Twice Reborn Transmigrator

Anna and I met Leroy and Cally in the latter's room within the Southside Inn. It was similar to ours, but smaller and meant for one person instead of two. The glowstone lamps were on, bathing the room with warm yellow light. A stick of incense burned nearby, filling the room with the scent of sandalwood.

I looked out the window. It was dark out. I ate the skewer around early to mid afternoon. The aphrodisiac must've been potent if it affected me for that long.

It felt cool inside Cally's room, which I appreciated. This afternoon's activities left me warm, almost too warm. I wondered if Cally used a bit of her Ice magic.

Cally herself sat atop her bed, while Leroy sat on a nearby chair. It was a bit small for him, given his large size, so he made for a comical sight.

"Why are we meeting here?" Anna asked as soon we entered.

Cally gave her a derisive look.

"Is that a real question?" she asked. "I can tolerate the fact that the two of you can't keep your hands off each other. However, that doesn't mean I want to smell it."

That explained the burning stick of incense. Anna and I smelled… Fragrant.

"Don't worry," Cally continued, gesturing to the room around her. "I already put some privacy spells in place. We can talk freely here."

"So, what did you two find out?" I asked.

"The skewer wasn't drugged," Leroy said. "We took it to several alchemists. None of them found anything wrong with it."

I frowned.

"That's impossible," I said. "Anna can attest to that. In her words, it turned me into a beast." Anna nodded while wearing a fond smile on her face, as if reminiscing. "Perhaps the alchemists you visited weren't skilled enough to detect the aphrodisiac."

"Oh, don't get us wrong," Cally said. "There was something wrong with the skewer. However, it wasn't any kind of potion."

My frown deepened.

"Then what was it?"

"A demon curse."

My nostrils flared.

"What?"

Cally nodded with a grim expression on her face.

"After visiting the alchemists," she said. "I decided to follow a hunch and drew a runic circle, the one meant for detecting demonic activity. When I used it on the skewer, I sensed demonic power. With that as a starting point, I took a closer look and realized that the skewer had been cursed."

I took a moment to come to terms with this. A drugged skewer I could accept. That made a certain amount of sense. But a cursed one? That felt… Weird. I lived in a world of magic, but even cursed skewers were odd. I mean, what was the point? However, if the cursed skewer was tied to the disappearances, it made a frightening amount of sense.

"Do you know what kind of curse it was?" I asked.

Cally shook her head.

"Not in full detail, no," she said. "However, we know it's related to lust. That much was obvious. I also found out that it was triggered by life force. The more you have, the more potent the effect." She looked me up and down. "As an Awakened, a martial artist in particular, you have more life force than regular people. That's why it had such a strong effect on you."

Huh. Earlier, I thought that the skewer had a strong effect on me despite me being a martial artist. It would've been worse for a regular person. However, it turned out to be the opposite. The skewer wouldn't have affected a regular person as much.

"Wait," I said. "Do these cursed skewers have any lingering effects?"

That was the last thing I needed at the moment.

"No," Cally said, shaking her head. "While the effects are intense, they don't last for too long. Just a few hours at most."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"So, we're dealing with one of those," Anna said with a hardened expression.

Cally nodded.

"At least one," she said. "Maybe more."

Leroy and I looked between the two of us, before I realized what they were referring to. There was only one kind of demon that dealt with both lust and life force.

"You think a succubus is involved?" I asked.

Anna and Cally both nodded.

"Wait, succubi are real?" Leroy asked with a frown. "I thought those were made up. A sex demon? That sounds too ridiculous to be true."

I shook my head.

"No, they're real," I said. "However, they're not just sex demons. Yes, they deal with lust. However, for them, it's just a means to an end. They drain peoples' life force by sleeping with them. Not only that, but they're adept at mental manipulation."

Worst of all, succubi were both intelligent and powerful. Many demons at Tier Three and below were little more than beasts following their baser instincts. Hellhounds, hungers, mind eaters, etc. However, succubi were Tier Four demons with intelligence on par with humans.

"Wait, does this mean incubi are real as well?" Leroy asked.

"Yes and no," Cally said. "Incubi and succubi are labels for the same type of demon. Male and female mean nothing to them. They're both and neither. They can shift between the two at will. We use succubus because it's the more well-known term."

