Chapter 5: why no one summons succubi in the Army? (01)
When I checked the contents of the book, the materials needed for summoning a succubus were as follows:
1. Sen from a virgin male, aged over a week.
2. Sulfur.
3. Fresh blood, extracted directly from the sacrificial victim.
To get the second item, I asked a friend who was heading out to buy so sulfur.
"Why sulfur?"
"To grill so at."
"Isn't grilling at from private hunting grounds punishable by solitary confinent for a week?"
"So, are you going to get it or not?"
"Only if you share with ."
Honestly, none of the trainee knights here are normal or exemplary. They're all lunatics; the degree just varies.
"Trainee knights like us at this level? Ah! The future of this nation is bleak."
"You’re the biggest problem here."
"Coming from the guy who brought the demon summoning book, that’s rich."
This ti, it wasn’t but Dane who enthusiastically stirred up trouble first, so I was just assisting him. Dane is the type to cluelessly spill everything about his plans, which would eventually reach the senior knights. That’s why I took charge of the planning.
Since we had so ti until the sulfur arrived, our accomplices in Barracks 2 gathered to discuss what we’d do once the succubus was summoned.
"If the succubus shows up, what’s there to talk about? We jump straight into action."
"Who goes first?"
At that, everyone began eyeing each other, clearly all wanting to be first.
‘Well, naturally…’
"I’ll go last."
Surprisingly, Jake volunteered to go last.
"Oh… Altruism?"
"No, no. I’d rather join after seeing the succubus’s disheveled state after being handled by three knights… The way she’d scream, ‘Just kill already!’—that voice, I want to hear it."
Of course. There was no way it was out of good intentions.
"Alright, Jake is last."
"I bought the book, so obviously I go first!"
Damn, he had a point.
"But I’m getting the sulfur."
"And I’m drawing the magic circle."
But we’re who we are—stubborn bastards who wouldn’t give up so easily. I claid priority because I was buying the sulfur, and Levin argued his drawing skills were crucial for the summoning circle.
"Ugh…"
Honestly, Dane, who brought the summoning book, had the strongest claim. But perhaps realizing neither Levin nor I would back down, Dane ultimately decided to compromise.
"Let the succubus decide."
"Huh?"
"We’ll just ask her who she wants to start with."
"That… works."
"Fair enough."
Thus, we decided not to set the order ourselves and leave it up to the succubus. Next, we debated another detail.
"The summoning has to be at midnight. Where should everyone else be at that ti?"
"Shouldn’t we all stay in the room?"
"But if the succubus feels shy, we should give her so space, shouldn’t we?"
"I think we should all stay together..."
Unspoken agreent was reached to disregard Jake’s opinion, and only Dane and Levin’s suggestions were considered.
"If it were dayti, we could all step outside, but at night, with guards on patrol, wandering around isn’t an option."
"Hmm… So, we all stay in the room after all?"
"That’s what I prefer."
At this point, I wished Jake would just shut up.
"Now, onto the final issue."
Dane solemnly raised the last concern.
"What do we do?"
"Do about what? The summoning? It’s written in the book."
"No, I an… where do we start? You know, with the succubus… after we summon her?"
It’s the first ti I’ve seen soone worry about this when summoning a succubus.
"Summoning a succubus is straightforward. That’s it!"
"Haven’t you read any novels?"
"A seasoned succubus will take care of everything herself."
Levin and I tried to convince Dane, but he still seed doubtful.
"But novels might exaggerate, right?"
Coming from the guy who bought a demon summoning book, this was rich.
"Then you go second. I’ll go first and show you how it’s done."
"Hmm…"
Dane seed to be seriously considering it, showing how big of an issue this was for him.
"Isn’t it standard for a summoned succubus to imdiately recognize her summoner and throw herself at him naked, saying, ‘Are you my summoner?’"
"Right. Then things just naturally proceed from there."
"No way. At least, we should sit and talk with her first—ask about her preferences, her thoughts, what she thinks of …"
"That’s not how it works…"
"Have you summoned one before? How are you so sure?"
One thing was clear: even if we summoned a succubus, Dane wouldn’t be able to go through with it. He’d just end up chatting awkwardly with her and letting her go.
"Fine, let's just summon it and see. We'll do it three days from now, on the full moon, as soon as the materials are ready."
"Three days? I need ti to ntally prepare myself! Can't we wait until next month instead?"
Looking at him like that, it was clear: Dane wasn't even third in line… no, he wasn’t going to make it at all.
---
Boing boing.
The sli had started mimicking human shapes to so extent.
While she still resembled a hand puppet, she now had rudintary eyes, and when I poked her face, there was a raised spot that felt like a nose. Originally, she was just a simple oval blob of liquid, but she was evolving to mimic human features.
I’d heard that when slis take on a humanoid shape, their core typically ends up in the most vital area. Strangely, my sli's core was not in the head but in her lower abdon, roughly where a human’s uterus would be.
'It’s not for so weird reason, right? It’s probably just the physical center of the body if we’re talking about humanoid forms.’
