The more extraordinarily precious a delicacy is, the more ordinary and unremarkable it tends to appear on the outside.
The happiness that comes from hard labor engaging the body and soul has always been like this.
In the evening, before it had turned completely dark, Sasaki, who lived in Room 306, master bedroom of the Apartment Building, had already gotten up and called upon the long-time resident master, Hyoudou Tomoe, to enter the mountains together.
The rugged, winding mountain path that rivaled danger and difficulty was not a burden for the young and vigorous Sasaki.
However, the weather was not on their side.
Just as the two reached the foot of the mountain, it started to rain.
The drizzling rain spread through the valley, forming somewhat swift streams that flowed out from narrow crevices in the rocks deep within the secluded valley.
The rain fell harder and harder, drenching the two who hadn't anticipated such weather.
Even so, it did not stop their passionate pursuit of culinary ingredients.
If anything, it strengthened their determination to enter the mountains.
After all, many delicious ingredients only appear after heavy rain.
During heavy rain, the view is obscured by the curtain of rain, the rugged mountain path is soaked, turning muddy and slippery, making it difficult to walk.
But there was no worry on the faces of the two masters; instead, they held hands, palms pressed together, venturing deep into the unexplored parts of the valley.
In such increasingly perilous terrain, it was not easy for Master Hyoudou Tomoe to keep up with Master Sasaki's pace.
However, as a seasoned master who lived in the area, and with Sasaki's assistance, she soon found excellent ingredients.
Under the pine needles, she found matsutake mushrooms, a precious edible fungus known as the "king of mushrooms."
Fresh matsutake caps are brown, and the stems can be different colors depending on where they grow.
The matsutake that Master Tomoe picked had a light brown stem.
The cap of the matsutake she found had no sign of opening, indicating that its nutrients were well preserved.
Moreover, it was thick and firm—an exceptionally fine specimen.
Even during a heavy downpour, such a top-grade matsutake is extremely rare, and this find made the completely soaked Master Tomoe happily flash a "V" hand gesture at Sasaki.
Clearly, she was very pleased with this harvest.
Not to be outdone by Master Tomoe's show-off, Master Sasaki quickly found his own target in the forest not long after she found the matsutake.
Bamboo shoots.
Bamboo shoots are usually hidden beneath thick layers of soil.
From the surface, there might be some clues, but it's not reliable, fake shoots can easily fool beginners.
As an experienced bamboo shoot hunter, Master Sasaki only needed to check how soft the soil above the shoot was to accurately determine whether it was genuine.
The growing period of bamboo shoots is long, and they are not easy to harvest.
"In addition to its tender and delicious texture, it's refreshing, and rich in protein, making it a food many people crave.
So, many bamboo shoot foragers hope to come across ones with flawless quality and appearance...
Master Sasaki was no exception.
He needed to confirm whether the shoot was genuine and worth his time to harvest.
So, he used his damp hands to dig through the soil.
Once he found a shoot, he gently extracted it, trying not to leave any obvious marks.
He then peeled away the outer shell, revealing the tenderest tip inside.
It was large and upright, indeed a rare, high-quality bamboo shoot.
Although it wasn't the largest one Master Sasaki had ever harvested, such a find still made this mountain trip quite fruitful.
However, it was unclear whether it was due to the dense miasma in the deep valley or the increasingly heavy rainfall.
Miss Hyoudou bent down to collect matsutake mushrooms.
After harvesting a lot, she gradually began to feel chest tightness and shortness of breath, eventually suffering from severe diarrhea.
Master Sasaki, affected by her condition, also experienced a serious bout of vomiting.
Their physical discomfort made it impossible to continue gathering ingredients, so they sorted their haul and left the deep mountains.
After returning home, Miss Hyoudou being physically weaker, took a rest.
Master Sasaki wanted to throw their clothes into the washing machine, but as he stepped out, he ran into Miss Sakashiro, who had come to observe their harvest.
Seeing her, Sasaki was quite surprised… Before he could ask much, the latter anxiously demanded the matsutake mushrooms that Hyoudou had picked on the mountain.
Though he had seen Kurumi being affectionate with Miss Hyoudou before, that was no excuse for her to seize someone else's hard-earned work.
