Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

Judgment was swift. As soon as I confirmed the succubus had lost consciousness, I quickly incapacitated the other two nuns. Perhaps because they were more accustomed to serving other purposes than engaging in combat, they fell surprisingly easily. They didn’t resist at all, not even noticing my approach until just before they passed out.

I laid the unconscious nuns on a nearby bench to make it look like they were just sleeping, then I hoisted the succubus over my shoulder and made my way into the nearby bushes. Luckily, there were no eyes around to witness our movements.

At a glance, I didn’t appear as though I had hoisted a woman who had passed out, resembling more like a man heading somewhere with purpose. The last thing I wanted was for news to spread of demons infiltrating the academy, which would cause a major headache.

The succubus remained unconscious even as we ventured deeper into the secluded area.

‘…She seems really weak. Did they really send this thing to capture me?’

It hardly felt like a demon, almost to the point of being unthreatening. I’d sooner find Alexander more formidable. It didn’t even pose a threat to me.

Still, even though she was a succubus, her figure was quite impressive compared to Rosalia’s. But that wasn’t particularly relevant.

‘No wings. Just need to bind her arms and legs. Magic to escape is beyond her capabilities.’

I had no intention of pitying her or offering mercy. If I hadn’t cast a status ailment dispel spell at the right time, I would likely be offered to the succubus queen by now.

Then I’d either be dead or in a state worse than death. Why should I show mercy to a fiend who tried to make me suffer such a fate?

I propped the succubus against a nearby tree, crossed her wrists above her head, then created Eternity in my right hand and aimed it at the intersection of her crossed wrists.

Stab

“Aaargh!”

The sword pierced the point where her wrists crossed, firmly pinning them to the tree behind her. The succubus screamed in agony as she woke up.

Seeming to have made a less-than-fully informed judgment, she tried to move her body, but the sword of Eternity pinning her wrists and me standing before her quickly made her aware of her predicament.

“Ugh… Ughh…”

“Why cry the moment you see a person? It makes it seem like I’m the bad guy here. It’s not like I almost died. Is it?”

“Ughh… Sorry, I’m sorry… I was wrong…”

Normally, I would have to break her ankles to prevent her from escaping, but seeing her start crying already, I felt like I didn’t need to touch her legs.

‘No, there’s a chance this could be an act.’

When I lightly stepped on her ankle, the succubus looked up with teary eyes and began desperately begging.

“I won’t run away! I promise I won’t! Please don’t hit me anymore! It hurts too much… Please…”

“…Fine.”

I released the pressure on her ankle. Instead, I pressed my foot against it firmly. The succubus whimpered, swallowing her tears.

“Okay. I won’t break your ankle. But from now on, you must answer my questions honestly and directly, without a trace of falsehood. Otherwise… Well, you know what I mean, right?”

I applied pressure to her ankle again as a reminder, and the succubus nodded frantically.

In truth, her life wasn’t something I could guarantee. That would be in the realm of the human, no, the dragon that would come later. Well, as long as she didn’t lie, she’d be fine.

“First question. What’s your name? Or is there a concept of ‘True Names’ for your race too?”

“Nika. My name is Nika. I don’t know what ‘True Names’ means.”

“Really? You don’t know what ‘True names’ means? You’re demons. Even if I break one, there’s still another left. Should I break one just to make sure you can’t escape?”

“Ah! It’s true! Please believe me! I’ve always been called Nika since I was born! I’ve never heard any other name! I’ve never heard of a demon being called by another name!”

Nika begged desperately for me to believe her, and it seemed like she wasn’t lying. I eased my grip.

“Alright. I believe you. Second question. How did you get in here? The academy should be surrounded by detection magic.”

“Th-Through a… carriage… There’s a special magical device installed on the carriage that can bypass detection magic…”

“A magical device that can bypass detection magic?”

This was quite interesting information. I would have to ask the Chairman to search the carriage later. If we found something unusual, it could be solid evidence to tear down the organization.

“Third. Why did the succubus queen tell you to bring me here? Weren’t you here to bring Rosalia?”

