4 Fire

Desire awoke to the room that he was sleeping in. It was a simple room decorated with wooden door, wooden walls and wooden roof… basically a wooden room.

"Yawn~"

As Desire was letting out a yawn of relief, he remembered what happened yesterday.

He was brought to the village of the Suckus and there he met Liya, the mother of Lyra. Although she was much older than Lyra, she looked just as young and beautiful as her daughter.

Due to his not knowing the tradition of the Suckus, which is that if one offers up mana to suck on to a Suckus, he suddenly proposed to Liya.

There were a lot of problems regarding that tradition but it did happen so it was a trouble.

Desire tried hard to explain that he was but a baby so he couldn't get engaged to a woman at his age but…

"It's fine! A Suckus lives more years than a human so mother will be able to wait for you."

Said Lyra.

That's not the issue here, is it? Was the first thought that Desire had on her statement.

And so, while he was reluctant to accept this turn of events, he was engaged to Liya.

What's more troublesome is that…

"What? Hahaha! Congrats, Liya!

"Have a happy wedding, you two!"

"When's the wedding anyways?"

The people in the village accepted the engagement so easily. Even though he was but a child, what he had as a response was

"Wait, isn't that a child?"

"Does it matter to us if he is?"

"Guess you're right!"

…the laughter of the people as they talked about how it didn't matter if he is.

Desire sighed.

"Why did that happen?"

"Hmm."

While he was contemplating about what happened yesterday, he heard a noise from his right side.

The body of a woman was shown as she turned around to hug Desire.

This is probably something to die for most men but definitely not for Desire.

"At this rate, I'll just become a member of their village isn't it?"

Although he didn't mind becoming one because he liked monsters, if it meant that it would bring to a halt for his growth then that changes things. If his growth was stopped, that would mean his future as well.

After all, he is but a weak child who only has one mana.

One mana that doesn't seem to run out no matter how much Lyra, a Suckus, sucks.

That doesn't mean it's bad to stay a few years here to grow up but…

"I'll become attached to them that I won't be able to leave."

Indeed. The problem was Desire's own feelings. He knows how easily attached he is to a monster. What a loving child he was.

That is why he set a goal for today.

That is to sort out the loose ends that had happened yesterday.

"I will tell them about how I want to go out!"

He will tell them.

****

On a place where the trees of various colors were abundant, there was a meeting taking place.

Ten women were sitting across each other with the roots of the trees as their chairs.

They had beautiful appearances from body to face. They also had various colors when talking about their hairs.

The woman who was leading the meeting was Liya. She spoke.

"That child was delicious."

She said that with a vicious smile spread all over her face.

"W-was it that delicious? I heard he was heaven itself!"

One of the women asked.

The other women got their interest pique, expecting an incredible answer.

"It was. He was incomparably delicious to any other child. I wish I could have more!"

Liya spoke with saliva flowing out of her mouth. One could indeed say that she was from a race originating from a succubus.

"I wish I can have a taste of his mana too! I wonder if he will let me?"

"If he did let other women have a taste, we wouldn't be having this meeting."

"Indeed, just hearing it from someone who tasted it is already as good as a human's food!"

The women here were talking about their newfound taste of mana of Desire.

As his mana was truly delicious, it wouldn't be weird for them to lock him up and have him serve as a food stock.

"Ah! If I am to compare it to…"

The women continued their discussion. After some time, the meeting ended and each of them went their own ways.

Liya, the one who looked over the meeting, was walking by herself.

It happened when she was about to jump to the stairway made of the vibrant trees.

"Liya, may I have a moment?"

She was suddenly stopped by a voice. The voice had an adult-like tone contrary to the owner's young body.

Liya spoke.

"Yes. What is it?"

"It's about our marriage. You see, I can't stay in here for a long time."

Liya spoke immediately in a carefree tone.

"Oh it's fine. Suckus' women usually have children with males from other races so we don't really mind it. "

She shrugged her shoulders and she continued with stars sparkling in her eyes.

