"Now that you guys have some basics, let's move on to some advanced stuff,"
This was Murphy, confidently bringing out a booklet he had been passionately crafting in the past few days. A guide to succubus performance, incorporating a mix of sly antics he'd learned online back in the day and some idol girl band performance moves including but not limited to slow-motion convulsions and certain provocative dance poses.
In his previous life, Murphy was a hot blooded youth deeply familiar with the antics that used to entertain him. He was certain that if he could record such knowledge into crystals and sell these, they would seriously impact this medieval-styled world. As far as he was concerned, his guidebook was impeccably detailed in its explanations and sketches. But both young and mature succubi were perplexed by his instructions, placing great pressure on him.
After researching succubus history, Murphy realized a bitter truth: the content he was teaching was not the issue, the inability to progress his plans had another primary cause. Had his prose and drawing skills deteriorated so badly? Murphy couldn't help but feel disheartened at the thought.
"Now, there's only one way I can swiftly settle this mess. Onward, art-inept demon-brother, for the future of the demon race!" After a few self-pep talks, Murphy decided to pull up the gauntlet once again.
Murphy along with Warm Glow Hot Springs and Tyre made their way to the town hall of Sleepy Hollow. Why chose town hall over the town square? Well, Murphy still had remnants of modesty.
"Now that we're all here, let me tell you my intention."
"Since my art skills are poor, I'll have to demonstrate myself."
"I will show you all the moves that I want you to learn. Bear in mind, due to the extremity of my embarrassment, there will be just a single run-through - no crystal recordings allowed."
"Tyre, could you close the door for me?"
Everything was prepared, Murphy activated a crystal for playback. After a short musical prelude, a jolly succubus tune echoed throughout the town hall. Standing in the chief position, Murphy abandoned his sense of shame and moved to the rhythm, triggering his Demon King coordination.
The 10-minute song felt achingly long to Murphy, but by the time the music died down, he had executed all the engaging moves. The experience was completely new to him, as if he had waved goodbye to his sense of shame, and could never return to his esteemed Demon King image. He just hoped he wouldn't be dubbed as the Demon King of sultry dance or the Demon King of risqué in history books of future demon races.
Despite his motives being teaching the succubi, their applause lingered. They were seemingly impressed and were clapping fervently. Murphy quickly fled the premises after leaving a single sentence, "Practice urgently, and begin recording once you're familiar." That sentence reverberated in the ears of the succubi.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"The Demon King is really something. It's as if he's a born succubus!"
"Yeah, if we didn't know he was sent by the heavens, we would have thought he was a succubus."
The nobility in this world were much like those lowly tales, outwardly scrupulous but behind closed doors, they dabbled in all sorts of games. This left a huge window of opportunity for Murphy's succubi tactics. After all, what was stored in the crystals weren't things the world couldn't see, but things that would stimulate the imagination.
"Have you all got it?" Tyre asked, walking to the front of the crowd.
"Um... basically, we all have fairly impressive memory," came the reply.
"No! You haven't got the idea" Tyre protested, "The tasks that the Demon King has given you must be followed to the letter! You got that?"
"We got it. So, do you have any orders, Lord Tyre?"
Something glinted in Tyre's sleeve, revealing a finished crystal. A mischievous look spread across his face. "Everyone, get ready. I'm going to call my sister over and then we can all review the Demon King's dance moves."
Back in the lounge, Murphy was ridden with a sense of emptiness. This was quickly followed by an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Even though it was indeed embarrassing, seeing the curious and respectful expressions on the succubi's faces during his performance filled Murphy with an unprecedented joy.
For the following days, Murphy poured all his dance and movement skills from his previous life's countless short video viewing sessions onto the succubi. As the saying goes, foreign convoy monks can recite sutras well, the same goes for foreign succubi. Murphy launched a solid attack on this world's succubi industry with his inter-world boundary-pushing skills. Eventually, fusing them with the succubis' local skills.
Murphy's tasks then became much lighter. All the succubi needed to do was practice the dance and song. Dress up in modified outfits and they would flawlessly execute the first stage of Murphy's crystal plan. As for the next step, it was too early to say.
The work in the township could now be fully handed over to Tyre and his sister. The final logistics involved the succubi delivering the processed crystals to the desolate hillocks and wait for the human traders under Murphy's charm.
Murphy transported himself to the vicinity of a crooked, gnarled tree on the outskirts of the barren hillocks. As expected, Wirt's small ghost was there with a band of goblins, waiting for the human traders. After some inquires, Murphy found out that the small ghost was fairly new to death and so could speak the human's common tongue. Hence, it was assigned to the trade task.
Murphy entrusted the ghost with a good lump some of the budget, taught it some basic negotiating jargons, and informed the ghost that the trade crystals would steadily arrive. Lastly, he put a word of transmission on the ghost, so as soon as the traders arrived, the ghost could relay the news to Murphy.
The trade market was set up under the gnarled, crooked tree by Murphy himself. This perfectly solved the problem of the ghost's continuous blood loss under direct sunlight.
Once these were taken care of, Murphy teleported himself back to the court. To his surprise, Byron, the skeletal gentleman was there at the palace entrance, just returned from a solitary journey.
Just off "work", the Demon King was in need of a dusty secret to satisfy his curiosity. So, Murphy smiled, "Byron, come on in. I guess I'm in for some juicy, human aristocrat tales tonight."