Jiro's turn

It was the interview from hell I decided, as the door closed behind me.

At the sound two women broke off their discussion. The brunette seated on the right gave me a quick friendly smile, the redhead in the center a visibly measuring look before beckoning me over and returning to their conversation. Taking the hint, I made my way to the chair at the center of the room and sat.

One of my cram school's courses was on how to handle yourself in an interview. They held it in a windowless room with your cheap chair alone at one end, and a long table for the panel of interviewers at the other. Except for the furnishings being much, much nicer, this room was mostly the same. For heaven's sake the rug was plush enough I'd be willing to sleep on it. I was also pretty sure the table alone, elaborately carved with geometric patterns similar to what I saw in my room last night and deeply stained to a glossy red matching the floor to ceiling wall paneling, was worth more than I'd make in the year after I graduated.

The third place at the table was still empty, but the last member barged in a moment later. His black feathered wings were only half folded, and nearly brushed me and the wall as he stormed past with an aggressive stride. As he rounded the table he gave the rest of us a look of blatant challenge, and sat beside the redhead.

If the two women were impressed they didn't show it. I, on the other hand, almost had my heart stop. Apparently he was the 'bad cop' today.

The panel now assembled, they introduced themselves.

The first, General Wiz, was the brunette, human looking woman in a set of purple and black robes. Brown eyed, she wore her hair down and loose except for a cowlick sort of thing in front. She was also pale, incredibly so. Enough that I didn't have much trouble concentrating on her face, rather than her other incredible assets, because it was genuinely a bit worrying. I wasn't totally sure what a lich was, but based on that my first guess would've been a vampire.

By contrast, General Sylvia also at least looked human, though I wasn't sure how much to count on that when she introduced herself as a chimera. She was a tall, tanned, purple eyed redhead with her hair in a partial bun and the rest loose. A tight, low cut red dress that hugged her distracting curves, accented with a heavy gold necklace, made it clear exactly where she wanted your attention. If that was her plan, it was working.

As for General Duke, it didn't surprise me a bit that he claimed to be a fallen angel. I'd have called him movie star handsome, but honestly that was probably selling him short. His wardrobe matched his eyes and hair, he wore black robes with the hood thrown back, so I couldn't tell much about his build. But from the clumping of his shiny black leather boots earlier he was probably no lightweight.

"Now then, I believe we all have some questions, so let's get on with it," Sylvia began. "Jiro, what can you tell us about your brother? What he was like as a child, hobbies, a little personality sketch if you would."

That I could answer without too much thought, I'd guessed they'd ask something like it. "Of course," I replied, trying for a calm voice and suppressing the urge to rub my palms on my new pants or fiddle with my glasses. "I should start by saying that which Kazuma you get in a situation depends on how much he cares. If something doesn't interest him, he doesn't do it. Full stop. If he does commit, then he goes full power at it. He doesn't really have anything in between. For example, anytime there was a project or assignment in school he always did it at the last minute, because that's when he'd suddenly care about it." Even group projects, which had probably been part of why he never had a lot of friends in class. "But, despite spending the night before running around in a panic and slapping something together, he'd usually get it right. Somehow. It's his pattern."

"We've seen how much he cares then," Duke said grimly. "More than that damned Vanir, who couldn't be bothered to show up."

Lolisa had told me there was a fourth remaining general, though I hadn't known he blew off the meeting. "That seems likely. The other thing is, and I know how it sounds, his luck is just impossible," I went on, more than a bit envious even now. "Not like finding the odd…coin on the ground kind of luck. I mean in something like cards, or even rock paper scissors? The only time I've seen him lose is when I was little and would whine about it."

"Beloved by the gods even then," Sylvia snorted. "It would be like them to plant a seed and cultivate it into a useful tool."

"It's as good an explanation as any," I shrugged helplessly. "Not that he was ever devout. Unless you count his games as his gods maybe."

Wiz took the lead this time, saying "Why don't you tell us about the rest of your family, along with his friends, lovers, that sort of thing."

"Our family is fairly common. Two of our grandparents are still alive and at the nursing home in Nagano. Both of our parents work long hours, so we only ever saw them a little at night once we were old enough for school. We were more or less left to ourselves, I learned how to cook because I got sick of instant meals. But Kazuma has lived on a diet of snack food and soft drinks more or less since he figured out how to work a vending machine and a microwave. Probably why I'm a little taller despite being younger. How he doesn't weigh 100 kilos I haven't ever figured out, he was never in track like me. Or any other sports." I forced a chuckle, though the lich looked horrified at the description. Not wanting to talk more about our family, I moved on. "As for the lovers part, that's easy. I know he's interested in women, but he never dated any that we knew about." Which had been sad in a way, heaven knew plenty of uglier, dumber guys had girlfriends. But it was what it was, if he wouldn't make an effort it was his own fault that he never found anyone.

