Welcome to the Man-Eating Dungeon

Chapter 4 – Bloodline that Brings Calamity: Village Girl Dahlia

“…… Elliott-san, are you awake?”

There was a voice in front of the door. I recognized the owner.

The farmers would’ve been awake but the miners would have still been asleep at that hour. As for myself, I would have just barely woken up.

It’s rare to get a visitor at this hour but I knew the person who came.

A farmer’s girl, Dahlia. A girl from a generation younger than myself so we had not had bad experiences meeting each other.

One of the few villagers not openly hostile towards me ….

She lost her only family, her father, half a year ago to death and from “villager” the girl became “village communal property”.

Because of that she was a pitiful girl who was burdened with the task of delivering food and other produce to me who was hated (I paid her, of course).

She was now living with the village elder, but it won’t be long before … or might have already became some young man’s sex relief.

Her face and figure is nothing much but nothing bad either, she would probably be someone’s wife soon.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad, though.

I only became properly acquainted with her ever since her father (who hates me of course) died, but she doesn’t come here except on certain times of day.

Mostly, she who doesn’t have a place in the village either, would come here and have small talk after sending off the groceries.

At any rate, I checked if there’s nobody else outside the door besides Dahlia. That’s become a habit of mine.

“…. Dahlia, what’s wrong, coming so early in the morning”

After confirming that nothing’s too out of place, I opened the door.

She wasn’t carrying anything. She probably took a detour here on the way to fetch water.

The petite and timid Dahlia had light brown hair tied at her nape, and stretching down to the middle of her back.

I can see confusion and regret in her deep brown eyes. She seems to have come here because she had something to confess.

“… well, come in. I’ll make you some tea”

I regretted as soon as I invited her onto the dirt floor. I haven’t aired out the smell of sex from before, it smelled like chestnuts.

Dahlia’s no longer at the age nor situation she wouldn’t know this smell. It was so awkward I couldn’t say anything.

“Ara, Master. Do we have a new guest?”

Astarte shamelessly called out to me.

Dahlia looked at Astarte in surprise but she wouldn’t be able to see through the illusion.

… Though I think she may understand something else from the smell.

“U, um …. Elliott-san. I have something to tell you …”

When I went into the kitchen to light a fire and boil water for the tea, Dahlia began to talk.

“Yes, I figured you have something to say, coming this early. Did you run into some trouble? … Not that there’s much I can do about it though”

It was pathetic of me to say, but as someone who’s not part of the village, there’s little I can do.

Dahlia became downcast and said.

“Please run away from this village as soon as possible …. Village chief is hiring mercenaries to kill you”

◆◆◆◆◆

To summarize what Dahlia was saying:

The development of the mines is progressing and lots of people and money are going to flow in.

Once that happens, inns and bar-rooms will be in high demand and they anticipate growth for the village.

However, my inn was right on the way to the mines and is already in business now, albeit at a small scale.

Because of mother’s rights and stuff issued by the church, it will be a lot of trouble to establish a new inn while I’m alive, and to begin with, because the area around the inn will need to be cleared to expand the village, I, who have been living here for a long time, is a nuisance.

Which is why they wanted the mercenaries they called to exterminate dangerous wild animals to exterminate me while they’re at it, and chalk it up to accident.

In addition, because they thought there were treasures and magic items left by the dead proprietress of the inn, once I, a village member for appearances sake, died, they will belong to the village.

“…. haah, mother’s assets are just money and gems, and only enough for me to live on for several years at that, only half of it is left now”

“….. The villagers don’t know anything about that, but they already made the decision”

Dahlia looked like she was holding back tears. Even though she did nothing wrong, was she feeling guilty about it?

Well, as a hated person, it’s something I had to think about a lot.

“…. Master, you don’t need to restrain yourself against the villagers anymore?”

Choosing her words carefully, Astarte made a dangerous proposal.

Well, she is right for the most part. If they would go so far as even deciding to do that, I don’t have to take it lying down, either.