I nodded. That was something else that made succubi so dangerous. They could change their shape and take on any humanoid form. To them, all humans were potential prey, regardless of sexual orientation.

"The demons used this strategy a lot in the First Timeline," Anna said. "A succubus, or a group of succubi, would infiltrate a city and corrupt it from the inside. They would seduce its leaders and defenders, turning them into puppets. They're parasites of the worst kind. After entrenching themselves, they would drain the entire city of its life force until nothing but an empty husk remained. Sometimes they played with the city's inhabitants, turning friends and family against each other."

The more I heard about the demons' activities in the First Timeline, the angrier and more disgusted I became.

"However, there's one thing that doesn't make sense to me," Cally said with a frown. "In the First Timeline, Eastwatch fell to a demonic incursion. That never happened to any of the cities that the succubi infiltrated, unless the succubi failed."

"What if there was infighting among the demons?" Leroy asked. "Isn't betrayal supposed to be common among demons?"

Anna and Cally looked thoughtful.

"That's true," Anna said. "The demons spent as much time fighting each other as they did fighting us, if not more so. That was the only reason why we lasted as long as we did."

"Regardless," I said. "If we're dealing with a succubus, or a group of them, that is a huge lead in and of itself. As Anna said earlier, after infiltrating a city, the succubi would seduce its leadership and turn them into puppets."

The others' expressions became serious.

"House Sandstrike?" Anna asked.

I nodded. Before now, we hadn't known if House Sandstrike was involved in the disappearances or if they were just covering them up. However, if succubi were involved, that changed everything.

"If there are succubi in Eastwatch," Leroy asked. "Selling cursed skewers and kidnapping people, what is their goal?"

"That's what we're here to find out," I said. "And stop them while we're at it." I looked at Anna and Cally. "Where did you buy the cursed skewer from? With luck, following that particular thread will lead us back to the succubus."

Anna and Cally looked thoughtful for a few moments.

"I don't remember," Anna said with a frown. "Rather, I can't remember much about the food stall where I bought the skewer from. Nothing about it stood out to me. It blended in with the background."

"You're right," Cally said, also frowning. "I don't remember much about the food stall either." She shook her head. "They must have used some kind of spell to avoid standing out. It's a lesser form of invisibility."

Anna made a disgusted sound.

"This is why I hate dealing with succubi," she said. "All sneaky and cunning. They're annoying." She chuckled. "Still, they're useless once you get them into an open fight."

I nodded. While succubi were dangerous, they were suited for stealth, subterfuge, and manipulation. However, when it came to actual fighting, they were quite weak. That's why they made others fight for them.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Of course, this only applied to anyone on the same level of a succubus. We were all Second Ranked Awakened. A succubus was a serious challenge for us. That wasn't even taking into consideration the succubus' minions.

"Now that we know a succubus is involved, how should we proceed?" I asked. "Should we continue investigating in secret? Or should we take more overt action?" I shrugged. "Personally, while the latter might be satisfying, I'm leaning towards the former. There are too many unknowns. If we forced a confrontation now, we might lose. Even if we won, our enemies might flee and disappear before we could deal with them all. I don't want that to happen. It's best if we take care of all of them, so they don't become a threat later on."

The others glanced at one another, before nodding.

"I feel the same way," Anna said. "We don't want to beat the bush and startle the snake just yet." She grinned at me. "So, what's the plan oh fearless leader?"

I took a moment to think it over.

"We figure out the succubus' identity," I said. "That's our top priority. There's no point in making any kind of plan if we don't know who our enemy actually is."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Cally asked in a sardonic tone. "It's not as if we could go around asking people about House Sandstrike. That's a surefire way to attract the wrong kind of attention."

I flashed her a smile.

"We'll leave it to the experts, of course," I said. "Why not make use of Mireya and her people?"

Cally gave me a dubious look.

"Are you sure you want to rely on them?" she asked. "They haven't even managed to figure out that a succubus was involved. Meanwhile, it only took us a few days."

"Well, in their defense, we got lucky," I pointed out. "If you and Anna hadn't acquired that specific skewer, or one like it, we wouldn't have figured it out either."

"Yes, but the only reason we were investigating food stalls was because we were following Jackson's footsteps," Cally said. "Something that Mireya and her people failed to do. It wasn't even that hard. All they needed to do was talk with the old lady that owned the house that Jackson rented." She shook her head. "I don't like it."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"Either Mireya and her people are incompetent," Cally said. "Or there is something else going on."

