Chapter 103 Chapter 25: Preparing For Departure
Lucifer stepped out of the inn for the first time in nearly ten days after the battle against the diva of blight to find that the entire village was changing shape now, with the church and inn as the main features with the walls destroyed.
The people look happier now... I wish that no tragedy repeats itself here...
It became more of a semi-circle shape as the dwarves had the idea to craft welcoming shops and stores on the edge of the semi-circle with the same shaped designs. They got straight to work, and within a month, the village would be close to the size of a town with various people who would never have helped before now helping.
Despite being one of the worst lords in the game, I don't seek to be good or evil. To those who are kind to me, I will repay them in due time and my enemies...
Well, I'll just kill them.
Be it Adventurers, knights, or the church templars—all had pitched in to make Rinvale a more solid and safe place to live.
The smiles were slowly returning to the people here as Lucifer headed towards the old lady's jewellery store that now took in a few misplaced villagers helping her to sell and organise her small store.
"Granny, have you finished the item I asked for?" He shouted to the store with three halflings helping dust and clean the merchandise.
"Ohh~ the handsome boy~ I have—you wanted me to create quite a few just in case, right?"
Her gentle but ageing voice sounded as she took out a small box with more than twenty little coins with a pair of red batwings on them.
These items were a special form of jewellery that would fuse with the target skin and create a magical rune tattoo that would enchant the person with whatever effects were chosen.
For these, Lucifer had spent quite a lot, and both jewellers worked together for the best enchants possible.
—Defense against Mental Control
—Great Defense against Mental Magic
—Resistance to charm
—Increase regeneration rate by 10%
Thanks to the huge battle, the town split most of the earnings between Lucifer and themselves, with Lucifer only taking a small cut of the earnings and donating the rest towards the refurbishment of the village.
"You've done great, granny—here's an extra tip for your hard work and the beautiful case."
"Fufu, you're so smooth. If I were a bit younger, I'd be asking for something else extra."
"..."
This old woman was always making jokes like this, so Lucifer normally quickly left, but he took the black case with small-grained swirls and golden fixtures and looked at the lady with a smile, "Granny, we will be leaving for the capital soon, don't miss me too much."
"Ahh~ I'll cry myself to sleep every night, young man, come back safe."
She waved Lucifer goodbye as he smiled and left, heading towards the church where the serving priestess and Irina stood talking to some villagers.
"Irina, sorry for the wait—let me meet Serena now, and then we can head home, as I'm sure everyone misses us."
"Master!" Irina rushed over in excitement, jumping into his arms and hugging Lucifer tightly before kissing him on the cheek happily. Since he was wounded, there was only light petting allowed, and the only one to sleep with him was Gwendolyn. Sometimes Estella would sneak into his bed, but the other girls were made to wait. Lucifer stroked Irina's hair as her cat ears twitched softly, "Mmhm, let's go see Serena."
The priestess, hearing the name Serena, frowned slightly, and Irina saw this and quickly whispered in Lucifer's ear, "Master, that priestess is jealous and worships the bishop, so be careful."
Lucifer could smell jealousy instantly from Irina's words, and as they entered the church, he wrapped his arm around Irina's waist, pulling her closer and whispering back, "Okay—then let's not play with her and get work done."
Irina nodded happily as the priestess saw this and felt even angrier inside but showed a fake smile, "Lord Lucifer—the bishop should almost be ready now—follow me."
They followed behind the priestess as she led them to the basement, which had many cells with bars instead of doors and two guards standing at the entrance. The priestess looked at Lucifer with a bright smile, "Here is the cell—is there anything else I can do for you, lord Lucifer?"
"Oi!? I am not a criminal, you dumb priestess!" Lucifer grimaced before she looked inside, but Serena wasn't there.
The priestess heard this and laughed coldly, "Isn't this where you belong? Bishop Serena said—"
Lucifer grabbed the priestess' throat and slammed her against the wall as Irina smiled evilly, "Master, shall we torture her? She's disloyal."
Irina's sadistic side was showing as Lucifer looked at the priestess, who suddenly started panicking, "Bishop Serena is in her sanctuary... I lied to you—I will take you there... please.... don't kill me, Hero..."
Lucifer released his hand and watched her fall to the ground, coughing and wheezing for breath as Irina clicked her tongue, "Tsk—master is too nice."