Lately, I’d been too busy and tired to feed the sli. Surprisingly, she didn’t show any signs of hunger or send signals of distress. Either she didn’t need sustenance, or she was finding food on her own without my knowledge.
she often slithered onto my thigh, pleading with . But since I was abstaining to prepare for the succubus summoning, I couldn’t give her any sen.
When I refused, she would sulk and return to her canteen-looking state, only to try again later.
'It’s tonight.'
By sheer luck, Levin got assigned to guard duty.
His shift was from midnight to 2 a.m., standing watch over the armory. Seeing him leave with a look of despair, I waved him off with a bright smile.
In the anti, I convinced Dane to let take first place in line, claiming it would serve as a demonstration for him.
'Being early in line is obviously critical because…'
What if the succubus decides she’s full after just one? You’d lose your chance entirely!
Thus, I made sure to claim the first spot. As a result, I had to provide both the blood and sen myself.
---
Splat!
"You ready?"
I poured the sen I’d prepared earlier into the designated bowl.
Instead of cutting myself for the blood—since it could leave scars—I clenched my teeth and gave Dane a look, signaling him to help.
Smack!
"Urgh!"
"Shh!"
Dane’s bear-like fist collided with my face, and I swore I heard sothing crack in my neck. But the impact worked: blood started pouring from my nose.
"Ow, my nose! I said get blood, not break my bones!"
"Well, it worked, didn’t it?"
Grumbling, I pinched my aching nose while pouring the mixture of blood and sen into the center of the summoning circle. Ignoring Dane’s poor articulation and Jake’s hyperactive ramblings, I began chanting the incantation myself.
"Get ready."
Jake and Dane stood by with mana sabers they’d secretly snuck out, keeping their eyes on the summoning circle.
If a succubus ca out, great. But if sothing went wrong and a monster or demon appeared instead, they were ready to deal with it.
Though it would’ve been safer for to hold a weapon, I was the only one who could pronounce the demonic language correctly. These blockheads couldn’t manage it, so I had no choice but to take on the summoner role.
"Open the window."
"It’s open."
With the sulfur powder already set up, I had to work quickly before the wind scattered it.
"Aveseguza, Cheheomanzadisaap..."
I wasn’t great with foreign languages, and demon-speak was no exception. Thankfully, the annotations in the book helped follow along.
"I offer my essence here! Co forth, daughter of hell, for the sustenance you desire is right here!"
I waited for the blood and sen to boil, signaling the summoning. Supposedly, the succubus would arrive, imdiately fulfilling the summoner’s desires.
'It’ll work… It has to work...'
Two minutes later.
"What the hell is this?"
Nothing happened.
The succubus didn’t appear, and as the wind blew away the last of the sulfur, I realized the summoning had failed.
"Did you ss up the chant?"
"No, the chant was fine. Maybe the book is fake?"
"Do you have any idea how expensive this book was? Look at the royal certification!"
Checking the book, I found the words "Certified Genuine Demon Summoning Book by the Royal Court!" stamped on its back cover.
"You idiot! Why would a forbidden demon-summoning book have a royal certification?!"
Reading the fine print, I discovered it was rely a novelty book compiling myths and folklore about demons. It wasn’t an actual summoning guide.
The royal certification only ant it was deed harmless enough to circulate.
"So it was never going to work!"
Would the royal court really allow a genuine demon-summoning book to exist? Of course not. It was just a collection of stories under the guise of a summoning manual.
"I spent two months’ wages on that book!"
While Dane wailed, I felt like crying too.
My nose throbbed, my head spun, and I’d wasted money and materials for nothing.
---
"Maybe it failed because you’re not a virgin anymore?"
"Shut up and sweep up the sulfur."
In the end, all we had left was the sulfur scattered on the floor and the lingering sll of failure.
When Levin returned from his shift and saw my swollen nose, the sulfur ss, and our sullen faces, he laughed hysterically while the others slept soundly, oblivious to the stench.
---
Just as I massaged my bruised nose and tried to sleep, there was a knock at the door.
Knock knock.
'Who’s ssing around at this hour?’
Everyone else was asleep, and Levin’s shift was over. Annoyed, I ignored it.
Knock knock.
The second knock forced a sigh out of . Holding my aching nose, I opened the door.
"Who the hell is it? Are you asking to die?"
Honestly, I thought it’d count as self-defense. Who disturbs a trainee’s sleep at 2 a.m. anyway?
Swinging the door open, I raised my fist to strike—
"Excuse , is this Dormitory 2?"
Standing there wasn’t a fellow sweaty trainee or a fearso senior knight. Instead, it was a plain-looking maid with freckles.
"Who are you?"
While won rarely entered the trainee barracks, it wasn’t unheard of for staff handling cleaning or food services. But I didn’t recognize this woman.
"You called for , didn’t you?"
"No? Why would we call anyone at this hour? This is an Army camp."
"You summoned , didn’t you? Trainee Ban."
That’s when I noticed the bat-like wings protruding from her back and the tail peeking out beneath her skirt.
'Wait… the summoning worked?'
We had successfully summoned a succubus.
Reviews
All reviews (0)