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Year 16 AL, Complications With His Dream


Luka stood in the middle of Iliasburg's plaza with a bit of hesitance. He, Alice, and the four Former Bandits all stood in front of the plaza's large fountain. The reason for his awkwardness? He was trying to collect a crowd so that the bandits could apologize to the people.

However, Luka wasn't what one would call a public speaker.

People passed on by, giving the purple-haired boy a wave or a quick "thank you" for his Heroic deeds the day before. But each time he tried to beckon people closer, the words failed to leave his mouth. Alice stood by in her Human disguise, looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else at the moment. The Former Bandits stood behind Luka as he nervously wrung his hands together, still not having gotten to his point yet, if he ever would at this rate.

'At this rate, he's just going to give himself an aneurysm.' Alice sighed, stepping forward towards the boy with exasperation. "Hey, everyone! LISTEN UP!" The Monster Lord yelled, catching the group of villagers off-guard. She gestured to Luka, "The Hero would like to address you people or something. So let him speak!" She turned around pointedly, walking over to the fountain to sit down on its steps.

Luka gave a shaky smile as the entirety of the people in the plaza now had their attention focused solely on him.

"H-He-Hello everyone!" The young Hero said, trembling like a leaf. "I h-had heard t-tell of there being a bandit problem in this f-fair village, a-and I am happy to announce that I-I have, erm, solved the problem!" He announced, much to the confusion of the villagers before him.

Luka stepped to the side, presenting the four scared-looking Monsters with a hand. "I found the bandits, and they are here to r-renounce their evil w-ways and apologize to y-you good people." He declared though the people seemed confused at Luka's proclamation, staring at him while murmuring amongst themselves.

"Eh, what is he talking about? I don't know anything about bandits."

"Bandits? Did I miss something?"

"The only Monster I ever see is that weird snake-headed girl."

"Hey, I think I saw that one with the helmet going through my trash last week."

"Someone should send for a doctor; I think that swordswoman gave the boy a concussion."

Luka matched the people's confused look, slowly turning towards the four somewhat embarrassed-looking Monsters. "Uh, you four did terrorize this city, right?" He asked, to which the four all gave hesitant nods.

"Y-Yeah. I usually stole food for us since we didn't have any money..." Papi the Dragon Pup said, her gaze on the ground as her tail curled in between her legs.

Vanilla ruffled around in her cloak, suddenly finding a stray tear in the black fabric very interesting. "I took this from one of the clothing stores. I, eh, can't create my own yet..."

Teeny, still wearing his red cape, covered a part of her face with the garment. "I stole a washboard, we didn't have anything to clean clothes with..."

Gob trembled where she stood, wriggling her small, gloved hands. "I got my hammer from the weapon's shop. I thought it looked cool, so..."

Luka regarded the four with a befuddled gaze. They weren't even really bandits. Aside from Gob's hammer, all the stolen goods were out of necessity. 'They aren't criminals, just misguided kids...' His heart hurt at the idea, straightening up some as he turned back to the people.

"W-Well, these four did steal some here and there though they do feel very bad for doing so." He held his arms out to the onlookers, "C-Could you good people find it in your hearts to forgive them?" The growing crowd peered at the four sad-looking kids, more of them speaking up.

"Well, they don't seem so bad. I wouldn't mind them being here." A woman said.

"Hey, that Dragon can help me in my shop if she wants! Her fire could help me out a lot!" The blacksmith from earlier called out.

"At least they don't look like that Amira, she freaks me out. Every time I find her in my trash, I get one step closer to having a heart attack!"

"Goblins are strong, right? She can help me in my warehouse! I don't get around as much as I used to." An older man said.

Luka smiled, pleased at hearing a mostly positive reception from the people. He looked back to the four, whose downcast faces were now brightened. "There you go, it seems like no one has any issue with you guys being here!" He looked over to Alice, who looked at him with an impressed look.

"Huh, look at that. I never figured that Humans would be so welcoming." The disguised Lamia admitted. Luka shrugged while glancing at the crowd, "I-I guess people here are more receptive? My hometown wouldn't have been so nice. They stampeded over Lime, they probably would've had a lockdown over th-these four. Or worse."

The young Hero had been somewhat worried that the people here would react negatively to the girls. 'It's a small step in the right direction, at least. Maybe my dream of coexistence isn't too far-fetched?' Luka looked to Alice to say, "Well, it seems everything will be fine here. I suppose we should take our leave." Just then, he felt a small tug on his sleeve.

Luka looked over with a small hum, seeing all of the four Former Bandits standing before him with smiles on their faces. He couldn't fight the smile that grew on his own face as he looked them over. Before he could say anything, Papi held out a bright red jewel to him. "Here, Luka, I want you to have this!" The purple-haired boy took the jewel into a gloved hand, looking at it in awe.

