The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Shit shit shit shit shit!” Yuuichi shouted.

The group was running down a hallway as fast as they could. Behind them, a giant boulder came tumbling after them. Junko was carrying Gosai on her shoulders, just barely keeping up with Yuuichi and Eliza, with Katsumi running on all four limbs about a dozen feet or so ahead of the rest. Yuuichi had just spotted a large pit at the end of the hallway, apparently trapping them in the path of the boulder. However, Katsumi didn’t show any signs of slowing down, so they kept running in the hope that she had found a way out. She suddenly skidded to a stop and turned to the left. She kicked open a door that blended in with the walls, then ran inside.

“To the left!” she shouted.

Everybody turned and ducked into the doorway, allowing the boulder to roll past and drop into the pit. Yuuichi breathed a sigh of relief. Junko knelt down and allowed Gosai to climb off her shoulders, who then proceeded to whack Yuuichi in the head with his staff.

“You idiot! After all the trouble I went through to solve those puzzles without incident, you just had to go and set off the most obvious trap in the entire ruin!” he shouted.

Yuuichi rubbed his head and gave Gosai an annoyed look.

“It was a cliche trap, not an obvious one. Traps are supposed to be hidden in places where you accidentally activate them, like floor switches. Pulling torches is supposed to disarm them, not the other way around,” he said.

“You even pointed out how obvious the boulder hanging above the door was!” shouted Eliza.

“I agree with Yuu-One. The trap itself was made to be obvious, which would prompt an intelligent adventurer to search for a means to disarm it. Hiding the trigger within a standard method of disarming was quite clever, although it was clearly designed more for cruel irony than efficiency,” Junko said.

“Man, Yuuichi, your dad’s an asshole,” Katsumi said.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not the one who set up that trap. He’s definitely not responsible for the werebats. Or goblins. And there’s no way he thought up that prism puzzle,” Yuuichi said.

Gosai sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“How can you not know the seven colors that make up light?” he asked.

“A person’s knowledge is not a measure of their intelligence, simply their level of education,” Junko said.

“Blah, blah, stuff that’s already happened. Are we gonna keep moving or what?” Katsumi asked.

Yuuichi sighed and shrugged. He followed Katsumi down the hallway, which shortly opened up into a much larger room lit only faintly by the torches in the hallway. The back of the room was completely dark, but something could be heard moving in the darkness. A slight hissing sound filled the room, and Eliza drew her sword.

“Prepare yourselves,” she said.

Yuuichi seemed rather nonchalant, looking ahead into the darkness with nothing but a mild curiosity.

“We’re at the boss already? Time flies when you’re having fun,” he said.

The hissing grew louder, and a pair of glowing yellow eyes opened up in the darkness. Everyone but Yuuichi took on a fighting stance. The eyes narrowed and swayed back and forth, as if to examine the group from several angles.

“Who daressss trespasss in my lair?” came a hissing female voice.

Yuuichi stepped forward, motioning for the others to stay behind. He suddenly took on a much more serious expression, not just from his nonchalance, but surpassing anything he had shown to his companions so far. He had a look of willful determination on his face, and seemed completely sure of himself. Even his posture was much more heroic than usual. He had one hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.

“I am Yuuichi Iisaki,” he said.

The eyes suddenly widened, then narrowed even more than before. They seemed to be smiling, and the voice did nothing to suggest otherwise.

“Iisssssaki... You have come for your father’ssssss treasure, yessssss?” it asked.

“I’m only here to show it to my companions, and to make sure it’s safe. I don’t plan on taking it out of here,” Yuuichi said.

The creature laughed softly. The laugh sounded much more feminine than its voice.

“I do not care. I want to sssee if your sssstrength matchessss the sssstoriessss of your father,” it ssssaid... Err, said.

Yuuichi drew his sword and stared confidently into the darkness.

“Alright, then. I’ll fight you by myself, if that’s what you want,” he said.

The torches lining the room suddenly lit up one by one. Yuuichi didn’t flinch, but the sudden change in temperature caused a slight wind to blow through the room and ruffle his hair. The creature could now be plainly seen. It was a purple-skinned woman with the lower body of a snake. Her eyes were no longer narrowed, and her face shone with a surprisingly soft beauty. She had long, flowing teal hair, but at least two locks of it were actually snakes that wrapped around parts of her body. The serpentine portion of her body extended several times the length of the human part, allowing her to tower over Yuuichi despite having the proportions of a normal woman. Overall, she had an incredibly regal look about her. Katsumi gasped, and Eliza tightened her grip on her sword.

