After separating from the annoying elf, we made our way to the inn. Like I had said before, we were required to stay at a specific inn during the tournament, as to prevent any "unfortunate" things from happening in the night.

The establishment was, pleasantly enough, quite luxurious. It was a grand 5-floor hotel with every amenities provided free of charge, including maids to "take care of your needs" at night. Yes, the receptionist actually recommended me prostitutes cosplaying as maids for my stay there. Right when Sherry and the others were standing right behind me. Suffice to say the suggestion was shot down in an instant.

“Oh my, what a shame." The receptionist covered her mouth and giggled. "I assure you, our lovely succubi are well-trained to pleasure both males and females! They can even teach you new tricks to spice up your love play in the bedroom!” She looked at Sherry and the others.

Yeah, by the way, she’s a succubus herself. In fact, a lot of the staff of this hotel were either succubi or incubi. It started to make me wonder if the whole place was run by that succubus wife of Balthazar.

And, like your typical succubi, she had a body any girl would kill for. Her uniform, consisting of a long-sleeved white shirt under a black vest, and dark trousers underneath, was clearly designed in such a way that it hugged her buxom body perfectly.

I tried not to ogle though. Not in front of Sherry and the others.

"How about some incubi instead? We have this new pretty boy who's just the cutest thing! Even a man like you should be able to appreciate his beauty!" She gave a smirk at my direction.

H-hey, stop looking at me like that! I don't swing that way!

“Alright, that's enough!" Sherry slammed her hands on the table. I was pretty sure she nearly broke it in half with that force. "Cut the chatter and give us our rooms!"

“Rooms?” She raised an eyebrow. “Apologies, but aren’t you all sleeping together?”

“Not all of us,” Felicia added. “She sleeps on her own.” She pointed her thumb towards Myrilla.

“Oh… are you… not getting along? That’s no good! You should really—”

“I am not his woman if that’s what you are insinuating,” Myrilla interrupted, her voice as sharp as a knife.

“A-ah, so you are not.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “Very well then. One room under the name of Alcyon and another under the name of Sherry.”

Yeah, Alcyon was my fake name. I was lucky they didn’t ask me for any identification. Like my Adventurer’s Card which had my real name on it. A lot cooler than Charles Pendleton, don’t you think?

Afterwards, she stamped some papers and gave us our keys, giving us two rooms on the fifth floor for our trouble.

“Dinner would be at six to eight. Feel free to drink and eat as much as you want!” She smiled.

I gave a short glance at the grandfather clock in the lobby. Still five o-clock now. We had some time we could use to clean up.

ᅠ

Wow, this really is a luxury hotel…

A succubus maid then took us to where our rooms were, using what was pretty much an elevator. Only, it was a round room with a floating floor that one could manipulate using magic.

The hallway was quiet, our steps muffled by the red carpet covering the floor. Either people just hadn’t settled in their rooms or the walls were that good at muffling their sounds. To our left and right all sorts of paintings, mostly about one scenery or another, along with suits or armors wielding swords, halberds, and axes.

In short, it was eerily similar to what the inside of a wealthy noble’s house would be.

I heard that the Demon Lord is a big fan of human culture. If this establishment is run by his supervision, it only makes sense that he would have a say in the decorations.

One of the paintings took my attention though. It was a painting of someone who looked to be a noble lady of some sort, wearing a black dress with a neckline so low it pretty much showed the entire top half of her boobs. Her hair was straight and purple, going down all the way to her waist where the painting ended.

Noting my locked gaze, the succubus attendant decided to speak.

“Ah, this is the painting of our good Lady Rita, one of the wives of Lord Balthazar. She’s the one who manages this place.”

That explains the wings and tails.

Still, that gaudy necklace she has… man, isn’t that thing heavy?

After my eyes were satisfied staring at her boobs, they moved to their neck, where they saw what I could only describe as a large chunk of gold fashioned into jewelry. Honestly, it was something I would expect a haughty “ohohohoho!” noble lady to wear. Hell, maybe she is one.

