Harem-Powered Kingdom Building: Empire of Carnal Sin-Chapter 43: Cutting it Off!

Hiro and Hema were soon walking together in the nearby woods.

Hiro had provided some instructions to Tara via their telepathic link on how she and Furina should handle new refugees.

"Put them to work immediately after they arrive. Don't let them just stand around without doing anything," he had told her.

Hiro did not want a repeat of the morning's incident.

Tara, on the other hand, could guess what intentions Hiro had for Hema. She knew and understood his lustful nature, after all. She could feel that soon, she wouldn't be the only woman getting his attention. Despite knowing that this was an inevitability, she couldn't help but feel a little upset. Humans were emotional beings...

The settlement operated even though Hiro was away.

Everyone understood that food and shelter were their top priorities, which allowed them to smoothly work together.

Meanwhile, in the woods, Hiro studied Hema, who kneeled down to examine the plants in front of her.

They had already spent close to an hour together. During this time, one thing had become quite clear to Hiro.

Hema loved everything about herbs—how they looked, how they smelled, what effects they had, everything.

'She was quite introverted at first... But once she started talking about plants, man, was it hard to get her to stop,' Hiro thought. He did not necessarily hate that about her, though.

'At this point, she almost certainly has a positive impression of me. It is time to take this a step further.'

His CHA stat or Ensnaring Touch would not make someone who hated him like him. But it would certainly increase the speed at which his relationship progressed with people who already had a positive impression of him.

Some time later, Hiro walked through the woods with Hema walking to his left.

"You sure you'll be able to remember everything you're observing right now?" he asked her.

"I should be able to, at least for a few hours. Once I get back, I'll pen my observations down on parchment. That'll make it easier for other herbalists who arrive later."

She could earn some money or contribution that way as well. Smart.

"Haha. Confident we'll survive long enough to see other herbalists?" Hiro asked jokingly.

Hema did not consider his question a joke, though. She answered seriously. "There is no point in living if I'm going to constantly keep thinking that I'll be dead in the next few days."

Hiro smiled lightly. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."

"I'm reassured since you are the one saying so, my Lord."

As they were talking, Hiro inconspicuously moved closer to her, causing their shoulders to brush against each other. Hema had a unique floral scent, which made Hiro enjoy the proximity.

He didn't push his luck, though. He moved away as quickly as he moved in. Ensnaring Touch was a toggleable passive that cost nothing, and Hiro always kept it on.

Almost immediately after that, Hiro decided to cheat a little. He used his Ultimate Force Telekinesis to make the undergrowth beneath Hema's feet twist in a way that would cause her to trip on it.

Naturally, he was there to catch her before she fell.

As soon as she started falling, Hiro showcased his 'inhuman reflexes.' He took a quick, short step forward, and his right hand wrapped around Hema's waist, holding her in place. His left hand rested on her back.

"Th-Thank you, My Lord," she said in a flustered tone.

"Are you all right?" he asked her as he slowly pulled her up...

This was just the beginning.

Over the course of the next hour or so, Hiro meticulously engineered ways to facilitate such innocent contact again and again. But after half a dozen times of employing Ensnaring Touch, he realized something.

'Why does the Ensnarement Level keep dropping?'

So far, Hema's reactions had never indicated that she was "averse" to his touch. In fact, it even looked like she was enjoying the slightly flirtatious atmosphere at times.

Carnalia offered Hiro an explanation. The tone of her voice indicated that she was enjoying the 'fight' Hema was putting up. "Not everyone is so easy to ensnare, Hiro. The contact between you two simply wasn't intimate enough to overcome her willpower. It isn't enough for her to 'like' you. She has to lust after you."

"So you're saying..."

"You either have to engage in extremely intimate contact, like you did with Tara, or you'll need to find some way to make her desire you, the same way Furina did. Still, the rate at which her Ensnarement is decreasing indicates that she is actively resisting its effects. For what reason? That's for you to find out."

Hiro realized that it might not be so simple to get under Hema's sheets.

***

Somewhere near the settlement, the sound of trees being chopped could be faintly heard in the background. Two men stood face to face in the shade of a tree.

"Have you three truly submitted to the Baron? You plan on making this place your new home?" one man asked the other.

The man hesitated but only for a moment. "We aren't any more reconciled with this situation than you are."

A shared understanding passed between them.

***

Time passed. It was late afternoon. Hiro's citizens had managed to find some deer in the nearby woods. Food preparations were already underway.

Meanwhile, Hiro was dealing with a very interesting situation on his end.

Hema walked in front of him, no different than usual. But his status screen flashed with a notification.

[You have been poisoned with the 'Sleep' status effect.]

[Would you like to spend 5 Carna to dispel this effect? This option is available to you because of your Class Exclusive Skill – Euphoric Purge.]

[Yes / No]

['Yes' will be auto-selected in five seconds.]\

???

Hiro certainly wasn't expecting to see anything like this.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Euphoric Purge was another skill worthy of a Divine Class. Status effects like being put to sleep or being stunned were extremely troublesome to deal with, especially when they came from poisons.

Every class had its own ways to deal with status effects, but none of them were completely foolproof. Euphoric Purge wasn't foolproof either, but it was the next best thing.

It must be mentioned that Euphoric Purge came with a side effect. It increased Hiro's arousal in proportion to the amount of Carna spent in order to dispel the effect. And the amount of Carna spent depended on the strength of the effect itself.

'Only 5 Carna... this poison probably isn't very strong.'

But the question was, how did he get poisoned in the first place? He had eaten many berries that Hema had recommended along the way. But Hema had eaten them too. Was she fine?

The five-second countdown ticked down. Hiro came to a decision.

First, he chose 'Yes,' dispelling the effect. Then, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Bringing his fingers to his temple, he let out a low groan.

Hema also stopped and looked back. "What's wrong, my Lord?" she asked, her face filled with concern.

But Hiro did not respond. His eyes fully closed, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Thankfully, with his enhanced STR stat, the fall did not hurt.

The expression on Hema's face froze. Then, her 'concerned' look changed to one of cool indifference. She looked closely at Hiro, trying to gauge if he was completely asleep.

Seeing him not moving, she bent down and laid him out more comfortably.

Hiro, who was merely pretending to be asleep, was quite curious as to what Hema would do next. At this point, her involvement in his poisoning was quite clear.

He slowed his breathing and twitched his fingers slightly, making sure not to appear too suspicious.

He felt Hema shift beside him. She knelt down next to him, and her fingers traced his belt. Her soft exhales were audible amidst the surrounding silence. After a moment's hesitation, she reached inside his pants.

!!!

What was she doing? Hiro was perplexed by her actions. He could clearly tell that she had been resisting his ensnarement. So why was she reaching for his dick now?

'Don't tell me she plans on cutting it off!'