Lilith let out a heavy sigh, glancing at Bungo out of the corner of her eye. The goblin, tethered by a rope to a wooden post inside the cell, was sleeping soundly, his rhythmic snoring echoing through the stone dungeon.
"He can even sleep in here?" she murmured, shaking her head in disbelief. "Truly, a top-tier guide..."
"Well? Is that all?" she suddenly heard a gruff voice ask.
Lilith gave a crooked smile, shifting her gaze to the dwarf standing behind the bars. It was the Captain of the Guard, Bargin, who was solemnly noting her every word on a thick sheet of parchment.
"That is everything, Captain," she replied with feigned humility.
Bargin sighed, glancing at her sideways before quickly looking away, as if her beauty made him bashful.
"Well, you're a female demon, and an exceptionally pretty one at that, with a goblin companion. Those idiots probably thought you were an easy target. After all, no one in their right mind associates with goblins."
Hearing this, Lilith snorted inwardly.
If you only knew how many potatoes these beloved goblins can harvest on a farm, you'd change your mind about these green, slightly ugly, but gold-earning creatures, she thought maliciously.
Aloud, however, she spoke in a sweet, almost innocent tone:
"I really only wanted to scare them a little. I had no idea I would cause such a commotion. I am very sorry for that."
Bargin scratched his long, gray beard, huffing loudly.
"Well, your words match the witness statements. Therefore, this time, as an exception..."
He didn't have time to finish his sentence before another dwarf came running down the corridor with loud, heavy footsteps.
In his haste, he caught his foot on an empty wooden barrel, tumbling onto the stone floor. The barrel struck the bars of Lilith's cell with a loud bang, causing her wings to twitch slightly.
The Captain sighed heavily and helped the unlucky fellow up.
"Dwalin! What's happened to make you rush so, comrade?"
Dwalin, barely catching his breath, shouted with authentic terror in his eyes:
"Captain! A Deep Rust-Eater has appeared in the mines of Sector Four!"
Bargin's eyes widened, and his face hardened.
"What?! Where is the armed squad?!"
"They are on their way, but young Korgi and the others who were mining magic ore deep in the mine have been seriously injured!" Dwalin blurted out, trembling with emotion.
"Hurry, give them high-quality healing potions!" the Captain commanded immediately.
"But... Captain," Dwalin lowered his gaze. "You know well that due to the recent preparations, absolutely all potion stocks must be delivered directly to the Department of Eternal Readiness. We have nothing in the local stores!"
Bargin winced as if he had swallowed something exceptionally bitter. His fist tightened hard on the hilt of his axe.
"I won't let innocent people of my race suffer just because those idiots at the top are preparing for War!"
"But Captain! It's against regulations!" Dwalin squeaked.
"I don't care! I take full responsibility! Take… "
He didn't have time to issue the command before a low, seductive voice, dripping with confidence, reached him from the right:
"Are you perhaps lacking healing potions, dear gentlemen?"
Bargin snapped his head to the right and stood paralyzed.
Lilith was not only standing outside the cell, but with annoying calmness, she had leaned her ample breasts against the wooden barrel, which she had already managed to set upright.
The dwarf felt the blood rush to his face - partly from irritation, partly from confusion.
"Woman! Who allowed you out?!" he bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger at her.
"And how in the world did you leave that cell?!"
Lilith gave a silly, almost innocent smile and pointed a talon at the bars.
The rods were bent slightly outward, creating an opening that perfectly fit her silhouette.
Bargin looked at the damage, then at his keys, and felt incredibly foolish.
Before he could sputter any reprimand, Lilith pressed her breasts even firmer against the edge of the barrel, exposing her charms in a way that would make any dwarf's knees go weak.
"That is unimportant now, dear comrade," she said in a sweet, honeyed voice.
With one movement, she flipped open the lid of the barrel.
"Please, look at this."
The interior of the barrel was filled to the brim with a shimmering, intensely red liquid that seemed to pulse with its own light.
"You need this, don't you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes playfully.
Bargin stared at the red surface with a dull expression.
"What is... what even is this?" he choked out.
"This, my dear friend, is a healing potion of the highest quality," she announced proudly.
Inwardly, Lilith thanked MINERVA fervently for the brilliant idea.
Using her resources, she had instantly poured the potions stored in the SINGULARITY CORE directly into the empty barrel that had just struck the bars.
"Would you like to test it?" she asked, playing with a lock of her hair.
Bargin wrestled with his thoughts for a few seconds, looking at the barrel and imagining his wounded comrades.
Finally, he grit his teeth and slammed the lid shut, hoisting the heavy object onto his shoulders.
"Captain! Do you really want to trust a monster?!" Dwalin shouted, terrified.