'I TOLD Seresdina to just send a succubus, but noooo,' Sylvia muttered, ignoring a disapproving look from Wiz. Privately, I thought she had a point, but then another general spoke over her.

"No military experience?" Duke interrupted suspiciously.

"No, none. Not any in the family since my great grandfather's time, and I think he was in the navy anyway. Talking about his friends, that's a bit more complicated. In our town not many, at least not close ones he'd meet with outside school or invite over. But his…pen pals I guess you'd call them, those he wrote to constantly. Some of them were even overseas."

That got some raised eyebrows from all three, and I had to remind myself that long distance messages probably involved either a rider, or maybe smoke or flag signals here.

"So he maintained contacts far afield even as a youth? That would explain his ability to bring together such a diverse group," Duke noted grimly. "What about his other projects? Could any of them be a threat?" he demanded.

I had to wonder what he meant by that exactly, Kaz hadn't been a threat to anything besides someone's patience or our parent's bank account before. But he seemed to want an answer, so all I could say was:

"Anything he has now, he made here. He didn't own so much as a pocket knife back home."

For some reason, they didn't find that reassuring.

General Wiz spoke into the awkward silence. "Jiro, why don't you tell us a little about yourself as well?"

The other two generals didn't seem very interested in that, Duke giving the lich an impatient look while Sylvia showed no reaction either way, so I kept it quick.

"Well, I'm currently finishing school before enrolling in university next year. I'm planning on studying…call it being an artificer, or possibly golem construction…"

Lolisa's turn

I stood in Lady Nene's office while Jiro was being interviewed elsewhere to deliver my own report of my experiences in Japan.

I'd never met her before, of course, outside the brief time at the summoning circle yesterday. That said, orcs tended towards a pretty barren kind of decorative sense and the castellan of the Demon King's castle was no exception. A woven reed mat covered all of the floor. Rather than a desk, she had a kind of free standing lectern made of marble which she was currently standing at. A tapestry on one wall with her clan symbology, maybe dating back to the Exile Fleet judging by the wear and fading. Only the family head was allowed to display one that large. And that was all, besides the bare stone walls.

"I'm impressed, well done," she graciously allowed when I finished. "Even if the initial contact went off script, to say the least," I blushed faintly, not many succubi could claim a mark ran away at first sight, "but you seem to have ended with him well in hand."

"I wish I could say it was all from my skills," I admitted ruefully. "Despite how much he seems to care for his brother, Jiro was worryingly willing to believe that he was doing something horrible and had gotten in far over his head. Queen Iris must have made a terrible impression. Given her reputation for charm, I have to wonder how she blundered so badly."

The castellan shook her head. "That's part of what the generals are trying to find out, among other things. I hope they get something worthwhile. We've only recently replaced General Beldia with General Duke and now, with the loss of three more generals…frankly we've never been weaker in living memory. Possibly even since Eris defeated Founding Demon King Nobunaga for scraps from the divinities' table."

I swallowed nervously. Giving the goddess her due, Eris had done pretty well for herself with those scraps. For all I might dread her church's attention, it was also the most powerful on the continent by far. But, as a lesser demon it wasn't my place to even think such things. I had known it was bad on this side of the border, but naturally as someone working in a hostile area I hadn't heard anything like the full story. To hear we were this close to the brink…

"Added to that, the costs in time, mana, and a host of other things required to bring young Jiro here were staggering. We must recover those losses any way we can. Not just from his value as a hostage, but as an informant and any other way that we may. From what I've seen your record is commendable, but no assignments longer than a few weeks?"

I nodded sharply. "Yes, castellan. Are you planning on this becoming a long term assignment?" I asked hopefully. That could be exciting, you could only do dream services for adventurers and the odd noble scion for so long before it started getting stale. Attaching me to someone long term would be a big step up, according to Beth that was her assignment before she took over our outpost in Axel.

"You already have a rapport with him, given he followed you here willingly. I see no reason to interfere as long as it produces results. That said, while his willing cooperation is far preferable, if he isn't tractable in a reasonable amount of time we may have no choice but to make him cooperate," she reminded me gravely.

