Dark Fantasy Normalized

23 – Incubus (4)

Marik and his party willingly went to great lengths for the noble Lisir, whom they favored.

A tent that was so cumbersome to set up that it was rarely ever erected unless the weather was so bad that one might wake up with a twisted mouth!

Yet, they willingly set up such a tent for Lisir.

“…Shall we set it up for you two as well?”

Unlike when they eagerly offered it to Lisir without a word, they asked with evident annoyance, which hurt the pride of Pien and Aaron, who declined the offer.

Thus, at their current campsite, there was only one tent, and it could be considered a luxury.

“…”

Pien unexpectedly became the lucky one to enjoy that luxury.

Thanks to Lisir volunteering for the night watch and giving up the tent.

When Lisir offered the tent, Pien had quite high expectations.

It was because of Marik’s party and Lisir, who made a fuss as if the tent were a grand mansion.

Those expectations were thoroughly betrayed.

“Annoying.”

Pien irritably sat up.

The makeshift bed made of several layers of old blankets faithfully transmitted the energy of the sacred earth.

In other words, the small stones that hadn’t been fully cleared away poked at his body.

The pitiful sleeping bag, which had taken on the role of a pillow beyond its birthright, smelled like a rag and had long been tossed into a corner.

Pien had to admit that was a mistake.

“My head hurts…”

A confined space.

The rag smell from the sleeping bag subtly filled the tent. If he was going to throw it away, he should have thrown it outside the tent, not just into a corner.

No. Perhaps even that wouldn’t have made much difference.

The sleeping bag was the worst, but that unpleasant stench was an element contained in every component of the tent.

One shouldn’t have expected a reversal from a tent that looked shabby even on the outside.

So what now?

Sleep on the ground like everyone else?

“Does that make sense…?”

Pien is a special being.

It wasn’t because others acknowledged it, but because they felt and treated him that way, he became aware of his objective specialness.

Since Pien became aware of that specialness, he had always been treated specially.

Need to travel long distances? A single glance was enough.

Then the merchant leading the large procession would gladly include Pien in the procession.

They would offer the best seat, the best meal, and the best sleeping place.

Feeling gratitude and happiness just from the fact that they could show kindness to Pien.

That was the life Pien had enjoyed until now.

But sleeping outdoors? Pien couldn’t even imagine it.

In fact, this entire journey was like that.

– Is the carriage supposed to rattle like this?

– My butt hurts. Can’t you give me a cushion?

– What do you mean there’s no such thing? It’s just a cushion, what are you talking about?

– What? This is dinner?

– Wasn’t this feed for the horses?

– Where do I take a bath?

– Why are you asking me that?

– Don’t you take baths?

– …You don’t? Until we reach our destination?

And to top it all off, the terrible sleeping arrangements.

“Ah, really!”

Scratch, scratch, scratch!

Pien fiercely tangled his pure white long hair.

‘Why do I have to go through this?’

It was all because of that man.

Even now, thinking about it makes him shudder with resentment.

He had deliberately approached a mere illegitimate child to take control of Vendel and increase his followers, but who would have thought that the illegitimate child would possess an inexplicable power that neutralized the power of the true ancestor.

There was a limit to irrationality.

Originally, such humiliation, such treatment, was unimaginable.

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

He wanted to turn back time.

If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t have approached Lysir – that man.

No. No, that’s not right.

Now, simply correcting the mistake is not enough.

I still remember vividly.

That moment of humiliation.

The moment when the power of the True Ancestor was neutralized.

I thought I had lost all my power, and I gave up all my pride to get it back.

I willingly offered my existence, which everyone coveted but no one had ever been allowed.

But what I got in return was being treated like a child.

“What, what did I do wrong…? Is it so strange to close my eyes and pucker my lips!? Isn’t that how everyone does it!? Why do I have to be treated like a child!!!”

Pien rolled on the floor, flailing her slender limbs.

In some circles, this act was defined by the technical term “blanket kick.”

After a while of enthusiastically assaulting the blanket, Pien grumbled.

“That kind of person… I really hate him…”

She meant it.

She hated his miserable lack of discernment for not recognizing her specialness.

She hated his attitude of treating her like a child without any reason.

As Pien was recalling Lysir’s flaws, a specific memory came to her mind.

The memory of Lysir reaching out his hand to help her up, and taking out a handkerchief from his chest to wipe away the dust and tears.

“…”

Pien’s trembling eyes held a new kind of ripple.

At that time, he had-

He had the same face as before.

