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

Kanae wandered the streets of Ehmvier without any particular goal in mind. Hardly anyone was out. She passed by a bookstore, whose owner was bored out of his mind due to a lack of visitors. Street vendors packed up earlier than usual and set off to look for an area with more foot traffic.

It was hopeless. She couldn’t find any leads about who might be causing this magical plague. Dejected, Kanae returned to the castle. Maybe she could switch things up and look for the simulacrum instead. Start with a smaller problem and work her way down.

Kanae retraced the simulacrum’s steps. She began at Arenade’s personal bedchamber, where the four inert simulacrum lay still and awaiting orders.

”If I were the simulacrum, I’d wake up in the bathroom and start freaking out. I can’t fly, so I wouldn’t take the window. I have to walk out.” Kanae got as far as the bedchamber door and paused with her hand on the knob.

Simulacra were naked. They hadn’t been given clothes since Kanae and Arenade used them purely for sex. Leaving the room in the nude would have given servants and guards a start. Someone definitely would have noticed a naked goblin. Since no one did…

Kanae returned into the room and walked up to the standing closet. Looking for something to wear, the simulacrum would search for clothing that wasn’t going to draw attention. She threw the doors open, and it was all beautiful jewel-encrusted gowns, comfy pajamas, and bathrobes.

”Nothing here is going to fit a goblin though. The bust is too big.” Kanae pulled a dress out where the chest area could fit two large watermelons.

Rummaging a little deeper, however, Kanae uncovered clothing fit for children. Rather, they were clothes that fit Kanade and Suvee. Of course. The kids spent time in Arenade’s personal bedchamber when the two were toddlers. She swaddled, fed, and changed their clothes often. It made sense that she had their belongings in here, too.

In which case, the simulacrum took one of the smaller outfits. Pint-sized goblins could definitely fit in one. When Kanae pulled out the box containing their kids’ clothing, it looked to have been looked through, like someone pulled things out and then stuffed everything back in. Simple pants and tunic would have sufficed, and the servants likely didn’t give more than a passing glance if the goblin left the castle.

Still, that should have raised some glances.

Kanae left the room as the simulacrum would have after finding something to wear. Out in the hallway, she spotted a human servant woman changing out the window drapes for new ones.

”Do you have a moment?” Kanae waved.

”Y-Your Majesty? I did not see you! Please, forgive my lack of awareness!” The servant bowed.

”Don’t mind me. I just wanted to ask if you work up here often? A few days ago, did you see a goblin pass by?” she asked

”Yes, I am often assigned this wing of the third floor. A goblin you say? Hmm. I wasn’t sure if it was a goblin I saw, but someone of short stature did pass right by me as I was dusting the busts the other day. They had a hood over, so I didn’t get a good look. I just thought it was a servant or special friend of yours and Arenade.”

That must have been the simulacrum!

”Thank you. That’s all I wanted to know.” Kanae smiled.

The servant curtsied and returned to work.

Meanwhile, Kanae walked down the hall where she had pointed. It led to the stairs, so the simulacrum could have gone anywhere. At the very least, no one had taken it by force. It simply walked away on its own.

”Now, if I was a confused goblin that suddenly regained unconsciousness again, where would I go? I’d find refuge with other goblins like me, wouldn’t I?” Kanae wondered aloud outside the castle gates.

A small procession of wagons entered, snapping Kanae from her thoughts. A couple of guards checked with the drivers, then went around back to inspect the goods. They were all filled with an assortment of food, produce, meat, fruits, and more. It took a lot to feed a castle, and even more to feed a country.

The Commonwealth was the most fertile land on the continent, and farmers grew so much in harvests that the price of goods was very affordable. Arenade sanctioned new trade routes into Artaggon to export all their food. Otherwise, farmers would have earned more growing nothing at all. Managing an entire economy was tough. Kanae could never have achieved what Arenade did, and it was only thanks to her past life as a duchess to learn from.

Kanae figured it was possible the simulacrum hitched a ride on one of these wagons that come and go from the castle. Guards would have pulled him aside for looking suspicious if he tried to leave on foot. She followed the caravan that had parked near the side of the castle that led directly to the pantry and kitchens.

The head cook, a serious lupine beastman with graying hair, came out with a fleet of servants and laborers. They started unloading the wagons. Castle workers climbed into the back to toss heavy burlap sacks.

A young human woman doing the catching got smacked in the face by a bag full of oats. When it hit the ground, the bag opened up and spilled.