“Don’t interfere. Yuuichi must handle this by himself,” Gosai said.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! There’s no way he can handle something like that by himself,” Katsumi said.

“Even if he loses, she won’t go so far as to take his life. That creature is an echidna, also known as ‘The Mother of Monsters’. They lure strong and heroic men into their lairs for the purpose of fathering Mamono of all types. Which means...” Gosai trailed off.

Eliza paused for a moment, then sheathed her sword.

“He seems unusually focused on this battle. I will let him fight alone if he wishes, but I will destroy that creature should it attempt to take him without consent,” she said.

The echidna looked down at Yuuichi and ran a hand through her hair. One of the snakes took the opportunity to wrap around her arm, almost caressing her.

“A bladeless sword? Do you expect to defeat me with just that, Yuuichi Iisaki?” she asked.

The hissing was gone from her voice, and she sounded much more elegant. Yuuichi seemed unsurprised, and merely drew back his sword as he prepared to attack.

“If I want to match my father’s strength, it doesn’t matter what weapon I use. I won’t be defeated by you, monster!” he said.

The echidna smiled. She coiled her body and launched herself at Yuuichi. He leapt to the side and turned to attack as she slid across the ground next to him. However, the end of her tail whipped around and knocked Yuuichi off his feet. He allowed himself to roll along the ground until he was in a position to spring back to a standing position. He recovered his stance and faced the echidna, who seemed to have been waiting for him. She whipped her tail across the ground, sending a wave of rubble flying at Yuuichi. He used his sword to bat away the larger pieces before they hit him. Once the way was clear, he charged forward. The echidna held out her hand, and a strong wind suddenly blew up from Yuuichi’s feet. He braced himself and tried to hold his position, but another movement of her hand sent a wave of freezing air at him from the front. He was knocked backwards again, but managed to land on his feet and drove his sword into the ground to keep from sliding too far.

Yuuichi was panting heavily, having already used a good portion of his energy simply making it through the ruins. He looked up and realized that the echidna was gone. He got to his feet and looked around for her, not noticing the tail snaking down from above him until it was too late. The echidna was clutching the ceiling above him with her hands, obviously aided by magic since she had no claws of any sort. Her tail wrapped around his body and pulled him into the air. He struggled to escape, but his arms were pinned to his sides. Rather than finishing him right there, however, he was thrown across the room. He landed hard on the ground, dropping his sword. Katsumi started to run over to help, but Gosai held out his staff to stop her.

“Yuuichi needs us!” Katsumi shouted.

“He will be fine,” Gosai said.

Yuuichi pushed himself up to his hands and knees. The echidna slithered in front of him, bending down to look him in the eye. He gritted his teeth and delivered an uppercut to her chin. While she was stunned, he got to his feet and delivered a spinning kick. He tried to follow up with another punch, but she hissed at him and reared back, moving her torso just out of reach. She whipped her tail around at him, but he leapt over it. Once it stopped moving, he jumped on top of it and ran up its length in an attempt to reach the monster’s face. However, she began undulating her body, and Yuuichi lost his balance. Just as he was about to fall, she wrapped the end of her tail around his body. She continued coiling around him until he was completely immobilized. The echidna moved her face right in front of his and grinned at him. Katsumi shoved Gosai’s staff out of the way and charged forward.

“Fuck you, old man!” she shouted.

The echidna held out a delicate hand in front of Yuuichi’s face, a long fingernail rubbing up against his cheek. One of the snakes from her hair coiled around her arm and slithered toward Yuuichi. He summoned all his strength to break free, and managed to push the coils back very slightly, but her grip on him was too firm. The snake suddenly stopped in its tracks, and the echidna balled her hand into a fist. She began rubbing it fiercely against Yuuichi’s scalp, laughing triumphantly. Yuuichi screamed, but it was more of an annoyed whine than anything else. Katsumi stopped and stared in confusion.

“Agh! Cut it out, Yumi!” he shouted.

The echidna pulled her torso away from Yuuichi, but continued laughing.

“Another win for Yumiko, zero for Yuuichi!” she said.

Yumiko held the back of one hand just beneath her mouth, and changed her laugh from ‘ha ha’ to a clearly faked ‘ho ho’. She unknowingly tightened her grip on Yuuichi, who started struggling even harder. Katsumi and Eliza stared at them, and Junko cocked her head to the side.

“Getting kind of... hard to breathe...” he said.

