Secret Route: Gacha is a Cruel Mistress
The guild hall was mostly deserted as Kazuma's party returned from their latest quest, save for a few tables where Adventurers who had opted for day drinking instead of questing were sitting. It was only about noon, which meant most of Axel's newbies were still asleep after a hard night of drinking and partying. Most Adventurers lived hand to mouth, only questing when they had to, and drinking and sleeping the day away when they had a bit of cash.
Honestly, it's what Kazuma would have preferred to do, but ever since he'd whipped his party into shape, the girls had been more eager than usual to get out and quest to try out their new skills.
Or, in Aqua's case, get more stickers.
"I want some bubbly!" Aqua said happily as they entered the guild. She held out her hand to Kazuma.
"What?" he asked. "I already gave you your sticker."
"Yeah, but you have the money! Come on, Kazuma, I know we earned some from the quest!" Aqua begged.
Kazuma rolled his eyes then gave Aqua enough to buy herself a couple of rounds, and she skipped off to indulge.
"I…I shall take my earnings and be at the…shop," Darkness said, flushing slightly. "B-Becky, um, is waiting for me. H-hold my earnings for me, Kazuma."
"And I am meeting Yunyun. You may also hold my funds until such a time as I require them," Megumin stated, swirling her cloak. "I require my daily explosion. Unless you wish to accompany me."
Kazuma sighed. "No, I think I'll just turn in the quest and see what else pays well. We've got to be close to being ready to face the Devil King."
Darkness and Megumin left, leaving Kazuma alone. He shrugged and walked over to the counter, where a rather bored Luna was leaning, half asleep. When she saw Kazuma, she perked up and smiled, standing up straight and smoothing out her blouse.
Which did fun and interesting things to her ample cleavage.
"Well hello, Mr. Sato! It's good to see that someone isn't just drinking the day away! I must say, I am very grateful to you and your party! You've been by far my most productive Adventurer for two solid months now!"
Eyes watering from the sheer effort of not staring at Luna's chest, Kazuma managed a smile. "Yeah, well, I finally figured out how to motivate the girls into actually getting some work done. We've been level grinding, trying to gear up to take the fight to the Devil King."
Luna winced. "Oh, that's too bad…"
Kazuma blinked in surprise, and took the opportunity to sneak a glance. Luna really was pretty stacked. But he forced his eyes back on hers. He didn't need his main meal ticket to start calling him Pervzuma. "Why? I thought you said you liked us working hard."
"Oh! I do, I'm sorry, I just mean, I'd hate to lose you. Without you around, Mr. Sato, I think this whole town would be drowning in monsters," Luna said, blushing slightly.
Kazuma shrugged. "No need to Mr. Sato me. Just call me Kazuma like usual. When did you start calling me Mr. Sato anyway?"
"Well, probably when I started seeing you as an actually productive member of society, instead of, ah…one of the…ah…Adventurers," Luna admitted, giving Kazuma a rueful smile.
"Well, glad to see someone appreciates me," Kazuma said, straightening up a bit and puffing out his chest. "Really, you just need to motivate the Adventurers better. After all, I won't stay in the town of beginning Adventurers forever."
"I suppose that's true," Luna agreed, making a face. "But honestly, what else can I do? I can only make the rates so high, and if I offer discounts on food and drink, it just makes things worse because they can all lay about for even longer. I've implemented all the standard guild practices already…"
"Oh? What are those?" Kazuma asked curiously.
Luna gave him a grin and gestured to her cleavage. "You can look for yourself. I don't mind a friendly leer now and then, at least not from a hard worker."
"Wait, you mean?" Kazuma took a moment to take a nice long look. It would be rude not to. "You mean your outfit is intentional?"
"Yes, and it's why I make sure to hire attractive young girls as well. The guild manual explains that Adventurers are more likely to work hard if a cute girl is giving out the quests."
"Damn, that is a good tip," Kazuma admitted, rubbing his chin. "I didn't think the Guild was so conniving…"
Luna chuckled, shaking her head. "We have to be! Adventuring isn't exactly respectable work, and, no offense Kazuma, but most Adventurers are quite lazy. It's rare to have someone who actually goes out every day for the good of humanity. Most of them just want enough coin to drink, booze, and visit that shop I contracted. I noticed that Darkness has been going there recently. That's odd, since it's usually just the males."