"Don't worry—she will get what she deserves one day—lead us to Serena's sanctuary," Lucifer commanded the priestess, who quickly nodded and crawled along the ground, leading them to a door at the end of the corridor.
Irina looked at the priestess and kicked her away, "Go—get lost!"
The priestess looked scared and ran away as Irina held Lucifer's arm, but he could only see her learning bad things from Estella and someone else, but he wasn't sure who.
"Don't be so vulgar in the future, Irina." Lucifer scolded Irina gently as they opened the door, finding Serena kneeling in front of a statue, praying with a holy light shining down on her.
Lucifer walked forward as Serena sensed his arrival and turned around with a soft smile, "Lucifer—thank you for saving my life... thank you for saving the village, even for making yourself suffer so much..."
At this moment, it wasn't Serena speaking, but those eyes were a divine colour—it was the goddess Celestia who was thanking him."
"It's my role as your Hero." Lucifer bowed respectfully as Irina did the same, but Celestia shook her head, "No, Irina—this isn't the role of a hero, but Lucifer chose this path because it was his nature to save people and help those in need. For this, I am very grateful."
Irina blushed heavily as Lucifer looked at Celestia, "Then what is the role of a hero?"
Serena closed her eyes as Celestia took over her body completely, looking at Lucifer deeply, "To slay the Demon King—or the lords. There is never a role in saving people, and the Hero is a tool, a weapon to destroy anything that threatens the world's balance."
"Normally, the little bastards ask for harems or cheats... to make them the strongest, and then we need another hero to slay them a few years later."
Celestia sighed heavily, looking at Lucifer, "But you—you are different, so I want to give you a quest directly to prepare you for the coming battles ahead. It will increase your strength and help Irina develop into a fine holy maiden, too."
Lucifer listened to Celestia intently as Irina felt honoured to receive a quest directly from a goddess, but Lucifer had seen the previous heroes' stories and knew how this ended—so he smiled and asked, "What is the quest?"
Celestia smiled brightly as Serena's body sat down on a chair, "Find and slay the Vampire Queen—she is the mother of all vampires and the—"
"Pass... that woman is this body's mother." Lucifer rejected instantly, causing Celestia's eyes to widen in shock as Irina panicked, "Master, this quest will give me amazing rewards, so we must slay the Vampire Queen."
"No—that woman is this body's mother—if I killed her, it would be like killing my real mother, and I refuse to do that," Lucifer spoke calmly as Celestia thought about it carefully—he wasn't wrong in his logic, but the Vampire Queen must die eventually.
"Then seduce her? or convince her to join you. She's not related to you by blood—she just made you into a vampire." Celestia said with a blunt tone, seeming to get used to Lucifer's dumb moments of selfishness.
"Join me? why would I do that!?" Lucifer grumbled, feeling annoyed as Celestia shrugged her shoulders, "Because she's strong—she's the Vampire Queen, so her powers and abilities are unmatched amongst your peers, and she's a shortstack virgin with huge tits and pink hair. Any male would drool at the chance to have her join, and you're just stubborn because she abandoned you once."
Lucifer looked at Celestia strangely as Irina couldn't believe the goddess was acting so vulgar—this was her holiness, "How do you know she's a virgin!?"
"Because I can sense it—anyway, Lucifer—think about it. You will be rewarded well if you succeed, and Irina gets some powerful upgrades and new abilities that suit her holy magic better."
"Tsk... slave driver, what do I get?"
Celestia in Serena's body seemed to think hard, placing a finger to her chin and rolling her eyes.... "How about a date with me?"
Lucifer was stunned, but Irina freaked out instantly, "Goddess Celestia—how can you flirt with master!?"
"Haha, I'm joking—but seriously, Lucifer—what reward do you want?"
"We're going on a date—you can't take it back?" Lucifer smiled as Celestia felt speechless, "Fine—but it has to be after you complete the quest and slay or make the Vampire Queen obedient."
"Good deal—Irina, let's leave."
"O-Oi... I had more to—"
Bang!
With that, Lucifer left the room, as the light faded from Serena's eyes, or rather it was just contact lenses... "Tsk, this body... if he knew I was Celestia, would he still be so cheeky and stare at my tits and ass all the time since the moment he entered?" nove-lb-1n
She looked around and let out a loud sigh, leaning back on her chair and placing both legs on her wooden desk, kicking several books and sheets of paper on the ground.
"Should I follow him to the capital? Would it be fun~ who knows... the god slayer is going to date me? How scary... and exciting."