Due to the postfestival attack by a faction within the Black Guild, the lizardmen’s leader, Zophia, had ordered her people to patrol the slums. This lizardman had wandered away from the group he’d been with to relieve himself.

On his way to rejoin them, he heard someone call out behind him. “Excuse me...”

Turning around, he saw a woman with almond-shaped eyes, her violet hair swaying in the tepid breeze. The sinking sun shone dimly upon her, casting long, thin shadows on the ground. An overwhelming sense of allure emanated from her entire figure.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” she replied. “Would you like to come with me for a little bit?”

“What? I-I’m working. Besides, who gave you permission to...do business...here...?” The lizardman’s words trailed off as his senses were overwhelmed by a dizzyingly sweet fragrance. Captivated by her enchanting smile, he took her hand, and immediately a sharp pain shot through him. “Ow! What the hells?!” The woman’s nails dug into his palm, drawing a thin trickle of blood. “What are you doing?!”

He tried to grab her, but she pointed her index finger downward and commanded, “Kneel.”

“Urk...” His knees buckled, his back bent against his will, and his hands grasped at the ground. “You... What is this...?” Unable to even raise his head, the lizardman lay there grunting.

Slowly, the woman leaned over him. “Now you can’t disobey me anymore.”

“What are you—”

She chuckled. “I’m bored of the underground. I’ve been thinking it’s about time I take over the surface.”

“Wh-What?”

Her sweet breath stimulated his nostrils. “Now, tell me, who’s your boss?”

The lizardman tried to remain silent, but his mouth opened against his will. “G-Galewind... Zophia...”

“Ah, that’s the lizardmen’s boss. Of course you’d know that. What I want to know is who the man rallying all of the different races is. The man in black? The one who dealt with my men’s attack so casually?”

The lizardman’s eyes opened wide, and he struggled to speak. “I-I don’t know...”

“Hmm...” The woman brought a finger to his chin and lifted it, her dewy eyes gazing down on him. “Speak.”

“It’s...Ze—” Mid-word, the lizardman lost consciousness.

“Wow!” she exclaimed. “He shouldn’t have been able to defy my command, and yet he resisted so hard he fainted! He really didn’t want to tell me.” The woman stood slowly and ran the back of her hand through her hair as it swayed lazily in the breeze.

A large man with greenish skin came out from around the corner. “Maybe he’s just that scared of coughing it up?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“It’s really quite the mystery. Now I’m even more curious about this leader of the slums. Aren’t you, Gaion?”

“Yes. If he can strike enough fear into these people that they can resist your orders, Lady Liz, he must be very dangerous,” Gaion said solemnly. He pointed at the lizardman lying on the ground. “So, what do we do with him? Drag him back, torture him, make him talk?”

“Leave him. If he disappears, they’ll spare no resource to find him, and it’s still too early for all-out war. Besides, he’s fainted, and his memory will be hazy regardless.”

“Are you sure?”

“Demi-humans have strength in numbers. It would be a hassle to confront them head-on. It’s faster for me to make their leader my puppet than it is to go through all that trouble.”

“I-I see! You’re so smart, Lady Liz!”

Liz’s lips curled into a small, pleased smile at the remark. “The other races should also be on patrol. We’ll try the werewolves and the orcs next.”

It didn’t go as she’d expected, however.

“What’s happening?” she groused as she cast a somewhat displeased glare at the orc man now collapsed before her. She’d targeted both a lone werewolf and a lone orc, both out for patrols, but neither of them had revealed the mastermind’s identity.

Standing behind her, Gaion uttered in disbelief, “All three of them fainted before they coughed up a name.”

“How terrified must they be that they’re all resisting my orders?”

“I thought we were the specialists at fear and control, but I guess the surface folk can be pretty damn scary too,” Gaion said in a cautious tone before his expression shifted, now with a hint of pride. “But I know what to do, Lady Liz! I know how to get the guy’s name!”

“Oh? Go on.”

“I noticed all three of them just said ‘Ze,’ then fainted.”

“They did, yes.”

“So that has to be part of the name! In other words, the name starts with ‘Ze’!”

“You don’t say! Now then, genius, why don’t you tell me how many people in the slums have names that start with ‘Ze’?” Liz asked coldly.

“D-Don’t look at me like that, Lady Liz!” Gaion pleaded, his eyes welling up.

With a sigh, Liz began to slowly walk away. “I’ll bring someone smarter along next time.”

“B-But...”

Liz glanced at the sky, which had begun to shift in color, before looking back at Gaion. “I’ll be heading back underground.”

“W-We’re not searching for the guy anymore?”

“It’s almost morning. I don’t want to be exposed to sunlight. It’s bad for the skin, you know.”

“R-Right.”

“And besides, my preparations are in place.”

“Preparations?” Gaion asked, staring blankly at her in confusion.

Ignoring him, Liz ran a hand through her flowing hair. “I will bring the leader of the slums to his knees. No man can resist me,” she murmured with a seductive smile, her index finger resting on her lips.

Not with my succubus blood.

***

On the second floor of Zenos’s clinic, underneath the sky where night and morning collided in shades of azure, Carmilla sat up with a start, groaning.