The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!
Chapter 387 – Inquisitor Gretchen

Singing blades and arrows cut through the otherwise quiet night inside a tavern at Rudura Village. Gretchen Redbaron saw them all, easily dodging their desperate attacks. Tired and hungry from being chased all week. Paranoid, having to always keep an eye over their shoulders. Almost a year after the war, these once proud imperial soldiers of Ortesia couldn't call themselves proud anymore.

They were a shadow of their former glory, evidenced in the rusty swords wielded by weak grips and bowstrings hardly pulled back. One high elf, taking cover behind an overturned table, fired an arrow. Gretchen merely tilted her head. It whizzed past and plunged into the wall behind her.

"Traitor! Horse-fucker! Look at you, parading around with succubus features. Have you no shame?" their presumed leader, wearing the dirty rags that used to be an officer's regalia, shouted.

"The only shame I feel is secondhand, that you attained the rank of captain despite how pathetic your swordplay is," Gretchen chided.

His eyes twitched. Overcome by anger, he lashed out in a flurry of frenzied strikes. Gretchen parried him with her own sword conjured from Holy Armament, bashed him over the head with a shield and knocked him out cold, and then spun around to block two arrows.

"Penance!" Gretchen discarded the sword and drew a gilded staff from her back. Snaking holy energies tethered the three remaining high elves, shocking them unconscious. They collapsed on the ground, and peace returned to the evening.

A human couple peered up from behind the counter.

"Is it… over?" the husband asked.

"Yes." Gretchen nodded. "Your tip and cooperation have been very helpful. There will be four less Ortesians causing trouble in the Commonwealth thanks to you two."

The tavern fortunately had rope lying around. Gretchen bound her prisoners for the time being, at least until their reversal potions wore off, and she could charm them to obey her.

Earlier last week, she had received a tip of Ortesians being sighted in Rudura. The report had described four elven individuals acting suspicious. They wore heavy clothes to shroud their faces, and a few locals who interacted with them described them as 'arrogant'.

If that wasn't a sure enough sign, high elves were an uncommon sight in the Commonwealth compared to Radevic or Lograin. It was always a good bet to follow up a tip, but that didn't mean they always led to anything substantial. Oftentimes, they were false reports and mistakes. Kanae had no idea how much work she had given Gretchen by naming her Inquisitor of Impiety.

An hour passed, and the potions had finally worn off. Gretchen placed the captives under her control, and they were going to remain so all the way back to Ehmvier.

"My apologies for the mess. Send an invoice to the crown for any damages accrued during the fight. Queen Kanae decreed that destruction incurred during an investigation of Ortesian presence is to be compensated," Gretchen explained, climbing atop her dreadmourn mount.

"Inquisitor!" The young, green-eyed wife handed her a basket of fresh fruits and jerky. "Please, take these. My husband and I quickly put something together for you. And…" She marveled at the demonic stallion with more than just tepid curiosity. "Is it true? What those Ortesians said of you. I've heard… rumors."

Gretchen measured her response. The consequence of the Commonwealth of Sin's doctrine of sexual freedom had made perverts of its citizens. Even a humble, unassuming housewife couldn't resist the sparks of depravity. But she wasn't one to judge. Not anymore.

"It is." Gretchen flashed a soft smile and affectionately stroked the mane of her dreadmourn, Virtue. "Their members are incredibly large and thick. They stay hard for a long time and are often difficult to satisfy. But I assure you, you will not find a better lover."

The woman swallowed hard, her face turning red and clearly heating up. 

Gretchen smiled and steered Virtue towards home. It would have been nice to stay in Rudura's famous hot spring inn for a few days, but the inquisitor's job was never done. She had smoked out and captured hundreds of Ortesians, but thousands more remained hidden across the Commonwealth.

The newly-repaired walls of Ehmvier loomed over as Gretchen neared. Its gate was always open and readily accepting travelers. Even war wasn't enough to have them closed, a testament to the welcome and hospitable nature of the Commonwealth's people and rulers. Perhaps it was too much to hope that Kanae had returned. Although Enthrall no longer imprisoned her, she ached to see her queen back safe.

