This town is small and lacks the previous imperial city's finish, but it's clean enough place as is. Celica runs away somewhere, with her pet mage trying to keep up. I have commissioned my armor and now prepare to kill time for the next two days it'll take to finish.

With Celica's distracting effect gone I'm getting quite a lot of attention from locals as I walk around. It's the succubus glamour again. I guess I could wear a baggy robe with deep hood to muffle the effect, but frankly I don't want let ogling strangers to inconvenience me like that. The huge weapon I'm carrying repels most of them anyway. Most.

"Oh my, that's a big weapon for a little girl like you."

"That ain't the only thing big on her!"

It filters out all but the worst idiots, it seems. These two men look like prime examples of what mothers warn their daughters about.

"Why so quiet, coo? Afraid you'll sound scared?"

"Don't worry, we can make you sing."

I'm not sure if they are just aggressive but coordinated flirts or wanna-be rapists. I look at the surroundings; there are no witnesses on this street. Perfect. With chumps like them I won't feel at all bad to test the limits of the charm spell. What happens if I use it and command them to die? Will they actually stop breathing and die or just kill themselves? Or would self-preservation instincts kick in? However...

"Cease this at once, ruffians!"

Ironically, the ne'er-do-well duo is saved from certain death by a hero. Clad in a polished cuirass and flowing cape, he arrives on white horse of all things. Flowing blond hair and sparkling eyes complete the picture to annoying degree.

"Fuck, it's that weirdo again!"

"Let's go. You can't be there to stop us every time!"

They get away, as the hero graciously lets them leave without a pursuit. Great job, nothing was permanently solved. Does he let them go on so he can make more easy heroic scenes with them? Or were they hired by him in the first place? No, he exudes aura of idealism that makes my skin crawl. He's just that chivalric.

"My lady, are you unharmed?"

I took -2 positive energy damage from you and my experimental subjects got away, but I'm otherwise just fine.

"I'm just fine."

"I'm so glad to hear that. Come, let me escort you. No ruffians will harass thee on my watch!"

I have this desire to reveal my demon wings just to see the expression he'd make, but I need to stay out of trouble until the armor is ready. Going with sir Shines-a-lot seems annoying, but convincing him to leave me be in this situation sounds like a bother too. If he is daft enough to ignore the giant blade I'm carrying, he will keep on thinking I'm a damsel in distress regardless. He makes the choice for me as I try to choose between bother and annoyance, by grabbing my hand and pulling me onto the horse. Is this a kidnapping?

"Forgive me, fair lady, for I have been rude. Lord ###### at your service!"

"..."

"And how may I call you?"

"Darth Vader."

"Then Lady Vader, let us ride forth."

In a moment of mischief I amuse myself by using a completely fake name. And thus lord I-forgot-the-name-already heroically rides forth with the fair maiden Darth Vader, who's actually increasingly annoyed monster from hell. I was hoping he'd just give me a lift to more populated place, but he actually decided to bring me to his villa. Okay, now this really is a kidnapping.

This world doesn't have the concept of chivalric knight in it. There are of course forms of nobility, but their codes of honor are more pragmatic than you'd expect. There are exceptions of course, and this lord is one of them - an eccentric rich boy playing hero, to put it bluntly. And now he's in a hurry to turn me into his bride, if my extrapolation based on his actions and household servants' chatter holds true.

"(Did you see? Master brought another candidate in!)"

"(I bet she's a prostitute he mistook for a lady again.)"

"(Hahah! Right, no way someone with obscene body like that is a decent woman.)"

Oi. I can hear you. Stupid maids, perfection is not obscene! But just what kind of prostitutes this town has if carrying a huge swordstaff fails to make it obvious I'm not one? I ignore the rest of their chatter and take a look at the building. Apart from the triangular motif common in the empire, his villa is quite archetypical. Surrounded by walls and a garden it has several floors, and many columns and balconies.

I'm ushered in and politely forced to wear very obviously very expensive dress, the cut of which makes me look like I'm violating a daffodil. At least I manage to avoid them seeing the wings. The servants also eye my weapon a lot. I don't particularly want to part from it, but I'm convinced when they offer to have it sharpened.

