The Flame Demon had been effortlessly pinned down by two slimes. All her disguises vanished in an instant, revealing a petite demon girl. A name appeared above her head, too.

Breath of the Flame King—Sataxia.

The orange lettering marked her as a special monster. I’d only seen that mark on a handful of bosses in my previous life, and every one of them had been above Lord rank.

I guess this one was the sole exception. She was only level 0.

“So this is what you really look like?”

Curious, I crouched down and poked at the lava horns on her head—the only things that could possibly identify her as a Flame Demon.

But it wasn’t the heat that made me pull my hand back. It was the way she bared her teeth at me, looking downright ferocious.

“Grrr.”

I quickly pulled my finger away. “Hey, are you a dog or something?”

“Spit, spit! You little brat! If you dare insult the great ruler of Vixinodo, the Flame King of Hamogen, Lady Sataxia, I’ll burn you and that dairy cow beside you to ashes!”

Hill crossed her arms and glanced down at the girl, showing no particular reaction.

I was a little surprised, though. Even in my previous life, the names Hamogen and Vixinodo had carried some weight. They were in the transcendent zones beyond level 180. Could this girl really have been that powerful?

But it was only a passing thought. I rested my chin in my hands and shook my head. “You’re not exactly convincing.”

Sure, she sounded impressive. But at her current level, she’d be lucky to manage even one ten-thousandth of her former strength.

“Damn it! If only I’d recovered my strength…” Sataxia gritted her teeth in frustration.

“What do you mean?”

From her story, I more or less pieced together what had happened. It was just like something out of a classic high-fantasy novel—

She and her younger sister had been betrayed by their own subordinates while fighting other lords for territory. Her strength had taken a serious hit, and after barely escaping, she’d been separated from her sister and ended up near the Demon King's Castle. Now she was planning to rebuild her forces and get revenge.

“Well? Isn’t that an amazing plan?” Sataxia couldn’t help looking rather pleased with herself as she finished.

I looked at her in silence, then gave her a sympathetic look. The message was more or less: This girl’s a lost cause.

With a boss like her, it was no wonder her underlings had turned traitor.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean, you little brat? I was just careless before! If I got serious, I’d make you and that ** monster beg for mercy on your knees!”

Sataxia’s face reddened. She’d clearly understood what I meant, and hurried to defend herself.

“Sure, sure.”

I humored her absentmindedly, letting my gaze drift down a little as I muttered, “I see. No wonder you’re so sensitive about it.”

“Where are you looking, you little brat?! It’s not like you’re any better!”

“All right, I’m not going to discuss anyone’s development.” I cleared my throat and sensibly put an end to that topic. “More importantly, shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself right now?”

“Tch. What do you want?”

“Simple. Become one of my subordinates, and I’ll help you regain your strength.” I’d come up with the idea as soon as I learned who Sataxia was.

Sure, she was ridiculously weak right now. But if I could help her recover, I’d have an incredibly powerful fighter on my side.

That was the long-term benefit. For now, she could control all the Skeleton Warriors in the open-pit mine, which was already a big help.

Besides, I was short on manpower. It didn’t matter if she was a bit of an idiot. This Demon King Daddy still loved her.

“Hmph. And if I refuse, are you going to kill me?” Sataxia didn’t look like she had any intention of cooperating.

“I’m not that cruel.”

I waved a hand, and the slimes around Sataxia tightened their hold. At the same time, their soft bodies began sprouting all sorts of strange things.

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

Sataxia went pale. She clearly didn’t know what a doujinshi was, but one look at the tentacles closing in around her told her it couldn’t be anything good.

“I hear tentacle doujinshi are really popular lately.”

“What are those things?!”

“What should we call it? *A Flat-Chested Idiot’s First Time [C99 Limited Edition]*?”

“Who are you calling a flat-chested idiot?!”

“Maybe I’ll make it a little booklet and add it to the monster drops. Then everyone will know that Lady Sataxia, ruler of Vixinodo, is actually flat-chested. Hill, what do you think?”

“Wait! I have one condition!”

Sataxia finally gave in.

“What condition?” I lowered the paintbrush in my hand, curious.

“Get that boob monster beside you to leave—or make her my slave! Otherwise, I won’t give in, even if you make me the star of that whatever-it’s-called book!”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

I glanced at Sataxia, who looked like it was either her or me. “No room for negotiation?”

“None!”

“Well, there’s nothing there anyway. We might as well remove the censor bar.”

“What do you mean, ‘there’?! You bastard!”

But before I could pick up my paintbrush again, Hill suddenly reached out to stop me. “Your Highness, may I handle this for a while?”

“Will you be all right?”

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll bring her back in one piece.”

“Uh… Then I’ll head back first.” One look at Hill’s expression made me swallow the rest of what I’d been about to say. I quickly left.

She really was pretty terrifying.

“Hey, you stinking cow! What are you going to do?” Sataxia swallowed nervously as Hill slowly approached.

For some reason, Hill looked terrifying—far more frightening than Sataxia’s younger sister when she got angry.

“Boob monster, big-boobed woman, chest monster, stinking cow. Has no one ever taught you how to speak to your senior?” Hill walked over at an unhurried pace, taking care to smooth the wrinkles in her silk gloves.

“Wait! Don’t come any closer! Help!”

I left Sataxia’s affairs entirely in Hill’s hands, then returned to the Demon King's Castle to take stock of what I’d gained.

The energy I’d spent setting up the traps had been more than made up for by all the energy crystals we found in the open-pit mine. I’d even come out about 200 energy ahead.

The energy spent building the monster nests hadn’t really gone to waste, either. After making a few simple tweaks to the slimes’ and goblins’ attributes, I spent 50 energy on each type and deployed them at grinding spots in other empires to farm on a rotation.

I hadn’t put them all in one place because I figured that might disrupt the “player ecosystem” in that area. Even a crooked merchant knows there’s a limit to how much you can squeeze people.

Besides, grinding spots at the same level might split up the players, which would end up costing me in the long run.

While collecting the energy crystals, I’d also stumbled across a high-quality dark-element gathering site in the mine. It was probably the key to Sataxia recovering her strength.

Now that it was in my hands, I wasn’t about to let it go to waste. I sent all the creatures I’d recalled over there to gather, and the rate at which I collected dark elements immediately went up.

On top of that, I’d obtained three blueprints. Two were for monster nests: one for Skeleton Warriors and one for Vine Dryads. The last blueprint, though, was for a type I’d never seen before.

“A terrain blueprint?”

……