"Halt! Who said you could leave!?" The guard yelled out. I knew he wouldn't let us leave, but it was still worth a try.
"So you are forcing us all to stay?" I asked as I turned around and looked at the guard. An idea started to form in my mind. "As long as we can stay together in the same cell, we will go with you."
"You! Do you think you have the right to make demands!?" The guard yelled out.
To his question, I only smiled and nodded: "You say I am a demon, but you act all high and mighty. What is stopping me from destroying this town? Don't think just because I am not causing trouble that you can walk all over me because if you do…."
Since they wish to call me a demon, I will just make it so I can be seen as a demon. My hand grew to twice the size of my body, causing everyone to scream out in fright while the guards who came over, faces' paled and began to shake in fear. "So, do we get to stay together in the same cell?"
The guard quickly nodded. I think he was very much confused as to why I was willing to go with him without making a fuss. "Fo-Follow me…"
I nodded and turned to everyone else, and motioned for them to follow. We followed the guard through the gates to a guard house that was stationed just inside. He then brought us to a back room that had metal bars but was actually well furnished. My guess is this was more of a noble holding cell than a criminal one. "Please stay here for the time being. I will need to contact my superiors."
"Thank you." I gave my thanks before entering the spacious cell with everyone else. Of course, they were all staring at me in confusion.
"Faith…" Adel was the first to speak up. She seemed to always be the group's representative.
"You are all wondering why I did what I did, right?" I asked, and everyone nodded in response. Except for Iena, she seemed to understand my plan.
"It's simple, really. Think about it. If I were to show that I am indeed a demon yet am willing to follow the rules, they would show less hostility towards us out of fear, but on top of that, they will contact the higher ups. They will then treat us as guests because any smart nobleman will try to gain our favor in order to use our power to benefit them. But…. for us, this makes things easier to handle. We need to find the entrance to the next floor, right? We need freedom of movement within the kingdom which means we will need to work our way to the top using the small noble who rules this town and then gain the attention of a higher noble. Adel, you should know this more than anyone." I explained.
"I see…. So we are basically using anyone and everyone of power until we reach the top." Adel fully understood.
"Yep! And it won't take long to do. We just need to find out what rank the person is in the next town, and if they are too low or the same rank as the one ruling this town, we can ask about the town after that. Maids and servants will be very much open to telling you such things with a bit of coin. This is a place without magic, from the looks of things, so it will be easy to do. No magic means no magic contracts on servants. We can easily loosen their lips." It was the same in the novels I read and even in history. A servant was not always loyal to their master, and this caused the death of many masters and nobles in ancient times and in stories.
"I see. I see. Faith, you are brilliant!" Adel smiled as she hugged me.
"Anyway, do not take offense to anything that is said. And most importantly, display your power only when they think they have the status to suppress you. A noble values their life more than anything after all." It may be different for those in my team since most of them come from noble houses, but most nobles would always value their lives over others. Even going so far as to sacrifice their own family members to keep their lives.
"Anyway, let's enjoy this small break and rest," I said as I walked over to a corner of the room and sat down on the plush carpet. I then leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. Not even a few seconds later, I had two soft bodies leaning against me. One fluffy, one princess.
Three hours later I awoke when I heard a shout: "Lord Julius is here!"
"These are the demons? Hmmm…." A rich, plump man walked in with gold practically covering his entire body. I always hated that about the rich nobles. They really did things in such a gaudy way.
"Yes, My Lord! I saw it with my own eyes. The girl's arm transformed into a monster's claw." The guard replied.
"Oh?" The noble looked over at me with a strange gaze as he ordered: "Show me!"
"Huh? Is that how you ask someone to do something!? Do not think I am in this cell because you can keep me here. I came here voluntarily. Even if you sent your entire kingdom's army after me, you would not be able to hurt me. So show some respect when asking me to do something. Say, please show me." I was not going to listen to any demands. I was only here to use them, not to become their pet.
"You! You dare defy this lord!?" The noble yelled out. "Drag her out here!"
"My Lord, please calm down! She is not someone we can really handle!" The guard was smart, it seems. He had seen me transform, after all.
"I dare go against my command!? Someone, drag him away!" The noble yelled out, causing me to frown.
*Bang!*
The cell door hit the ground with a flick of my finger. "I already said I was not in here because I was captured but that I was in here willingly. Lord, whatever your name is. You can either work with me or against me, pick."