"Wait, you know about the Succubus shop?!" Kazuma gasped, putting a hand to his chest.
Luna giggled again, and waggled a finger at Kazuma. "Of course! I'm the one who invited them in! I get Bethandrilina to pass out some coupons, and every once in a while I get her to offer some more for a particularly unappealing quest. It usually works. But, I can only do that so often, or people would get suspicious."
"Why are you telling me?" Kazuma asked suspiciously.
"Well, you have had a great deal of success in motivating your own party. I never thought I'd see Aqua work so hard, or Megumin, or even Darkness. What's your secret? I'll make it worth your while," Luna promised, leaning forward and exposing even more cleavage.
"Er, well, um…" Kazuma flushed, and sweat appeared on his forehead. Was she propositioning him? "What…sort of payment?"
"Oh, I think you know," Luna purred, reaching out to gently pat Kazuma on the cheek. "Now…tell me…what's your secret? How can I get the Adventurers to work harder?"
"G-gacha," Kazuma said without thinking.
Luna blinked and stood up straight, taking a step back from Kazuma. "What? I've never heard of that."
"It's, er, something from where I'm from," Kazuma said. "It's…how to explain it…gacha games were a sort of gambling…game?"
"I'm not going to add gambling to the guildhall. That just invites crime," Luna said in disgust. "Really, Kazuma, I thought-"
Quickly, Kazuma waved his hands in negation. "No, no, let me explain. See, gacha is a game, and it has some gambling. But it's because differential reward systems work best. See, if you know exactly what your reward is, you're not as interested. But, if there is an element of randomness… well, you're more inclined to keep trying."
"I see…so what you're saying is…I should make quest rewards random? But then, why would anyone do them?" Luna asked in confusion.
"Ah, but see, you make PART of the reward random. Think about an adventurer finding a treasure chest: What's exciting is what COULD be inside the chest, right? It could just be some junk, or gold, but maybe it's a rare magic item! So, what if there were special chests you could earn as a bonus quest reward?" Kazuma asked.
Luna frowned. "I don't really have the budget for that. The rewards are the rewards, and I can't just add in something more…"
"What if we take just a little? Most of the time, you open up a chest with just the regular reward. But, there's a small chance that you get a chest with a special rare reward, like a magic item, or, I dunno, a succubus coupon?" Kazuma suggested. Then, his mind started racing.
"And, to make it even BETTER, make it so there are multiple chests! You can just put the really good reward in one, and after completing a quest you get a key to open the chest!"
"That could work," Luna said slowly. Then she brightened. "Oh! I know, I could get someone to enchant the chests! So, based on the key I gave out, you'd get a set prize, it wouldn't matter which one you opened! But, when I pop open the other chest, my goodness, would you look at that! There's the super rare item, you were so close!"
"Yeah, that's a great idea! The illusion of choice, like a shell game!" Kazuma agreed, then drew further on the scummiest gacha tactics he knew of. "And, you need login bonuses and streaks!"
"Login bonuses?" Luna asked, confused but still enthusiastic.
"Yeah, see, if you complete quests multiple days in a row, there are special rewards! For two days, it's only 100 eris, but if you do a full week, it's a set of health potions! And if you complete a quest every day for a month, there's a huge bonus!" Kazuma suggested.
"Ah, like extra keys to the chest, or free ale," Luna said, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "Yes, yes! And, I could offer extra bonuses for completing quests that I'm having a hard time getting off my hands. Like, an extra key, or an extra day of bonus pay! Ah, and the bonuses could be small, like you said, but if you work really, really hard, I can offer better and better prizes! Yes, yes this could work…come on to the back with me, we have to draw this up!"
Luna turned out to be absolutely scummy when it came to manipulative tactics, and she caught on to the worst of the gacha methods extremely quickly. She even came up with the idea of having special "golden keys" that guaranteed better rewards as a special bonus, and indeed came up with the most devilish scheme yet.