"What's more important is your mana! Can't you just stay here to let us eat it?!"

Desire sighed inside his mind.

In truth, he already expected this. Judging from the reaction of Lyra and Liya, he guessed that the usual taste of mana is bad.

When Desire asked why they have to eat mana, Lyra answered as thus.

"Mana is essential to us Suckus. As we are a race born from a Succubus and a Dryad, we are, if you simplify it, life forms that are weak. That's the reason why we can't stop eating mana."

From the response of Lyra, Desire tilted his head.

"Don't you have mana? I mean, you can use magic."

"That's different. We have our own mana, that's correct, but the mana that we eat from another is one that helps us restore our life force."

With that explanation, he concluded that he will be wanted and needed in any village of Suckus.

Desire answered Liya's question with a hardened expression. Liya couldn't read his facial expression though.

"I can let you eat it but I can't stay here for long. I'm grateful that you are willing to let me stay but I want to meet more monsters!"

He would be satisfied with his life in the village but the reason of his growth being stopped…That was a lie, of course. Desire thought.

He knew that he wanted to meet more monsters. He wanted to learn more about them. He wanted to get to know each of their individuals. His passion as a monster lover, despite being human, was as hot as the blazing sun.

At that moment, various calculations were being calculated in Liya's mind.

'W-what do I do!'

'How do I make him stay?'

'Is he leaving now?!'

When she finished, she arrived at the answer of "I have to ask him if he's leaving now!"

"S-so are you leaving now?"

"No. I'm thinking of leaving after some time."

"I-I see. That's good then."

Desire thought that Liya was acting strange.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I have to thank you somehow for staying with us."

"Ah it's fine since you're letting me live here as a baby."

Liya thought that was wrong since she and her village will be eating his mana. Even if the action seems easy, the burden of having lost some mana is huge, especially so if it is a child.

"I insist! How about I teach you some magic? Times are dangerous in the forest as some humans are burning it so I will teach you water magic!"

Desire widened his eyes. Teaching someone magic is definitely something one wouldn't do just because there's some money in it. Magic is a way of life for some, a passion for many.

And Liya was saying that she'll teach him magic just because he'll let them eat his mana… Even for Desire who only had monsters on his mind, this was too shocking of an event.

"Okay! Please do!"

He said with a slightly higher tone than usual.

"Okay then, we'll do it tomorrow. Let's have breakfast first."

At the mention of breakfast, Desire was sure that he saw some smile that had hidden intentions behind it on Liya's face.

Deciding not to think about it, he followed after Liya's footsteps.

****

"Get the barrels!"

"Go go!"

"We're done here!"

The sun was still up in the sky as numerous men were bringing barrels of something in the forest.

The man who was overlooking such an operation had a plump belly and his neck couldn't be seen from the fat.

"Sir Tell!"

A loud voice rung out from the surroundings and the fat man, Ted Tell, moved his entire body just to face the man.

"What is it?"

"We have finished our preparations."

"Good! Good!"

Tell gave out a compliment for his subordinate that has done his work magnificently. He soon looked over the forest and said with drool slipping out of his mouth.

"With this, I will be able to have as many of them as I want!"

As he said that with a voice full of lust, the man who reported to him was disgusted to the end of his bones. He thought that many men were far more deserving of his position.

'All this work just to satisfy your tiny little thing…'

Indeed. All of this was being done at the words of Tell who wanted a night with a Suckus. All of the work was being done with that in mind and many people had discontent about it but they couldn't voice it out.

As Ted Tell was a baron from their nation, they could only suck on their thumbs.

As the man changed his field of view, the barrels of water…no, oil was seen. It was thrown to the ground. The barrels lined up in a horizontal line and they numbered many. It wouldn't be strange to say that this is a waste of resources.

"Lit the fire!"

Despite his inner thoughts, he still did his job diligently and he watched the forest burn brighter than the sun.