The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?! Chapter 502 – Concocting the Cure

Lately, Elirashj had been growing restless. Kanae could feel it from the oil lamp hanging on her waist. The elental lord might have proved instruntal in defeating the Harpy King, but she ended up being quite the hassle. Eliza's show of strength earlier cooled Elirashj sowhat, but tempers were soon to rise again.

At least until Kanae fetched the elental lord sothing exotic. She had just the beasts in mind. The four devil mutts trotted obediently by her side as she walked them back to the kennelmaster. They didn't stray too far and didn't need leashes. Their bulky torsos and strong legs made them perfect beasts of burdens, with keen noses suited for hunting.

One devil mutt rubbed his head against Kanae's leg. She dug her nails into the scalp, causing him to growl in delight.

They arrived at the kennel ranch, the only one of its kind in Ehmvier. It was a series of three large barns, inside of which contained many cages housing canines of all kinds. Playful beasts populated the wide open half-circle field in the back, fenced in with a tall iron-wrought barricade to keep them from escaping.

Inside the largest barn, canine beasts wagged their tails to the devil mutts' return. They walked right up to the cages, sniffing each other. The enclosures themselves were modest in size, furnished with a heap of straw to lie on, and plenty of toys inside to keep them entertained.

"Empress Kanae, welco back to Steel Paw! I trust the devil mutts were helpful in your endeavor?" A centaur man finished pouring a bucket of raw chicken into a cage for so dogs to eat before turning around.

Warton was his na. He owned and ran Steel Paw. His light tan fur coat was coarse from age. Wrinkles around the corners of his eyes showed years doing what he loved.

"I ended up not really needing them, but we had a lot of fun together. Didn't we?" Kanae kneeled down to cup a devil mutt's face, and the rest of the pack closed in to nuzzle her. She recalled each of their pounding knots from the night of the gangbang, making her pussy clench and moisten a little. The centaur didn't notice. To him, she was just another happy custor.

"Glad to hear it! Maybe I can get your statent carved into a signpost. Anywho, you checking them back in?" Warton asked.

"Yeah. But I was hoping to buy one off of you." She proceeded to explain the need to provide an elental lord an exotic creature.

"Oh, I don't know about that." He grimaced. "Rember my motto. No war, no sport, no trophy. I'll need you to promise that they will be cherished if I'm to part with any of 'em."

The oil lamp shuddered, and Elirashj erged not in her towering and frightening form, but in a human-sized height. Her piercing eyes scanned the imdiate area, which Kanae quickly surmised was to see if Eliza was around. She straightened her back and eased up knowing that the sorceress wasn't here.

"What are you doing out of the lamp? Get back inside. I'm about to negotiate getting you a devil mutt," Kanae whispered.

"You were taking too long, so I ca to check. I overheard you speaking with this centaur. Mortal, hand over your pets," Elirashj demanded.

Kanae put a hand to her face and sighed.

"You sound like a right bitch, missy. I ain't handing anything over to you, not unless I know for sure my babies are going to be well taken care of," Warton said, picking up a pitch fork to brandish at the elental lord.

"Your toothpick will not harm !" Elirashj erupted into storming laughter.

"Everyone just take a deep breath! Warton, Elirashj might be a bit of a bitch, but I saw her nagerie myself. It's a nice place," Kanae assured him.

"Indeed. My exhibits are provided for to ensure its inhabitants thrive. I have no need to witness suffering. Not a single one of my pets wish to leave," the elental lord insisted.

Yeah, right. Kanae thought. The beasts might not know better, but there were plenty of people who would probably rather have their freedom.

Warton glared at Elirashj for a few seconds longer. While holding her gaze, he pulled out a pencil and notepad from a pocket in his overalls, then started jotting sothing down. What he had to write stretched from top to bottom and into the second and third page. Eventually, the centaur ripped the notes off and gave them to Elirashj.

"What is this?" Elirashj arched her brow.

"Instructions on how to care for devil mutts. Feeding habits, dietary needs, minimum playti, square footage of open space to run around, and more. You will take two, because while devil mutts are solitary, they can bond as a duo and be less stressed with a friend," Warton explained.