It was significantly big, fitting snugly in the palm of his hand. It had to be worth a lot, considering its size. "Wow..." He breathed out, looking down at the purple-haired Dragon girl with wide eyes. "...Are you sure? I really don't need this-"

Papi shook her head quickly, cutting him off. "-Nope, you took it from me, so have to keep it now! You deserve it more than we do, anyways! For being so nice, at least." Luka chuckled at the Dragon Pup's words, feeling his heart swell some from the compliment.

"Well, I guess I- Wait," Luka said, squinting at Papi. "You didn't steal this, did you?"

Papi scratched at the back of her head nervously, not meeting his gaze. "Umm, technically no. Some people came by our hideout once and dropped it when I jumped out at them... So I only took it after they left it..." Luka's mouth drew thin at her confession, but she looked at him with intense yellow eyes. "...B-But that's the most valuable part of my treasure collection! So if I g-give it to you, then you have to t-take it!"

Luka peered at the jewel, weighing his options. It wasn't necessarily very Heroic to accept gifts that happened to technically be stolen goods, but he didn't want to upset Papi either. In the end he just shrugged, "Okay, I'll take it then, just make sure you try to return stuff you find, okay? Even if those people left this behind, they might still want it. Can you do that for me?" Papi nodded furiously, a heavy blush on her cheeks as she backed away.

The young Hero slipped the jewel in his bag, not noticing Alice's curious gaze following the gem.

Next was Vanilla, who walked up to the boy with a playfully smug expression. "Feel honored, Hero Luka! For I have a gift for you as well!" Said Hero raised an eyebrow at her tone, halfway expecting a prank of sorts. However, he was caught off guard when the Vampire presented something small in her hands. Looking into her palms, he saw that it was a small flat rock. It was a greenish-gray color, and it seemed to sparkle some when the sun hit it just right.

"Oh," Luka said after Vanilla deposited the stone in his hand. "This is a very nice rock."

The blonde girl became aghast at his wording, "Very nice? It is absolutely splendid!" Vanilla grabbed his hand, pointing at the stone erratically. "Look at the flat and smooth texture, and the shape! This is no ordinary rock, Luka!" She let go of his hands and looked up to him with fierce eyes. "It is a special rock, one of the highest quality!"

Luka put his hands up, "Okay, okay, thank you very much for giving me the very most special-ist rock I've ever seen!" He exclaimed in an attempt to satiate the girl. Vanilla nodded, "Much better." The Vampire girl said as she turned away, her face covered by a self-satisfied smirk.

Next was Teeny, who slithered up to him slowly. "I don't really have much to give..." She reached up to her neck, removing the red cape Luka had given her earlier on the hilltop. "...So I figured I could at least give you this back-"

Luka stuck out a hand, stopping the girl in her tracks. "-Keep it." He said with a smile, "I don't need it back that bad." Teeny stared at the boy in confusion, spurring the young Hero to elaborate. "I've done well without it so far, I'll be fine. You probably wear it better than I do, anyway."

The purple-haired Lamia blushed heavily at his compliment, slowly falling back in line with the others. "O-Okay. Th-Thank you, Luka." Alice watched intently as the girl left with the red cape, her golden eyes watching attentively.

Finally, Gob came up to him and immediately pulled something out from behind her back for him to see, something that threw him for a loop. "Is-Is that? No way..." Luka trailed off. Alice looked over the boy's shoulder, curious as to what the Goblin had shown him. Upon recognizing the item, Alice cursed under her breath.

"How in the Hell!?" The disguised Lamia whispered.

In Gob's gloved hands, was Luka's first walking stick. "Cool, huh!?" She said, waving the thing around in her hand. "When we passed that tree back there, I thought I'd find a stick to replace your other one since I broke it. But this thing just fell out of the tree before I even climbed it! So I figured I'd give it to you!"

Alice watched on, dumbfounded, as Luka was reunited with the stick she had thrown up that tree the day before.

Luka gripped it strongly once receiving it, a wide smile on his face. "Thank you, Gob. This is wonderful!" He gripped her in a tight hug, causing the Goblin to yelp. However, Gob's look of shock quickly turned into a wide smile, and she started to lean heavily into the close contact...

...For perhaps, too heavily, as one Monster Lord noticed.

Alice coughed loudly, causing the two to jump. "Luka, we have places to be? That Honey village won't save itself, remember?" Luka rolled his eyes some, though made sure Alice didn't see the movement. He let go of Gob, the Goblin girl seeming a bit agitated by the interruption.