‘Even though he knew I was the True Ancestor. Even though he knew I had lost the power of the True Ancestor.’

It was a thought that intermittently tormented Pien.

What if the power of the True Ancestor, which came suddenly one day, disappeared just as suddenly one day?

Originally, it was unimaginable.

But now, when she imagines it, the first face that comes to mind is Lysir – that man’s face.

And unconsciously, she starts to think.

Even if I become a completely worthless being, wouldn’t that person treat me the same way?

“Annoying…”

And so, Pien was bothered by that annoying man.

She couldn’t fall asleep because she kept thinking about that annoying man.

“…”

Then, Pien’s gaze, as if scanning outside the tent, suddenly shifted, her demeanor changing.

From a lively girl to a merciless Jinzo.

Pien slowly got up and left the tent.

Marik’s group and the coachman.

They were locked in a fierce brawl near the bonfire.

“Uwaaah!!! Let go of me!!!”

“Huk- Huk- Huk-“

The way they were frantically trying to ravage each other’s bodies, losing all reason, it was a fitting description: beasts.

“That lowly thing. It’s finally caused trouble.”

Pien muttered, thinking of a person called Leon.

Her air was so cold it was hard to believe she was the same girl who had been thinking about a certain man just moments ago.

“…”

“…”

Before she knew it, Marik’s group had stopped all actions and were staring at Pien.

“White b*tch…”

“Escort… Rysir’s escort…”

They approached Pien.

Drooling from their mouths.

Crawling on all fours.

Breathing heavily, burning with lust.

They were truly beasts.

Pien’s expression contorted with disgust.

She extended her arm.

It was the moment when a power that weak humans, dominated by succubi, couldn’t withstand was about to engulf them.

“Ah.”

Pien retracted her arm, her face showing that she had remembered something.

On the other hand, the beast that doesn’t stop. Marik attacked Pien.

“Woman, woman…! Pure white girl!!!”

Marik, with bloodshot eyes, looked down at Pien and tried to tear off her clothes.

Pien gently placed her hand on Marik’s head.

“…!”

The beast’s eyes widened- and light returned to those pupils.

The girl repeated the process several times.

The beasts turned back into humans.

The humans returned to their places and fell asleep again.

They would not remember that they had been beasts.

They would not remember what they did as beasts.

All of this was thanks to the grace of a higher being with innate talent in mental magic.

“Hehe…”

The progenitor laughed contentedly.

In the form of the girl she had regained before she knew it.

The girl headed to the place where the man was standing guard.

She was curious about the man’s reaction to what had just happened.

*

──────────

[Your actions have an impact]

▷The target has acquired a new skill.

▷Target: Pien

▷Skill: Progenitor’s Mercy [Blessing (Upper)]

──────────

──────────

[Your influence has reached a certain level]

[Accordingly, a perk is granted]

──────────

──────────

■Lishir

Level: 13

──────────

*

“…What is this situation?”

Pien arrived at the place where Lysir was standing guard.

She forgot her original purpose at the sight unfolding before her eyes.

“It may not look like it, but that woman. For now, it’s Aaron.”

The Aaron Pien remembered was a man who wore a thin mask of deception and bewitched humans with his evil power.

“…A woman?”

But the person Lysir pointed to was a woman.

The curves of her body, clearly visible without clothing, and the signs of caution and fear she showed towards Lysir were unmistakably those of a woman.

“Kyaa…!”

Aaron’s scream interrupted their conversation.

It was because of the unpleasant sensation of her chest’s tip touching the arm that covered her body.

“No!!!”

A scream burst from Aaron’s mouth as she looked down at her body.

“Hideous- Give me back my body!!! Give me back my power, you monster!!!”

Seeing Aaron, Pien, who saw her past self in her, spoke with a disgusted expression.

“Don’t tell me, you. Did you do something again with that normalization power?”

“…I don’t know exactly, but for now, it seems so.”

Lysir explained the whole story to Pien.

Including Aaron’s identity and the details of the incident.

“I thought it was suspicious, but that identity is a succubus-“

Pien checked Aaron’s appearance once more and tilted her head.

“A succubus… really?”

“A succubus. She was.”

“Past tense?”

“But now, as you can see, she’s like that. For some reason, she seems to have become a non-succubus.”

“A non-succubus. What kind of foolish expression is that?”

“Then what should I call that?”

Pien observed Aaron closely once more and then spoke.

“Just an ordinary… human?”