"Are you sure about this?" Kanae asked him.

"Positive. Long as Miss. Wind-breeze here promises they're looked after." He nodded.

"But of course." She perford a bow.

Warton said goodbye to two of the four devil mutts that had previously accompanied Kanae to Barkwen. He gave them so jerky treats, scratched each behind the ears, and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Co now, pups. Your new ho awaits." Elirashj flicked her wrist, and a cloud enveloped all three of them that funneled into the oil lamp.

The other two remaining devil mutts circled Kanae and whined, seemingly sad that their companions had vanished.

"Goodbye, Mr. Barksworth and Sir Paw." Warton sniffled.

"You need better nas for your canines… Don't worry. They'll be fine. I'll pay you for their worth and don't hesitate to charge extra." Kanae patted the centaur on the shoulder.

Warton and another worker checked the devil mutts in. Steel Paw billed Kanae for a thousand gold pieces, 500 each. Devil mutts were expensive to raise and a prized commodity in the Commonwealth where they were not often seen. A small price to pay to keep Elirashj in check though.

With that matter settled, Kanae flew ho. She spotted a thin smoke stack rising from the chimney of Rosaline's atelier. They must be back then.

Kanae descended to the atelier. The sign inside the window was flipped to closed. But soone was definitely inside. She opened the door, and it gave way inside— only for an explosion to send her flying backwards. She landed in soone's wheelbarrow full of potatoes.

"Are you okay?!" the man pushing it cried.

"One day… I probably won't be if this keeps happening…" Kanae croaked, smoking from the blast.

Well, the explosion was proof enough that Rosaline had returned. Kanae hopped off the wheelbarrow and carefully tiptoed to the atelier in case of another bomb. Inside, shelves leaked and dripped potions from shattered vials. A few standing display cases in the middle of the room were broken beyond repair.

Edina Hackett was lying on top of a pile of debris. anwhile, Rosaline was slumped over the counter. The door leading into the back had been blown off one hinge and barely held on with the other.

"Groan if you're alive," Kanae called out.

Both of them groaned in agony.

Kanae found an intact healing potion, popped off the cork, and, and plugged it into Edina's mouth. She strolled over to Rosaline and casted Flash Heal. Her tail ca to life first, then the lamia beca animated all at once.

"My, my! That hurt. Like a bitch, as one might say! My apprentices, are you alive up there?" Rosaline shouted up the stairs.

Another pair of voices echoed from above, but they sounded fine.

"What did you do to make sothing explode this ti?" Kanae sighed.

"I might have accidentally accelerated the denaturation process, causing a rather explosive outburst of energy. Fortunately, I know now not to do that again! Hopefully." Rosaline chuckled nervously.

"We've got the Pickled Nose," Edina said, pushing herself off the mound of rubble. "But it was a miserable quest. This bitch was treating it like so field trip! Oh, look at that mushroom. Look at this. Hey, let taste the funny-looking one— oop, that was poisonous and now she's knocked out for a day. Worst traveling partner ever!"

"I thought we were having fun!" the lamia exclaid.

"I never said that. You went and decided that on your own!" she complained.

After their little squabble, Kanae headed upstairs with Rosaline and Edina. Suffice to say, the second floor was a ss. Both of her apprentices were unhurt, having hidden behind a turned over table. They still looked sowhat sickly from the plague, but plenty of ti had passed and the two were on the slow recovering end now.

Residue from the blast radius was visible around the steaming cauldron at the center of the room. Just like on the first floor, glasses had been shattered, shelves were cracked or broken, and ingredients blown to smithereens.

"Soone find an intact potion bottle!" Rosaline picked up a snapped ladle to scoop the alchemical concoction from her cauldron.

Edina still had the vial Kanae fed her with earlier. It was empty now, so the squirreling handed it to Rosaline. She scooped a putrid and viscous black liquid that looked like sludge. Every person in the room grimaced.

"Well, soone is going to have to drink this. Apprentices, co forth!" Rosaline demanded.

