Gacha Kingdom Building

Ideally, we wouldn't want to waste any mana before facing the boss today, but it would be preferable over an injury.

Taking this into consideration, it was good that we managed to leave early since it gave us some leeway to proceed very carefully without worrying about wasting time.

Mia: "...Something's coming our way from the left corridor."

We were in a large space, and behind us, there were two paths, one we took to come here, and another one that led to another settlement according to what we investigated while exploring this dungeon.

There were four paths ahead, and Mia pointed to one of them.

Neither Ellie nor I could see that far, but according to Mia, their steps were becoming slightly louder.

Mia: "...There's more coming after them... perhaps it's a party hunting a monster."

In which case it would be better for us to not interfere as any action could lead to them losing a bit of experience.

Miwen: "Let's just wait and see, if things get dicey for them we can help them out."

It doesn't hurt to give others a hand once in a while, as long as it is one monster, on this floor they don't stand a chance with us, while it would be nice to avoid as many battles as possible, lending others a hand once in a while doesn't hurt too much.

We were somewhat close to the boss room though, so even if we wasted a few minutes here it probably wouldn't matter.

And even though there was no order to attack at first sight or anything like that, the girls kept their guard up, especially Ellie and Mia who seemed to be on the lookout on the other paths to see if something else was gonna show up.

Given the labyrinth-like structure of the dungeon, it is quite easy to get surrounded, so it's nice that the two of them are always trying to be aware of our surroundings even if they don't sense immediate danger coming.

Even though we were ready for a monster to come, a strange silhouette started coming from the narrow corridor, and once it got out, we saw for ourselves that it wasn't a monster at all.

Roy: "Miwen! Great! Help us out!"

There were some cuts on his body, especially his arms and legs... signs of a struggle to be sure, but...

He was also carrying Sam on his back.

While he wasn't in the greatest of shapes, she was way more injured, her leg had been penetrated by an arrow and her arm seemed to be broken.

As soon as he reached us, Roy's strength gave out, and if I hadn't given him support, he would've fallen to the ground head-first.

Barely a minute later, the rest of their party came through the same path.

Now, given the rush, it could be that they were fleeing from a monster but...

Miwen: "Any more steps?"

Mia: "...Not from that direction."

Miwen: "Get ready then."

Their condition also showed signs of a struggle but... no arrow wounds anywhere to be seen. A few cut marks and some redness on their faces, but that was all.

The placement of the wounds gave away what was happening here.

While Roy and Sam had their limbs targeted, especially their legs, these guys' injuries were from the torso up.

There might be exceptions, but in most cases, you aim at one's legs to prevent them from escaping. As for the arms, it helps to make them struggle less.

Now, if you're fighting for your life, you'll probably aim for the biggest target, normally the head and the chest area.

This means that Roy and Sam's opponents had different objectives than the ones who hurt Derek and the rest of his party.

Given their proximity to one another and the suspicious lack of other entities... There was only one conclusion I could reach, and it seemed like the girls supported my theory, as the air around us suddenly became way colder and they had their sights focused on the party that arrived, looking for the most minuscule movement.

Mia: "...Another group Miwen, coming from behind us. They were way quieter so I only noticed now that they are close."

...More bad news.

Did they set up another group to surround Roy and Sam?

In case we were surrounded, we'd have no choice but to go all out.

I'm pretty sure Mia and I can deal with Derek's party, and we might be the quickest alternative, that would leave most of our party to deal with the incoming enemies from behind, and I'm sure Claire and Licia can hold out for a while even when outnumbered.

Alternatively, we can probably have Claire deal with one of them on their own but in case they can resist her magic, it might become too hard for her alone.

Miwen: "...Mia, we'll finish up front quickly, kill the archer girl if you can, if we take too long, we'll try to unify both enemies into a single spot."

If it comes to that, our party cohesion and teamwork might be preferable over individual action, especially against other humans...

Even if that weren't the case... if we manage to get all of them to group up, we can have Claire use a kill shot attack on them. Even if some survive, there are bound to be casualties.

We were prepared to break the biggest taboo inside the dungeon but... as long as we got Roy and Sam to testify, we should be fine... after all, they broke it first, thus, they are targets for hunt, and no one will get mad if they were to be killed inside the dungeon, be it monsters or men who do the job.

The girls took to their assigned positions as best as they could, and we tried to secure at least one escape route.

Then, the other party came, but didn't enter this space, instead, they took a pretty mature action and solidified their position, making sure to also secure their own escape path.

Derek: "H-help! We're being attacked!"

Hm?

What?

Derek: "They even got our party members, please!"

Nine people joined this mess, given the situation, it did look like we might've harassed them.

It's even worse considering Roy and Sam are the weakest among them... if they were to say that they had fewer injuries thanks to their levels, it would be credible.

Not only that... we hold the numerical advantage, and with everyone being at level cap, it would be really hard to flip the story, even though it's true that Derek and his party are the aggressors.

Still, since there's no one dead, as long as we don't act rashly, we might be able to come to an agreement with these people to go back to the settlement and leave the dungeon.

If that happens, it would also be our win once Roy and Sam heal from their injuries.

?????: "Oh? Is that so? What a problem... the fifth floor is filled with these types..."

Fuck... given the circumstances of the fifth floor, the story of a party attacking another one is more credible, even more so if said party is at the level cap.

It makes us seem like stuck-ups who aren't confident about leaving the floor without resorting to the sacrifice.