"If I may, how long do I have? I'm going to need to earn his trust before I can make any real use of him, and he might be put on guard if I push too hard too quickly."

"I can't answer that, yet. For now he's your responsibility, and I can only suggest that you should work as quickly as you can. If necessary we can assign him to someone who suits his tastes better, once we have an idea what they are. If even that fails…" she didn't elaborate, there was no need.

I nodded, almost a bow. His life was in my hands. "I…I understand, castellan. I'll start probing to see what he has to offer. It sounds as though he's the more diligent of the two brothers, so he must have some useful knowledge."

"Good, that would be very helpful. Leaving that aside, Is there anything else you can add to the reports you read about the other world?"

—

After completing my report I arrived back at the meeting room to see the guard still outside, as expected the interview was still going.

Settling onto a cushion placed against one white plastered wall, I kept an eye on the door as I thought over my own debriefing. It was more important than ever that I do this job right, for his sake as much as everyone else's.

Contrary to popular belief, a demon in Belzerg's hands was a lot more likely to get the thumbscrew treatment, assuming they weren't killed on the spot, than the other way around. Demons very rarely tortured their prisoners.

We didn't need to.

We played on those fears though, all the way until the luckless adventurer or knight landed in their cold, damp, dark cell, uncertainty gnawing at them about their fate all the while until they fell into an exhausted slumber.

Then they went to paradise. The best succubi and incubi didn't need anything as crude as a questionaire to divine a subject's desires. They could enter their dreams and ferret out their fetishes and fantasies directly, the feelings of discomfort and unease the process caused in its target being easily explainable by their situation. With that done, they delivered a tailor made experience using every one of them.

The next morning, the prisoner returned to their grim reality, with only a memory of having their every wish granted. The next night, the cycle repeated, a cycle of high and crash, escape and return.

Then the escapes stopped, only the unending discomfort, uncertainty, and fear were left to them. Most cracked at that point, willing to do anything to return to that blissful state.

I had assisted in a few cases, and even the most benign scenarios had felt vaguely dirty. I wasn't hurting them, I was giving them the time of their life, even. I knew that.

But still.

Shaking my head slightly to clear it, I mulled over where I needed to go from here. What the castellan said was true, my previous assignments were the usual dream service, or shorter term contacts where keeping to an established persona was easy. I'd learned to be very good at them, with experience and a lot of pointers from one of the first adventurers I met after I came to this world. He called himself Dust, but I could always tell that wasn't his true name. Whatever it was, I owed him a lot for doing a better job of setting me straight as a succubus than most of my 'sisters' ever did.

I haven't seen him in years, since he and his party moved on to bigger things. Like so many I'd seen come and go over the years since. Lolisa was just the name he suggested for me back then, so I picked it and my current form for luck with my biggest assignment yet.

The door opened and I jumped to my feet, brushing the wrinkles from the skirt of my dress, the same style as last night just in green, before hurrying over as Jiro emerged, looking wrung out. I couldn't blame him, the idea of being alone with three generals for an entire morning gave me cold chills even imagining it.

We'd traded out the shirt and denim pants from his home for a set of loose green cotton trousers and white long sleeved shirt. Typical fashion for humans and those who looked like them. Both looked more rumpled than they had this morning, and he pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes as I approached. Since there was no time like the present, I took his other hand in both of mine and made a show of looking him over. "Are you alright? That must have been so tough."

"It…I've been better," he grimaced, replacing his glasses. "They said they're done with me, at least for now."

"Well then, let's leave the generals to their discussion. Maybe we can see the castle for a while, and let you get some fresh air and relax? " I suggested, slipping into position at his side as we went and leading him away, still holding his hand.

I had studied a general floor plan of the castle last night so I could actually do my official job as an aide, but this area was confusing enough on a map, and I'd been a little worried leading us up here.

But really? How hard could it be to just retrace my steps? The tower isn't that big.

Hubris. It's a demon's greatest weakness.

"And this is Queen Nanoha's tower…again," I said with a sudden tightness in my voice. The first time I'd been able to play it off with a laugh at my mistake and the promise we'd just need to take a different turn at the next intersection.

That had been some time and two sightings ago, and the humor had long since worn off. Turning to my charge, I bowed my head. "I'm sorry, Jiro. I don't know this part of the castle very well. This tower is mostly given over to the generals and their staff, lower ranking people hardly ever see it," I tried to explain. "I'd ask for directions, but everyone must be in the meeting with the generals discussing what you told them earlier."

