The Demon King's Sweet Conquest (GL) - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Who is the NPC?

Loving the world and loving work are two completely different things!

Floria lay on a haystack, shedding “salted fish” tears: the early stage without a newbie gift pack was simply too difficult.

“Your Highness Demon King has worked hard, would you like a cup of hot milk tea~?” Xin Lian’s sweet voice was like honey as she earnestly placed a steaming cup of milk tea before Floria.

Looking at the wood resource points in the system—which had reached 1,000—Floria nodded slightly: “Good work, Xin Lian. I didn’t expect you to be so skilled at logging. To think you’ve accumulated the resources for the next step within a single week.”

The system was capable of reclaiming items. Once timber was identified as belonging to her after felling, a press of the conversion button turned it directly into “wood points,” a numerical value used for constructing furniture or buildings.

Barbatos had reminded her that the system’s reclamation price for things other than currency and souls wasn’t generous—but it wasn’t like they had any means of trade yet!

Floria blew on the milk tea, the sweet aroma wafting past her nose. Before drinking, she asked casually: “Where did this milk tea come from?” They clearly had no tea leaves, let alone milk.

“The tea leaves were gathered from the nearby woods; they’re processed instantly with magic.” Xin Lian patted her flat chest with a grin: “As for the milk, Dream Demons produce milk continuously throughout their lives! It’s super nutritious and highly praised across various worlds~”

Floria silently handed the milk tea back: “You drink it. A monarch must stay away from decadent indulgences.”

She flipped through the mission system, where three “novice” quests were hung high:

1. Sacrifice 999 pure souls.

2. Rule or destroy an existing nation.

3. Seize a Divine Artifact for the Company.

Sorry, goodbye. I can’t even be bothered to look at what the rewards are.

Floria’s goal was the daily check-in streak at the bottom of the mission bar. As the countdown ended and she clicked, all seven skull icons lit up.

“Congratulations, you have earned one lottery draw chance.”

Checking in for a full week granted one free draw. Even if ninety-nine out of a hundred draws resulted in generic faces, it was still a free benefit—the dawn of hope for a newbie. It was likely set up to increase the survival rate of bottom-tier Demon Kings. Love it.

“This King’s luck has never been bad!” My turn, draw!

The silver card back, which clearly lacked prestige, flipped over like a lightning strike. A flash of unadorned white light surged—

Five goblins appeared by the haystack, scratching their heads and ears, sporting similarly crude equipment.

One draw for five units, each equipped with a wooden shield and a small dagger. What more could she ask for?

“Goblins, huh.”

“Goblins it is.”

“They are goblins, Highness. They are excellent hunters of small prey, and occasionally, individuals with extraordinary intelligence appear.” Barbatos held a stack of exchanged parchment. These past few days, she had been scouting the nearby terrain, geography, and human settlements.

“In that case, I recall that all elite devils have leadership abilities, right? Why don’t you, Barbatos…” Floria saw that half-smile again and felt a bit guilty: “…try teaching them some martial arts?”

“Highness, if I may speak plainly, there are no individuals among these goblins suitable for instruction. They are merely energy polymers, summoned to serve as cannon fodder.” You couldn’t tell she was angry at all from her face.

Of course, she had a point.

Only elite-suffixed employees like Barbatos and Xin Lian were “real” employees. They were selected by the system because of their own will; they were real entities who had signed contracts.

Monsters summoned from the system without special suffixes like “Elite” were mass-produced items mimicked by the Company system using energy.

Those mass-produced items feared no pain and lacked high intelligence. They could only reproduce the next generation with others of their kind at the cost of consuming energy. Upon death, they would dissipate directly without leaving a trace.

“Lord Barbatos has a point. Xin Lian, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to train them!” Floria rephrased: “You’ve worked hard gathering resources lately. With them to help, things like carrying supplies or hunting small magic beasts will be much easier.”

“Okay, Highness, no problem at all~” Xin Lian agreed quickly. Dream Demons and Succubi were famously skilled at suppressing lower-tier monsters. Using a whip to drive subordinates to work brought zero psychological pressure.

With the help of the newly joined goblin squad, Floria finally gathered the resources to create a “Disguised Small Village” before nightfall.

“Cottage x5”, “Disguise Dummy x17, Random Stats”, “Facility Set x5”.

As the button was pressed, earthen roads rapidly appeared on the grass, and a village so small it had only five cottages rose from the ground. Seventeen humans of varying appearances began to move about, capable of interaction and performing their own tasks.

Disguising the surface facilities of a dungeon as a human village and placing dummies was standard operating procedure for Demon Kings.

Opening the dungeon doors wide to attract powerful adventurers before expanding? Floria didn’t want her head to become a wall ornament for some adventurer to boast about to their grandchildren after they “took an arrow to the knee.”

Incidentally, to provide convenience for Demon Kings in various worlds, the system was loaded with a “Transformation Amplification” function. The Demon King’s inherent disguise abilities would be magnified by the system. As long as they didn’t encounter counter-artifacts or special personnel, it was absolutely foolproof.

This was essentially encouraging all Demon Kings to be “cowardly” first to focus on dungeon construction.

According to the system description, Floria needed to design backgrounds and social connections for these humans; they would act naturally according to these settings. These dummies could perform simple daily interactions with humans, though flaws might appear. They possessed some self-defense capabilities, roughly equivalent to an average person.

Their existence was maintained solely by energy; if they moved a certain distance away from the dungeon proper, they would suddenly dissipate.

