Previously: The woman targeting Zenos in the underground guild seems to be someone connected to his orphanage days–
As night fell over the slums.
A lone Lizardman stood at the edge of the town.
Following the attack by a faction of the underground guild during the festival, he had been ordered by the leader, Zofia, to patrol the town.
He had been patrolling in a group, but left to relieve himself.
When he was about to return, he was addressed from behind.
“Hey, mister.”
He turned around to see a woman standing there.
She had sharp, slanted eyes and purple hair that swayed in the wind. An almost stifling allure emanated from her entire body.
“What is it, you?”
“What does it matter? Won’t you play with me for a bit?”
“What? I’m, ah, I’m working. W-who gave you permission to solicit here, any, way…”
The man’s voice trailed off, intoxicated by a dizzyingly sweet scent. The woman had drawn close to him without him noticing.
While he was captivated by her bewitching smile, she took his hand, and a sharp pain ran through it.
“Ow, what the hell are you doing?”
The woman’s nails had scratched the palm of his hand, drawing a small amount of blood. Pointing her index finger downwards, the woman said,
“Kneel.”
“Gu…”
His knees buckled involuntarily, and he fell to the ground.
“You, this, is…”
The woman crouched down beside the groaning man.
“Now, you can no longer disobey me.”
“What, are you?”
“Fufu, I’m getting tired of being underground, so I thought I’d take over the surface.”
“Wha, t?”
The woman’s sweet breath tickled his nostrils.
“So, who’s your boss?”
“…”
He tried to close his mouth, but it opened on its own.
“S…Swift Wind Zofi…”
“That’s the female Lizardman leader, right? Of course, I know that much. But there’s a man who unites the different races, isn’t there? The black-clad man who easily dealt with my subordinate’s attack.”
“I, I don’t know…”
“Hmm…”
The woman’s fingertips lifted the man’s chin. She gazed at him with moist eyes.
“Tell me.”
“…Ze…”
The Lizardman lost consciousness at that point.
“Wow, amazing! You should be unable to resist my orders, but you resisted by losing consciousness. You really don’t want to say it, huh?”
The woman slowly stood up and brushed her wind-blown hair with the back of her hand. From around a corner, a large man with greenish skin appeared.
“…So he’s ruled by a considerable amount of fear?”
The man gulped audibly.
“He’s quite something. I’m even more interested now. In that man. Don’t you think so, Gaion?”
“Yes, to instill enough fear to resist Liz-sama’s orders… He’s a rather dangerous fellow.”
Gaion, as he was called, said with a serious expression, then pointed to the Lizardman lying on the ground.
“By the way, what about him? Should we take him and make him talk through torture?”
“Hmm-… Just leave him. If there’s a missing person, they’ll start a full-scale search, and it’s still too early for an all-out war. He’s unconscious anyway, so his memory will probably be hazy.”
“Is that alright?”
“The demi-humans are numerous, so it’s troublesome to clash with them head-on. Instead of going through that trouble, it’s faster to make their leader my puppet.”
“I, I see, as expected of Liz-sama.”
At Gaion’s words, Liz lifted the corner of her mouth slightly, looking pleased.
“The other races must be patrolling too. I wonder if I should target the Werewolves or Orcs next.”
However–
“…What’s going on?”
Liz looked down at the fallen Orc man in front of her with a slightly disgruntled expression. After the Lizardman, she had targeted the Werewolves and Orcs when their patrol groups were separated, but none of them revealed the name of the mastermind. Gaion, standing behind her, said with a look of disbelief.
“All three of them fainted before they could say the name.”
“To resist my orders, just how much fear control are they under?”
“F-fear control should be our specialty, but it seems there’s a dangerous guy on the surface too.”
Gaion said cautiously, then showed a slightly proud expression.
“But, I understand, Liz-sama. The name of the so-called mastermind.”
“Oh? Tell me.”
“From what I saw, all three of them said ‘Ze,’ and only that, before fainting.”
“That’s right.”
“That must be part of the mastermind’s name. In other words, the mastermind’s name includes ‘Ze’!”
“Are you stupid? I already knew that. So, next, can you tell me how many people with ‘Ze’ in their name are in the slums?”
“P-please don’t glare at me with such cold eyes, Liz-sama.”
Liz sighed and started walking slowly.
“Next time, I’ll bring a smarter man.”
“N-no way…”
“Well, I’m going back underground now.”
“A-aren’t you going to look for the mastermind?”
“It’s almost morning. If the sun comes out, I’ll get sunburned. It’s the enemy of beauty, you know.”
“T-that’s true.”
“Besides, I’ve already made preparations.”
“Preparations…?”
Ignoring the bewildered Gaion, Liz brushed back her wind-swept hair.
“I’ll definitely control him, the ruler of the slums. Because no man can resist me.”
Liz put her index finger to her lips and muttered with a bewitching smile. Because, in this blood of a succubus–
“Mu…!”
Under the dawn sky where night and morning struggled, Camilla rose up on the second floor of the clinic.
“I have a premonition…”
She slowly raised her head and looked around restlessly. She sniffed, and with an excited face, she continued.
“Kukuku… I don’t know what it is, but I feel like something interesting is going to happen.”
A Wraith’s premonition…!