"You know, I just have to say they can win a 'magic item,'" Luna mused, looking at the parchment of the scheme they had drawn up. "I need to make sure that some of the magic items really are valuable and powerful, but the others I can just get from Wiz's shop. They're all bargain bin stuff that are universally useless, but if an adventurer gets them as a rare prize it's technically fulfilling my promise."
"That's exactly the sort of scummy tactics that gacha games use!" Kazuma laughed. "They'll have a banner with a super powerful rate up hero or weapon on it, but right alongside it will be something worthless that no one wants! And you have a 50-50 chance of getting the worthless one along with the good one. Those sorts of SSR are the worst!"
"I don't know what all that means but I think I get the general idea," Luna said, a wicked smile spreading over her face as she wrote down her ideas. "Plus, Wiz really is a dear. I'm happy to give her shop a little business. Besides, maybe some of those items will turn out to be useful after all. You never know."
Kazuma seriously doubted that, but he did remember the most important part of gacha games.
"Listen, we've got the waifu aspect covered with you and the other guild girls and the succubus shop. But we need to branch out! Where are the husbandos?! The cute femboys?! Or the bara bait?! We have to diversify a bit."
"Waifu…I assume that is some sort of slang for an attractive woman?" Luna asked. "So, I would be your 'waifu?'"
Kazuma blushed. "Um, well, you're pretty much every adventurer's dream woman…"
"I know, Becky tells me I'm one of the most popular choices for her services. I'm both flattered and disgusted, to be honest, but if that's the carrot I need to use, I'll do it. Now, husbandos…I assume you mean attractive men?"
"Yes, exactly!" Kazuma agreed. "We need some hunks to get the ladies excited."
"I think I know just the man for that!" Luna laughed.
She glanced at Kazuma, who preened a bit. "I guess it's time for my popular phase…"
"Oh, no! Sorry, Kazuma. Um, you're not ugly, but…well, considering you have a party of three ladies and none of them seem all that interested in you, I don't think you're really husbando material," Luna told him matter of factly.
Kazuma deflated, feeling about six inches tall and slumping in his seat. But before he could get angry, Luna touched him on the leg.
"Don't worry. Personally, I find smart, hard working men to be the most attractive sort. Keep this up, and perhaps you'll be an SSR Husbando yourself," Luna told him.
That got Kazuma truly motivated, and he set to work with Luna to turn the Axel Guild Hall into the scummiest gacha one could imagine.
First, they set about getting the prizes. Wiz was delighted to sell the guild several completely useless magical items, such as a toilet that lit up when you sat on it, or a toothbrush that sang a dirty limerick while you brushed your teeth, but was impossible to hear because it was in your mouth.
As for the chests, Kazuma remembered that Megumin had said that her father made magical items, and had her commission ten chests and an assortment of magical keys with her father.
"You…you really care about my family this much? Do you have any idea of what this means?" Megumin asked Kazuma when he told her about the amount of eris Luna was willing to spend on the items.
"Yeah, it means that you owe me, and that your dad is as weird as you are," Kazuma teased her.
"Hmph. Well, I appreciate it anyway. Do not think that a Crimson Demon will forget such a debt!" Megumin told him, and then left with Yunyun to go home and get the items made.
As for Aqua, Luna had a special mission just for her.
"You want me to ask who for what?" Aqua demanded when Luna explained her plan.
"I told you, I want you to convince Sir Mitsurugi to help promote my new plan," Luna explained. "It would help if he dressed up in a cute costume while he did it. Kazuma has explained to me that gachas often have characters dress up in cute outfits to promote SSRs, and I really need the female adventurers to be on board with this."
"Right, but who's this Mitsushugi guy again?" Aqua asked, scratching her head.
"You know, Matsumoto. The annoying guy who's sword I stole? Keeps trying to prove he's your biggest simp?" Kazuma prompted.
"Oh! Katsurugi! Why didn't you say so? Sure, I can talk to him," Aqua agreed. "But, what sort of outfit do you want him wearing?"
"Kazuma has told me of this outfit, known as a 'tux.' Can you make one? Kazuma says you are an accomplished seamstress," Luna asked, smiling at Aqua.