“No!!! I am, I am- I am not a mere human!!!”

“Aaron.”

The tone was calm and gentle.

Aaron, unconsciously influenced, stopped his rampage and listened to the voice.

“First, let’s put on some clothes. Now that you’ve become a mere beast, driven by desire, rather than a pure being composed solely of your will – you have something to cover.”

“… aaah!!! You crazy b*stard!!! I thought you were saying something sensible- to think I ended up with this kind of guy!!!”

Aaron wept bitterly.

Pien was displeased as her own past self overlapped with Aaron’s appearance.

*

Aaron reluctantly put on the coat that Rishir handed over.

Pien turned her back on her and asked Rishir.

“What will you do?”

“What is Aaron? A demon? A criminal? For now, should we report to the city office or the adventurer’s guild nearby?”

“No!!!”

Aaron shouted urgently.

“If they find out I was a succubus, they will try to kill me…!”

“Then you should have behaved better. Why did you go around doing things that would get you killed?”

Rishir had heard from Pien about what happened at the campsite.

His gaze towards Aaron had become colder than before.

“Please, just let me go… If you let me go, I’ll do anything…”

“…”

Rishir looked at Aaron and fell into thought.

Interpreting his gaze, Aaron hugged himself, as if to hide his body from Rishir.

“I’ll, I’ll do anything but dirty things!”

“…This is confusing. If someone saw, they might think I was the one who came to you naked at night asking for something good. Why did you suddenly become so shy?”

Naked?

Something good?

Pien muttered beside him, then spoke in a cold tone.

“Should we just kill him?”

“Pien. Why are you suddenly angry again?”

“Angry? Me? Not at all. I was just stating a general principle. If we hand him over to the city, he’ll be executed for sure. So, instead of going through the trouble of taking him to the city, it’s better to kill him here.”

“According to that general principle, what if we capture a true ancestor?”

“…Are you serious?”

“Just kidding. Pien, you’re definitely different from him. Even with enough power, you didn’t harm people.”

“…”

Hmph.

Pien snorted and turned his head.

“Well, that’s right. Killing a defenseless opponent doesn’t suit your temperament.”

“Why are you suddenly in a good mood again?”

“What are you talking about? Never mind, I’ll take care of it for you since you’re indecisive. Aaron. You are now Rona.”

“…What do you mean?”

Aaron—

No, Rona looked up at Pien with a terrified expression.

“You just said you’d do anything if we let you go.”

“Why…”

“So, you are now a slave of Lishir. It’s the most common way for someone with nothing to repay their debt.”

“No-…”

Rona couldn’t refute.

“My opinion?”

“What’s there to hear about your opinion? If you don’t need him, sell him to someone else.”

“What-“

Lishir was horrified by Pien’s words, but since Rona, the person involved, remained silent as if it was reasonable, he couldn’t say anything.

As Pien said, becoming a slave was the most common way for someone with nothing to repay their debt.

“Scary…”

“What did I do?”

“Not you, Pien, this world…”

“?”

*

“Huh? Rishir? Why has Aaron suddenly become a woman?”

“She turned from a succubus into a human. By the way, Aaron is mine now.”

Rishir wasn’t confident in wrapping up such a conversation neatly with Malik’s group.

In the end, Rishir and the group resumed their journey before dawn.

As time passed and the day began to break.

“Oh. A carriage.”

A carriage parked across the road came into their view.

It wasn’t a cheap carriage driven by a coachman, but a luxurious one with a roof, proper finishing, and decorations.

There were no symbols representing a family or group.

It seemed they were just about to leave after finishing their camp, as the surroundings were very busy.

“Let’s just ask if they can give us a ride.”

Rishir’s group approached the carriage with light steps.

Then, a man emerged from the carriage and approached them with heavy steps.

At that moment.

Rishir and Pien stopped in their tracks, feeling their hair stand on end.

The man also stopped.

“…”

“…”

A standoff at a distance of about twenty steps.

Rishir and Pien exchanged glances once.

That was enough.

A consensus.

It was too dangerous to approach this man any further.

Rishir was about to state their business, expecting to be rejected.

“Lord Dares!!!”

A desperate voice came from inside the carriage at that moment.

“The young lady’s condition has improved…!”

“…What?”

The oppressive atmosphere that had been weighing down the place disappeared.

*

──────────

[There is a peculiar presence around you]

[You are affected by the presence]

──────────

──────────

[The effects of the abnormal state are reduced]

[Abnormal State: Black Curse]

─────────