“No… Sniff… Bringing the candidate for the saint was just an excuse to come here… The real purpose was to bring you to the queen… The queen specifically ordered you to be captured… Sob…”

“The succubus queen? Me?”

“Yes…”

“Why?”

Did the demon king order it?

“Well, you defeated Maker… And you practically won against the sixth legion commander at our base… And, above all, you resisted the succubus’s temptation. The queen’s pride was greatly wounded because of that. So…”

‘Resisted?’ I just used a spell  to heal from a status ailment. It seemed they were making some incorrect assumptions.

I wasn’t some superhuman who could withstand mental attacks bare-handed. But I decided not to correct them and let it slide.

If they wanted to misunderstand, it was convenient for me.

“Next question. What did she do to you?”

Nika immediately launched into an explanation of the technique called ‘Impression’, which could completely control a target’s mind with just eye contact. The amount of mana consumed was proportional to the target’s strength, so it wasn’t a technique that could be used recklessly anywhere.

‘That was dangerous, wasn’t it?’ If I hadn’t made a judgment call in that short moment before ‘Impression’ was activated, things could have gone really wrong. I didn’t know such a technique existed, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have known that the nun was a succubus. I continued to ask questions, and Nika trembled as she answered each one. Thanks to her cooperation, I was able to gather a considerable amount of information.

“So he took succubus pheromones from you?”

“Yes, yes… I’m sure of it. He said he would use them on the returning carriage, so he needed to confirm the effect right away.”

Confirmation of the fact that Alexander took succubus pheromones, and that he intended to use them immediately inside the returning carriage.

Rosalia had promised to return in three days, and the moment she going inside, she was going to take pheromones. I was really looking forward to it.

After finishing all the questions, I released the pressure on her ankle that I had been holding until then. Nika let out a sigh of relief, but then winced in pain again as her wrist hurt.

I had gained quite a lot of unexpected harvest. It was a risk worth taking, even though I almost ended up being dragged to the succubus queen.

The harvest and the risk weren’t entirely intentional, but since the outcome was good, it’s fine.

‘If that whole act was just a performance, and everything she said was a lie… No, let’s not dwell on that for now.’

I could investigate the device in the carriage or Alexander’s possession of the pheromones first. If those two things were true, then the probability of other answers being true would increase significantly. I held the eternity embedded in her wrist instead of pressing down on her ankle and spoke up. Nika started trembling again.

“Why are you… It’s all over, isn’t it…?”

“One more thing. This is a very personal question.”

“…A personal question?”

“Why do you seduce men instead of women? Aren’t succubi supposed to seduce women?”

I had been curious about this for a while. The use of the qualifier ‘succubus’ bothered me, but regardless, this was a world of yuri literature. But looking back at Roxanna’s behavior, it seemed like she had no qualms about seducing men either.

No, she seemed more focused on seducing men, if anything. I needed to know if that was just my misconception or part of her sharp insight.

“W-What do you mean…?”

Upon hearing my question, Nika blinked as if she heard something strange.

“Why do we seduce men instead of women…? If you’re confused with incubi, they’ve been extinct for over a thousand years…”

I couldn’t say it was because this was a world of yuri literature, so I just stuck to the point.

It seemed like Nika misunderstood and thought I was confusing succubi with incubi. It wasn’t my place to disclose the truth, so I decided to let her think that way.

“Then, are you not interested in women at all? Is absorbing mana impossible?”

“No. We’re not completely uninterested. The efficiency is extremely low, but we can absorb mana. But for a succubus to absorb mana from a woman… it’s like… um… yes. It’s like eating green vegetables or vegetables for humans.”

It was an analogy that didn’t sound very succubus-like but was very relatable to human customs. I silently admired it as Nika continued her explanation.

“Compared to mana absorbed from men, the taste isn’t great, and the efficiency is terrible… It’s only at a level slightly better than having nothing at all. So, to survive, we can do that, but it’s not better than nothing. That’s why, within a tolerable range of inconvenience, we collect it roughly and use it mixed with mana from men. I’ve heard that there are succubi who prefer female mana more, but I’ve never met one myself…”

‘…Something’s off.’

