This was supposed to be posted after April Fools(not Friday like I said since I wanted to avoid the april fools scam chapters lol) and no chapter the following week but obligations kept piling up that I had no choice but to delay. Will be posting at least one more chapter this month. Maybe two but no promises.
Authorâs notes: I thought about writing this side story about Miel since itâs the 3rd of August which is honey day. The word count was starting to get too high that I thought to myself, âThis isnât a side story chapter anymore, is it?â. Which is why I decided to post it as a .5 chapter with some modifications instead of including it in the side story.
PR: Filip/Gecko
The hustle to prepare for the end of the year festival has begun. The island and the village will both be holding a celebration, but since there are only a few people on the island, the celebration there will only last for two days instead of three. Preparations of both sides were underway, but I had to help butcher the pigs at the werecat old manâs place as usual. I wonder why that old man always makes me help out with that.
â[TL: Latteâs pov next]
I was already done with the end of the year festival preparations for the day. Since Suzuran-chan and Lily-chan werenât around, I went to the back of the ranch I worked at where few people visited. As for Caam-kun, heâs back on the island to prepare for the harvest festival there.
ãAlright Miel-kun, I think itâs about time I teach you our tribeâs inherent magic. Since papa has already taught you all kinds of magic, I thought Iâd already start teaching you even though itâs a bit earlyã
ãUn, Iâll do it mamaã
Un un, Iâm glad my child is growing so fast. I didnât think I would be able to experience this kind of happiness in my life so Iâm grateful to Celesso-san, Caam-kun, and Suzuran-chan.
ãGood. Even though we succubi are known for our techniques in bed, we also have a way of making someone feel good in their dreams while theyâre asleep. However, we wonât be learning that today. Instead, I will teach you about illusions and hallucinations, magic that makes things that donât exist seem to existã
ãEven papa and Suzuran mama havenât seen it?ã
ãThey havenât, so letâs do our best so we can surprise papa when you use what weâve practiced todayã
ãUnã
ãAnd so, the image you will use is simple. Just think about the fog that usually appears in the morning after a really humid night. You gather a lot of those fog and form it into the shape you want. Can you understand my explanation?ã
ãUn. Papa taught me the way to move magic through a string after allã
ãAs expected of papa! Heâs the bestã¼! Alright, letâs gather the white hazy fog and form it into a shape. Then, weâll add a slightly different quality of mana unique to our tribe to show anyone who sees the fog an illusion. Iâm sure you can do it with your current skillã
After saying that, I taught Miel the tricks on how to do it.
ãMama will do it first okayã¼?ã
I imagined the fog that appears in the mornings and then formed it into the shape of a person. After adding a bit of mana to it, I made it show the form of Caam-kun to Miel. I used to see him every day, hug him every time, and I can even remember how he smells so it should be unmistakable from the real one.
ãLook. Itâs papa~ã
Itâs been a while since Iâve used this magic so thankfully I managed to do it well.
ãItâs an illusion made of fog so there are limits to what it can do but there are a lot of ways to use it. You can make people lost since it can make trees in the forest and walls in the city that look like the real thing for example or make a real wall look like thereâs something on the other side as well so anyone who runs into it will just hit the wall. Just keep that in mind. Okay?ã
After saying that, I hugged the Caam-kun that I made with fog causing it to dissipate.
ãI guess you should start with something small at first. How about making your favorite animal, a rabbit?ã
Miel tried it out and after giving him some pointers, he managed to successfully make a rabbit.
ãMama! I did it!ã
Miel made a rabbit jumping around using the fog.
ãThatâs great~. Mama didnât think you would make this much progress in a day you know? Itâs all thanks to papa, isnât it?ã
ãUn!ã
Miel gave an energetic reply. Seeing him like this made me realize how true happiness really feels.
â
Several days passed after that and Caam-kun came back so he trained with the children during the day. Lily-chan was first, and as usual, Caam-kun was using any means to win and survive even if his training partner was his own child. Once it was Mielâs turn, he immediately used ãFog Illusionã which Caam-kun carefully observed.
The fog clumped together and formed into the shape of a tall person wearing a pointed helmet and a leather apron. In both hands, it had large sword-like nata blades. The illusion formed a muscular man that appeared inside the fog.
I thought the presentation was good butâ¦â¦ what is that exactly? I havenât seen that heard nor have I heard of it. Also, looking at Caam-kunâs expression, it immediately changed into fear. The moment that the man raised his sword over his head, Caam-kun turned and ran towards the forest as fast as he could without looking back.
