Scalding, yet not burning.

Overwhelming, yet not harsh.

Sweetness as rich as a cream cake gurgled between her lips and teeth, and Nainai couldn’t help feeling like she was dancing lightly above the clouds.

Her thoughts even went a little blurry. Her whole body floated, like she’d just gotten high off pure bliss.

That candy‑like sweetness played hide‑and‑seek between her teeth, bounced happily back and forth across the soft, slick flesh of her mouth, and twined with her little tongue in an ambiguous dance...

In the end, it reached the front of her throat, lingering there as if reluctant to say goodbye to this world.

Then it jumped without hesitation. It leapt, sank down her esophagus, and rolled all the way into the depths of her stomach...

Nainai felt heat spreading through every inch of her. But it wasn’t that crazed, invasive, burning heat from being forcibly put into heat.

This warmth… this gentle heat...

It was a steaming hot spring on a winter day.

It was a thick, fluffy comforter that had soaked up sunlight in an over‑air‑conditioned room.

It was a cup of coffee at the perfect temperature, rich and mellow...

So touching. So intoxicating. So easy to sink into and never come back.

All the pain in her body slipped away with this warmth’s arrival. The tangled, knotted mess of thoughts in her head got smoothed out by it, softened and soothed.

All the fright, anger, and irritation from earlier were smashed apart and torn to shreds by that warmth, turned into nothing but empty bubbles, tossed straight into the trash can of her mind.

A sense of satisfaction beyond compare spun in her belly, then poured into every limb, every bone, every nerve.

Hunger, emptiness, anxiety...

All those sneaky little miseries were nothing but paper tigers, knocked flat in a single blow by this abundant satisfaction that felt like holy communion descending from the heavens.

Nainai couldn’t even imagine how this world contained a desire so delicious it made her want to swear.

And this was only a “rootless desire,” drawn out by a completely incomplete way of feeding.

If she really used her own body, used the proper way to feed to hunt down this desire... just how high could that pleasure peak?

...

“Hah ❤... tastes pretty good... but the portion size? Totally pathetic.”

She stuck out her little tongue and reluctantly licked her pale, tender fingers, savoring the warm, satisfying feeling still spreading from her stomach.

That big idiot Fusiming still hadn’t given up on hurting himself... No matter how Nainai tried to stop him, he just kept muttering “I’m sorry” like a lunatic while trying to lay hands on his own body.

Couldn’t use his hands? Then he tried to use his legs.

Couldn’t use his legs? Then his head.

He just had to bash himself bloody right in front of the Little Succubus.

Was that really necessary? Was that really necessary?

In Nainai’s opinion, Fusiming’s issues all came down to overthinking.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry... he said it so many times she was sick of hearing it.

What’s the point of saying sorry? If he really felt sorry, why not do something real to make it up to her?

Give her a couple of bills, let her buy some snacks or something!

Hurting himself, what kind of skill is that supposed to be!

Seriously, this guy was only a few years away from thirty, a proper adult in society, and he worked in a high‑pressure job like the Scavenger Squad...

Yet his mental resilience probably wasn’t even as good as Xu Yingsnow, who was several years younger than him.

Just look at Little Snow. Nainai had tormented her for years, and she still clocked in for work every day like a champ...

The difference was obvious.

Nainai figured if she could just clear out that pig‑brain of Fusiming’s, he’d probably snap out of it.

And what’s the best way to put a man into a state of empty‑minded meditation?

Obviously, make him social secure on the spot.

When it came to making a male social secure in an instant, Nainai was a pro.

She was “professional” at this—more professional than the black uncles who carried coffins.

Seeing that stopping him was pointless, Nainai didn’t waste another word. She moved faster than lightning, reached out, plucked the flame of desire straight out of Fusiming’s body, and swallowed it in one gulp.

This was the hand speed honed over forty‑eight years of being single!

And that was why she’d just sighed in such contentment.

She had finally—finally eaten something.

Nainai had been holding back an entire day for this.

She was practically crying with joy.

