I put the ring on my finger and probed it with my magic. I was almost disappointed that it was not a trap, or a curse. Instead it was simply an activatable force armour. I tried it out and it covered most of my body in a translucent purple sheen. I poked it, it seemed sturdy. Likely some mid tier armour.

  Hm. It would not be that useful for Lucy. Her hide was tougher than this in her fox form and I was not even sure if it would work when transformed. However, what if I changed the form of the armour? I deactivated the ring and removed it from my finger. Then I inspected it carefully. I might be able to alter it with a ritual.

  What if I turned that armour into lingerie? Maybe I could make it comfortable, so it would even be useful. Mostly I imagined Lucy wearing translucent underwear and liked the idea. I pocketed the ring, satisfied with my find.

  I looked around for my companions and found Lily and Kira in front of a plate armour.

  "It's a bit spikey." Kira commented.

  She had a point. The ominous black plate featured spikes on the shoulder pads. They were not quite long enough to be too dangerous to the wearer but they did not seem useful either.

  "I am sure Tyrell could change that. He would have to change it into a maid knight armour anyway and add spider silk and the ability to turn into a uniform." Lily said.

  "Hm. Do you think it would work for non demons?" Kira wondered.

  "My armour was from Mantus, I don't think this is quite on demon lord level. But I do believe there is some adamantium in there." Lily replied.

  "Let's grab it and ask Tyrell." I said.

  Kira turned around and faced me. "My lady, I would like that armour. Although, I do tend to transform in battle. Maybe it would be a waste…"

  "It's fine. There is nothing wrong with having armour for your humanoid shape if you want to. Your uniform should be comfortable and Tyrell would make something for you anyway. All maid knights get maid armour." I said. "But do feel free to look around. We can also combine sets, if that works. I believe there were more suits of armour over there." I pointed at a section in the back.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "Why did he have so many things in a vault anyway? You might think he would want to use them for his soldiers." Lucy wondered, as she walked up to us.

  "Demon lords are not known for their generosity." Lily replied. "They tend to hoard power and would not arm their minions with gear that would allow them to rebel. I suspect this collection comes from defeated foes, commissioned projects and probably minions who grew too powerful and were disposed of."

  "Did you find something for yourself?" I asked Lucy.

  "I got something for Haruka, I think. There is a potion section over there and this one says it's good for plant growth. I also found something for Ben, a sword. He just needs to grow a bit older for it. Oh, and I have a staff that summons an earth golem. Might be nice for my parents." Lucy replied.

  My eyes widened. "Damn, I did not think about bringing gifts for everyone!"

  I had plans to loot everything, sure, but I needed to have gifts prepared when I arrived. Dumping a pile in front of everyone and telling them to take what they wanted seemed wrong. Or did it? I stopped. It might be fun for them to browse the vault and pick something themselves.

  "That is a strange tradition. Is it common for you to bring people who did not fight beside you presents from the foes you have vanquished?" Kira asked.

  I scratched my head. "Hm. Not really but it just seems like a nice thing to do. I don't want to throw all of this stuff into a hole and forget about it."

  "You could pile it up and sleep on top of it." Kira suggested.

  "Eh, no. I like a nice big bed. We are making sure that we put those resources here to good use. I am thinking about better equipment for the maid knights, maybe even our regular troops. Or improvements for our town." I replied.

  "Perhaps we could upgrade the kitchen." Lily suggested.

  I nodded. "Also a great plan."

  "Heheheheheh."

  I turned my head and saw a laughing Shani coming our way. She held a bottle in her hand.

  "What did you find? Some blood potion?" I asked.

  "Nope! I found an elemental in a bottle! I am making fun of it!" Shani replied.

  "Really? What kind of elemental?" I wondered.

  "Not quite a lord yet but it is a water elemental. Not a summoned one, it's from the plane of water! It's also being lazy! Maybe we can teach it to become blood instead of water!" Shani proposed.

  "If that were even possible the elemental would have to decide for itself. We should free it." I replied.

  "Oh, we can throw it in our naiad pond!" Shani suggested.

  "We can offer it to stay with us, yes." I liked the idea.

  "I am so gonna feed it blood! Are there blood naiads? Maybe…"

  While Shani pondered that I began to loot the vault. I decided instead of picking gifts for everyone I would offer them a choice. Going through a room of stuff and picking something would be fun for the people back home. I just had to ensure nothing was dangerous first. Overall this had been a really productive mission.