"I know, I know, we're going now." Luka said, looking back to the four young Monsters to give a wave. "Alright, stay out of trouble, you four. I mean it, I might just come back to make sure of that myself!" The Former Bandits all waved back, various goodbyes coming from each as he walked away from them, Alice joining him as he walked away.

"Just a moment." Alice said, and Luka felt the disguised Lamia dip her hand inside his bag, her hand retrieving the red jewel Papi had given him. The young Hero looked at her quizzically as the Alice gave the gem a once over. "Hmmm, just as I thought. Strange that such a thing would be here..." He heard her mumble as she held the item up to her golden eyes.

"What, is that thing important?" Luka asked as Alice continued to gaze upon the gem before swiftly returning it to the boy's bag.

Alice gave him a vague reply, "It's nothing for you to worry about right now. But keep it close." The purple-haired boy raised an eyebrow at Alice's non-answer but kept quiet about the subject.

And so, the Prophet and the Monster Lord made their way through Iliasburg's marketplace, passing by the hustle and bustle of the town's shopping center. The odd duo brisky went through the walkways, heading for the eastmost exit of the village.

Luka was in high spirits, a large smile adorned on his face as he walked with a skip in his step beside Alice. The Lamia watched as the boy hopped from stone to stone, occasionally using his walking stick to pole vault some distance ahead of him. Alice didn't bother hiding the look of confusion on her face as she questioned him. "What are you doing?" She asked, catching the boy off guard. Luka stumbled a bit, catching himself with the aid of the stick. His answer, however, only made things less clear for her.

"Step on a crack, and you'll break your Mother's back." He said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the World.

"Wha... H-Huh?" Alice said while doing a double-take, her face becoming dumbfounded at his bizarre reply. Luka glanced at her for a second, before returning to his little game. "You know, it's like a little challenge. You do whatever you can to not step on the cracks, or you lose. Have you never played that before?" Alice gave a very prolonged sigh, giving a simple and somewhat obvious answer.

"I don't actually have feet, Luka. So I have no choice but to "step" on cracks." Luka cringed at his own obliviousness, having not even thought about that fact. "Ah, y-yeah, I guess that would make things more difficult." Thankfully - or unthankfully, depending on who you ask - a certain familiar presence made herself known, taking attention off of his blunder.

"Haha! Just as I had expected!" Both the Prophet and the Monster Lord flinched at the voice, watching as the reverse-Lamia Amira jumped out from behind a food stand. Luka was the first to muster some sort of reply. "O-Oh, it's you... again... A-Amira..." The snake-headed Monster seemed ecstatic at Luka's words.

"Of course it's me; like the thorn to your rose, I will never leave you!" The reverse-Lamia said as she "slithered" closer to the pair. "The Hero can never be without his true Heroine, after all." The statement, interestingly enough, seemed to get a rise out of Alice.

"T-True Heroine, since when!?" Luka gave his traveling partner a curious glance, not quite understanding why Amira's words would bother her so much.

"Ah," Amira said, "It may not be obvious looking at me now, but I am actually a beautiful princess! But I was changed into this hideous form by a terrible witch! Now, the only thing that can change me back is by the kiss a true Hero..." The snake-headed Monster peered at Luka expectantly...

...An errant wind blew through the now awfully silent marketplace.

Luka coughed into his free hand, "Re-Really? Well, I... sincerely hope y-you get that someday, when you eventually find this H-Hero... wh-whoever he may be..." Alice scoffed at his words, "She's obviously lying, Luka. She isn't a princess."

The reverse-Lamia made a loud clicking noise with her tongue, "Tsk, how awful of you to claim such a thing! Even if it isn't true, you cannot brush me aside so easily, my rival in love."

Alice's golden eyes flashed, "Rival?" Luka took a small step forward, trying to quell the sudden hostility. "Hey, you know, I think it's time for us to go, right Alice?" However, Amira was not finished. "Not so fast, my dear! If words cannot sway you, then perhaps my magic can! Heart Splash!"

The was a flash of light, one that left as quickly as it came. And when it did, it appeared as if nothing had happened. Amira shivered, "Oh, that seemed to be the wrong incantation... I-I don't feel so good..." Then, Amira dissipated much like any Monster Luka would seal. However, nothing was left behind as the reverse-Lamia vanished.

The duo stared silently at the spot Amira had been standing in, bewildered at what had just occurred. "Uh, you think she's okay?" Luka asked, but Alice looked unconcerned.

"Let's go, Luka. If you spend so much time with stupid things like that, you'll never reach the Monster Lord's Castle." The young Hero nodded hesitantly, following at Alice's side as they headed eastward through the marketplace.


The trip towards Happiness Village had been, so far, an uneventful one. Not that Luka was one to complain about that. In fact, it was a nice change of pace for the boy, who felt himself a bit overstimulated by the hectic first half of the day thanks to the former Four Bandits.

