"You're here often recently, old man."
"What is it? This time it's not advice, just a report."
"A report?"
"Yes. I figured it would be best to let you know."
The Sage, who had come to Ren's house again, said something that was hard to understand while sipping the tea he had been offered. Ren, sitting opposite him, frowned.
"Did something happen?"
"Yes. One of the new Transferees came with a companion to submit a petition. They said your tyranny is becoming too much to bear."
"...Could it be that girl?"
"She's likely the one you're imagining."
It was the girl who had directly confronted Ren at the meeting. She had ended up being the image of the opposition leader, and it seemed that wasn't far off the mark.
"What did she say?"
"She claimed that Ren the Succubus is selfish and self-centered. That she is using the nice-sounding phrase 'a city for women only' to gather women and engage in lewd acts. Furthermore, she refuses to listen to opposing opinions. Stop her plan immediately and restrict her movements... something along those lines."
"Wow. That's quite something."
"Her initiative is certainly impressive. It's just a shame about the direction."
Thinking "Ugh" about the troublesome matter, Ren blinked as he saw the Sage wince.
"Oh, the fact that you're only telling watashi is a formality means it's already resolved?"
"Watashi?"
"I'm training to fix the way I speak."
Ren said this sullenly, and the Sage was pleased. "That's good."
"Just changing your first-person pronoun won't erase the feeling of awkwardness. You should fix your entire speaking style sooner rather than later."
"Easy for you to say, treating it like someone else's problem."
Ren's speaking style was a remnant of his time as a man. He worried that if he changed it, he would forget he was a man and no longer feel uncomfortable, as if he had been a woman from the start. Well, he was constantly reminded that he was a girl, and he had been made acutely aware of it the other day, so it was probably a bit late now.
"To return to the topic, we politely sent her away. I told her that her claims were not worth a moment's consideration."
"Are you sure about that? Maybe she's right?"
"It's a matter of credibility. Considering the track records of both you and her, there's only one answer."
Ren had spent the last year diving into dungeons and fighting continuously. He had interactions with the townspeople, and his level had risen. The lake and river were created thanks to their involvement, and he had close party members who could dive with him, as well as juniors like Shou and the others. The girl, on the other hand, had only recently transferred, had done nothing but complain about this and that, and had no achievements to her name.
The Sage shrugged.
"To be extreme, even if her story were true, it wouldn't matter. With your 'Charm' skill, the targets wouldn't be unhappy, and it might even make things easier if you could get a few people under your command."
"You didn't say that to her, did you?"
"I would never disclose someone else's skill. I kept the necessary information secret."
It didn't seem worth correcting him on what Ren was referring to, so he just sighed. He felt a little sorry for the girl who had been coldly rejected.
"She probably didn't mean any harm."
"Are you planning to offer assistance?"
"No. I doubt she'd want to talk to me, so I'll let her do as she pleases. It'll be fine for her too, as she'll have fewer chances to see my face once I move out."
"Hmm. Well, it will take some time for your house to be built, though."
It seemed it truly was just a report, and the Sage left quickly, saying, "Well then, until next time." The matter of the girl seemed to be closed. However, unfortunately, the issue did not end there.
**
As Ren was heading to the third floor of the dungeon with Sion and his companions, he saw a flyer posted on a street corner with that message. Below the large heading, the same criticisms that Ren had heard from the Sage were written at length.
It seemed she had gone too far to back down and resorted to extreme measures.
Given the unfavorable situation, a reconciliation would require admitting defeat. If their pride wouldn't allow them to bow their heads, the only remaining option was a thorough fight to the finish. The goal was to crush the opponent and force them to apologize.
"Do you know who posted this?"
However, there was no evidence. When Ren asked a neighbor, the man shook his head, saying, "No."
"I certainly didn't give permission. Honestly, I wish we didn't have this kind of thing in our town."
"I'm sorry. It seems to be because people dislike watashi."
"Ren-chan, don't worry about it. ...By the way, you changed the way you speak. It's cuter."
"Thank you."
