As he travelled through the interconnected halls of the castle Stanley found several doors that were unfortunately locked from the other side. On the plus side he came across drawers, display cabinets and vases that held useful items such as copper coins, small bottles of BB pellets and ingredients to make potion. It was during this exploration that he figured out he actually did have a hammer space inventory. It was lined in the pocket of the clearly enchanted clothes he picked up in the closet. With the inventory he could freely manipulate the objects within including allocating the bb pellets into different bottles.
Eventually he came upon a set of ornate double doors and entered that things started to pick up. Behind the door was a rather large room that acted like an art gala/museum and that practically existed to be looted, otherwise why would there be display cases behind which held particularly interesting items of note such as coin, ammo and even jewelry.
The one that immediately grabbed his attention was the display containing a pistol specifically one he recognized as his Tokyo Marui Hi-Cappa 5.1. Functionally speaking it was one of the best airsoft pistols in his arsenal that was a personal favorite and at a time when he felt so exposed that he'd take a shitty Colt MKIV it was practically a godsend.
"Thank you Ez" then he saw that the coin slot didn't accept the copper coins or the one golden coin "you bitch!"
He grabbed the helm from a set of feminine armor in the back and threw it at the glass display only to duck when the metal helm bounced off in a random direction.
"I don't know why I thought that would work" shaking his head at that he turned a full 360 eyeing the various art pieces "what the hell am I even looking for?"
He thought this room would serve a purpose other than to dangle bait in front of him. Yeah she was being faithful to the game but come on. As he turned away his eyes caught something near the back of the room. Upon closer inspection he found it to be a marble stone bust of a well endowed woman. The bust was intricately detailed with a smiling woman wearing an expensive tiara and necklace just above her cleavage which was about where the bust ended. The fact that this thing was behind a display case with a coin slot was peculiar enough but unlike the others the slot was a bit larger.
"Hm…" with a hum he fished out the golden coin from his inventory and hesitated for a bit before pushing the coin into the slot.
As he did this the sounds of shifting internal mechanical parts reached his ear before the display case popped open. Picking up the bust he was hit with the item description which read:
~An intricately crafted and well detailed sculpture of a mysterious woman of nobility. Who could she be?~
'Well if that isn't a ringing endorsement for item of interest I don't know what is' and so he stored it in his inventory and made his way to the door located just a few feet away. Stanley just about got his hand on the doorknob when-
*CRASH*
"Agh!"
The door exploded in a shower of splinters sending him flying onto his back. Despite the disorientation caused by the explosion and rough landing Stanley was already scrambling back from the thing that crashed through the door a la kool-aid man.
The thing was definitely a she despite clearing seven feet and putting Ezraphel's prodigious height to shame. That wasn't the only thing it had in competition with the Lilim because this mystery woman was also dummy thicc with tits bigger than his head and thighs that looked like they could crush water melons with ease yet plump and soft enough that lap pillows would be heavenly. Her most prominent feature however (if you could believe it) were the big meaty paws for hands that looked like they could actually envelope his head.
Stanley recognized the mamono immediately as a Bogey which he figured she was supposed to be the MGE interpretation of the Boogie Man that haunts the nightmares of kids. How did he figure? Because not only did the Bogey look like the kinky union between Frankenstein's monster, a teddy bear and a hentai milf but a according to the wiki entry they also have a particular kink where they treat all their victims like children that need to be consoled and cared for.
She was basically a Dommy Mommy.
With this in mind when the Bogey looked at him and cocked her head in interest he reasonably began to panic. Then she started trotting towards him with her arms spread wide invitingly.
"Nope!"
Scrambling to his feet Stanley made a b-line to where he came from. The entire time the Bogey did not hasten its pace continuing a casual trot towards him. Stanley practically flung the door open and made a run down the halls. Going back the way he came he arrived at the room the room he started from and held the doorknob before pausing.
'Would this even work?'
Looking at the door he unfortunately realized that it did not hold the visage that signified it as a safe room meaning that the Bogey could gain access.
"Fuck!"
His gaze went back to where he fled from and distantly he could hear the sound of steady trotting on wooden floor inching closer.
'She's not getting any faster' like the stalking enemies from the RE games 'I just need to find a safe room.'
He went off in the opposite end from he started and eventually ending up at a set of ornate wooden double doors that once opened revealed a large open space. Directly across from him was a closed door on his left was a stairway that led upwards and on his right was a massive steel door decorated with stylized runes.
He headed for the rune doors feeling an inexplicable draw towards it however the moment he got within a few feet of it a gate slammed down from the top, two gates to slam shut from the sides, a bar slid on top of that, chains came at the four corners to tie into a padlock and a red magic circle flashed into existence. It all happened in quick succession one after the other and made for an utterly ludicrous sequence of events but it at least got the message across.
'I found the exit.'
Rumbling from behind had him turn to see five of the out-of-place black tiles on the otherwise white tiled floor open up to allow five podiums to rise from the ground. He couldn't help but note that all the podiums had golden plaques where words were written in fancy cursive. Walking to the closest podium he read the words written:
Brave Knight Beatrice, her loyalty is as revered as her martial and tactical brilliance on the battlefield. Even in death she continues to protect her mistress holding a sword in one hand and her severed head in the other. Enemies of the mistress beware the Demonic Headless Knight.
Priestess of light Moira, once a dutiful servant of the Goddess she was charmed and led astray by malicious forces losing her divine protection. Tormented by her past her wails can be heard upon her approach as warning for death awaits those who encounter the Lamenting Death Priestess.
