While Rita, Syl, and Akane were together, Levia had Amon to herself, and was attempting to cross a new stage of intimacy.

"Ah..." Levia gasped, feeling her bare skin come into contact with Amon's.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked, lying bare-chested on a church bench.

Levia lay on top of him, cheek on his chest.

She kept her bra on, fearing that the sensation of having her bare nipples on his skin would be too much.

"Yes..." She muttered, feeling his heat envelopping her. "More comfortable... Than ever."

***

Meanwhile, outside the church and into the forest,

'...?'

Rita's words hadn't left the female Hobgoblin indifferent.

"Where do you get off..." Syl started as she approached. "Digging into someone else's past when we don't know the first thing about you?"

The words shook Akane out of her daze.

"You know everything that really matters, Rita gave the brightest smile. "I'm a Demon, a Succubus, and my name is Rita. What rlse do you need?"

"How about you start by telling us how your little group came to be?"

"It's not much of a story." Rita shrugged. "Levia found me, liked my magic and found it useful. She, then, found Rika and found her useful."

"Where did she find you?" Syl asked.

"In the slums of Ricardia, the Human Kingdom South of here."

The female Hobgoblin was almost stupefied by how willing the Succubus was to sharing information, and couldn't help but doubt Rita's every answer and word.

"What were you going there," Akane asked, taking a seat on the ground. "In a Human Kingdom?"

Rita scratched her head and momentarily lowered her gaze. "Why don't we focus on the present, huh? It would be more-"

"You said you had contacts in the Human Kingdoms," Syl interrupted. "How did you make them?"

"That shouldn't be too hard," Akane said with a raised eyebrow. "She looks Human, doesn't she?"

The two stared at Rita, studying her closely.

"I don't... Actually look like this." The Succubus admitted. "Well, not exactly."

Both raised an eyebrow at her words.

Having decided that she would remain with them and Amon for the time being, Rita decided that complete honesty was the best policy.

She knew that Amon would place the cuffs back later, and she knew that he would only do so so that Syl and Akane feel safe.

As such, making them feel safe and making them trust her was the logical move, even if it meant revealing things she didn't particularly feel like sharing.

"Even Amon hasn't seen me like this..." Rita whispered with a sigh.

Both Akane and Syl almost moved back as a deep purple haze started rising from Rita's head.

"This is my true form," The Succbus said, two black horns protruding from her head and a black tail swaying behind her. "I don't look so Human now, do I?"

The two stared silently and suspiciously.

Why had Rita hidden her true form all this time?

More importantly,

"When you and Rika showed up," Syl started. "You weren't in your true form. Why is that? Did you think you were going to appear in the Human Kingdom?"

'Oh,' Akane's eyelids wavered. 'Syl is trying to if the Succubi had prior plans, business that involves the Human Kingdoms.'

"No," Rita shook her head. "It's just a habit. Always better to be thought of as a Human than a Demon. Other Demons quickly notice it anyway. Even you did."

"But Humans fail to notice it?" Akane was a but confused. "I could tell right away that you weren't Human. You smelled and felt too different from the other Humans."

"While we're on the subject, it's not your sense of smell that's helping you tell the different." Rita explained. "First of all, I don't smell, so... There. Second, you're used to sniffing around and using your nose to detect things, that's why you associate your sixth sense to your sense of smell."

"My sixth sense?" Akane repeated.

"Yes, the sense that allows you to feel Mana. It's a pretty common thing. Depending on one's prefered sense of the five, some feel like they see mana, others smell it; there are even others that can hear it. It all stems from not being acclimated to sensing mana properly, to using your sixth sense properly. Because you don't know or believe you have that sense, it spills and merges with another."

"Mmh..." Akane held her chin. "If you say so."

'Yeah,' Syl thought. 'Even if what she says makes sense, it should still be taken with a grain of salt.'.

Since the two were now sitting, Syl felt rather awkward being the only one standing. She ended up taking a seat as well.

