The third floor was home to the fort's treasury and the leader's personal quarters. In the treasury I found a large stack of copper coins, the equivalent of least one gold piece. Aside from that, it mostly contained clothes, armors, and weapons fit for kobolds, all of little use to me. The personal quarters contained a curious item: an envelope sent from Spirit of Darkness. Just like last time, the letter itself was nowhere to be seen.

It was likely exactly as I hypothesized; The Matriarch was a demon general in cahoots with the Demon Lord. Unfortunately, she was now dead, so it's not like I could ask her to confirm. The only possible source of information now would be Lacerta. I thought of asking her for details, but was distracted by the study room which was attached to the personal quarters.

Just like the hatchery, several wooden ornaments decorated the walls and floor. There were many shelves of books lining the walls of this space. I picked one up, and was surprised to learn it was written in English. It seemed to be a childrens' book about fairy tales. Not kobold fairy tales, but regular human ones, about knights and wizards.

“How do you like my room? Sorry I didn't have time to clean it up,” said the lizard.

“This is your room? You mean this is where you grew up?”

The lizard walked over and picked one of the books. She looked it over with a deep sense of nostalgia.

“Yeah. You see, as princess, I received the highest quality education one could get amongst my kind. As part of my magic training, I was required to learn the human tongue. It was a simple necessity, as most magical literature was written by humans. I was different from most kobolds, however, and took a deep interest in it. My parents thought it was unhealthy, but I just couldn't help myself. I can't control what I like or hate.

“Driven by curiosity, I ordered the acquisition of several books unrelated to sorcery. I read all about the classic fairy tales and fell in love with their worlds. I would spend my childhood tucked away with these books reading them for hours on end. I was considered unusual amongst the kobolds, and shunned for it by family. As I grew up I had to assume more responsibility over leadership of the clan. My views, however, clashed with that of my family, and we often got into fights.

“I wanted to establish friendly relations with the humans and learn more about their culture. Instead of bitter enemies, we could get by as allies. This was something completely against our traditions, and of course wouldn't be allowed. After one particularly intense argument, I snapped and couldn't take it anymore. I run away from home and intended to never come back.

“I was utterly lost and didn't know what to do. All my belongings stayed behind in the fortress, and I had no idea to survive on my own. I was angry at everything. Damn my mother, damn this whole clan. Why didn't they listen to me? I was the princess and their future leader. Going against my will is treachery, and the only worthy punishment is death. In my anger, I sought out the help of a brave human knight. Just like in the fairy tales, if a knight in shining armor could just come along and save me, everything would be solved.”

The lizard smiled as she looked at me.

“And then you showed up, my own knight in shining armor. It was as if my dream had come true! With your appearance, I finally had the bravery to take on my mother and get revenge. In the stories, good could never prevail until the villain was slain by the chivalrous knight. Now that it is done, I can finally have my own happy ending.”

Lacerta bowed forward in respect once again, as she did before this mission.

“I thank you once again, brave knight. I couldn't have done it without you,” she said.

The skull couldn't help but sneer at me.

“Did you hear that 'brave knight'? It was all thanks to you! Doesn't that just make you feel great?” Calvar said.

He attempted to make me feel guilty. The story did leave me wondering something.

“But what will you do now? Your clan is gone, and as you said, you don't know how to survive on your own. Did you have a plan?” I asked.

Lacerta began fidgeting and nervously looking down.

“Well, this is the part of the story where I would settle down and live happily ever after. I meant to ask this eventually, but I guess it could do it now. Since I am a princess, and you're a knight, do you think... we could maybe...get ma-”

“Aaahh. Hold the presses. Just hold the presses for a bit. If you're proposing what I think you are, then you are doing so quite prematurely. Besides the fact that you're a kobold and I'm a human, I don't even know you. How do I know that you won't turn on me like you did on your parents? Is there a reason I should trust you?”

The lizard gave me a curious look.

“Well, of course you should trust me. We are on the same side! Your goal was clearing out this fortress, right? And so was mine, so we cooperated and did so together. We are both on the side of humanity and against the foolish kobolds who unreasonably antagonize it. I read the stories, and I know even humans fight amongst their family. Why would so many villains would be stepmothers? Or why would the son go against the wishes of his stringent father? If you look at it objectively, I have no reason to betray you, and in fact would make a most faithful ally.”