Ren gave a cheerful smile and thanked him. While he was happy to be called cute, he wasn't exactly thrilled to have a man leering at him. The first flyer he found was peeled off, but he saw several others along the way. Some had been torn off and fallen onto the ground. Ren picked one up.
"It'll make the town dirty when it's supposed to be so clean."
"Ren, why don't you just burn it?"
"I suppose I will."
Assuming it was safe since they were discarded, he changed his Drain Bolt to the Flame attribute, set the flyer on fire, and burned it. He tossed the ashes into his storage for now, planning to use them as fertilizer in the garden later. Iris, looking unusually annoyed, commented:
"It's a waste of precious paper."
"I wonder how she managed to procure paper. Did she use her meager savings?"
"It seems job placement is progressing, so she must be earning a daily wage..."
Even while they were hunting goblins on the dungeon's third floor, the topic of conversation remained the flyers.
"What should we do? Go over there and protest?"
"That won't solve anything. They don't seem interested in talking."
"But if we ignore it, they'll just do whatever they want, right?"
Considering it was partly Ren's fault for saying harsh things, he felt somewhat apologetic, but this was certainly going too far. If they left it alone, they might start making public speeches on the street.
"...Girls' fights are such a pain."
"Master. Are boys' fights not a pain, then?"
"Compared to girls', I think they're more straightforward. They usually say nasty things where they can be heard, or just confront you directly, or there's a lot of glaring as they walk past."
The basic conflict is person vs. person, so the key point is often whether you can win a physical fight. If you don't think you can win, or if you don't see the point in winning through pain, you just cut off contact with the "incompatible person" and that's the end of it.
"But girls' fights involve forming factions, talking behind people's backs, or tattling to the teacher. I don't feel like they get resolved through legitimate means."
"Hey Ren, that's mean! But it's true."
"It's true?"
"Even from my own experience, I find it hard to deny..."
Even Sion, the refined young lady, agreed. Of course, there are boys who are underhanded and girls who are straightforward and just confront the person to end the matter. What they were discussing was a tendency based on their own experiences, and not necessarily an absolute truth.
"But we haven't done anything wrong, have we? It's frustrating to remain silent."
Iris, who had lived by hunting in the forest, was more athletic and had a tendency to be more like a boy, so she expressed this sentiment. When they got back and discussed it, Aisha, who had lived in Japan for a long time, offered her opinion.
"The correct argument is certainly powerful, but unfortunately, there are surprisingly many people who don't prioritize being right."
Arguments often devolve into a contest where "the person who talks the other into silence wins." Regardless of whether it's sophistry or the speaker is constantly changing their story, the goal is simply to hammer down words and shut the other person up. If the other person has a counterargument, they should speak up; therefore, if they are silenced, they lose. Another method is to simply reject the opponent's correct arguments by saying, "I don't agree." While this is not a commendable method, decent people tend to avoid a messy conflict. In the event the opponent resorts to physical means, they can then gain the upper hand by throwing the 'correct' argument, "Can't this be solved through discussion?"
"In the case of women, there's also the tactic of crying to appeal to emotion."
Many conflicts are irrelevant to outsiders. Third parties who want to avoid trouble are highly likely to side with the person who shows vulnerability, and blame the person who stands firm and seeks a rational discussion as the "aggressor." This is a "technique for achieving a goal regardless of right or wrong" that exploits human psychology.
"From my experience, the more sheltered and well-bred a girl is, the better she becomes at these kinds of methods precisely because she won't resort to violence."
"...You know a lot about this, Sensei."
"Living for a long time in women's society will do that to you."
It was the kind of experience one would rather not have. Unfortunately, they were going through it now.
"But doesn't that mean we are stuck, then?"
May sounded slightly dissatisfied. Ren replied, "No."
"Then let's ignore it. We haven't done anything wrong, and nothing has been done to us directly. I don't think we need to overreact."
Besides, they didn't even know who the perpetrator was. Going on patrol at night to catch them red-handed would be a hassle, and he wanted to leave that to the adults.
"Ren, are you just being lazy, actually?"
"That's part of it. But with this, they'll become the 'annoying people who are making a fuss unilaterally,' right? I think that might be quite effective."
