The Protagonist System

I had apparently set a record for gaining the most levels in the quickest time possible. The last record was 30 levels in only three weeks, which was set by another mysterious hero that showed up with a magical sword that let him defeat any foe he went against. He had a party of women around him, too. The other adventurers couldn't tell me if it was 2 or 3, though.

Anyways, I asked about the lot I had left my teleportation circle and it was surprisingly for sale if I wanted to buy it. I honestly didn't know if 750,000 Eris was a good price for that or not, so I cast the truth spell and asked Luna. Her explanation that the previous record holder said an Eris was equal to a Japanese Yen, was all she could tell me.

With that knowledge, I did the conversion in my head. The price for the land was just over 5,000 US dollars, which for a lot that size back home would be a steal, so I bought it. Instead of paying me out completely for the intact giant frog carcasses, Luna discounted the land purchase and gave me the difference and the deed to the plot of land.

I asked about renting a room for the night and Luna sighed, clearly sad. I didn't bother asking her what was wrong, because she had the same look on her face that the other women did. She thought I was an idiot and was disappointed that I had picked a generic class. So, I asked for the closest inn and she gave me directions.

I left the Adventurer's Guild and walked several streets over. There was a two storey house at the address and I entered it with a hopeful expression on my face.

The older woman behind the counter gave me a hopeful expression right back. “Hello! What can I do for you tonight?”

I couldn't stop my mind from adding a ton of sexual innuendo to that question and my eyes couldn't stop roaming over what I could see. The older woman blushed and didn't accuse me of stepping over the line with how I was looking at her.

I checked her hands and didn't see a ring. “Are you married?”

The older woman opened her mouth, probably to lie, so I cast the truth spell on her. “Yes, I am.”

“Then just the room for tonight, madam.” I said.

The older woman sighed and there was that same look again, as if she thought I was an idiot. “It's 1,200 Eris for the night.”

I gave her 12 silver coins and she handed me a wooden sign with a symbol on it. I took it and went up the stairs, saw it was on the second door, and entered. There was no lock, so that explained why there was no key. The symbol handled anyone that couldn't read numbers or letters and they just had to match them. Efficient and easy.

I cast the lock spell on the door, set an alarm ward if the door was forced open, and then did the same for the small window. Just for fun, I cast magic detection again and found a false panel in the wall that went to the next room and a trap door in the ceiling that led to the attic. I cast the spells on them, too.

Once the room was secured, I laid down on the bed and kept my armor on. I only needed to sleep until the break of dawn and would leave right away. I was not taking the chance that she would potion me or have someone else cast spells on me to keep me here. Was I being paranoid? Yes, I was. Was it justified? Probably. Normal people don't have so many hidden entrances to a room.

I went to sleep and was woken up an hour later when the door ward alerted me. The handle turned and clicked without opening the door, which surprised the woman in the hallway. She cursed and left before I could do more than wonder if I should cross the room and open the door for her.

I drifted back off to sleep and the window alerted me next. That was a quick and easy one to get to, so I looked out at the shocked face of a young man trying to pry open the window.

“Boo.” I said and he yelled and fell backwards, tumbled through the air, and landed with a crunch. It was just his ankle, so I didn't feel bad about it. I also knew who he was. The innkeeper's son. I watched him get up and limp over to the back door and enter the inn.

I didn't try sleeping this time and walked over to the false panel in the wall. I waited for the alert ward to activate and I punched through the panel and hit the older man right in the head. He dropped like a rock and I could see the shocked look on the face of the older woman.

“I believe you will refund the cost of sleeping here, since you are denying me that simple service.” I said with a deep voice and she nodded. I motioned to the door of the room and she pretty much ran out through it and down the stairs.

I followed at a normal walking pace and stopped at the counter with my hand out. She handed me my money back and pointed at the front door. I put the money away and pointed at it as well. She gasped and shook slightly, so I sighed and paralyzed her. I retrieved who I assumed was her husband and went into the kitchen to get the young man.

