DD 304 Ch 29 (Patreon)

After striking out with Crimson, I decided I'd need another approach to figure out what exactly they had planned for the end-of-year celebration. It felt like a nice distraction from everything else going on at the moment. That and I truly wished to know what was coming.

My first target was Charlotte, whom I found doing a small morning workout with Bun-bun. She was in yoga pants and a loose top, exercising with a foam roller under one foot in some pilates pose that looked decidedly unstable. I secretly wondered how many times she’d face planted before she was able to do it.

Bun-bun was her coach, bouncing next to her while chittering quickly.

"Charlotte, love," I said, smiling from the doorway.

Her gaze flicked to meet mine. "I have no idea what they're planning," she said in a single breath, and ripped open a portal beside her, rolling into it like she was escaping for her life.

Bun-bun barely managed to grab onto her braid and get sucked down the portal with her.

I stood there dumbfounded, then pivoted on my heel and marched down the hall to find Penny furiously typing at her laptop.

She was so focused that the blue-haired frost knight didn’t even notice me, giving me a moment to just watch her. She’d let her hair grow out and it was down past her shoulders, meanwhile her robes were starting to slip and show off her athletic form.

Given that Charlotte had clearly been tipped off and sworn to silence, I needed to go about this one a little smoother.

"Penny," I said, with my most charming smile, sweeping my hair back as I stepped into the room. She glanced up, a matching smile forming before dread replaced it.

Fuck, what did Des or Crimson say to them?

"Sorry, I can't say anything," she said and went back to typing with a hunch like she was forcing herself to focus on the laptop.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting beside her and running my fingers through her hair.

"No, Ken. Don't get me in trouble with Des." She closed her laptop and clutched it to her chest. "Sorry, but Crimson already tattled on you, and we're not supposed to say anything."

My jaw dropped. "You're going to keep secrets from me? For the good of the family?"

"You'll need all the luck you can get if you're trying to convince Des," Penny said, catching sight of my expression. “Des locked down this one until we’re closer to the event. For the good of the family.”

"Well, I could probably go ask Felin," I said, rubbing my chin. "I'm sure I could bribe it out of her with a few premium bottles of cream."

"It's need-to-know only, and as much as I love Felin, Des has made sure she doesn't have the full picture," Penny said with a shrug.

I scowled at her. "That's going pretty far to keep this a secret. This is a whole class activity. I mean, aren't I going to be part of it?"

"Oh, you will be," Penny said, eyes back on her screen, pointedly ignoring me. Though the smile that blossomed on her face at me talking about my involvement was unmistakable. "Don't worry, Des already has your part planned out. She'll get everything ready, costume included."

"Costume?" I asked, leaning forward, and Penny mimed zipping her lips and locking them.

"Don't get me in trouble, please. Besides, I actually have a deadline I need to hit. The series has gotten so popular there's even an agent talking to me," Penny said, staring at her laptop.

I paused at that. "Wait. Is this going to get published? Like… actually published?" Somehow her series had been fine enough when it existed in some corner of the internet, but now my deeds, or misdeeds, were going to end up on bookshelves. Wait, because I was the central figure did that make it more popular?

The sudden thought of posters of me going up in teens' bedrooms awoke a very strange feeling in me. I was flattered and also deeply troubled.

"It's still just a work in progress," Penny said, ducking her head and waving me off like a fly.

I grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it like a prince charming, then winked at her as I stood and walked out. As I rounded the door, I glanced back to find Penny watching me, biting her lip hard enough it looked ready to bleed.

"Go, you incubus," she teased, and threw a pillow at me. I ducked around the door, laughing, having enjoyed the interaction.

I checked the time. Des would almost certainly still be asleep, so I crept through the house and slipped into her room. She'd kicked off most of her sheets, wearing barely anything underneath, and I crawled into bed with her, running my hand along her side and kissing her forehead.

"Good morning, Des," I said, pressing her into the bed, a possessive growl rumbling in my chest.

Des smiled and kissed me fiercely before running a hand along my jeans. "Why are you wearing these?" She hooked a finger into a belt loop and gave it a tug. "If you're going to visit me in the bedroom, you should really come prepared." She popped the button with one hand and pulled the zipper down slowly, giving me a pair of half-lidded eyes.

"Well, the thing is, Des," I said, "now that we have the dwarf situation behind us, I was curious whether we could talk about what's happening at the end-of-year celebration."

Des hummed, her expression somewhere between sleepy and sultry, and began kissing along my jaw and up to my ear. "I forget," she whispered like silk brushing against my ear. "You're going to have to jog my memory."

I wasn’t able to say much more before Des’ new succubus nature roared to life and she took control of the situation in the bedroom. I should have known better than to confront Des on the bed, perhaps that had even been her plan.

***

Des danced out of the room while I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, contemplating my life. I'd completely and utterly failed to get a single iota of information out of Des, though I was fairly confident we'd both been very satisfied with the attempt. It almost made me want to try again.

She seemed to be the only one able to keep up with my incubus nature so readily. For the first time in a while the constant desire to have sex was utterly quiet and I wasn’t mad about my failure to get information at all.

