Without batting an eyelash, Zenos placed a hand on the victim’s flank. “Hmm. This is pretty deep. The attacker knew what they were doing,” he muttered, turning his head slightly. “I’ll commence treatment. Repairing the vascular walls and internal organs, rebuilding the peritoneum and muscle tissue, and closing up the skin.”

As he spoke, the hand over the wound glowed white, and a gentle wave of warmth enveloped the area. The shimmering light traced an arc in the air as it flowed into the wound with a dazzling flash.

Instinctively, Liz shielded her eyes, unsure of what was happening but nevertheless sensing it was extraordinary. And, when the glittering iridescence faded, the lizardman’s wound had completely healed. “What?” she mumbled.

“All right,” Zenos said. “All good now. Just don’t forget to pay me, yeah?”

“Of course! Thank you, doctor. I owe you one.” The formerly injured man stood up as though nothing had happened.

“This can’t be real,” Liz murmured in astonishment. What she’d just witnessed beggared belief. A dark thrill, a mix of excitement and dread, came over her.

Zenos, the boy from the orphanage. Not the ruler of the slums, but a simple healer. And yet his power was exceptional. His healing abilities were simply unprecedented. Finally, she understood how the rough-and-tumble bunch of demi-humans had united.

I... I’m not out of options just yet, she mused. Indeed, getting this man under her control could still grant Liz her dearest wish. Suppressing her eagerness, Liz blended into the crowd and left the scene. She met up with Gaion, who’d been waiting around a corner, and said, “Tell the top to wait a little longer.”

“Y-Yes, of course. Are you okay, Lady Liz?” he asked.

Liz nodded slowly. Her attempt to injure Zenos had failed due to his protective magic, and even if it’d worked, his healing abilities might’ve repaired any damage before she’d had the chance to infuse him with succubus blood. That meant this particular plan was no longer feasible.

But she had one other option. “I may not be able to hurt him, but I still have my womanly charms.”

Using her blood was just generally the easier alternative. She still had a last resort—taking his chastity. Protective and healing magic wouldn’t avail him then; she could directly infuse him with succubus magic and turn him into an obedient puppet.

Inferring that Liz had been mumbling about Zenos, a shocked Gaion said, “His...chastity? What do you see in that man?”

“And why do you care about that?” she asked.

“I-I mean, I don’t...”

“You see, Gaion, I must achieve results here, no matter what.”

Zenos was surrounded by women, yes, but they were all weirdos. She was confident they were no match for her in terms of feminine allure. Until now, her primary goal had been to infiltrate the mastermind’s lair and get close enough to scratch him, but this called for a change of strategy.

Now, she would use every last one of her wiles to make Zenos hers.

Liz smiled, bringing her index finger to her lips. “Just you wait, little Zenos. I’ll make your heart beat just for me.”

Chapter 5: Feminine War Tactics

Year 304 of the Saint Fabilaus Calendar, July 14th, morning.

Zenos had returned to the clinic after taking an allegedly amnesiac woman on a walk around the ruined city. “Still nothing?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” replied the woman in question, Liz.

“Nah, I should be the one apologizing for pushing you.”

“No, thank you for trying. No point rushing things now, though, so I’ll take it one day at a time.”

“That random attack was scary,” Lily, an elf, said with a shudder. There had been an incident in the slums; a lizardman had been stabbed by an unknown assailant.

“I mean, yeah, it would be scary,” Zenos mused. “Things had been pretty uneventful up until recently...” He cast a glance at Liz.

She smiled beautifully at him, an innocent expression on her face. “What’s the matter, Zenos?”

“Oh, nothing. Don’t mind me,” he replied, shaking his head.

“Well, in that case, enough of the doom and gloom! Maybe I should do some cleaning.”

“What?” Lily said. “But that’s my job.”

“It’s okay,” replied Zenos’s childhood friend with a smile. “You’re all being really good to me. It’s only fair I reciprocate. Why don’t you sit down, Lily?” Liz pushed the elf by the shoulders onto a chair, semiforcibly making the girl sit down. Then she rolled up her sleeves, wrung out a cleaning rag, and began to deftly tidy up the place.

In just under an hour, the room was so clean it was almost unrecognizable.

“I think that about does it,” Liz said.

“Whoa, that’s impressive,” Zenos remarked in admiration.

“Wow...” Lily added, similarly awed.

Duster in hand, Liz moved toward the stairs. “I’ll do the second floor now.”

Zenos stopped her immediately. “Oh, no, leave the second floor as is.”

Tilting her head, Liz looked up the stairs. Her expression turned somewhat uneasy, and she muttered, “Right... I don’t know why, but I feel like it’d be a bad idea to go up there.”

Maybe a traumatic memory flashed into her mind, Zenos mused.

In the end, she didn’t clean the second floor. Zenos and Lily went out to stock up on food and medicine, leaving the freeloading woman behind. Though it might’ve sounded surprising that Liz hadn’t come with, she’d had a reason. She opened a cupboard and looked through Lily’s sewing tools—what she was doing wasn’t clear until later.

“Sir Zenos! I brought you some fish!” said the werewolf Lynga as she walked into the clinic with a basket full of fish.

“Oh, hello,” Liz said. “Zenos isn’t home right now.”

Lynga scoffed, somewhat surprised. “You’re the unconscious woman from yesterday. Awake now, I see.”

“Ah, you must be Lynga. I’m told you were the one who brought me here. I’m incredibly grateful. Thank you so much.”

“Hmph. And why are you still here? If you’re all better, then off with you. Chop-chop.”

“See, the shock made me lose my memories, and so Zenos has allowed me to stay with him until I recover.”

“What? Zenos invited you to live with him?” Lynga asked, her eyes wide as dinner plates.

“That’s right. We’ve known each other since we were little, and he seems worried about me.”

“What...?” Lynga muttered, biting her lip and clenching her fist. “Ugh... I knew I shouldn’t have helped.”