"It's just a cold… I don't know why you concern yourself with so many precautions…" Mysteltainn punctuated her sentence with an inelegant sniff.

The head of the now famed Cursed Sword Sisters was seated in a room located in the Grangold Magical Academy. She was surrounded by several dark silhouettes strongly varying in size, covered from head to toes and examining different magical tools. The succubus was more inconvenienced than anything else, and she simply wanted to be done with what looked like a local farce. She recognized the raspy voice escaping the tallest of them.

"We are concerned because what is only a small cold for a monster can be a deadly disease for another! We had to deal with succubi carrying a disease that was lethal to harpies with the AKQL5 Lust Fever, we had another crisis that nearly killed all the slimes within the castle with the Slimebreaker Plague, and, right when we were done, we almost had to deal with an epidemic of Slashwind that could have been lethal to fairies! Fortunately, we managed to isolate the only contaminated patient back then."

A muffled voice echoed from outside. "And you can thank me for that for once!"

"You're free to leave when you want, Morrigan, I remember hearing that you wanted to go out with Myusca."

"She's still getting scolded by her mentor, so I'll join her a bit later. Right now, I'm keeping an eye out on in case this one's sisters try to break her out. I know mine would."

"In any case, we apologize for the inconvenience, but we're worried what a disease that can affect an extremely powerful succubus from another world can do to the ninety-nine-something percent of the population that is weaker than her. If we were able to simply cure you in a heartbeat, believe us that we would already have done so, but in the meantime, we remain wary because we don't want a repeat of past events."

Mysteltainn sighed again. Granted, she felt exhausted and her mind felt unusually dull, but she certainly didn't need to be treated as a leper. Fortunately, she didn't need to wait for long before one of the two smaller silhouette turned around. While she couldn't see her tormentor's expression, she guessed the emotionless gaze looking at her like she was a medical curiosity and not a legendary succubus. She refrained from reacting to the ungracious insult.

"Mysteltainn is affected by what is only an extremely common bacterium in our world. This organism didn't have time to mutate, and is not dangerous to any of us as our immune systems is used to deal with it daily. Our common spells and medications were ineffective simply because there was never any need to make them effective against it in the first place. With all the equipment there, we can cure her appropriately in less than a few minutes."

The succubus felt dazed by the logorrhea Promestein just dropped on her. She eventually managed to sort her words, and reflexively repositioned her glasses. "Soooo… It's nothing."

"For now, it is indeed nothing. The spell is already functional actually. We'll just need you to stand near that machine…"

Mysteltainn sighed and got up with another sneeze. "Such a waste of my time…"

The next instant, the succubus felt a rejunevating wave course through her. She felt her mind and her body clear, and even felt better than before. Right afterward, Mephisto removed the large close helmet and smirked.

"May we make it up to you by offering you the company of Hakunen? I did notice that you had quite often your eyes glued on the young boy, and Magatsu will certainly be busy discussing about the nature of magic in Mahoroba with me this afternoon…"

"Fufufu… Such a delicate attention coming from you… I will gladly accept it."

"Oooh, huuuu… Welp, in that case, I'm off to Grand Noah! Once Vinum is done nagging at her pupil, we'll probably get a few meals together. This could be fun… I'm off!"

As the three monsters left them alone, Promestein and Chrome both removed their equipment and started tidying up the lab. As she was giving one final swipe around, Promestein came to a dangerous realization.

"Doesn't she have two sisters?"

Chrome didn't even slow down in her work as she answered. "Yes. There's also that shaman dancer that can change form between human and succubus, and her companion Novissa."

"Then… We might have a bigger problem at hand. I'm pretty sure these are not the only people from other worlds that could be inconvenienced by a disease like that. We never gave anyone a medical checkup."

This time, Chrome completely froze as the words of her partner fully sank in. Of course, they didn't. Nobody would think about something as mundane as biological compatibility issues between people and their environment, and certainly not the one who brought all those people in. Furthermore, if said monsters were anything like alraunes who appreciated living in isolation and were in tune with nature, said problem would be completely moot. However, they were succubi: they had already passed around quite a lot during the conflict with the Land of Night, and had only slightly calmed their libido since then.

"Oh. Maybe we should ask our healers to be ready then. You don't happen to know where they went?"

"No. And by the way, maybe we should train every golem, doll, and mechanical chimera into medicine and white magic as well. Since they can't be contaminated by any virus, they'll be helpful if we actually end up facing another crisis."