Though, Luka couldn't say that he regretted it. Despite how... much, Amira was, he felt thankful that she pointed him towards the four in the first place. If not for that, those girls would probably still be living in that barren cave living as thieves, which couldn't have been a great set-up for them. Now, at least they could live somewhat normal-ish lives in Iliasburg, hopefully. 'As long as nobody mistreats them...'

Luka glanced up from the stone path, seeing the forest that the famous Happiness Village was home to some hundred meters away. It wouldn't be long until he and Alice would arrive. The purple-haired boy looked over the forest, a tinge of worry in the back of his mind.

'I wonder what type of Monsters lurk in there...' Luka wondered, thinking back to what he had encountered thus far.

Outside of the Bandits and Amira, the only other Monsters he had faced were the Worm and Leech girls. The Worm hadn't been too bad, aggressively needy, but easy to deal with. The Leech, on the other hand, had been actively malicious and had very nearly beaten him. If it wasn't for Gob, he'd be in that Monster's awful tentacle-filled maw.

Luka shuddered, the thoughts of that Monster's particular ability invading his mind in the worst way. He sincerely hoped that he wouldn't meet something like that again. However, just in case...

He held his walking stick under his arm, reaching for his familiar journal and pen.


Unknown Leech: Common Leech

Strengths - Strong and fast tail, tentacle mouth

Weaknesses - Slow body movement, not much mobility with rest of body

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Very Hostile

Luka's Notes: Not one I wish to meet again. Make sure to keep distance and eliminate tail advantage


"Took you a while to write about that one, didn't it?" The yet again un-disguised Alice asked, eyeing his writings. Luka nodded after a moment, burying the book inside his bag. "To tell you the truth, I was kind of avoiding it. That was probably the least pleasant Monster I've encountered..."

Alice watched him closely as he walked, the purple-haired boy's face becoming somber as he tried to put his feelings into words. "...The Leech, she really was ready to violate me right then and there. No hesitation, no pretense, just like that. And she would've, too, if Gob hadn't done what she did..." Luka's blue eyes searched the ground ahead of him, "...And then what she was going to do to Gob, I-I just can't understand how someone can be that cruel."

Luka raised his gaze, finding that they were well within fifty meters of the forest. It was then that Alice finally spoke. "You'll find that there's a very wide range of Monster behavior. Just like Humans, there can be good and there can be bad. Especially among the more powerful Monsters."

Alice squinted her eyes at the ground, mulling over something. "Monsters of that type have never been my favorite, either. Parasites tend to indulge in more infamously unsavory practices. They aren't too popular with Monsterkind as a whole, really."

Another round of silence fell upon the two, causing the boy to fall into thought once again. 'So I guess some types of Monsters are more problematic than others. Is that simply because of their nature, though? Or is it because of a need to survive? I'd hate to think that they're simply born that way. It seems unfair to cast such a judgement, but even Alice seems to imply that they're not highly thought of...'

The two finally entered the forest, the previous stone path very abruptly turning into a dirt path, much like the one they transversed when leaving Ilias Village.

The forest itself was very lush. The leaves of the trees were bright green, almost shimmering in the sun's rays with how colorful they appeared. The same could even be said about the tall grasses and shrubbery. And, to the boy's delight, the flowers all around were simply magnificent! All types of colors and shapes could be found, many of them being ones the boy didn't even recognize.

For a split second, he thought about going to investigate the plant life, but he thought against it. 'The last time I went around caressing leaves, a naked Monster nearly blew my eardrums out. So, it's probably for the best that I don't try my luck again.'

"Do you know why the village we're going to is called Happiness Village?" Alice's out-of-blue question caught him off guard. The boy hummed, swinging his walking stick around for a moment in thought. "Well..." Luka began, formulating his hypothesis.

"...Happiness Village is a beekeeper village. So they get to harvest a bunch of honey all day, which sounds super fun. I mean, I'd be happy taking care of all those bees and getting to use all that delicious honey. Ooo!" The young Hero stopped, gesturing at the flowers all around. "That, and I imagine they'd probably have whole fields of flowers like these. So, after a long day of beekeeping and honey harvesting, you can spend your long evening relaxing and frolicking in the flowers!"

Luka turned to Alice, a large smile on his face. "Is that close?"

The Monster Lord's gaze was one of absolute bewilderment. The boy's sickeningly sweet descriptions were nearly too much for her to handle. "N-No. That is. Not. Close. At all." Luka's smile quickly dropped from his face as Alice mustered an explanation. "Happiness Village is derived from its neighbor, Harpy Village."