Yumiko released Yuuichi and pulled her tail closer to her body. It seemed to be sucked up into her torso, and before long it was replaced by a pair of human legs. Her skin changed to a lighter, more human tone, and the snakes disappeared from her hair. Yuuichi took deep breaths and stretched his arms, but they were pinned to his sides again as Yumiko ran over and tightly embraced him.

“It’s so good to see you again, Yuchi!” she said.

“Yuuichi, who is this woman?” Eliza asked.

Yuuichi pulled away from Yumiko and turned to face the others.

“Right. Everybody, this is Yumiko, the first of my father’s ‘treasures’,” he said.

Katsumi clenched her fist and began trembling.

“So that whole fight was staged!?” she shouted.

“That’s right. Little Yuchi always loved playing hero,” Yumiko said.

“Hey, it’s not just playing anymore. I’m a bona fide adventurer now,” Yuuichi said.

“Yes, I can see that. You’ve even got your own little adventuring party going. It’s nice to meet you all. My name’s Yumiko Iisaki,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Iisaki!?” Katsumi shouted.

Eliza nodded and stepped forward to shake Yumiko’s hand.

“I am Eliza, a traveling swordsman from the Amphisbaena clan of lizardmen. I’m impressed by your transformation magic,” she said.

Yumiko turned to the side and thrust her butt out.

“I know, isn’t it great? I love the legs on this body,” she said.

Eliza froze, suddenly unsure of whether Yumiko was a human pretending to be a monster, or a monster pretending to be a human. Yumiko ignored her, and proceeded to shake Junko’s hand.

“Greetings. My name is Junko. I am a golem whose purpose is to serve Yuu-One in any way that his other companions do not,” Junko said.

“So tell me, Junko, which one of you is sleeping with him?” Yumiko asked.

“We all share that function,” Junko said.

Yumiko gasped and covered her mouth with one hand.

“Really? I’ve always had my suspicions, but don’t you think that guy’s a little too old for Yuuichi?” she asked.

Gosai sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Good lord, it’s as if you people have nothing else to discuss. My name is Gosai Alvera, by the way, and the one too rude to introduce herself is named Katsumi. I am a scholar who was approached by Yuuichi for the purposes of learning more about his nature. However, I’m unable to draw any conclusions without verifying that his claims are accurate. That is why we’re here,” he said.

Yumiko nodded.

“Ah yes, the great mystery of Yuuichi’s birth. Well, I can assure you that I am a monster, and Yuchi here is definitely my baby brother. I watched my mother give birth to him myself. Although it’s possible that somebody switched out the egg before it hatched...” she said.

“Hey, quit making things up! I wasn’t born in an egg,” Yuuichi said.

Yumiko laughed.

“Sure you were. Mom and dad probably didn’t tell you because they didn’t want to creep you out,” she said.

“There’s no way he’s your brother! Monsters can’t give birth to humans!” Katsumi shouted.

Yumiko crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She seemed to be deep in thought.

“That’s right. And there’s no such thing as a male monster, either. But echidnas are special. We can give birth to all sorts of different creatures, although our firstborn is always an echidna as well. We wait in dungeons like these so we can meet the strongest of heroes and adventurers. That’s how our parents met,” she said.

Eliza turned and looked at Yuuichi, who was still standing away from the group. He seemed to be staring at the ground, not focused on anything outside of his own thoughts. His usual cheery demeanor wasn’t present, which bothered Eliza. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, but she said nothing.

“So the question that he came to me with remains,” Gosai said. “Is Yuuichi a human, or is he a Mamono? Neither one should be possible, but it’s not unheard of for echidnas to birth an entirely new species.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about that myself, and I think I’ve just now figured it out. Tell me, Katsumi, you’re a werewolf, right? That means you travel with Yuuichi because he defeated you?” Yumiko asked.

Katsumi gave Yumiko a suspicious look, and her ears wiggled slightly.

“Yeah, that’s right. What about it?” she asked.

“So tell me how you feel about him,” Yumiko said.

Katsumi blushed, and began growling at Yumiko.

“That’s a personal matter! What’s it to you?” she said.

“You love him, don’t you? He’s your Master because he defeated you, but you care about him on an even deeper level than that,” Yumiko said.

Katsumi cast her eyes downward and tucked her tail between her legs.

“Y-Yes,” she said.

Eliza’s eyes went wide, but she said nothing. Yuuichi gave Yumiko a puzzled look.

“What are you getting at?” he asked.

