Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

There were a couple of ways I could run from this situation. Like smashing through the front wall with my Griffin form, for example. But although I was questioning a few things, the lady in front of me seemed to tell the truth about not wanting conflict.

I awkwardly stood there in my mouse form for a good half a minute but the lady hasn't done anything to hurry me up. Lilreia managed to come back already when I finally made my decision to trust my gut feeling and transform into my human form.

This stunned the 'Big sis' a little and Lilreia wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something particular.

"That's a surprise. You are the acquaintance of mister Kazuma and mister Dust. As you can see, we are still not ready to be open. What business might you have with us today? Mister..."

Her expression of polite curiosity didn't change at all but Lilreia next to her seemed somewhat worried. I decided to tell her my name since I didn't feel like there was any harm in that.

"Kazuki..."

Ms. Receptionist performed an elegant maid curtsy, followed quickly by Lilreia a second later.

"You can call me Vylixia, mister Kazuki. And this girl's name is Lilreia."

"H-hello"

This was the most polite introduction I've ever witnessed so I was stunned for a moment so Vylixia-san seeing the pause continued.

"Mister Kazuki, are you by any chance an acquaintance of Xyllisa-san as well?"

"Umm… you could say that I was ...investigating that 'Xyllisa-san'..." I finally spoke my first sentence but when I made a short pause to think of a way to explain further the lady in front of me politely interjected.

"Oh, is that so… Is it too presumptuous of me to ask why were you 'investigating' her?"

Judging by their earlier remarks about Xyllisa I surmised that they weren't exactly on friendly terms but I still had prohibitions from telling them everything even though I was practically breaking and entering into their building and felt that I owed them some sort of explanation.

"I know someone that completed a delivery quest posted by that woman... and the things he learned during that quest led him to believe that she is involved in… some shady business."

Somehow Lilreia got even more nervous upon hearing my answer but Vylixia-san continued to use her perfect poker-face-like smile.

"That's really worrying indeed. By any chance, is this 'shady business' somehow connected to our establishment?"

That question gave me a slight pause but I answered "No...I don't think so…" and added a little explanation of why exactly I've decided to 'investigate' their building. Basically, I had no other clues on what to do after Xellisa disappeared out of the blue. And I already knew that the duo before me was not working with her.

Vylixia-san's smile grew just a tiny bit wider while Lilreia's face showed a visible relief after hearing my answer.

"In that case, I can try to answer any questions you might have, mister Kazuki. Although I have to say that we don't know much about what Xellisa-san is doing since we only learned she was in Axel a few days ago and she's just a distant relative."

It seemed that even though I've broken into their shop they had no hard feelings toward me and after they asked all the questions they had they gracefully decided to answer mine. How nice.

There were a few things that I was very curious about indeed.

"Can you tell me how did you manage to smell me when I was transformed into a mouse? I barely smelled anything myself."

This time it was Lilreia who energetically answered me.

"Each of our kind has a special smell to themselves. And all of us are varyingly proficient in spotting that smell. It helps a lot in our line of work since there usually won't be any confusion if one of us 'marks' a client with that smell. Some of us are able to track the marked customer throughout the whole city if there's a problem with the address provided on the questionnaire."

Oh, so even if I don't detect it almost at all they still smell it perfectly. But...

"Your kind?" I was a little bit confused and took a look at them once again. I then noticed that Vylixia-san had kinda pointy ears. I started wondering if they were elves. I haven't spotted any of them in the city when I walked or flew around yet but I've heard there are some indeed.

This time they both looked at each other with confusion in their eyes.

"Mister Kazuki…by any chance... Mister Dust and mister Kazuma haven't explained to you what kind of services this establishment provides?"

That made me pause. When I thought about it they only mentioned that it is a secret and I shouldn't talk about it. When they walked me in, the shop wasn't operating and I assumed it was a maid cafe since Vylixia-san was dressed like one so I uncertainly asked:

"Isn't this a maid cafe?"

"..." x2

Lilreia facepalmed and whispered "Dust, you idiot."

Vylixia quickly collected herself and asked out of blue:

"Mister Kazuki, have you noticed that the number of s.e.x.u.a.l assaults in Axel throughout the last few months has plummeted nearly to zero?"

"I am kinda new here, so I wouldn't know…" I answered after a moment of thinking. I didn't want to remember I was falsely accused of such crime in the last few days.

But why was she asking me that?

Before I could connect all the dots in my mind Vylixia-san continued.

"That's because our establishment provides service of giving our all our customers wonderful dreams that bring s.e.x.u.a.l relief. This is a S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s cafe."