Lacerta was very logical for a non-human creature. I couldn't really argue against her, as I needed her skills, and she was offering them freely.

“I see. I'll have to decline the marriage invitation, as I don't plan on settling down any time soon. I would love to welcome you as a fellow party member my journey, however. I'm quite interested in magic and would benefit from a tutor of your caliber.”

The lizard jumped in joy.

“Thank you! Thanks you, brave knight, I would love to accompany you on your journey! May your ancestors smile upon your grace!”

The skull sneered at me once again.

“Are you serious? You're taking this wacko along? You don't have to be that desperate, Eren.”

Lacerta curiously poked Calvar's forehead.

“Oh, cheer up, skull, you're just jealous! You should be happy. You'll now have two beautiful ladies keeping you company instead of just one!”

Calvar and I stared at the lizard wide-eyed.

“...what?”

Lacerta was utterly surprised at our reaction.

“Did I say something wrong? Do human women not take direct complements well? If so, I dearly apologize for my gaffe.”

Calvar put on a smug smirk and could barely hold back his laughter.

“Pfft, hahahaa! Eren, aren't you so lucky to considered to be a 'beautiful lady'? Your maniless truly knows no bounds! Ladies of the world beware, Eren is here!”

Lacerta became even more confused. Guess it was up to me to clear it up.

“Lacerta, I am a man. I don't know how you could make such a mistake, but both me and Calvar are male.”

The lizard blushed and pulled away in embarrassment.

“Oh! I had simply assumed because of your smooth skin, silky hair, and large eyes that you were female. Those are common human female qualities in the books. I'm truly sorry, this is a very embarrassing mistake to make.”

That explained the bizarre comment. But if she did mistake me for a girl, then something wasn't adding up.

“Wait, didn't you think of asking for marriage earlier? And at that time, didn't you believe both of us were females?”

Lacerna gave me a curious look.

“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”

“Well... I guess not.”

This meant that kobold society was far more progressive than I thought. The mysteries of this world truly know no bound, do they?

Now that Lacerna was solidly on my side, I decided to head straight into business. I grabbed the envelope and showed it to her.

“Do you know anything about this?” I ask.

“It's an envelope from the Demon Lord. He's a human who fights against other humans, so he was on friendly terms with my mother. She was the one in charge of the all clan politics, however, so I do not know the specifics. We usually destroy the letter shortly after receiving it, for the sake of confidentiality.”

I knew getting a full explanation wouldn't be that easy.

“Do you know anything else about the Demon Lord? Anything at all?”

“Only common knowledge. He was a human who first appeared 10 years ago, and since then waged war on the human kingdom. He's known for making non-human allies to achieve this goal, such as kobolds. Rumors say he's a very powerful, but very few faced him and lived to tell the tale, so it's hard to know for certain.”

Not much new information, but the timeframe was interesting. This Lord seemed to have nothing to do with the World-Devouring Demon I'm familiar with, who waged a war far longer than a single decade.

“But why are you asking? Do you want to defeat the Demon Lord? That would be an awfully difficult task for just the three of us,” she said.

I shook my head and pulled out my silver pendant.

“I heard he wore a pendant very similar to this one. I'm on a quest to find its identity, and so far he's my best lead. Unless, maybe you have an idea what it is?”

I handed the pendant to Lacerna's clawed hands. As a mage, she should have a far better shot of identifying it than anyone else so far.

“This looks like.. I think this might actually be a- nope. Nevermind, that one looks completely different. Sorry, I have no idea.”

I almost cursed at the lizard for getting my hopes up. With this point taken care of, there was only one matter left in this bloodied fortress. My main weapon was still broken.

“Lacerna, do you mind if I take this?”

She shrugged.

“I don't mind. It's not like it belonged to me.”

I grabbed what I was looking for -- the grand halberd once wielded by the fortress Matriarch. The quality was truly as exquisite at it first appeared. It would make a fine weapon to accompany me on my journey.