They slinked out of their hiding place, feet dragging and very clearly not eager to drink the new concoction. The young human girl took the plunge first. Cupping it in both hands, she lifted it up to her lips and gulped down the liquid. Her face contorted in disgust. Kanae unstrapped a canteen to give her, and she drained it empty in seconds.

"How are you feeling?" Kanae asked.

"I… I feel fine!" She gasped.

"Really? Miss Rosaline, I'd like a potion, too!" the elven apprentice pleaded.

Rosaline took back the vial and filled it again to give the young elven man. He imbibed the concoction quickly and sputtered.

"My boy, be careful! We only have so many Pickled Noses!" Rosaline wagged her tail at him.

"Sorry… Miss Rosaline… It was just grosser than I imagined." He shuddered.

In almost no ti at all, both apprentices, who were ghastly pale and on the verge of keeling over, instead stood tall and full of vigor again. The potion worked. The Pickled Nose ingredient from Toadstool Forest actually cured them of the Mistress of Excess' plague. An incredible wave of relief crashed over Kanae like a battering tsunami. Her knees were weak, not from sex for once.

"Rosaline, tell you have enough Pickled Noses to mass produce these," Kanae said.

"Unfortunately, I do not. However! Follow . My apprentices, now that you're well again, get back to work starting with cleaning up this ss!" Rosaline instructed.

"Yes, Miss Rosaline…" They sulked.

Kanae and Edina followed Rosaline to the basent level, where her extra stores of potions and elixirs were kept. This ti around, however, heavy burlap sacks had been suspended from the rafters. Slits were made into each bag, and tiny specks of mushrooms were beginning to sprout from them.

"What is this?" Kanae asked.

"I'm incubating them. The few Pickled Noses Edina and I picked up from Toadstool have been converted to spores using the transmutation device. I've mixed those spores into bags full of corn feed. I'll need my master's help to scale production. In the coming weeks, we will have increasingly more to hand out to the sick," Rosaline explained.

"By your genius, you've pretty much saved my city, Rosaline. I can't thank you enough." Exhausted, she threw her arms around the alchemist for a hug.

Rosaline flinched. She seed almost taken aback and didn't know what to do with her own arms. Eventually, she returned the gesture and gently coiled her winding tail around Kanae.

"Ehmvier is my city, too. And did I hear that right? You called a genius! Despite my explosive and taste-testing tendencies, you find that I am intelligent after all!" Rosaline guffawed.

"Okay, let's not get carried away." Kanae pulled away and smiled.

"Huh?" Edina's fuzzy ears twitched. "You got company, Rosaline. Or maybe it's Kanae she's here for."

They climbed upstairs to see who it was. Gretchen Redbaron was standing in the middle of the atelier surrounded by the ss. She wasn't in her usual riveted chainmail regalia and donned hardened dark green leather armor instead. Her silver hair was bound into a bun. Three elven subordinates flanked her.

"Your Majesty, a passerby ntioned that you had an explosive arrival here. I'd kneel but this doesn't seem like the best place to," Gretchen said.

"My apologies for the ss!" Rosaline slithered to the stairs. "Apprentices! Start cleaning from the first floor, not the second!"

"We're long past you needing to kneel for , Gretchen. I'd prefer it if you can just start treating like a friend. What's the news on Charlotte?" Kanae asked.

She laughed softly. "Maybe when I've earned it. Yes, we tracked the Mistress of Excess to a ranch, Rainbrook. It's a big ranch, twenty or so kiloters northwest of here. Charlotte's gotten sloppy. We discovered several chard travelers and adventurers. They were fed on but survived. I know my limits. The Queen-Mother's Mistresses are all powerful, so I've returned to Ehmvier to enlist help and thought to inform you. I just want this to be clear though, I would rather you stay put. It is entirely possible she left them for us to find to bait you."

The trail that led to Charlotte's discovery did seem too convenient.

"Then I'll take the bait, but we'll be careful. It's too good of a chance to pass up. And a certain soone has been hankering to get their hands on a succubus," Kanae said.

"Sounds like you'll need my help. Count in." Edina thumbed to herself.

"The more the rrier. I also have soone else in mind. You know, a race that's basically the succubus counterpart." She smiled mischievously.