“You seem a little tired, my Lord.”
Syl set aside the book in her hands—its pages lined with pale golden trim—and tilted her head slightly. Her gray eyes blinked in mild confusion.
Well, anyone would be exhausted after surviving a hell-mode boss rush of loli maniacs just to return to the save point, right?
Of course, no matter how true that was, it was still way too embarrassing to say out loud. So I kept my expression calm and answered flatly, “A lot of things happened.”
Which… honestly wasn’t a lie. From opening a treasure chest to stealing a boss drop out from under a major guild’s nose—I just wanted a quiet life as a demon lord. Or at least, a peaceful life selling cuteness.
That said, the rewards weren’t bad at all.
With the Dark Bat souls I’d collected, I now had more than enough to complete two upgrades—with plenty to spare. On top of that, Roseheart even sent a few parting gifts my way.
Among them were two rogue skill books. One was a passive skill that enhanced stealth, making detection far more difficult. The other, Mindpiercer, allowed me to ignore one incoming hit every second and instantly warp behind the target on my next attack, dealing bonus damage.
The stealth boost was self-explanatory—rogues live for survivability tools—and Mindpiercer’s bonus mechanics were downright deadly. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say these were dream-tier skills for any thief.
There was a bit of an… incident, though.
Doran, having witnessed my stunt during the boss fight, couldn’t help but ask about my true class. As a high-ranking officer of Roseheart, she immediately recognized that my escape used Shadowcaster abilities.
Thankfully, I brushed it off with a vague “it’s a hidden class” explanation.
Judging by the suspicious look she gave me afterward, I doubt she believed it—but at least she dropped it. For now.
(…Though I’m sure that just means she’s going to try even harder to recruit me later.)
Aside from those skills and a new set of thief gear, they also sent over a massive stash of bat claws and venom glands—payment for pointing them to that hidden questline.
Speaking of which…
“Syl, how many bat claws and poison glands have we collected now?” With the forum guide out, I expected a decent haul.
What I didn’t expect was this:
“In just half a day since you left, we’ve received over three thousand full stacks.”
“Wait… what?!”
Turns out the guide post had already started gaining traction. And even though Roseheart had only just begun moving, players who smelled profit wasted no time.
“So many materials…”
Even though they looked gross—dark, lumpy, and vaguely organic—the pile stacked in my storage looked to me like a glittering mountain of gold.
In the past, I thought those money-eyed characters in manga were just a meme.
…But now I understood.
“We’re rich, Syl! We’re gonna be rich!”
I clapped my hands in giddy excitement.
Of course, Syl, always quick to ground me, had to rain on my parade.
“Please don’t forget the current energy status of the Heart of Herentis, my Lord.”
“…Oh. Right.”
Back when I didn’t have enough cash to pay players directly, I’d… sort of used energy as pseudo-currency instead.
I pulled up the interface and, yep—my once proud triple-digit reserves were now a pitiful trickle.
Even with the new monster nests generating nearly 100 energy a day, I’d gone and burned through it all. Painfully.
Still, this wasn’t the time to panic. I wasn’t about to star in a “broke demon girl forced into desperate measures” doujin.
“Syl! Let’s cash these materials in first!”
We’d prepared in advance, purchasing five beginner backpacks with +4 slot expansions. Even then, it wasn’t enough to carry everything in one trip. So we had to shuttle the stuff back and forth to my personal storage.
Thanks to Syl helping out, it wasn’t too bad.
The NPCs for the two hidden quests—one for bat claws, one for venom—were both located in Faerns City.
As we stepped out from the teleportation circle, the deep bell chimes from St. Bys Plaza’s Clocktower greeted us.
The sound echoed with an ancient resonance, filled with timeless weight. For a moment, I felt like I’d been transported back into my past life.
But then reality hit me again—not because of sentimentality, but because I spotted Imperial soldiers patrolling nearby.
…Right. I’m not a normal player right now.
“Syl, do you think they’ll recognize me?”
I shrank behind her slightly, eyeing the level 180+ soldiers with growing anxiety.
“Unless in very rare cases, no one can see through a magical disguise. You’re safe, my Lord.”
Syl could be playful at times, but when it came to security, she never joked. I let out a sigh of relief and followed her away from the plaza.
Faerns, capital of the Olwen Empire, was a city of towering majesty. White spires pierced the clouds, the Mage Tower gleamed with enchantments, and sacred hymns floated from the grand cathedral. Sunset painted the buildings in gold, draping every corner of the city in warm, solemn light.
It was not only home to new adventurers, but also countless original NPC citizens. Compared to sleepy Soma Town, this place was easily ten thousand times more alive.
Naturally, in a city this vast, there were countless side streets and back alleys. I once got so lost doing a daily quest here that I almost rage quit.
But not anymore. This time, I knew exactly where I was going.
Following my memory, I made my way to Oak Street, grabbed a portion of the claws from storage, and walked into a slightly run-down weapon shop. It was nearly sunset, and the place looked quiet—probably not a lot of foot traffic.
The moment we stepped in, an NPC apprentice came up to greet us.
“Welcome, honored customer! May I help you with something?”
“I’m here to see Master Macaven.”
“Ah, so you’re here for the Master?” The apprentice nodded in recognition—then suddenly grew wary. “He’s in the forge room, but… may I ask your business?”
“Could you please inform him I’m here?”
“I’m sorry. Master said he won’t be seeing any guests at the moment. Please come again another time.” The apprentice bowed apologetically.
…That caught me off guard.
In my past life, no one ever mentioned this happening in the guide. For a moment, I just stood there, confused.
But beside me, Syl narrowed her eyes. She was watching the apprentice’s expressions very closely…
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