The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?! Chapter 519 – Repairing the Span

The deluge didn't let up. If anything, it intensified well into the night. Drenched head to toe, Rown Company worked tirelessly to repair enough of the collapsed section for vehicles to traverse over. Kanae helped where she could under Renya and other foren's instructions. She let the coachman of her carriage go ahead to wait for her at the nearest waystation, opting to stay behind and help. Magic Hand made for a nifty spell, lifting heavy stone blocks into place and moving rubble.

All the rain made setting the mortar more difficult. The mixtures were too diluted with water to bind anything, so Renya made the decision to call off repairs until morning. Rown workers set up barricades and shifts to keep passing travelers from falling into the collapse. Many had retired into tents and carriages, and a handful stayed behind to monitor things. Renya invited Kanae into a manor carriage parked at the bottom of the Imperial Span close to the rubble. The Ortesian heraldry on its side had been ripped out and replaced with the minotaur horns emblem of Rown Company.

"Fucking hells." Renya entered, cursing up a storm.

Kanae closed the door on the way in and followed the dark elf into the large cabin interior furnished like a living room. A weapon rack displayed two crossed sabres above the fireplace. Bulging pouches of coins were piled on top of a table with an abacus in mid-count. Enormous maps of different continents and islands stretched across woodwork like wallpaper. The lavish gold-accented furniture and an ornate rug, dirt-tracked from purposeful disrespect, were all that remained to indicate this once belonged to an Ortesian noble.

"You like the place? Ambushed an imperial during their invasion of the Commonwealth. If there's one thing I can count on, it's that an Ortesian loves living in the lap of luxury. Oh, and mind lighting this for ? My lighter's filled with more water than kerosene." Renya pointed at the cold logs in the fireplace.

"You're possibly the richest person on this continent, but can't afford to light your own fires?" Kanae teased, shooting her Ring of Scorching Ray at the firewood until they caught fire.

"Ah. Much better!" She wrung a gallon of water from her hair and started undressing.

They were both utterly drenched despite wearing ponchos. Kanae shrugged and did the sa. They had already laid each other's bodies bare before many tis and fucked a few tis. Renya, though her body wasn't lusciously tempered like that of a succubus', still looked spectacular naked with the firelight at her back. She looked up and caught Kanae staring.

"I know that look. You wanna fuck, don't ya?" Renya leaned forward and grinned.

"Does my face really make it that obvious?" Kanae asked, burning the view before her into her mind.

"Hah! As obvious as a pickpocket zeroed in on a mark. If it was a better day, I'd be down to go to town. The Imperial Span in disrepair hasn't really put in the mood though." She laid her wet clothes flat on the floor in front of the fireplace, then went to throw open the standing closet to take her pick of sothing dry to wear.

Although Kanae would have loved to get a taste of Renya again after so long, she knew not to push it. The pirate lord tossed a few articles of clothes over her shoulder. Kanae barely caught them in ti before they hit the soaked floor. They changed into loose-fitting loungewear. For Kanae though, it was tight on the bust and needed to have the buttons unclasped. In dry clothes now, Renya rummaged through a wine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of honey-colored liquid.

"Rum?" Renya asked with two fancy glasses in her other hand. "Belonged to the bastard I stole this beautiful carriage from."

"Stolen alcohol? You shouldn't have!" Kanae humored.

They shared a drink by the fire, but Renya downed the first glass before taking it leisurely on the second. Rain continued to assault the lowlands, but they made for a comforting beat within the carriage. Soon, the fireplace had ward up the living room to a pleasant toasty embrace.

"I thought you were going to be at the Highgreen arm of the Imperial Span. Didn't expect you to co all the way to oversee so repairs," Kanae remarked casually.

"What do you take for? Any severity of disrepair is worth my ti. Heh. If anything, I don't trust my crew to do it right without ," Renya explained.

"Well… it's just that, from my experiences, bosses expect you to do everything. When I had a stint working around different convenience stores, managers just ca out yelling if there was a problem," she said, shuddering at the mories.

"You worked at a what store?" The dark elf arched a brow.

"Er— I an…"

"Hells, I yell at my crew plenty. But they can bet my ass to be at the front line if shit ever happens. We'll all be gone one day, my friend. Just like my old man, Solasta. I ain't interested in love or starting a family like you did. The only things that stay behind for people like are monunts like the Imperial Span. Thousands of years from now, I'd like to be rembered as that crazy bitch who extended this road, the sa way we still talk about the Ortesians who built it." Renya walked over to the window to stare up at the structure beyond it.

"And you can always count on to lend a hand. Tomorrow though. I'm beat from overusing Magic Hand." Kanae yawned into her hand.

Renya returned to the fireplace, threw her glass into the fireplace, and duplicated three clones of herself.

"You know what? I've changed my mind. Up for an orgy?" The pri Renya smirked from the bed.

Suddenly, Kanae didn't feel so tired anymore.

The storm had ended the next day. Dark clouds parted to reveal a bright sun rising from afar. Construction and repairs continued with renewed effort. Renya set up a little command post on the Imperial Span, directing her foren how to proceed with rebuilding the collapse.

"Alright, new plan!" Renya shouted, pulling up a map of the lowlands of Talahurah. "The mortar we got here ain't working out. Luckily for us, the Imperial Span hasn't collapsed another inch since last night. That's gotta be the end of it. We'll need a new binding elent. Locals tell there is an abundant plant species that can bind stone together when mashed up. It's called hepismor. We're gonna go foraging for hepismor and add that shit to our aggregate."

