Well, there was no monster here, but the she-devil seemed shaken. She must have seen something. Grey shouted at the men to block the escape routes. If it wasn’t a monster there was another option. The assassin was back! He hoped he was still hiding here somewhere and didn’t manage to flee yet. As unlikely as it was.

“Stay in twos! Comb the entire lair for anything suspicious. And don’t let the bastard escape!”

“Yes, boss!” The group of rank-and-file minions ran to search the lair.

Now, Grey wondered if he should stay and guard the only entrance or go and look for the sneaky fool. If he knew the intruder's goals he could make an informed decision; but he didn’t.

“Guard the doors with your life. If he is still here I will find that skulking scum.”

Grey felt slightly angry at the assassin, he man managed to sneak into his lair twice now. Obviously, the guards were useless, or the assassin had another way of entry.

And anyway, the assassin would likely be able to handle his minions like they were children, after all, assassins excelled at killing. So Grey grasped his Fang Spear tighter and went to look for the man himself.

He crossed paths with his men a few times. They were coming with nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was frustrating. Naturally, the assassin was avoiding detection at this point. Or he had managed to escape already. Grey hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Blasted elf!” Grey roared at her uselessness. He went to find her again. “You saw him, no?”

She refused to even look back at Grey, her face flushed red. Was she embarrassed about her failure? And she did seem quite shaken.

“What exactly did you see?”

“I felt it.” The elf shuddered still refusing to make eye contact.

“Where? Where did you feel it. What place?”

“…” The elf hesitated. “Ahh! I don’t want to think about it. Leave me alone!” She shouted grasping her head as if it was in pain.

The assassin must have done something to the elf. Grey frowned at the foul magic, hoping it wasn’t permanent.

“Fuck!” Grey cursed and left to look for the traces of said magic.

If the assassin used an artifact of sorts, and especially something as powerful as to be able to affect a mind as strong as an elf – Grey will be able to ‘sniff’ the traces of the magic. Well, it was more like a feeling on his skin, especially his face plate. So he went looking.

And sure enough, in the large dining room, his senses pinged something. It was vague, very vague, he couldn’t pinpoint where it was, or what it was, but the magic seemed to linger. Almost as if it was an active effect. A cloaking skill perhaps?

“Men, to me!” he shouted. “Stay by the doors.”

The minions rushed to guard the two escape points. Grey looked around the room trying to gauge any changes in the ambient mana. If the assassin made it for a runner it would likely break the stealth skill and Grey would be able to get him. He hoped the sneak would do that.

“Tsh.” Grey clicked his tongue. There was no change in mana, no movement. “Might be an artifact of sorts.”

This was a more realistic option. The assassin was long gone and in his place was a magical device. Likely the same one used to curse the elf.

“Stay on your toes. I don’t know what we are dealing with here. Do not enter the room.” he cautioned his men.

He had to give the assassin his kudos. The assassin was no fool. The dining area was the area which Grey never visited; being no fan of normal food he never had to. A perfect place to hide a malicious magical tool. And the magic traces were so low Grey wouldn’t even pick it up, that is if he wasn’t in a state of heightened alertness.

“There’s something in this room. I will destroy it. Stay on your Guard.” Grey spoke his intentions.

He made a few circles around the room. The bugger hid it well, it was extremely difficult to tell where it was. It seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. That was until Grey looked up. His face plate tingled at the sensation. There it was, hidden in the corner. Not just hidden, obfuscated – bordering on invisibility.

If this was an artifact, it must have been extremely expensive. It was almost a shame to destroy such a thing, but to attempt to disarm it would be foolish. Grey pointed his spear to the shadowy spot up above the rafters. He tensed his arm muscles pausing to wish the artifact wouldn’t explode upon impact.

No! Wait, maybe the assassin was expecting this. Maybe it was made to be found by Grey. Made to explode and weaken him! Grey hesitated further.

“I surrender!” it spoke.