Getchen made a stop at the Radevic Embassy, built across the road from the castle alongside other consulates, like Highgreen, Talahurah, Hollow Glades, and even Artaggon, currently under construction. Tiny by comparison, the small administrative hall consisted of clerks from Aidenhall, who acted as the liaison between Ehmvier and Radevic. When she entered with her captives, a stern high elven man in his 60s with a prominent jawline glanced up from his papers from behind the desk.

"Gretchen. Hard at work, I see." Vern, formerly a judicial secretary from Aidenhall whom Gretchen had worked with, put his quill down and whistled to a door in the back.

Five guards donning standard plated mail armor poured out to apprehend the Ortesian captives. Gretchen undid the Charm on them just as they were getting shackled. Profanity flew left and right, but none of them had any strength to resist.

Vern adjusted his tunic and sighed. "I don't envy your job, Gretchen. I've no life for our countrymen after what they did, but you knew many of them, didn't you?"

"As far as I'm concerned, they turned on me first. The Commonwealth didn't. Also, it is 'Inquisitor' to you, Vern. See you when I bring back more." Gretchen spun around to leave.

The Ortesians were going to be put on a cage wagon and escorted to Radevic, where they will face trial and inevitably be sentenced up to 30 years in prison. Fifteen years, for good behavior. After which, the new archbishop, Patrice Starborne, would send them on a ship back to Ortesia and live out the rest of their days in shame, forgotten by the empire, and left to rot for their failure. Such was the life of an Ortesian.

It was them that Gretchen didn't envy. Had Kanae Toyomi not granted her clemency and a chance at redemption, that would have been her fate.

Gretchen flew onto Virtue and made way to the stables. She guided her stallion into their stall, lavish by comparison to the others and more spacious. Fresh water flowed into his personal trough, and nutrient-rich feed filled the container.

"I'll be back, darling." Gretchen picked up a brush and smoothed out his mane with a few strokes. "I need to check in with Zadris. She and her white-clad may have discovered the whereabouts of more Ortesians while we were gone."

Gretchen was about to leave until Virtue pressed his snout between her thighs. The long, salivating dreadmourn tongue left behind a wet spot on her robes. She trembled, swallowing a sultry moan.

"You simply cannot wait? Very well. Just once, and I must go. I'm sure Errenard would like to be involved." Gretchen shot a look at her former fiance, who had since been charmed and seated at the far side of the room.

Errenard's crimes were too severe to be released into the Aidenhall's custody so soon after the war. Kanae wanted him to suffer. She and Grand Eye Analise came to an agreement, that he would serve a number of years here in Ehmvier, then extradited to Aidenhall afterwards.

When Gretchen learned of this, she volunteered to be his jailer and torturer. No pain had ever been inflicted on him. Not physically, at least. Elsewhere, however, his mind had undoubtedly fallen into shambles.

Not wanting to dirty her beautiful white and black raiments, Gretchen stripped down to nothing. She hung it inside a closet in case things got a little too carried away. The very sight of her bare body stimulated Virtue to an erection. A horseshoe tattoo on her ass and horseshoe piercings on her nipples marked her as a mare. Someone else was getting hard, too. But Errenard wasn't going to find release from her.

Gretchen grabbed the handlebars of the modified breeding mount situated in front of Errenard. The springs creaked from having been used so often. Virtue whinnied and reared up on his hind legs. Two front hooves slipped into the stirrups to the side of the apparatus. She felt some of his weight on her back, as well as the massive cock throbbing against the entrance to her pussy.

"Don't keep me waiting. Show Errenard how a real man fucks his woman," Gretchen purred.

Virtue bucked his hips once. The thick member found its mark and penetrated deep inside Gretchen. She clenched her jaws, unable to contain a depraved smile while looking into Errenard's empty eyes.

