It didn’t take long for one of Noire’s maids to be aware of our presence, who opened the gate and led us to the door. When we were allowed entry I went in first with Ume and Sue at both my sides, my familiars following close behind, as well as the rest of my party.

Noire was the one who greeted us first, who stood from her seat and curtseyed, “Salutations, Jinma, Mei, and the rest of ‘Twilight Sky.’ I hope you all had enough time to rest after the chaos of yesterday’s events?”

“I uh … like to say we did, but I’m afraid some unexpected problems rose from last night,” I admitted, “We’ll go over them today, but first, those clothes look good on you, Noire. Are they—”

“You dare address nobility in such an informal matter, Jinma Kotori?” Konjiro, the Kitsune guildmaster that heads Palocaesy’s adventurer’s guild, interrupted while standing up and glaring his narrow fox eyes at me.

“Do not reprimand him, Konjiro,” Noire intervened, “I gave Jinma and Mei permission to address me as such after dinner last night. In fact, I insisted they do so.”

“You heard the lady, Konjiro. Stand down,” Eugus, the Centaur guildmaster to Dondegarm’s guild and Kalline’s uncle, said to calm Konjiro’s nerves.

“Yeah, Konji, lighten up. This is between the three of them, after all,” Julius, a human guildmaster from a guild in the Human-Kin’s territory—Bomira, I think he said it was?—added.

Konjiro’s fox eyes were still glaring daggers at me as he sat back down.

Nyra commented.

“As I was about to say, thank you for the compliment on my clothes, Jinma,” Noire said before twirling in place, giving me a view of her whole attire, “This set will serve as my ‘adventurer’s attire,’ if you will. I thought I could try it on and get your opinion.

Noire’s outfit in question still emanated gothic lolita vibes, but there was much less fabric than the last few dresses she had on yesterday. The blouse had a black outer layer with white insides, its laced neckline was square-shaped to reveal a generous amount of cleavage from her large white bust. The ends of the top’s long sleeves and base were also etched with lace, designed to make the contrast of black and white stand out. It was all closed together with white buttons, conforming around her slim, hourglass-like waist.

For her bottom, I think some girls called it a ‘battle skirt.’ It matched the design of her blouse with a black outside and white inside, the trimmings were also laced that stretched past her mid thighs. The skirt was just long enough to keep her modesty, but it would only take a strong enough gust of wind to blow it up and reveal what was underneath. On her legs were thigh-high black stockings that also had lace designs etched into the fabric, taking advantage of the contrasting color of her marble white skin while showing the contours of their shape. This all led down to her polished black boots, which would normally not mix with dresses, but Noire somehow just made them look good for her.

Finally, to finish off Noire’s unique ‘adventurer’s ensemble,’ her crimson hair was in a ponytail with two black bows tied at the base and tail, while a black hairband with white frills was set on top of her head. Sitting at her hip that stood out from her outfit was the Magic Item Pouch that we saw on her yesterday. Somehow, the Vampire noblewoman managed to achieve a good balance of style and functionality with her choice of attire, which allowed her to move freely with little to no restrictions.

“It definitely looks stunning, but I’m concerned about the lack of armor for your protection,” I said while scanning Noire’s form.

“Most of the outfit actually is armor,” Noire said while lifting her skirt a little, “It is designed with two layers of tightly-knitted Arachne silk, taking advantage of their steel-like durability to take most wears and tears, with magical self-repairing properties when it does sustain such damage, all while magically fitted to move with me like I wasn’t wearing anything at all.”

“Ooooooh,” all of us in the party responded with awe.

“As expected for a noble to not pull any stops for efficient protection, more so since she is the Minister of Defense and Weaponry’s daughter,” Kalline exposited.

If Lili’s just as capable to pull that off, maybe I can have her make something for all of us.

Nyra exclaimed.

I retorted.

I interrupted her.