All they have is circumstantial and biased evidence but... if you stack enough on top of another, it's difficult to deny it.

?????: "But if they wanted to kill you... shouldn't you already be dead?"

Even though it's a bit far away and they haven't yet left the path they came through I recognized this voice.

Derek: "N-no, if you have a scout, you'll see that we are around the same level so..."

Erika: "Hahaha... he can't even recognize the gap between them! Isn't that so cute? What an amusing fantasy you came up with!"

Perhaps the Merchant's luck rubbed off on me.

Or maybe this is just karma settling its debt for making us run into these guys again.

Never in my life had I thought I would be relieved upon seeing demons, but here we are.

Miwen: "Yo! I don't suppose you guys know healing magic?"

Erika: "We don't have a healer with us but... our world's settlement is close by, you can get some potions there."

Miwen: "That would be great."

Derek: "Really? Let's all go together then! We can sort this out and..."

Erika: "Or, listen up... why don't you guys all go home and... pleasure yourselves to death?"

Huh?

Suddenly her body became a bit... distorted. Almost like an image glitching in the monitor of a computer.

Her words felt strange, they held weight. It made me want to listen more, made me want to... obey?

It was hard to resist, truth be told, I almost didn't want to.

The more I tried to remind myself of the content of her words, the sweeter they seemed, and the way her lips moved, it was so-

Mia: "Miwen! Wake up? We are going."

Miwen: "Hm? Sorry, I was..."

Erika: "Whoops, since they had a girl with them I had to use a bit more power... It ended up affecting you too, I'm sorry for that."

I see, so that's what it was.

What a dangerous mind trap... the more I thought about resisting, the more I tried to remind myself that her words only meant harm... the more enticed I became.

Each passing second made Erika feel more and more erotic, had that gone for a few more minutes, I probably would be looking at her differently now.

And that's the thing... those feelings were so strong, that I can imagine them becoming permanent had I stayed in that delusion for too long.

Now that I've regained my conscience though I can see a pretty embarrassing situation.

First of all, my crotch seems like it's about to burst, and the men from Derek's party seem to be the same, except that they are also mindlessly walking out like zombies.

It wouldn't be surprising if they got killed by monsters in this state, but... given her orders, I suppose they'll do their utmost to get home, and then...

I can't see them getting out of this one.

Erika: "Still, you must have quite a strong will huh? Or perhaps you've been very naughty recently? My pride is actually hurt you know?"

She says, as she almost made me kill myself with her words alone.

Still, I gotta be thankful to her, she managed to get us out of that situation splendidly well.

But...

Miwen: "Why did you take our side so fast? While we all had a good time yesterday, I doubt someone with your experience would let that interfere with your judgment."

The way she acts regarding her party shows a great deal of consideration and experience.

She knows how best to handle herself, she's capable of analyzing others' fighting capabilities just by looking at how they portray themselves and doesn't let levels be the only deciding factor when considering their strength.

It's practically the same conclusion I had reached when seeing them.

Frankly, I think she's incredibly good.

I still vividly remember when we were talking yesterday and she said that upon looking at our stances, she felt that a fight between our parties could go either way as she could handle anyone of our party but the rest of hers would lose, which prompted her to act as friendly as possible.

And now that I know more about her powers, I can kind of see why she became so close to me... it was her way of fighting.

If her power was so strong against strangers, it must be even stronger against someone who had already fallen for her charms, even if a little bit.

This is also probably the reason she's a bit disappointed that I managed to hang in there, even if by the skin of my teeth.

Erika: "Sweet whispers of love, deceitful lies, empty threats... I'm a succubus you know? Seeing the truth behind the words of men is as natural for us as flying is for a dragon..."

Alright, I better note this down, so I remember to never lie to a succubus.

It's a bit unfair that she has such an ability just because of her race, I wonder if we humans have anything going for us.

Miwen: "But are you sure about that? If someone with a Gift leads an investigation, they'll find foul play in their deaths, and you'll probably become a fair target for hunting."

Erika: "You really haven't been around demons eh? Perhaps I should give you some private lessons... You see, we are very... very bad beings. If something happens, we will be the prime suspects. If there's a culprit, it's probably a demon.

So, we are used to being hated, feared, and yeah, even hunted. But that doesn't matter... the more you hate and fear us, the more you desire our heads, the stronger we'll become. That's the law of Demonic Power that has been passed down through ages."

...That's something the Merchant talked about before.

Demonic power is something akin to Divinity, but it looks like its nature is the complete reverse.

Still... isn't this sad? Even though they are pretty much equal to us, they become more powerful by having their existence become more miserable.

Miwen: "...Why do people fear you guys in the first place then?"

Erika: "The Gods despise us so those who are more devout will also follow in their hate and often offer our hearts as a sacrifice to their preferred deity. But there are also plenty of people who don't give a fuck about any of that. It's just that... if there's such an easy scapegoat, most people will go with the flow, right?

So there's nothing to fear, if anything happens, you can just blame this demon!"

Huh.

That's... the type of life that no human should ever live, and yet, she seems pretty satisfied with it.

But could this be true?

Somehow, I feel like she's lying. To both me and herself.

I can understand why she's looking out for her sister even though their party seems so chill...

If nothing is happening, then there are no problems, but as soon as a situation pops up, the chances of her sister getting the short end of the stick are pretty high.

And I thought they had an inherent advantage as a race...

Seems like I couldn't have been more wrong.

Still, it was only thanks to her that we managed to get through that without a fight, and she even presented us herself as a scapegoat if need be.