I bundled them up and carried them to the Adventurer's Guild. A stocky man with large muscles was behind the teller booth this time and I explained what happened. The man sighed and told me that since they didn't actually steal anything from me, because I asked for my money back, they wouldn't be charged and would be let go.

I huffed and dropped them right there and walked back out. I went to the inn and robbed the place, set up a magical barrier, and cast Fiendfire inside. In barely a minute, everything was consumed and the magical beasts made of flames looked happy at being summoned. I chuckled at that, promised there would be more later, and waved to them as I dispelled them.

I removed the barrier and wondered what to do for the rest of the night. I sighed at just wanting a normal rest, because I had a lot of work to do tomorrow. My new home wasn't going to build itself. I needed to find somewhere to sleep and I couldn't do that by standing around.

I walked down the street and was out of sight just in time, because the innkeeper and her family ran up to the burned out plot of land and started screaming and crying over losing their livelihood. I didn't feel guilty about it, because all I could think about was how many people they had robbed over the years.

As I walked around the quiet streets and looked for someplace to crash, the time kept getting later. My hopes of finding another inn, that was still open and wasn't full, were being dashed. I held in my sigh at not going back to my plot of land right away and felt a pulse of magic.

I turned towards it and saw a tiny succubus flying near the second floor of a house and she was waving her little hands at the window and making it glow. I sighed at the blatant thieving going on in a starter town and took out my wand to point it at her.

“Accio cute succubus.” I said and she let out a soft screech sound as she was yanked through the air. I stored my wand and easily caught her in my arms, despite her struggling to get away. “I've had a difficult and trying evening while trying to rest and dealing with thieves, little lady. Please don't give me a reason to bind you.”

The succubus stopped moving and tears came to her eyes. She let out a hiccup and then started to wail and cry. I sighed and cast a privacy spell and took a chair out of my storage space before I sat and cuddled her to my chest. Now that I was seeing her up close, I petted her hair and estimated her age at about 10 or 12, assuming succubi aged at a normal rate as other humanoids.

Then again, she could be hundreds or even thousands of years old and this was just the mortal form she assumed when she was brought here. Morality was not a high priority for devils, as my own experiences with them had proven. Having a childlike body would not stop them from having fun.

“Shh. Shh. It's okay. I won't bind you.” I said with a soothing voice and she quieted down. “Can you tell me what you were doing?”

“I... I was... trying to get to my assigned client.” She said, haltingly.

I held in my sigh at the confirmation. “Didn't they arrange a way for you to get in?”

She shook her head. “We usually use a window, since it's easier to fit our wings through. I don't know why this one is locked. It wasn't before.”

I checked it myself with magic detection and 'saw' that it was nailed shut and wasn't locked at all. I also saw the smug look on the wife's face and the sad look on the man's. “You visit couples?”

She shook her head. “We only cater to men. There are no incubus allowed here. Our boss wouldn't let them join. Too much competition.”

I wondered why she would think that, since they did have two different client requirements.

“This is only my third time out and I'm going to be in so much trouble for not delivering the naughty dreams he already paid for.” She said and more tears came to her eyes. “We don't give refunds.”

My mind almost reeled at what she said and I mentally kicked myself for letting my own assumptions dictate how I reacted. “Dreams? You're delivering naughty dreams?”

“Of course! What else would we do?” She asked, her tears forgotten in her confusion.

I thought about the situation and decided to rectify it for my own mistake. “How much did he pay you?” I asked instead of asking what I really wanted to know. How did they survive on so little sexual energy?

“3,000 Eris.” She said and the tears came back.

I braced her on my lap with one hand and took out that much and showed her with my other hand. “Let's go put this where his wife will find it.”

She caught her breath and stared at my hand and then at my face, then she realized what would happen and slapped both hands over her mouth and giggled just like the little girl she resembled. I chuckled at her reaction and levitated the chair I sat on, which lifted us up into the air, and I stopped us in front of the bedroom window.

