"Could it be that you were the ones messing around just now..."
Origamine Ouka looked at the three succubi who had appeared behind her, her expression changing slightly, a flush of shame and anger showing on her pretty face.
'So it was these succubi playing tricks nearby.'
No wonder it felt so strange. She had never been like this before, suddenly reacting to Hikigaya with no warning.
These succubi almost made her make a fool of herself in front of so many people in the student council office. That was absolutely unforgivable.
"Don't misunderstand, Origamine. We didn't use any charm on you. The abilities we gained from awakening our bloodline are about other things. Our race's natural charm talent isn't strong enough to affect a shrine maiden from so far away."
Seeing Origamine Ouka's annoyed face and the way she clenched a talisman ready to act, big sister Amaki Lemi immediately spoke to explain.
The three sisters had awakened special abilities and had lived for centuries, but their actual combat ability was not strong.
Although Lemi wasn't sure exactly how strong Origamine Ouka was, she must be very powerful, otherwise she wouldn't be able to walk openly in human society as an oni, ignoring the exorcists who hunted monsters and ghosts.
If possible, Lemi certainly didn't want to clash with Origamine Ouka, especially since it wasn't their fault.
"Yeah, what my sister said is right. If we unintentionally charmed people from a distance, we wouldn't even dare come to school."
Second sister Amaki Lami nodded in agreement.
She was slightly shorter but just as tall and sexy as big sister Lemi.
But unlike Lemi with long hair trailing down to her heels, Lami wore long twin tails.
"Then what's your purpose in showing up here? From what you just said, you've been secretly following me for a long time?"
Origamine Ouka forced her mental strength to suppress the agitation in her body, took a deep breath, and still stared at the Amaki sisters with extreme caution.
After stepping away from Hikigaya, the lustful energy in her body had calmed down and gradually subsided.
But facing the Amaki sisters, whose presence made desire swell, she did not dare to let her guard down.
They were all demi-humans; she had dealt with many different demi-humans. Even though she had little contact with the Amaki sisters, she was worried their abilities would affect her.
After all, from constantly hunting oddities and monsters, her body had accumulated a lot of lustful energy. She had never found anyone to help channel it. She relied solely on her strong will to suppress it. If it erupted, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"We weren't following you, Origamine. We were following Hikigaya."
Seeing that Origamine Ouka could still maintain reason and communicate normally, Lemi relaxed and corrected Origamine's misunderstanding.
"Hikigaya? You plan to make a move on him?", Hearing Lemi's words, Origamine Ouka frowned.
It was normal for succubi to absorb vital energy. As long as Hachiman agreed and there was no life-threatening risk, she couldn't really stop them.
Hikigaya's life energy was so vast that a little being absorbed shouldn't be a problem.
But in her perception, the Amaki sisters didn't feel like typical succubi; they felt purer than those lewd-scented elves.
If her perception was right, and these three succubi who had lived for centuries had been repressing themselves for hundreds of years.
For a moment she couldn't judge whether the Amaki sisters might cause a life-threatening situation for Hikigaya.
"It's not like that. We were invited by the dragon tribe leader Ursula. Ursula and the elf princess Iris are having some kind of showdown and need our help."
Second sister Lami shook her silver twin tails and denied Origamine Ouka's suspicion.
"But you know our ability. Even a light touch, even just a fingertip, can make someone instantly lose control and fall to the ground for a few seconds."
"So even if we agreed to Ursula, we were careful. We didn't immediately go find Hikigaya. We decided to wait until she recruited more demi-humans to help."
Ursula wanted to use their succubus ability to help defeat the elf princess and steal Hachiman away from her.
But they weren't fools; they wouldn't help casually.
Even after hearing from Ursula that Hikigaya's life energy was extraordinarily strong, much stronger than elves or dragons, and that he wouldn't collapse at a touch like normal people, they still treated the matter cautiously.