Six groups of five split off into different directions with horse-drawn carts. Kanae had heard of hepismor before. They were a fleshy-leaf plant similar to aloe vera from Earth, but their appearances were that of a fern. Talahurah adventurers sotis accidentally step or run into them, only to get stuck due to their intense stickiness. Hepismor also didn't grow evenly across a forest and instead expanded in big clusters over an area. If just one group found a pocket of them, it would be more than enough.

Kanae and Renya were part of the sa group. They cut through the dense forest and vegetation with machetes, clearing a path for the cart that followed right behind them. Well, Kanae didn't exactly need to help. Multiple Renyas shaved away at the foliage.

"So, Kanae. Anything interesting going on in your world since coming back from Savir?" Renya asked.

"Aside from Arenade starting a cult, not really. I gave Elirashj a Queen-Mother succubus that's been giving trouble, there's that. Now, I'm on my way back to Ehmvier to hold a ball for the aristocracy. Did you know the Commonwealth has an aristocracy?" Kanae threw her hands up.

"Course I do. In my line of business, it's impossible not to get to know 'em. You not realizing the Commonwealth has an aristocracy sounds to like you were away for too— oh, shit." She looked down.

"What?"

"I'm stuck! I'm sinking!"

Kanae looked left and right. Renya was standing completely still in front of her, panicking. The other three n accompanying them on the cart shrugged and shook their heads.

"Quit playing around, Renya. Are you hallucinating?" Kanae asked.

"No, damn it. The one you're talking to is a clone! The real Renya is farther ahead!" Renya pointed into the vegetation.

Kanae flew through the overhang of weaving branches, coming to a halt when she saw the backs of several Renya clones. They were laughing at the real Renya, who had sunk down to her knees in mud.

"Why am I getting laughed at by myself? Get out of here, you fuckers!" Renya groaned.

"Can't you just blink out with your boots?" Kanae flew above her and asked.

"They aren't dried yet, so I left them by the fireplace. You ever worn wet boots for long periods of ti? Supre One's ass, it can be worse than heels. Now, give your hand already!" She made grasping hand motions above her head.

Kanae grabbed both hands and pulled, but Renya was budging. She was fastened stuck in the mud. Instead of pulling up, Kanae tried dragging her towards the closest end of the mud pool. No dice.

"You're really stuck in there. I'm not sure I can pull you out. We've probably got enough ti for to co up with an obituary though," Kanae said.

"Yeah, funny. Pull harder, damn you!" Renya shouted.

Kanae looked up and found so vines hanging from a tree branch. She flew over to cut one and dangle it over Renya to hold for now. When the others and cart arrived, they tried a rope to the horse and tossed the other end to her. However, the horse wouldn't pull. It scraped the ground with a front hoof and nibbled on so grass.

"If this is my day in this world, I'm at least glad we had sex last night." Renya was down to her neck now.

"Sex… That's it!" Kanae flew in front of the horse and switched on Versatile Womb. "Sll that? It's the scent of a body capable of being inseminated by your seed~"

Fortunately, this was a stallion. The beast sprung a hearty and throbbing erection. He began to pull Renya out of the mud, trying to get closer to Kanae. She led him on like a carrot on a stick until the dark elf ca ashore, then switched Versatile Womb off before falling to the urge to get fucked. The stallion shook off its horniness and returned to grazing.

"This is why I stick to roads and oceans!" Renya picked herself up and grimaced at the ss.

"You owe for this." Kanae retrieved her wand and casted Prestidigitation a couple of tis to magic away the mud.

They pressed on deeper into the forests, and it wasn't long before the group discovered a grove of hepismor clumped together like a giant shrug. The thick dark green foliage attracted countless beetles which kept their growth in check. All that rain last night must have fed the plant plenty of water.

The five got to work right away, hacking off hepismor at the base where the soil ets the stem. Renya sliced a stalk of the plant, letting it bleed its thick gel onto her blade. She tried wiping the goo off on a tree and realized it didn't adhere to tal. The substance slid right off the weapon, but stuck to the wood.

As soon as they brought back the cart of hepismor, Rown Company workers cheered. Renya set up regular transport to and from the grove, collecting as much as possible. Her engineers carefully mashed the plant and mortar aggregate together in iron wheelbarrows, creating a thick cent-like sludge that glistened with opaque gel.

"Mont of truth. Apply the aggregate!" Renya ordered.

Two workers lifted the wheelbarrow, letting the mortar spill into the cracks and collapse. The crew spread it out using trowels. So of the careless mbers got their hands and feet stuck. They needed a hamr and pick to chisel them out.

"Next, the whitestone block!" Renya cued Kanae, who casted Magic Hand and lifted a man-sized brick with the help of a rope and pulley system.

They quickly lowered the block onto the fast-setting aggregate and waited for it to dry. For the mont of truth, Renya stepped onto the stone, a precarious spot given that the Imperial Span was collapsing where she was standing just yesterday. However, the block didn't slide off. Neither did the surrounding stonework crumble.

"It… works?" Kanae asked.

Workers started congratulating themselves until Renya lifted a hand for quiet.

"Not yet. We need to put it all together and do so stress tests to determine its strength. But it's looking good!" Renya flashed a big smile.

Everyone cheered again. Renya hopped off the block and clasped Kanae's hand for a firm shake.

"Now we can get to work on the rest of the Span!" Kanae cheered.

"By 'we' you an and my crew. You gotta get back to Ehmvier and rub elbows, rember?" Renya pulled off a silver chain-link necklace with a tri-dagger pendant from around her neck, dropping it in Kanae's hand. "When you get to the waystation, give them this. You get the platinum ride experience with the fastest languis. Now, I've repaid my debt. Save so fancy wine for ! My cabinet is starting to run low."

"Throw in a clone for the rest of my journey, and I'll call it even," she said.

"My lady, your sexual hunger knows no bounds." The dark elf bowed patronizingly and duplicated herself.