"Oh..." Luka said plainly. "... I think I liked my idea better. But I can see how that works. Happy and Harpy have just the one letter difference, after all. And sound quite similar." A sudden silence befell the forest, raising a bit of suspicion in the boy. Silence in a normally loud environment was never a good sign. Before Luka could voice this concern, though, a noise broke through the silence.

Bzzz

Luka paused, hearing a distinct buzzing noise somewhere in the distance towards his left. The purple-haired boy stayed frozen for a moment before hearing it again, this time louder.

BZZZ

The boy turned slowly, his pale blue eyes cautiously scanning the foliage on the left. There seemed to be some rustling going on in the thicket, but he couldn't tell if it was related to the buzzing or not. Unsurprisingly, he noted Alice was gone again, giving him a heads up that this was indeed a Monster.

BZZZZZZ

Luka jumped as a large shadow ran across the ground in front of him! He looked up to the canopy but couldn't make out anything more than the silhouette of the tree tops due to the sun poking through. 'Where is this-'

THUD

His unfinished question was answered with uncomfortable quickness, as a large impact resound directly behind the boy. Luka froze in his tracks, eyes going wide as he gulped at the sight before him. On the ground before him, a large shadow completely engulfed his own. This could only mean that whatever was behind him was significantly larger than he was.

Very slowly, Luka turned his head to peer over his shoulder to get a look at the Monster in question. Somehow, his pale-blue eyes widened even further at the sight looming over him. "Oh boy..." The young Hero muttered to himself, looking up at the sight standing over him.

The Monster was an insectoid, specifically appearing to be a giant bee. Standing over twice his height, the Monster was quite large. His head probably only came to just above her waist, at best.

Looking up at the Monster's face - a difficult feat since his proximity plus her very generous breasts size equaled a very impaired view - Luka found the half-lidded gaze of the Bee's dull yellow eyes. Her short hair was a similar color, and she had two small and admitting cute-looking antennae coming out the front of her forehead.

From there, things became increasingly less Human-like, as from her back, around the light green fluff that grew from her collarbone, was a set of large bee wings. 'That's probably what the buzzing was, then.' The boy thought idly to himself. A bit more alarming was the fact that alongside her regular pale, Human-looking arms was another set of much more insect-looking brown ones that ended in a single black claw. The wrist of each set of arms had green fluff around their wrists, much like around her collarbone.

In fact, below her chest, the rest of her body was mostly insect-like. Her abdomen looked to be like that of a Bee's, being covered in a bright yellow exoskeleton. From her waist down, her body was the same brown as her extra set of arms, and each bend in her legs had pronounced black joints. The only Human-like quality from then on was the shapeliness of her calves and her Human-like feet.

All and all, it was a much more overwhelming sight than what he had expected.

The Bee Monster suddenly bent down, looking at him with the same aloof gaze. "Do you like honey?" She asked bluntly. Luka blinked owlishly at the question before nodding carefully, "Yes, yes I do." He answered truthfully.

"Good, come with me." She said, then reached out quickly, grabbing the boy with her insect arms.

Luka yelped as he was yanked against her body, dropping his walking stick as the Bee suddenly lifted her wings and flew off into the thicket with him. The purple-haired boy panicked, struggling against her tight grip before, as quickly as she had taken off, she landed once again. Thankfully, the Bee girl released him, placing him gently on the ground feet first before sauntering past him.

The boy stood still with his arms out, trying to steady himself from the very sudden flight he had just taken. Looking around, Luka found himself in a small clearing in the woods. On the ground were scattered patches of flowers among the green grass; something Luka, despite the concerning situation, had to appreciate.

'See, who wouldn't frolic in these? Alice just needs to appreciate the simpler pleasantries of life.' He thought, giving a light shake of his head.

Luka glanced over to where the Bee had gone off to while placing his bag on the grass, seeing her standing by a very large piece of honeycomb. Despite the honeycomb being quite large, the Bee girl lifted it up with relative ease, bringing it over to him before setting it on the ground before him. Upon being dropped, the hexagonal holes leaked with golden-brown Honey. The Bee girl folded her arms under her large chest, peering at him expectantly.

"Try some." The Monster demanded bluntly, her half-lidded eyes still looking at him in an aloof manner. Luka looked between the Bee girl and the honeycomb, feeling a bit indecisive about the idea.

On one hand, it was very peculiar that this Bee would basically kidnap him just to have him try her honey. More likely than not, there was an ulterior motive behind this though he wasn't exactly sure what it might be. On the other hand, Luka was worried that denying the free honey would offend the Bee Monster.