“As the succubus amongst succubi, it is her teachings that we succubi are to be the leaders in comfort and relaxation. As such, we always make sure that every guest that stays in our establishment will be cured of their ails, physical or mental, once they leave,” the maid succubus continued with her prim and proper tone.

"Hmph, comfort and relaxation? Don't make me laugh."

I looked to my side and saw that Sherry had decided to join in on the conversation. She was now folding her arms, no doubt ready to go off on a rant.

Well, let's see what she has to say about the succubi. They're kinda her race's mortal enemy after all.

Heh, this should be good.

"This whole place is just a really fancy whorehouse. You succubi love to seduce every man you come across, making them have sex with you until they grow addicted to it, then profiting off them once they can't live without it."

The maid's face immediately hardened. Uh oh, you just made her mad, Sherry!

"And besides, only the Succubus Demon Lord has the right to be called the 'succubus amongst succubi'. Your mistress is just a faker. Nothing more."

The maid took a deep sigh, glaring at her before replying with her icy words.

"With all due respect, Miss Izurdia, you know nothing about our race. It is true that we can become a vile creature like the one you speak of but a true succubus seeks the love and pleasure of her partner. A shared, equal love, not a selfish one. Our mistress subscribes to that belief, unlike that wicked succubus Lilith. She might be a Demon Lord but she is not a representative of our race. And so, even if Lilith and her ilk had caused the downfall of your race, we and our mistress have nothing to do with it."

Welp, it's right there in the name after all. Sherry Izurdia. Only natural she'd think she's an Izurd.

Sherry huffed. "Hmph, I seriously doubt that!"

The maid said nothing in return. She simply resumed her walk, though not before giving Sherry one last cold glare.

After that little conversation, we resumed our walk through the hallway, only stopping once we were at the very end of the corridor, where our two rooms were located.

The maid turned to face us, her skirt swishing in the process. "Here we are. Please, consider yourselves to be at home. If you need anything, you can tap the crystal located on the small desk in the living room. It is connected to the front desk."

Another example of magical technology. Reminds me of when I visited Mira all those years ago.

She gave a deep bow before excusing herself, leaving us to our own devices at last.

ᅠ

When we arrived at our rooms, we were greeted by the very definition of luxury. It was more like a penthouse than a room, really, with multiple spaces available, from the bedroom, the living room, the dining room, and even a mini bathhouse with warm water on the ready. Using my sight, I could tell that both the water and the warmth were produced using a magic tool attached to the pipes. It was a construct far beyond the heating stones commonly used to heat up baths.

Still, we didn’t enjoy the pleasantries right away, for apparently, Myrilla and Felicia had something they wanted to tell me and Sherry. As such, we sat down in the living room—Sherry and I on one sofa and Felicia and Myrilla on the other. Separating between us was an expensive-looking wooden table with a flower vase on top of it.

I put my staff beside the sofa, letting it lean towards me on my left. Felicia and Myrilla did the same soon after.

“So, the result of our investigation while you two were in the tournament.” Myrilla opened, her gaze switching from me to Sherry. “There is no doubt about it. The people here know who Hugo Greenwood is. Or, at the very least, they know all the tales regarding him.”

“And, their reaction to him is mostly positive.” Felicia continued with a smile. “Despite him being a human, they would happily drink with him if they ever met him.”

“Most demons respect strength above all else,” Myrilla resumed, still keeping her deadpan expression. “So it’s nothing surprising they would act that way. Compared to humans who I imagine would be quite fearful of you.”

I let out a small chuckle. Heh, I guess this means I’m more demon than man at this point, if we’re talking strength-wise.

“However,” Felicia’s smile disappeared, replaced by one of concern as she looked at me. “This means a whole army of fighters and warriors will wish to challenge you to a fight. This tournament has gathered all the hotheaded fools into one spot and when they know you are the legendary human Hugo Greenwood, I have no doubt they will crawl over each other to have a taste of your strength.”