That said, though I think I can ask Astarte do destroy the village, I myself don’t have the power for something like that, so it’s not an entirely happy feeling. In addition, it’s not a happy feeling to discuss that in front of Dahlia, either.

That’s probably why Astarte carefully picked her words.

“Um … miss nun? How are you related to Elliott-san?”

Dahlia asked Astarte.

Well, thinking about the smell, it’s clear that this nun is a suspicious person.

“When I was small, I was taken care of by Elliott-san’s mother … I heard she passed away a few years back so I came to pay my regards”

More than half of that are lies, I thought, but I kept my silence.

I don’t know how Dahlia’s going to take her words but she continued to talk to Astarte.

“If so, then … Please take Elliott-san and run. The mercenaries will probably come today or tomorrow …. You might get caught up in it too”

…. Now that I didn’t consider.

Astarte is a Demon. If she was attacked the response is easy to imagine.

I have to defend myself but I want to avoid a massacre. No, is Astarte strong to begin with?

“… Dahlia-san, was it? Why did you come here? If they found out you told that to Elliot-san your life in the village will be in danger won’t it?”

Now that Astarte mentioned it, she was right. There’s no advantage for Dahlia to tell me this information.

“Um …”

Dahlia looked troubled as she looked to me, and was at loss for words. Somehow, I think her cheeks were red, maybe my imagination.

…. Or maybe. Nah, that’s not gonna happen, no way.

“Dahlia, do you like Elliot-san?”

Astarte cut in with a conclusion.

I didn’t think that’s the case, but Dahlia reddened and turned her eyes away.

“Dahlia … is that, true?”

That was dumb, even if I say so myself.

Dahlia looked about to burst into tears and made a small nod.

“I always heard bad things about you from the villagers, but when I met you for real you were a kind person … When Father died, everyone acted strange around me, but Elliott-san is the only one who didn’t change”

…… well, of course.

Before I met Dahlia I she was a “stranger I knew in name only”, and after her father died and her coming to see me every once and again she was a “stranger who has a weak position in the village”

I don’t hate her at all, and if you ask one way or the other, seeing her unhappiness and comparing it with mine, I certainly thought of her more favorably compared to the other villagers.

I would be in trouble if she hated me, so I kept in mind to always treat her nicely, which is easy to do since I didn’t hate her at all.

But still, I must have looked really bright to a girl who just lost her family half a year ago and was demoted to “village communal property” from “villager”, even if only for the sake of escaping the reality of her predicament.

…… Was I unused to being looked at favorably by a member of the opposite sex my age.

Or maybe I never looked at this girl properly.

Either way, those choices would leave us with nothing but unhappiness.

“Elliott-san, you might as well sleep with this girl. In any case, this village is no longer necessary for you”

Astarte mumbled, but the latter half of what she said was right.

However, I can’t escape right away. Whichever way I go, I can’t continue living without any assets, and these sticks were half a day away from the nearest town by horsecart, several days by walking.

Considering that I have to escape from the villagers’ search, the nearest town with many people coming and going would be bad. I need to at least go to the large town beyond that.

“…….. I understand that I have to run away from here, but, I can’t go right away. Thinking of what I’m going to do after this, I have to spend at least the entire day today making preparations. Let’s go tomorrow morning, before the dawn bell rings”

As the words left my mouth, I hardened my decision.

And there’s one more thing that came to mind.

“Dahlia. … will you come with me?”

I’d like to say that it’s simply because I liked her, but unfortunately that’s not true.

I thought this up because she had goodwill toward me and approached me as someone of the opposite sex.

To me, she was the only one from the village that I had goodwill towards, but I only became aware of her as a target of affection and lust as a woman just now … but still, our interests coincide.

She had no guardians, and I have no contacts to immigrate to another town nor anyone I can raise my social position with, and with the way things are going, there were not few refugees due to war.

We can probably go somewhere far away and live as a married couple who lost their homeland.

With apologies to Astarte, I had that choice….

“….!? Is that alright? Someone like me …”

Dahlia started tearing up at the corners of her eyes. She probably didn’t think I was going to accept her feelings.