“Now watch carefully.” I whispered to her and used a touch of magic as I touched the pane of glass. I popped the glass out of the window and set it aside and I floated the money over to the wife and rested it on her chest with a created note about the refund. I put the glass back and another touch of magic secured it into place.

The succubus in my arms was completely shocked and her eyes were huge as she stared at my face.

I levitated us back down to the ground and put my arm back under her to support her, stood, and stored the chair. “Can you lead me back to your home? I think I need to have a talk with your boss.”

She nodded and pointed where to go. I walked there at a good pace with the privacy spell still around us. I didn't want anyone seeing me carrying off a little girl, because that was never going to end well. Succubus or not, she still looked like a child.

Surprisingly, we arrived at a maid cafe and the succubus in my arms told me all about their operation. During the day, it was a normal business and they made quite a bit of money, because the men enjoyed being served by beautiful maids. In the evenings, the alcohol came out and deals were struck for the delivery of naughty dreams that the succubi could harvest sexual energy from and return to the shop to share with everyone.

It was a surprisingly good way to both maintain their high class persona and not kill off their clients by sucking them dry of energy. The only problem was that it takes a lot of energy to feed so many succubi and even more hard work to come up with so many sexual fantasies all the time and deliver them without getting caught.

I didn't bother knocking, even though the door was locked and secured. I cast the unlocking spell and overpowered it to make it open the door for me. The succubus in my arms gasped and stared at me. I gave her a wink and used a single finger to poke the doorway, which glowed blue with a protective barrier.

“I should have known you could detect that because of what you carry in your arms.” A very sexy voice said from inside the unnatural darkness of the cafe. Light from the windows and the open door should have lit the place up; but, it was still dark, so that meant at least one concealing spell. “Most people can't see or detect us when we are actively hiding ourselves.”

I nodded into the darkness and carefully put the succubus in my arms down and stood her on her feet. She was tiny and was barely four feet tall, which was significantly shorter than my usual height. The thing was, I was sure I was a few inches taller than my usual 5 foot 8 inches.

On a whim, I cast detection on myself and it gave me my name, my age of 17, my height of 5 foot 10 inches, and my weight of 180 pounds. That weight put me at the top of the range for someone at that height and my muscles hadn't significantly added to it. That explained why I could still move so fast, too. My slightly bulky muscles did not cause me any detriments while also looking great.

The succubus looked into the darkness, back at me, back into the darkness, and back at me.

I chuckled and nodded at the darkness. “Go ahead. I'm not keeping you prisoner or anything. I brought you home for a reason.”

She looked conflicted, so I closed my eyes and thought back to the birth of my great granddaughter. She was the cutest little thing and Astoria couldn't have been prouder of her daughter's daughter giving birth to the next Greengrass heiress.

I brought those feelings of love and affection to the forefront of my mind and opened my eyes as I knelt in front of her. The little succubus trembled with anticipation as I gazed upon her and I leaned in to place a loving kiss onto her forehead.

The poor thing must have been on the verge of starvation, because she moaned like a grown woman and glowed with pink energy. Her legs suddenly gave out, so I caught her and cradled her on my lap as I shared my love for my great granddaughter with her. Her arms went around my neck and she started to cry.

The darkness suddenly dissipated and I was surrounded by fifteen succubi of various ages. Well, they looked like they were different ages. Several of them looked like women in their thirties, some in their twenties, some in their teens, and a couple were as small as the one I held. Every single one of them put a hand of comfort on the succubus in my arms.

They all gasped as the soft pink glow spread to them and they shared in the feeling. They all knelt and cuddled into us both and hugs and tears started being shared, mostly with me and some with the one in my arms. A sad sigh made me break the kiss and inadvertently stopped the flow of love and affection.

“I had thought my method was working well.” A very pretty woman said as she stepped out of the cafe and into the light. She was also quite short, about the same height as the one I held in my arms, except she was only short and looked like she was in her forties. It was an odd but pleasant combination.

