Chapter 14: Deals that never work (12)

The hero was not in a good mood.

No, to be precise, there was a bittersweet and subtly sweet feeling in his heart.

That only added to his pangs of conscience.

The aroma of a few drops of fragrant oil falling into boiling water tickled his nose.

Flickering candlelight danced on the walls, casting shadows over the room.

The mansion’s staff had long since withdrawn; no one would dare interrupt this moment.

“…Today is a special day.”

Gulp.

The sound of swallowing echoed in the hero’s head.

There was no need to guess who prepared the myriad items arranged to set the mood.

Laura Anneliese Frostfeld.

The petite girl with horns sprouting from her head had no intention of stopping when it came to the one she loved.

Especially not on a day when she could have him all to herself.

“I won’t let you slip away.”

The hero was a man, after all.

Even though he thought of their relationship as inevitable due to hypnotic influence, it was difficult to resist the seductive charms of girls who seemed like they came straight out of a dream.

Meeting Sarah, the saint who resisted his hypnotic power, had been a beacon of hope.

Yet, the recent journey to the capital had left him with a heavy heart.

Whenever he tried to console himself, he reminded himself that this situation wasn’t right.

He resented the uncontrollable power that caused such relationships.

Love was beautiful when shared by two hearts in harmony.

It should never take this form.

But somehow, those principles felt distant once he crossed the threshold of the bedroom.

“Is it because of this power…?”

He was aware something was wrong with his eyes.

He knew his uncontrollable hypnotic abilities stemmed from them and feared the pleasure they brought might one day dominate him.

Even so, he would find himself holding the girl before him again, rationalizing it as unavoidable.

The guilt that followed and the fleeting ecstasy before his eyes were no easier to bear.

“…Hero, why do you look like that?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not that. What I want is…”

Laura’s small, hesitant voice carried a seriousness he had never seen before.

It wasn’t the sincerity of whispered affection but the kind that came when sensing something amiss.

Laura had always been keenly observant of the hero’s expressions, more than anyone else.

His usual face carried kindness meant to consider others.

As a beastman, Laura’s instincts were sharp.

She could pick up on the subtlest deviations, and now she sensed something unfamiliar in the hero—a seductive pull that wasn’t there before.

“Not now. Not like this.”

When she first met the hero, Laura’s heart had raced, igniting feelings she’d never experienced before.

The hero was kind, and she couldn’t help but selfishly wish to make him hers.

Meeting Natalia as a rival was an unforeseen obstacle.

“Come out now. I will never forgive anyone who defiles my hero.”

What Laura wanted was the gentle hero.

The one who, even when reluctant or resigned, allowed her into his arms.

Not someone lured by fleeting pleasure but someone truly hers.

Just that afternoon, the hero had seemed too weary to be interested in any intimacy.

Yet he had come to her room, and Laura knew why.

“Because Laura wants it,” she thought. That alone was enough to make her heart flutter with joy.

“Mana tracking. Chain reaction. Explosive lightning.”

But now, anger boiled within her.

The faint signs of the hero seeking fleeting pleasure, as though someone was toying with his emotions, were unbearable.

Whoever had corrupted her beloved hero deserved retribution.

A staff as tall as she was had appeared in Laura’s hands, and two spells cast in an instant erupted with a deafening roar.

Lightning struck, accompanied by a resounding explosion.

From a wing of the mansion that had been completely blown away, the figure that had enraged Laura began to emerge.

“Ah, what a nuisance. I thought I was hiding pretty well.”

“Be quiet. No magic can escape me…”

A woman with a slender waist and wide hips stepped forward.

Small bat wings sprouted from her back, and devilish horns adorned her forehead.

She wore barely any clothing, just enough to cover the essentials.

The woman was none other than Lilith, the succubus who ruled alongside Incubus Cain as the monarch of the dream demons.

“Tch, everything was going so well. You’ve got sharp instincts for a little kid, huh?”

The hero’s captivating eyes were not easily subdued.

Even high-ranking demons could not match his unparalleled hypnotic power.

Thus, Lilith had concealed herself with magic, subtly elevating the hero’s emotions.