ãMiel-kun, do you know why papa was that scared?ã
ãI donât know. It was just the good person Iâve heard about from papaâs story that goes around killing bad people you know? I wonder why he ran away. He said that he only appears when you do a lot of bad things. Papa didnât do a lot of bad things, right?ã
ãUhã¼, I also want to ask that butâ¦â¦ã
It looked like he was seriously running away this time. I know Caam-kun isnât the type to be scared of fairy tales but something doesnât add up. Perhaps it has something to do with being born in the same land as the heroes.
â¡
Crap crap crap. Why is that here? I donât think Miel recognized him but he must be scared right now! Why did that come out!? That thing appeared without manifestation of guilt and desire for punishment so that may not have anything to do with the one I know of. Thatâs why Iâll just have to erase my scent and hide in the forest! It might just have been summoned using magic! In that case, Iâm the only one in danger so Iâll just run as fast as I can!
ãHey Caam, itâs nice of you to come and butcher the pigs yourselfã
Werecat old man said something but Iâll just ignore it! Ignore it! Same for the werewolf old man! Iâm running away to the forest!
I made some mud to cover myself with. After that, I cut some grass, made it stick to the mud on my body, then went into the tall grass to hide. I need to be absolutely still and erase my presence.
Itâs already getting dark but there are still no signs of that guy showing up. Iâll see how it goes for a bit longer. Iâm starting to get hungry but Iâll survive for two weeks as long as I have water so Iâll just bear with it for now.
â
ãIn the end, Caam didnât come back. Letâs go find him. Iâll get Speck before going to the forest. Latte, go aheadã
ãGot it. Iâll be goingã
I immediately told Suzuran-chan and Lily-chan what happened. They said he would be back by dinner but morningâs almost here and he still hasnât returned.
Suzuran-chan and I couldnât sleep so we waited for Caam-kun but he didnât return by midnight and we havenât heard anything from him at all. Thatâs why I desperately ran into the forest while calling out Caam-kunâs name.
After a while, Suzuran-chan arrived together with Speck-kun, Schinken-kun, and Wurst-kun so we all searched for him together. They sneaked out of the end of the year festival preparations so they could help us.
ãCaamâs scent ends here. I can smell a bit of his scent by that slightly wet soil over there but thatâs where it endsã
ãThe footsteps go even further into the forest, donât they? Letâs follow itã
After saying that, the two of them went into the forest while Wurst-kun yelled Caam-kunâs name.
ãThe grass in this area seems to be unnaturally cut. I wonder what happenedã
ãI donât know. Maybe it was Caam who did it? What about the footsteps?ã
ãThey end here. There is a lot of tall grass in this areaã
Hearing that conversation, Suzuran-chan had a really worried look on her face. Seeing that, all I could do was pat her back and tell her it will be alright in a cheerful voice.
ãOã¼i Caam! Come out! Suzuran and Latte-san are worried about you!ã
Wurst-kun kept calling out to him as he went through the tall grass.
When we got even deeper into the forest, a voice suddenly replied.
ãIs that triangle helmet guy gone?ã
It was Caam-kunâs voice but I didnât know where it came from. His voice was being sent using wind magic.
ãThat was just a fog illusion made by Miel! Itâs the succubus tribeâs inherent magic! Please come out!ã
As I shouted my pleas, a part of the tall grass in front of me started to grow and a strange being covered in grass came out.
ãItâs good if that thing isnât around. Sorry for worrying you guysã
The clump of grass had the same voice as Caam-kun.
ãIs that you Caam?ã
ãAh, yeah. I was focused on running away and was hiding the whole time so I wouldnât get found. If that was just illusion magic then itâs alrightâ¦â¦ Iâm really sorry for the inconvenienceã
ãThat appearance is pretty amazing. I couldnât find your footprints at allã
ãCanât get your scent tooã
ãThe mud is masking my scent. And if you cover that mud with grass, you would look the same as your surroundings so itâll be difficult to spot you at all if you hold your breathã
I didnât think that was enough to make Caam-kun so desperate to run away. Was it really that scary?
While I was thinking that, Suzuran-chan hugged Caam-kun who was still covered in mud and said,
ãI was worriedã
She stayed stuck to him after saying that. I also wanted to hug him but Iâll just let Suzuran-chan savor it for today.
After a while, Suzuran-chan calmed down and after letting go of Caam-kun, she slapped me. Itâs rare that she didnât do a close-handed one.
Then, as I apologized to Caam-kun, his friends were just in their own world.
ãIyaã¼ this really is amazingã
ãCanât believe I lost to mudã
Once we got home, the three of us took a warm bath together. We took a break from the festival preparations that day and the three of us slept together until the evening.