The little brat glared back at me over his shoulder. “This is the dungeon,” Minzfel said, disgust in his voice.

No shit. I was literally just locked up yesterday. Thankfully, I was out and finally out of those rags too. They had given me a long sleeve shirt and pants. They didn’t look it, but they actually felt pretty silky. Really, I was just glad they hadn’t given me one of those cultist robes.

The bed they gave me was like sleeping on rocks, but I still managed to get some rest. The breakfast they served was a soup that tasted like raspberry jam mixed with onions. Delicious, I know.

And now I was stuck with my favorite little prince.

“Follow me,” Mizfel walked ahead into the dimly lit corridor. “I’ll… take you to Violetta.”

When enough distance was between us, I turned to Brad and spoke to him in a whisper. “Why is he here, exactly?”

All of Brad’s eyes moved to look at me. “Hmm?”

“I get why I need an escort,” I said. “I just don’t get why it has to be him.”

“To be honest,” Brad whispered back. “I don’t think he trusts you to talk to her alone, bro.”

“…Why?”

“Because she’s a succubus.”

“Okay… So what?”

“She’s…” Brad narrowed all his eyes, shifting them back and forth. “Got a pretty bangin’ bod.”

“Oh.” I nodded. The fact that he found her attractive raised a bunch of new questions. Questions I needed answers to immediately. “So… are blobs…”

He cut me off. “We’re called Grand Slimes.”

“Sorry,” I said, glancing ahead to make sure that Minzfel was still ignoring us. “Are… ‘Grand Slimes’ allowed to… well, you know.”

“Allowed to what?”

He wasn’t getting the hint. “Well… succubi are humanoid, right?”

Brad narrowed his eyes again. “What does ‘humanoid’ mean?”

“Never mind,” I sighed. I almost forgot. There were no other humans here. For all I knew, they didn’t even see themselves as that different from one another. I would take my mind out of the proverbial gutter for now.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the cells. Other than the bedding spread out on the ground, they were basically empty. No prisoners either. Demons didn’t really seem like the ‘imprisonment’ type. They seemed much more like the ‘kill now, never ask questions about it later’ type.

Suddenly, the prince froze ahead of me, and turned to one of the cells with a big dumb smile on his face. This must have been it.

“Hi, Prince Minzfel.” A girl’s voice echoed through the corridor.

“H-Hi,” he stammered. “H-How are you… Violetta?”

“I’m just fine! How are you?”

It was time to see how ‘bangin’’ this girl really was. I walked up next to the prince and took a peek inside the cell.

The girl inside had two curved horns poking out from the sides of her long magenta hair. Her clothes were dominatrix looking-enough to make me think this was a different kind of dungeon. She had bat wings, and as for the rest of her body, saying she was ‘well endowed’ was an understatement.

In other words, bangin’ bod confirmed.

But that wasn’t what caught my attention. This was her cell? There was carpet, chairs, and even a huge fluffy bed. This was like a fucking four star hotel room.

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“What the hell is this?” I asked, glaring over at Minzfel.

“What are you talking about?” Minzfel spat back. “You’d better wach your mouth around Violetta or I’ll…”

“Not her, I’m talking about the room,” I pointed. “She’s a suspect to a murder, you know. This is clearly special treatment.”

“Obviously, it’s special treatment,” Minzfel looked up at me, locking his eyes with mine. “This is the Violetta, you know.”

This idiot had no clue what I was trying to say. Clearly the idea of ‘equal treatment’ was totally foreign to demons. Well, this was a monarchy. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected equality. Who was a kidding? As if people were treated equally in the law system back home.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but…” Violetta started. “Who’s this?”

“Hey there.” I pulled my eyes away from Minzfel and I flashed her a smile. “I’m Ryley. I’m going to be your lawyer. Er… I’m the one that’s going to prove that you’re innocent.” I didn’t actually have any interest in being friendly, but I knew doing so would piss Minzfel off. That was good enough reason for me.

“Ryley? That’s a weird name,” she smiled back. “What kind of demon are you?”

“The ‘not a demon’ kind.”

“I’m sorry,” Violetta wrinkled her brow. “I’ve never heard of that kind of demon before.”

“Uh, I just meant that I’m… not a demon.”