Seeing that she intended to take them by force, Sasaki naturally issued a stern warning, but he was no match for her glib, clever words and her naughty tail.
…
…
…
"You're a succubus?!"
On the living room sofa, Sasaki repeated his shock upon seeing Kurumi Sakashiro's tail.
A succubus's tail is the most private part they're ashamed to show.
Unless under unbearable stimulation or in front of someone extremely close, few succubi would ever reveal their little tails.
Now… Sasaki's attention was drawn to the black tail drooping along Kurumi's back like waterweed that had lost its source.
Her tail's shape was different from Stella's flower-bud-like one.
This was a long, thumb-thick tail resembling a black ribbon, with a peach-shaped tip.
Well.…it fit his impression of a succubus quite well.
Now that he knew she was a succubus… Sasaki's first thought was whether the dreams Tomoe had were her doing.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Looking at the succubus sprawled on the carpet, resembling a soup dumpling that had been bitten, constantly… Sasaki asked again:
"Hey, Tomoe's dream, was that your doing?"
After all, she was a succubus, with maxed-out resistance to the aftereffects of that kind of thing.
It didn't take long after Sasaki asked before she regained her senses.
She pulled her little tongue back into her mouth, blinked, and returned her gaze from upward to forward.
Then, sitting up straight in a duck-sitting posture, her previously limp tail regained its vitality.
After lazily waving in the air a few times, it covered up… the gap in the soup dumpling.
Without any pretense, she stretched her arms lazily, letting Sasaki's gaze linger on her body.
Sakashiro Kurumi narrowed her eyes and let out a satisfied hum:
"Mmm~ It's been a while since I've tasted the flavor of home."
After a sigh, her watery eyes looked toward Sasaki sitting cross-legged on the sofa and voice carried a smile with a teasing touch of complaint:
"You're really too much. After all I've done to help you, you didn't even remember my name."
When he first met her, he thought she was overly enthusiastic toward him.
And now, hearing her admit that she was the one…
Well ..even though he couldn't quite figure it out why, but she had indeed helped him, not to mention, they were already like this, so, Sasaki smiled and corrected the way he addressed her:
"Kurumi~~"
"Don't call me that so mushily."
Though she said that with her mouth, her bright and beautiful eyes squinted in delight, it was obvious she liked being called that by Sasaki.
It was actually her first time... (I can't tell author is obsessed with it)..Succubus magic is usually gained through that kind of method.
By all logic, she should be as weak as Stella and the others.
But she was able to approach him silently... that hardly matched the idea of someone weak.
Adding to that her unexplained kindness toward him... the doubt in Sasaki's heart made him ask.
"Kurumi, why are you helping me like this?"
"Helping you..."
As she picked up the scattered clothes one by one, Sakashiro Kurumi explained with a cheerful smile:
"I can't really say I'm helping you, right? You already figured out I'm a succubus~"
"Succubi need to eat too. Putting a bit of seasoning into plain soup is pretty normal, don't you think?"
Seasoning... she must be talking about him, right?
And the plain soup would be referring to...
Glancing toward the bedroom, Sasaki asked. "This might sound weird, but shouldn't I be the main dish? How did I become just the seasoning packet..."
"Mm."
Putting on her undershirt, Sakashiro Kurumi responded while slipping into her outer layer. "Watched too much internet stuff, huh, boy~"
"A succubus won't eat that unless absolutely necessary."
"..."
"So, what do real succubi usually eat...?"
Seeing the increasingly strange look in his eyes, Kurumi paused in the middle of putting on her shorts and said helplessly. "Don't get weird ideas. Succubi can drink blood too."
"Let me put it this way: succubi and what you people call vampires actually originate from the same source."
"The 'vampires' you speak of are succubi who came out of the 'Inner World'.
Because they didn't want to get close to men, they drank too much female blood and turned into what they are now."
"From years of malnutrition, their complexions turned pale, their bodies became thin, even their tails disappeared.
They can only reduce energy consumption by sleeping long hours."
"If I hadn't met you, I probably would've turned into that kind too, once I lost my tail."
Rubbing her slightly bloated belly, Sakashiro Kurumi slipped on her shorts and continued with the lazy tone of someone who had just eaten:
"You smell really nice, like the 'blood essence' we eat in the Inner World. The taste is also very similar."
