"Come on in," his master said, her elegant form dazzling in the swaying candlelight, "You need something?"

Looking around his master's study room, he started questioning himself whether this was the right place to do this. However, due to the upcoming battle tournament, it was now or never.

"Master, there's something that's been bothering me and I can't concentrate so I... decided to seek your guidance."

"Oh, what is it?"

"I would... I would like to," the teenage boy hesitated, but only for a short moment as he looked up to meet his master's eyes. "I would like Master to reject me here and now so I can finally stop hoping."

"...Oh."

Oh, indeed. His cheeks turned a deep red as he clenched his teeth.

With his words alone, it was kind of vague. But with how he was practically burning in embarrassment, it was easy to realize what he was referring to. Especially when it was her, the most sought after in the country, that he was talking to.

A smirk crawled onto the master's face as she delighted at the sight of her pupil's audacity.

"I see now," she said. "Then, will you allow me to do something before I end your hopes?"

The dark elf stood up from her seat alluringly and approached the silly boy ever so slowly.

"Wh-what are you doing?" That was the last thing the boy uttered inside that room before he was pushed back to the wall, literally and forcefully.

So close.

Her face was too close and it kept on getting closer. When he could finally feel her breath on his lips he felt so excited yet so scared that it was another of her demented pranks. Thus, he shut his eyes.

*********

"What are you doing here?!" Kristoffer screamed in fear.

"Geez, I heard you the first time, you know," the latest visitor picked her ear as if her eardrum almost burst from his screaming. "You didn't have to be so surprised."

"That does it, I'm going to buy the sturdiest door with the sturdiest lock even if I have to spend half of my savings!" Kristoffer decided.

Looking at her face and body, it didn't really change much when he thought about it.

There was no tail, the nails were no longer black, and she wasn't wearing revealing clothing, but there's no doubt about it. It was the succubus (braineater) from last night.

But since she still has not answered him why she has come, Kristoffer kept his hand on the hilt of his sword.

It was this sword that's keeping his wits together. She might try something funny but this sword could counter almost anything. The only problem would be the wielder himself.

Unfortunately, he's not confident enough in his skills if the enemy knew what it was capable of.

To tell the truth, Kristoffer did not expect to see her again. He surmised after what had happened, she would have fled with her tail between her legs.

But here she was!

"Don't tell me you took what Quill said seriously?"

"Are you saying the alternative was the better choice? As if she would let me go so easily," she rolled her eyes.

"Kristoffer," Nel finally interjected, her stance still neutral but her expression clearly alert, "Is she an enemy?"

Kristoffer didn't have the slightest clue but for now, he gave her a shorter version of what transpired in the span of time since he left her at the inn.

Catching how cautious Kristoffer was towards her, the succubus knitted her eyebrows.

"Really now? You don't have to worry about a thing. Do you really think Quill would let me roam around without anyone watching? If I attacked you, an assault team would probably storm your home in seconds. Not to mention that if something bad did happen, I won't be leaving this town in one piece."

"I have to admit, that's true," Kristoffer relaxed a bit, his hand still close enough to the hilt just in case.

It was now Nel's turn knitting her eyebrows. She probably couldn't believe that he accepted that reasoning fairly easily but in the end, didn't say anything.

Now that the issue of security was temporarily resolved, Kristoffer couldn't think of anything else to say. Suddenly noticing the broken cup on the floor, he recalled he still had leftover cocoa in the kettle. "You want some hot cocoa?" he asked the two ladies.

---

The three sat around each other in the living room, the place where Victor and he had an argument earlier. He could only hope that this time the conversation would not include any more life-threatening events and just end peacefully.

"I didn't catch your name." Kristoffer said but immediately raised his hand in a posture as if ordering someone to stop, "I'm sorry, is it rude to ask about that?"

In stories that he heard about braineaters, though few, they always take up the name of their host but experts had always considered it to be out of necessity and not by choice--for survival.

When he was young, he once thought that maybe there were times when braineaters hated the name then.

She smiled. "It's not a problem, I went to meet Carl to get a new name."

"Eh? Sorry, I don't understand."

"Well, this host's name was too long so I requested a new one from him."

"Yeah, but why him?"

"You didn't know? It was him who first called you Kristoff in front of Dina and the rest then it became popular just like that."

Kristoffer was stumped.

