LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 203
<~> Chapter 203
I had just finished maintaining my armor and cleaning it up. It was still in great shape, it was much better than the armor I had been using before. I'd gotten used to donning it fairly fast and it was always pretty comfortable. I tested all the straps after getting my chest piece in place before looking over my status as I laced up my boots.
[Status]
Name: Lilith Baphomet
Race: Greater Succubus [Race Hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]
Gender: Female
Class: [Novice Magic Swordsman] Lv. 12
Level: 50
Stat Spread:
Strength: 100
Vitality: 100
Charisma: 10 (735)
Luck: 20 (745)
Finesse: 70
Magic Control: 100
Magic Force: 100 (160)
Speed: 70 (90)
Endurance: 10
Karmic Energy: 7232
Unallocated Stat points: 0
Skills:
Haggling Lv. 15
Swordsmanship Lv. 38
Illusion Magic Lv. 5
Light Magic Lv. 11
Light Manipulation Lv. 12
Uuna Riding Lv. 13
Linguistics Lv. 10
Ritual Magic Lv. 10
Drawing Lv. 12
Mana Sense Lv. 6
Luck Magic Lv. 6
Enhancement Magic lv. 8
Flying lv. 7
Intimidation lv. 1
Internal Mana Manipulation lv. 4
Class Abilities
Merchant Skill - Calculations
Prostitute Passive - Resist Disease
Prostitute Passive - Magic Fingers
Prostitute Skill - Ease Pain
Prostitute Skill - Freshen Up
Prostitute Passive - Tight Fit
Prostitute Passive - Group Dynamics
Prostitute Passive - Go Unnoticed
Prostitute Passive - Resist Sleep
Prostitute Skill - Center of Attention
Prostitute Skill - Nightcap
Special Passives:
Soulbound Companions
Special drop rate up
Sightspeak
Double Down
Innate Abilities:
Karmic Retribution
Being of Karma
Racial Traits:
Succubus Constitution
Sexual Appetite Lv. 47
Succubus Bond
Greater Succubus Shifting
Titles:
[World Traveler - Hidden Title]
[Origin of Succubi - Hidden Title]
[Dungeon Destroyer]
[First Explorer]
[Early Intervention]
[Demon Hunter]
[Follower of Sorsette]
[Mother of the Succubi - Hidden Title]
Nothing had changed since last time so I didn't dwell on it. In fact, parts like the class abilities were getting a bit long as well so I would probably start ignoring them unless they became relevant. Most of my class abilities were just prostitute things at this point. While they were useful in some situations outside their normal use, they weren't usually that impactful. Though a few would be useful in social situations amusingly enough.
I sighed and looked over at the book Morrigan had brought me. It was a long reference guide of ritual circle components. The book had been exactly what I was looking for and was what Sorsette had given me as a gift. Unfortunately, I still didn't have time to study it. There were too many other things going on but I was dying to look through it and make my [Light Scribing] spell more useful. With a guide like this, I could probably even put together offensive spells and use them in combat. I wasn't sure how viable it really was but it would take experimentation and time I just didn't have right now. For now, I slid the book into my chest next to the Book of Recollections I had been saving. I could already see the synergy, if I got good at it, I might even be able to build spells on the fly.
"Alright Mimi, I'm done with my chest," I told her.
"Sounds good!" she said cheerfully before whisking it away into her pocket dimension. She takes the security of our belongings very seriously, zealously so, and doesn't like to leave the chests out when we leave. I find it a little cute, if sometimes inconvenient. She has such good control of her abilities now though that the hard part has more to do with not revealing her ability to others than her actually using it. She's even gotten better at grabbing stuff out of our chests if we want them, but we don't do that very often.
I looked over at the twins who had finished dressing in their matching maid uniforms. Their neck pieces looked odd without the collars there. They left a pretty noticeable gap and the twins had been fussing over it a little this morning, trying to adjust it without covering their necks where the collars would be, to avoid confusion.