Lady Griselda of House Constantine, a charmingly beautiful and proud young noblewoman whose life was cut short due to the machinations of the other jealous highborn ladies of the court. Years later the corpses of several highborn ladies were found completely drained of blood along with rumors of a pale woman with scarlet eyes covered in blood at the scene of the deaths. Thus was born the legend of the Vengeful Noble Nosferatu.
Sorceress Eileen dedicated her life to the practice and study of the magical arts earning herself great reverence and acclaim from her peers. This was not enough however and it wasn't long before she began dabbling in the darker side of magic developing an obsession with death to the point of commit unspeakable atrocities until her macabre activities were discovered. She would escape from persecution however her final act as a human was to inflict death upon herself and resurrect as the Undead Corpse Sorceress.
Stanley had to back up a bit as he looked at the podiums 'I see what's going on here' he thought to himself
Obviously these things were describing the history of these Mamono who might just be the simulation bosses. He would give props to Ezraphel for developing their backgrounds. Usually things like this would be corny as hell to read in a game but right now it was doing a surprisingly good job of building up intrigue.
As for the Mamono themselves he pointed at the first one "Dullahan, Banshee, Vampire, Lich and…" his finger hung in the air as it pointed to the final podium.
Unfortunately the plaque for this one was scratched out and the podium itself looked to have been vandalized. Still recognizing the theme and through process of elimination he made his informed guess.
"I'm going with Wight since that makes the most sense."
And on that thought he fished out the bust from his inventory and placed it on the podium because it was just that obvious. The moment he did this there was a series of clicks and the magic circle on the door reappeared before shattering like glass.
"Theory confirmed."
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
The familiar sound of trotting reached his ears and he knew it was time to get the fuck out but before he could run to the stairs in the other room…
*Click*
Stanley jumped as the closed door next to the podiums opened and that feeling of being drawn came over him again. For a brief moment indecision came over him before the double doors opened and the Bogey ducked her head through to stand in the same open area. The moment her eyes met his she began her advance again with open arms and jiggle with each step.
"Fuck it" he went for the open door and noted how the Bogey's pace sped up a bit but it wasn't enough to catch him before he made it through.
He could have sworn he heard a disappointed "aw" as he slammed the door behind him and braced. Not that he needed to since he heard the trotting footsteps retreat further away from the door.
"Holy fucking shit that was intense."
"There is no need for such course language young man" spoke a rich, cultured voice making him realize that he wasn't alone in the room
"Shit"
"Language" the voice tutted in a manner not dissimilar to Ezraphel.
Stanley's gaze went to the source of the voice and wow. If he hadn't been exposed to Ezraphel for the better of a half a year then…he didn't want to have to think about that.
'You did too good a job Ez' he mused to himself with a grunt.
With the now amused woman the first thing he noted was how much her appearance mirrored what he remembered from the official MGE artwork of the Wight. From the purple dress to the pale blonde hair the woman was dressed exactly like the Wight in the bio. Overall she wasn't bad looking for a dead woman and that had him taking in the fact that this person was literally a waking corpse.
Her skin was beyond pale yet so perfectly smooth that he was reminded of white marble. Then there were her red eyes that were a sight paler than Ezraphel's yet held a haunting quality that was unlike what he felt with the Lilim.
"Now don't be shy, come closer. It is hardly polite to have me raising my voice."
"The sound quality sounds pretty good from where I'm standing."
"Ah but it is rather impolite wouldn't you say?"
"Lady, do I look like someone who gives a shit about being polite?"
Is what he wanted to say but thought better of it and while he didn't comply with her subtle demand he did ask the all important question.
"Who are you?"
"I am Lady Rowena Blackburn, the Duchess of these lands" she introduced "who might you be young man?"
"Stan" he introduced plainly.
She raised a delicate brow at this and posed the question "what brings a valiant knight such as yourself to these lands Sir Stanley?"
He opened his mouth to dispute her words as well as correct her on his name only to remember that this woman was essentially an NPC.
So rather he answered "would you believe me if I said I didn't come here of my own volition?"
"Well seeing as how you are bereft of any weapons, armor…or common knowledge I am inclined to believe you."
"Common knowledge?"
"You don't know who I am, you don't where you are and I suspect you don't know what you are in for trying to escape this place. You are attempting to escape are you not?"
"Of course I am" he frowned "what did you think I was here for?"
Rowena shrugged "it could be that you are here to slay the 'Dread Ladies'" she air quoted "or perhaps are you here to court them."
"No."
"I see then does your being here happen to be due to your bounty"
"My bounty?"
"A few days ago a foreign emissary came and distributed this." she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
Said piece of paper turned out to be a wanted poster of him with a bounty that made him deadpan. He had no idea what the name of the currency is but he didn't have to since some things are universal.
'That is a lot of zeroes.'
"I have a bounty?" Stanley muttered.
One could say it was overestimating his value but since this was Ezraphel the reward mirrored how she values him. Never underestimate the obsession of a mamono genuinely in love.
"Well now, it sees I was wrong. I took you for a Knight when in fact you are an outlaw"
"…sure."
Let's go with that.
"Well in any case perhaps we can help each other."
"Go on."
"You want to leave this place and I can aid you in this."
"How's that?"
"Confined as I may be I am not ignorant to the happenings of the outside nor am I powerless" and to demonstrate this she snapped her fingers.
Behind the plush sofa where she sat the red curtains separated to reveal familiar weapons and gear as well as unfamiliar items all hung up on the wall behind her.
"Now then" she cleared her throat pinning him with faintly glowing eyes
"What are you buying?"