Leaving the cave where we left the giant mana mutant's corpse, I start thinking about his last words. He mentioned about a "person with horns" wanting for refuge until they met the goblins.
'This person with horns. It could have been a regular demon escaping the city or it could have been the infamous demon king'
I can assume that this might be a lackey of the demon king or some regular old joe looking for shelter from the despicable humans.
While walking and thinking, I unconsciously reach for a cigarette in my pocket and light it up using my fyr magic.
My soldiers look at me with envious and terrified gazes as they try their best to inhale the fumes from my burning cigarette. What a sad bunch of men that I've raised.
I can imagine them returning home to their waiting families and their families seeing that they have changed a lot due to war; always craving "cigarettes" and having intense withdrawal symptoms.
It's pretty fun to think that they are this dependent on me. They would probably sell their wives and daughter to me for another extra puff...hahaha, this is too funny.
"Kekeke...oops, I said that out loud...anyways, tot he next cave!"
""Aye!""
As we enter the new cave, we see kobolds instead of goblins. Kobolds are basically massive wolfs that walk on two legs. Their intellect is a bit higher than goblins, but don't speak human tongue.
There have been cases of human women being taken and forcibly impregnated to give birth to halfies, known as beastkin. These people are pretty reclusive, but I digress.
We start the kobold culling, now known as Operation Mines, by sending my men to practice their hunting skills.
"Hyah! Take this!"
"Damn furry monsters! I'll show you the superior species!"
"Awoooo!!! Grrrhhhh..."
The kobolds, being absolutely beaten into oblivion, retreated to the deeper parts of the cave. As a fyr mage, I light up a tiny glow in my hand and lead the way.
We reach their breeding grounds where there are multiple demon women laying there, emotionless and with tears falling down, but no sobbing. These women are new.
They are only 3 in number, but they look throughly used. They were probably wandering around here, picking berries or herbs.
...or not.
These women are, in my opinion, potential and most likely, lackeys of the demon king. These women were either used as bait, as a tribute to the kobolds or maybe just wandered too far from the group.
Either way, their clothing, or whats left of it, looks similar to that of a traditional maid's clothing. They are extremely torn up and their skin is soaking the cloth, but it's still recognizable.
I start the extermination of the kobolds and by the time I'm finished, I accidentally burned one of the women alive. Fortunately, she probably was thanking me in her mind after being used like that.
I take off the clothing of the two other women' sure enough, they have it. They have to royal seal of the demons. That means these women are servants or equipment of the demon king or his relatives.
This is a big haul that would benefit me greatly.
Somewhere in Destinasia...
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Arriving at the destination set for me, I knock the secret code given to me.
3 short knocks, one slam and 2 short knocks.
Soon, a burly and bald man scans me across the body before letting me in.
'Jesus. Is Rosé really hiring these types of men?'
I follow the buff man through the dark corridors filled with the stent fhn of wealth. It smelled wealthy. The food, the specific yalno scent and the torches are in pristine condition.
This is fit to be the chambers of a Duke or some sort.
The henchman opens a door at the end of the hallway that led to a giant dining table, filled with delicacies that only the top of top can enjoy. Not even viscounts, the middle-classes of nobles can enjoy this level of opulence.
Well, unless they are siphoning funds from the capital...
"Ahh! Little Uly is here! Come come, sit down and make yourself at home"
"Uhuh...Rosé, why did you prepare all of this?"
Seeing my blunt answer she smiles lightly before patting her lips with a mouth cloth. Like a truly rich woman, she tosses that cloth away to be washed by some maid late on in the day.
"My my, little Uly is impatient~? Just kidding. This is a little...bribe, if you will. This is a convincer so you can consider my request even though it involves slightly hurting Aria"
"This...no, I won't go into the Aria bit. Tell me, what is this plan of yours"
Her face crumples a bit after seeing that I don't give into her teasing and she drops the act. Her face goes stone cold, rock solid, sedimentary rock still. No twitching and no blinking; just staring into my soul.
'Damn...she got good at this, eh?'
"Alrighty then, Uly. This is what I want YOU to do. As in my letter, I requested you to support whatever I want to do with that Min-chul boy and here, I'll tell you exactly what that is"
"Then...explain away"
Giving her the table, I take a bite of my food and a sip of my buzz so as to say "I'm just a listener". It's a slight form of respect if a person is talking at the dinner table.
"So, this Min$chul fellow largely resembles Morrigan, no? I understand how Aria views this man I wish to take advantage of this. There is one problem however...the 'old man' is taking control now'
*PFTTTTTT*
Hearing her final sentence, I spit out my wine that I was sipping. Even though what I did was highly inappropriate, I didn't care too much as there were more pressing matter at hand.
"Really, Rosé? You want to go against him? Old man? That's a bit..."
"No, I understand that. I already have a plant though..."
"No, even with a plant- YOU GOT A PLANT?!?!?!"
I spit out another volley of wine, this time, slightly staining her white, perfect dress. She and I ignore this however, considering how rare this occasion is.
To think of how hard it is to put a plant in the old man's circle where it would actually matter, you'd need someone with absolute loyal and a debt to repay to betray that man.
After joining his inner circle, or even middle circle, you'd be forced to live in a controlled en oírme tu where you can absolutely be observed by that old man with crystals planted around the premises to hear everything.
'But thinking about it now...the old man IS getting old'
Indeed that old man is reaching his limit. He is, after all, the original founder of Argent with his previous business partner. This old man, the old man that every noble, royal and merchant in sight fears...
...that man is the man named Vallie Basset. This man, is the most powerful man in the world, right now, being at around age 997 years old.
He is a dinosaur of a man who doesn't look a day over 100.
"...tell me more"
"And boom-ba-boom~! Looks like I gotcha, little Uly"
"Haaaahhhh...you got me, now continue your story"
"Very well~"
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(A.N) yo! Another chapter for you readers and I hope you enjoyed this one! Please do consider voting with powerstones and commenting on this chapter! Have a wonderful day!