"Why don't you just leave the neck pieces off?" I asked. The twins both looked at me with a frown and I realized that I had just fucked up.
Morrigan replied with a tinge of hurt in her voice, "I know that you don't really... understand how we feel about this. But this neck piece that wrapped around our collar means that we were recognized for our value as... servants. It signifies the trust you place in us as your representatives. Even if we weren't your slaves—"
"You're not slaves anymore," I interrupted.
"Um... right. Even though we are no longer your slaves, this neck piece still signifies the trust you place in us and we wear it with pride. It's... disheartening that it doesn't fit correctly without the collars... like we lost a sign of your trust..." she finished.
I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I still completely trust you with my life if that helps. Do you want to look for a tailor to adjust it for you today?"
Her pout softened into a gentle smile. "I would like that."
"Do... you still want to wear servant outfits now that neither of you are slaves? You could wear more traditional adventuring gear..." I asked. I hoped this wasn't as much of a landmine as the last question had been.
"I'm... not sure," Morrigan replied before looking at Torien.
Torien frowned back at her before shrugging. "We'll... talk about that later. I'm happy with this outfit for now... maybe it'll be easier to wear it like nothing happened for the moment..."
I nodded. "Sure, whatever the two of you prefer. Maybe we should buy some new clothes just in case regardless though." They both nodded to me in response but didn't seem keen on continuing down that train of thought.
For now, they decided to wear the loose servant collars as normal, even if they looked a bit odd without their normal collars under them. I'd make sure to make it a high priority to get it fixed assuming we were allowed to leave the embassy. I wasn't sure how this upcoming meeting was going to go.
When I opened the door and went down the stairs, the rest of the group blushed when they saw me. "What?" I asked.
Raya snickered, happy to be the first one to answer. "You left the bond open when you and Bella had your fun this morning. I woke up to an orgasm after a nice wet dream."
I coughed and turned away. Bella looked mortified, her ears had gone completely red. Before I could say anything, the door to the guest residence opened and a short female elf walked through the door. She was wearing a green blouse that accentuated her large breasts and black dress pants that gave her a bit of a boyish look despite them. She had long blond near-white hair and purple eyes. Sticking out of her hair, she had the telltale ears of an elf but looked a bit young for how she was dressed. I suspected her looks were deceiving from the way she carried herself though. She glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. "I assume you are Miss Lilith? Am I to take it that you wish to meet with Master Tangleleaf while wearing your armor then?"
"...Would that be impolite?" I asked.
She hummed. "The etiquette is tricky on this one. Do you wish to present yourself as a mercenary or as a political ally first and foremost? If this meeting is meant to be more political, then perhaps formal clothes would be more proper."
"Uhh..." I turned to Cecilia desperately looking for help. She was wearing an outfit that looked very similar to the elf woman's though hers had a silvery blouse with flowers stitched into it.
She shrugged. "It's up to you how you want to present yourself. I think either would work but it depends on how much you actually want to tell them about yourself."
The elf woman frowned at Cecilia's response but didn't say anything to that. Instead, she scanned the rest of our group before stopping on Silva who was also wearing her normal armor. "I'm told that the rabbit demi-beastfolk was also asked to attend, but from the description of her character I assume she doesn't have any clothes to wear either."
Silva shrugged. "I'm Lilith's... bodyguard. I don't need fancy clothes, she'll speak for me."
The elf woman nodded to her in understanding and focused back on me. "You have a half-bell before the meeting but others have already begun to gather. Would you like me to lead you over now?" she asked.
I scratched the base of my horn. "Uh, I actually think I will change if you don't mind."
She closed her eyes and bowed. "No trouble at all. I will wait here until you are ready to leave."
"Mimi, will you come with me please?" I asked. She was currently transformed into her golden-furred disguise again and wearing regular work clothes.
"Sure!" she hopped up and followed me up the stairs. Once we were back in my room she instantly removed the armor I had spent all morning maintaining and handed me the Noble's clothes I had tailored for myself. They fit rather well still despite the small amount of muscle I had put on. Stats hindered your ability to visibly become more muscular but I had apparently been so active that I had gained some anyway. Once I was finished, the two of us walked back down the stairs.