I watched his face carefully as I spoke, eyes turned up to look through my lashes. He didn't seem angry at least, just frowning thoughtfully as he looked out the window at the tower outside. It was a pretty enough piece of architecture, all white stone with a blue tile roof.

"I could fly out the window, but I don't think I can carry you at the same time if that's what you're thinking," I suggested with a hesitant chuckle, resting a hand on his arm. He wasn't tense, but didn't seem to notice either. He just leaned his head out the window to look up and around. Then he stepped back and trotted down the hall to one of the closed Thief Doors we passed previously. One of several doors that would have been lowered with all three generals present.

"Yeah, I thought so. There was a flat plate sticking out of the outside wall I meant to ask about before. I guess we know what that was now. This was open before we saw that tower the first time. But…" He squatted to grab a handle on the bottom and tried to lift it, but naturally it didn't budge a bit. Frowning, he reset his grip and tried again, but I stepped forward, leaning against him with my hands on his shoulders to get his attention.

"Don't. Thief and Assassin classes tend to have high agility but relatively low strength. So Thief Doors are only able to be lifted if you have a high enough strength stat, and neither of us are even close." If he was right and they'd been lowered after we passed, it was definitely going to be a problem. Possibly we somehow wandered into a section that would normally be open, but was sealed off for the discussions.

Jiro blew out a frustrated breath, still squatting at the door handle. After a second, he realized I was still leaning on his back and made a slight twitch, his ears pinkening slightly, but didn't pull away. I suppressed a rueful chuckle. If my plan had been having a little 'adventure' together and bonding over getting lost for a while, and we weren't actually trapped in here, I'd be calling it a complete success.

"So what now? We wait until they open up again?" he asked skeptically as I stepped away from him and he turned to face me.

Jiro's turn

I know my guide had planned to show me the castle, but somehow I didn't think this was what she had in mind.

This whole area seemed to be deserted, which was odd in what was supposed to be a functioning castle. I'd have thought it would be packed to the ceilings with people keeping things running.

On the way here I'd noticed only a couple of people in the hallways too. But, I guessed at the time there might be servant's passages or whatever and hadn't thought anything of it.

Lolisa frowned and turned away from the door, her bigger set of wings folded up neatly but the ones on her head twitching and fluttering slightly as she paced back and forth, nibbling a thumbnail while deep in thought. Not seeing a better thing to do, I leaned against the door and idly watched her, while trying to remember anything we'd seen that might be useful.

After a couple of laps she turned to pout at me over her shoulder. "I don't usually mind a snack, but it's really distracting right now."

"So you can read my mind," I muttered. Scary, but good to know. I'd been wondering if her wings felt like her tail did, it looked like they had the same kind of short, felt-like hairs…

"Not exactly, but if I couldn't feel emotions how could I…" she trailed off distractedly, "Like I said, later. But right now I really need to figure out how to get us out."

"You said snack," I prompted, beginning to get worried. Granted, it was definitely lunchtime. But, unless we were in a lot more trouble than I thought, it was a little early to resort to cannibalism. I hoped.

"Of course…" She paused her consideration and turned fully to me, staring at me curiously. "You do know what I am, right?"

"I mean assuming that's, you know," I gestured at her current winged form, "You?"

She gave me an unimpressed look, hands on hips. "I can't change my form that much. Not long term. Besides, I just told you I eat lust, what else would I be but a succubus?!" she exclaimed, irritation leaking into her voice.

"My friend's dream girl," I replied instantly. Asa's doujin collection had a very specific monster girl focus, as I'd learned one time when I'd been looking though his desk for a calculator while I was visiting. Lolisa laughed at that for some reason. "Sorry, I'm not read up on demonology. It wasn't exactly a core class back home." She also didn't look much like a succubus, a lot closer to 'cute neighbor girl' than 'sex on legs'. But, now that she said so, that suddenly explained a lot about how friendly she had been.

Cannibalism might be a little closer to the truth than I'd like though…

Lolisa tilted her head at me, still in that same pose. "You're actually serious," she mused after a long moment. "You really didn't have any idea what I was. Kazuma means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

"Yeah. Yeah he does." Not that the cute 'girl' delivering the pitch had hurt anything, but I'd like to think it wasn't just chasing her that made me jump into this mess. "Only the gods know why, sometimes. You know how it is."