Yumiko ignored Yuuichi and turned to Junko.

“What about you? Do you have any feelings for your Master?” she asked.

“I am not incapable of emotions. I have felt more happiness and greater fulfillment serving Yuu-One than any previous Master. To some, this may qualify as love,” she said.

Yuuichi started trembling as he began to catch on. Yumiko simply nodded her head.

“That makes sense. You’re both devoted to him because it’s in your nature. After that, love is a perfectly natural progression. Which just begs one more question,” she said.

Yumiko turned towards Eliza, who suddenly stiffened. She began to tremble, and slowly backed away.

“Yuuichi is... he is a noble warrior. I became enamored with him because of this. I tolerate the presence of the others, but I truly want him for myself alone,” she said.

Yumiko gave Eliza a disappointed look.

“That’s not the truth, is it?” she asked.

“It is the truth!” Eliza shouted.

Realization dawned on Yuuichi’s face, and he stared wide-eyed at Eliza. She looked back at him with her usual stubborn expression, but tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

“Eliza, tell the truth. I... I command you to tell me the truth,” Yuuichi said.

Eliza’s eyes went wide. She said nothing for a moment, but then she finally spoke.

“I’m sorry, Yuuichi. I know you never meant to do any of this. I don’t consider you my Master, but... It’s just a word that I don’t use. I’d do anything for you, and it makes me happy to know that there are others who feel the same way. I love you more than anything else,” she said.

Yuuichi’s breathing quickened, and his expression changed to one of terror. A tear ran down Eliza’s cheek, and she cast her eyes down. Katsumi looked back and forth between them, not understanding any of what was happening. Yumiko looked sorrowfully at her brother.

“Many monsters have special powers. These powers are often meant to make it easier to find or keep sexual partners, since they can only reproduce with humans who generally fear them. ...It seems that Yuuichi’s power is no different,” she said.

Yuuichi turned to Katsumi, who was gaping at him. All of the things she said, and all of the things he made her do started swirling around in his mind. He looked over at Junko, who was unable to hide her own surprise. She covered her armplate with one hand, hiding the name that was inscribed there. Yuu-One. It wasn’t even Yuuichi’s name. He finally turned back to Eliza, who was still trying to hold back her tears. In spite of everything, he knew that the tears she was shedding were for him, not herself. He got a sick feeling in his stomach.

“No... I can’t... This can’t be happening! Not to me... Not to them!” he shouted.

Katsumi suddenly perked up.

“It’s alright, Yuuichi. We’re here for you, no matter what you are. That’s how your powers work, right? You’ll never have to handle this alone,” she said.

Katsumi watched Yuuichi eagerly, her tail wagging behind her. Yuuichi’s stomach turned into a knot. He covered his mouth, unsure of whether he was about to start bawling or puking, and when he saw the adoration in Katsumi’s eyes he was certain that he would do both. She realized that her encouragement was having the opposite effect, and the eagerness disappeared from her face.

“Yuuichi? What’s wrong?” she asked.

Yumiko shook her head, blinking back a tear of her own.

“Katsumi, please stop. This isn’t what you think,” she said.

“I... I have to go,” Yuuichi said.

Yuuichi stumbled over to the exit to the room. Katsumi started to run after him, but Gosai shook his head.

“Leave him be, Katsumi. It’s not something you could be expected to understand,” he said.

“As a werewolf, you probably think nothing of biting a woman and turning her into a member of your pack. But to Yuuichi... You must have seemed like the worst kind of monster,” Yumiko said.

Katsumi was taken aback.

“What? That’s impossible. He was always so... so fucking nice to me, even when I told him to stop,” she said.

Gosai nodded.

“When he saw you for what you really were, it hit him very hard. He must have intended to teach you a lesson by taking you on our journey, but instead he found himself trying to make amends for tearing you from your pack. To be perfectly honest, I felt the same way,” he said.

Junko looked down at the ground, still covering her armplate. For the first time since she had joined the group, she was showing real sadness.

“Yuu-One... Yuuichi is not concerned with the fact that he is a Mamono. He regrets that his powers have altered the way we think. Any consoling we could hope to give him would just be seen as more evidence of the violation of our minds,” she said.

“It will always be that way. The only way for him to ever find peace is if we... if we leave him. We have to let him believe that we’ve been set free,” Eliza said.

Katsumi’s jaw fell open and she stared at Eliza. She slowly curled her claw into a fist and gritted her teeth. As her anger began to build, she started to tremble.

