Hukarere almost skips along as I guide her to the dance floor. She's really impressed with how I danced with Alissa, but we only seemed to be so skilled because of how [Bind] allowed us to be in perfect sync.

I stop before we get to the dance floor, then I grab her other hand and look up into her eyes. "Hukarere, I have to ask this first: what kind of dancer are you?" I ask

She raises her lips into a smile, showing a hint of her white fangs. "I have one point in [Dancing]. I can dance to this song pretty well," she answers.

[Sense Soul] doesn't show me their "Status" screen, so perhaps the dungeon created an illusion for them.

"Great. We won't be able to dance like I did with Alissa, but that should let us have a lot of fun."

"That's all I want."

A few couples leave of the circle, then they start - doing it on top of some empty tables. I raise my eyebrows in surprise, but I guess I should've expected something like this from the Chimeras.

The circle has a lot of room for us now, so we jump in and get in position. My left hand lands just above her furred - waist, while my other hand grasps hers to lead our dance. My eyes are perfectly level with her - chest, making things a little awkward.

Her feet are digitigrade, which is like someone walking on their tiptoes all the time, so she's taller than even Hana.

She snorts, then lowers her "heel" closer to the floor, making her just slightly taller than Roxanne.

"Better," I say, then we start dancing.

She soon starts to sweat like I am, letting out a faintly alluring scent. I hear her sniff the air -.

We pull each other closer -. She smiles and pulls me towards her - chest. My thigh brushes against her - crotch, and I feel an intense heat radiating from it.

"I'll spin you," I say, then I cast [Telekinesis] on each of us. I make us glide along the floor, but I'm too short to make her spin, so I float upwards until my head is above hers.

She laughs at the silliness of the situation. I'm a short, cute guy, floating above the big, bad wolf, and making her spin like a doll. A mismatched pair doing ridiculous dance moves and freely casting magic.

I return to the floor, then grab her waist and raise her in the air high above my head -. Then I bring her back down and lower her body close to the floor with one hand while I make her gaze lock with mine with the other. We remain still for a moment and smirk together, enjoying the cheesiness of my moves.

We dive deeper into the circles and speed up our dancing. The couples around us start to get tired, giving us even more room to dance.

She breathes heavily on my face while I do the same on her neck. Our bodies glue to each other -.

She releases my waist and grabs me -. Our eyes lock on each other, and we drown out everyone else.

I guide us to the outer circles so that she doesn't accidentally rip my skin, and we continue dancing, but now, I keep our bodies glued together -.

- She lowers her head towards me and pushes out her tongue.

I reach upwards and swallow her long wolf tongue. - Kissing a snout-faced person is always messy, but it's also a lot of fun.

- She stares at me with sultry eyes -.

That's it.

I suddenly stop our dancing, then I guide her to the nearest empty table.

"Bend over," I order.

- I have my fun with her and let her taste all of me -.

- "You're - so tasty!" She exclaims with an innocent smile.

I raise an eyebrow, and for a second, my mind thinks that she sounded exactly like Aoi.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this. They're magical beings, after all.

I play around with Hukarere for a long time, -. I'm just amazed by how realistic their bodies are. She feels, smells, tastes, and moans like a perfectly normal humanoid.

She seems to be a bit addicted to my - taste, though -.

However, I still want to do some things with the girls, so, after a good hour of - "attention," I deem it as enough. After we're done and the adrenaline starts to fade, her hips threaten to give in, so I have to carry her back to our tables.

I deposit her on a chair and see Ririmu hugging his mouse girl -. I give him a thumbs-up, and he returns it. Funny how this gesture is the same here as it is on Earth.

I cast [Clean] on myself, then I kiss Alissa's forehead -.

"Love you," she whispers.

"Love you, too," I whisper back.

I take a quick look around at the other girls. Ciel and Hana are dancing, Lina is playing around with Aoi and her golden ball punching game, and Yunia and Roxanne are talking about dancing. They're comparing elven Saltchitan to Succubi Rahgeeb. Both of them are very sensual dancing styles, but while Saltchitan is a simple dance, Rahgeeb is a ritual for young Succubus women to find virile male partners. The better he can dance, the more desirable he is. Now imagine what she thinks of me.