Oh.

That explained a lot of things.

If that Xyllisa was also a s.u.c.c.u.b.u.s then that sudden truthfulness in the guild wasn't because of my Crimson Demon's boisterous nature but because of her skill. And I somehow resisted answering her second question. Was it because of my Crimson Demon's high Intelligence stat?

The effects and the visuals of the 'charms' were also explained if that was her doing.

"Mister Kazuki, please stop suddenly looking for a way to run! We really do not hurt anybody with our services. We are a peaceful group that does not wish to harm humans."

Vylixia-san nervously exclaimed when I glanced towards the boarded window.

What came afterward were a number of arguments why this 'S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s cafe' is beneficial to the city. It was my first meeting face-to-face with a S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s so I didn't really know what to think. The duo desperately tried convincing me to believe them and didn't seem to try anything fishy with magic.

And with how they acted and what they said when they haven't realized I was around yet I decided to promise to not tell anyone else about them until I find any falsehood in what they said or what they do.

Afterward, I asked about how I could get rid of this 'marking' they spoke of and Vylixia-san said it lasted 1-3 days depending on the duration of contact with S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s or her things. I could also ask a priest to purify me or sprinkle myself with holy water.

They mentioned that I was currently reeking of Xylissa's 'scent' and if I walked out of the building she would probably be able to find me very quickly if she wanted. The scent was currently mixed with Lilriea's and Vylixia-san's so I was safe here. The scent on me was probably the effect of me delivering those packages in my human form. Fortunately, every one of my forms seemed to have a different scent.

They then even provided me with info on Xylissa. She didn't belong to the peaceful faction and they last met her a few years back. Supposedly she was quite proficient in advanced magic and her charms were a league above what employees of S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s cafe could pull off since she took more than a little bit of vitality from each male she preyed on.

For example, Vylixia-san mentioned that she herself was able to use a little bit of illusion magic to make herself more appealing or to hide her presence, while Xylissa was able to charm almost every male who didn't have enough Intelligence stat or if he was somehow unstable mentally.

I also decided to tell them about how Xylissa is creating some kind of 'charms' for Lord Vessec and his people but they only said that it's suspicious for Xylissa to do something like this and she was probably planning something bad since she was actively working for Demon King.

After I asked about everything I could think of I politely thanked for their help.

Vylixia-san answered with:

"Don't mind it, mister Kazuki. We are also citizens of Axel and if we can help somehow in the removal of a threat we will be glad to do so. But our safety also takes priority, so make sure you won't tell anyone from whom you got that knowledge."

I nodded my head and asked how to leave that building to which they said that I could use a back window. I said my goodbyes and Lilreia walked me to the window in question.

"I almost forgot, thanks for the warning about the cat."

I said before jumping on the window frame in my owl form.

"You are welcome. Pay us a visit when we will be open." - Is what I've heard before I flew away.

I almost bumped into a wall but I managed to successfully maneuver through the alleyway into the sky.

Maybe I should… What would Chris about that… hmmm…

While having an internal monologue with myself I flew towards my house, thinking that reporting to Chris was a priority. I could also look for Aqua to use dispel on me or find holy water on the market… or in church?

I would feel safer with the apostle of Goddess of Luck near me.

While flying around I tried to spot anyone that resembled Xyllisa walking on the streets but I was unlucky in that regard. Or maybe lucky? Maybe following her around wasn't such a good idea with her skills.

My Crimson Demon form was probably immune to her charm with my Intelligence stat now that I knew about it but I didn't know if my animal/monster forms were safe and she seemed interested in me because of the delivery quest.

After a few minutes of flying, I finally arrived near my house. I could see a girl with a big hat sitting on the stairs leading toward my door. It seemed that Megumin was still dutifully waiting for Chris to relay what happened in the guild.

She didn't notice me flying above so I flew a little further and started descending behind her back. When I gently landed on her shoulder she gave out a surprised shout but she soon calmed down and started pouting.

"Don't scare me like that."

"Meow"

Chomosuke was currently lying lazily on Megumin's l.a.p and seemed to greet me with its paw.

I hopped down Megumin's shoulder onto the stairs and transformed into my Crimson Demon form. Megumin then seemed to remember what were we doing in the morning and started asking what did I find out.

As I started to wonder what to say exactly I heard someone walk up the stairs. I saw Chris with extremely wet clothes and with a defeated expression on her face.

(A/N: I edited the last few paragraphs after I posted the chapter because I realized it was contradicting what I wanted to do in the next chapter. Sorry for the inconvenience. )