”What in three hells are you doing, newbie? Brace your feet on the ground. Shoulders squared. Arms out. These cost a couple of gold coins a sack, so be careful!” the head cook scolded.

”I’m sorry! I wasn’t expecting them to be so heavy!” She jumped up and bowed apologetically.

”Cut her some slack.” Kanae touched down next to them. ”We could have two people catching a single bag instead of one. You’re going to need more hands, but it reduces the risk of a bag spilling.”

”Y-Your Majesty! Yes, of course.” He motioned for more workers to come forward and help.

Kanae extended a hand to the young woman. She had long brown hair woven into a single pigtail that draped over her right shoulder. Bright red eyes glistened like rubies under sunlight.

”You’re new here? What’s your name?” Kanae asked.

”Thank you, Your Majesty!” She clasped her hand and got up. ”I’m Charlotte. I transferred here a week ago from the barracks before things started getting worse over there. It’s a lot less hectic compared to serving sick soldiers, and the pay is so much better!”

Kanae brushed some oats off the girl’s head and smiled. Feeding thousands of people wasn’t an easy task. She left them to their work and circled around to the back of the castle to visit Eliza.

Inside the laboratory, Kanae stumbled into Cantu using slime to make the body of a simulacrum. A very muscular and large body at that.

”Are you trying to grant yourself a living body?” Kanae asked.

”Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. I will never live this body in the truest sense of the word, but there are ways for me to inhabit it temporarily. Madam Bedlam is something of a genius. Aside from my Lord Charron, I have never met anyone like her before. Look! I even shaped a rather nice phallus for myself!” Cantu gestured between the legs, where a giant cock rested.

”I see…” She gulped hard. ”An… Anyway, where’s Eliza?”

”Oh, Cantu! I’m freshened up~” Eliza’s sweet voice rang out from behind.

The sorceress came to a grinding halt. Her cocoa complexion turned red. Eliza was dressed in an open bathrobe, voluptuous body laid bare for them to see. She quickly closed up the front and tied it off.

”Amethyst! I-I didn’t realize you were going to visit!” Eliza stammered.

”Don’t tell me… You and Cantu are…?” Kanae swapped glances between them.

Cantu avoided eye-contact.

Eliza, on the other hand, cleared her throat and sighed. ”It’s been a while since I’ve sparred with another whose intellect is as sharp as mine. Talking with Cantu has been quite… stimulating. In more ways than one. Please, don’t tell anyone. Especially no one back in Aidenhall… I’d rather not be known as a necrophiliac.”

”And I beg you not to tell Edina. She might literally reduce me to a meager undead. I’ve grown to really like this Corpsestitched body of mine!” Cantu exclaimed.

”What you guys do in your free time is not my concern. I can come back later after you finish fooling around.” Kanae headed for the exit.

”Amethyst, hold on!” The sorceress lifted a hand to stop Kanae, then plucked something off her hair. ”What is this?”

”Oh, that’s a piece of oat. A shipment of food arrived at the castle, and I went to check them out. Why?” she asked.

Without a word, Eliza left the room. Kanae and Cantu exchanged confused glances. The two of them followed her to the alchemical laboratory. She was so absorbed, her robe came undone and fluttered around barely clinging to her shoulders.

Eliza placed the grain of oat into a glass container and dripped in alchemical waters from her cauldron using a pipette. It dissolved into a thin film of liquid, light blue in color and seemed to bubble a little.

”What is it?” Kanae asked.

”There are traces of magic on the oat. Where did you say you obtained it from again?” Eliza questioned.

”I don’t know. From the wagons it arrived on. They come from all over farmlands in the Commonwealth. I’d need to ask some people to know for sure. But are traces of magic on it really a big deal?” She tilted her head.

”You must understand,” she began, ”it is very unusual for things to be infused with magic. Paladins can do it with Smite. I, as an inventor, can imbue magic in items like a teleportation pellet. Or specialized Mages and Enchanters can enchant prisons, vaults, and cupboards with lock spells. What was on the oat wasn’t some latent magic. Someone purposefully casted a spell on it. That is what the blue color means. Mana dissolved from a spell effect.”

Oats? Why oats?

”Manabe! I didn’t think it was worth even remembering, but I recall him telling me about how he got sick. Woke up, ate some oats, went to train, and got sick that evening,” Kanae recounted.

”Could it be that the plague’s creator made the oats ill? When consumed, that was what made people sick?” Cantu suggested.

”That must be!” Eliza boomed, causing the other two to wince. ”Many were falling ill. Not everyone. That’s because not all of us consume the same food. But oats is a very common crop.”

