The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!

Edina landed the undead dragon behind a canyon, out of sight from Bravost proper, to avoid causing panic in the city. Everyone was ready to hit the baths and wash off all this sweat, but some of the guards, who hadn't so much as bothered them when they first entered the city, decided to impede their way this time in the High Courts block. Four guards in total, dressed in bronze-tiled lamellar with a crimson sash around their waists and pointed leather helmets, stepped in front of Kanae and her retinue.

"Halt!" A jackal beastman brandished his curved blade at them.

"Uhm… Hello!" Kanae waved awkwardly. "We came in with Vizier Duran the other day. You're not going to turn away his honored guests, are you?"

"But you are not with him today. Your coming and going has been suspicious, despite only recently arriving. Present yourselves to the Commons. A clerk will take care of you there," he insisted.

Petyr clicked her tongue. "I don't have time for this. I'm drenched in sweat. My armor is hot from all the direct sunlight. But my arms aren't so tired that I can't cave each of your heads in to get through."

Kanae and the others stared at the high elf aghast.

"K-Kanae, are all of your party members so scary?" Kara stammered, clinging to her arm.

"That bitch is an Ortesian! Weren't those imperial dogs cozying up to the Mutt of Avanesse?" another guard asked.

"Wait!" The beastman who had confronted them first lifted a hand, then drew closer to Kanae. "It would behoove you to keep things civil." He inconspicuously rolled his tongue out, revealing the tri-dagger tattoo of Renya Rown's crew. "If you truly are Vizier Duran's guests, you wouldn't want to cause trouble for him. Likewise, my fellow guardsmen, we wouldn't want to cause the Vizier of Kandis trouble."

"I doubt it'll take long, Petyr. Let's go to the Commons." Kanae nodded, and so did the beastman.

The guards escorted Kanae and her companions to an administrative hall. Someone leaving the building staggered back inside, keeping his head low as they entered. A massive flag bearing the symbol of an emerald jewel draped down from the ceiling. A dozen scribes behind barred windows busied themselves, their quills flying across dry parchment. The scratch and scribble of their writing was the only sound in the chamber. Hundreds of impatient people, foreign and domestic, were seated in rows of chairs.

As Kanae was led to the front, it drew the ire of some folks who must have been waiting for hours. The jackal beastmen brought them to a harpy woman, who only offered them a cursory glance before tugging on a string beside her head. A bell rang in the distance, and soon a different woman, a red-headed human, obsidian of skin, and donning simple blue magisterial robes, emerged from the archway with a clipboard in hand.

"Succubus." She locked eyes with Kanae in particular. "You will represent your cohorts as I ascertain your identities and purpose of visiting Bravost. The others may remain here. Please, follow me."

Alicia grabbed Kanae's hand as she stepped forward. She rested her own hand on hers and offered a reassuring squeeze. Only then did the succubus relent and let go. Even if it was a trap, Kanae wouldn't go down so easily.

The human woman beckoned for Kanae to follow, and they entered the archway where she had come. A wide corridor of polished granite opened up to them that led into the belly of the Commons. Numerous rooms were occupied by clerks and scribes, buried nose-deep in ledgers. They likely kept close documentation on people who came in and out, and if the guards that stopped them were any indication, this was a common occurrence for people without status.

Their stroll ended in a tiny office in which bookshelves connected the floor and ceiling. The dark-skinned woman had to turn sideways to scooch behind her desk. An opaque window behind her provided the room with plenty of diffused sunlight.

Kanae prepared herself for anything to go wrong… until the woman rolled out her tongue to show another tri-dagger tattoo.

"Sheesh… Does Renya have agents all over the world or something?" Kanae sighed and slumped into a seat across the desk.

"Hehe. Unfortunately, we are few and mostly powerless in Savir. Some of us reached out to you when you first arrived, but the Vizier's outburst made that difficult. My name is Adiya. I am pleased to meet the acquaintance of Lady Renya's esteemed friend." The woman bowed before taking a seat herself.

"Where exactly is Renya? There's some crazy strong people after her. Something about her old man, Solasta Rown, owing the Harpy King something."

Adiya's eyebrows only reacted to the first revelation, but furrowed at the latter. "Yes, the Dervish Five. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose my lady's whereabouts. Know that she is in a secure safehouse. They aren't afraid to cause a commotion. Just a few days before your arrival, a beastman woman of boisterous personality and fierce control of wind magic made a mess of a bazaar in the Shaded Pits. My lady Renya barely escaped with her life."

That definitely sounded like Sofisa, the Dancing Dervish. So far, Kanae had learned a few things about the Dervish Five: they work for the Harpy King, were seeking to bring Renya to him, and in search of a secret weapon in the Under Roads.

