while being pursued. You must have found Lily in that chaos, desperately forming a contract with her. But then, the Demon King died, and you attempted something in Atlerina.”
You were likely planning to lure men out of Atlerina.
On the surface, it’s a good strategy.
But the problem is that the woman you chose was Lily.
“Yes.”
‘Good, she’s starting to understand me now.’
“Alright. Can you say the same thing in front of others?”
“W-What? You’re asking me to die, aren’t you?”
No, not to die.
I’m giving you a way to live. Isn’t that enough?
“As long as I take charge of you, that’s it. It’s life or death for you. You have no other choice, and Lily won’t help you, right?”
“That…”
‘If you don’t answer, you’ll get hit again.’
Slap!
This time, I hit her square in the abdomen.
It hurt so much that the succubus couldn’t even scream properly.
‘One more hit and she might not be able to keep up her succubus act.’
“Didn’t I say to make it easy?”
“Gah! I-I was going to say it.”
‘Oh, really? Then you should’ve said it sooner.’
“If you swear a blood oath never to return to the Empire, I’ll consider letting you go outside its borders. I might even restore some of your magic.”
“Ugh…”
She didn’t answer immediately.
‘Does she need more hitting to come to her senses?’
I slightly raised the mace in my hand.
“Or do you want to die?”
“I-I’ll do it! Just put that mace away!”
‘Nope. I plan to swing it if things go south.’
“You’d better listen carefully. Next time, I’ll hit your stomach so hard you won’t be able to act like a succubus anymore.”
“How can you say that when you’re a woman too?”
‘The same woman? What nonsense.’
‘Well, I guess, since my body is like this, I’ll admit I’m a woman.’
‘And yes, I am Olivia now. But should I care about some monster female?’
‘Ridiculous.’
“Why should I care about some monster?”
“Grr.”
‘What are you glaring at me for?’
“So, what’s your answer?”
“A-Alright. I’ll do it! But keep your promise!”
‘Fine. As long as you do your part, there’s nothing I can’t keep.’
“Alright then, shall we use the Saintess’s authority?”
I said this while watching Claire, who was gently tending to the pitiful succubus’s body.
“Claire? Contact the student council. Tell them that I, as the Saintess, am summoning the student council and the nobles of Atlerina.”
For the first time, I would act as a Saintess.
A Saintess of magic, that is.
***
Early in the morning, Aslan arrived at the student council, only to be greeted by Olivia’s maid.
But the maid said something absurd.
“Uh, excuse me, what did you just say?”
“Our lady has summoned the student council with the authority of the Saintess.”
“Huh? The authority of the Saintess?”
“Yes.”
‘Hmm, the authority of the Saintess. Well, that’s not bad. But still, I am the Crown Prince of this nation.’
‘Isn’t this going too far? I’m the Crown Prince, after all.’
At this moment, I had to say something stern.
“Ah, I see. The Saintess’s authority. Is the authority of the Saintess higher than the Imperial Family?”
No matter how important her position is, the authority of the Saintess can’t possibly surpass the Imperial Family.
“At the Academy, which advocates equality, what meaning does the Imperial Family have? My lady has prepared that answer in advance.”
‘An answer, huh? Very thorough.’
However, there’s one flaw in that logic.
“Thorough indeed. But Olivia is a student, not just the Saintess.”
“According to Atlerina law, there are no status restrictions on the Saintess.”
‘She certainly has a way with words.’
“Even the Imperial Family promotes equality.”
“If you don’t like it, why not become a Saintess yourself? That’s what my lady said.”
‘Yeah, I figured.’
‘That’s exactly like Olivia.’
Aslan was no longer unfamiliar with this new version of Olivia.
He was already used to her.
With a calm expression, Aslan nodded.
“Yes, that’s Olivia for you.”
“If you refuse the summons, regardless of who you are, my lady said she would connect you to monsters and wield the ‘Magic Mace’ in the name of the Goddess.”
‘A Mace of Justice? What nonsense is this now?’
‘Is it that mace she carries? No, if it’s a mace, then it’s just a mace. What’s with this ‘magic’ part?’
There were so many things Aslan wanted to argue about.
“A mace is a mace, not some magic…”
“My lady insisted that I get a clear answer from you.”
‘No answer? Is this maid as problematic as Olivia?’
“Fine, you may go.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The maid gave a short response and vanished.
‘She’s from the Ashtar family, after all. Her skills are remarkable.’
Once the maid left, Aslan sighed deeply.
“A summons in the name of the Saintess Olivia.”
“We shouldn’t comply.”
Ryla, who had been with him, spoke up.
Ryla had no choice but to change his view of Olivia.
Once merely an arrogant villainess, she had proven herself capable.
Although he began to see her as a competitor, he still saw no reason to follow someone who disrespected others.
“The church has been corrupt for a long time, hasn’t it? She will likely try to bind us with the authority of the Saintess.”
“That seems unlikely.”
“What?”
“Since it’s related to monsters, if we refuse, she might brand us as being in league with them.”
“In league? Now she’s going to recklessly wield her authority as the Saintess, is that it?”
“Hmph. What nonsense.”
“Nonsense or not, there’s no avoiding this.”
“That’s exactly why that woman shouldn’t have become the Saintess.”
“However, considering Olivia’s recent actions, it doesn’t seem like she’s lying.”
‘At the very least, she has demonstrated some ability, even if not quite at the level of a Saintess.’
“Are you saying she really sensed something related to monsters?”
“It’s possible.”
“No, no way.”
Ryla shook his head.
No matter how impressive she is, that’s too much.
“Yuria, what do you think?”
The conversation passed to Yuria.
“I’m not defending her, but given her recent actions, there have been some suspicious incidents.”
Yuria agreed.
‘She’s become a Saintess. I can’t deny that.’
However, Ryla was still negative.
When he thought about Olivia’s behavior during her appointment as Saintess, he couldn’t accept it.
“Alright, fine. I admit she’s changed recently. But there’s no way that woman is a proper Saintess. Who in their right mind would bring a mace to an appointment ceremony and grin wickedly? Saintess Syria spoke of bringing peace to the human world, and the Saintess of the Church aimed to spread the teachings of the Goddess far and wide. And yet, that woman threatened to beat people up!”
‘Even if she were dealing with traitors in league with monsters, how can such brute force be fitting for a Saintess?’
‘How does that make her a Saintess? More like a thug.’
“Well, I do kind of agree with that. So, are you not going?”
Aslan frowned.
“That’s…”
“If we don’t go, she’ll just find some other excuse to claim we’re in league with monsters and say, ‘If you had a problem, you should have come.’ You know that’s what’s going to happen.”
‘It’s obvious. You don’t even have to think hard to see it.’
“Ah.”
‘Now that I think about it, that makes sense.’
‘If we don’t go, she’ll definitely pull some dirty trick.’
“If we don’t want to go, we’ll have to go anyway. Either way, there will be consequences for us.”
But the student council still had no idea.
That the Saintess’s summons was a setup for judging Lily.