“Anyway, that is enough about me,” Noire said before letting go of her skirt, “Before we continue, I would like Konjiro to introduce a guest joining us today.”

Ah, we’re finally going to address the elephant in the room … or I guess I should say fox?

I glanced over to the woman who sat next to Konjiro. She was wearing [asian garb] that matched the male Kitsune’s, with beast-like hands and feet sticking out of them. Unlike the guildmaster who has the head of a fox, his female acquaintance had a human’s head. Her fox ears sprouted from the top of her straight wheat brown hair that looked to stretch past her shoulders, and I could see the large matching tail behind her with all its hairs standing on end. The female Kitsune’s ice blue eyes still had some semblance of a fox’s from the way they’re almond shaped, despite how wide open they were in surprise, and it was as I examined them that I noticed she was staring right at me.

“Yes, Lady Krauss,” Konjiro answered to Noire’s request, clearing his throat and gesturing to the fox woman next to him, “This is my wife, Yukino. She is a bronze rank adventurer like myself who also helps me with guildmaster work and just returned from a meeting last night to join us today. Yukino?”

Yukino sat there silent, still staring my way.

“... Yukino,” Konjiro repeated more sternly, tapping his wife’s shoulder, which snapped her back into reality.

“H-Huh? Oh, yes,” she said before standing up from her seat and bowed to us with eyes closed, a greeting that resembled my home country’s very well, “I am Yukino. Please pardon my intrusion as I join you this late.” Though she was trying to act humble, I couldn’t help but feel there was a cold, distant vibe in her low tone of a greeting that seemed to match her beauty. While she was still bowing down, her ice blue eyes open back up in a piercing slit staring in my direction again, which was also just as spine chillingly cold.

So she is Konjiro’s wife. Her title as [Spouse] with Konjiro’s name on the side was seen in her status, just like how Ume’s name was associated with my own title. Still, why does she keep staring my way? Is my being here just that surprising to her?

Nyra asked in a suggestive manner.

<... Wait, what? No way! With that stare?! I thought she was holding something against me! And this is someone’s wife we’re talking about!> I retorted.

Nyra asked. I could imagine her giving a raised brow at me right now.

I was going to argue, but instead looked up in second thought, <... You know what, you may have a point there, but for Yukino to have that much interest in me at first meeting … is my [Demon’s Pheromone] playing a part in this somehow? It just makes me wonder how invested she is in this marriage to be so easily swayed by my … charm.> Even in my head, it was weird to say something like that about myself.

As Yukino sat back down next to her husband, Noire clapped her hands, “So, we are all acquainted, then? Shall we start off with our plan for the dungeon crawl?”

“Before we begin on that, I’d like to address the ‘unexpected problem’ that came up last night, which may affect our progress in this dungeon crawl,” I interjected.

Noire furrowed her brow with a serious, thoughtful expression and a hand to her chin, “Is that so? That sounds serious. Take a seat wherever is available and enlighten us on the circumstances.”

Once we all took our seats, I explained how we found evidence of my adventurer’s party being watched by a third party, someone outside of Gabriella's and Tyvera’s knowledge who were observing us up to yesterday. I strategically used the Demon King’s message for me and the events of last night to support my case without referring to their actual sources and who was directly involved. Using that evidence, I voiced my ‘concern’ of leaving Sue alone while the rest of us were in the dungeon for a couple days. Though she wasn’t an official member of our party, just her association with us would serve more than enough reason for this third party to capture her and put us in a tight spot.

“This does sound rather concerning … Gabriella, are you and Tyvera holding anything out on us?” Noire asked the Dullahan with a piercing stink eye.

Gabriella, in question, was in the same state as yesterday when we saw her, with only her head being in the arms of a maid. The only differences between then and now is the lack of a gag at the start of our meeting, and her complexion seemed paler than it was yesterday, which I didn’t think was possible. It wasn’t really out of fear or stress, but pure exhaustion. It looked like she didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, though I wasn’t sure if the undead really needed it.

