“Did she really say that?”
In the meeting hall of the Demon King’s Castle, the Demon King slowly raised her eyes.
The purple-haired succubus scout rested a hand on her hip, a subtle smile on her face as if she were replaying something amusing in her mind.
“Yes.”
Aliviel nodded.
“After the child in charge of delivering meals returned, she told me what the Saintess said.”
“She said that if the demon lands can’t be farmed because the magic concentration is too high, then we just need to drain the excess magic.”
The beastkin sitting nearby furrowed his brow.
“Drain the magic?”
He let out a cold snort.
“Easier said than done.”
“The magic in demon territory isn't like water in a bucket that stays gone once scooped out. It flows and replenishes itself. Even if the concentration is lowered for a short time, the surrounding magic will immediately rush back in.”
The elf nodded slightly.
“Indeed.”
“Simply draining the magic from a single plot of land is pointless.”
The man with the tail leaned back in his chair and asked with a smile:
“So, she was just talking nonsense?”
Aliviel shook her head.
“It didn't seem like it.”
“The child said the Saintess looked very serious at the time.”
A subtle silence fell over the meeting hall for a moment.
The beastkin’s expression grew even more sour.
“Do you really think a Hero who was just summoned—and whose stats are too garbage to even look at—can solve a problem the demons haven't been able to fix for centuries?”
Aliviel shrugged.
“At least the direction she proposed is completely different from what we’ve tried in the past.”
“We’ve always focused on how to make plants adapt to the demon lands.”
“But what she’s thinking of is—changing the land itself.”
After those words were spoken, the meeting hall fell silent.
Changing the land.
Those few words sounded simple.
But for the demons, it felt like a dream they hardly dared to imagine.
It wasn't that they hadn't tried.
Magic circles, purification arts, ley line guidance, ore absorption, sealing barriers.
For hundreds of years, the demons had tried countless methods.
But the result was always the same.
The magic would replenish itself; no magic circle could withstand such powerful energy.
The land would be contaminated again.
The seedlings would continue to wither.
In the end, the demons could only accept the fact—
They lived within the blessing of magic, and they lived within its curse.
The Demon King remained silent for a long time.
Her fingers tapped lightly on the table.
“What else did she say?”
Aliviel thought for a moment, the corners of her mouth curving upward.
“She also said that if the demons can't eat their fill, she—as a pet kept by the demons—will also suffer.”
“So, in order to improve the quality of her own meals, she’s willing to find a way to help.”
Beastkin: “...”
Elf: “...”
Tail Man: “Pfft.”
Aliviel continued:
“Also, she requested that the bread be softer next time.”
Demon King: “...”
The heavy atmosphere in the meeting hall was inexplicably punctured by that sentence.
The man with the tail finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha! That sounds exactly like something she would say!”
A vein throbbed at the beastkin’s temple.
“Can someone like that really be trusted?”
“Not entirely.”
The Demon King finally spoke.
Her voice was calm.
“But we can observe her.”
Aliviel looked at her.
“What do you mean, My Lady?”
The Demon King slowly stood up.
Her long black dress draped from the edge of the throne as her dark red eyes looked out past the meeting hall.
In that direction lay the room where Lin Ling was.
“If she is just talking nonsense, then treat it as the ramblings of a pet.”
“But if she can actually achieve something...”
The Demon King paused.
“Then her value may need to be re-evaluated.”
Rate on N.U.
