Succubi Chapter 188. Lovesick Fools
"They never killed anyone!"
"They only came at night!"
"They sounded—" he choked slightly, "—comforting!"
"Sir," I said calmly.
"Yes?" he snapped.
"They were Level 10 to 20 hostile entities."
"They were special!"
My 'lil brother' perked up immediately. 'See? SEE? I told you!'
"…Shut up," I muttered under my breath.
The banshee woman's shoulders trembled slightly.
She turned her face away for a second.
Oh, she's definitely holding back laughter.
Right. At least someone here had functioning brain cells.
Another man pointed at me accusingly. "You didn't even give them a chance!"
"A chance to do what?" I shot back.
"To… to…" he faltered.
"To what?" I pressed, smirking.
"…exist!"
I almost laughed, but I managed to hold it.
The argument echoed awkwardly into the trees.
One of them suddenly lifted his sleeve slightly.
I blinked. "Is that a claw mark?"
He quickly pulled it down awkwardly. "I-It's nothing!" he said quickly.
Another one had bandages on his arm.
Another one was limping slightly.
I looked at them.
Then at the women.
Then back at them.
"You let them attack you," I guessed. I bet that was a bull's eye.
"No!" one snapped. "W-We just… stayed close!"
"Very close," another added, voice dropping.
My eye twitched. Dumb argument.
I guessed I knew where this one was going.
The women groaned collectively.
"Oh my god," one of them muttered, facepalming. "Just say you idiots were going out there every night like lovesick fools!"
"WE WERE OBSERVING!" one man defended.
"Observing WHAT?" she shot back.
"Uh…Their behavior?"
"Yeah? And how many times did you come back bleeding from that 'behavior'?"
He didn't answer.
Another woman stepped forward, arms crossed tight. "They wouldn't listen. Every night, gone. Every morning, acting like nothing happened."
"They never hurt anyone seriously!" one man argued weakly.
"Because they're LOW LEVEL!" she snapped. "Not because they're kind!"
Oh.
Oh, this is gold.
I stayed quiet.
Very quiet.
Because honestly?
I didn't need to say anything.
The battlefield had shifted.
And I was no longer the main target.
The banshee woman finally let out a soft breath, stepping slightly to the side as if giving the argument space.
Her eyes flicked back to me briefly.
Amusement.
Clear as day.
I looked away immediately.
Nope.
Not engaging.
Not after the boobslap incident.
I was not falling into whatever trap this is.
"We submitted the mission," one of the women said, calmer now but still sharp. "All of us."
The man looked at her.
"You did?" His voice trembled.
She nodded.
"We were afraid. Yes. Ghosts aren't exactly something we can fight."
Fair.
"But more than that?" she glanced at the men. "We were tired."
Another woman snorted. "Tired of them sneaking out like teenagers."
"They're innocent!" one man insisted weakly.
"They're not innocent," she replied sweetly, tilting her head. "They're just nightly entertainment for a group of grown men who suddenly rediscovered their 'interest in patrol duty.'"
Ouch.
Direct hit.
Another woman added, "You think we didn't notice? The whispering? The excuses? The sudden interest in 'night patrols'?"
One of the men coughed awkwardly.
"I-It's for safety—"
"You got scratched three times last week!"
"That was a strategic miscalculation!"
I bit the inside of my cheek.
Don't laugh.
Do not laugh.
'You are a dignified demon prince and a good student of Archeline Battle Academy.'
'You do not laugh at villagers arguing about ghost seduction.'
The banshee woman walked forward again, stopping beside me now.
Close.
Too close.
I could feel her presence.
The faint hum of her mana.
Different from before.
Calmer.
Controlled.
"So," she said softly, eyes still on the arguing villagers. "You solved their problem."
I glanced at her.
"Apparently."
Her lips curved slightly.
"And created a new one."
I looked at the men.
Yeah.
Yeah, I did.
"Not my fault," I muttered.
"Debatable."
I huffed quietly.
The argument behind us escalated again.
"He KILLED THEM!"
"They were going to kill you eventually!"
"They were gentle!"
"They literally scratched your face!"
"That was… affection!"
"THAT WAS INFECTION!"
I rubbed my temple.
"This is insane."
The banshee let out a soft laugh.
Actual laugh this time.
Low.
Smooth.
Dangerous.
I stiffened slightly.
Because yeah.
That sound?
Way more dangerous than ghost moans.
"You're enjoying this," I said without looking at her.
"Immensely," she admitted.
I let out a quiet breath through my nose, shaking my head a little. Of course she is. Of course the one person here with a functioning brain is also the one treating this like entertainment.
"…You're not from this village, are you?" I asked, finally glancing at her. "I mean… you're not exactly arguing with them."
She smiled faintly, eyes flicking toward the chaos behind us before returning to me.
"I'm unmarried," she said simply.
I blinked.
"…That's not what I asked."
A small laugh slipped from her, light and unbothered. "It answers more than you think."
I stared at her for a second longer, then exhaled. "Fair enough."
She shifted her weight slightly, hands loosely behind her back, posture relaxed in a way that didn't match the rest of the tense villagers. "I'm not from the village," she continued. "I live nearby. Used to come here often when I was younger. Played around these forests."
Her gaze drifted toward the trees for a moment, something softer passing through her expression. Nostalgia, maybe. Or just memory.
"I just came back today," she added. "Heard about the problem. Thought I'd check it out myself."
I nodded slowly.
"And?" I asked. "You were going to handle it?"
"If needed." She shrugged lightly. "The women told me they already sent a request to the academy. But just in case it failed…"
Her eyes slid back to me.
"I would've taken care of it."
I huffed quietly. "Well. Guess I stole your job."
"Seems like it," she said, but there was no annoyance in her tone. If anything… amusement. Interest.
I looked away first.
Bad move.
Because the moment I did, she leaned in slightly.
Closer.
Too close.
"I thought they would send a female student," she said, voice dropping just enough to feel intentional.
My shoulders tensed a fraction.
"Why?"
"We heard everything."
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