It spoke!?

“What?” Grey asked dumbfounded.

“I beg your mercy.” The cloaking skill was dropped.

It was no artifact. It was clearly a person clinging to the rafters for her dear life.

From the voluptuous figure it was a she, and she was clad in tanned tight black leather, her face hidden by a hood. It wasn’t a human either, despite her getup the horns were hard to hide, not to mention the hoofed feet. She was a succubus!

Grey didn’t expect that. But it made perfect sense. He knew succubus to be able to cast mind magic, she was the one who ruined his elf. The question, however, was if the assassin is still here, or was he too cowardly to come.

“If you tell me where your partner is, I will spare you.” Grey lied waving the spear at the succubus.

“Partner? I came alone.”

“Do not lie to me! Unless you want to die that is.”

The succubus hid deeper behind the rafter.

“I am alone. But yes, we spy in turns. My partner is off duty at the moment.”

“You came here to spy on me?!” Grey roared.

“Yes, sorry! This was a mistake.”

“Where is he?” Grey-roared loader.

“He?” She sounded confused. “Who?”

Succubus trembled almost falling off the rafter.

“Your employer, the rogue assassin. Does that ring a bell?”

“No, no it doesn’t. I follow the orders of the Queen.”

“The Queen?”

“The Queen.”

“The Queen…” Something was off. “Come down!”

The succubus jumped off the rafter. Grey sniffed at the voluptuous woman. She smelt familiar.

“No? Is the Queen involved in this? Did she send that assassin too?”

“Amm… No? Why would she send someone offensive like that? We are on friendly terms, no?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“And here you are spying on me. Don’t be sly!”

“I am sorry! It just… we had to make sure you are trustworthy.” Then she looked around as if suspicious of the beastkin guarding the doors and whispered. “We entrusted our most precious techniques with you. And maybe you were the spy of the Mage Academy.”

“The audacity… So am I a spy?”

“No, you are not. We were wrong to spy on you. So can I go now?”

There was this signature sweet scent coming from the succubus.

“Yeah you wish, you foul mage!” Grey grabbed the succubus by the throat. “Maybe you didn’t send the assassin, maybe. But you did curse my elf!”

He dragged the struggling succubus back to where the elf was.

“Undo your foul magic!” He loosened the grip so the succubus could chant her spell.

The elf looked at the succubus, her jaw wide open and eyes betraying surprise. The succubus was just as bewildered if not more.

“I haven't done anything to her!” She protested.

Grey tightened the grip on the neck making the eyes of the succubus to almost pop out.

“Undo your curse, succubus! I don’t like repeating myself.”

“Ehe-ehem.” She coughed. “Bilimba bilim-bosh - the curse is gone, here it is no more!” She chanted in a coarse voice.

Grey couldn't feel any magic escaping the succubus. Was she thinking he is a complete idiot? The audacity of this spy!

Just before he could tighten the grip again the succubus managed to wheeze out “Dear elf, you are all good, yes? Ehh!!!” *choke.

“Huh? Yeah.” The elf finally found her bearings and put two and two together. “I swear I am fine! I am not charmed or anything!”

Grey continued choking the succubus. This was what the charmed person would say.

“Grey stop, you will kill her. I don’t even know where you got the idea. Well, maybe I do, but this succubus had nothing to do with this. If anyone it was the ork.”

“The ork!?” Grey could not believe it. The ork was the only one he trusted.

The elf rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I think you keep misunderstanding something. It’s just that… That I am… I am sorry…. I know I am not myself. I haven’t been myself for a long time. How could I!” She looked Grey dead in the eyes. “How could I? How can I call myself an elf, not even a half-elf, then I am reduced to this pitiful existence. I am the lowest of the low. I murder, I kidnap. I doom the living to hell like it’s nothing. And for what? I know for what, and I know why. And you know what is the worst? I do it… and I like it. I became a monster just like you. I don’t even understand myself. My own desires, they disgust me! You disgust me, but I want you. How fucked up is that?”