Eventually, Luka tentatively removed his glove and reached out a hand, scooping up a little bit of the thick substance with his left pointer. He looked at the Bee, who had her yellow eyes transfixed on him now. Nervously, the young Hero licked off the Honey quickly in one motion. 'Pretty sweet, not as sweet as the Happiness Honey, but sweeter than the stuff I had gotten from Ilias Village.' He looked at her with a small smile, "Y-Yeah, that's pretty good, I'd say."

The Bee smiled wide, clasping both her Human hands together. "Wonderful, now I want you to try this."

She grabbed him by the hand, pulling him a bit forcefully around the honeycomb until they reached a particular hole in the piece of hive. In the orifice was a much lighter-colored honey, much more golden than brown, almost milky in appearance.

"This is my own special mix, I've been working on it for the last few hours..." Her yellow eyes gazed intently on him, "...Would you try it and let me know if it tastes better than the regular honey?" Something about her tone was a bit off, almost as if she was a bit too excited for him to try the stuff.

"Umm... s-sure, yeah..." Luka quietly answered, feeling a lot more nervous as he dipped a finger in just like before. However, this honey felt different from the rest.

It was very warm.

"Y-You said you just made this?" He asked, bringing it up to his face. The Bee nodded vigorously as she responded, "Oh, yes. I just finished not too long ago, so it is as fresh as you can get it." Luka glanced down at the warm Honey before sticking the coated finger in his mouth. It was readily apparent to him that only part of the substance was the Honey, as there was something else there alongside it.

It tasted almost... salty? It wasn't bad to him though. In fact, surprisingly, he found himself liking it quite a bit.

"Huh, this is actually really good. It's a bit different from what I'm used to, though. I don't think I've ever had salty honey before." A look of satisfaction gleamed in the Bee's yellow eyes, and she spurred him towards her special concoction with a nudge of her wing.

"I'm glad you love it so much, darling. Go ahead, have more." The cadence in her voice caused him a bit of discomfort, but he took just a bit more with a finger as she leaned in, watching him closely. "So, is it better than the regular honey?" She asked as he had his second taste.

Luka mulled it over some, his liking of the Bee's creation growing after his second trying of it. "Honestly, I do like it better than the regular honey. I think you've done well with this." The Bee stood up straight, looking down at him with a very pleased expression. The young Hero looked at her quizzically, "Tell me, what did you add to it?"

The Bee squatted down next to the boy, her face mere centimeters from his face. "My love~" Her voice was low, amorous.

Luka glanced between her and the "special" honey, his eyes questioning. "Y-Y-Your... love?" The Monster nodded, her antenna lightly brushing up against his head as she elaborated. "Homemade by me for you, my new Husband~"

The purple-haired boy froze in his tracks, his hand having been outstretched for a third taste. "Erm, what? H-Husband? Wait, wait, waaait!" He backed up quickly from the Bee, holding his hands up. "I-I can't be y-your Husband!" Luka backed away as the Bee's smile grew.

"Of course you can, preferring that honey over the regular type is half of the marriage agreement, you know. Now, since the first half is done, we can get to the second: consummation."

Luka gave a nervous chuckle at her words, moving to put the honeycomb in between the two. "S-See if I had known that I-I probably wouldn't have tried it then!" He tried to reason, "I didn't m-mean to lead you on, m-miss..." He trailed off, spurring the Bee girl to complete his sentence.

"My name is Honey." Luka raised an eyebrow at her answer though she cut him off with a knowing gaze. "A bit banal, I know. It's a common name in my family..." She narrowed her eyes at him hungrily, "...But you'll get used to moaning it, very soon~" Honey suddenly flapped her wings, jumping up into the air before zooming down on him with outstretched arms.

Luka yelped as he jumped back, dodging her sudden pounce. The purple-haired rolled across the grass, coming to a stop in a bed of white tulips. 'Huh, these are surprisingly soft.' He thought for a moment, pushing himself up with his right arm. He gasped as he saw Honey making a beeline towards him, all four arms extended towards him.

The Bee Monster collided him harshly, pushing his body back down whilst straddling him. Her second pair of arms pinned him down, stabbing through the cloth on his shoulders and lodging themselves in the ground. "Don't be stingy. It's only fair for me to have a sample of you since you seemed to like your sample of me so much~"

Honey's statement threw him off-guard. Luka was about to ask what she meant, but a hot and wet sensation down by his pelvis caused him to stop right in his tracks. He peered down, noticing with horrified eyes that the sensation was coming from her loins, which were positioned right on top of his. Thinking back to her words, a pit grew in his stomach as he realized that the substance she had added to the honey...

...was from her.

"Oh, do you feel that darling? My Honeypot seems to be overflowing. You should be a good Husband and tend to your needy Wife~" He felt her gyrate her hips, grinding her wetness against his crotch. Luka gasped; the lewd act admittedly having stirred something down low inside him. The young Hero pushed his feet against the ground, hiking his hips upwards into her.