Wiping away the tears of happiness at the corners of her eyes, Nainai rubbed her damp, big eyes and looked over at Fusiming, who was slumped by the wall, zoned out in full post‑clarity mode.

The social security tactic really worked. The young man’s body had practically gone limp like squid tentacles.

It was just that Nainai’s motion when she extracted his desire had been a little rough...

Even from a distance, the Little Succubus could clearly smell a faint scent of viburnum drifting from Fusiming.

The volume was a bit much.

Kinda stinky...

But not unpleasant ❤...

She licked her lips, her gaze going a bit hazy.

—No, wait!

Realizing something was off, Nainai hurriedly shut her eyes. She shook her head fast, like a little dog shaking off water, and smacked her own flushed, burning cheeks with both palms, pa‑pa‑pa.

Her silky peach‑colored hair was still full of rainwater, and as she whipped her head, droplets flew everywhere like scattered flowers.

Most of it splattered onto the ground... a little hit Fusiming’s head, and the rest sprayed toward the cats gathered behind Nainai.

The little cats, not wanting their fur to get wet, let out pitiful meows and scrambled away from the “fountain” raining down from above.

Nainai frantically reminded herself that she’d already eaten. No more crazy thoughts...

The waves of meowing all around her helped a lot with dragging her brain back in line.

She took deep, heavy breaths, forcing down the craving in her chest for more, more, more.

To block out the lewd fantasies, she simply planted herself right in front of Fusiming and forced herself to look at the horrific wound on his face that made her scalp crawl.

The gash on his face was truly gruesome. A patch of skin about half the size of a palm, along with some flesh, had been ripped clean off and now hung down from his jaw.

Bright red muscle fibers and parts of bone were completely exposed to the air.

The front of the right cheek was the worst... six teeth broken, the inner cheek torn away, leaving a gaping hole that opened straight to the outside.

“Urgh...”

Just a quick glance at that mangled mess of flesh made Nainai’s stomach churn.

She clapped a hand over her little mouth and had to breathe deeply through her nose to barely keep herself from throwing up.

Was it really okay not to rush him to a hospital right now?

Nainai felt a little lost.

Luckily, after looking more closely, she noticed the wound wasn’t bleeding much anymore.

Earlier, his blood had been pouring like a waterfall... For a wound that big to stop bleeding so fast—was this guy really human?

And after losing that much blood, he still looked totally fine. Not a hint of severe blood loss anywhere on him...

Was he not from Earth? Or maybe a distant cousin of some hot‑blooded shounen?

He’d practically got a built‑in low‑health lock.

It was honestly terrifying.

Nainai thought about this, heart pounding.

In any case, she was sure this guy’s recovery was ridiculous, like he’d put on Berserker’s Greaves plus two Ruby Crystals, and once he was out of combat his HP just ticked back up like crazy.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Nainai reached out with a trembling hand, carefully avoiding the wound on his right cheek, and tapped lightly on his left shoulder.

“Done with the self‑harm? You figured it out? If you’ve come to your senses, then hurry up and get to a hospital. You really can’t drag this kind of injury out...”

“I know there’s a curfew... but there’s gotta be someone on duty at the ER, right?”

“...”

Fusiming slowly lifted his head and silently looked at the pretty pink silhouette in front of him.

He was sitting on the ground. Nainai was standing.

So he had to tilt his head back just to see her face.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice was rough as he whispered.

“Tch—”

The instant she heard those three words she was already sick of, a flash of irritation flared in Nainai’s chest.

But luckily, she’d just eaten.

With something in her stomach, the Little Succubus was in the best mood she’d had in the past twenty‑four hours.

She really wanted to start swearing again... but, sticking to the policy of “don’t stoop to a patient’s level,” she forced all those mom‑roasting lines back down her throat.

Looking at Fusiming’s sorry, suicidal mess of a posture, she just felt a headache coming on.

She honestly hadn’t expected that a broke, jobless, shut‑in loser like her would one day have to play big‑sister therapist, helping some problem child work through his mental baggage...