"Ah, I see."
So, they proceeded with their normal dungeon exploration. Sion's level-up policy for the time being was to take a unique skill from the Fox Spirit class and a magic attack power-boosting skill from the Hermit class. With the Fox Spirit's level four skill, which increased the number of targets for the Fox Spirit's single-target magic by +1, Sion's instantaneous firepower increased even more. While expanding the number of targets consumed MP, it was only slightly less MP-efficient to hit two targets with one Foxfire than it was to cast two normal shots. (Unlike simultaneous activation from the tail's effect, it cannot target the same opponent, but using both dramatically increases instantaneous firepower.) When they actually tried it, the sight of three Foxfires being slammed into two goblins at once was truly spectacular. It was just a shame that his MP quickly ran out when he fired them off too frequently. And so, they quickly cleared the third floor, and on their days off, they worked on guiding the newcomers and assisting with the construction of the residential area.
Their own house blueprints were finished early, handed over to the carpenter, and preparations and work proceeded. The construction site was successfully secured using the fragments, with Iris's mother present. The land was in the shape of a wide area at the end of a road wide enough for trucks to pass each other. They planned to build a wall around the perimeter of the site to keep out beasts. This way, even if the forest encroached later, they could still live there since the road and the site would remain. They would have the road paved with cobblestones. Since the land was ready, houses could be constructed as soon as the blueprints were finished. The blueprints for the houses of other residents were decided through consultation, either by visiting their houses or having them come over. For the houses that might be used by someone in the future, they decided to create about three standard blueprints and build those.
And while Ren and the others were busy, things also started moving with the girl in question.
"I do not agree!"
Gathered in the assembly hall used for the meeting were Ren's group, this year's transferees, the key figures of the town, and a few representatives of the town's residents. The topic was the nuisance activities being repeated in the town. They had posted flyers without permission, visited homes to talk, and even fed rumors and lies to former classmates living in different homes. Finally, the townspeople, having run out of patience, appealed to the Sage, and an official meeting was held to ask them to "stop."
"I haven't said anything wrong. That person is evil."
"Hmm. And what is your basis for that?"
"It is as I have repeatedly stated."
The discussion made no progress. This was because the girls refused to listen to the town's demands. The Sage sighed and reluctantly announced:
"Let's put aside the validity of your claims for now. The problem is the nuisance you have repeatedly caused to force our hand. If you have no intention of stopping, we have no choice but to stop you by force."
"W-what do you mean...?"
"We don't have a dedicated detention facility in this town. Therefore, I will request live-in employment at your respective workplaces. From now on, you will devote yourselves to your work under the management and supervision of your employer."
"B-but that means we'll have no privacy!"
"Your privacy is the reason you keep causing so much unnecessary trouble."
There were no objections from the townspeople or the new transferees outside of the girl's circle. When the girl saw even Aisha bow her head and say, "Thank you for your generous treatment," the girl trembled.
"Why?"
"Because you have no credibility. And Ren's group has credibility backed by achievements. There is no benefit to us in trying to remove them as you ask."
When told that if she absolutely insisted on being heard, she should conquer 20 floors in a year, the girl looked up and saw Sion on Ren's shoulder.
"Then, Sion-san. You lend us your strength too. You are strong, aren't you? If so, you don't need to rely on others. As classmates, let's join forces and achieve results."
Sion, who received the invitation, peered at Ren's face and asked, "What should I do?" Ren smiled and replied:
"Sion should choose for herself. We don't have the right to force you. ...But."
"But?"
"I would like to keep fighting together. I already consider Sion a comrade."
The girl nodded deeply to this, looked at the other girl, and clearly stated:
"I refuse. I will remain with these people."
Thus, the radical faction within the opposition was effectively eliminated. The new transferees, whose fate had been uncertain, somehow managed to integrate into the town.
============
🚀 Want Early Access & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!
Free readers - don't worry, I'll still be posting daily updates here. But Pa4r3on members get the VIP treatment!
Your support helps me create more wild stories like this. See you on the dark side! 😈"