"There must be plenty of Humans who can sense Mana inside the Kingdoms though," The female Hobgoblin said. "How did you escape them?"

The Succubus didn't dislike the question. It was much less intruding and personal.

"Many Humans can use and sense Mana. Those who have the ability to tell that I'm a Demon are either Adventurers or working for the Church."

"What's the difference between the two?" Akane asked.

"Adventurers do jobs in exchange for rewards proposed by people or groups. If a village has a wolf problem, they'll send a request for help the a guild." Rita explained. " Those who work for the Church are different. They don't take rewards. They do what they do for the 'good' of the Kingdom. Inquisitors, Saints, and Heroes are by far the most dangerous Humans a Demon could cross paths with."

"But you managed to stay out of their way." Akane muttered after listening carefully.

"Yes," Rita nodded. "Humans employed by the Church move in groups, and are quite proud, you see. Their arrival anywhere is annouced with great pride, which makes staying clear of their way pretty easy. Lone Inquisitors are much more troublesome, but they're incredibly rare. Most Humans value their lives far too much to hunt for Demons alone."

"What about lone adventurers?" Syl asked.

"I've crossed the paths of few. They either couldn't tell or didn't care." Rita shrugged. "Many would only hunt a Demon once it has a big enough bounty on its head."

Akane remained momentarily silent. The Humans that have burned her natal village and taken her parents from her were no biut Inquisitors employed by the Church. To learn that the adults and children of her village had been killed, not even in exchange for a reward, infuriated her. Why should innocent children die for the 'good' of the Kingdom?

"It's still surprising that Akane noticed you right away, while Humans haven't." Syl said, feeling like something was amiss.

"Yes, haha..." Rita chuckled as she scratched her head. "Humans do have a lot of trouble noticing us."

"Us?" Syl asked.

"Me and Levia... And Rika." Well, they used to have trouble noticing Rika. "We were once Human, you see? That's why Humans have trouble distinguishing between our Mana and theirs. They're quite similar-"

"You used to be Human?" Akane interrupted with narrow eyes.

"Yes, but not for long."

"How long?" Akane asked immediately.

"Mmm..." Rita brought a finger to chin as she thought. "As far as I could learn, about six months."

"So you were still a baby when you stopped being Human?"

This really felt like a dilemma for Akane.

She couldn't tell which would have been worse, Rita being a Demon or a Human.

As far as she knew, Humans were demons.

In fact, they were worse than Demons.

The Succubi might kill men, but they do so to feed on them, the same way Akane killed hares or birds to feed on them.

Humans had killed countless, not to feed, not even out of greed. They did so purely out of... Akane did not know why they had done it exactly.

"Right." The Succubus chuckled awkwardly. "Truth is, I became Demon before I was even born. Anyways, the Human Kingdoms-"

"Before that," Syl interrupted, noticing that Rita wanted to quickly change the subject. "Tell us more about that. About how you becale a Demon. Then about how youbMet Levia."

The Demoness was visibly annoyed by how sharp Syl was.

"I'm interested too." Akane nodded, hand on chin. "How does one go from one thing to another?"

Rita let out the heaviest sigh.

'For the sake of gaining their trust, I guess...'

Her hand rested just beyond on knee. From the tips of her fingers, silver threads extended downward to the ground, circling around blades of glass and moving them around until they turned into a miniature voodoo doll.

Her fingers moved precisely to give the illusion that the doll was walking.

It approached Syl and Akane, before waving a hand.

"That's cute." The female Hobgoblin said plainly, thinking that Rita was just trying to gain some time.

Akane couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it, which made Rita chuckle.

She stared at that doll and the threads connected to it for a bit.

"Do you really want to know about me?" Rita sighed, finding it more difficult than she thought it would be. "It's a rather boring story."

Syl and Akane exchanged a glance, before nodding.

"..."

Rita pursed her lips.

"I guess I must," She said with a shrug, and the grass doll connected to her fingers gave them a curt bow.

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