“Fuck you! Fuck all of you! What makes you think you know what’s best for Yuuichi? I stood by and let him have his silly little fight, but I’m not going to leave him alone again!” she shouted.

Katsumi stormed out of the room, shoving Gosai to the side when he tried to stand in her way.

“I don’t get it. If there’s nothing wrong with being a monster, why is it such a bad thing to turn into one?” Yuuichi asked.

The young boy looked up at his father with a face full of curiosity. A pair of elbows landed on his head as Yumiko showed up behind him in her human form, leaning her head on top of her arms.

“I agree with Yuchi. Acting like a human is boring. I couldn’t imagine living my entire life that way,” she said.

Their father turned away from them and looked off into the distance.

“Monsters aren’t the same as humans. They have different bodies, different minds... Changing into a monster means changing all of those things. A person’s will is sacred, whether human or monster. Ignoring that will is disrespectful, but forcing it to change in favor of your own... That is the most terrible thing a person can do.”

Yuuichi leaned with his hand against the wall of the hallway. Tears fell from his face onto the ground below. He didn’t even hear Katsumi approaching him over the sound of his labored breathing. She stopped when she saw him, and his condition almost brought her to tears as well. She took a moment to think about what to say, but came up with nothing. She decided that it didn’t matter.

“Yuuichi,” she said.

Yuuichi suddenly looked up. His eyes went wide when he saw Katsumi, and he started to back away.

“Stay away! Don’t... Please, don’t come any closer,” he said.

Katsumi froze for a second. She almost wanted to run away, afraid that she would hurt him even more. She suddenly shook her head and gritted her teeth.

“You’re gonna have to make that an order. Use your powers to force me to leave, when you know that being at your side is the one thing I want more than anything else. Make me want to abandon you, because that’s the only way it’ll ever happen,” she said.

“But you only feel that way in the first place because of my powers,” Yuuichi said.

“Bullshit! The others are all ready to leave. They think that you’ll be happier alone, knowing that they’re free to live their own lives. But I don’t believe it. I’ve never been happy alone,” Katsumi said.

Yuuichi gazed at Katsumi for a moment. A faint glimmer of hope seemed to appear in his eyes.

“Katsumi, do you think you would have fallen in love with me even if it wasn’t for my powers?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I would have accepted you as my Master one way or another. And you would still be just as kind to me as you always have been. Then I’d call you a pussy, but you wouldn’t stop...” Katsumi laughed and wiped a tear from her eye. “My god, I’d be miserable! But you’d just keep giving and giving, until you were positive that I was happier with you than I ever was with my pack.”

Yuuichi sighed and stared at the ground, refusing to look Katsumi in the eye.

“I’m sorry, Katsumi. It would have been better if we had never met,” he said.

Katsumi simply stared at him. After almost a minute of silence, she clenched her fist.

“You fucking idiot,” she said.

Katsumi threw a hard punch at Yuuichi’s face, knocking him off balance. He stared in shock at her, then quickly moved to defend himself when she continued the assault. He blocked two more blows, but an unexpected kick left him sprawled out on the ground. Katsumi reached down and pulled him up by his collar.

“Man up, Yuuichi! You’re allowed to say that we’re too needy. You can feel like you’ve given too much of yourself for our sake. You can even complain about getting too much sex. But don’t you dare apologize for being the greatest thing that ever happened to me! I loved my pack, but I would never trade my new family to have them back. I lived like an animal, never knowing what it was like to live for something other than my own survival,” she said.

Yuuichi stared up at her, still lying limp in her grip. They both turned as a set of footsteps was heard behind them. Junko stood there, watching them with her seemingly impassive expression.

“Yuu-One, I believe that one reason you took control of me was to give me a better life than my previous Master. If this is true, you succeeded. I was content to be used as a tool of my Master’s will, but I have grown fond of being treated as a person while still being allowed to serve you. It is quite fortunate that your powers allowed me to ignore your poor spelling,” she said.

Eliza stepped up beside Junko. The tears were gone from her eyes.

“Yuuichi, it seems that your powers took effect when we made love. But I fell for you before even that. If your ability hadn’t made it easier for me to accept the others, I would have lived the rest of my life regretting what I let go. If you’ll still accept me, I wish to stay by your side, along with anyone else who loves you as much as I do,” she said.

Katsumi let go of Yuuichi’s collar, and he fell to his knees.

“You’re a good person, Yuuichi. The fact that you’re so upset about this just proves that you would never abuse your powers. You give back so much to the people who love you. A girl would lose absolutely nothing by falling for you,” Katsumi said.