Wait, he just met Carl yesterday yet Dina had been calling him Kristoff for two years now. Did Carl already know who he was two years ago?

"Crap, what were they talking about me?" Kristoffer worried. Her answer didn't satisfy his question but now he was worried about something else. "How do you know all this?"

"Oh, that reminds me. You're already 26, right?" He was ignored. "Some people were wondering why you're still single but that's because you didn't want to marry, right?"

"Hold on just a minute, why did the topic go there? And I was asking how did you know all this."

"Which one? Your age or why you're single, or maybe about the Kristoff thingy?"

"...All of them."

Was this what they call a scam? But what if she's telling the truth? The source of his nickname was now solved if that's true. His age wasn't downright a secret but he just met her yesterday, so it's weird that she already knew that. A pretty girl asking for his age would cause a stir among his peers if they caught wind of it. As for the latter...

The succubus covered her mouth as she grinned, "I'll give you a hint. Succubus to Quill. Braineater to succubus. Ring a bell?"

"....Shit."

Kristoffer slammed the table in between them.

"You mean the succubus managed to get Quill's memories as well?!"

"So that explains why she knew how rich she was," Kristoffer thought.

"Kukukuku... I admit, she's hiding a lot of secrets so its no wonder she wanted to kill me. There was no evidence at first but that stupid succubus ran her mouth."

Crossing her legs and leaning a bit forward, "The only reason I'm here now is because of you."

A drop of sweat ran down his cheek.

"Well, I want to say that it is actually because of what you did?" the succubus added.

"What I did?"

"Yes, that heroic dash you made. She appreciated that a lot. Well, not that it was needed. Even if you didn't step in- *Giggle* ...Ehem, even if you didn't step in the room, she would have still managed to throw me out. But that single action did save her a few seconds of effort."

"Really?"

The succubus nodded. "One would have to equip a counter-possession item but she didn't need one. It shouldn't be possible normally but she did all that with pure will alone. She's just that strong."

Wow. Kristoffer wouldn't have believed it if someone told him such a story but if it's Quill they were talking about then it would just be like, "as expected of her."

"Since we're already at the topic of what I know. I also know what you did that one night after you..." she paused for a moment, smiling to herself, "...made up your mind to focus on your goals 10 years ago."

"...W-wha-what are you talking about?" Kristoffer stuttered, his face slowly becoming red.

"Kukuku," she laughed, "Penelope, have you already told him your feelings?"

"Ha-hahaha, I don't know what you're saying!" Nel denied. It was her first time talking since they sat down.

"Pfft! This is too funny."

Meeting Kristoffer's stare, her smirk grew larger.

Realizing that she's up to no good, Kristoffer started sweating profusely.

The succubus stood up and walked towards where Nel was seated.

"W-what do you want?"

"Kukuku, you want to please Kristoffer but you don't know how to start, right? Then might as well do it with a bang, let me show you how."

Touching a finger to Nel's forehead. "Close your eyes for a bit."

Seeing that Nel complied after the succubus' eyes shined, Kristoffer readied himself to unsheath his sword at the tiniest clue.

"Is this one of those dream manipulations?" Kristoffer thought. "And what did she mean by wanting to please?"

He doubted he even heard that right.

Yet, just after Nel's eyes shut close, the succubus' eyes returned to normal immediately. Kristoffer assumed that was [[Charm]] just now. Such a rare skill just to force Nel to shut her eyes?

When Nel opened them again, she stood up but was obviously hesitating.

"Go on," the succubus beckoned.

What Kristoffer saw afterward was Nel's skin showing ripples then another second later she had transformed into an image of Lime, the dark elf. In human terms, the dark elf would look like a woman in her late 20's.

Kristoffer was breathless. The soft green eyes, smooth brown skin, long silver hair. Last night, he could only focus on the battle and never had the chance to inspect her features. It's been years and he could tell Lime could make almost all men take her figure in. Although, the difference now would be the comfy-looking cotton hotpants and shirt. There was never a time he had seen his master wear these clothes but it was still a fact that he was speechless at the sight.

"Wait, how did Nel do that?"

"Eh?" the succubus turned to Nel, "You didn't tell him?"

The Lime in front of him fiddled her fingers, "I was waiting for the right moment..." Even the voice was the same.

The succubus rolled her eyes.

