In Puu Town, a place filled with colorful, round, rolling Puus, it was rare to see such a bustling crowd and hear such a lively clamor.
Because various supplies made from Puus had to be transported from here, Jonathan had simply designated Puu Town as a temporary base.
Even important resources like money and magic crystals were stored here, guarded by Lia.
Lia had put in a tremendous amount of effort just to restrain herself from claiming these things as her own.
It wasn’t because she was particularly noble.
Rather, if the Hero wanted to strike her down as she was now, it probably wouldn’t take more than two hits.
In contrast, the patience and self-control of a succubus were far inferior.
This wasn’t the first time Emile had secretly reached her hand into the piles of gold coins.
It also wasn’t the first time Lia had shouted at her to stop.
“Hey! You stinking succubus! What are you doing?!”
Emile reluctantly withdrew her hand.
She stared unblinkingly at the gold coins, swallowing repeatedly as her mouth watered.
“I wasn’t stealing… I was just touching them… There’s so much money… Think of how many pretty dresses this could make…”
Lia said irritably, “You succubi can earn that much money just by playing around with people for a night, and yet you’re still this greedy?”
“No one ever complains about having too much money.”
Emile put on a wronged expression.
“Besides, despite how much we earn, money disappears quickly. You can’t just buy non-custom-made dresses, can you? Perfumes and cosmetics have to be high-quality, too. Only ugly women use cheap stuff that costs less than one silver coin. And then, and then, gourmet food is also a huge expense…”
Lia’s teeth itched with annoyance.
Back at the Demon King’s Castle, she had been so poor she wanted to pry up the floor tiles to sell them, and the army’s supplies on the battlefield were tight.
Meanwhile, this succubus was behind enemy lines spending money like water and feasting on everything?
She snapped, “Enough! I’m not interested in your extravagance! This is money Jon is using for disaster relief. If you dare touch a single cent, I’ll use your tail to connect electrical wires!”
“What’s ‘connecting electrical wires’?”
Emile curiously grabbed her own tail, pulled it to her mouth, and licked it with the tip of her pink tongue.
Her youthful face, which was beautiful to the point of being eerie, radiated a certain innocent allure.
“Is it fun?”
Lia glanced back at her.
Just now, this succubus had used her innate skill — [Charm] — on her.
However, because Lia’s soul strength was too high, the check failed.
She pretended not to notice and lowered her head to continue working, secretly heightening her vigilance.
She prepared to react to any changes, wanting to see what kind of scheme this rotten succubus was cooking up now.
“Little Lili… are you tired?”
Sure enough, not long after using Charm, Emile leaned in intimately.
She lay down next to Lia, propped up her pretty little head, and looked at her with a beaming smile.
“Say what you want to say and get it over with!”
“Oh, don’t be so mean.”
Emile looked piteous, as if she were about to cry.
“I thought we were already best friends.”
“…” Lia gave her a sidelong glance.
“But seriously, I feel very bad for you.”
Emile sat next to Lia, speaking as if casually.
“Look, you’re working so hard for Jon, giving so much of yourself, yet that heartless man doesn’t even know to give you a thoughtful little gift to show his appreciation.”
“Huh? What nonsense are you talking about?”
Lia looked speechless.
“It’s true! It’s just that you’ve seen too little of the world, Lili. Jon treats you just a little bit well, and you’re moved to tears. If a girl is this easy to coax, she’ll suffer at the hands of men.”
“I have a sister who was kept by a minor count. she never gave him a good look, but guess what? That count loved her even more! He gave her a set of jewelry worth 2,000 gold Coulons! He was constantly checking on her and pampering her to no end!”
“Jon is a Hero… a grand Hero and a Duke. Shouldn’t he treat you even better?”
Emile’s voice gradually became full of charm, mixed with a hint of eerie enticement.
This was the manifestation of using [Charm] and [Incitement] magic simultaneously.
However, it still had no effect on Lia.
As the Demon King, if she couldn’t even block out a succubus’s “whispers,” she might as well stop dreaming of “great ambitions” and go back to selling lewd books.
“And so?”
Lia watched Emile’s performance with a tilted gaze.
“If you ask me!”
Emile snapped her fingers and urged excitedly, “Lili! You should just embezzle these gold coins! I’ll teach you a trick! You hide the coins and say they were lost. When the Hero questions you, just start crying! Then use the lines I give you. I guarantee that not only will he be unable to scold you, but he’ll also feel incredibly guilty!”
“Wow, how impressive — and then, how much do I have to give you after I embezzle it?”
