Chapter 32
‘Wait… why is this so easy? Even getting into my neighbor’s house would be harder than this.’
Unlike in the Human Realm, entering the Delrac Demon King’s Domain was ridiculously simple.
Ariella had been tense, but the ease of entry shocked her.
‘Are those soldiers just for decoration?’
Like in Ludwig’s domain, there were demon soldiers guarding the border.
But they only asked a few simple questions and waved them through.
“They don’t even check ID badges here?” Ariella asked.
“In the Demon Realm, there’s no standardized ID that works everywhere,” Ludwig replied with a nod.
“If there was, I wouldn’t have been able to wander around freely in the past,” he added.
“Then you can’t filter out suspicious people… like us right now.”
“The gains from leaving the gates open outweigh the gains from blocking them. At least, from a Demon King’s perspective.”
So they don’t bother stopping anyone who comes?
Ariella quickly understood why.
“Oh, so that’s how the population grows!”
She remembered the connection between sunlight, population, and the Demon King.
‘Right, lowering the entry barrier is smart. Make it easy for anyone who wants to migrate.’
Once through the gates, they reached the most bustling city in Delrac’s domain.
Ariella was surprised for a second time.
“Wow… this is a real city.”
It wasn’t as big as the cities in the Human Realm, but it was still impressive in scale.
Compared to Ludwig’s domain? It was like night and day.
‘And the sun here is much bigger.’
She glanced up at the sky. The sun looked about ten times larger than the one in Ludwig’s land.
Soft, aurora-like streams of light poured from it, covering what was clearly a much wider area than Ludwig’s territory.
‘It’s not even envy at this point. The difference is just… massive.’
Richmond noticed her expression and explained,
“This place used to be as weak as our own domain. But lately, it’s been growing very quickly.”
Ariella glanced at Ludwig. Richmond had basically just compared the two domains out loud.
But Ludwig’s face remained calm, as always.
“What’s their secret?” she asked.
“No idea. I only came here in the past to buy magic ingredients. I don’t know the inside story,” Richmond replied.
Ariella’s curiosity grew stronger.
‘The Demon Realm Travel Journal is an old book, and it mostly talks about the northern regions. I hardly know anything about this area.’
Who could she ask?
‘It’s not like I can just walk up to the local Demon King and ask. No way a rival would tell me.’
While she was thinking, Richmond’s carriage rolled into the shopping district.
“Here we are. This is the store Geru used to run,” Richmond said.
Once everyone got out, Richmond opened the door.
Then—
“What?”
His disguised face twisted in surprise.
“What happened here?”
“What’s wrong?” Ariella asked, peeking inside.
And what she saw was…
“What the—there’s nothing here but dust!”
The store was fairly large, but the shelves were completely empty.
“Did they go out of business?”
“When was the last time you came here, Richmond?”
“It’s been months. I just didn’t need anything lately.”
“Don’t tell me they went bankrupt in the meantime… that would be bad.”
“They haven’t gone bankrupt. Not yet.”
The voice came from someone else.
Creak!
A door inside the shop opened, and a demon woman stepped out.
Richmond recognized her.
“Cecil!”
She squinted at him for a moment, then nodded.
“Oh wow, it’s you! I remember. Been a long time! I thought you’d died in the meantime~”
Apparently, Richmond had always come to Delrac’s domain in his current disguise.
“Cecil is Geru’s daughter,” Richmond told Ariella and Ludwig, giving a vague introduction without revealing the truth about them.
“They’re my colleagues,” he added. “But…”
He trailed off, looking at the empty shelves.
Cecil gave an awkward smile.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have anything to sell. It’s pathetic, but what can I do?”
Richmond asked carefully, “Is this because Geru died? But even the last time I was here, it wasn’t this bad.”
Cecil sighed.
“You know how we used to buy all our raw materials from the Fedwick Trading Company, right?”
“Of course. That’s where Geru worked before he retired,” Richmond replied.
The trading company would gather monster corpses, herbs, poisonous plants, and rare minerals from all over the southern Demon Realm, then deliver them to Cecil, who would process and sell them.
“A few months after my father passed away, the supplies stopped coming. Even if I wanted to sell, I had nothing left to sell.”
“The trade stopped? Just like that?” Ariella asked.
“Do you think it’s related to your father’s death?”
Cecil nodded.
Back in his working days, Geru had clashed with the company’s owner.
Even so, after retirement, he had received quiet help from some of his old colleagues inside the company.
But after his death, things changed.
“But the Fedwick Company isn’t the only one in the Demon Realm. Why not buy from someone else?” Ariella asked.
“Of course I tried. But the new suppliers demanded ridiculous terms.”
The prices were absurdly high. And if she wanted to buy popular goods, they forced her to also take worthless junk that no one wanted.
It was like they didn’t even want to do business.
“The Fedwick boss made sure of it,” Cecil said bitterly.
The company was so large that even smaller trading firms couldn’t escape its influence.
Her face darkened further.
“I know what they’re doing. They want to crush us completely.”
And Cecil wasn’t the only victim.
Other shops in the area were facing the same problem.
“Recently, Fedwick even opened its own store here. They’re selling the goods they transport directly, cutting us out completely.”
“So now they’re competing head-to-head with all the old shops,” Ariella said.
“They want to take over the entire market in Delrac’s domain,” Cecil confirmed.
Ariella clicked her tongue.
‘First they worked with Bephar, now this. No such thing as just one bad deed with people like that.’
Cecil’s tone turned gloomy.
“At this rate, I won’t last much longer. I might have to close the store, just like they want.”
She already sounded half resigned.
Richmond and Ariella exchanged glances.
They hadn’t come here to shop, but they couldn’t ignore her situation either.
Then Richmond suddenly asked, “By the way, Geru was buried nearby, right?”
“Yes. You remember?”
“Since I’m here, I thought I’d visit his grave and leave a flower.”
“Really? Hmm.”
Her reaction was oddly reluctant.
“Not sure it’s worth the trouble,” she muttered.
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind. If you want to go, I’ll tell you where it is.”
She gave them the location.
That night, on the outskirts of Delrac’s capital city…
Three figures walked quietly through a dark cemetery, black cloaks pulled over their heads to avoid attention.
From the back, Ludwig grumbled in a low voice,
“Tch. This feels like grave robbing.”
Richmond, walking in front, chuckled.
“Well, technically, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Digging up a grave to take what’s inside.”
In the middle, Ariella corrected him.
“To be precise, we’re relocating what’s inside.”
As they walked, she asked,
“Do grave robbers exist in the Demon Realm too?”
“Of course. Sometimes, old Demon King tombs contain valuable artifacts,” Richmond said.
“Demon Kings who once ruled the entire realm were called Great Demon Kings. But no one’s had that title in over a thousand years. The realm has been split among many rulers ever since.”
Ariella wasn’t interested in that history.
‘Forget the Great Demon King. The man behind me has trouble just staying a Demon King.’
She’d settle for Ludwig just holding on to even a “Small Demon King” title.
“Here,” Richmond said, stopping in front of a grave with a single flower in his hand.
It was Geru’s resting place.
