Vol 4 Chapter 44 – Love Potion【Vol 4 – Stop Shion’s Fabricated Engagement】

While Shion’s smug face gave me a bad feeling, I couldn’t not ask.

“Huh, what happened? Did you figure something out?”

“Yes! All the mysteries have been completely, smoothly, entirely solved! On the honor of your first disciple!!”

“Really…?”

I listened to Shion’s story as she puffed out her nose. According to Shion, there had been multiple incidents that made her suspect this country’s crown prince was a pervert. For instance, he wanted the handkerchief Shion had wiped her sweat with. Several of Shion’s underwear had gone missing. And to top it all off, the crown prince had even asked Shion, “Can you produce breast milk? If so, I’d very much like some.” What? I never heard about this.

“—Well, succubi get sexually harassed all the time, and I just thought this country’s crown prince’s fetishes were twisted, so I didn’t even report it to Master.”

“T-that must have been rough…”

“But hearing Master’s story made it click! The crown prince must be trying to make an aphrodisiac!!”

“Why would that be…?”

“Succubus bodily fluids are said to be ingredients for love potions!”

“L-love potion…? I see…?”

Of course, the possibility that the crown prince was just a pervert couldn’t be ruled out. But what Shion was saying did kind of sound plausible, somehow. Though I didn’t really get it…

“But Shion, what would he do with a love potion once he made it?”

“He could use it on me, couldn’t he?”

“Well, that’s true… What do you think, Yuna-san?”

“It sounds quite plausible. —My senior disciple’s face and figure are as exquisite as they come, and once you make a succubus fall for you, they devote themselves faithfully for life. My senior disciple is known by the nickname Demonbane Princess Knight, so if the royal family obtained her, she’d be the ultimate trump card.”

“Hmm.”

“Plus, Master, this country’s crown prince constantly recruits Yuna-san too! Of course she refuses every time!”

“A love potion to make both of them fall for him, huh…”

“Exactly!”

Certainly if Shion and Yuna-san were together, they’d more than make up for the military power lost when Nagisa, the former crown prince and assassin, left. With just these two, they could handle skirmishes between nobles and repel even mid-scale enemy armies.

“And thinking about it this way, it explains why the crown prince fabricated the pact even knowing the succubus secret.”

“True…”

“All because Master questioned the underlying premise in the first place. As expected of Master, right Yuna-san!”

“Yes, just as my senior disciple says. As expected of an absolute powerhouse like Master—your perspective differs from us ordinary people…!”

Shion and Yuna-san kept praising me excessively. But I still felt something nagging at me. How should I put it—while we were getting closer to the answer, I couldn’t shake this sense of wrongness. Though I couldn’t quite put it into words.

“Hmm…”

“Now that we know, Master, this is simple! Let’s seize evidence of the crown prince making the love potion, and grab the love potion while we’re at it!”

“No, we don’t really need the love potion…?”

“Love potions are lost technology whose formula was lost in ancient times, and no one can make them anymore! Plus we’ve come this far, so I want to get the love potion too!”

“I mean, what would you even do with a love potion…?”

When I asked that, for some reason Shion became flustered. She glanced at me while answering in a mumbled whisper.

“W-well, that’s… as a precaution for emergencies, or something…”

“I see.”

“I-I’ve never once thought about using it on Master, or putting just one drop in Master’s food or anything!”

“I mean, I wasn’t doubting that?”

Well, Shion was a princess, so she probably had various strategic uses for it. And I could understand that if a love potion really existed, anyone who wanted it would pay any price. So I got why Shion wanted the love potion, but…

“In any case, there’s no doubt the crown prince is plotting something. Let’s both be very careful as we proceed.”

“Yes, Master!”

Not understanding the source of my unease, I could only give abstract warnings. And as we were about to leave after finishing our discussion, I suddenly remembered.

“—By the way, do you have any relatives in this country, Shion?”

“No, Master. As far as I know, not a single one.”

“I see.”

So was that girl just coincidentally identical to Shion? Thinking such thoughts, I parted with Shion and the others that day.