"Ha! I am a GODDESS of sewing," Aqua bragged. "I'll sew the sexiest tux you've ever seen for Mitsubishi."
As for the last problem, Kazuma recruited Darkness, and went to talk to Vanir.
"Ah! Moi is pleasantly surprised to find the young boy who has discarded the illusion of love in pursuit of material wealth, and the tarnished knight who disdains honor in favor of carnality!" Vanir cried as they entered into Wiz's shop. "Come in, come in! Is there more of the worthless trash the foolish shopkeeper has hoarded that you wish to rid moi of?"
"Actually, I was hoping we could get you to do something for me." Kazuma gestured to Darkness. "Or for her, really."
"Kazuma, I do not understand, what is it you need me here for?" Darkness asked in confusion. "Did you not need me to carry something heavy, to abuse me for my body?"
"No, I just need to abuse your perverted nature," Kazuma said. "Hey, Vanir. Take your shirt off. I'll make it worth your while."
"You wish for moi to disrobe? Moi must excuse you; moi is not as those succubi, feeding from base emotion," Vanir said with a dismissive sneer.
"K-Kazuma! That's not the sort of thing you can just ASK someone!" Darkness gasped.
Kazuma leaned on the counter, cupping his mouth to whisper to Vanir. "Listen, we need to rustle up some husbandos for Luna's new scheme, and word on the street is that your masked appearance does it for some people. So whip off that shirt and I'll see to it that the guild buys up every worthless piece of junk that Wiz hauls into the shop."
"Hmm, thy offer is tempting, but-"
"And I promise you'll get to feast on the despair of every adventurer when they get a bad SSR or a junk summon, or just realize that they can never have you as their true husbando."
"Your offer intrigues moi. Very well."
Vanir's chest rippled, and instead of taking off his clothes, he just reformed them so that his chest was bare. Kazuma had to clamp down on a spike of jealousy, because Vanir was absolutely ripped. The damn demon had a six pack, as well as muscular arms.
"Does this satisfy thee?" Vanir asiked, tilting his head to one side.
"Not me, but that's what Sir Pervert is here for." Kazuma turned around to find Darkness covering her nose, which was bleeding slightly as drool dripped out of a corner of her mouth. He nodded and turned back to Vanir. "You pass the test. We'll just need you to show up to events and serve drinks sometimes. Don't worry, we'll pay you in both eris and all the despair you could ever want. No one knows true despair like a gacha gamer who blew all their summons on a banner and walked away without the SSR they wanted.
Even with all that, coming up with the exact rates, putting together banners and fliers, and figuring out exactly what the most optimal scheme to motivate Adventurers would be. Kazuma ended up putting in a lot of long hours with Luna, and was surprised to find she was much more than just a pretty face.
Indeed, the more time Kazuma spent with Luna, the more he realized she was a dirty schemer just like him who was happy to use her sex appeal to get people to lower their guard before plunging in the dagger.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Kazuma said one evening after they had finished designing the common, rare, super rare, and special super rare chest packages. "You're getting me to work on all this for free! You never actually promised me any sort of compensation!"
Luna looked up from packing one of the chests with the items they'd decided on and smiled at Kazuma. She turned towards him, leaning forward so that he got a glorious view and gave him a wicked smile. "I thought you would remember…I told you I would make it worth your while."
Kazuma blushed and folded his hands over his chest. "Well, what if I want my payment now."
"Well, I could offer you some eris," Luna mused, straightening up. She grimaced and popped her back, grunting slightly. "Ugh. These girls are good for snookering people, but my back always hurts at the end of the day…"
"I uh…" Kazuma stammered.
Luna rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I'll make you an offer. You can have the eris, and I'll pay you a stipend…or you can save up and see if you get an SSR."
"W-what's the SSR?" Kazuma asked, licking his suddenly dry lips.
"Well, you once had the name of Scumzuma for something you did to a certain thief…perhaps an SSR like the one you got from her," Luna teased.
"I, um, I…I think I'll just keep helping," Kazuma stammered.
Still, after work, he went down to the succubus shop.
"Welcome sir, I- oh! Mr. Sato! What can I do for you today?" the young succubus Kazuma had once rescued asked him.