Maybe they could escape centuries of loneliness and no longer have to keep distance from others, maybe they could be normal friends with Hikigaya.
But Hikigaya had already helped so many demi-humans and had deep connections. He was not an ordinary person. If something went wrong, it would be a huge problem.
Lemi could erase ordinary people's memories of them and live in the same place for a long time without suspicion, but she couldn't do that for powerful demi-humans.
However, after watching Hikigaya for some time, maybe because they had taken too many suppressants, they found his scent increasingly appealing. Just looking at Hikigaya made their mouths water.
At first they could hide in corners and tail him secretly.
Later they could only watch him from afar. Even Lily, who could erase her presence so she wouldn't be noticed, couldn't follow Hikigaya closely.
The ability to erase presence hadn't disappeared and still worked, but whenever Lily got too close to Hikigaya, her whole body heated up, her limbs went weak, and she would kneel on the ground, unable to continue tracking him.
"What are you telling me this for?", Listening to the Amaki sisters' story, Origamine Ouka felt extremely puzzled and looked at them strangely.
There was a showdown between the elf princess and the dragon tribal leader, and each side was recruiting people. After winning there would be rewards or punishments.
So what? How did that concern her?
"Of course it's related. Don't you want to join?", Lami explained.
"The elf princesses and mermaid idols are applying for Hikigaya's aid. If you want to solve your problem, asking Hachiman, who can aid so many demi-humans at once, is the best option."
"That's not it. Whether I join or not is my business. Why are you asking me to apply to Hikigaya for aid if you yourselves aren't going to do it?"
Origamine Ouka became even more confused. She knew her condition. Hunting oddities and ghosts would inevitably accumulate lustful energy and she needed regular channeling.
It would be best to find someone who could completely solve her problem, someone she could turn to when needed.
A proud oni shrine maiden could not let her body be treated casually. She needed someone reliable to entrust her life to.
Yet, as the strongest shrine maiden in history, the pressure she carried was heavy and she had not found a suitable person.
"Because we can't approach Hikigaya casually, we want to trouble you to watch Hikigaya and Lily for us. If anything appears that might endanger Hikigaya's life, use your magic to separate Hikigaya and Lily immediately."
Lemi stared at Origamine Ouka, whose breathing had gradually calmed and whose face had returned to normal, and explained seriously.
"If Lily succeeds, we might often trouble you to help, letting us take turns contacting Hikigaya. If you can join, that's best. We'll all apply to Hikigaya for aid together and each get what we need."
Origamine Ouka's behavior in the classroom had been similar to how it felt to be close to Hikigaya, except their case was even more severe.
Even getting somewhat close to Hikigaya made their minds heat up and their bodies feel lightheaded.
If they rushed up and had intimate skin contact with Hikigaya, they might lose their minds. If they clung to Hachiman and wouldn't let go, it would definitely cause trouble.
Hikigaya's life energy was so powerful that it smelled enticing even from a distance. Dealing with Lily alone should be fine.
But if the three of them went together... she felt it might still lead to fatalities.
"Separate Hikigaya and Lily? Hm?"
Staring at Lemi and Lami's earnest faces, Origamine Ouka was stunned and suddenly realized third sister Lily wasn't there.
'Wasn't she just here a moment ago?'
'When did she disappear?'
———
Hachiman, unaware that the small and adorable white-stocking succubus Lily had already come to his doorstep, was on his way to the library.
Before he reached the library, he suddenly heard the system task completion chime.
["Self-liberation task complete."]
["Task reward — Instinct Liberation."]
This self-liberation task had already appeared when Inoue Takina and the others discovered a cult at Kokutetsu Academy. The task was to eradicate the cult called the Self-Liberation Association.
Eliminating a cult and rescuing innocent girls was such an important matter; of course a task would trigger.
But at that time he was busy destroying the cult and rescuing the ordinary people trapped in it and hadn't paid attention to this task.
He didn't expect it to only settle now after returning.