"You think they've been compromised?" Anna asked.

"It's not beyond the realm of possibility."

I gestured to Cally.

"You're being unfair," I said. "It never occurred to me to speak with the old lady. If she hadn't showed up when she had, I would've left Jackson's rented house none the wiser. Once again, we got lucky." I shrugged. "Besides, Mireya's husband is a retainer for House Sandstrike. He can investigate them from the inside."

Cally clicked her tongue.

"I still find them suspicious," she said.

I gave her a helpless look.

"It's not like we have many other options," I said. "The only other plan I can think of is to use myself as bait."

"No," Anna said right away. Her tone left no room for argument. "Putting aside my personal feelings on the matter, and believe me I have plenty of those, the last thing we need is for you to become a succubus' thrall. You know too much. If a succubus manages to find out about us and the other regressors, and shares that knowledge with the other demons, they'll hunt us down. Our knowledge of the First Timeline makes us a serious threat to them and their plans." She shook her head. "Using you as bait is not an option."

"I understand your concern, but we may not have any other choice." Anna glared at me. I held up my hands in a placating gesture. "However, we'll leave that as a last resort. We'll explore every other option first."

Anna scowled at me and crossed her arms, before looking at Leroy.

"Is this what you feel like all the time?" she asked him. "Whenever Gabriel decides to do something dangerous and stupid while leaving everyone else behind?"

"Yes," my bodyguard said.

Anna made a sympathetic noise.

"Contrary to what everyone believes," I said in a dry tone. "I'm not a suicidal idiot."

My companions all gave me skeptical looks. I rolled my eyes in response.

"I'll continue looking for the food stall that sells the cursed skewers," Cally said a moment later. "If they're using magic to avoid attracting attention, I will be able to decipher it given enough time. Every spell, no matter how powerful, has a weakness. Once I find the weakness for this one, I can break through it with ease."

I nodded.

"That's a good idea," I said. "Meanwhile, I'll talk with Mireya." Cally opened her mouth to say something, but I held up a hand to forestall her. "Don't worry. I have a plan. I'll still ask them to look into House Sandstrike, but I won't mention anything about succubi or demons. Instead, I'll have Mireya and her people look for anyone who became involved with House Sandstrike just before the disappearances started occurring. That should be when the succubus first infiltrated House Sandstrike."

"What if they don't find anything?" Cally asked. "Or worse, what if they give us the wrong information?"

"Then we'll know for sure whether we can rely on them or not," I said in a cold voice.

Cally nodded.

"I still don't like it," she said. "However, as you said earlier, we don't have many other options."

I looked over at Leroy.

"While I'm with Mireya, procure some Holy Water for us," I said. "It won't do anything against the succubus, but I'd rather have some on hand, just case."

Leroy nodded with a reluctant expression on his face.

"What about me?" Anna asked. "Do you want me to go with Cally?"

From her tone, it sounded like she was still unhappy with me.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Remember the families I told you about? The ones who run the tourist industry here in Eastwatch?"

Anna nodded.

"It's time we made contact with them," I continued. "Those families have lived here for a long time. Their roots run deep. If anyone can help us find out more about the disappearances, it's them."

Anna studied me for several long moments.

"Very well," she said. "Should I start with Marcio and Emil?"

"That's up to you," I said with a shrug.

Anna sighed.

"Fine," she said. "I'll talk with the families, starting with Marcio. I don't see why not."

Well, there was always the chance that Marcio would kick us out if we offended him. At the very least, he could make our stay here in Eastwatch uncomfortable. However, if I considered it, Anna must've as well. If she was confident that she could avoid the worst outcomes, then I believed in her.

"However," Anna continued while pointing a finger at me. "Next time, we're doing something together. We're supposed to be married, remember?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but then a yawn snuck up on me and caught me off guard. Right. I had just spent the past few hours engaging in rather rigorous activities. It surprised me that I wasn't even more tired.

"Sure," I said in a tired voice, before yawning again. "First, sleep. It's late, and we've all had a busy day."

"Some of us more than others," Cally muttered under her breath.

With that, we all went back to our respective rooms and had a peaceful night's sleep.