”So… the disease begins at the farms?” She scratched her horn.

”Perhaps. Or, someone is applying a plague spell directly to the oats that arrive in Ehmvier,” the sorceress suggested.

Someone who could— The image of Charlotte flashed in Kanae’s mind. She worked in the barracks a week ago? Suddenly, she’s at the castle. It could be a coincidence. On the off chance that it wasn’t…

”Amethyst, this could still be pure chance. Bring me to the oats so we can test the rest,” Eliza urged.

Kanae nodded. They headed for the door only for Cantu to stop them both.

”Your clothing, Madam Bedlam.” Cantu pointed to her bare frontal.

”Ah, yes. Of course.” Eliza blushed and went to get changed into her usual purple and gilded gown.

They rushed out of the tower and towards the kitchens. It was only the afternoon, but a dozen cooks were in the middle of preparing dinner to feed the hundreds that lived and worked in the castle.

”Everyone, stop what you’re doing!” Kanae demanded.

”Your Majesty’s back? Is something the matter?” The head cook rushed out of the pantry in panic.

”We believe the oats are spoiled. Can you show me where you’ve stored them?” she asked.

Nearby cooks stopped working and turned to them aghast.

”Spoiled? Yes, right this way.” He led them to where he had come out from.

The pantry was a large room, where food was stored on multi-tiered wooden shelves. He beckoned them over to the oats that were just delivered today, stuffed into a bottom shelf and stacked several bags high.

Eliza conjured a magical blade on her index finger and cut the bag. Oats spilled like a waterfall. She pinched a few pieces, dropped them into a glass jar, and dripped alchemical liquid in. Again, the end mixture turned blue.

”You.” Eliza turned to the lupine beastman. ”It’s of the utmost importance that you trash every food that includes oats for today. Bring these bags outside. I want farms and villages where these bags came from, and the names of places where they also send their crops to. We have to stop them before they reach other people.”

”At once!” he exclaimed.

Kanae grabbed him by the arm. ”Don’t go yet. I’m looking for that rookie you hired. She isn’t who she claims to be. Where is she right now?”

”Oh, well… Charlotte just went upstairs to bring Alicia her meal,” he said, only for the blood to drain from his face.

”Alicia! Eliza, Cantu. You two deal with oats and tell Manabe at the barracks what’s going on!” Kanae exclaimed.

”Of course!” Eliza and Cantu replied.

Kanae unfurled her wings and sped through the castle.

Servants jumped out of the way, and some unlucky ones were knocked down. Kanae left behind a mess, from shattered vases to fallen paintings, as she raced down the corridors. She rounded the corner into the hallway of Alicia’s room, several Sisters of Sin and servants were lying unconscious on the ground.

Kanae ran up to the door and found both midwives shielding Alicia. A tray of oats lay spilt on the ground. Charlotte threw a haymaker at one and a roundhouse kick at the other, sending them crashing against the bed.

”What’s going on?” Alicia asked.

”Charlotte, don’t take another step!” Kanae yelled, and the assassin glanced over her shoulder with a muted look. ”Alicia, that’s no ordinary cook. She may very well be behind the plague.”

”Shit. I was supposed to do this quietly, too.” Charlotte cursed under her breath.

Alicia’s eyes widened with recognition.

”Charlotte… Sister, you’re crowned?” Alicia gasped.

”That’s right.” Charlotte let the magic veil surrounding her fade, revealing the crown-like horns that adorned her head. She gladly showed them her wrist, which was marked with a jawless skull sigil denoting a Plaguemancer.

”Another daughter of the Queen-Mother? Some sister you are. Your disease nearly killed Alicia!” Kanae growled.

”Put some respect to my name. I’m not just any daughter. I am Charlotte, Mistress of Excess! And I would’ve succeeded if it weren’t for you.” She turned around fully to glare.

”Charlotte, you could have harmed my baby…” Hurt, her sister’s quivering voice searched for reason.

”That was the plan. There can only be one heir to Temptation. Your unborn daughter is a threat to the Queen-Mother and Ambrosia. A brand new lineage cannot be allowed to exist. My plague may have failed to reach you, but I have other more simpler methods.” The Mistress of Excess drew a sharp knife.

Fury flared up on Alicia’s face. She pulled her signature daggers out from underneath the pillow, then stood up on her own two feet.

”I won’t humor threats against my child. You forget yourself, Charlotte. Before Claudia and Jhene inherited the mantle of Mistress of Pain, it belonged to me. I was the Queen-Mother’s personal assassin.” Alicia stanced up, her blades somehow already dripping with venom.