Grey blinked all four of his eyes at the unexpected rant. The elf was broken. He glared at the succubus. Ups, he had overdone it. Luckily she was alive but unconscious.

“I will fix you, one way or another.” He said to the elf full of determination.

“I don’t care anymore.” The elf slumped back to the table knocking over the tower of coins she had been building. “Just leave me be… alone.”

Grey walked out dragging the unconscious succubus behind him like a sack of potatoes.

“I will get down to the bottom of this…”

…

The succubus was tied, gagged and thrown into a cage lined with lead. You can never be too careful with potent mages. And this one excelled in charms, it was in her very nature, so he couldn’t even leave his men to guard this seductress, he had to do it himself.

His men scoured his lair further, but no other intruder was found. So it could be that the succubus came alone. What a fool! Mages were often foolish like that, too proud and confident in their ability.

Oh, and her gear, it was enchanted. To let her keep it on her person would be incompetent of Grey, so obviously he had stripped her naked. Now, he only needed for her to wake and then he will interrogate this spy.

Grey waited, and he waited some more; she was not waking. And he had grown quite hungry. He had never eaten a succubus before. He wondered how would she feel in his stomach. He shook his head to ward such thoughts away. First, he need to pry all the information he can, and only then he would eat her.

The elf had entered the dungeon. Grey of course was not too happy about her being here, she might be still enthralled. But a certain detail piqued his interest. She was carrying a wooden bucked. Did she think she can take on Grey with that? He wondered what just exactly she was trying to do.

The she-devil walked past Grey without even bothering to look at him and threw the ice water all over the succubus.

“Oh!” Grey exclaimed in surprise.

Anyway, the succubus was awake and just pretending to be out cold. And now she was literally cold and shivering.

“I will interrogate this intruder if you don’t mind.” The elf proclaimed.

“Hah! But aren’t you charmed?”

“For the hundredth time! I am not!” She sounded quite irritated.

“Well, she might just charm you again!”

“I don’t think it is as easy as you think it is. You can supervise me if you are suspicious.”

“I don’t know… I think I should interrogate her first.”

“Yeah, sorry no. By the time you will be done, there will be no succubus left. And I am positive we need her alive.”

“Yeah? You sound positively charmed.”

“Am not!” She threw the empty bucket at Grey.

Which he caught effortlessly. Charmed or not the elf was behaving oddly, she would never show such hostility to him normally. Was Grey going too soft on her?

“Do not forget your place elf! You are but a snack to me!” He threatened. “But fine, let's see where this theater play of yours is going.”

Thus the elf began questioning the succubus. Surprisingly she was very collaborative. Too collaborative even. It made the she-devil look like she was some sort of a pro-interrogator; which she wasn’t of course.

So the gist was that the succubus was indeed a spy. There were two of them spying in turns on Grey’s business, or as she said so herself - gathering information for Queen. The succubus was very open about her skills and abilities. She made it sound like she was all sneak and no bite at all. It was likely she was downplaying all of that; she was still a mage. And apparently, she had no charm spells.

“Ok.” The elf nodded pleased. “I’ve got a general idea. I have half expected this anyway.”

“What idea? That she’s just a liar?”

“What? No. it all makes sense. She is just a spy for the Queen to keep tabs on you. This and the previous incidents are unrelated.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! How could they be? What use succubus have of hurting a minor noble?”

“Ah!” The succubus smiled suddenly. “Now I know what you were on about.”

Both Grey and half-elf looked at the succubus urging her to speak.

“Well, I don’t know what exactly had happened because I wasn’t in at that time. But it’s the time right before Grey disappeared into the forest, yes?”

“Don’t play games seductress. Speak!” Grey urged.

“A man was snooping out and about your home. I assumed he was just another spy. Johna is his name, and he is just an adventurer. Not really a threat, no.”

Grey grabbed the bars and rattled the cage and succubus in it.

