Chapter 2: Skill Sharing and the Outsider

Night.

The aroma of cheese tomato soup and rabbit meat spread throughout the wooden cabin.

The two ate at the table and beneath it.

Enjoying the food while speaking with muffled mouths.

"What a pity, Master."

"What is?"

Rod took a bite of tender rabbit meat, a satisfied look on his face.

"That Young Lady looked like someone of status. Too bad you didn't manage to hook up with her~"

"Don't act smug after getting the better of me here. I know you deliberately made a sound and then came out."

"No way, you suddenly admitted to keeping a succubus, which threw me into a panic~"

Daphne was of noble status; her father was a Count of the Kingdom of Etheron.

Rod had zero interest in Daphne developing a Romeo-and-Juliet-style romance.

Besides, Daphne was too much of a young girl and didn't suit his taste.

Rod picked up the wooden bowl of cheese tomato soup and slurped it at his lips.

Tally made the same kind of sound.

"Since it's out in the open, I can't be bothered to keep hiding it. From today on, you don't have to stay in my shadow outside all the time."

Tally raised her face, looking pleasantly surprised.

"Really? Yay!"

"But you can't show your true form. At the very least, you have to look like a normally dressed human woman."

Rod couldn't be bothered to conceal things, but letting her wander outside with that full-on demonic appearance wasn't acceptable either.

"No problem!"

Tally didn't mind this in the slightest.

As a newly born succubus, she was far too curious about the human world.

【Tally's obedience to you +2】

【Obedience has broken through to 51, unlocking shared skills with Tally】

【Beginning random draw.】

Oh?

Rod watched the entries in his field of vision begin to scroll—from 【Shape-shifting】 to 【Shadow Magic】, from 【Soul-Loss Syndrome】 to 【Enchanting Bodily Fluids】—all skills Tally possessed as a succubus.

【Chou Qu Cheng Gong】

【Shared Skill: Second Heart】

【Details: A succubus has two hearts, one in the chest and one in the abdomen. The powerful pumping of this heart will greatly enhance your constitution. Because it is very close to the second heart, your abilities in that area will become exceptionally strong.】

In an instant, Rod felt a warm current coursing through his body.

Within moments, the weakness he'd felt over these past days was swept away entirely.

Not only that, the warm current kept stimulating his body to grow stronger.

Shared skills!

Good stuff!

Even now, Tally had finished her meal.

Rod remained brimming with stamina.

"In that case, let me see your limits."

Seeing Rod take the rare initiative to step forward, Tally's face lit up with pleasant surprise.

The two were evenly matched, each meeting their equal, their clash thundering so loudly that the small animals around the wooden cabin couldn't endure the commotion and fled one after another.

The next morning.

The refreshed Rod tied up his belongings on the horse, preparing to set out on patrol.

Tally leaned against a tree, drowsy all over.

Humans and succubi alike wanted to sleep once they were full.

"What did I say yesterday?"

Rod reminded Tally not to forget last night's agreement.

She was still in her true succubus form right now.

"Okay~"

Tally replied sleepily, cast Shape-shifting, and transformed into a woman with red ear-length short hair.

The two sat on the horse's back, one in front and one behind.

"I need to sleep for a bit. I ate too much to digest."

"Fine."

Tally curled up in Rod's arms and gradually fell asleep.

Her transformed appearance at this moment was much more petite than before—around 1.55 meters or so. With Rod's tall 1.9-meter frame, he could easily shield her in his arms.

Accompanied by the morning birdsong, the horse traveled south at a steady pace.

Windwall Forest was vast. With Rod as its sole Forester, it was impossible to patrol the entire forest every day.

Therefore, Rod divided the entire forest into seven zones, one zone per day for seven days a week.

Of course, it was also impossible to visit every corner of every zone. There were five watchtowers in the forest, enough for Rod to observe the situation.

Two hours later.

Rod climbed the second watchtower on the route.

"Not bad."

Through the spyglass, the trees in this area were clearly in much better condition than yesterday's.

Every time he climbed the watchtower, Rod was always drawn to the vast, endless golden desert in the distance.

The Desert of Death.

Located at the westernmost edge of the Kingdom of Etherlon.

Every year from November to February of the following year, exaggerated sandstorms would blow from here all the way to the middle of the kingdom.

When that time came, the entire sky would be a hazy yellow.

To block the wind and fix the sand, a hundred years ago the kingdom had dispatched officials to plant and build woodlands.

In the most recent thirty years, it had begun to show results.

The Windwall Forest had also gotten its name from this.

Looking at the far side of the desert, Rod could always recall the insectoid civilization mentioned in the history books, located on the other side of the Desert of Death.

A race known for invasion and destruction: the Ige.

It was said the Ige were a kind of creature without brains; their brain cells and neurons were distributed throughout their bodies.

"What are you looking at?"

Tally was awake by now, but still unwilling to move.

She transformed into a younger-looking girl and sat directly on Rod's neck.

"Nothing, just suddenly thought of the Ige on the other side of the desert."

"The Ige, huh. The moment you mention them, I feel a bit like throwing up."

Tally's face was full of disgust and revulsion.

"You've encountered them?"

"Of course! The great succubus Tally Lilith has drained the essence of every race, including the disgusting bug-like Ige, all slimy and covered in mucus." She said proudly.

"But I recall the Ige were driven out to an isolated land in the far west three hundred years ago."

"Exactly, I drained them three hundred years ago."

Rod glanced at Tally's age on the panel.

【Enslaved Subject 1: Tally Lilith】

【Race: Succubus】

【Age: 100】

【Obedience: 51】

【Evaluation: Trivia — a newly born succubus stays in the egg for 100 years to learn her mother's XX experience and spells. A succubus who is only 100 years old — you do know what that means, right?】

Well, this one was bragging using her mother's experience.

It seemed Tally's shapeshifting arts had not yet reached the highest realm; her intelligence would change along with the form she took.

At this moment, she was a chattering, arrogant little brat.

Of course, perhaps this was exactly the effect a succubus wanted.

"These Ige, their language and behavior are very different from the other races on the continent, and no other race has ever been able to communicate with them."

"But then, aren't Tally's methods superb? A little trick, and I had their desire all riled up — but who would have thought, after we finished, this guy actually tried to take my head!"

Rod nodded.

Very consistent with the book's records on the Ige.

They were a scientist-type race that loved researching brains.

"Luckily I ran fast back then. Later I heard that many succubi went to the Ige seeking thrills, and none of them came back."

Rod:.

The illustrated books recorded that the Ige's body was basically a big glob of slug covered in barbs, with four tentacles — two of them ending in a mouth, nostril, and eye-tentacles respectively, and the other two being pincer-like arms.

Tally rubbed her chin.

"I feel like the crazy spells the Ige researched back then had our succubi brains to thank for a part of it."

"That spell that drove an entire town of twelve hundred people into madness — my mother felt there was um... I feel like there's a hint of succubus soul-sickness in it."

Rod listened to her chatter on top of his head.

While observing the woodlands in this area.

"Hm?"

"Is it that open over there?"

Rod magnified the lens and quickly confirmed that the tree density in that small patch didn't match what he remembered.

He was certain.

Someone had logged here.

This area was under a clear ordinance prohibiting logging; even if the townspeople were short on wood, they wouldn't be foolish enough to come to this kind of hard-to-traverse deep forest to look for it.

Then it had to be outsiders.

"In this direction — poachers, or visitors from the desert?"

(End of chapter)