The first step in Kazumi’s ways of wife-stealing seduction is conversation. I needed to get Yukino talking, enough that she’ll grow comfortable enough to open up things she’d usually not say to most people. This was usually done over alcohol as girls, as do everyone, have inhibited judgement after their first few drinks, but I’m basically jumping into this game on hard mode with no drinks in sight. If anything, I hoped my [Demon Pheromone] skill will help do the alcohol’s job for me

I quickly thought over the last thing Yukino said to me, about how I wouldn’t be as ‘powerful’ and loved by the demon girls in my harem without my ‘human tricks’. I then came up with numerous arguments to counter her claims, how I can use her egocentric, boastful personality against her.

“You seem quite certain of your claims involving my relationship with Ume and the rest of my harem, Yukino. Are you basing part of this from your experiences with Konjiro?” I asked her.

Yukino snorted with confidence, “But of course. From how lovey-dovey you are with her right now, I imagine you two have tied the knot very recently, yes? Many pairs are like that at first. As time passes, you both will mellow out, not be together as much as you had from the start, and will begin to find faults in each other until you start to question your true characters that makes you wonder why they’re your mate in the first place.”

I tilted my head in curiosity, “Huh, are you going through something like that with Konjiro right now?”

“Yes—no! We are not having something like that!” Yukino denied in a slight panic, “I’m merely pointing out what will happen between the two of you being from different kin!”

“I see,” I said, “Well, I don’t know about you, but while I do acknowledge Ume and I are different in some ways, our races being one of them, I don’t think we were really too focused on our differences when we met and started talking to each other. There is also still not a lot we know about each other, either, good or bad, but isn’t finding those things out part of what being in a marriage, or a relationship of any kind, is all about? It could even turn out fun, depending on how you look at it.”

The Kitsune wife raised a brow, “You are surprisingly more naive than you appear.”

I shrugged, “Well, I wasn’t always like this before I met Ume and the girls, which also means relationships can change us, too, for better or worse. It doesn’t look to be the latter between you and Konjiro, though, as I’m sure he’s treated you well, being as beautiful and sophisticated as you are.”

She blinked in surprise, “You … think so? I mean, yes, of course! It should be no surprise you think of me like that, really. Though we’re technically part of the Werebeast race, we of the Kitsune are more intelligent than the other clans.”

“Really? How so?” I asked, feigning interest.

Ren and I talked about this over dinner one day, but for the Werebeast demon race, they are divided into subraces they call ‘clans’. Each of these clans represent a line of species similar to the animals I know from Earth. Ren, for example, was previously from a pack of the White Werewolf Clan, meaning there may be other packs from the same clan and other wolf-like clans of different colors. Rizz from earlier this morning and Kenaka’s new Demon-Kin form would be from the Werebear Clan, and Mametama in her Demon-Kin form would be from the Werecougar Clan.

“Unlike most clans, we Kitsunes don’t like getting our hands dirty and rely on magic to take out our opponents in battle,” Yukino explained, “I say that for most of us, but, there are … exceptions, who approach battles otherwise.” She then averted her gaze in frustration as she pointed out the outliers of her subrace. It seems she has some beef with someone who was a part of that and would rather not speak of them further.

I’m curious to know who these ‘exceptions’ are, but maybe later.

“I see, a Werebeast clan that specializes in magic,” I said. I already knew she specialized in magic after checking her status with my [Size Up], but I didn’t think the whole clan would be so focused on that fighting style. I haven’t checked Konjiro’s status yet, but it’s likely he’ll also be quite powerful in magic if Yukino’s claims hold true. What stood out from Yukino’s status, though, is that she also had a [Bow Mastery] skill. I have some idea as to why, but I want to ask this pompous Kitsune to make sure.

“That is something else, but do you have any countermeasures when you run out of MP?” I asked.