“Oh!” She smiled. “Well why didn’t you say so?”

I did say so.

“In any case…” I cleared my throat, glancing over at Minzfel and Brad. “I don’t suppose either of you know if she’s been told what’s going on.”

“You mean about the trial?” Brad asked. “As far as I know, the King hasn’t sent anyone to explain it to her yet.”

“Alright,” I sighed, turning back to the cell. “Basically, my job is to prove that you didn’t kill anyone.”

“Oh,” Violetta nodded. “I see.”

“You… didn’t kill anyone, did you?” I figured I had better get that question out of the way as quickly as possible. Chances were, I’d have to defend her regardless. It was just that defending someone that was innocent seemed easier.

“Me? I didn’t kill anyone, silly,” she giggled. “Why would you think that?

“Gee, I dunno, the fact that I’m talking to you through a set of bars?”

“Watch it,” Minzfel growled.

“Anyway.” I ignored him. “I need some information from you. For starters, who is it that died, exactly?”

“My manager, Mr. Volk,” Violetta said, her smile fading.

“Manager?” I asked. Manager? Demons had managers?

“Don’t ask stupid questions,” Minzfel said from behind me. “Of course Violetta has a manager. Idols always have managers.”

“Idol? Like… a singer?” I almost laughed. “There are demon idols?”

“Of course there are,” Minzfel huffed. “I couldn’t expect someone as uncultured as you to understand.”

Uncultured? Yeah, okay.

I looked back to Violetta. “So you’re an idol, then?”

“Yes,” Violetta said. “It’s a three demon group, all Succubi. We’re called the ‘Succy Girls’.”

If I had been drinking water, this would have been the moment I spit it all over Minzfel’s face.

“Don’t say a word,” Minzfel’s voice was like ice. “I’ll kill you if you laugh.”

I would have to settle for an internal crackup.

“In any case,” I choked out. “I’m going to ask you a few questions now, if that’s alright.” That sounded professional, right? In reality, I was doing this totally off the cuff.

“Hmm, okay.” Violetta placed her pointer finger over her lips, looking up at the ceiling. “What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with your relationship to your manager.”

“Relationship?” Violetta’s face flushed. “Just because I’m a Succubus doesn’t mean that I’m that kind of girl.”

“Allard!” Minzfel shouted.

“Oh my god,” I groaned. “I’m just asking if they were on good terms with each other. It’s not my fault she can’t understand anything I say.”

“Watch it, Allard. You don’t get to talk to Violetta like that and get away with it.”

“It’s okay prince Minzfel,” Violetta said. “Mr. Ryley’s right. I… just misunderstood his question.”

“See? It was just a misunderstanding,” I gave the prince a smug smile. In reality, I knew I was pushing it. If I went over the line, he might really have me executed. Again.

“Mr. Volk was just my manager,” Violetta spoke up. “We got along just fine, and he was always very kind to me.”

“I see. So what happened on the night of the murder?”

“Mr. Volk called me into his office to discuss an upcoming concert,” Violetta continued. “He was changing some of the choreography, and wanted to let me know my new parts.”

“Did it seem like anything was bothering him at the time?”

“I… don’t think so.” Violetta frowned. “At least, I didn’t notice anything.”

“Alright.” I let out a deep sigh. “Do you… know why you were suspected as the murderer?”

“It probably has something to do with how I was the last person Mr. Volk saw in his office that night,” Violetta said. “Or something like that.”

Yeah, it had something to do with that.

“I’m sorry,” Violetta said, her emerald eyes met mine. “I wish… I could be more help.”

“No, it’s fine,” I sighed. “At least… there are other suspects.”

“Other suspects?” Violetta tilted her head.

“Yeah. You said you’re a three person group, right? That means there are at least two more suspects.”

“But... they would never do something…”

“Violetta, don’t be so quick to trust them just because they’re your ‘friends’.”

Violetta gave me a look like I had just kicked a puppy. “How can you say that?”

“You see, where I come from, people lie all the time. In fact, if I’m really speaking my mind, most people suck,” I said. “I’m willing to bet that most demons suck too.”

Violetta perked up. “Are… most of the people from where you’re from Succubi then?”

“…Huh?”

“You said that most of them suck.”

…This sucked.