I walk over to Yunia and offer her my hand, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but would you like to dance?"

She smiles a little smugly and takes my hand with a pompous gesture. "It'll be an honor, for you," she says, and I help her get up.

"Yes, my Queen. It's my honor," I reply.

She doesn't want to do an aerobic exercise, so we take it easy, focusing on perfection rather than impressiveness. This gives me an opportunity to talk to her.

"How're you feeling?" I ask.

"Good, you?" She answers casually.

"Awesome," I answer with a grin.

She chuckles once, and her stern gaze softens. "Your ego is growing."

"Step on it, then, and help me keep it in check."

"I don't feel like doing it."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Aren't you the sadistic one who likes to put men down?"

"I do, but not you, for some reason," she answers in a gentle tone.

I feel my heart tighten, and suddenly I kiss her on impulse. She pushes into the kiss, and our lips smack when we part.

She takes on a very smug tone and sneers at me. "What are you getting so emotional for, little man? I just find it boring to put down such a weak-willed boy like you. It's like having an argument with a child."

I gush with a smile. "Awn… Roxanne says that this is your way of saying that you love me."

She clicks her tongue, then puckers her lips in a frown. "Tch… snooping on our conversation, I see."

"'Always,' Alissa says. 'Fun,' Aoi says. 'I like to watch,' Lina says, and 'not in that way,' she adds. Hana is too busy flirting with Ciel to respond."

Her face softens again, and she shakes her head gently in disbelief. "This family defies all common sense."

I'd like to make a hive mind joke, but that'd just creep her out.

"H-hive mind? Those images in your mind are creeping me out," Roxanne says in my soul space, and I poke her soul.

"If you want, we can slow things down. Take a few days to rest and calm our hearts. A lot has happened lately," I say.

She gently pinches my cheek, then returns her hand to my waist. "I'm fine, Wolfy. If anything, I think that we play around too much."

"If you say so."

We calm down and eat some snacks in the tavern. This isn't a full-blown restaurant, so we'll still have to go somewhere to eat a proper dinner.

As I head off to the toilet, a gray bunny-headed woman that's been intensely observing us stands up and follows me.

Coincidence?

I enter the bathroom and leave our Holly in the corridor. This room is quite small, with only a toilet bowl and a sink without a tap, so it's not a good place for a fight. I start going about my business, which is pretty easy since I'm naked, and wait.

The woman appears in the corridor, but there are rows of other toilets besides mine, so she's not that suspicious yet. She keeps staring at my door, though, so I decide to pull out my shield and get in position to block.

I alert the girls, and Alissa and Hana immediately come towards me. I tell them to not alert Hukarere or Ririmu since I don't want to make a scene, yet.

The woman stops in front of my door, and I brace myself, my heart beating like mad as adrenaline floods my veins, then she knocks and says, "Wolf Ryder, Wahinui Ngerua wishes to speak with you."

I blink blankly.

"W-what…? Can't she just ask… normally?" I respond, flabbergasted.

Alissa and Hana appear in the corridor but stop, also confused.

"Nobody should know of your meeting with her," the woman answers, completely serious.

Fucking hell.

"How are we to meet?" I ask.

"You'll wait for her in the storage room."

"If this is some sort of prank or ambush, let me tell you that I won't let it slide."

"I assure you, this is a serious matter." There isn't a single shred of uncertainty in her voice.

I sigh and relent. "Alright, I'll go."

"Understood." The woman turns her Emergency Ring green.

Hana, Alissa, and I sneak into the storage room nearby and wait with our weapons at the ready. I summon more Shads and Hollys to keep an eye on every angle. The bunny-headed woman waits outside in the alley.

It takes only two minutes for Wahinui to appear, wearing a cloak. She simply nods to the bunny woman and enters the room, then the bunny woman immediately leaves. Wahinui looks around and spots us, then makes her way around the dusty crates.

I'm actually surprised that she's here by herself.