Whatever the Cult of Lust and Depravity and dwarven race had hidden underground must have really piqued the Harpy King's interest. Meanwhile, Sultana Dudula ordered every mining settlement to collapse any signs of those places. Their desperation had gotten Kanae curious. She could acquire this secret weapon for herself…

"Give Renya my regards, but if she needs anything, we'll be staying at an inn over at Ordane's Rise," Kanae said.

"I shall pass on your message." Adiya smiled.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Kanae returned to them. Well, except for Petyr. For the time being, Kanae kept Kara close rather than letting her roam the city on her own in search of Seven. With adventurer halls across Savir refusing to service Rookie adventurers, she had nowhere to stay nor have any means to earn a living anyway.

The grateful beastman girl stuck by them for most of the day. Claudia had taken a shine to Kara, who started looking up to her like an older sister.

Their long journey back to Bravost had left everyone covered in sweat. Kanae ran a hand through her hair and shook loose a sack's worth of sand. Thankfully, the master illusionist Dreizel had a Bath House Wonderland here in Bravost, too. Talk about franchising.

They paid a premium for an illusory getaway to bathe in a cool oasis. At least here, the sand was an illusion and wouldn't get stuck in weird places. The sun beamed a gentle warmth rather than with blistering heat. And trees surrounding the pool rustled a tranquill melody.

"Hold still," Claudia said while lathering shampoo into Kara's hair and scalp. "Wouldn't wanna get soap in your eyes. That's the bad kind of pain, and boy do I know it!"

"Nnh… but it's already in my eyes…" Kara complained.

"It's too bad Petyr didn't join us. I would have liked to gaze upon that delectable body of hers." Alicia settled on imagining it instead.

"That's probably precisely why she paid for her own private bath." Kanae rolled her eyes.

Edina drifted by lying on a giant bone like it was a floatie. The squirreling aggressively took a brush through her tail when she lost balance and fell in. She resurfaced, spewing a mouthful of water and frowning.

"I don't like that those bastards kicked our asses. Petyr and Claudia were the only two who stood a chance!" Edina pouted.

"What about your death knights?" Kanae asked.

"They just ain't as strong as they used to be before Hax'gorah got blown out of my staff. I didn't realize how much I relied on a gods damned devil." She sighed into the water and made bubbles.

"Edina, you purchased an encyclopedia's worth of necromantic magical items. Why not pursue those in your quest to grow stronger?" Alicia suggested.

"Where the hells am I going to start?" The necromancer threw her arms in the air. "It ain't like the book has a map of where it's all buried! I'm getting clit-tickled, being shown all this shit but not knowing where they are."

Edina wasn't the only one getting antsy. Over the next few days, there still hadn't been word from Vizier Duran about getting an audience with Sultana Dudula. There was no telling if Avanesse and Ortesia were still planning on going through with their attempted coup, despite foiling the assassination attempt at The Diamond's banquet.

Kanae and the others spent most of their time exploring the confines of the upper city. At one point, Edina wanted to play around in the Shaded Pits, an all-encompassing name for the ground level of Bravost. It was named as such for being perpetually shrouded in the city's shadow. Heaps of trash piled up from upper city residents discarding their refuse. Bitter denizens laid in wait for lost wanderers to ambush for a handful of gold.

It took a bit of convincing before Edina gave up the idea, but that was a crack in the group's cohesion from their patience wearing thin.

"I'm tired of waiting." Petyr rose from the table after they finished breakfast.

"Where are you going?" Alicia asked.

"We can't do anything without talking to Vizier Duran or Sultana Dudula first. If they won't grant us an audience, we'll seize one ourselves," she said.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with this, but… Petyr is right. We're wasting time here. For all we know, Cerberus already succeeded in overthrowing Sultana Dudula in there!" Kanae corralled everyone else up, but as they finally found the resolve to go to the palace, an unexpected visitor had stormed into the inn.

A harpy boy ran smack into Petyr's breastplate. He fell backwards onto his butt, hand pressed to his nose and squealing in pain.

"Uughh… Watch where you're going!" the boy shouted.

"Kanae, isn't this the thief?" Petyr glanced back at her.

"Seven?" Kanae's eyes went wide.

"Seven!" Kara gasped.

He lifted his gaze to Kara, only for his eyes to water. Seven choked down a quivering breath. Whatever he wanted to say, the words had lodged in his throat. But before Seven and Kara could have a reunion, cloaked thugs poured into the inn.

Not wanting any trouble, patrons ran out while they had a chance. The innkeeper ducked behind the counter and hid there. These gangsters were no ordinary ruffians. They were armed with pristine steel, some readied spells in their hands, and donned dark brown gambeson with the emblem of a dried oak tree on their chests.

"Well, well, well." A dark elven man waltzed in with an air of self-importance, tugging on his goatee. "The runt ran off to find some help. Hand over the stone, boy! And you there, succubi—" He did a nervous double take, as though in disbelief of what he had just seen. "S-Succubi? Stand down or be… be…"

"This boy is under my protection now." Petyr scooped Seven up and held him to her chest.