“I have … told you everything that I know, Lady Krauss,” Gabriella answered in a subdued, tired tone. She looked to be fighting to keep herself awake from how heavy her eyelids seemed to be.

Noire raised her brow in suspicion, “Really? Everything? Do we need another ‘interrogation session’ to squeeze more out of you?”

Gabriella jolted her eyes wide open, awake in great fear from hearing the words ‘interrogation session’, “N-No! Absolutely not! I really did tell you everything Lord Rowling ordered us to do! You have to believe me! Just please, I beg of you, don’t put me through another interrogation!”

Nyra informed me.

Though this Dullahan tried to pull one over us yesterday, I couldn’t help but pity her for her current condition. I also honestly felt calling her a ‘talking onahole’ was a bit much, but now that Nyra said it, I couldn’t really see her disembodied head the same as before.

“Uh, if it’s any consolation, I only know as much, if not less than Gabriella about the motivations behind our previous missions,” Tyvera interjected. Though she and Gabriella weren’t close, my Harpy Slave must still have some sympathy for her former comrade to try to lessen the degree of punishment.

“I’m a bit afraid to ask, but what happened in this ‘interrogation’?” I asked, “Have you learned anything new from it?”

“Other than the finer details of what was already confessed yesterday, not much …” Noire trailed off while looking up in thought. An idea seemed to dawn on her as she smiled mischievously, “Come to think of it, you have not seen Gabriella’s body yet, have you, Jinma? Would you and your party like to see? How are you all with seeing bodies of the Undead?”

“No! Lady Krauss, please! Anything but that! Not in front of this man!” Gabriella pleaded, now more desperate than earlier.

“I mean, I’ve seen my share of ‘bodies’ from subjugated thugs, but Gabriella’s the first Undead I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know how a Dullahan’s body differs from other Undead.” Though I can’t say I’m not curious to see what the rest of her body looks like, I finished in my mind.

“Come to think of it, how do the Undead differ from other demons? Are they even demons at all?” I then asked aloud.

“The Undead fall more into a gray area between all kin,” Kalline explained, “How they become Undead, what kind of Undead, how intelligent they are, and how hostile they can become differs from one to another, depending on the circumstances. The only thing they have in common is that this world’s mana plays a large part in how they come to be. I am neigh familiar with the specifics, but ‘tis the general concept of the Undead.”

“So, along with Dullahans, are there Zombies, Ghosts, and Ghouls among the Undead?” I asked.

Kalline nodded, “Indeed, and some are far more dangerous to face than others, especially when thou hast no Cleric in a party, or magic like Holy or Fire at the very least.”

“Huh, well, this just makes me more curious to see Gabriella’s body. What about you guys?” I asked my party.

They all had differing opinions, but the general consensus was that they wouldn’t mind seeing the body either. Dullahans were apparently very rare to come by, and when something rare’s involved, it’s almost instinct for anyone to see it out of curiosity.

Much to Gabriella’s dismay, we asked Noire to show us the Dullahan’s body, and she ordered a few of the maids to bring it up to the living room at once. It only took a couple minutes before we finally got to see her body in person, but how it was presented wasn’t what any of us had expected.

Gabriella’s headless body was tied in rope … that was it. Rope was the only thing that clung to her otherwise naked body, tied on it in a way one one would see in bondage play. The body’s skin matched the head in the whitish-blue, deathly tone, marks from rope burn could be seen underneath the binding. Even the color on the peaks of her ample melons had become a pale gray color, but they were perked up and erect thanks to the rope squeezing her chest with a complicated knot. Putting the color aside, Gabriella had a strong, moderate-sized physique that could be depicted as a picture of good health. I could see it in the flexed muscles in her arms, the chiseled formation on her legs, and the subtle lines of a washboard stomach. Finally, where the head should be placed, there was only a purplish-black, ominous haze wafting out of her neck.