"Put those things away," Wahinui says and points to our weapons, then stops in front of us. She takes off her cloak, exposing a delicious body underneath that's very similar to Kaatohe's. The cat-headed woman definitely has the signs that she's past her forties, but her body screams - of sensual beauty. "I'm flattered, but I'm not available," she adds, noticing our gazes.

I simply smile, and we sheathe our weapons, but we won't put them away.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" I ask.

She pulls out a watch and holds it up in front of her, then glances between the watch and us repeatedly as she says, "I'll start talking, but don't interrupt me until I'm done. I have to pay attention to this watch to make sure that I don't forget anything."

"Alright…" I say, a little confused.

"There's something affecting every single Chimera of this town. We simply cannot speak of certain topics. Otherwise, our memories are forcefully erased. Do you have any idea of what I'm talking about?"

I share a few words with the girls through [Bind] to make sure that everyone agrees, then I answer, "Yes."

Wahinui lets a wide smile bloom like a person in the desert who has finally found an oasis.

She pulls out a paper, then holds it up beside the watch and starts to read it out loud with a flat tone, "I'll try to make a list of the topics that are forbidden for us to speak: children, Chosen Descendant, pregnancy, emigration, committing suicide, age, something about spirits that I haven't been able to specify more, and the odd dreams we had with an elven man…" She suddenly freezes, and her eyes gloss over.

"We"?

We look at each other and instantly understand. Her mind was "reset" by thinking about one of the forbidden topics.

She suddenly jumps in place, as if she was awoken from a stupor, then looks at the watch and asks, "What… what was I doing? The watch just jumped in time, so something must've triggered a forbidden thought. What was it? Don't mention what it was exactly."

"You 'froze' while reading your paper," I answer.

She narrows her yellow cat eyes and looks away from it. "Curious…" Then she takes a few steps forward and offers it to us. "See if I missed any topics."

I take it and answer, "No, you didn't. You 'froze' after the last one."

She takes it back, then pulls out a magic tool pen with a *poof*, and writes something on the paper. I see that she's marking the last entry as "dangerous to think about."

She stores the paper inside her [Item Box], and her sharp vertical pupils turn to us, intensely staring at me. "Now, tell me the truth while trying to avoid the forbidden topics," she demands.

I take a moment to think, then I say, "You're inside an elven dungeon. You're not alive, and your bodies aren't real. It has been thousands of years since you've died. The dungeon creator, who's an elven God-King from the High Forest, has bound you to this dungeon, but we don't know why, exactly."

Her expression goes blank as realization crosses her mind. She suddenly stares at the watch and starts speaking as fast as she can, almost garbling the words as she goes, "Months ago, we all had dreams about a handsome and powerful elven man. Tell me that he's the one wh-…" She suddenly freezes, and her eyes lose their focus. "W-what were we t-… oh! I said something forbidden again…"

I repeat what I said, but I omit the part about the God-King. "There's more that I can say, but it'll just make you forget it again," I add.

She frowns and bites her lip in frustration. Her cat fangs look quite sharp, though, so I worry a little that she might hurt herself.

"She said 'months ago,' can we ask her how long? It might coincide with your arrival in the realm," Alissa whispers.

We manage to squeeze an "around five" out of Wahinui before her brain is "reset" again. She also says that some time ago, people were complaining about weird dreams with a handsome elven man, then she's reset once again.

"I'm in my sixth month in this world, so it fits," I say.

"The spirit that they saw wasn't necessarily Arreira, but it reinforces the idea that there's someone actually controlling the dungeon," Lina says through [Bind], and we agree.

"If we're dead, aren't we all spirits? H-…"

"Stop!" I interrupt Wahinui before she triggers the memory wipe again.

She glances at me, then quickly makes another note on the paper, and her mind is reset. Once she's lucid again, she reads the paper, then sighs and facepalms.

"How are we 'bound' to this dungeon?" She asks in a tired tone.

"[Trap Soul]," I answer.

She frowns, looking skeptical, "How can that be? I can hurt myself and bleed, so we're all clearly made of flesh and bone."

"The same way that I can do this," I answer and show her everything that I can do with [Soul Manipulation].

"That's [Materialize]?"

I nod. "Modified heavily, but yes."