“We would train with the bow so we can keep attacking from a long range should the need arises,” she answered, “Though, there are those of us who have a race-specific ability that can recover MP at a faster rate than one could with the [Mana Recovery] skill, so wielding a weapon is almost unnecessary for them. They are highly revered among Kitsunes that we call the Tenkos, and Konjiro is one of them.”

Huh, interesting that the concept of tenkos was adapted to this world.

In Japanese folklore, after a kitsune turns a thousand years old and possesses nine tails, they become celestial fox spirits called the tenko. They were known to be very powerful with magic different from what exists in Raiza. It was even said that a tenko’s power is comparable to a god. For a Kitsune of this fantasy world, however, maybe they revere and value Tenkos like the Elves that I’ve read in some books do towards High Elves. Still, I’ve seen hints of Japanese culture in some food and facilities like bath houses during my time here so far. I didn’t think my culture’s influence would actually run this deep. The Immortals created Raiza, right? Did they rip off some fantasy concepts from other worlds?

Regardless of the backstory, I was now genuinely curious of the Kitsune Clan’s cultural background, but I couldn’t forget my mission to seduce Yukino. I decided to use this new intel to take the conversation in my direction, “Is that so? I imagine someone like that must be very popular with other Kitsune girls, and polygamy is widely accepted among demons, right? But Konjiro only introduced you to us today. Are you his only wife?”

Surprisingly, Yukino averted her gaze in frustration, identical to when she was talking about the ‘exceptions’ in her clan, “Most of us don’t have a lot of stamina, and Tenkos are especially the case. You’d usually see them having one or two partners, at most. There was one other female … my twin sister, who was with Konjiro and I while we were still engaged, but I’d rather not talk about her.”

Nyra informed.

It sounds like there are complicated family matters that went on if I didn’t see or hear of Konjiro having a second wife up to now. For someone to piss off a high-and-mighty girl like Yukino to this degree, I wanted to meet this ‘evil’ twin sister now. Still, there was something this Kitsune wife said that stood out to me.

“‘Not a lot of stamina’, you say? Does Konjiro put enough ‘stamina’ aside to treat you well?” I asked with intrigue.

“O-Of course, he does! He’s just been very busy with guild master duties lately, so I’ve been doing all that I can to help him with his work!” she defended, even though I didn’t say anything that would argue he wasn’t giving her the time.

Did she mean to tell me that? Well, it seems I’m making progress so far.

I played along with Yukino’s story with a wave of her hand, “Yes, yes, of course, and I’m sure that when Konjiro does have the time and energy, he gives a lovely, charming female like yourself the time of your life, just like how I do with Ume and the others in my harem.”

“... W-What do you mean by that?” Yukino asked.

This is the beginning of the second step to Kazumi’s ways of seduction, baiting. In his words, this is like fly fishing. You would want the fish swimming around in the water without a care in the world, at first, until they notice the disturbance you make with your line from above. You want them to get curious about what's going on and check it out, give them a peek of something great, and see if they can catch it.

I shrugged at Yukino’s question, “Well, personally, I can’t really call myself a good husband and lover if I can’t satisfy my women, but I’m sure there are human guys who think otherwise. Still, I feel good when I make my girls feel the same, but that’s sometimes easier said than done. Like just earlier today, before we even came here, Ume and I had a last-minute ‘hubby-wifey’ time to relieve some nerves. That took four rounds before both of us were satisfied.”

“F-Four rounds?!” Yukino balked.

“And that was just for the short-term stress relief before meeting Noire today,” I continued, “We already made plans to do more later tonight, and Ren, Tyvera, and Sue will also be joining us. I’ve already given attention to Erizora and Kalline last night.”

Not gonna lie, but add into my scandalous make-out session with Noire earlier, I was already getting turned-on again just thinking about it. I could feel myself straining against my pants as we spoke. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed by this, though, because I wanted this to happen.

“An Ogre and a Centaur?! With a human?! You’re bluffing! You’re bluffing all of this!” she argued with reddened cheeks.

I asked her.

Nyra reported.

Excellent.