The long strokes. The way it filled her completely. Gretchen made no effort to hide her pleasure. She howled loudly, enough that the other livestock in the stables grunted back in response to a bitch mare's estrus.

"What's the matter, Errenard?" Gretchen took her grasp off the handlebar and grabbed his twitching prick. "Never known a woman who could moan so much without being paid to? Yes, yes! Supreme One, bare witness… as I copulate with a dreadmourn… I'm close, Virtue! Aaahhhh!"

Virtue pumped wave after wave of steaming cum into Gretchen. She reached her climax, spraying water works all over Errenard. Satisfied, her dreadmourn lover pulled out and walked circles around the stall with a spring in his gait. Her gait, however, would come with a limp. She dropped to her knees in a puddle of fresh spunk.

Good thing Gretchen had taken off her clothes first. Things always got messy whenever she and Virtue were intimate. She washed herself clean from the water trough and threw her raiments back on.

"We can continue where we left off when I return." Gretchen kissed Virtue's snout and opened the stall door, but a minotaur fell forward. "Ichi…"

"It's not what it looks like! I… I was washing the door. There's a smudge." Ichi rubbed his thumb on the latch.

"You may be one of Kanae's friends, but you aren't mine. Clean up my stall. You can skip Errenard though. I want it spotless by the time I get back," she said.

"Okay…" The minotaur sulked.

Gretchen spread her wings and flew to the cathedral. Like the castle, it was among the first places quickly rebuilt after the war. The tall gothic steeples and large main worship chamber still paled in comparison to even the modest churches dedicated to the Supreme One. But every succubus of the Commonwealth, even Gretchen now, took pride in the symbol of this country.

A gentle hymn from the winds traveling through the foyer reached Gretchen's ear. Their song included the chorus of hushed conversations at the front of the worship hall. Zadris, the human turned succubus Ortesian, was in the middle of speaking with two high elves. Gretchen only recognized one of them by her enormous breasts.

Queen Arenade Brightwind, dressed in her usual ivory robes and the blinding Halo of Holy Radiance, had a worried look on her face. Standing beside them was another high elf of slightly younger age, donning a full suit of silver plate and a small pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose.

"Gretchen!" Zadris waved.

"Am I interrupting anything? I can come back later," Gretchen said.

"No," Arenade began, and shook her head, "but this is good timing. What do you say to hunting something other than Ortesians? Word from Barkwen is we've got Queen-Mother succubi sighted near the temple Kanae found Alicia in. I'd go with Andora, but I'm sooo tired."

"My view of you has completely shattered… Between First Commander and Queen of the Commonwealth, the difference is night and day with you." The other high elf sighed.

"Hey…"

"This young lady, I presume, is Andora?" She glanced down at the short woman, who appeared more suited for deskwork than battle.

Just as Gretchen thought that, the elf clicked her heels together and straightened her back.

"Fourth Captain Andora Sempter, of the Lights of Capillis. Head of the restored House Sempter of the Commonwealth of Sin, newly-anointed vassal of Arenade Brightwind. At your service!" Captain Andora bowed, and for once, Gretchen glimpsed the Ortesian dignity that those she had been capturing displayed not even an ounce of.

"Inquisitor of Impiety, Gretchen Redbaron. A pleasure. What is this about Queen-Mother succubi? Are we sure it isn't one of Lilith's black-clads going on a hunt?" Gretchen asked.

"Because the sighting corroborates what Andora told me when she was on her way down to swear fealty to me," Arenade explained.

She nodded aggressively. "I was riding on my pegasus when I saw a group flying southeast. I know true succubi trace their ancestry by horn shapes. They all had horns resembling a crown around their heads."

Kanae's horns curved forward and up. Half-succubi transformed by her sported horns of varying shapes and sizes. Queen-Mother Zariah's were very distinct, and she was familiar with how they look from having met Claudia, Alicia, Hilde, and Daya.

"It's worth investigating. I can go alone if you want to leave this to me," Gretchen offered.

