138 – Jealous Crybaby’s Bombardment

“Student Rohan. Would you tell us a bit about the dungeon? What kind of dungeon was it?”

“The dungeon…”

Rohan trailed off, glancing towards Ichinose. This was the point where he had to reveal information, so he wanted to exchange at least a minimal signal with Ichinose.

But the little crybaby Ichinose was too busy trying to hide her reddened face after being called ‘Yui’ once. She couldn’t even bring herself to look up. She couldn’t even hear Momo, now.

“I’m sorry to make you recall unpleasant memories, Student Rohan. But there’s information that’s best left unspoken in public.”

“I understand what you mean.”

“Thank you. It’s good that you’re so quick on the uptake, Rohan.”

Momo planned to review their experiences once more before visiting the Public Safety Bureau. Public opinion was sharper than one could imagine, and might wound her sensitive daughter.

Rohan moistened his parched lips with cold water. He began to carefully assemble his sentences, his mind racing.

“First of all, I want to say beforehand that nothing you might be imagining in a dungeon happened… well, I’ll explain everything.”

He was certain he had remained virtuous during his sojourn in the succubus dungeon.

But to say absolutely nothing happened would feel…unclear. Ichinose’s kiss had awakened him from the seduction, after all.

“Ichinose and I… well, Yui and I, ended up in a place inhabited by incubi and succubi.”

“!”

Many reacted to the word incubi and succubi.

Momo erased her practiced smile, unable to conceal her shock. Sion and Clara, who had been quietly listening, froze like statues.

Only Noah continued to eat normally at the table.

“…”

Ichinose Jun’s eyebrows twitched, arms crossed tight.

He miraculously kept his silence, holding back the question he burned to ask, but the veins on the back of his tense hands bulged betrayingly.

“You encountered a troublesome monster. Was it an Incubus?”

Momo regained her composure with blink-quick speed, her voice resuming its gentle lilt as she continued her questioning.

Beneath the table, she surreptitiously placed her hand on her husband’s thigh, striving to calm him.

“No. It was a world populated by Succubi. The Husks and Frazer Dolls were all male.”

Momo nodded, as if understanding, then raised her teacup to her lips.

Rohan knew what was behind the thoughtful gazes of Momo and Ichinose Jun. He was well aware of the direct questions they longed to voice.

But now was the time to play the fool.

Until Eungaenose regained his senses, he would steer the conversation with a detailed recounting of the background, hoping to divert their attention, even if only a little.

“The dungeon we fell into was a forest, primarily, a world where the sun never rose. The sky was awash in reds and purples, and a cloying sweetness permeated the air.”

“A fascinating place. Scholars would swoon to hear of it.”

“The forest teemed with bizarre, never-before-seen plants and countless black roses. Even the rivers flowed with a purplish, unknown substance.”

Following Rohan’s description, Momo painted the scene within her mind.

Superimposing the image of Succubi made it remarkably clear, almost as if she had visited it herself.

“What about provisions and water? Dungeons can possess differing timelines, and if Yui’s words are to be believed, you spent a considerable number of days there. Surely you didn’t consume or drink any of those questionable things amidst your battles…”

“Fortunately, I had a supply of provisions and water that I always carry with me. We shared them and managed to hold out.”

Ah, the subtle art of saying one thing and implying another.

Rohan’s words, carefully crafted, contained no outright lies, leaving him with nothing to feel guilty about. And so, he stood tall.

“I see. It seems Rohan’s preparedness secured you fortune.”

Momo, sensing the steadiness in Rohan’s voice and the unwavering light in his eyes, refrained from probing further.

Instead, she merely urged him to continue, pushing closer to the heart of the matter.

No one around them dared to intrude upon their exchange.

“After falling, we encountered hordes of Husks with each move we made. We also came across Succubi who were incapable of communication. We swiftly dealt with them, seizing and securing their dwellings.”

“You mentioned Frazer Dolls earlier, but even those were uncommunicative?”

While she may not possess the strength of Ichinose Jun or Joo-yeon, Momo was a warrior in her own right.

Rather than relying on brute force, she utilized her exceptional intellect, serving as a strategist within the Three Flowers Kingdom.

Her experiences in addressing or researching dimensional rifts had made her keenly aware of the peculiar challenges posed by Succubi and Incubi.

“No. We encountered communicable entities a total of three times. After defeating the last one, we located the monolith within the mansion and returned.”

“Three times…? Perhaps it isn’t a realm solely inhabited by Succubi. When a large rift opens, at least dozens of communicable entities emerge…”

“I consider even this fortunate. Perhaps, in human society terms, it was like a remote village… That’s the impression I got.”