Promestein groaned. There went the remainder of her day. "You're right. It will never be completely useless anyway…"

In the Devastated Plains, the two sisters of Mysteltainn were busying themselves by fighting a large group of chimeras. While the older one was striking down her foes one after another with an extreme determination, the younger one was taking down her opponents while periodically whining.

"Come on, Ogretooth! I know you enjoy a good fight, but can't we take a break and enjoy this world instead? I mean I can understand wanting to stay sharp, but we're just exhausting ourselves here! It was fun the first five minutes, but now it's just a grind!"

The large, curvy succubus glared at her younger sister.

"Sooner or later, we will return to our world and get in a fight with those damn angels. I want to make sure we will be ready then. But for the past few days, I keep feeling groggy. We cannot afford to get weaker!"

Executioner nodded in agreement. She herself felt her mind dull ever so slightly recently. Was it something in the very air of this world? And why hadn't Mysteltainn rejoined with them already? Was a plan to get rid of them afoot?

After incapacitating the last of her opponent with another powerful punch wrapped in fire magic, Ogretooth slowly breathed in and out, even as she leaned against the ruins of a wall in exhaustion.

"This was barely more than a skirmish and yet… I feel tired. I don't know if it's the atmosphere or those strange mechanical monsters that drained something from me, but I feel that my skills have decreased."

Executioner carefully got closer, slightly stiff herself as she didn't know what she could say to her sister.

"Maybe it's because of something we ate? The food they cook sure is delicious, but it's not exactly what we're used to."

Another voice echoed from further away. "Or maybe it would be karma catching up to you for taking your frustration onto those poor, innocent monsters."

Both succubi turned around to see Alma Elma sitting on the top of the roof of the only building in the region, her legs swinging in the air while she attempted to smile innocently. In the blink of an eye, she descended from her spot and had joined the two other moody succubi.

"Hello there."

Ogretooth clumsily got up while glaring at the succubus queen. "Were you spying on us?"

"Nope, I just happened to pass close by on my way to Lady's Village when I noticed you. I'm not fulfilling my role as the succubus queen to make sure that all my cute little subordinates behave, even if they come from another world, if that's what you wanted to ask."

"Tch!"Ogretooth haughtily turned around.

"But no more joking around. It looks like you can't help but keep fighting against everything that moves. I can understand wanting to exercise, but maybe you should take the opportunity to kick back and enjoy the other pleasures this world has to offer. There's more to it than fighting."

"See, I told you!"

Ogretooth glared at her little sister before being interrupted by her own sneezing. As she looked at the succubus queen, she was forced to acknowledge that she had a point. As much as she enjoyed a good fight and manhandling her partners, the opportunity to do anything else, far from the other Alliance members was a tempting offer. And besides, if someone knew how to have fun in this world, this would definitively be the local succubus queen.

"Very well… What do you suggest?"

"…We stopped fighting to look at that?"

"And eat! …Mostly eat honestly. It would be a shame if you didn't get to enjoy the culinary pleasures of this world before leaving, after all."

While Ogretooth looked at the generous service in front of her with a clear disdain, Executioner was eagerly eating her lips while Alma Elma was already digging in a large roasted chicken.

When the two Cursed Sword Sisters were brought in the Grandeur theatre, they were quite surprised by what the local succubus queen considered a good time. However, while Ogretooth remained on the defensive, her younger sister was enjoying the show that currently involved Saki dancing with a large group of zombies. She was then utterly enraptured by the sight of the sheer size of the meal offered to them.

The black-haired succubus was still eyeing the buffet suspiciously even as her partners were enthusiastically devouring plates after plates. Executioner called out to her.

"Come on, sis! It's way better than what we ate back home!"

Ogretooth shrugged. She didn't want to say it, but feeling sluggish left her with a smaller appetite than usual. And she could only acknowledge that Executioner was right by all account: the food looked delicious, and even with her stuffy nose the smell alone made her salivate.

In the meantime, the show was quite distracting, if a bit cutesy. Even as her younger sister exchanged salacious pleasantries with the succubus queen, she started eating a little herself, her eyes stuck on the scene. Saki and her zombies all bowed in synch under thunderous applauses. As people were discussing with each other during what looked like a short intermission, she noticed several men checking out her and her two companions as unsubtly as possible. She threateningly punched the palm of her hand in front of her while looking at them.

"What?! Do you want some?!"

The men reflexively turned away in a barely displayed shame. As Ogretooth returned to her meal, she heard Alma Elma giggle.