However, the hero’s companion had sharper senses than Lilith had anticipated.

“…I said, be quiet!”

Fwoosh— Flames began to surge around Laura, who for once spoke in a rare, strong tone.

Sparks crackled within the inferno.

She had already tracked the flow of mana and unleashed explosive lightning, which was impressive in itself.

Yet, in that brief span of time, Laura had prepared another spell combining multiple elemental forces.

“Two… no, three elements, perhaps?”

Beneath Lilith’s feet, the ground began to freeze.

Astonishingly, the small girl was casting three elemental spells simultaneously without even chanting.

“Disappear!”

In any nation, mages were highly esteemed.

Large-scale war spells could shift the tide of battle, and their ancient wisdom made life more comfortable.

Of course, mages were physically frail, and significant sacrifices were often needed to prepare their magic.

In that regard, Laura was a perfect mage.

Her mana reserves were greater than those of ten average mages combined, and she could protect herself while preparing large-scale spells with her multi-casting abilities.

In terms of firepower alone, she surpassed even the hero.

Yet, despite her abilities, Laura was not the protagonist of the hero’s party.

“That’s far enough.”

“Fufu, men who interfere in women’s fights aren’t charming, you know.”

The reason was simple: Laura was still just a mage.

No matter how skilled she was at multi-casting or how vast her mana reserves, as a member of the hero’s party, her opponents were the Demon King and his generals.

These were entities so dangerous that their mere presence altered the environment around them.

From the moment a high-ranking demon closed the distance, Laura’s defeat was inevitable.

Lilith’s hand reached toward Laura’s petite heart, but before it could touch her, the hero’s sword was at Lilith’s neck.

Had it not been for the hero’s extraordinary physical abilities, which were almost beyond comprehension, Laura might have vanished that day.

“Swing the sword already!”

“No, I can’t do that.”

Laura urgently demanded that the hero strike Lilith down.

Her attitude clearly conveyed that she didn’t care about her own life, but her words were meaningless to the hero.

The hero cherished his companions above all else.

He was prepared to face the Demon King alone if it came to it, but he would never sacrifice Laura.

“Drop your sword. Unless you want to see this girl’s heart ripped apart.”

“…If you try anything foolish, you’ll lose your life as well.”

The hero responded to Lilith’s demand with a threat of his own, filled with killing intent.

In the brief instant Laura’s magic was fired, the hero had already drawn his sword and pointed it at Lilith’s neck.

His words were no empty boast.

Thud. The sword clattered to the ground behind the hero.

Seeing this, Lilith’s first action was to render Laura unconscious.

“You…!”

“Calm down. I didn’t kill her.”

With a faint groan, Laura’s small body collapsed to the floor.

The enraged hero spun around toward where his sword had fallen, but it was too late; it was no longer aimed at Lilith.

“The Red Moon and the Blue Moon. Tonight, the two moons overlap. This is the time when dream demons are at their strongest. Do you think we would attack a hero without a plan?”

The sharp sound of high heels echoed through the mansion.

In Lilith’s sultry gesture, fragments of memory emerged, forming small, crystalline projections.

Within the crystals, two familiar figures appeared—women the hero knew well.

“…What is this?”

“Fufu, surely you don’t want to see these beautiful girls perish, do you?”

Natalia, the knight, and Sarah, the saint.

The hero’s familiar companions were now acting under the command of Incubus Cain, like lifeless puppets.

This could only mean one thing: they had fallen completely under the spell of seduction.

There was nothing the hero could do now.

“As expected of the Eyes of Enchantment. Even after absorbing a magic stone, it seems impossible to charm our dear hero with those eyes.”

“Get to the point. What do you want?”

“Fufufu, that attitude suits you. Let’s make a deal.”

Cain and Lilith, the two monarchs of dream demons, had once collaborated with the first hero.

However, they had intercepted the magic stone that Delros sought, undermining the first hero’s plans.

They had never intended to act according to the first hero’s wishes.

The Eyes of Enchantment—such a supreme power was right in front of them.

What dream demon in the world could resist?

Their goal had always been the Eyes of Enchantment.

For that, the more hostages, the better.