Innumerable light years away, an enormous structure hung in the depths of an inky void. From its size, it could've been a planet, but it was so far removed from a natural construction it was impossible to tell whether it was built by intelligent life or merely sculpted by it.

If one were to survey the inside, they would find it was like an enormous labyrinth. Layers of constructs from different eras formed a patchwork of tunnels and caverns that went down for thousands of kilometers to the structure's core. The deepest layers were the oldest, abandoned and almost forgotten by the citizens that occupied the surface layers.

The surface citizens had other concerns.

On a transparent-walled platform at the very edge of the labyrinth, a creature stood silently, staring into the void.

Another of her kind approached respectfully and bowed before speaking, "General Carlan, the mission failed."

"What? How? I thought we had contingencies. With his equipment, Yortom should have been able to deal with anything that came up."

"Yortom was killed before using even a tenth of it."

General Carlan narrowed her eyes.

"Show me," she said.

Her subordinate made a gesture and began to play the recording that was transmitted upon Yortom's death.

Originally, everything had gone as planned. Yortom had successfully trapped the vessel and her male companions in the operation room, then applied the curse.

That was when everything went wrong. Instead of fighting for the opportunity to have intercourse with the vessel, one of the males had somehow found Yortom's location through dozens of feet of rock and burned him to death before he could even run away.

He then casually disabled the transmission equipment, and the recording cut out.

Carlan sighed.

"It's a shame, but we'll have to delay our plans. Send in a new agent to redo the mission. The hybrid must be born. Meanwhile, find out everything about the one who killed Yortom."

A few hours later, the assistant returned, looking extremely nervous.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid it won't be possible to redo the mission."

"Why not?"

"The vessel is dead."

Carlan swore, then said, "I thought humans were supposed to consider her incredibly attractive. I guess not.

"Well, then we'll have to switch targets. Those religious nutjobs have a powerful young high priestess, right? She'll be the new vessel. Send in the agent."

The assistant nodded.

"We'll be able to get them there in a few months. And here is the information you requested on the one who killed Yortom."

Carlan looked over it with a quizzical expression.

"The hero summoned by the Temple of Light? What was he doing there?"

"We weren't able to find out."

"He aced the university application exams despite being in the world for only a few months, defeated the Tower Master in hand to hand combat, and has the magical talent to be chosen as the hero? Is he really a human?"

"Yes. We've verified his species."

General Carlan thought for a minute. Taken alone, any of the hero's abilities were within the parameters for a human. However, having even one of them would've been good enough to make him a world-famous celebrity.

A single person having his academic abilities, athletic talents, magic talent, and even appearance was too much of a coincidence.

"Send an agent to the hero's home world as well. There's something I want to verify."

By the time the rescuers managed to get through the spacial distortion using the coordinates I gave them, it was too late. Amarine was dead.

Now I stood before the king and his court, testifying from within the center of ornate truth circle.

"Then, Amarine told me to stay away, as she wanted to die with her chastity intact. She also refused to come with me, saying she'd rather die than be shamed and didn't want people to see her in that state. I did not believe I had the right to ignore her will and force her when it came to a decision like this." I finished my testimony.

It was technically all true, even the last part. I was leaving some things unsaid, but the circle did not detect omissions.

The speaker asked, "Are there any important details you are not mentioning?"

"The only memorable details I am leaving out are ones that would help nobody and would only serve to disgrace the dead. Since you know what sort of situation it was, I don't think I need to elaborate further. I believe we should respect her memory."

Obviously, that wasn't my only reason for not mentioning the part where Amarine asked to sleep with me; I didn't want to draw the ire of her father's house and maybe half the country. But it was one of them.

It was pretty convenient having moral values in a situation like this. I could say all sorts of stuff without it being a lie. It wasn't why I had chosen to have them, but I had to admit it was a nice perk.

I didn't like this line of questioning, so I tossed a bomb.

"It was really unfortunate it was a female mage who was put into that situation. If Lady Amarine had been a man, this would never had turned out like this. The empire wouldn't have lost such a talented person," I sighed.