Maybe it was because he didn't choose to kill those scum on the spot. Waiting for them to be locked up by Lycoris and face punishment counted as task completion.
A cult that called itself the Self-Liberation Association. The reward for clearing the task was Instinct Liberation.
Hachiman looked at the skill description for the reward, a little stunned.
[Instinct Liberation: undo shackles, release instinct.]
The skill description was simple, so simple it was a bit puzzling.
Instinct... generally refers to abilities you can do without learning, another word being nature.
Like being hungry and needing to eat, thirsty and needing to drink, tired and needing to sleep, these are instincts rooted in genes, abilities or natures even newborn babies have.
A person's or animal's most primitive instincts are survival and reproduction, from which appetite, sexual desire, survival instinct and so on arise.
'Hmm... so if Instinct Liberation is released on someone, will it make them lose control of their instincts?'
'If someone can normally hold off hunger and eat later, under Instinct Liberation they might be unable to resist and need to keep eating?'
'After they are full will that rampaging instinct stop, or will they keep eating? Until Instinct Liberation is removed?'
'If appetite works like that, then sexual desire...'
'Ugh... this ability seems a bit dangerous.'
He needed to find a chance to test its effects. He couldn't use it on ordinary people casually. Using it on magical girls of persuasion or evil cadre girls might be okay.
'But is evolution an instinct? Or the result of environmental selection?' [T/N: The latter.]
If Instinct Liberation helped with bloodline awakening, he might know how to make mermaid princess Meroune awaken her bloodline and obtain awakened magic element.
Hachiman thought about possible applications for Instinct Liberation as he slowly entered the library.
"Hm? Why are there so many people?"
Pushing open the glass door softly, Hachiman looked at the gazes that turned toward him and glanced at the clock on the wall behind the front desk librarian.
That was right. It was class time. Lunch break had just ended, and it wasn't club time yet.
The library, which should have been quiet with at most a librarian, actually had quite a few people sparsely seated.
Looking around, Hachiman recognized many of the students.
Karuizawa Kei, Kikyo Kushida, white-stocking shorty Sakayanagi Arisu, the perpetually disdainful Kamuro Masumi, silver-haired literary girl Shina Hitori.
'Hm? Why were they all transfer students from the Advanced Nurturing High School stream?'
"Hik... Hikigaya kun, you came too?"
Karuizawa Kei, who had been hunched over studying with friends, raised her head to relax and suddenly saw Hachiman standing in the doorway. She covered her mouth and hurried over to his side.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? I skipped class alone, but why did your whole class skip together?"
Hachiman pulled his gaze back from the surroundings and looked at Karuizawa with her high ponytail, puzzled by their skipping class.
Although he hadn't seen some of them before, there was no doubt they were students from the Advanced Nurturing High School stream. Counting them, almost all the transfer students from that stream were here.
He had sweated and bled for Hiratsuka Shizuka, solved so many problems for girls, yet those who skipped class still often got called to the student guidance room for tea. They shouldn't be bold enough to face Hiratsuka Shizuka's iron fist.
"Well... actually this isn't skipping class. It's last-minute cramming before exams."
At Hachiman's question, Karuizawa scratched her pale cheek and explained in a small embarrassed voice.
"Tomorrow we have an exa"
"We were delayed in our studies because Advanced Nurturing High School was dissolved, and with transfer procedures and everything, our learning progress fell behind."
"But the teachers don't give you lessons and just tell you to review on your own? This is only a test, not finals."
Hachiman stared at Karuizawa, who was subconsciously fidgeting to hide her embarrassment, feeling she wasn't telling him everything.
"How to put it... for ordinary students, this test is just a normal pre-home-visit test."
Seeing Hachiman really wanted to understand, Karuizawa quietly continued.
"But for us transfer students it's different. This test is tied to our living expenses."
"Master, you know, right? Advanced Nurturing High School originally promised to cover tuition and living expenses to attract students to enroll."
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