"So before I got a taste of you, I thought you were like a seasoning packet made of 'blood essence'."
Now that she had explained why she manipulated Little Tomoe's dreams, Sasaki became interested in the 'Inner World' and 'blood essence' she mentioned, and continued asking.
After living here for a while, Sakashiro Kurumi found it harder and harder to treat people as mere walking food.
So in the face of Sasaki's unending questions, she didn't get annoyed—instead, she patiently answered him.
"The 'Inner World' is where we originally lived.
It has many beings that you people consider mythical, like the snow woman tribe, the ogres, dragonkin, elves, and so many more."
"Succubi are just one of the many races."
"'Blood essence' is a type of mineral... Hmm... you can think of it as rice or simple meat in human diets.
For succubi, it's irreplaceable and irresistible."
"According to the old succubi, the composition of blood essence is the same as the stuff you men shoot out when you're bored."
"But your stuff smells awful and tastes even worse. To compare, it's like rotten rice or spoiled meat, eating too much of it will make you sick, or even die."
"A normal succubus wouldn't touch that stuff unless she's literally starving."
"Even then, most succubi prefer to use female blood instead. It has no taste or nutrients, but it fills the stomach.
Only a very rare few succubi would actually eat that nasty stuff."
Tidying up her clothes, the now fully dressed Sakashiro Kurumi habitually squinted her eyes, bent forward with a beaming smile, and asked Sasaki:
"Anything else you wanna ask, boy~?"
Well..although he didn't wanna be called a boy, however, for a woman, who's lived for probably many centuries, he was indeed one.
So, Sasaki didn't mind her words.
Instead, he instinctively reached out and pulled her soft little hand, hugging her into his arms.
Sakashiro Kurumi's height wasn't much different from Otome's.
Add to that the pink hair and the passionate session they've been through, it kinda remind him of that girl.
So, similar yet so different.
With his head nestled in her warm, fragrant chest, Sasaki asked the last two questions that had been lingering in his mind:
"How did you all come here? Are all succubi from the 'Inner World'?"
Gently stroking Sasaki's hair like she was soothing a child, Sakashiro Kurumi sat on his lap and replied with a smile:
"Coming here is all about luck. Hmm... it's kind of like those isekai manga you boys read, it's all accidental."
"Like falling into another world while looking at your phone, getting hit by a dump truck and reincarnating, or dying from staying up too late,it's all random.
There's no rule, and all sorts of things can happen."
Having explained that part, she continued, "Saying all succubi come from the 'Inner World' isn't quite accurate. It's more like this—what you understand as magical creatures, their origin is from the 'Inner World'."
"Just like how the two sides of a coin are never the same."
"Under normal circumstances, your 'Outer World' doesn't have beings from the 'Inner World', and the 'Inner World' doesn't have humans... but nothing is absolute. Accidents happen~"
"Humans who accidentally enter the 'Inner World', and those like us who stay behind in the 'Outer World', we can reproduce too."
"So, the succubi or other magical beings you see might be hybrids, or purebreds who ended up here by chance."
"Also, some of the ghosts and spirits you people claim to see... that's because cracks open between the realms.
The aura from the 'Inner World' infects the souls of the dead, which is why they continue to exist."
"Otherwise, in a place like yours, where magical factors are so lacking, it'd be nearly impossible for magical creatures to appear."
Now Sasaki understood the truth of the world, but there was still something that didn't quite fit with what he had heard before.
Recalling what the little succubus had once told him, he lifted his head and asked in confusion."Can't succubi be born from plants?"
"Plants?"
Hearing his words, Sakashiro Kurumi paused for a moment, then let out a small laugh and said.
"That must've been what that little Iga girl told you, right?"
"She wasn't born from a plant.
She used a secret art to erase her memories, fuse her body, and then extended her life by borrowing the form of a plant."
"That's a third way to survive, avoiding blood-drinking, avoiding men, and it's... a method very few succubi would choose because it's such a thankless hassle."
"Even if you live a long time that way, you're not really yourself anymore... doesn't that mean the previous 'her' still died anyway?"
Not sucking man, not sucking blood, instead sucking oneself.
To be honest, she clearly couldn't understand that choice.
.
.