Floria rubbed her fingers and listed simple settings at maximum speed. These humans instantly gained more vivid movements and interactions, speaking freely and walking naturally.

“Highness, why do you insist on consuming energy to build a complete small village?” Barbatos raised the question calmly, her hand resting gently on the Demon King’s shoulder. “This subordinate is puzzled; you could use illusions to directly hide the entrance. This village is unlikely to do a better job than an illusion.”

“Barbatos, do you know about sustainable development? The dungeon is not only this King’s stronghold but also this King’s means of development.” Floria straightened her back, showing no weakness.

“A peaceful, tranquil human village located near a dungeon? Truly suspicious.” Another hand joined the first on the Demon King’s shoulder. Supposing she wasn’t massaging, it would be a bit rude—but Floria had intended to brush her off until she realized the kneading technique was simply too comfortable!

“The premise of it being ‘suspicious’ is that ‘The dungeon is the dungeon of an evil Demon King.’ What if I can make everyone believe the dungeon is harmless?” Floria spread her hands.

“That is rather incredible, and the difficulty is too high, Highness.” Barbatos’s voice grew even gentler.

Under the gaze of those blood-red eyes, the tiny Demon King broke free from her hold, stood up, and twirled her skirt. When the light of disguise was applied, this girl looked like a cute country lass from every angle: a charming round face, a pair of expressive green eyes, and light orange curly twin-tails.

“Lord Barbatos, I am the world’s number one Highness Demon King. And you, as my subordinate…” The girl lifted a basket of apples from behind the haystack: “…cannot say ‘no’.”

“Highness, I’m coming too~ I can pretend to be Highness’s older sister!” Xin Lian cheered and transformed into a girl who looked similar but was a few years older.

Barbatos pushed up her glasses and said nothing.

While the two pretending to be sisters were laughing, the sound of hoofbeats came from afar. It was still faint, but it couldn’t escape the keen ears of a devil.

“Xin Lian, stay here and keep acting. I’ll go scout things out. Barbatos, take the goblin squad and hide in the dungeon.” A Demon King must act like a Demon King; besides, she had phase-shifting to hide herself!

“Highness, do not worry about this subordinate. It is too risky for you alone.”

“Are you kidding? You’re not a Dream Demon, how can you trans—Whoa! Kitty!” Floria let out a delighted cry.

The tall devil had vanished. In her place sat a black-furred cat, its two front paws looking like little white gloves.

Hooves kicked up dust as if the clouds themselves were being trampled.

Cynthia, currently on horseback, was jolted. She had almost gone numb during the long ride and involuntarily tightened her grip on the reins. To outsiders, she shouldn’t be riding at her age; she should be curled in her mother’s arms acting spoiled.

But the knight herself didn’t feel that way. She regained her spirit and looked toward the flash of gold and red ahead. Ignoring the ache in her legs, Cynthia kept her thighs tight against the horse’s flanks to keep up; she absolutely would not fall behind.

“Rest a moment in the shade ahead.” Viola knew Cynthia’s limits better than she did. Sunlight spilled onto her long hair, making the fiery red tips look transparent.

This cavalry squad consisted of only a dozen or so people. Their equipment bore no special crests, but their spirit and aura revealed they were extraordinary—not ordinary rangers. Furthermore, ordinary rangers wouldn’t be equipped with such wide, hard shields; neither their horses nor their arm strength would allow it.

From her spot in the tree, Floria sized up the lady with long gold-red hair at the lead, then noted the teenage girl in the group, and decided she had to make contact.

These people didn’t look like bad guys at all. She really wanted to know what level the aristocrats of this world were at. However, the equipment of these cavalrymen was truly strange. Especially the gold-red-haired lady at the front—it was one thing to wear heavy armor, but she wore no helmet, and the heavy armor was intentionally designed to expose her entire right arm. Was she afraid of assassination, or did she just have more strength than she knew what to do with?

Never mind if the horse could take it—wasn’t she tired herself?

Lady Luck favored the Highness Demon King; the group of knights truly stopped in front of the large tree. Regardless of what they were here for, this open space on the edge of the woods was a perfect resting spot. After observing for a bit, two knights spread leather blankets on the grass.

When the teenage girl in the group was closest to her position, Floria intentionally shook a branch, creating a rustling sound.

The knights were extremely alert. The archer in the squad drew his bow in an instant, aiming at the branch that had just moved. A small figure appeared in his sights.

Light orange twin-tails were exposed first like little tails, followed by timid green eyes and a basket of apples, as the girl revealed half her body, swaying. A fluffy cat tail poked out from the basket.

The archer’s hand didn’t slacken, but his heart softened. Even if Duke Francis wanted to send assassins, he wouldn’t be so stupid as to use such a small girl to ambush Lady Viola.

Except for this largest tree, none of the surrounding trees had a canopy large enough to hide anyone. Even if a few more children were hidden, what could they possibly do? However, for Princess Cynthia’s safety, he remained on guard.

Cynthia wanted to step forward to speak with the girl of her own age, but was stopped by Viola. No matter how safe a situation appeared, she would not allow Cynthia to take even a slight risk.

“Are you hurt? Can you come down yourself? We are not bad people.” Viola nudged her horse forward and waited under the tree. She also happened to want to find a local to ask about the surrounding situation.

This wasn’t her territory, after all, nor was it within Francis’s sphere of influence yet.

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