Lia read her lines in a flat, emotionless voice.
“Hehe… actually, as your sister, I’m just looking out for you, so I shouldn’t take your money. But after all, our succubus techniques aren’t meant to be shared with outsiders.”
Emile continued her enticement, “How about this! Give me forty percent as a technical consultation fee. From now on, I’ll make an exception and be your best friend and strategist. I’ll make sure the Hero is wrapped around your finger.”
“Oh.”
Lia didn’t bother to deal with her anymore and continued molding her new invention.
Emile was in the middle of her pitch, and seeing Lia suddenly ignore her felt like having a fishbone stuck in her throat.
Just as she wanted to continue her persuasion, she suddenly noticed that the “new invention” Lia was molding had several components that looked very familiar.
“Eh? What is this? A Massage Pod?”
Emile jumped into the water and swam into the translucent, cylindrical container made of Puus.
The interior was just large enough for a succubus to lie down, with thoughtfully pre-made grooves for their wings.
In addition, there were many semi-gelatinous “tentacles” molded from Puus inside the pod, which made Emile recall the beautiful nights she had spent with the Tentacle Demon Race.
“Heehee… Lili, and you said you didn’t consider me a best friend. This is obviously a massage bed for me!”
Without even asking for Lia’s consent, Emile lay inside to test it out and found that the space fit quite well.
She toyed with the ambiguously shaped “gelatinous suckers” in front of her, and her cheeks couldn’t help but flush.
“Lili is so good at this.”
She stuck out her tongue and made a face.
“It’s mine now! You’re not allowed to give it to anyone else! Otherwise, Emile will be angry!”
“Don’t worry, it will be ‘given’ to you very soon,” Lia replied in a low, hollow voice.
Her petite body was hidden in the shadows, making her difficult to see clearly.
Looking up at her, she actually seemed as majestic as a Demon King.
Emile stared at her and suddenly recalled the Demon King Lia she had portrayed.
That familiar expression and posture made her shudder.
“Hehe… I was just joking. I don’t want anything.”
She quickly sat up and scurried out of the Massage Pod.
Lia said nothing.
Her expression was calm and cold, and the silence in the air made Emile a little afraid.
Fortunately, Jon returned at that moment.
Lia suddenly switched to a dorky, innocent smile and went to greet her “Hero friend.”
“Friend! Friend! You’re back!”
Jon looked down and picked Lia up, gently leaning his forehead against hers.
He forced a smile, not wanting her to worry.
But Lia still noticed that Jon’s mood wasn’t right.
She reached out her small hands, gently grabbed Jon’s face, and said seriously and softly, “Friend, Lili cares about friend. You can tell Lili anything.”
Jon nodded, and a dam of sadness seemed to break.
“Did things not go well?”
Lia asked in a small voice.
Jon nodded again.
He stared at the Puus in the surrounding pools, lost in thought.
“Lili, do you think some people are born to be abandoned by fate? Just like… these Puus in the water.”
Lia thought for a moment before shaking her head.
“Lili doesn’t know. Lili only knows that even the weakest, most evil creatures will meet their savior.”
Jon was stunned.
He suddenly asked Lia in a level tone, as if he didn’t expect an answer, “Lili, do you think I’m qualified to be the savior of humanity?”
Before Lia could answer, Jon laughed at himself and shook his head, chuckling softly.
“I really am a bit too arrogant.”
“You have to be a bit arrogant to be considered a youth,” Lia comforted him.
Jon didn’t speak further, and Lia stayed quiet, not making any noise.
She simply stayed with him like an old friend who had known him for many years.
She stayed with him as he watched the river and the red sun that looked cold and pale.
The waves rolled slowly.
An old man was crying as he held his wife’s body; a youth knelt toward the horizon in prayer; a woman in rags held her three children, huddling closely together beside a campfire that had been extinguished by the spray of the waves.
The God who had been called upon ten thousand times ultimately did not grant her grace.
The joys and sorrows of living beings are not shared.
Seeing the Hero’s performance, Emile only felt ecstasy.
Because the Hero couldn’t save people, those gold coins wouldn’t be spent, and she would have a chance to trick this “Dumb Lili” Puu into giving her some money to spend.
But her happiness didn’t even last two minutes because, after sitting quietly for a while, the Hero stood up again.
He looked at the red sun and spoke in a tone that lacked ambition yet was arrogant to the extreme.
“Whether it’s God… or the country…”
“Even if the whole world abandons them, I will never abandon a single commoner!”