Having finished my admiration, I fell into contemplation.

‘No, but isn’t this a world of yuri literature?’ Then, shouldn’t succubi be lesbians by default? Perhaps the occasional succubus who prefers female mana is the heroine, so it’s a yuri novel after all.’

By this point, I was starting to feel a growing curiosity about the original author’s intentions. I wondered what kind of world they had crafted and what thoughts had led to those decisions.

I’m not particularly well-versed in the realm of light novels, but I do know that setting things up like this invites criticism from both sides of the fandom.

Trying to cater to both sides usually results in getting hit from both angles.

“…But jumping to conclusions is never a good idea.”

For that reason, I was bothered by Priscilla and Rosalia’s behavior. The fact that they used the phrase “for now, it’s a yuri light novel” when explaining the novel, and the feeling that it wasn’t that I forgot about the original work, but rather that I had no recollection of it, also troubled me.

Perhaps something went awry when I got stuck here. It’s similar to how Priscilla and Rosalia were able to break free from an endless loop of regression.

“I should ask the Demon Lord about it later.”

I decided to gradually uncover more about this matter. If we’re both people who got stuck, they’ll probably spill everything they know, right?

“I’ve, I’ve answered all your questions. Now, you’re going to let me go, right…?”

Nika looked up at me with tearful eyes, her voice quivering.

“Oh, about that. I’m not the one who decides your fate.”

“…What?”

I felt a twinge of guilt because she gave a much better response than I expected, but now there was no turning back. I glanced up at the sky. It was about time she arrived.

Kwaaaang!

The Chairman, detecting the scent of demon blood, was…

Someone behind me emitted a massive shockwave. If I hadn’t set up a soundproofing spell beforehand, the noise would have brought all the nearby students running.

Nika, realizing the identity of the person who had just arrived, began trembling with a terrified expression. The Chairman, with an expression of extreme anger, glared at Nika as if she was about to devour her.

“It’s you.”

.

.

.

“…..Taking your advice into consideration.”

The Chairman paused for a moment, then sighed deeply and shook her head.

Things didn’t escalate further because of my request. After waking up the nuns who had been left on the bench until now and sending them away, I returned to the Chairman’s office with only Nika.

Nika told me that the director himself had taken her into custody and thrown her in jail. I wondered why the academy had a prison, but apparently the demons had targeted this place many times before.

The nuns fainted and woke up to find the director telling them to leave, and they were dumbfounded, but they had no choice but to comply.

Alexander’s wrath is none of my concern.

“…So Alexander brought demons into my academy, attempted to harm my students, and on top of that, tried to take them to that filthy whore?”

“Exactly as you saw.”

The person spoke with surprising lack of hesitation in their choice of words. Referring to the Succubus Queen as a filthy whore.

Splish!

The teacup in their hand shattered like delicate glass. Despite scalding hot tea splashing onto their thigh, the Chairman showed no sign of concern.

“How dare… in my academy that I built with my own hands… Attempt such despicable acts not once, but twice… By those who know nothing of the subject…”

Her golden vertical pupils glared fiercely. Perhaps because she was a dragon, even though her aggression wasn’t directed at me, my skin crawled.

After trembling with rage for a while, the Chairman managed to compose herself and spoke with effort.

“I will formally charge the Starlight Sect for this incident. I swear on all my names, I will tear that wretched creature to shreds.”

“You might find it difficult. Since everything was done under the leadership of the Succubus Queen. They’ve probably prepared in case you find out. They could easily blame it on an attack by the succubi on the way here, claiming they were brainwashed. They’ll take some heat for incompetence since they were supposed to be under guard, but it’s a much cheaper price compared to being accused of collusion with demons.”

“…Listening to you, that seems plausible. Yes. That woman must have prepared for this.”

Whether she was aware of the Succubus Queen’s manipulation or not, the Chairman sighed deeply.

“So, what I’m saying is…”

As I was about to take my leave, her golden vertical pupils turned towards me.

“Do you have any other plans in mind?”

P.S. immage for Nika Justera Nika