"Hey uh…I don't actually know your name," Kazuma admitted.
The young succubus grinned. "Call me Lolisa! It's the name Dust gave me, and I like it."
"...that's way too appropriate…"
"Well, I like it. I owe you one, so I can give you a custom dream, on the house!" Lolisa offered.
"No, I actually need to speak to Bethadrillin…Bethadilla…to Becky," Kazuma said, grimacing.
"Well, I'll get Bethandrilina for you. Is this guild business for Luna, then? I'll be there at the grand opening as an SSR myself! I don't fully understand, but it means more business for us! We're even going to be getting a few incubi. If you'd like one, I can put you on the preorder list for their services," Lolisa offered.
"Er, no. I…I just need to ask Becky a few things," Kazuma sighed.
"Well, OK then!" Lolisa agreed, and a few minutes later the head succubus herself came out.
"Well, Mr. Kazuma! What can I do for you today? Or is this about Darkness? I must say, her appetites are really enjoyable. I would almost consider employing her here, or keeping her as my own pet when I need to blow off some steam."
"That's…that's a picture…I shall treasure forever," Kazuma sighed. Then he quickly shook his head. "No, see, I need to ask…you're a woman of, um…considerable assets."
Becky smirked and shifted her position to better show off her supernaturally enhanced figure, though really it wasn't a patch on Luna's own chest. "Indeed, succubi mold ourselves to the male fantasy, and I think I know yours…want me to provide you with a special dream?"
"No! I…look. I was thinking…do you ever get lower back pain?"
Becky blinked, then took half a step back. "Well…yes. A lot of the girls do, actually. Why?"
"I was just wondering…what do you do to relieve it? You see, Luna was complaining about it, and, well…I was thinking…"
Kazuma wasn't really sure what he was thinking, aside from the fact that he really wanted that SSR.
"Ooo, are you pursuing our ever elusive guild head?" Becky giggled. She nodded to Kazuma. "Well, actually, there's a few things that help. Back rubs, for one, are the most enjoyable, and probably exactly what you're looking for to reach that big moment. Another is a good bra, which sadly I can't wear while I'm on the job. The most important thing is good posture, but Luna's a good girl and I think she had that covered."
"I, er see, um, well, I er…" Kazuma stammered
Becky winked at him. "I think I knew Luna's measurements pretty well. Let me get you something from our stock for her. You've been a good customer and looked out for Lolisa, so I don't mind this one being on the house."
And so Kazuma had to sneak back home with several bits of ladies undergarments, for once not the sort that he had stolen. They were, unfortunately, unused, but he very carefully packaged them up and hid them away for a better time.
After weeks of preparation, the guild rolled out their new gacha style reward system, with large banners and promotions.
"Complete a quest, earn a special bonus!" all the guild girls said excitedly, waving the flyers. "Get a chance at a super rare SSR when you earn a key!"
Most of the Adventurers didn't pay it any attention, as Luna had tried various schemes to coerce them into completing quests before. But this time, Luna had a plant in the audience. They waited until the evening, when all the Adventurers were in for some extra drinking, despite almost none of them having done a quest that qualified for the new campaign that day.
"We completed a quest!" Kazuma said proudly, and he and the three girls stepped forward, proudly presenting their cards.
"Oh my, you're the first ones! Well, as a special bonus, I'll give you each a key to open our new prize chests!" Luna said, handing each of Kazuma's party members a key.
"What, a key?" Aqua asked, confused. She and the other girls weren't really in on what was happening, Kazuma having decided it was best if his actresses' reactions were genuine.
Megumin, being the smartest one, knew just what to do, having some suspicion of what was going on. "Ha! As the Foremost Genius of the Crimson Demon Clan, I shall use my key, and obtain this legendary SSR that the fliers speak of!"
Megumin took her key and walked over to one of the chests that now lined a special wall. She closed her eyes, putting one hand to her forehead and extending the other. "Hmm, yes…I can sense…I can sense the SSR! The treasure of legend is mine!"
By then most of the Adventurers were watching, more out of curiosity than anything else. Megumin thrust her key forward, turning in the lock with a click. The key vanished in a swirl of rainbow sparkles, and a rainbow of light erupted from the chest.