“Where? Where can I find this Johna.”

“I don’t know, but I can find out. Just let me out?”

Grey glared at the succubus suspiciously.

“I don’t trust you. You made that up!”

“Grey, it’s the best lead we got.” The elf tried to reason.

“Says the charmed person!”

The elf pressed her fingers to her temples to massage them in frustration.

“No, I am keeping you. You spy! I won’t take this offence lightly, even if you are not related to that assassin.”

“But…” the succubus wanted to protest.

“But rejoice, I have decided not to eat you.”

The succubus looked at the elf in shock.

Grey wondered why did she make that look. If she was the spy she does already know what happens in this basement. No, not the spy but the Succubus Queen. It’s likely she has plenty of dirt on Grey by this point. Which was very undesirable for Grey. In other words, the Queen was stacking her cards against Grey for quite a while now. It was irony at its best. The Succubus couldn't physically get him by the balls… but they did it metaphorically anyway.

So it would be unwise to antagonise the Succubus Queen further. However, Grey didn’t care.

“But I will drain you, mage!”

“Eh?” The succubus looked at the elf beggingly.

Grey opened the cage and dragged the succubus out by her legs.

“Eh? Eh, eh, eh?” It was as if she could not believe it.

The elf sighed and then cautioned. “Just don’t kill her.”

“They only looked frail, but their bodies are surprisingly sturdy.”

“The thing you learned in that House of Pleasure?” She asked rhetorically in displeasure. “What did I even expect? You’re a man after all.”

Grey ignored the annoying elf and began warming up the succubus with his tongue. He can’t eat her, but he can still taste her flesh. The fact was, that to drain her Grey needed the woman compliant. Another fact was that this woman was a succubus and it was in her nature to want and need it despite the otherwise unfortunate circumstances.

Of course, the body can say yes but the mind no. And it was the mind Grey needed foremost. Regardless, the mind definitely said yes, otherwise he would not feel that delicious trickle of mana filling his core.

Surprisingly the elf stayed to watch the whole act. She was unusually interested in what Grey was doing. Well, she would sometimes stay and watch then Grey butchered her enemies but otherwise, she had no interest. Grey, curious, glanced at the elf. Once again she had that pink flush on her face. After she noticed Grey looking she averted her gaze quickly.

Well, whatever. Grey was playing no games and soon the succubus croaked and collapsed under him. She was empty now and harmless as a mage.

“My mana… You took it all.” She sounded surprised. “But there is the parasite?”

“The parasite?” “The what?” The elf and Grey both questioned.

“The tadpole thing. I thought you will implant it in me to mind control me or something.”

“Oh, you are talking about my seed. It happened only once because I’ve lost control. And it does no such things.”

Well, it would drain her to death.

“Oh…” She sounded disappointed.

“Now, you won’t be able to use your foul magic to attack my men.” Grey grinned at the succubus.

“As I told the elf here.” She pointed at the shameless elf who saw the whole act. “I have no attack magic. I specialise in stealth only.”

“Don’t lie succubus! You are a mage still, you must have a spell or two for self-defence.”

“Well… I can do a fireball. But at best it’s good to light a candle. Your elf friend here is much more impressive.”

Grey threw the succubus back into her cage where she belonged.

“Now, how do I get your partner? Weren’t you meant to swap soon?”

“Good look with that now! You aren’t leting me go anyway.”

“Grey, but didn’t she tell everything already? Weren’t you listening?”

Yeah, the elf was right. She interrogated the spy well, but he thought all those were lies. No?

“I will wear her gear and meet this spy in their usual exchange spot.”

“Ambush.”

The elf nodded.

No! Grey was not asking, he was stating. The succubus obviously planned to ambush the half-elf who was trying to ambush the spy. That was the spy plot all along in case anything goes bad. Grey was clever enough to release this. So he will just need to ambush the succubus who were planning to ambush his ambush. Easy!