As I had hoped, Tower Master Valentine took the bait. She probably realized what I was trying to do, but our goals aligned.

Anger blazed in her eyes. "Because of our backwards traditions, we made a brilliant mage give her life for something absolutely useless. This is the price of our obstinacy and it will only continue to get worse."

One of the laws Valentine most strongly opposed was one that allowed the family of the groom to force the bride-to-be to have her virginity verified. If she turned out to not be a virgin, she could be immediately disowned and exiled. This heavily contributed to the prevalent social narrative that a women's chastity was her most precious treasure.

Of course, between Amarine's lack of a sex life and her potential to become one of the empires most valuable resources, it was quite hard to convincingly argue that she would've been worthless without her virginity. For someone who wanted to get rid of the law, it was an incredible opportunity.

Even Duke Kardus, head of the traditionalists, stayed silent. Normally, he would be the one to oppose Valentine most strongly, but Amarine had been his daughter.

Other traditionalists took up the cause, however, and the room quickly descended into chaos.

With the court session so thoroughly derailed, I was able to successfully leave without further questioning.

I had already basically finished my testimony, so they probably wouldn't call me back.

They also had their hands full with the information that the incident was engineered by the invaders.

The rather unusual body of the "owner of the tomb" and the advanced equipment were clear indicators of their presence.

I hadn't expected the invaders I had been summoned to fight to be such degenerates. Would this be considered some form of bestiality? It was so perverse.

Maybe I should get back in contact with the Temple of Light. I hadn't stuck around for long enough to find out why they needed me in particular, but if my help was necessary to stop an invasion of aliens whose hobbies involved forcing humans to have sex, I would see what I could do.

To be honest, I did not actually believe that was the invaders' goal, but it didn't matter what the goal was. Their methodology was outrageous.

It wasn't too convenient to contact theTemple of Light, as they had stopped regularly sending people after me. They were probably tired of losing so many men for no reason. They'd likely send someone soon enough, though.

That evening, I was walking through the night market when I saw a girl in peasant clothes with dirt smeared on her face running in my direction. She was being followed by two men.

"Help!" She shouted, "Someone, please! They're trying to kidnap me!"

She seemed to be looking at me.

How annoying. I looked away.

She might have be wearing peasant clothes, but her hair was perfectly conditioned. The dirt on her face was smeared almost artistically, as if to avoid hiding her good looks.

Besides, after noting these anomalies, it was easy to recognize her as one of the princesses that had briefly appeared in court earlier.

Her shouting didn't really sound all that sincere, either, and she wasn't a very fast runner but the 'kidnappers' had yet to catch up.

It looked more like they were taking a leasurely jog than actually trying to kidnap her.

"Excuse me," I said to the owner of a vendor, quickly ducking into his booth.

I wondered if the princess would give up the charade, or if she'd really follow me in here.

In a remarkable display of shamelessness, she chose the latter option, scrambling inside and trying to hug my arm.

Internally, I apologized to the street vendor. I'd compensate him later.

I shoved her away and she fell to the ground.

"Don't touch me," I said.

The princess gaped.

"Do you have any idea who-" she cut herself off, remembering that she was pretending to be a peasant.

"No," I lied, "Should I? You look like a fairly average piece of human garbage."

Insulting royalty might be a crime, but insulting a peasant wasn't. I didn't want to miss the opportunity.

Not yet giving up, the princess somehow managed to get back on track.

"Please, can you help me? They're going to kidnap me and sell me into slavery."

What a distasteful lie.

"No," I said, "I don't want to."

Finally having had enough, the princess glared at me.

"I thought you were a good person, but it turns out, it was all an act," she haughtily declared, as if I had failed some sort of test, "You are humble in front of the strong, but cruel to the weak. A beautiful exterior means nothing if the core is so rotten."

"Uh, sure," I said, smiling pleasantly, "But shouldn't you be running? Those kidnappers are going to catch you any second now."

"Soon, you'll realize what a mistake you just made," she said. Then, leaving behind one final glare, she ran off.

I doubted it. There would be a price to pay for pissing off a princess, but it was one I could afford.

Even if it cost me, I would rather not be involved with someone like that.