"My goodness," Mitsurugi said, stepping forward in a tuxedo and reading from the notes he had on his hand. "The fair maiden has opened a chest with an SSR within! What, ah, treasures await her!"
Megumin greedily reached into the chest, then whooped and spun about, holding aloft a glowing magical staff with a large red crystal on one end. "A SUPREME MANATITE STAFF, THE ENVY OF MAGES EVERYWHERE! WITH THIS FOCUS, I SHALL CAST EXPLOSIONS THAT SHALL SHAKE THE WORLD ITSELF!"
The guild hall erupted in gasps and murmurs.
"Woah, a Supreme Manatite staff?"
"That thing is worth 10,000,000 eris!"
"Do all the chests have something so valuable inside?!"
Everyone watched as Darkness stepped forward, blushing and holding out her key. "Um, I-I would like to open a chest as well…"
"Not so fast, it's my turn! Katsurugi, gimme a chest!" Aqua ordered, shoving past Darkness and holding up her key.
"Er, it's Mitsurugi, Lady Aqua…"
"Whatever, just let me at that treasure!" Aqua ordered, and eagerly put her key into a chest. This time, the light that came out was slightly gray, as if it were a bit dusty.
"Yes, the SSR is mine!" Aqua declared, and reached in. She pulled out a bag, which she blinked at. It was slightly tattered, and when she spilled the contents into her hand, all that came out was a somewhat rusty dull dagger.
"What?! But…But I'm a goddess! I should get a super rare SSR!" Aqua wailed. "This is just a common piece of junk!"
"MWAHAHAHAHA~!" Vanir laughed, coming up with a tray of drinks and smirking at Aqua. "Once more, the fallen goddess who loves drink more than her followers comes up short!"
"YOU DAMN DEMON, YOU STOLE MY SSR!" Aqua wailed, and took a swing at Vanir.
"Ah-ah-ah. No refunds," Vanir tisked. "Thy unseemly comportment is typical, but moi offers you this beverage in commiseration."
"Hmph. Gimme," Aqua huffed, and took the glass of ale, going over a table to sulk and nurse her drink.
"It's your turn now, dear," Luna told Darkness, giving her an encouraging smile.
"O-Ok," Darkness said, and carefully walked over to the chest. The other Adventurers held their breath as Darkness opened it.
A golden light emerged, and Darkness gasped. She reached in, and pulled out a bag of soft red velvet. She opened it up, revealing a magical rope."
"Ah, yes, a rope of binding, from Wiz's magical item shop!" Luna said brightly. "This rope will tie someone up, then loosen on command! It's a rare item! Congratulations!"
"What's the catch?" one of the more experienced Adventurers asked.
"Well, the rope has a tendency to let go whatever you tied up no matter who asks it to," Luna admitted. "But it's still fine for tying other things. Well, unless it decides to randomly tighten…it's been known to break things that way…"
"This is a perfect item! I love it!" Darkness gasped, clutching the rope to herself. "I-I think these new keys are wonderful."
The Adventurers turned to Kazuma expectantly, but he shook his head, pocketing his key. "I will save mine, I think."
"Why, Mr. Kazuma, whatever for?" Luna asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Because, dear Miss Luna, as a wise Adventurer knows, when you save up ten keys and open ten chests at once, a rare or better item is guaranteed to appear! And, if you have 100
keys…YOU ARE GUARANTEED AN SSR!" Kazuma proclaimed.
That got the guild hall buzzing with excitement.
"WHAT?! A GUARANTEED SSR?!"
"I think it's more worth it to just save ten keys, some of those rare items have to be valuable!"
"I'll just use every key as I get them, 100 is too many! I just know I'll get lucky with an SSR!"
"Just imagine, you open a ten mil chest, and you're set for years!"
"We want a quest!"
"Yeah, give us a quest that gives us keys!"
"Oh my, well, the board is over there," Luna said, gesturing. "But I only have so many quests…but remember! If you complete a quest daily, you earn bonus items, like free drinks, extra keys, or even bonus eris!"