"Hey, let me go! I'm a grown man!" Seven growled and wriggled to no avail.

"Tch. We're not leaving without what he has. Get them!" the elf shouted.

Kanae, Alicia, and Claudia tried charming their assailants, but a painful magical feedback screeched up their spine. These guys had drunk anti-succubus magic potions!

A thrust from one of their swords nicked Kanae's right ear. She headbutted him in return, and the impact left him reeling. Before he could recover, Kanae clamped her tail pussy on his face, then flung him into another group. When they tried to get up, Claudia took a running start and body slammed them outside.

Petyr picked up a whole table and bludgeoned their leader. It exploded with splinters of holy energies. From behind the counter, the innkeeper winced and cried from every broken piece of furniture.

"Can you not destroy someone else's property while we're fighting?!" Kanae exclaimed.

There were more coming in. At this rate, they were going to be overwhelmed. Kanae directed Edina and Alicia to the entrance. Both of them flew outside to stem the flow of bandits.

"And don't use your undeads! You're going to get arrested!" Kanae reminded the necromancer.

"Whattafuck am I supposed to do then?" Edina cried.

"I don't know, maybe cast your numerous OTHER spells that you refuse to use!" she fired back.

The sound of battle quickly unfolded outside, too. Meanwhile, they still had a fight on their hands inside the inn. Four people jumped Petyr at once. She shoved Seven back before they overwhelmed her. He hit the ground, and the cylindrical stone object slid from his grasp.

One of the bandits ran past Petyr and dove for it. Seven snatched the thing back up, but came face to face with the point of the other man's blade.

"No, Seven!" Kanae raced across the room, but she would be too late.

Before Seven was about to be skewered until Kara deflected the strike with Camilla's rapier. The man swung again, but this time aimed at her. She was faster. She thrusted the thin blade once, and multiple projects of the same attack struck in quick succession. The repeated jabs left her aggressor full of holes, and he rolled on the floor in agony.

Kanae recognized it as the rapier's martial skill, Flurry of Thrusts, that Camilla had told her about. Pride welled within her chest, seeing Kara come to the rescue. She and Seven exchanged looks, even though they were both speechless. Their tearful gazes spoke more than words could at that moment.

However, three more bandits rushed in to ruin their reunion. But Claudia came between them, winding up her spanking arm.

"Naughty, naughty. You leave these kids alone. It's time for the adults to play." Claudia smirked, and proceeded to spank the ever-living crap out of them.

A few more slipped past Edina and Alicia. They entered just as Kanae flew out, picking them up by the scruff of their necks. At a glance, almost forty bandits in various states of injury continued bearing down on them outside of the inn.

"These bastards just keep coming." Alicia spat on the ground.

"That's what she said!" Edina didn't spare a second to crack a joke.

Kanae and Alicia groaned.

"Hey, what's going on over there!?" A city guard stumbled into the plaza in shock, then hollered behind himself to call in a squad of armed fellows.

"These guys started a fight! We were just trying to stop them!" Kanae shouted.

The bandits suddenly found themselves in a battle on two fronts. They left their unconscious behind, and those that could run fled into the crowded streets of Ordane's Rise with guards on their tails.

Petyr, Claudia, Seven, and Kara emerged from the inn, harried from the fierce fight inside. A guard urged Kanae's party to wait here to be questioned before running off to join his squad.

"We're not seriously waiting here, are we?" Edina asked.

"Nope. We're not going to be here when they come back. Follow me!" Kanae led them to where she thought was safest— the museum.

The absolute shock on Seif and Panner's faces were palpable. Amusing, too. Their jaws hit the floor as soon as they saw the very thief who had plundered the museum's storage area. They were about to blow up on him, but Kanae didn't have time to wait for a scolding. She put both of them under her control, and had them calmly escort everyone to a more private setting.

"Why are you making us harbor a fugitive? That boy is a thief! We should be calling the guards!" Panner exclaimed angrily.

"Would it change your mind if you knew Seven had brought back what he stole?" Kanae asked, motioning for the harpy beastman to show them.

Seven did, and Seif quickly took it from his hands to inspect. After a few moments, the kobold confirmed to his colleague that it was in fact, the real thing.

"I'm sorry for stealing it… I really thought they would help me bring Theena back, but… they lied. They just wanted my help because I could fly." Seven sulked.

"You did right by coming to us." Petyr kneeled down and embraced him.

"Uhm… I hardly know you, lady…" The boy looked to Kanae for help.

"Seven is off limits. Keep your shotacon hands off him." Kanae seized control of the high elf's mind briefly enough to make her back off. She took her place in front of him and asked, "Who is 'they'? The people you were working for?"

"The Dryoak Consortium," he answered promptly.

Kanae, and especially Alicia, recognized that name right away.