The Bee's eyes went wide, a startled moan coming from her lips at his thrust. However, her weight being pushed off of him gave Luka the opening he needed. He sat up some, grabbed Angel Halo from his now-freed back, and swatted at Honey. The wild swing caught her secondary right arm, severing the appendage at one of its joints. She yelled out, flying off of the boy to stop several meters away.

Luka jumped up to his feet, trying to ignore the tightness in his pants that was forming. His breathing was quick, and so was his heartbeat. A strange mix of budding arousal and anxiety ran through him. "St-Stand down now, a-and I'll l-let you walk away p-peacefully!" He tried to say commandingly while pointing the sword at her, though his voice wavered terribly.

Honey squinted at him with a smirk, seemingly unaffected by the injury. "Such a tease you are, rubbing against me like that and then acting as if you don't want me just as bad as I want you. Or is that what you want? To make me frustrated, so that I come at you even harder?" She chuckled, outstretching her wings once more. "Hehe, I love the way you think!~" She took off, away from Luka this time, and disappeared into the foliage.

Luka stood frozen on the spot, squinting into the thicket anxiously. Suddenly, it struck him just how quiet everything had become. Not even a lone breeze could be heard as the boy started to revolve, finding that the Bee had simply just vanished.

Bzzz

Luka jumped and swiveled, the underbrush behind him having just moved. However, when he looked over, he didn't see anything except for movement among the trees and bushes. Then, he heard Honey's voice ring out.

"Oh, how cute you look out there, my Husband. You look so tense, why not loosen up? We can take a honey bath together! Though I have to warn you, I might get a bit hungry for something more than honey~"

Luka gulped, the tone of the Bee girl sending shivers up his spine.

BZZZZ

The purple-haired boy whipped around again, the Bee girl's flying now closer. Yet again, though, he found nothing but shuffling foliage.

"You know, it's customary for a Bee girl like me to create a nest after finding a mate. We could start out small, maybe just a couple dozen children at first..." She paused, a chuckle coming from her as he began to pace to the side, moving closer to the Monster's honeycomb. "...But we can always have more, you know. I'd love to try; we'll see how fertile we both are!"

BZZZZ

The sound of her flying ripped through the clearing, the Bee speeding at him from the side. Luka was barely able to see her fast approach, only just able to dodge in time. He swiped high as he did, severing her left wing! He heard a pained yell come from the Monster before the sound of a large crashing sound resounded in the clearing.

Luka glanced over to where Honey crashed, finding a somewhat humorous sight.

It seemed as if the Bee had tried to stop herself from crashing, if the trail of unearthed dirt was any indication. Honey herself was stuck upside down in the now busted-open honeycomb, her body covered in the golden-brown sweetness. The Monster flailed, evidently unable to move whatsoever, muffled buzzing coming from the Bee's single working wing as she strained against her self-inflicted binding.

Luka lowered his sword, feeling somewhat bad for the Monster as she squirmed around uselessly. Her yellow eyes met his blue ones, a pleading look in her gaze as the young Hero approached her. "A-Are you finished, now?" He boy asked.

Honey thrashed harder, only getting more of her namesake onto herself as the honeycomb leaked more of its viscous liquid onto her. "Y-You..." She moved to grab him, but Luka didn't even have to jump away as Honey's arms fell short of him by a significant amount. "...G-Get over here, right now!"

Luka shook his head at the Bee and then looked down at Angel Halo as debated with himself for a moment, 'Should I seal her? She's already kinda stuck as it is. It would seem cruel to just finish her off when she's like this...'

The young Hero finally placed the blade on his back, aiming a stern gaze on Honey. "Sorry, I won't be doing that, especially after what you tried to do. Y-You can't just go around kidnapping people and forcing them against their will. It's wrong." He began to turn away, content to leave until Honey frantically called out to him again.

"Pl-Please, don't go!" The suddenness of her pained tone caused Luka to quickly whirl around, and he was caught off guard as Honey spread her legs, presenting to him her most private area.

Between her legs, Luka saw Honey's her large, swollen vulva. It was red and visibly throbbing before him hypnotically as it leaked arousal like a fountain. "It h-hurts... I n-need you, please." It was a heartfelt plead, a surprisingly vulnerable one at that. Luka stayed silent, too stun to muster a reply as his heart sped to an alarming speed in his chest.

"J-Just once, at least." Honey begged, "Just enough to breed me, and then you can leave, I-I promise!" She exclaimed.

Luka shook, the Monster's rawness cutting into him in his heart. The Monster was more than just needy. She was desperate. He could see it clearly, there was suffering in the Bee's yellow eyes.

