"Thank you for your participation. Next."
Joshua lost count of how many times he had repeated that phrase.
Every succubus whom Zenarth had summoned was much prettier than the last one, so pretty, in fact, that Joshua actually considered switching the filming location to the sea. He was sure that within a few years' time, he would be able to drag the human race into the depths of depravity.
Yet, such low-quality gimmicks could not compete with a proper movie. A movie was a piece of art, and many movies like "The Legend of 1900", "The Shawshank Redemption", and the like had influenced Joshua's life and given him strength.
So, Joshua did not want to see the art of his superiors on Earth stained by his hand.
"Your Highness, that was the last one."
Zenarth whispered into Joshua's ears, but with his frame, even if he whispered, his voice would echo across the hall.
"The last one? Isn't there one more by the door? Let her in."
Joshua looked at the registry note in his hand; he had interviewed thirty-two different succubi. Many just left after Joshua nicely told them, "No, thank you." However, a few of them were still waiting after the interview, and they seemed to have come in a group.
Zenarth had also noticed that a figure had been waiting by the door for a while now. It was just that the figure did not seem like she was going to enter the hall so he totally ignored her.
"My lord… is there anything?"
A few succubi who had already been eliminated from the selection took a step back as they looked at his massive frame. The Sin Demons were well known for not having any sexual desires, and the succubi's greatest techniques were useless before them.
Thus, the Sin Demons became the enforcer of law and order in the city, kind of like police officers.
"His Highness wishes to see that individual."
Zenarth pointed at the figure behind the group of succubi.
"His Highness? Wait a minute, sir, are you mistaken? That lowly person is not one of us…"
"This is not a request, it is an order."
Zenarth spewed flames between his words, and they heated the surrounding air into a very uncomfortable state.
"…Ynor, get your a** over here."
The succubus could not withstand the imposing pressure, clenching her teeth while ordering the figure behind her.
The figure fearfully walked out and shuddered before Zenarth's crushing aura.
"His Highness wants to see you. Come along."
Zenarth withdrew the flames that were roiling around his body, and the temperature returned to normal.
Joshua witnessed everything that had happened by the door, and he was slightly intrigued by the succubi's attitude.
The succubi were not a particularly forceful tribe among the demonkind, and compared with the lowliest of imps, the status of a succubus was at least three levels higher. Nonetheless, they were still far from being demonic nobility. After all, they were still a race of females, and aside from some mind-control magic, their physical strength was not much different than a normal human's.
The figure followed Zenarth and stood before Joshua. Finally, the latter could clearly see what the former looked like.
She looked like a very pretty girl, but in contrast to the seductive succubi earlier, her nervous demeanor aroused the desire to protect in any male.
Her dress was also different from the dresses worn by the rest of the succubi Joshua had interviewed earlier.
It was old and ragged, almost as if it was the getup of someone lowly.
Was she being discriminated by her own kin, or did she have any natural birth defects that resulted in that?
"Ynor?"
Joshua looked at her and asked if the name he had heard earlier was correct.
"Yes-Yes, Your Highness"
She grabbed the edge of her ragged clothes with both hands as she lowered her head, not daring to look Joshua in the eye. Her silver hair ran down the side of her face.
"You are a succubus."
Joshua looked at her bat-like wings and the long tail behind her. Some high-level succubi would even have goat legs, but Joshua had already eliminated a few of those high-level succubi.
"Yes," she said in an extremely fearful voice.
"Then, why are you being discriminated by your kin?"
Joshua wanted to know because the succubus was the only one who had managed to pique his interest in the interview.
Based on her looks alone, she would be able to take the role of any female lead. While she may have been timid, she was still way better than the other b*tchy succubi.
At the very least, Joshua had ways to fix her fearfulness and timidity, but b*tchiness… that was beyond salvation. Really. Joshua had always avoided girls like that regardless of how pretty they were.
"Lift your head and look at me."
The role of the female lead was temporarily hers, so Joshua began to plan how he would fix her timid nature. The first thing was to give her a chance to build her confidence.
"Your Highness…"
"You have no right to be choosy now, Ynor," Joshua said.
For some reason, her skinny body shuddered when she heard the term "Miss", but she finally lifted her head gradually.
"Now, answer my question. Why are you being discriminated against?"
Joshua looked into her scarlet eyes as he repeated his question.
"It's because…"
She gently bit her lip before she closed her eyes, seemingly in resignation, as she revealed the cause of her shame.
"I'm a male."
A boy? So "she" had been the wrong pronoun all along. It was a "he"?
Joshua scanned the person before him once again. No matter how he looked at him, he was a very adorable girl, so Joshua used his authority and still referred to him as "her".
"A boy? Not a problem."
The moment Joshua said that, Ynor opened his eyes and looked at Joshua in an odd manner.
"Your… Highness, are you not angry?"
The Succubi was a race that mostly consisted of females, and very rarely would a male be born. A male succubus' place in their society was at the bottom because they did not inherit any succubi abilities. They were destined to never be able to absorb the "vital essence" of other beings to strengthen themselves.
So, Ynor had been living in the gutters of the succubi society, and his position was no different than the imps. A few customers who had taken a liking to Ynor in the past were enraged when they found out his gender.
As such, the moment Ynor found himself before the prince, he thought that the prince would fly into a rage upon finding out his gender.
"Not bad. You fit the bill."
Once he said that, Joshua noticed that the demonic servants in the hall looked at him a little differently. Even Ynor gasped in shock.
He, of course, knew the kind of wrong idea the group had. Even among the demons, homosexuality was not accepted.
However, Joshua was straight.
"Your Highness, if you deem it fit, I will give you my body. Please do not let me go back there…"
Ynor still had the cunning of a succubus, and he remembered the gazes those other succubi had before they left. If the prince did not accept him and sent him back… he could not even begin to imagine what sort of torment he would be subjected to.
"Your body? No… What I want is not your body."
Joshua was not interested in boys.
"You don't have to worry, Your Highness… It will be… my first time."
He thought that the prince had chosen him because of he had that type of kink, but aside from his body, he had nothing else to give.
"It's not a question of how many times."
Joshua pondered a little as he came up with a better explanation.
"I have a job for you. Perhaps you, a succubus can easily conquer the hearts of men with your body, but with the job I am giving you, you will be able to capture the hearts of men, and even women if you do it well! They will love you regardless of who they are, and you will gain respect, more so than now."
Acting was indeed a respectable field, and many actors used their acting skills to leave behind countless classics. That was something much more valuable than mere carnal pleasures.
"Can I really do it?"
While Ynor did not know what the job that Joshua mentioned entailed, but the love and respect he described were never in his wildest dreams. The best-case scenario he could think of was to live on as the prince's plaything.
"If you never try, how will you know? First things first, we need to get you a pair of new clothes."
Joshua then wrote Ynor's name on a piece of white paper and placed his seal on it, giving Ynor the right to enter and leave the Royal Castle with his authority.
"Zenarth, get him a new dress—a male one."
"As you command."
Zenarth walked to the front and motioned for Ynor to follow him as the latter fearfully obeyed.
"Raise your chin, push your chest out. Have some confidence. Do not forget that you are a boy, do not lose to the girls," Joshua said.
Joshua had no idea if this world knew the concept of "being a man", but it was something Joshua had always heard his father say back on Earth.