After examining the place carefully from afar, it was clear that this village was a demon village. However, the inhabitants didn’t register as red. That should mean that they weren’t enemies and wouldn’t try to harm me. Just to be safe, I checked my demon karma. I should still appear as a demon soldier. I didn’t dress the part though, as I feared that would draw more notice than it saved.

Finally, after scoping the place out for a while longer and finding nothing interesting, I worked my way down the hill and started walking in. As I got closer, my appearance caught a couple of eyes, but it was no more than a passing glance. Overall, no one seemed too concerned with me approaching the city. I supposed at this point I was far enough in demon territory that they weren’t concerned about the brewing war.

Upon entering the small village, which only consisted of about two dozen houses, I searched for one that looked like a business. What I ended up finding were the inn and tavern, so I entered it first. The biggest thing that revealed demons was their exotic hair and eye colors. Red eyes were common, but so were purple, green, and royal blue. The hair of demons seemed to be any color, and it wasn’t uncommon to see a green, blue, or white-haired demon. Other than that, their small horns were the biggest indicator. Most of the commoners here had just small nubs similar to Shao, but with soldiers, I had seen larger horns from a variety of different species. I had heard that demons could also have black or red skin, but that wasn’t the case with any of the ones here.

“Good afternoon,” I said as I walked up to the barkeep and innkeeper.

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It was a blue-haired man with small horns who otherwise looked like a normal middle-aged man. He even gave me a friendly smile and nodded. Since my Mimic was now at level 20, I had an assortment of abilities, and I had confidence I could have faked being a soldier to the general who worked over him, let alone some random commoner who wasn’t even marked as an enemy.

“Good afternoon, stranger. Would you be looking to stay the night?”

“I guess so,” I responded. “And a bath?”

I had been roughing it outside for nearly a month, so as soon as he mentioned it, the thought of a bed sounded nice. A bath sounded really good too.

He nodded, then, looking both ways he leaned forward. “Would you like… um… company tonight as well?”

He glanced over my shoulder, and I looked back to see a young barmaid. When she saw both of us looking, she blushed and went back to cleaning the table.

“Is it alright with her?” I asked.

It wasn’t what I meant to ask. I was just surprised by such an offer. Although brothels were a thing in Aberis, Chalm didn’t have anything like that. I found that to be a bit strange, but when I asked, the mayor said that it was out of respect for my women, which I didn’t understand at all. Lydia might have been a sex worker, but never in practice, so I held no ill will about their kind.

“Money’s tight. Everyone is willing to earn coin however they can.” The man shrugged. “If you’d prefer someone older, there is a woman down the street who I hear is working while her husband is away at-“

“It won’t be necessary!” I coughed, trying to end that conversation immediately.

While it was true I hadn’t been with a woman in over a month, I had not been bothered that much. That surprised me. The only thing I could think was that my sexual appetite had been part of what got chopped away when I cleaved my soul. I probably could reengage some lust by equipping a certain job, but I decided to hold back on that. I would wait until I could have my women back before I’d be engaging in those activities.