Chương 63: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 63 - Entrapment (2)

Not long after Haruta Motono and Inoue Orihime left, the bleach-blond delinquent Yamamoto Nanjirou stepped out from the shadows. More than forty middle school punks just like him filed out behind him. It was a crew Yamamoto Nanjirou had built on sheer personal charisma, years of being top dog had that effect. Together they'd formed a guild called the Minotaur Guild, and Yamamoto Nanjirou was its president.

"President, aren't we going to follow them?" One of the blonds sidled up to him, puzzled.

"No rush." Yamamoto Nanjirou waved a hand.

"They're heading to Silvermoon Forest anyway. We take a different route, cut them off near the safe zone at the entrance." This time, he was going to find out exactly why Haruta Motono was leveling so fast, and then take that secret for himself. And then there was Inoue Orihime. She was his woman. He'd made up his mind about that. He wasn't about to let a worthless nobody like Haruta Motono anywhere near her.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Silvermoon Forest. Near the safe zone of Sakura Island's No. 1 Starter Village.

"Great Master, will this actually attract humans?" The Bird Demon Leader Ji Taimei was strung up in a tree by vines, twisted into a deeply questionable pose. She squirmed against the vines, thoroughly baffled.

"Relax. The effect is guaranteed." Su Nian studied her with a satisfied eye.

"Stick your rear up higher. Yeah, just like that. Perfect." As long as he didn't think about Ji Taimei's face, the view in front of him was, objectively speaking, quite stimulating.

"But, Great Master, I have no colorful tail feathers anymore. In our Harpy tribe, beautiful tail feathers are what attract, ""That's exactly the point. Not a single feather on you, humans will find that even more appealing. Keheheh..." He gave Ji Taimei one more encouraging word, then turned and directed the Kobolds and Gnolls to string the remaining Harpies up across different trees throughout the area near the safe zone, each one locked into its own creative posture. The stage was set.

The supporting cast was in position. Now they just needed the main characters to walk on.

"Don't use your psychic abilities yet, save those for later. Right now, you just need volume."

"All units, attention!"

"Every monster, get into position and stay hidden."

"Harpies — start screaming for help!"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Help~ Help me~""Someone save me~ Sob, sob..."

"What was that?" Haruta Motono blinked, confused.

"Orihime-chan, did you hear that?" The two of them hadn't stepped outside the safe zone yet, but the cries were drifting clearly from somewhere inside Silvermoon Forest.

"Probably an NPC adventurer in trouble?" Orihime said. She listened to the breathy, honeyed wailing, and something sharper moved through her eyes.

"Motono-kun, there could be a really terrifying monster in there." She wrapped both hands around his arm and pressed close.

"Let's not go, okay~?" She wasn't wrong to worry. Every manga ever written had that scene, protagonist rescues a damsel in distress, sparks fly, credits roll. And Haruta Motono was a pudgy, unremarkable otaku. That was practically the official character sheet for the underdog protagonist, currently the most popular archetype in the genre. Inoue Orihime was not about to let that happen. Motono-kun was kind and guileless and he was hers. Nobody was taking him.

"Ah, actually, you make a fair point."

"Alright, let's go a different way." Haruta Motono nodded with full conviction and changed direction. It wasn't that he didn't care about helping. It was more that his abilities were limited right now. And Silvermoon Forest was no place to take chances. What if the girl screaming was a ghost? Haruta Motono was deeply, profoundly afraid of ghosts. Better to focus on leveling. Once his level was high enough, what kind of otherworldly beauty couldn't he find?

Succubi, elves, beast-eared girls, he'd fill an entire bed with them and communicate deoxyribonucleic acid every single day. The more he thought about it, the more his urge to play hero faded entirely. The blonds tailing them did not share this outlook. The moment that soul-stirring cry reached their ears, every brain in the group went offline simultaneously. A very specific kind of heat started rising fast.

Most of them were no strangers to women, their appetites were considerably more developed than a rookie like Haruta Motono's.

"President, this voice... this voice is incredible."

"Boss, I'm telling you — based on my years of personal research across multiple establishments — that voice alone tells me everything I need to know. Top tier. Guaranteed."

"President, should we go check it out?" As they deliberated, the sweet and urgent cries rose again, somehow more desperate than before. The group of blonds could not take it. All rose to the occasion. Yamamoto Nanjirou's expression shifted back and forth. His first instinct was to keep tailing Haruta Motono. But his men clearly had other priorities right now, and Haruta Motono wasn't going anywhere, he couldn't run forever. Better to let the crew have this one. It would keep them loyal.

And if they actually rescued a beautiful girl at the end of it, well. He'd be the president. He'd go first. Decision made.

"Fine. We go save someone today." He nodded.

"Get your gear on, all of you. Silvermoon Forest is dangerous, you all remember what happened to that guy last time. The one who got fed a mouthful of something he didn't ask for." They geared up. Then Yamamoto Nanjirou led his crew carefully into Silvermoon Forest, tracking the sound of the maiden's cries. The path was completely clear. Not a single monster in sight. They pushed through a wall of brush and stopped. Hanging from a large tree by tangled vines was a beautiful girl.

The sweet, desperate cries were coming from her. She wasn't wearing a thing. And she didn't look entirely human, a pair of fleshy wings spread from her back, her figure was nothing short of stunning, and her skin was smooth and flawlessly pale. She was suspended in a deeply shameful posture, her full, ample rear raised high and angled directly toward them. The entire crew went silent. All rose. Immediately and unanimously. Huff. Huff. Breathing turned ragged. Eyes went red.

Desire and greed bloomed inside each of them like something catching fire, and the only thing stopping them from charging forward was the last thin thread of functioning rational thought. The women at the usual establishments were mostly well past their prime. Occasionally you'd find a good one, someone with that seasoned kind of appeal, but there was simply no comparison. None.

This was something else entirely: a non-human girl from another world, clearly untouched, smooth and soft and glowing like she'd been designed specifically to ruin them. And the best part, this non-human girl was, by nature, a creature of the Western divine order. A beast of sacred and terrible slaughter. That smoothness. That delicate pink. It hit every one of them somewhere deep and irreversible. ➤ Next: Entrapment (3)