Though, at her age, she was technically old enough to be Fusiming’s mom.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry... At least tell me what exactly you’re sorry for!”

She smacked the soft puffball at the tip of her tail against Fusiming’s forehead—puff, puff, puff—and planted her hands on her hips, utterly speechless.

“Dragging me out here against my will? I’m not even gonna bother complaining about that. It’s not that far from my place anyway.”

“But if you mean when you touched my chest just now...”

As she said that, a flush of utter embarrassment bloomed across her delicate, pale cheeks.

Losing control like that was way too humiliating, and she couldn’t help squeezing her legs together a little.

Her panties were completely soaked in holy water. Her skirt too, filthy beyond saving.

That weird, clammy feeling of having peed herself made Nainai horribly uncomfortable.

“I... I forgive you!”

Enduring the shame, Nainai proudly puffed out her faintly disappointing, slightly‑protruding chest.

“I don’t have boobs anyway! If it was just an accident and you only touched for a moment... I won’t mind...”

To cover her embarrassment, she’d originally wanted to show off her Succubus instincts here—change expressions, show a sultry smile, strike a seductive pose, then purr in a honeyed voice, “If you didn’t get enough, you can keep going ❤~” or something.

But after thinking about it for a second, she decided that really didn’t fit the mood...

She’d finally slipped into her “understanding big sister” mode and even managed to coax Fusiming into a daze.

If she didn’t keep up that image, and he ended up not thinking it through and started self‑harming again, that would really suck.

...

A petite, loli‑sized, yet absurdly pretty pink‑haired girl, face bright red, hands on hips, chest puffed out as she shyly spouted shamelessly lewd words of comfort—this scene was honestly picture‑perfect.

“If you still feel sorry... then quit repeating it! You’ve said it so many times I’m already annoyed.”

“Instead of just flapping your mouth and then acting like some crazy idiot hurting yourself, why not make it up with your actions!”

“If you don’t actually have some serious mental disorder and you’re still playing at self‑harm, you’ve got no spine.”

“If you keep hurting yourself... I’ll seriously look down on you! And I’ll hate you. A lot. A whole, whole lot!”

Not that I like you much right now anyway. From the moment we met yesterday, you’ve been tormenting me nonstop. I seriously can’t stand you.

Nainai grumbled inside, saying one thing to his face and another in her heart.

A girl who looked like an elementary schooler, shorter than him by three whole heads, lecturing him in this world‑weary tone, trying to straighten out his thoughts and untie the knot in his chest...

Even if she had misunderstood why he felt guilty...

Yeah, it was a misunderstanding, but that didn’t mean Fusiming wasn’t also sorry for having touched a girl’s chest. He did feel guilty and rude about that too.

But still...

Staring at his right hand, caked in blood, bits of flesh, and bone shards, Fusiming slowly lowered his eyes.

—She was right. He really had no spine.

Fusiming completely agreed with what Nainai had said.

If he really wanted to make up for it, he shouldn’t just say it with his mouth, then hurt himself like some coward.

He should act—

When he opened his eyes again, the young man’s gaze had turned firm.

“Thank you, Nainai.”

Fusiming stretched out both hands and, a little stiff and careful, rested them lightly on the Little Succubus’s slender, fragile shoulders. He stared at her calmly.

“I will absolutely make it up to you…”

His low, slightly hoarse voice was as wooden and flat as always, without a ripple.

But inside that simple promise was a weight that felt crushing.

From now on, I’ll use my life to protect you.

I’ll always be your shield. No matter who wants to hurt you, I’ll stand in front of you.

As long as I’m by your side… unless I die, I’ll never let anyone who wants to hurt you take even a single step closer.

Until the day I die.

Here and now, I swear it.

This was Fusiming’s truest thought in that moment.

His heart pounded, his blood surged.

Just like his father had once done for his mother… this bloodline power he’d inherited from his father would carve these oaths into his soul, turning them into a blood-pledge that anchored his very existence.

As long as he was alive, he would carry it out to the end.

He would not stop until death.