“It's working by not drawing undo attention to your operation.” I said and felt like I needed to turn my head. I ignored it, because my mind wasn't weak. I also knew a succubus was right there and ready to claim a kiss on the lips. “Your problem is probably the lack of stimulation your manufactured dreams give your clients.”

“I think I've only gotten three clients to release in the last month.” The one beside me said to get me to look at her. I still ignored her.

“Then what would you suggest I do?” The pretty woman asked, almost accusingly.

I slowly stood up and all of the succubi stood with me. “I have to assume that you aren't allowed to feast on people directly?”

The pretty woman nodded. “I have an arrangement with the Lord of Axel to not harm the citizens and he won't have us all hunted down and slaughtered.”

I could almost sense the deception there and carefully put the succubus in my arms down. She pouted at me for not holding her anymore and I smiled and petted her head. She crossed her arms and pouted harder.

I chuckled and took out my adventurer's registration card and saw a short list of new skills and abilities to learn. I had to assume it was because of whatever the succubi were doing and using around me, so I picked the most important ones.

I learned a Detect Deception skill that went well with my own Mental Block ability, a Concealing Darkness spell, a Hovering ability, a Control Lust ability, a Lure skill to gain attention, and an Absorb Emotional Energy skill.

I ignored the Look Less Intimidating skill, the Ignore skill since I already had a spell for that, the Chameleon ability because I was already a partial-metamorphmagus and could do that anyway, and the Enhance Sexiness skill. Thanks to Fate and my Casanova skill, I had that in spades already.

“After consulting my skills, I figured out that he's blackmailing you.” I said and put my card away as the succubi gasped. “How much of your profit goes into the Axel Lord's treasure chests?”

The short pretty woman sighed. “Far too much.”

I smiled at that. “Then I have two suggestions for you. First, starve him out of blackmailing you.” I said and she opened her mouth to ask me how. “It's all in the wording of whatever agreement you signed, assuming it wasn't just verbal.”

“It was signed.” She said with resignation.

“Good.” I said, to her surprise. “If he shares in your profit, then pretend your business is running down. Hire extra workers for clean-up around the place and for security. You can also pay your girls a higher wage for all the extra work they do at night when the business isn't open.”

All of the succubi were giving me shocked looks.

“If that's not enough to bleed away your profits quickly, then give yourself a nominal salary that exceeds how much you make every week for all the back pay you've never taken to get the business started.” I said, correctly guessing at how it began if the sharp gasp from her was any indication.

The pretty woman gave me a hungry look that was similar to what Lucy gave me when I showed off some gold in the Adventurer's Guild.

“Your business would owe you everything after only a few months.” I added. “You can then buy yourself out of both the failing business and the contract. My second suggestion is to shut the business down after that and end the contract by default, and open another business. Preferably in another location, because he would have people checking this place out all the time looking for you.”

The pretty woman nodded her head several times, her eyes never leaving mine. “Perhaps you would like to... come inside... to discuss things.” She said, her voice husky and dripping with sexiness.

“I do need somewhere safe to spend the night.” I said, teasingly.

She smiled wickedly, because we both knew that 'safe' wasn't anywhere near her.

“I would be honored to accept your invitation.” I told her and stepped close.

“Wonderful.” She said and accepted my offered elbow. “We have a lot to talk about...”

“Satou Kazuma.” I said and she opened her mouth to tell me hers, so I interrupted her. “You don't have to give me your fake name. I know how that works. People can bind you if they know your name.”

“It's a fake name.” She responded.

“It was... at first. After you use it for a while, it gains power over you anyway, because that's what people know you by.” I informed her.

She looked stunned for several moments, then she huffed. “We have more to talk about than I thought, Satou. A lot more.”

I nodded my head and she dispelled the barrier to allow me inside. I led her in, the perfect gentleman, and the rest of the succubi scrambled in behind us in the hope that I would share some more.