The three of them continued their standstill. Heavy footfalls from castle guards approached from far down the hall. They weren’t going to make it in time. Kanae made the mistake of flicking her gaze towards the coming help. That was when Charlotte dashed deeper into the room.

Kanae unwound Lust too late. Alicia vanished from sight, and Charlotte’s knife plunged into the empty bed.

”Too slow, Sister. You let a pregnant woman get the better of you.” Two envenomed blades slipped out of invisibility right for Charlotte, who let go of her weapon to grab Alicia by the wrists.

However, Alicia didn’t see the knife clenched in the Mistress of Excess’ tail. Kanae seized it just in time with her whip, merely inches away from making contact. Guards got to the door with weapons in hand.

”Grab the succubus. The one that isn’t pregnant!” Kanae ordered.

”Right away!” They funneled in quickly.

Charlotte cursed under her breath. She let go of the dagger from her tail and shoved Alicia away, making a break for it through the window. The guards scrambled to catch her, but she had already leaped off.

”Charlotte!” Kanae pushed them aside and spread her wings to take flight.

”Kanae, wait…” Alicia collapsed to both knees, hands cradling her inflated belly.

”Did Charlotte hurt you?” She rushed back inside to help her up.

”No, but I think the baby is coming…”

They glanced down, where a small wet puddle had formed beneath Alicia’s feet. Her water just broke. Kanae slapped the midwives back to consciousness, and the two quickly cleared the room and got to work. The pair moved like machines despite having been knocked out earlier.

Kati, the red-headed human half-succubus, didn’t hesitate to give Kanae orders, too. She went to fetch extra towels, buckets of water, and potions. The other, Naja, a feline beastman half-succubus propped Alicia’s legs up with pillows and did everything to make her comfortable.

”I’m back with the stuff you asked for!” Kanae hurried into the room.

”Sh.” Kati lifted a finger up to her lips. ”Alicia’s fallen asleep.”

”What about the baby?” she asked.

Naja shook her head and unburdened Kanae of the towels. ”Not come yet. But everything is fine. No complications have arisen. Kati and I believe Alicia will need time as her body adjusts to pushing the baby out. You should get some rest yourself, Your Majesty. We will call for you should anything happen.”

Kanae didn’t feel comfortable about leaving Alicia alone, especially after what happened with Charlotte. Not to mention, Charlotte was still out there somewhere. She ordered extra guards be stationed in the hallway and outside the castle underneath the room’s window. For the time being, she was going to have to trust Eliza and Cantu had things settled at the barracks.

”Your Majesty?” Kati poked her head into the hallway. ”Alicia’s awake if you wish to speak with her.”

Kanae followed Kati in, but she and Naja stepped out and closed the door behind her. Alicia was lying on her back, too exhausted to even sit upright. Kanae sat down on the chair at the bedside and held her hand.

”I can’t believe your own family would do that.” Kanae frowned.

”I wouldn’t put it past Ambrosia. When we fought them in Avanesse, I could see their desperation to succeed. But, Kanae… There’s something you need to know. About our child. It has to do with what they are afraid of. What you might be afraid of as well.” Alicia hesitated to say more.

”What is it? You can tell me,” she insisted.

”A succubus child born of two succubi will lead to a new lineage. Our daughter will share our blood, but not our horns. One day, she may grow to found her own brood, and challenge your elder daughters for rule. Ambrosia likely fears her daughter Vanressa will be challenged as well. Forgive me for not telling you this sooner. I… didn’t want to tell you, because… I feared you would shun her.”

Was that all? Kanae breathed a sigh of relief, much to Alicia’s confusion.

”You living under the Queen-Mother really warped your way of thinking. Your culture is weird to me. I guess, not as weird as drakelings. Do you really think I’ll hate our daughter just because her horns are different? Maybe Zariah and Ambrosia will. Here, in the Commonwealth, Kanade and Suvee are going to have a new baby sister to love and dote on. She has a lot more sisters in Radevic, too. You have nothing to worry about, Alicia.” Kanae rested a hand on her stomach and felt a little kick.

”I see…” Awash with relief, Alicia couldn’t help but laugh at herself. ”I was worried for nothing. If only Ambrosia could see the same way, that stupid sister of mine. But you saw how far they were willing to go. Our child will be in danger here.”

”Hey, we’ll think of something together. For now, just get some rest.” She was about to get up until Alicia held her hand tighter.

Kanae relented. Instead of leaving, she climbed into bed with Alicia and cradled her in both arms.