Well, even looking as an outsider Astarte is a beauty, and it’s obvious from how the room smelt that I had been sleeping with her, she probably thought we had a relationship.

“….. This is not just about goodwill or favor, Dahlia. Thinking of how I’m going to live after running away, it’ll be much easier to have you with me. Also, I’m going to be troubled if you changed your mind and ratted me out”

I was somehow too embarrassed to face Dahlia, so to hide it I made a calculating remark.

“…. Thank you, Elliott-san. I’ll go back for now. They’ll suspect me if I’m gone for too long…. I’ll make sure to come here before dawn tomorrow”

Dahlia made a bow and half ran through the forest toward the village.

This might be the first time I’ve ever seen her smile so happily.

“….. Is this alright? If you slept with her now she wouldn’t be able to run away?”

Astarte was a little dissatisfied. She seemed to want me to sleep with Dahlia right away.

“Why do you want me to sleep with women so much?”

“That’s simple. The more you sleep with women and steal their hearts … Your powers as a demon will become stronger”

……. Eh? What do you mean by that?

“Don’t look so surprised, Master Elliott. I told you already, didn’t I? ‘I will from now on guide you on the road to kingdom’? You must first be able to defeat the likes of normal humans, and quickly learn how to gain fighting power and make some servants….”

Please wait a minute, how is getting power related to sleeping with Dahlia.

When I asked her straight, she made a light sigh and answered.

“To explain quickly, your Lord Father is from what the Demon Race calls the Nightmare, a type of Demon called an Incubus. They seduce the opposite sex and make them fall to depravity, and dominate their hearts at the same time …. Sometimes they would also turn those they like into Demons and had them serve by their side. You, Master Elliot, inherit that lineage and power”

…. In other words, I gain power and dominate women’s hearts by sleeping with them? That’s ridiculous.

“Master Elliot has some talent with magic, right? … You seem to know something about it. Your power, could it possibly be Endowment Magic?”

…… bullseye. I didn’t respond in words but she understood by the look on my face.

“That power is the proof. The fact that the ability has blossomed is great cause for celebration. The power to grant one’s own magic to something outside of oneself was your Lord Father’s unique magic. The power no normal Incubus possess means that your Father is the powerful person of the Demon Realm. … The ability to grant materials with magic power and the ability to plant magic power into living things and transform them the way you like, that is the proof of the lineage of the ‘Tuner’ Stalto”

…. An absurd story, but it holds water.

I only have a smattering of magical knowledge, but it’s not impossible to grant magic to materials and plant magic power into living things.

But still, what I know only goes as far as temporary raising their physical abilities.

Making them fall to depravity, submit, and dominating them is easy to understand.

Even without magic power, it’s not hard to make people submit using authority or violence.

But transforming people into demons … ? Is that even possible?

“Yes, it is possible, Master Elliott. The proof is right before your eyes. … Do you find it strange that I knew your mother?”

Astarte drew near and went behind me who was sitting in a chair.

She slowly hugged me from behind and drew her mouth near my ear, and whispered.

… I can guess from the way things are going. The reason why she knew mother, why she came to visit mother.

“I was transformed from human into a Demon … a Succubus by your Lord Father. I was once a companion who fought together with your mother … with Amurosa. I became a Demon and grew old … and now I was embraced by the son of Amurosa and that person, fate is a strange thing, is it not?”

A strong smell of sex wafted from the woman’s body behind me, making my head feel dizzy.

I should’ve been preparing to run away, but my body is having a strong urge to seek woman.

Could Astarte possibly be ….

“I, too, know a little of the arts to transform a human into a demon. However … you are already half-demon. The most I can do is maybe accelerate the change a little, but your heart is still human. I will not expect you to kill people and eat their souls, but at least I wanted you to have a stronger heart as a demon. For that, here”

Sunlight had already filtered in from the windows and the village beyond the forest had already begun their farm work.

Astarte smoothly dropped her clothes and crept her tongue on my earlobes.

“Once more, ravish Astarte once more, please …”

Right there where Dahlia was sitting before she left, I took Astarte and ravished her from behind.