But why am I playing along? One reason is that I've missed the level of luxury that was common in my old world. While this is far more grandstanding and very much lacking in Wi-Fi, it's closer than the Dark Age peasant hovels I've been to so far. Besides, this is quite novel experience for me, so why not? And it's not like I can't brainwash and kill them all, if there's trouble.

Secondary motivator is that I can smell food. I don't strictly speaking need to eat, since I'm sustained by essence of malevolence or something, I think. But going around with completely empty stomach leaves this gnawing feeling, and nice food is nice in any case. So far my selection on that regard has been mostly 'suspicious meat jerky from hell' or 'suspicious meat jerky from hell, literally'.

I meet the lord again at the dinner.

"Lady Vader, I doth hope this humble dinner is to thy liking. Prithee, enjoy it in good faith."

"..."

Humble? There's twelve different dishes here! Who's going to eat this all? It's just me and the lord Prithee in the long dinner table.

"Ah... Surely 'twas fate that led us to meet."

"Uhhuh..."

I've said whole five words to him so far and he's already smiling as if we'll be engaged within a week. Is he an all-natural hopeless romantic or just particularly susceptible to my succubus glamour? Anyway, don't interrupt me, I'm trying to eat. I give continue to give minimal answers to his small talk.

"What doth you think of the current state of our country?"

"*nom* It's a mess."

"Ah, how concisely put. I too despair to see the current leadership crumble our foundations. Consorting with demons, even if merely for war, is immoral act of highest degree!"

Won't you be surprised then.

I toned out the rest of his chatter. Afterwards night is about to fall, and I decide to stay the night at the lord This-and-that's place, since there's not much to do in this town at night anyway... at least nothing that would interest me. I can guess Celica is keeping busy 24/7.

In any case, the bed is nice, though I think I might get lost within its wastness. My old pillow was nicer though. I don't care how rare and expensive feathers you stuff it, the neck supporting memory fiber pillow of mine is unrivaled.

I'm given a negligee that seems only few molecules thick since it completely fails to actually hide anything. Who chose this? Step forward, I have a new set of clothes for you right here. Idiots can't see them by the way. Well, whatever. Hundreds of tournament spectators saw me naked, so I'm past caring about this.

***

I wake up from my semi-slumber and accidentally make a maid faint while stretching my wings. I think it's same one that called me a prostitute. On a whim I hide the wings and carry her to the bed, removing a few layers of clothing from both of us. Let's see how she reacts after waking up...

"Wh-- What happened...?"

"Morning."

"You?! Why am I--"

"You were wonderful last night~."

"Eh? Eeeeehhhh!?"

Her mind can't keep up with all the confusing new information, and she runs away in state of disarray. Muahah. Food is nice, but revenge is the best dish of all. This ought to keep her from remembering or telling about the wings too - completely without mucking up her whole mind with charm spells. And if it happens that a rumor of 'Darth Vader' being a raging lesbian spreads, maybe then that guy will take a hint.

Lord What's-his-name seems blissfully unaware of any rumors though, and he hovers around me all morning.

"Lady Vader, I trust thou slept well? ... Prithee, if there is anything thou desire, let me know."

As tasty as the food here is, I begin to tire of this. I never planned to stay here anyway and my armor ought ready today too, so I think it's the time I left. I begin my exit sequence by slipping away from the chattering lord and getting my weapon back. The servants don't really want me to do that, but they can't stop me either.

As for the next step, if I just walk out from front door, both servants and the clingy lord will make a scene in attempt to convince me to stay, so I'd rather sneak off unseen by anyone. I guess it doesn't matter where I exit from, so I just pick the closest potential spot.

The caped lord spots me and is homing in just as I prepare to leave... by jumping down from the closest balcony... which happens to be in the third floor.

"Lady Vader, what doth thee-- LADY VADER!?!?"

His face is a mask of dread as he sees me flipping over the rail and starting to fall from dangerous height. Uhh... I didn't plan to traumatize him, the timing was just bad. Well, I'm not staying to explain that I'm actually a demon who can take the fall with no problem. Instead I make haste to leave the mansion grounds, while his big 'Noooooooo!' for sake of fallen Darth Vader is carried far and wide. It's a shame I'm the only person in this world who can appreciate the irony of this.

Anyway, I need to get my armor and leave the town quick, if I want to avoid further fuss. They'll notice there is no body soon enough.