It seemed my ladies were going to be difficult about telling me what we were doing for the end-of-year celebration, so I decided to bring out the big guns and threw on some clothes before ripping open a portal.

The lady at the desk looked up and instantly recognized me. "Are you here to see the Headmistress?"

"I am," I said, and sat down in one of the chairs clearly meant for waiting. The place was all dark stained wood and leather cushions that were just a tasteful touch lighter. It was ‘classic’ but rather boring. "Do me a favor and let her know I'm here."

The wait was but a minute.

"I've expected you," Headmistress Marlow's voice carried, and I was genuinely surprised she wasn't going to make me wait in some feeble attempt at displaying her authority. The two of us were never on the best of terms. From the moment I'd stepped into Haylon, she'd resented my presence, not to mention my closeness with Crimson, which had been a constant headache for her.

"The Headmistress will see you right away," the receptionist said, a touch late.

I walked through the excessively mahogany-clad reception area to an office with a stained-glass window behind the desk. It had only been a few years since I'd met her, but she already seemed to have aged. Her gray hair was a little less silver and a little more brittle, and her eyes carried a new shine accompanied by heavier bags beneath them.

"Headmistress," I said with a smile, and she looked at me as though I were about to deliver some horrible, atrocious news. She braced her hands against the desk, ready for whatever came next.

"Oh, don't worry," I said, reading her expression. "I actually came to talk about some of the work Crimson's doing. I thought maybe the two of us could work together."

The headmistress blinked, sat back, and let a scowl replace her surprise. "What are you up to?" Of course she didn’t trust me to do anything positive for her against Crimson.

"I'm just curious what my class might be doing for the year-end celebration." I told her, finding one of the seats agreeable and plopping myself down.

Marlow crossed her arms, a brow pinching in confusion, then rose with a slow smirk. "Does it disappoint you that you aren't doing a maid café to feast your eyes on all those ladies? Is that it? Are you angling to get it changed?"

I held up my hands, it was better if I was pretending to be on the back foot. Oddly people tended to be rather afraid of me when I grew serious lately. "No, no, that's not it at all."

"Well, then I'm afraid I don't understand why you and Crimson aren't having this conversation yourselves." She watched me.

I put my feet up on the chair beside me. "For whatever reason, they've decided to make what we're doing a secret. Between you and me, Headmistress, surprises really aren't my thing. It's not that I don't trust them," I added, perhaps a touch too quickly. "I just want to know what they're doing, and I don't have the patience to wait for them to finish their scheming."

"Of course, of course." A slow smile crept across her face. "Now, this has me quite curious myself." She tapped her chin. "But if you aren't aware of what's happening, then I can only assume it's for a very real purpose. I would hate to spoil one of Crimson's activities. You must know how much the woman enjoys her games."

My smile grew increasingly brittle, as it became clear this wasn't going to be as easy as I'd hoped. For a moment I’d hoped that Crimson had kept this secret would be a nice way for her to get a jab into the indomitable woman. "So what do I need to do to get your support?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

The headmistress laced her fingers together. "You make it sound as though I'm forcing something on you, Ken."

"Oh, no, that's not what's happening at all," I said quickly. We each wore incredibly fake smiles, chuckling like old friends who also wanted to murder each other in their sleep.

"Well, then, forgive me. Some simple details would be enough." I told her.

"I'm afraid that even I don't have all the details," she said, holding up her hands with a shrug.

"Nothing?" I asked knowing that it was completely a lie. From the conversation earlier, it was clear that she already knew. There was probably a form that Crimson had barely filled out at least.

"Well, I'm certain there's something, but I can't think of it just now." She told me.

I shook my head and took a breath to center myself. "All right. What would you like?"

The headmistress leaned forward. "What would you say to signing an agreement for the long-term support of Haylon College? After all, you're a very important alumni, and the school would feel much more comfortable with some assurance you'll continue to be supportive after your departure."

"Fine. Just don't make it too burdensome." I told her.

"How would it be burdensome?" She put a hand to her chest, feigning offense. Then a sly smile crossed her face as she drew the moment out. "It would seem that Crimson has decided on a haunted-house-themed exercise for your class."

I frowned, mouthing ‘haunted house’ under my breath. "Really?”

“My greater surprise is that you weren't involved at all," she said, though it came out more like a question, and I shook my head.

"I have absolutely no clue. Your guess is as good as mine." Though I already knew one thing for certain. Whatever game Crimson and Des were planning, however they meant to make a haunted house sexy, it was going to be blatantly obvious.

"Well, now that we've got that sorted," I said, sitting back and crossing my arms, "I'd like to hand over a program for elevating adventurers to Haylon."

The headmistress looked at me strangely. "Why would you give that to Haylon and not the UG, or keep it for the Silverfangs? Any program for elevating other adventurers is a source of personal power, Ken. While I appreciate the gesture, the reality is that it's too great a burden for an institution like Haylon to take on," she said, holding up her hands and leaning back.

I blinked, surprised at her honesty, then gave her a slow nod. "All right, then. I'll take it back to the Silverfangs." I'd considered giving it to the UG, but she was right. This was probably something best kept close.