“Wow … Gabriella is so lucky,” Erizora muttered, looking to be salivating at the sight of the Dullahan’s kinky presentation.

I honestly couldn’t blame my Ogre Slave’s excitement, because the so-called dark knight’s current state had got my dominating, sadistic blood flowing in my veins. The urge to feel up her body that was entangled tightly in rope rose within me.

Nyra exclaimed, snapping me back into reality somewhat.

I quickly looked around at the girls in the room and noticed they were getting a little heated and red in the face, and it wasn’t out of embarrassment or discomfort at Gabriella’s current image. Erizora had as next to no shame on her face as she did voicing out her feelings earlier, looking ready to continue where we left off last night. Ren and Tyvera, however, while trying to look dignified, got fidgety in their cushions on the floor like Erizora was. Even Kalline’s horse ears and tail had difficulty keeping themselves still. Sue, being closest to me, while keeping a straight face, was unashamedly rubbing my thigh.

Outside of my party, Yokino was covering her mouth, but was breathing heavily through her nose. Beelzebub, the so-called ‘King (or Queen) of the Flies’, had trouble keeping her composure and had no idea where to look as she repeatedly wiped her sweaty hands and face with a handkerchief. Seeing the petite, prideful demon fidget in this manner was surprisingly fly-like, sticking true to her title. As for the hostess of this cottage, Noire, she had half of her face covered with a folding fan, but she had a feverish, excited look in her violet eyes as she scanned Gabriella’s form. Even the Noble Vampire’s nearby maids had trouble keeping themselves still.

The only females in the room that seem to be acting ‘normal’ was Ume, who looked to be as cool as a cucumber, and Gabriella, who was naturally getting flustered from having her tied-up body being so exposed. The latter of the two was trying to kill me with her glare, but her flushed expression really dampened her threatening air.

At Nyra’s suggestion, I mentally turned my [Demon Pheromones] off immediately while I tried to control myself and my urge to fondle Gabriella’s bound body.

“... Whew. Pardon me, everyone, I was so lost from seeing Gabriella’s state that things got a little steamy for me,” Noire said while using her fan to cool herself.

“Y-Yes … I felt it was getting rather hot as well,” Beelzebub added, still using her handkerchief to wipe away the sweat from her face and hands.

Well, I’d say that was a rather successful outcome of this last-minute experiment, I mused, [Demon Pheromones] allows me to get in good graces with Demon-Kin girls when I’m feeling good, and make them horny when I’m feeling the same. What’s more, I think I have an idea of how my [Pleasure Seeker] skill works.

[Pleasure Seeker] was one of the new skills I got after my first time with Mametama at the inn. I didn’t get a chance to see what the description was, but I noticed a very significant change that I didn’t see before earning it. From the girls who were affected by my [Demon Pheromones] skill, there was a peculiar aura wafting about them, resembling hot pink smoke that emanated from their forms. It was like the desire for pleasure was burning in their bodies, coming out as smoke that only I could see. That’s what I imagined how the [Pleasure Seeker] worked, giving me the visuals to see females who were literally seeking pleasure. What’s more, the amount of hot pink smoke that emanated from them varied between individuals. I had to guess that the more of that smoke was wafting from them, the more pleasure they were desiring was burning in their bodies.

And the ones outside of my harem who emanated this smoke the most were three people: Noire, the Vampire noble hostess of this cottage; Sue, the ‘secret agent’ serving the Demon King; and Yukino, the wife of Konjiro, who was the guildmaster of Palocaesy’s adventurer’s guild, as well as a possible participant of the coup against the Demon King. Oddly enough, it was the Kitsune woman who was wafting the hot pink smoke the most, meaning she was probably the horniest out of the three of them, despite how much she was trying to keep a calm demeanor.

Seeing a wife that horny could only mean two things: she’s currently under heat—if Kitsunes are anything like the other Werebeasts—or her husband hasn’t been giving her proper attention as a woman lately … I might put this to my advantage, if I play my cards right.