“Hmph, let them come!” Sherry crossed her legs and arms. “I’ll be Hugo’s bodyguard! They’ll have to fight me first before they can fight him!”

I glanced at her direction and gave her a sheepish smile. As much as her declaration warmed my heart, I wouldn’t want her to leave a trail of broken bones on my wake.

The way she fought in the tournament today… whoo boy, she didn’t even bother to use her sword or hair. She just beat the shit out of her opponent until they begged for her mercy.

Hearing her response, Myrilla gave a teacher-like frown towards Sherry—the kind she would use whenever she would go on into one of her big lectures. “Unfortunately, not all of them would be like the weaklings you fought today. For I managed to get close enough to Esana Naturia to read her mind. And I found that she has a terrible itch to fight you. You might not realize this but she’s been watching you closely from her seat. You are the only human in the tournament and your description fits perfectly with how Hugo Greenwood is supposed to look.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Wait, you think she might be on to me already?”

“Not exactly, thankfully enough. Simply because she doesn’t think a person your caliber will ever bother joining her tournament. Especially since you forfeited your magic in the process.”

I let out a small, relieved sigh, followed by a chuckle. Yeah. She got a point. I’m really more of a mage than a swordsman.

“Still, just make sure you don’t overdo it, Milord.” Felicia gave me a concerned look. “If you feel you are outmatched, just surrender. Don’t use your magic. If she thinks you’re the legendary Hugo Greenwood, you’d have to fight her and you won’t get the audience you want with Balthazar.”

“But I’ll have to fight her anyway at the end of the tournament, no?”

“No,” Myrilla interrupted. “Because there’s no way you can win over Sherry without your magic.”

I chuckled yet again, giving a smile at the black-haired girl’s direction. “True enough. So it’ll be up to you, Sherry.” I rested my hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head towards me. “I can just surrender if you want. You’re a far better speaker than I am. If it were up to me, I’d punch that Demon Lord for forcing that Victoria girl to a marriage she wants nothing with.”

I leaned back on my seat, folding my arms under my chest. “The problem is… I’m not sure if I can win the fight if I’m the one to win. Unless, of course, she wants to fight both of us. But I’m pretty sure that frog told us that the champion will only fight the top fighter of the tournament.”

Myrilla sighed, shaking her head. “Then why did you enter the tournament in the first place?”

I fell silent, unable to respond to that question.

…

Until, all of a sudden, an idea entered my mind, making a triumphant smirk to form on my lips.

“There’s a way. For both of us to get a shot on the dullahan.”

Myrilla raised her eyebrow, clearly taken aback by my declaration.

I grinned. “What? You can’t read my mind?”

She scowled, her antennas lighting up, and then, after a few seconds, her mouth fell open.

“That’s… quite the risky proposition. But I can see it working.”

Sherry and Felicia stared at me, demanding I explain the plan for them no doubt.

And so, with an even bigger smirk, I gracefully obliged.

“Basically, I’ll surrender to Sherry immediately once we face each other in the grand final. Then, I’ll declare to the crowd that I’m no longer interested in the tournament, claiming it to be a boring venue filled with weak fighters. I would then announce I would rather leave the final fight to Sherry, as I’m in no mood to fight a weakling like Esana. This, naturally, will infuriate the prideful dullahan.”

“Meaning, you’ll provoke her into a fight.” Felicia smiled. “She has to respond that way if she’s going to keep her respect from the populace. That’s a genius move, Milord!”

“And, if you fail, I’ll be there to avenge you.” Sherry patted me on the back, grinning as well. “That’s a great idea, Hugo!”

I rubbed the bottom of my nose, blushing slightly. It’s not every day I got a genius idea like this one!

ᅠ

After our little, half-an-hour meeting, it was decided that we would depart for dinner around one hour or so from now. Before that, we would take our baths, change our clothes, and maybe even rest a little if the time allowed.

But before even doing that, we performed a quick scan of the two rooms for any spying devices or familiars. It was only to be expected that there would be some, remembering our greeting when we first entered the city.