"Not really, we don't have families. We just kind of pop into existence." She sat against the wall, settling into a kind of seiza position where we could see the door. "Sorry, I assumed you knew more about us. From the records of people from your world they tend to take it all in stride. I guess I should explain some things, before someone does it for me and gets half of it wrong."

I settled into position across from her, though I'd just leaned against the wall with my legs outstretched. I had no desire to sit seiza for long.

"So, all demons live off of strong emotions. Anger, fear, lust, despair, disappointment, there's something for everyone."

"I've seen you eat though," I interjected. Just this morning, in fact, when she brought some sort of juice, flatbread, and cheese before the interview. And I couldn't help noticing those were all pretty negative emotions.

"We do, but we can't live on that by itself. Like…a human who lives on nothing but bread and water will get sick, right? Even if they have plenty of both?"

I nodded. Emotions as magic vitamins preventing demonic scurvy or beriberi made as much sense as anything else I'd seen so far.

"Succubi are the same as any other demons, we just use lust of course. Plus it tastes good, like a cake for you."

I chuckled awkwardly, not sure how I felt about that comparison.

"But…we didn't always do things that way. We can live off of emotions alone, we just have to get more. Way, way more," she said sadly. "Our…partner's mind doesn't always survive that. So you'll hear a lot about us, and some of it will be true. Or at least used to be. We had to become civilized once we started living in cities with a lot of other races, the same way humans had to learn how to light a fire indoors without burning the house down. So while it's been centuries since the old ways died out, the memories still linger."

The silence stretched between us as I processed that thought. Some things never changed. It wasn't like we didn't have people who got a raw deal because of who their families used to be back home.

Lolisa stood, dusting off the skirt of her dress. "All that said, we've still got a problem. They'll find us eventually, but honestly it would be really bad for me if we had to be rescued on my first day on the job. So, I'm going to fly down and grab someone who can get the door open for us, before an official search party gets started. Promise not to tell anyone?" She tapped her fingers together and gave me a guilty look.

Because life loves moments like that, the door started to grind its way open, both of our heads whipping around in shock. Lolisa's eyes widened to show whites all around, pupils dilating like black holes as the blood drained from her face. Making her almost as pale as our 'rescuer.' What I looked like I can only guess.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I sensed two people in here. I suppose you two wanted some privacy?" General Wiz asked, looking away slightly in embarrassment while casually holding the Thief Door up with one hand. She made a slight cough at our stunned silence. "Well, have fun!" As she began to lower it again we both cried out:

"WAIT!"

—-

I blew steam off the freshly brewed tea within the cutely floral painted, paper thin ceramic teacup I held as carefully in both hands as if it was the Emperor's personal property.

General Wiz seemed by far the nicest and most likable of the generals at the interview, but the way Lolisa was pale as our hostess and not hyperventilating only by sheer force of will told me we were probably in a lot of trouble. She accepted the cup and saucer the lich placed on the table with a shaky smile and thanks. A slight jerk in her hands spilled a few drops as she raised it to drink. Not daring to touch the matching crochet napkin, she covertly wiped her hands on her skirt instead when Wiz turned and bustled back to pick up a tray.

"There! Now, help yourselves! I know you're hungry, I certainly would be after answering questions all morning!" Our hostess chirped, depositing a very cute tray of crustless sandwiches and assorted finger food between us before seating herself, filling her teacup, and taking a few oval cookies of some sort.

The theme of the general's quarters matched the tableware. There were pastel colored curtains on the windows, and the walls were packed with warmly lacquered shelves full of various tea sets and trinkets. Each at least as delicately made and brightly decorated as the last. There was a wood paneled door I assumed led into a bedroom, and a small but obviously functional kitchen tucked into one corner.

"T-thank you, they look amazing," I said, while I carefully reached for one of the sandwiches. It was probably really good, but nerves were making it hard for me to taste much of anything as I sampled it.

"I'm sure many things have been strange to you since your arrival," Wiz said to me once we'd served ourselves. Which was a bit odd, now that I thought of it. I'd have expected someone like her to have people for that. "I certainly had to do some adjusting when I was chas…returned from Belzerg several years ago."

"It's like nothing I've seen before," I answered with total honesty. "But Lolisa has been doing a good job helping get my feet under me." I sipped the tea, which had cooled enough by that point. "We were planning to do a tour of the rest of the castle while you and your fellow generals met this afternoon. Which reminds me, I did wonder about one tower, Queen Nanoha's I think it was? It doesn't match the stonework of anything else." I asked the first thing that popped into mind..