"I thought you'd appreciate the attention. As a succubus, it's always good to make heads turn…"

"Oh yeah?! Well, I'm not eye candy to be eaten like that! They better remember it!"

"Then maybe you should cover more of your skin? I mean, you're wearing even less than me…" Alma Elma showed off her large bosom being barely held back by her corset.

"…Relax, sis, geeze… You weren't so tense even when we were fighting."

Ogreetooth took a look at Executioner, and, feeling light-headed, sat down.

"…Sorry. I just feel unusually cranky."

"Then maybe you should enjoy the next show, you stick in the mud."

The black-haired succubus swallowed her pride, as she still felt quite heavy. In fact, she couldn't even properly enjoy the next show which involved succubi gracefully dancing with men before turning into a mess of a reverse-rape show for the pleasure of both the male and female audience. She didn't give it more attention than that, instead focusing on the Succubus Queen that was apparently telepathically communicating with someone else.

"Yes, they're both with me. Oh, I see… It won't be hard I suppose, but you should bring her too just in case."

The next moment, the succubus queen groaned and got up.

"It looks like our evening will be cut short… I have friends who want to see you."

"Awww, just when it was starting to get funny."

"We'll come back later anyway. It's just a minor issue, nothing serious."

While she followed the duo, Ogretooth frowned. The succubus queen was hiding something… Did the hero's cohorts finally decide to get rid of them once and for all? She followed Alma Elma while keeping her own thoughts to herself even as she sniffled again. She really still felt unusually… sick, as if they had already poisoned her in preparation for an ambush.

When they stepped out of the theatre, Ogretooth noticed two other companions of the hero, namely that angel scientist and the small impish necromancer. They were brazenly discussing their plans in the open, even as they prepared to strike, but she herself was ready even if her sister was completely ignorant of the stakes at hand.

The moment the duo noticed the succubi approaching, Ogretooth jumped into action and attempted to strike at the succubus queen from behind. However, her slower attack got avoided by Alma Elma easily, the succubus queen jumping sideway with an expression of surprise. The two succubi started fighting each other even as everyone around them dropped everything they were doing to stare at the scene.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Alma Elma sounded more amused than shocked, even as Ogretooth wordlessly kept trying to rush at her with a series of elemental punches. After dodging a few attacks, the succubus queen answered in kind, and Ogretooth was forced to fully focus on defending herself to dodge these attacks. After tanking a punch straight in the stomach, she managed to counter one of the attacks of the Succubus Queen, knocking her back. The two monsters looked at each other, Ogretooth fully focused even if she still felt her mind dull, and Alma Elma with an half-surprised, half-smirking expression.

"Sure, we can have fun if you want… But this isn't the best place, Luka-boy and his friends won't be happy if we damage the city."

Ogretooth didn't answer, instead taking a look at Executioner who was now discussing with the two little scientists. Her moment of distraction cost her another punch in her face, and she stumbled backward before countering her next one with another strike straight at Alma Elma's leg. This time, the succubus queen held fast and managed to knock back Ogretooth in a building, making cracks appear in the wall. Fortunately for her, Alma Elma stopped her assault. She glared at her opponent, and prepared to unleash her full power before being surprised by a familiar voice.

"Stand down Ogretooth!"

Mysteltainn appeared from nowhere to land between both fighters, looking first at Alma Elma who innocently shrugged, then at her sister who attempted to explain the situation before sneezing, making her older sister sigh.

"You were right. She's also sick."

Still stumbling, Ogretooth sneezed again. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Apparently, we became sick recently because our organism didn't properly adapt to this world. They wanted to check on us to make sure this couldn't be anything dangerous, since it's apparently not the first time a plague swept through their ranks. You didn't feel unusually weak those last days?"

Ogretooth looked down in shame and growled. "Yes."

"I suffered the same issue. They can cure that easily, we just need to go to Grangold."

"Actually…" Promestein timidly raised her hand. "We managed to create a readily available alternative to eliminate the need for transportation." She pulled out a syringe from one of her coat's numberless pockets. "So we just created a magibiological solution that we could simply inoculate."

"Ino-what?"

Promestein stepped closer to the succubus while readying the syringe. At that exact moment, Mysteltainn took a concerned look at a freshly-arrived Mephisto.

"It's basically a version that will instantly cure you that we will directly inject you. Now hold still, this will only take a second…"

Just before Promestein's needle made contact with the succubus'skin, the small scientist found herself flying across the street completely shocked while the succubus was panting in panic.

"GO AWAY!"