I already used my mana sight in the living room before by the way. Finding nothing there, we could proceed to have our chat there without anyone eavesdropping.

To my surprise, however, it wasn’t just the living room that was empty. There really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in our two rooms. Wow, I guess they actually care about their guests’ privacy here.

Only afterwards that we split up, with Myrilla staying in her room, while Felicia, Sherry, and I made our way back to our own.

The moment I heard the door being closed, however…

*Boing*

I felt a pair of arms wrapping around my abdomen, followed by another pair of warm, squishy fat pressing into my back.

“Let’s go take a bath together, Darling~” Felicia whispered to my ear.

She didn’t even wait.

I let her expert hands work at unbuttoning my trousers. In a flash, they were already on the carpeted floor, showing off my boxers to her hungry eyes.

Sherry, who had been the one to close off the door, was naturally unhappy, seeing her assault me like this without her consent.

“Really? You can’t even wait until he takes off his shoes?”

“Come now, little Sherry.” She smirked, her hand feeling up my behind. “Don’t you think Milord is just cute in his undergarments?”

“Don’t call me little, you old hag!” She pointed at her.

I chuckled. Judging by the blush on her face, and her averting her gaze, she indeed found me cute in my undergarments.

“Feel free to look if you want.” I smiled mischievously. “If I can peek at your panties, you have all the right in the world to peek at my boxers.”

“Hmph! Then you will no doubt have no problem with me pulling them off!”

With one swift move, and with her still not looking at my direction, she pulled my boxers off with her hair.

Hmm, so you can use the martial arts technique of seeing without eyes for that kind of thing too…

But my boxers don’t have any aura on them though…

“Oh my, what an impatient child.” Felicia licked her lips as she stared at my junk. “Don’t you worry, Milord. I’ll help you change out of the rest of your clothing, alright?”

She knelt down and began to untie my boots, all the while sucking on the tip of my member, giving me a lustful glance all the way through the process.

Damn. Never before I imagined I'll get a blow job while I have my shoes untied.

Sherry, who had returned her gaze back to me, quickly reacted to the scandalous scene with a deathly glare. She ordered her hair to grab both Felicia and I, forced us to stand straight, before undressing both me and her in a speed only rivaled by my pervy wind spell.

"We're going to the bath right now! You two can do your lewd stuff later!"

I was now standing completely naked, with a half raised mast. Felicia was in the same state, now standing with her glorious boobs and red well-trimmed pubes in front of me. Well, Felicia still had her shoes though. But not for long, as she quickly threw them to the sides, huffing as she did.

Smiling at me, she then said, “So much for giving you a pre-show, Milord. Well, I suppose I do need a bath… But do not fret. I’ll attend to your needs first before I tend to mine.”

More like, you’ll play with my member and I’ll play with your boobs. That’s usually how it goes if we take a bath together.

My gaze momentarily shifted to Sherry, who was now stripping down out of her shirt. I could see her small breasts as her top was now covering her head instead. No bra, of course. No need for one when they were so small.

She then moved on to her short shorts, unbuttoning and unzipping them before letting them fall to the floor, revealing the fact that she wore blue striped panties today. Not that I didn't already know, seeing how I already caught them peeking out of her shorts earlier. The waistband of her shorts were actually somewhat loose on her hip. As such, they would occasionally drop down a bit, giving anyone who really looked a peek at the waistband of her panties. Not to mention that sometimes she would just forget to zip her shorts. Though I had a sneaking suspicion that only happened whenever she wanted to seduce me.

She then pulled down those panties as well, giving me a nice view of her pristine girlhood. Unlike Felicia, she was completely hairless down there.

Noticing my gaze, her cheeks immediately reddened as she puffed her cheeks in my direction. “Stop staring and get into the bathroom already. Stupid Hugo…”

I had to hold myself back from chuckling. Wow. What a stereotypical tsundere response… Then again, she does fit the archetype…

With a big grin on my face, I walked to the bathroom door, gesturing to Felicia and Sherry with a short bow for them to enter first.