"Ah, she was quite a bit before my time I'm afraid. I'd have loved to meet her, before or after I became a lich. The White Devil they used to call her. Not just because of her incredible magic, but also her ability to befriend former foes and bring them to her side. Sometimes without violence." Wiz nibbled a cookie, frowning at it slightly. "I'm afraid I baked these a bit dry. Anyway, they also call it the White Tower. Many of the classes in magic for greater demons are taught there."

"Just greater demons? Where do the others go?" I asked, innocently I thought, but if anything Lolisa went even paler and clenched her hand on my leg under the table.

"Per the Founding Demon King's will, yes," Wiz replied flatly, before changing the subject. "When you restart your tour, do try the turnovers at the cart by the entrance. I got the recipe for mine from the owner, but honestly I've never been able to get them quite like he does…"

Lolisa's turn

For the first time in over a decade, I wished I was back in the Abyss. At least there I would never be anywhere near a general, instead of trapped in a room with one.

Every move I made, or didn't, could see me turned into a greasy smear at General Wiz's slightest whim. The story of her rampage through the fortress, leading to her rise to a generalship, was still spoken of in whispers among the demons fortunate enough not to be in her path.

Piling misfortune on top of danger, I knew Jiro hadn't meant ill, but bringing up the White Tower, and especially education for the lower demons, had been treading very close to criticizing a royal decree so old it was practically written in our bones.

Unlike humans and the other races the goddesses favored, who's adventurer cards granted them Skills and magics, we learned ours through study and practice.

The benefit was that while we had no class limitations on what we could learn, it was also much, much slower. Impossibly so if we didn't have the lifespans we do.

Greater demons were permitted to learn the full array of mundane and magical techniques if they had the wit to do so. Middle demons might also if they demonstrated talent and loyalty. Lesser demons, never.

Our innate Skills were enough for us, so spoke his majesty all those years ago.

For now, General Wiz seemed happy enough to recommend treats and scenic views, and Jiro, with the courage of the ignorant, was perfectly willing to trade tips with what against all odds seemed to be a fellow baker. Meanwhile, I made the occasional nod and appreciative comment, trying not to look like I was snubbing the terrifyingly powerful woman and steering Jiro away from anything else that might get us both an ax.

"Well, this was lovely but I'm afraid our meeting will be restarting soon," the general said, and I almost sagged in relief.

"Our apologies for taking up your precious time, General," I said quickly, bowing my head. Jiro followed suit at my glance in his direction.

"Not at all, I'd love to do it again," she said cheerfully, and my heart sank.

"We're at your disposal," I said instead, and we took our leave, General Wiz seeing us off with a wave from the door.

This time I knew exactly where to take us, and led us out as fast as I could without running or resorting to my wings.

Once we were outside, right next to the cart General Wiz mentioned in fact, I halted at last. Hands on my knees, I blew out a long, relieved breath.

"So, that just happened, right? We had a festive tea party with one of the most powerful people anywhere, and she makes great cookies?" Jiro asked as he leaned against the wall beside the door, running a hand over his face below his glasses.

I looked up at him, and nodded numbly. "This isn't a dream service, no."

"Huh. Well that was wild," he chuckled. "And here I was afraid my day was going to be all boring meetings."

I stuffed the urge to scream at him that boring was exactly what you wanted from meeting someone that powerful into a little box in the back of my head for later, and instead straightened and turned to him, making sure to meet his eyes to drive the point home.

"Jiro, please. For both our sakes. Be careful about what you say here. Most powerful warriors or wizards don't become that way by being kind and accommodating to their lessers. No matter which side of the border you're on."

He nodded, looking away. "Ok. I guess entitled assholes really are everywhere," he said softly.

I giggled and beckoned him to follow. "Too true. But I suppose on the bright side, if General Wiz likes you then that will make your life here easier. Now, do you still want that tour? With me?" I couldn't help adding that, after the last couple of hours I wouldn't blame him for thinking I was cursed.

He stood up and walked over to stand beside me. "Sure, how often do you get to see a demon castle in your life?"

I beamed at him and took his arm, falling into step. "Then follow, bold warrior! Our next stop is the main keep, or at least the wall around it. Supposedly it was built by the Founding King himself, but there was a big rebuild about 35 years ago. It's hard to tell, they took a lot of care to make sure everything matched up."

"What happened?"

"Welllll, General Wiz did. You see…"