"Dear, this guy would love it. You know what, let me tell him," she said excitedly.

"Wait, no-"

"You see she's a- mphf!" Nel immediately moved to cover the succubus' mouth.

The succubus easily pulled the hand and stepped away. "Rude. You tell him then."

Nel who looked like Lime right now pouted.

It was surreal seeing the image of her master pouting. Too cute.

"The truth is I'm a... I'm a..."

"She's a slime girl."

"Awwawawa!" Nel attempted to smack the succubus but the latter quickly evaded.

"Kukuku, I wouldn't have done that if you just didn't keep delaying."

By this time, Nel was just angry and she once again shifted her fingers into those sharp claws from earlier.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there's something you need to do, don't you think?" The succubus pointed to Kristoffer and when Nel noticed his gaze on her chest, the anger instantly dissipated and changed into embarrassment. Even so, she steeled herself, shifted her fingers again to Lime's, and changed course⁠—towards Kristoffer.

Kristoffer was surprised but it was like someone cast a petrification spell on him as Nel sat on his lap, facing him.

Even though he knew it was Nel, the notion of Lime sitting on his lap was like a dream.

"Go on, make him relive that moment, and make him yours." The succubus urged eagerly.

Nel grabbed Kristoffer's shoulders and pushed him against the sofa.

Then Kristoffer barely felt her lips on him. She retracted it too quickly but that was enough to make him walk on cloud nine.

Nel was covering her face in embarrassment but also seemed happy.

However, there's one person who wasn't happy. "Come on! Is that it?! That's wasn't even close to what I showed you in your mind! Ugh fine, let's do it my way."

Without warning, the succubus leaped into Nel's body and vanished inside.

For a moment, Nel went limp on Kristoffer's shoulder. He had to catch her or she would have fallen sideways. As he clamped on the body with his arms, he realized how thin a woman's body was. More than that, her chest was pressed against his. He could no longer think properly, it did register that the succubus possessed Nel but the warmth of the woman on top of him made him unable to process any sort of reaction, excluding the beet-red face.

Even though he had decided not to seek a romantic relationship, it was only because of financial issues and because he was afraid that he couldn't make his partner happy. The other reason was kids. He hated a spawn. You'd have to feed them, take care of them. It was financially taxing. If the wife wanted a kid and he denied it, then he would ultimately make her unhappy. Yes, he's still a man with desires. If a pretty lady confessed to him, he would definitely date her.

And then just like before, the body moved but the grin present on her face made all the difference. "Hello, Kristoffer."

It was his master's trademark grin. That was the final straw as Kristoffer finally lost all strength.

Unless she tried to kill him, he could no longer stop the succubus from doing whatever she wanted.

Pressing her chest against his once more, she grabbed his face and licked her lips before she kissed him.

It was passionate but not wild. It felt urgent but not discomforting. He felt her tongue inspect the insides of his mouth in a dance.

It was the same as that night. And just like what happened that night, it ended after several minutes of kissing.

It was now Kristoffer's turn to turn limp. His face was so hot and he closed his eyes to catch his breath.

"You were so cute back then so I can understand she wanted to give you a farewell kiss at least," she traced his lips with her tongue, "but was polite enough to leave your purity intact. Kukuku, would you like to do it now? Since Nel wanted to marry you anyway, I think it's fine. Do you want this body?" Then she transformed back to Nel's form, "or maybe you want her as your first?"

She grinned as a thought came, "Or maybe perhaps," and transformed into Quill.

People had always thought it was a halfling since that was what she claimed when 'she' first appeared in town. Moreover, she did marry a halfling. No, but if you take all that away, she would appear as a human girl! Her ears even appear human. He had never deliberately thought about it but looking at her face from up close without the deadly grin, she was cute. Maybe it's fine since it's not the real her?

No, if Nel truly wanted to marry him, he'll do it with her herself. He gathered his will, and doing the impossible happen, he moved his hands to push her off.

But before he could finally do so, a shout from outside made him freeze.

"FBI, open up!"

BOOM!!

The door flew open revealing Carl holding another one of his metal staffs. Yet the way he held it, not to mention the smoke coming out of the hole, made Kristoffer look at his door. His eye twitched at the sight.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here? Just because we have finally reached ten chapters, you think it's high time to be a fink, onii-chan?"