When the elven woman saw my change of clothes, she smiled at me. "Those clothes look fine on you Miss Lilith. I'm glad you decided to change." She looked around the group. "How many of your confidantes will be joining you?"
I looked around. "Everyone who wishes to attend I suppose."
After a quick conversation, the final group that would be going with me was Bella, the Twins, Silva, Cecilia, Talis, and Lorriene, to negotiate the pantharian's escort to the Northern Greens.
The rest of the group would wait for me to return in the guest quarters we had been put up in. Mimi likely wouldn't be able to contribute much and Raya and Sibyl felt out of place here. I got the sense that they would have joined us if I had asked them to, but they felt like they didn't have any place trying to help negotiate. I felt like they weren't giving themselves enough credit, it's not like I was a negotiator either, and Raya in particular could be very perceptive when she wanted to be. Still, they argued that they were just prostitutes and I didn't want to pressure them to come if they didn't want to. I didn't think any of us were in any danger here, Cecilia had made it clear to me that the elves were happy that the king was dead and wouldn't turn us in for it after taking us in last night. So we had that going for us. This meeting had more to do with our future relationship with them.
The elven woman led us through the courtyard to the main building and into a large meeting room with lots of space on the sides for sidebar discussions. There were six other people here already, four of them men and two of them women, and I noticed the woman who had escorted us here didn't leave, instead, she walked over to one of the men and began to talk with him. I looked around but I didn't see Master Tangleleaf yet.
The elves were standing in pretty obvious groups. All of the men and women wore fine dress shirts or blouses in matching colors. The Tangleleafs wore green, judging from Cecilia, the Silvergroves wore silver, and there were also two wearing purple and two wearing dark red. It almost appeared as if they were wearing matching team jerseys based on political affiliation. The idea made me chuckle at the comparison of such fancy shirts being the equivalent of team colors.
One of the elven men walked over to me with the woman who had escorted us here. He was also wearing a green shirt with ivy stitched into it. He was a bit taller than she was but not by much. The elves of this world weren't cartoon-sized but they weren't as tall as modern fantasy elves were usually depicted either. I was taller than both of them, but that wasn't a surprise since I was taller than Tarklin as well.
"Hello miss!" I could instantly tell he had a high Charisma and I snapped on the charisma bonus I got from [Being of Karma] as he held his hand out to me. I could tell the elf woman also noticed because her eyes widened just a bit.
I reflexively adjusted my posture and took his hand. The bonus to Charisma made it easy to match his smile in intensity. Just as I knew what to look for, he also instantly recognized the effects of the ability I had activated.
His grin grew wider. "I see you're not as out of your element as I had expected. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance miss. I hear your name is Lilith, may I inquire if you have a surname?"
"Yes, my name is Lilith Baphomet, it's nice to meet you," I replied.
"Ah, I have not heard the Baphomet name, though it sounds quite strong. I am Tealo Tangleleaf, Master Routil Tangleleaf's brother, and this here is my niece, Nealli Tangleleaf. I hear you have— Oh, I suppose we'll talk later, it seems we're about to start," without another word he turned to the door just as it opened.
My eyes widened when not only did Routil Tangleleaf, the man I had met last night, walk through the door, but Tarklin Silvergrove followed him in from behind. He looked just as he had before, other than his clothes. Like Cecilia, he wore an almost flamboyant silver dress shirt tucked into his well-tailored dress pants. When he spotted me he smiled wide and gave me a quick wave.
Hello! Political intrigue! It's time for the meeting with the elves! And the return of a character that had been out of the picture for a while! Tarklin is always a pretty fun character for me to write. He has a bit of playfulness to him that only Raya can top. I've always pictured him as one of those characters that was a bit lighthearted and almost goofy on the outside but quite smart and calculated on the inside. I hope you guys are interested in seeing him again too! Thanks for reading!
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