"We don't have time for procedures! People are dying out there!" Bargin shouted back, starting to run toward the mine.
"Let's move!"
Dwalin let out a heavy sigh, adjusting his helmet.
"Yes, Captain!" he shouted and ran after his superior.
Lilith waved her hand at them cheerfully, calling after them:
"Good luck!"
Bargin, without slowing down, looked back over his shoulder just once.
"And you, dear lady, get back in that cell! And fix those bars! Do you know how much they cost?!"
Lilith let out a pearly laugh.
"Of course, Captain!"
***
Once the dwarves had vanished into the depth of the corridor, Lilith calmly stepped back into her cell.
She grabbed the bent bars and began manipulating them, trying to restore them to a somewhat straight shape. She sat on the cold stone and looked at the snoring Bungo.
"He was very worried about his subordinates," she thought, a sincere, gentle smile appearing on her face.
"Despite all that surly behavior, he seems like a fairly good man."
Hours passed, and Lilith and Bungo were still stuck in the cell. Out of boredom, Lilith began scratching the stone wall with her talons, creating intricate drawings.
On the side wall, there were already sketches of crossed daggers, a werewolf's head, and a strange, geometric symbol resembling the heart of the SINGULARITY CORE.
Now, however, she had finished something much larger - a gigantic image of the castle, rendered with attention to every architectural detail.
She stepped back, narrowing her eyes to judge the effect of her work.
She nodded satisfied and smiled to herself.
"Maybe instead of a Demon King, I should have been an artist?" she laughed quietly.
"Though... one can create art in conquering the world, too. Then it would be modern art, written in blood and smoke."
She smiled sillily at her own joke, then glanced at her companion.
"What do you think, Bungo? The drawing turned out quite well, didn't it?"
The goblin did not answer.
He was still sleeping soundly, emitting rhythmic, irritating snores.
Lilith felt another vein pulse on her forehead.
"How can anyone sleep so soundly?!" she hissed, looking at him in disbelief.
Lilith had already raised her foot, intending to deliver a solid wake-up kick to the sleeping Bungo, when her ears suddenly caught the echo of approaching footsteps.
She stopped mid-motion and lowered her leg, looking toward the entrance.
Bargin approached the cell, and right behind him walked four dwarves who, at first glance, did not look like guards.
They were dressed in everyday work clothes, bearing clear traces of hard labor in the mine.
The first had thick, copper hair tied into dozens of small braids, each ending with a heavy iron ring that clinked with every step.
The second, clearly older than the rest, wore glasses with thick lenses that magnified his eyes so much they gave him a comical, almost insect-like appearance.
The third stood out with incredibly long white whiskers, which he had woven around his neck like a fluffy scarf for convenience.
The fourth dwarf was the broadest of the group, and his face was perpetually smeared with black soot, from which emerged a proud hammer tattoo located exactly in the center of his forehead.
Bargin placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly before the bars.
"Thanks to you, Lady, we managed to save them. I am truly grateful," he said in a low, respectful voice.
"I heard it was you, dear Lady, who saved us. Thank you!" the dwarf with the copper braids cried joyfully.
"My fingers were practically cut off," the one in glasses added, nervously scratching his beard and looking at his hands.
"Even if I had survived, without your help, I could never have worked in my profession again. Truly, thank you."
Lilith smiled gently, waving her hand.
"It's nothing, I'm glad the potion worked."
Then the third dwarf, the one with the whiskers around his neck, spoke up, staring at Lilith with almost calf-like infatuation.
"Oh, how beautiful the Lady is... Those horns, that majesty... A true goddess of the underground!"
He began to declaim, but the fourth dwarf immediately struck him hard on the back of the head, silencing him mid-sentence.
"Shut up, you oaf!" snapped the strongman with the hammer tattoo, before bowing low himself in thanks.
"We really thank you very much. Uga!"
Uga? Lilith thought, feeling slightly confused.
The four dwarves bowed to her once more with great esteem and slowly began to walk away, murmuring words of gratitude under their breath. Bargin pulled out a heavy bunch of keys and approached the lock. A metallic clank echoed through the corridor as the bars slowly swung open.
"I'm free, then?" Lilith asked, stepping outside and stretching with relief.
"Of course, dear Lady. How could it be otherwise?" Bargin replied. He looked at the goblin lying in the cell and raised an eyebrow, intending to wake him, but Lilith stopped him with a cold look.
"Let him sleep a bit longer, since he loves dreams so much..." she said with a blank expression.
Inwardly, however, she was boiling with anger.
He deserves a lesson.
I rotted in this prison for practically the whole day and didn't even have anyone to talk to while he snored away, and I was so bored I had to scratch stupid scribbles on the walls with my claws.