Chapter 14: Tallying the Spoils

The Flame Demon, so easily ensnared by a pair of slimes, saw its façade of terror crumble in an instant. 

The towering inferno gave way to a petite demon girl, her true form revealed, with a name hovering above her head: Breath of the Flame Monarch – Satahia.  

The orange text marked her as a special monster, a designation I’d only seen on a handful of bosses in my past life—each a tier above lord-level. 

Yet, this one was an anomaly, a mere level 0.  

“So, this is your true form?” 

I crouched down, curiosity piqued, and poked at the molten horn atop her head, the only remnant of her Flame Demon guise.  

It wasn’t the searing heat that made me pull back, but the ferocious scowl she shot me, teeth bared like a cornered beast.  

“Grrr!”  

“Hey, what are you, a dog?” 

I yanked my finger back, startled.  

“Pah! You insolent brat! 

Dare to mock the great ruler of Vesinodo, Harmon’s Flame Monarch, Satahia, and I’ll burn you and that cow beside you to cinders!”  

Syl, arms crossed, glanced at the girl on the ground with an impassive stare, unfazed by the outburst.  

I, however, raised an eyebrow. 

The names Harmon and Vesinodo carried weight, even in my past life—legends tied to regions beyond level 180. 

Could this girl truly be such a formidable entity?  

But the thought barely lingered. 

I shook my head, cupping my cheeks with a smirk. 

“Not very convincing, you know.”  

Despite her grandiose titles, at her current level, she’d be lucky to muster a fraction of that power.  

“Damn it! If my strength were fully restored…” 

Satahia gritted her teeth, her voice thick with frustration.  

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  

From her reluctant explanation, I pieced together a tale as old as any classic fantasy novel. 

Betrayed by her own subordinates during a territorial feud with another lord, she and her sister had been gravely weakened. 

She’d barely escaped, finding herself near the Demon King’s Castle, plotting to rebuild her forces for vengeance.  

“How’s that for a plan?” 

Satahia boasted, a smug grin creeping across her face.  

I stared at her, my gaze softening with pity. 

This kid’s beyond saving. With a leader like her, it was no wonder her underlings had turned traitor.  

“Hey, what’s that look, you little pest? I was just caught off guard! If I got serious, I’d have you and that freak groveling for mercy!” 

Satahia’s cheeks flushed as she scrambled to defend herself, clearly catching my meaning.  

“Sure, sure,” I said, waving her off dismissively. 

My eyes drifted downward, and I muttered, “No wonder you’re so obsessed.”  

“What are you staring at, you creep? You’re not exactly impressive yourself!”  

“Let’s not get into that debate.” 

I coughed, steering the conversation away from dangerous territory. 

“More importantly, you should be worrying about yourself right now.”  

“Tch. What do you want?”  

“Simple. Join me, and I’ll help you regain your strength.” 

The moment I learned her identity, the idea had taken root.  

Sure, she was pathetically weak now, but if I could restore her power, I’d gain a formidable ally. 

In the short term, her ability to command an entire mine full of skeleton warriors was a valuable asset. 

And with my current shortage of capable hands, even a dimwit like her was worth keeping. 

After all, this Demon King was magnanimous enough to look past her flaws.  

“Hmph. And if I refuse, what, you’ll kill me?” 

Satahia’s tone was defiant, showing no sign of cooperation.  

“I’m not that brutal.”  

I waved a hand, and the slimes tightened their grip, their gooey forms sprouting bizarre, writhing appendages.  

“At worst, I’ll just make you the star of a little book.”  

Satahia paled, clearly unaware of what a “book” implied but sensing the menace in the tentacles closing in.  

“I hear tentacle stories are all the rage these days.”  

“What are these things?!”  

“How about a title? The Flat-Chested Fool’s First Experience [C99 Limited Edition]?”  

“Who’re you calling a flat-chested fool?!”  

“Or maybe a pamphlet to toss into the monster drop pool. Let everyone know Vesinodo’s mighty ruler, Satahia, is actually a flat-chested nobody. What do you think, Syl?”  

“Wait! I have a condition!” Satahia blurted, her bravado crumbling.  

“What’s that?” 

I paused, lowering the paintbrush I’d dramatically raised.  

“Get rid of that chest monster next to you, or make her my slave! 

Otherwise, I’d rather star in your stupid book!”  

The air seemed to freeze.  

I glanced at Satahia, who stood her ground with a stubborn “it’s her or me” glare. 

“No room for negotiation?”  

“None!”  

“Fine. Guess we’ll skip the mosaic then.”  

“Where are you even talking about, you jerk?!”  

Before I could pick up the paintbrush again, Syl’s hand shot out to stop me. 

“Your Majesty, may I handle this?”  

“You sure?”  

“Rest assured, I’ll bring her back in one piece.”  

Seeing the look on Syl’s face, I swallowed my next words and made a swift exit. 

Terrifying didn’t even begin to cover it.  

“Hey, you stinking cow, what are you planning?!” 

Satahia stammered, swallowing hard as Syl approached.  

For reasons she couldn’t name, the demoness found Syl’s calm demeanor far more frightening than her own sister’s wrath.  

“Monster, chest beast, stinking cow… has no one taught you how to speak to your superiors?” 

Syl advanced slowly, smoothing the wrinkles on her silk gloves with deliberate care.  

“Wait, stay back! Help!”  

Leaving Satahia’s fate to Syl, I returned to the Demon King’s Castle to take stock of our gains.  

The energy spent on setting the trap had been more than recouped. 

The mine yielded a surplus of energy crystals, netting me roughly 200 energy in profit.  

The energy used to build the Slime and Goblin Nests wasn’t a loss either. 

After tweaking their stats, I spent 50 energy each to deploy them to other leveling zones in the Alwyn Empire, ensuring a steady cycle of resources.  

I avoided clustering them in one area to prevent disrupting the “player ecosystem.” 

Even a ruthless merchant knows the importance of sustainable exploitation. 

Concentrating them would split player traffic, ultimately costing me more.  

While collecting the energy crystals, I stumbled upon a high-quality dark element collection point in the mine—likely Satahia’s key to restoring her strength. 

Now in my hands, I wasted no time dispatching all available sprites to harvest it, significantly boosting my dark element yield.  

Beyond that, the haul included three blueprints: two for monster nests—Skeleton Warriors and Vine Dryads—and a third I’d never encountered before.  

“A terrain blueprint?”  

I turned it over in my hands, intrigued, as the possibilities began to unfold.