“Student Rohan’s perspective is intriguing.”

Momo raised the corner of her lips, committing the information to memory, turning it over in her mind. So far, nothing problematic.

Only the image of a succubus dungeon itself, which is naturally… unsavory.

Now to the heart of the matter.

Momo fixed her gaze upon Rohan.

Time to pose the question important to any parent.

“Student Rohan.”

“Yes.”

“Did anything happen between you and Yui?”

“…”

Momo, mother of Ichinose, was an enigma.

She couldn’t grasp how her words would be received. She couldn’t say for certain if what Ichinose said about what was needed applied here as well.

Rohan, hesitating to answer, clearly reluctant for that reason.

Sion and Clara, their eyes trembling, even stopped breathing as they awaited his reply.

For the young women lost in their infatuation, an eternity, like a fleeting moment, passed before the answer came.

“I don’t believe anything I say, lacking credibility as I do, would bring you any satisfaction. It seems more appropriate, and more trustworthy, for Yui to speak to that matter herself.”

“I see. Hearing it only from Student Rohan wouldn’t befit a meal like this. And to correct you, you aren’t lacking credibility.”

Momo, having spoken, looked to her daughter beside her.

She gently stroked Yui’s head, which was still bowed.

The girl, startled by the tender touch, awoke from her reverie.

“Mother?”

“Yui. We’re at dinner.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Did anything… special happen in the dungeon? I heard some of the background from Student Rohan.”

Only then did Ichinose finally open her eyes and look at Rohan.

The rare sight of Ichinose’s slow reaction caused Rohan to give a small, humourless laugh.

“If you’re asking about something ‘special,’ what exactly are you…?”

“Well, succubi tend to conjure rather unpleasant images, don’t they? I even suspect that the sweetness in the air might be some sort of aphrodisiac, though I can’t be certain. A parent simply wants to be reassured that everything was alright despite such an environment, you understand.”

Momo whispered a rather graphic example into Ichinose’s ear, to illustrate her point.

Ichinose, blushing crimson at the explicit suggestion, squirmed in her seat.

“N-nothing like that happened, Mother…!”

“Really? For a moment there, I thought I was about to become a grandmother.”

Ichinose shuddered, imagining the scenario Momo had painted.

She vehemently denied anything of the sort had occurred.

““Hoo…””

Shion and Clara simultaneously released sighs of relief.

Momo, observing them, deepened the curve of her smile and turned her attention to her daughter’s story.

“Rohan… is the type to resist charm magic with his willpower…”

“Oh my, that’s truly remarkable! Well, I suppose Rohan, were he to succumb to charm, wouldn’t be sitting here with us.”

Rohan and Ichinose nodded in agreement, the statement self-evident.

Ichinose Jun’s tightly crossed arms relaxed.

“Hehe…”

“Indeed. Rohan’s willpower is undeniably formidable.”

Shion and Clara, their worries dispelled, couldn’t wipe the silly grins from their faces.

They babbled to themselves, piling Rohan’s plate high with food.

“O-Opp…Rohan…! Eat this…”

“Rohan. Focus on filling your stomach first. I’ll fetch anything you can’t reach.”

To think that Ichinose Yui and he made it out of a dungeon swarming with succubi unscathed – it was a blessing.

While some, unable to curb their desires, would be caught licking screens displaying forbidden photos.

Reliving the past when they spilled hot liquids on themselves in their delirium.

If they moved too slowly, even now, their competitors would overtake them, and that would not do.

“I’ll eat it. You two, enjoy your meal in peace.”

Rohan found Shion and Clara’s unusually clingy behavior endearing and even cute.

But mindful of Ichinose’s parents, he tried to dissuade them, but the two girls wouldn’t give up.

“Rohan. What if you get something on your sleeve while reaching for it?”

“Big sister is… right!”

Momo, amused by Rohan’s predicament, watched with a smile.

Also paying close attention to how her own daughter would react.

“…”

As Momo had foreseen, Ichinose was gazing at Rohan, her lips pursed like a duck’s beak.

While she was relieved the atmosphere was returning to one of a meal, a queasy feeling stirred within her as she watched Rohan, nestled between the beautiful girls.

How long had she been observing the girls clinging to Rohan?

The Ichinose-child’s lips had run wild, overwhelmed by emotion, abandoning all reason.

Moving on their own accord, they uttered a word as if demanding to be heard.

“B-but, even Rohan…! If he doesn’t receive a kiss, ah, doesn’t he… remain captive by a powerful allure…?”

The atmosphere froze instantly.