She goes silent and looks down at her own hands in frustration. "So it's true, we're dead… This is why suicide is a forbidden topic."

"But you're talking about it," Hana says with a frown.

"Yes, but I can't think about 'committing it,'" Wahinui answers.

"You're still talking about it," Hana repeats.

Wahinui puckers her lips, looking mildly annoyed. "Yes, but I have no intention of committing it."

"Ooh…"

Wahinui clenches her fists and straightens her posture, then stares at me and demands, "If we're truly bound to a dungeon, you need to destroy the core. I want to have my time in Paradise before my spirit is twisted like a nature spirit."

Gify suddenly pops onto my shoulder and chirps, "Gih!"

"I know that you aren't evil, but I need my sanity and sense of self to enjoy Paradise," she responds.

"We don't know how long it'll take, but we'll do what we can," Alissa says.

"What if some Chimeras don't want to… go to Paradise, yet?" I ask.

A hint of bitterness and anger enters her voice. "If you can't spare them individually, then let me tell you that I and many others will become evil spirits if you abandon us here," she answers.

"Understood," I reply with a nod. The Gods also don't like it when someone is denied Paradise, so I won't deny her hers.

Her voice turns gentle and her posture slouches a bit as she says, "I can't say that I like you… but thank you."

I smile gently. "You're welcome."

Her stern demeanor returns, and she clears her throat. "Now, I assume that Ozymandias is the way to the next level of this dungeon?"

"Exactly. We know that it isn't a town or a floating island; it's likely a portal of some kind, but it's also right next to where the Maw was at one point."

"I can't help much with that since my power is limited outside of the town, but I can advise you on this: don't trust Hihiriwa. No matter how friendly he seems to be, he only cares about his own fame. He's…" -her tone suddenly becomes very bitter- "ruthless."

I frown. "You're saying that he'd put us in danger to complete the mission?"

She nods, making her cat ears bob cutely. "Exactly. From the way that he acts, I highly doubt that he's realized that there's something wrong with this town, so he certainly wouldn't have any qualms with sacrificing a few unknown adventurers who don't even claim to be nobility, and I don't want you to die before you free us."

I share a look with the girls. Our opinion of him has been completely changed in just a few seconds. If there's a reason for Wahinui to lie, then it must be quite contrived.

"We'll be careful. Although we don't really need him to get past the Maw, it still seems like the safest choice to follow along with his plan."

She snorts and puts on her cloak again. "I've given you my advice, so you'd better not die. If you come back here as a spirit…" -her face softens and her tone becomes almost casual- "I'll kill you myself."

"What about Oritiki? What do you think of her?"

"Reliable, but lacking in ambition. Use her to keep yourself safe from Hihiriwa. That's all that I have for you about her."

I smile, and we give her a quick bow. She nods respectfully, then walks away without another word.

This is a lot to take on, so I think that it's time for us to take a bath and have a Council meeting of our own.

As we return to our tables, a beautiful, petite Chimera walks in. Her lustful gaze makes me feel like prey for a moment, so I stop to stare at her.

She's a rare "smooth blend" type: a mix of human, deer, and feline, all merged together into a cute and appetizing package. Her brown hair is short and tied to one side; her small antlers are adorably stubby, sanded down to not get in the way; her ears are triangular and fuzzy like a cat's; her nose is flat with a straight bridge and is slightly furred, definitely not human; her light brown skin has streaks of dark fur, making it look like she's covered with tribal markings; her freckled face is small, triangular, and very charming; her arms are slender and very fluffy; her furred hands are large, with long, sharp-looking nails; her small - chest is cute like Lina's -; her back is furry like Hukarere's while her front is - bare, except for a few streaks; her legs smoothly transition from human to cat-like with digitigrade feet and stubby toes; her tail is short and fluffy, and it wags uncontrollably as she sees me.

Hana snorts, and Alissa pouts. My fox - doesn't care much for complete strangers.

"Be quick, - just do her once or twice -," Alissa says.

I nod -, then walk towards the slab of meat with a menacing gaze.

Do you think you can play the predator? I'll make you my - slave for your insolence!