A tear ran down Yuuichi’s cheek. He felt like he ‘owed’ the girls more love than it was possible to give. But for some reason, that made him happy. When Katsumi saw him smile, she returned it with one of her own.

“I haven’t forgotten your command, Master. I promise to smile more, and I’ll never have to fake it,” she said.

“Thank you, everyone,” Yuuichi said.

On the far end of the hallway, Gosai and Yumiko watched the scene unfold. Yumiko sighed dreamily and crossed her arms.

“It’s so nice to see things work out in the end. So, what are you going to do now?” she asked.

“Now that we’re certain that Yuuichi is a Mamono, we need to find out what this means for the world. Nothing like this has ever been reported in the past two hundred years. Even if this happens to be a mere coincidence, it could change everything we think we know about Mamono,” Gosai said.

“I see. I wish I could come with you, but I need to wait here for my own white knight to come sweep me off my feet. Good luck, Gosai. Please watch out for my brother,” Yumiko said.

Somewhere in the Demon Realm, three figures convened in the darkness. They appeared to be succubi, but their figures couldn’t be completely made out. One of them stepped forward with an air of authority.

“Caina. Antenora. Where is Ptolomea?” she asked.

One of the other succubi scoffed.

“Probably skipping out, as usual,” she said.

The third succubus gave a soft, girlish laugh.

“It would be just like her, acting as if she found the man we’re looking for and then not showing up to report it,” she said.

A light suddenly appeared from the corner of the room. The succubus Megumi poked her head through the door, holding a glowing white ball of magic in her palm. Irma leaned on her shoulder, gaping in awe at the otherwise empty room.

“Wow, why do you guys always keep the lights so dim in here?” Megumi asked.

“Ptolomea! Put that out and come forward,” the first succubus said.

Megumi sighed and walked into the room. She closed her palm and the light disappeared.

“Nice to see you, too, Judecca. So, what’s the occasion?” she asked.

“Is that some kind of joke!?” the rough-sounding succubus shouted.

“What Caina is trying to say is that we’re here to discuss your report,” said the last succubus, Antenora.

Antenora held out her hand, and an orb appeared in front of her. The four succubi gathered close, and Irma tried to peek over their shoulders. After Irma tested several different vantage points, Judecca finally grabbed her and thrust her right in front of the orb.

“Hey, that’s Yuuichi!” Irma shouted.

The orb displayed a flickering view of Yuuichi and his companions traveling through the woods. The scrying spell was apparently the reason why the room was so dimly lit, as it was still difficult to make out everyone in the image.

“The werewolf and golem are interesting cases, but ordinarily not worth noticing. The lizardwoman, however, is less likely to be willing to share with the other two,” Judecca said.

“It’s still not impossible. We need to make sure before we can risk making a move. I say we let him build up a bigger harem,” Antenora said.

Megumi sighed.

“It would’ve been nice if Edelstein could’ve conducted some experiments with his semen. We’d be able to tell right away if his latest creation came to life completely devoted to Yuuichi,” she said.

“Why don’t we just throw Ptolomea’s pet at him? If she betrays us, it proves that either this Yuuichi is the man we’re looking for, or Ptolomea is terrible at choosing familiars,” Caina said.

Megumi grabbed Irma and hugged her defensively against her breasts.

“Not my Irma!” she said.

“Why do you care so much about that thing?” Caina asked.

Megumi pouted at Caina. Irma crossed her arms and tried to mimic the expression, but did so much more childishly.

“She’s not a ‘thing’, she’s my friend,” Megumi said.

“Yeah! Patolamegumi said that whoever finds the man she’s looking for gets to be her best friend forever!” Irma shouted.

Caina was struck speechless. Antenora began laughing.

“How precious! So she’s your BFF now? And what happens if Yuuichi isn’t our man?” she asked.

Megumi hugged Irma even closer and smiled cheerfully.

“Well then, she just found me a total studmuffin with enough energy to satisfy three different women and still go off on his adventures. I’ll be set for life,” she said.

“Hooray!” Irma shouted.

Megumi let go of Irma and adjusted her posture. She narrowed her eyes and gave a wicked smirk that was completely at odds with her previous demeanor.

“Besides, I have a better idea. Why not just send someone who would never fall for him under any circumstances?” she said.

“Good luck finding a monster who fits the bill,” Caina said sarcastically.

Megumi laughed softly.

“Mamono are overrated,” she said.