“Oh, I’m not bluffing, Yukino, they can happily tell you how well last night went, or better yet … you can see for yourself,” I said.

“W-What … are you suggesting, Jinma Kotori?” Yukino asked.

“Your husband will be out with his guild master duties for a while tonight, right? Come to our inn and watch how well I treat my girls. Allow me to prove to you in person just how much they mean to me while they demonstrate their own love to myself, despite us being from different kin.”

“Y-You expect me to come watch a human, a Demongenerate, have sex with other demons?! Have you lost your mind?! No, better question, how long have you lived without one?!” Yukino balked.

“All you have to do is observe us as a bystander while we do our thing. That’s not too much to ask of you, is it?” I asked while shrugging, “Besides, you’ll get something out of this arrangement, too.”

“Like what? You, giving me, a married Kitsune, a similar treatment to what you’ll give to your harem?” she asked with a raised brow.

“I mean, if you want to, none of us in the party will be against having a guest joining in on the fun, but that’s not what I was implying,” I said while waving my hand dismissively, “No, I’d like to help you spice up your nights with Konjiro, let my girls show you some of the techniques they’ve learned that will drive males wild. You can use what you learned tonight to show just how much you love your husband.”

Yukino stood there in brief silence, her cheeks slowly turning more red with every passing second. “I-I … don’t need help in loving my husband,” she denied.

“Oh, I’m sure you don’t, but this is a special treat I want to give to you, a little something to help us get better acquainted while we work together in this important quest. I imagine what I’d show you tonight won’t compare to what Konjiro can provide for his wife. In fact, being an experienced spouse yourself, maybe you can even give Ume and I some pointers to improve our own marriage while you’re at it. What do you say?” I asked.

Yukino opened her mouth, but then stopped herself like she had a second thought. She took a moment to think it over, occasionally shifting glances my way, but I noticed her gaze lingered over my crotch longer than the rest of my body.

It wouldn’t be surprising of her to stare at my lower regions, since I was popping a hell of a boner as I was fantasizing about the night I’ll have with the girls the whole time I spoke with this Kitsune wife. This was partially so my [Demon Pheromone] skill will stay active and influence her judgement, but it was mostly so I could show off how I stack up against her husband. One thing I noticed as I was gaining and improving my sexual-oriented skills was that my erection got stronger and harder along with being bigger in length and girth. This resulted in me pitching a surprisingly high tent in my pants with lots of tension, like I was going to pierce a hole through it at any moment.

Nyra informed with amazement.

“I’ve … overheard how I can be a downer at times in special occasions, not that I care whether I’ll ruin your night or not with my presence. You may be stabbing yourself in the foot to invite me,” Yukino warned.

I waved my hand dismissively again, “I don’t know what kind of parties you’ve been to, but don’t worry about it. Since you’ll be a guest, we’ll make sure you’re comfortable as you watch us. The only thing I’d advise you on is not reporting your ‘findings’ this evening to Konjiro if you don’t want him getting any wrong ideas. Leave a note saying you’ll stay at a friend’s place or something so he doesn’t get suspicious, either.”

“Hmph, if you show me something worth my time, then maybe I won’t say anything,” she said before turning around and placed her hand on the doorknob, “You and your harem best prepare yourselves for tonight, Jinma Kotori, because I won’t let up on my critiques if I see something that displeases me.”

I gave my best gentlemanly smile, “You won’t be disappointed, I assure you.”

Not that you’ll have a choice in leaving, anyway. I’ve caught you, hook, line, and sinker.

With that, Yukino left the room, leaving me alone with Nyra in my thoughts. Before I could say anything, though, a notice screen appeared in front of me.

You have now reached [Seduction] LV 3!

It took me a moment to realize what had just happened over the last couple minutes, I … can’t believe that actually worked.

Nyra said,

I explained,

she commented,

I scratched my head in frustration,

Nyra suggested.

“[Clean],” I casted on myself before putting my hand on the doorknob.

Nyra asked.

I shook my head,