Honey's gaze grew more hopeful at his staring at her display, a shaky smile on her face. "S-See!? Y-You can't deny that you want it, too. I felt you through your pants earlier, your body craves this as much as mine does!" The Bee took her hands, spreading herself open more with a low groan, an act that caused Luka to hitch. "L-Look, I'm all ready for you right now! Let go of your doubts and just come take me!"

For a scant second - as quick as a heartbeat - Luka actually felt temptation come across him. At that moment, the purple-haired actually considered her offer, but the feeling was quelled as soon as it arose.

Luka shook his head, "N-No! I-I'm sorry, I-I-I can't do th-that, I won't." The purple-haired boy turned around again, stepping away from Honey. He heard her thrash about madly behind him, and even worse, the Bee started to call after him

"NO! COME BACK!" Honey wailed from behind him. Luka twitched, forcing himself to keep moving and pick his bag off the floor as the Bee kept crying out to him. His face broke out into a grimace as he felt an odd shame arise inside himself as he disappeared into the thicket.


Eventually, Honey's crying faded from his ears. However, Luka kept hearing her words replay in his mind like clockwork.

Each step he took away from her felt like a thousand steps. Despite his own thoughts on the matter, an odd desire to rush back to that Bee and help her kept coming back up. Luka didn't know if this desire was because of his own lingering arousal betraying his usually pure thoughts or if it was because of her very obvious pain. But either way, it bothered him greatly.

Luka shook his head, trying to clear the mess that was his mind at the moment. 'I couldn't do something like for her. I'm Ilias's Prophet, to break her First Commandment is unthinkable!' The purple-haired broke through a line of trees, thankfully finding himself on the path to Happiness Village. 'But that Monster, she wasn't putting on an act. That was real emotion, real suffering. She begged me, pleaded for my touch. Was it right to leave her like that?'

His mind felt foggy and unfocused. He'd never quite felt that conflicted on something before.

"So." Alice's voice came from behind, causing the boy brief alarm. Upon turning to her, he found her questioning gaze, "You humped a Goblin earlier, lapped up a Bee's love juice just now..." Her blunt terminology caused him to cringe, "I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to expect when you get to the Harpies. I'm a bit worried, actually."

Luka blushed, a stutter coming full force in his response. "I-I didn't mean to d-do either of th-those things, I-I swear!" He pointed a finger at the amused-looking Alice. "I-I mean, how would I even know that her honey h-h-had... that stuff in it!?" Alice tsked at him, her white hair waving as she shook her head.

"As a Human, you should really be less trustworthy with every Monster that you meet. It's ignorant to be so unsuspecting, especially since you've only been improving in such little spurts. You didn't even defeat that Monster, you just left her to wallow in lust." Remembering back to the Monster's pleadings, Luka felt himself compelled to ask Alice about the Bee's behavior.

"Does it really hurt? Not mating, that is?" His question caused the Lamia to hum, giving it a bit of thought before answering, "It depends on the Monster. That Bee, for instance, desires to nest. A Bee without a nest is naturally uncomfortable since they are used to living in Hives, so they have a desire to fix that." She hummed again, "Which, coincidentally, is the same issue Happiness Village is having right now. Except, instead of Bees, they have Harpies."

Luka took into consideration Alice's words. 'So different Monsters definitely have different needs. I suppose that's why someone like Lime was so much easier to reason with. But with her I was easily able to dissuade her with something other than mating. Honey, however, only wanted to mate.' The train of thought did little to ease his conflicted mind, but it was an issue he would have to put to the side for now, as Happiness Village was just up ahead...

...And Luka had a bad feeling that things would only get more complicated from there.

Luka sighed as he took out his journal, moving to pen in another entry.


Honey the Honeybee: Common Bee

Strengths - Very fast, can fly, multiple arms

Weaknesses - Seems to have tunnel vision, easy to catch off-guard

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Hostile

Luka's Notes: DO NOT take free Honey from strangers...


Goodbye Iliasburg, hello Happiness Village. And even more issues will arise, as we move along from place to place. More and more Luka will be having doubts in his goals here, as what he wants and what his duties are begun to clash. Speaking of, if anyone is wondering, we will hear from Ilias again soon. Expect these next two chapters to be interesting, especially once night falls...

chronotimeguard: I do enjoy taking liberties with the interactions here. I didn't actually expect to dwell on the Four Bandits for so long, but once I thought about adding an encounter involving them on the way back to Iliasburg, I couldn't help myself.

Guest: It's possible, though honestly, I haven't given that much thought just yet.

Guest: I can confirm that there will be a fight between him and Lazarus, because in this story he does not have a crippled arm.