“Buuut.” She drew out the word. “Along with the support of Haylon after your graduation, I’d love to talk about getting you and Crimson to do some speeches this year.”

“By that, you mean have Crimson give a speech with me reining her in?” I asked.

“No. I want the two of you to stand together. You both represent an enormous potential for the future.” The Headmistress said quickly.

“Fine.” I waved it off. Another event of being blinded by the microphones was a small price to pay. “Anything else.”

“No. I’m just busy planning too many things.” She said and picked up a stack of papers that was a clear dismissal.

"Well, then, thank you for everything." I bowed and excused myself, and instead of taking the door, simply ripped open a portal and stepped through, hearing her click her tongue behind me. I couldn't blame her. Portals really were a fantastic skill.

***

Instead of returning to train, I stepped out into the central courtyard of my grandparents' estate and continued deeper into the compound until I found Grandma Yui's research area.

"Grandma," I said, sliding the barn doors open just enough to see half a dozen drow give me pitiful looks as they rattled their chains.

"They aren't looking so good," I said casually, as Grandma Yui paused and smiled, like someone showing off a prized possession.

"They're doing quite well, actually," she said, watching them shrink back, wary of the admittedly terrifying old woman.

"Well, I'm just glad they're behaving for you," I said, pausing before one of them and giving it a cursory look. "They don't seem to be in too bad shape, though I thought there was another one."

"It can be quite difficult keeping them alive," Yui said, shaking her head in lament. Alright, noted that one hadn’t been made of stern enough stuff.

"I can imagine. But I think they're going to become increasingly important." I tried to say it as casually as I could, but it was hard to keep the edge out of my voice. The Threadspawn threat had elevated and I knew what their worst fear was.

"Because you want more weapons to deal with the threadspawn," Yui said, practically reading my mind.

"Yeah. I've given it some thought, and we need to find a better way to deal with them. Otherwise —" I hesitated.

"Otherwise you will suffer a lot more loss of life." Yui glanced at the drow. "Do you hear that? You're becoming even more important." She stroked one's cheek, and it flinched away from her. All of them rattled against their restraints to no avail. Yui had made sure to keep them secure both from themselves and escaping.

If I were still capable of feeling pity for the drow, I might have felt it then. But after my experiences with them, pity was something I seemed to have run entirely out of when it came to their kind. The Drow were incredibly sadistic and after witnessing the rebound of the Threadspawn after escaping their cruelty, I realized just how much damage they’d done to the rest of the dungeon.

"They don't seem to be in the best condition." I noted.

"Physically, they're fine. My healing covers most of that," Yui said. "It's mentally that most of the damage has been done. But what can you do?" She shrugged, as if it weren't entirely her doing.

By the way they flinched at her voice, I was fairly certain they believed there was much she could do. Sadly this was a moment of choosing the lesser evil. Using one to atone for their own crimes was simple math to me.

"If they're not too much trouble, we need more venom." I told her.

Yui crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, entirely undisturbed by the drow chained before her. "Honestly, these six are already a decent amount of work. It sounds like you're asking me to take on even more." She gave me a long look.

"What do you want?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

"The UG's support, of course," she said, smiling.

I rolled my eyes. "Is that all?"

"Well, if you're offering more —" she grinned, and I held up a hand before she could ask for the moon.

"I think that's plenty, don't you?" I pushed back.

By the way her jaw tensed, I could tell the honest answer was that she was capable of asking for far more, but she bit her tongue instead. She was on my side after all. "It's enough to get started. I'll need more Drow, of course, and with the UG's support we could probably increase the volume to meet your needs. The basics of the formula are simple enough. With their resources, I should be able to increase output significantly."

I squinted at her. "Grandma Yui, you knew I was coming, didn't you?"

"One could guess," she said with a smile. "But again, you're asking for quite a lot. It's not as if this comes free."

She gave me a hard look, and I dipped my head. "Of course. I don't want to come off as ungrateful, or like I'm taking advantage of you. I’ll tell the UG that they’ll need to pay you a royalty if they are to sell this poison regularly in the shops."

That was my general hope that we could spread it far and wide as a way to deal with Threadspawn. Hopefully, giving Drow venom to the masses would be a decent deterrent.

"Just don't let your grandfather call me stingy at the dinner table anymore," she said with a smirk.

"He called you what?" I said, exaggerating my surprise. "I'm sure even without my help you could solve that one," I said with a grin.

"Of course. But with you it would be much more effective. Your grandfather's harem isn't always given quite such equal attention as your own," she said, lifting an eyebrow, as though I was supposed to understand something from that.

I really didn't want to understand too much about my grandfather's affairs, and I was not sure I wanted to understand. "I'll keep that in mind, Yui."

"That's all I ask," she said, a beaming smile crossing her face as she started whistling a jaunty tune, adjusting the apparatus on the drow as they began to wail. "Work, work, work. I need more potent venom from all of you."

I shuddered and stepped back through another portal, thinking that I now had multiple discussions to arrange. Not only was I going to need to set up drow hunting parties with the UG and likely the elves, but I'd also have to negotiate some manufacturing. Thinking through how to even start on manufacturing, a few names and faces came to mind and I opened another portal.