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TOAD – Chapter 32
TOAD – Chapter 32
Thus, since I had left the human and demon armies behind, I had never shown my true face by choice. The only exception to that was to Seris when I was delirious and spiraling into a state of self-pity. By the time I had woken back up and restored my old mask, it was too late. He had become so obsessed with me he had murdered his brother and attempted to break me. In the end, it was his life that had been lost.
At this moment, the face I showed was the closest to my true face that I’d allow. In short, I looked a bit like I had back when I first came to this world. I wouldn’t be accurate to say my face had changed over the last year, but the imperfections had slowly been etched away until all that remained was perfection. This was something I had always noted, but I hoped to cover my face when I didn’t want attention would be enough. In the end, it took gaining a strange reputation as some fairy for me to realize my only choice was to sink into deception at all times.
Thus, other than the disguises I liked to wear, I now possessed two faces. There was the face I showed the world, which was attractive, but nothing to cause someone to lose control. Then, I had my true face, the one I would only show right before I planned to consume another soul. After all, once someone gazed on my face, nothing would be left of them but an obsession deep within their hearts.
As for how I disguised my face, it was a bit difficult to explain. Some of it might have been illusion magic, while some of it was merely how I adjusted the muscles of my face. As my manipulation art grew, manipulating my face only became another aspect of everything, and it came like second nature to me.
The point being, I had already selected for these men to die. Rather than playing the game of an innocent victim of goblins who clung to a mighty hero in her fear, it would be laughably easy for me to reveal my true face to them. I could push all of my abilities to destroy their minds and turned them into beguiled toys. They might be able to resist, and I really couldn’t predict how they’d react to such strong provocation. If I didn’t have any combat ability of my own, I’d be worried that before my seduction could work, they’d run me through.
Yet, I was strong enough that even if my ability to control them failed, I could survive. I supposed there was room to argue that such a plan was sloppy. What if one of them escaped? They could return to town, and tell them about my presence. Soon, there would be a mob upon my precious King’s head, and it would all be my fault. How could I allow such a thing by acting arrogant?
However, if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t rely on such deceptions because of a need to be thorough or a fear that my abilities would fail. I did things this way because it was more entertaining. There was once a time where I wasn’t such a bad girl. I lied like any girl when it was convenient or would be advantageous to me. Nowadays, the idea of twirling men around my finger was nearly second nature, and I had come to like toying with them.
My previous toys had all died or broken, so these men would be my new toys. Of course, when push came to shove, I would never put my baby’s life on the line. Until that happened though, I planned to play with my food before I ate it. Thus, I had tagged along with the adventurers, acting far too terrified to return on my own. The men didn’t want to have to turn back after already set out, so they had no choice but to take me along. They reminded me several times that they were going to a fort where they’d be encountering even more goblins, but in my tearful, terrified state, I only felt safe in their leader’s arms.
The other men could only shake their heads as the leader ate it all up. I had learned the leader’s name was Packard, and his friends were Trig and Kant. I didn’t comment on their naming. I found the naming in this world was often unusual, especially among adventurers. I had a feeling that those weren’t their birth names, and they used adventuring names instead.
The result of taking me along was that they were slowed down considerably. I intentionally slowed them down, and in the end, we reached the fort too late for them to attack. There was a rule among adventurers that you didn’t engage after dinner. The sun was just starting to set, but if they ended up in the middle of the dungeon after sunset, if things went bad, it’d increase their likelihood of death. No one wanted to flee from a fort to run into a dark forest, after all.
They had no choice but to set up a camp, not too far away from the camp my party had set up what felt like a lifetime ago. They would attack in the morning. Well, that was assuming they’d be alive come morning.
I hadn’t wasted the trip just being a burden to slow them down. I had naturally worked my charms when applicable. A smile here, a touch there. The majority of it was used on Packard, who also seemed like the most desperate and gullible. I learned that Kant had a wife back home, so I put less work into him. It wasn’t that I couldn’t get him to cheat on his wife with ease. It was more that I just had less interest in doing so.
In general, for someone to cheat on someone else, they already had to have a certain degree of duplicity. They weren’t just willing to back on their promises with their loved ones, but they’d also be willing to lie to that loved one and even lie to themselves. As much as I had come to enjoy the manipulation, I didn’t get as much satisfaction from someone who was trying to manipulate me at the same time. A married man, simply in the act of having sex, was already losing his integrity, and that was just less appealing to me.
I put on a worried look but decided to keep silent and let them argue amongst themselves.
“I’ll keep a watch on her.” Kant tried to reassure Packard. “It’ll be fine. “
Packard looked uncertain, but with the other two urging him, she finally agreed. I only nodded in acceptance, looking a bit scared and uncertain, but not so reluctant that Packard wouldn’t leave. That’s because this was my chance. The group was splitting up, so now I could strike. I couldn’t sip my bowl of stew while remaining curled up under a blanket, but I watched the men extremely carefully.
Packard removed his armor so that he could move more silently, and then after checking on me one last time, left into the forest. Trig rolled his eyes and gave an irritated grunt before turning and leaving in the opposite direction toward the forest to fetch firewood. Kant was the only one who stayed behind. He finished eating and then smiled at me as he offered to take my empty bowl.
“You don’t need to worry so much. We’re experts. We know what we’re doing out here. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be making the move on the fort. I recommend you stay here and hide. It’ll be safest for you.”
“Thank you for your concern.” I smiled. “Are you tired?”
“Hmm? Yeah, I am a little... ahhh... I have a few minutes.” He shook his head as he leaned back. “We can set up... in a bit. Maybe...”
His eyes slowly fluttered close, and he ended up asleep. As to make sure he didn’t suddenly wake up, I also made sure that his dreams were peaceful. He dreamed of being at home with his wife. Once I was sure he had passed into a deep sleep, I stood up, allowing the blanket to fall carelessly to the side.
Leaving the relative safety of the fireplace, I didn’t head in the direction of Packard, but Trig. Packard would be far too easy to conquer at the moment. There would be no satisfaction in it. I had other plans anyway. After all, I had my suspicions about Trig. The reason he was treating me so coldly, wasn’t just because he was jealous of the attention. I was giving Packard. It was clear Packard fancied me, so Trig was irritated he didn’t get me.
Well, that was my theory, and I was about to test it out. It didn’t take me long to locate Trig. I was a lady of many skills, after all, and when I had a pray my eyes were set upon, I’d make them mine. He was bending over lifting pieces of wood as he had said, but being an S-class, it didn’t take long for him to notice me. He spun around, dropping the wood and then reaching for his belt. When he realized it was me, he froze for a moment, narrowing his eyes questioningly.
“I’ve been waiting for a moment when I could see you alone,” I spoke breathily, allowing a bit of my charm to leak out.
“Why?” He asked, his back straightening slightly.
“I... want you. Please, take me.”
Let the game begin.
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