Ogretooth then took to the sky in a heartbeat while Executioner was scratching her head.

"Huuuh, what's happening? I think I missed a step."

With a lot of difficulties, Promestein got up, her syring somehow still in her hand. "I can only hypothesize that she's deathly afraid of needles because of a past trauma. Did something happen in her youth?"

Mysteltainn was looking at the scene just as shocked as everyone else. "I don't know…"

When she noticed everyone looking at her, the oldest of the Cursed Sword Sisters repositioned her glasses. "I'll try catching her. If she feels just as fine as me afterwards, then it's worth it."

Not wanting to further get involved in this familial issue, Mephisto stepped away while massaging her head. Even before she could start clearing her mind from the random bout that just happened, she received a mental communication from a familiar voice.

"Yes, this is done… Sorry, the mess likely comes from us… What, you meant Grand Noah, not Grandeur? What's happening exactly? You don't know either, but… Fine, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Mephisto sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she glanced at Alma Elma.

"Something juuuust happened in Grand Noah. I have to move to clean up the mess."

"Really? It isn't about our little scuffle?"

"No, and this is what worries me… If this mess didn't bring any attention, then what happened in Grand Noah is certainly worse…"

"Oh… You need a hand?"

"Sure… I guess."

"Aaaand back to the Monster Lord's Castle already… Come on, for once Morrigan had something good to share, she gets called for an emergency by her allies."

"At least it proves that she's well integrated… And besides, we should encourage her own initiatives when they're actually productive and enjoyable for ourselves. She isn't the kind to always share."

"Yeaaaah, I can tell that you were more than happy to get your hands on that monk boy…"

"The faces he kept making were quite cute… I almost lost control of myself for a moment, but I managed to leave him enough energy to make sure he will survive. You didn't suck your partner dry, did you?"

"I might have been a little rougher than what he wanted, but he was alive and… mostly well by the end. For a supposedly legendary swordsman, he was quite the masochist, only reacting when I hit him... What's that crate doing here?"

"Mmmh… It's sealed, there's strange magic pouring from it… It's not a trap."

"Let's open it… Huh, it's that weird yokai hunter that was accompanying them in the Château de l'Amour… What is she doing here, gagged like that? And there's a card from Morrigan with have fun written on it… Come on, we thought she just got better! Really, they won't be happy if they learn she directly sent us one of her ally as a present, let's just teleport her back and-"

"Astaroth? Doesn't that equipment look familiar?"

"Let's see… She has the glamorous veil of temptation, the Heavenly Upheaval stamp and… It seems like she's our little thief who broke in the underground vault not so long ago. Let's bring her in then!"

"Lilith, Astaroth, do you hear me? It appears we have a few issues that involve some of the companions of the hero, would you mind checking out Grand Noah? And did Morrigan happen to report anything about a fight in Grangold?"

"Oh, stop panicking please, it's not like we… Actually, we are going to hurt you. A lot. Even the lowliest of humans deserves pleasure, and challenging opponents deserve the same tenfold. However, ahypocritical, self-righteous thief like you only deserves a huge helping of pain…"

"How should we get started, Lilith? I am currently considering caving her face in, since I would definitively have appreciated this now unusable equipment. I'm not that much appreciative of the nerve she displayed by binding some of our relics to herself, and I am sure event the departed Monster Lord would have approved for once…"

"Are you listening to me? This work is important enough to warrant your attention. You might even get lucky enough to have fun with one of those seven heroes. Although I can tell that you nymphomaniacs already did..."

"Be patient sister… And please close the door. I think we can unbind it from her without killing her, but that would be extremelyyyyy painful… She's annoying me with her struggling, you can carry her if you want. Just don't hurt her too much… Yeowch, you might want to stop doing that."

"I am not actively hurting her, I'm only dragging her on the ground by her hair. I would have spared them if she hadn't used them to dirty the Jinxia hat."

"You're not listening, are you? Tch! Like mother, like daughters… You may want to know that your life may be on the line."

"Stay caaaalm, take a moment to relax, remember this last night with those cute men… we don't want our fun to be over too soon, do we?"

"I am not angry at all, I'm just disappointed that the hero would accept someone like her. He's too open-minded and tolerant with the antics of his partners. We're going to have so much fun together, it's a shame that Morrigan is now away again, taking care of whatever those heroes ask her to do… Well, we'll still have fun in her name anyway!"

"…Fine, I will check on them myself then I suppose… That will teach me for trying to rely on succubi... Damn idiots..."