The next day, Leroy and I went to Mireya's clothing shop to speak with her. It was early in the morning. So early, in fact, that the shop didn't have many customers. Mireya had Maria, the shop assistant from before, to look after the store while Mireya herself brought us to the underground chamber. The two of us sat down at the long wooden table in the center.

"What is it?" Mireya asked as soon as the three of us were alone. "Did you find something?"

I gave her a so-so gesture.

"Perhaps," I said. "We found something, but we don't know if it will lead anywhere or not. We'll let you know if it does."

Mireya gave me a skeptical look, but nodded.

"In that case," she said. "What did you need?"

"Your husband is a retainer for House Sandstrike, correct?" I asked.

Mireya frowned and nodded.

"Yes," she said. "Why?"

"We believe that House Sandstrike isn't just covering up the disappearances," I said. "We believe that they're the ones behind it all. However, we don't know why. Could you ask your husband to look into it?"

Mireya looked troubled by my request.

"I already asked him about that," she said. "However, he hasn't found much. His status within House Sandstrike isn't high. There's a limit to what he can do. More importantly, if he's not careful, House Sandstrike may expel him. In the worst case scenario, they may even imprison or kill him."

I nodded.

"I understand," I said. "Can you tell me what he found out so far?

"As I said, it isn't much. Just a few rumors here and there."

"It doesn't matter. Every little bit helps."

Mireya paused before answering.

"There are rumors spreading among House Sandstrike's retainers that there is something strange going on between the head and former head of House Sandstrike."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

From the little I knew, the current head of House Sandstrike, Lord Silvio, ascended to his current position about a decade ago. His mother, Lady Isabel, was the former head. At the time, there had been rumors that something happened between them. However, House Sandstrike kept a tight lid on everything. No one found out anything for certain. After a while, the rumors died down. The only reason why I knew of it was because I asked my parents before leaving for Eastwatch.

"Do you know the truth about what happened ten years ago?" Mireya asked. "When Lady Isabel stepped down and the current Lord Sandstrike took her place?"

I shook my head.

"Lady Isabel didn't step down willingly," Mireya continued. "Lord Sandstrike forced her to."

I stared at Mireya with wide eyes. Forcing the head of a House to step down was a rare occurrence. It almost never happened. The head of a House ruled with an iron fist. Their authority was absolute. They were also almost always the most powerful wizard in their House, meaning they had the magical strength to enforce their authority.

In order for Lord Sandstrike to force his mother to step down, the entirety of House Sandstrike must have turned against her. That was the only way something like that could've happened.

"Lord Sandstrike didn't stop there, did he?" I asked. "Otherwise, Lady Isabel would've remained a threat to his position."

Mireya nodded.

"Lord Sandstrike confined her to an estate outside of Eastwatch," she said. "She lived there as a prisoner for nine years. Everyone thought she would spend the rest of her life there. However, things changed about a year ago. For some reason, Lord Sandstrike released Lady Isabel and brought her back to Castle Sandstrike.

"At the time, most of House Sandstrike believed, and still do, that Lord Sandstrike and Lady Isabel mended their relationship. However, according to the rumors, Lady Isabel somehow forced Lord Sandstrike to release her. More than that, Lady Isabel regained control of House Sandstrike, turning Lord Sandstrike into nothing more than a figurehead."

I frowned.

"I find that difficult to believe," I said.

Though, if a succubus was involved, that would explain a lot.

"So do most of House Sandstrike's retainers," she said. "Most dismiss the rumors as nonsense. This was why I didn't tell you about them before. By all accounts, Lord Sandstrike is still in charge of House Sandstrike and Lady Isabel has nothing to do with the House's affairs."

"If that's the case, then where did the rumors come from?" I asked.

Mireya shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "My husband never looked into them. He didn't think it was worth the effort." She gave me a questioning look. "Do you think there might be something to the rumors after all?"

I nodded.

"It's possible," I said. "Ask your husband to check. With everything going on, it's best to be thorough. Either there's some truth to the rumors, or maybe they're nonsense after all. We won't know for sure until we look deeper.

"Very well," Mireya said. "Is there anything else you need?"

I shook my head.

"No, that will be all," I said. "Thank you."

Mireya studied me for several moments, as if trying to discern something, before nodding.

"In that case, I'll see you off."

The two of us left the underground chamber and returned to the clothing shop above. Leroy and I made plans to meet near the local Church of the Sun beforehand, so I said my farewells and headed out.