"Oh, thank the Supreme One for you!" Arenade breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll be at the cast—"

"Your Highness, we will be accompanying Inquisitor Gretchen." Andora grabbed the back of her robe and stopped her from leaving.

"Noooooo! The queen shouldn't be doing work! That's what subjects are for!" she cried.

Gretchen returned to the stables to fetch her stallion. The stablemaster, Ichi, was still in the middle of mopping her stall when she got back.

"What the— Back already? I just got started!" Ichi complained.

"I'm leaving for Barkwen right away. New directive: make this place spotless before I come back, or the next time you peep will be your last time," Gretchen threatened.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" He picked up the pace as she led Virtue out of the stables.

The two of them caught up with Arenade and Andora at the east entrance of the city, each on their own pegasus. They soared in the direction of Barkwen village, more specifically to the lake north of the goblin settlement.

Gretchen squinted, trying to get a good look of the surface. The forests were quiet, and the rolling green plains undisturbed. She had flown here before on tips of Ortesian sightings. Normally, the goblin of Barkwen and orcs near the lake hunted game together. Yet she saw nothing of the such. Boar sounders traipsed freely about. Families of deer grazed on fresh grass sprouting after the winter saturated the ground with moisture.

"Something's wrong." Gretchen pulled on Virtue's reins, urging him to a stop.

"What is it? Do you have to poop?" Arenade asked.

"Why would you think… No. Let's stop by Barkwen first. There's no one out hunting game, when this is peak in the season to do so," she explained.

The queen shuddered. "Andora, if those goblins start hitting on me, you have the right to knock them out."

"Eh? Uh… Yes, Your Highness!" Andora saluted.

They veered off towards Barkwen. The sinking feeling Gretchen had proved true. She wished it hadn't. Barkwen was empty. Not a single goblin came out to hit on them or sling provocative comments.

"If there truly were Queen-Mother succubi here, I'm willing to stake my life that they charmed the goblins," Gretchen murmured.

"How can you be sure? I mean, think about it! Maybe they all went out hunting together!" Arenade suggested.

"With their pregnant broodmother, Terra? Not likely." She kneeled down and pressed a hand into the soil.

Matted grass. Compacted dirt. Trampled upon over the years. But there were too many recent tracks leading north. North… to the temple.

Wait. Kanae had told her before, that the temple belonged to the Cult of Lust and Depravity, built with dwarven engineering. They contained portals that trapped people within, draining them of their latent energy like a succubus takes from their partner.

Gretchen jumped back onto Virtue while the other two tried to get through to her. But there was no need for words. She knew exactly what this meant. Andora had no idea, so when Arenade gasped in surprise, her vassal watched on in confusion.

The temple slowly lifted out of the lake. It levitated out. Twenty succubi surrounded the structure, others drew runic symbols onto the surface of the walls.

"They're taking the temple!" Gretchen shouted.

"The Queen-Mother didn't say anything about visiting. As far as I'm concerned, her subjects are trespassing on the Commonwealth of Sin. Hey! Get away from that! Holy Armament: Bow and Arrow!" Arenade tugged on the bowstring, conjuring an arrow of crackling divine energies.

Someone strummed a lute that sent shivers up their spines, and Arenade's arrow sputtered out of existence.

"Labelle." Gretchen cursed under her breath.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. We're not trespassing, silly! Besides, this temple belongs to us to begin with. As far as we're concerned, I'm just taking back what's ours." Labelle, the Mistress of Debauchery, descended from the sky and blocked them from the temple.

"You succubus bitch! Don't think I've forgiven you for that time in Fort Charron! I'm going to pay you back for making those demons rape me!" Arenade shook an angry fist.

 "How about I do the fucking this time?" The succubus sneered. "I'd love to see those fat titties of yours heave, cattle. I was just thinking I could use some fresh high elven slaves with juicy boobs. Now, I have three pairs right in front of me. Shall we dance?"