The normally lazy Adventurers scrambled to the board, and soon it was barren of all quests. Even though it was night, some parties took off right away, determined to earn their super rare reward as soon as possible.
Nodding to himself, Kazuma went over to Luna, giving her a thumbs up. "Well, that worked pretty well! I think perhaps your problem of too many incomplete quests is solved."
"I think so. And thank you, Mr. Sato," Luna said, winking at him. Then she sighed and popped her back. "Ah, lots of hard work, but I am worn out…even I need a break sometimes."
"Er, yes, um, well…I was thinking about my compensation…" Kazuma said.
Luna raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you got that when I agreed to give your party member a 10,000,000 eris prize. That's going to set me back months, you know. That's the operating budget of the entire guild for weeks!"
"Hey, that's for her, not me! I want something myself," Kazuma said, folding his arms over his chest.
"Oh? And what is that, exactly?" Luna asked.
"I, er…want…" Kazuma changed what he'd been going to say, deciding it was too scummy even for him. "To give you a back rub!"
"Huh?" Luna tilted her head to one side, obviously at a loss for words.
"Er, you see, I was talking to Becky…and she said one way to help with lower back pain from, uh, well endowed girls...is a back rub! She er…gave me some pointers…"
That had been an extremely embarrassing dream. As it turned out, it wasn't just the girl that the succubus could manipulate inside of a dream, but the dreamer as well. She'd practiced on Kazuma, then had him practice on her…never again…but it had felt good.
"Well. That's…not what I expected," Luna said slowly.
"Um, I-"
"But I suppose I wouldn't say no to a good backrub. As long as it's only a backrub, Mr. Sato."
"I told you to call me Kazuma! But yeah, just a backrub…"
Luna led Kazuma to the back, then up to her own private room. "I expect you to be a gentleman, Kazuma…"
"Well, you know me, always a perfect gentleman," Kazuma said, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"Oh, I do know you. That's why I'm very suspicious. I'll have you know that I know perfectly well how many of my undergarments are in my drawers, and if so much as one of them goes missing…"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh! It's just a backrub…and it's my reward!" Kazuma said, thrusting out his chin.
Luna glanced at him, then turned her back. "Well, close your eyes then…"
Kazuma complied, then opened one eye halfway. He watched Luna take her shirt off. She did have a sort of bra, but it clearly was some sort of old-timey harness, not a more modern one. She took it off and put both of her articles of clothing into a hamper, then lay down in just her skirt and stockings.
"Alright, you can open your other eye now, mister. I think we can consider that at least half your reward…"
Blushing, Kazuma went over, and began to knead Luna's back just like Becky had shown him. He concentrated, trying not to think too hard of just how his fingers were touching…Luna's bare skin!
At first, Luna was a bit stiff, then she moaned softly and relaxed. "Oh my. You are quite good at this…"
"I told you, Becky showed me how. Apparently, the succubi are expert masseuses. It's one of the services they offer to, er…high level customers…"
"Mmm. I might have to go myself, then. Oh, don't stop, Kazuma. I'm not into the succubi. Though some of those incubi are cute from what I've heard."
Blushing, Kazuma continued his ministrations, until his fingers started to cramp. "Um, that's all I got…"
Luna stirred on the bed, then stretched, arching her back like a cat and causing a great deal of excitement to Kazuma.
She grinned up at him lazily. "Well, that was a pretty good reward for you. There's the door. Close it on your way out…"
"I, um, er…would you…wouldyouliketogotodinnerwithme?" Kazuma babbled, backing away towards the door.
"Mmm, yes, dinner would be nice. But later. Sleepy…"
Kazuma slowly opened the door, and glanced back at Luna. But she had her eyes closed, and appeared to be asleep already. He could go for a bonus SSR…
But instead he closed the door and crept away. Kicking himself the entire time.
Author's Note:
This story is back, thanks to my very special s, who voted for this! I'm now holding monthly votes now on and on my discord server for what stories people want to see updated. If you'd like to join and vote, you can join the discord at /Qj7cGXqwA5 The discord poll is free, so if you want to see more like this, let me know!
The next part of the Luna story will be posted in ten days time (I won't just leave you hanging).