Chapter 176: Funeral (8)

After the funeral ceremony ended, I gathered my strength for a moment and rested. Since making Taffy my thrall, I hadn’t been able to fully accept her power, and we had to decide our course of action based on the hero Wolf’s strategy.

Thanks to that, our family had been living a regular life for a while. When we woke up in the morning, we gathered to eat breakfast, and until lunchtime, everyone handled their personal business. Sophia and Elena would rest beside me when their work finished early, and sometimes Isabel, who was learning about client-related tasks, would whine and cling to me.

On days she wasn’t on duty, Lumia naturally came over as our guest, helping with chores or having sex with me. For her, day and night weren’t particularly important factors when it came to sharing the pleasures of the flesh.

After finishing our tasks until evening, we’d all gather to chat or skim newspaper articles, trying to predict what might happen next. As dusk settled, Taffy, who had been sleeping deeply, would also wake up and stealthily join the conversation.

Sophia said.

“So, Master. Milia-nim is going to start making moves now. She’ll definitely contact you and show you some kind of action.”

“What kind of action?”

“Maybe she’ll suggest cooperation? You’ve gotten incredibly strong now, Master.”

It was definitely a night-and-day difference compared to the days I was begging Milia at the academy. Back then, I was a weak demon who’d get beaten up even by a passing succubus, but now, I’m strong enough to beat up and rape someone like Kelly, who was next to Milia.

I nodded at her words and said.

“Sounds plausible. So, should I just wait until Milia contacts me?”

“Wouldn’t that be best? Even though you’re strong, Master, our faction is the smallest in terms of scale. The other branch leaders have demon armies. But what do we have? We need to expand our influence a bit more right now.”

Lumia nodded and said.

“Sophia-yang is right. Evan-nim has gotten stronger, but it’s impossible for Evan-nim alone to defeat the ‘army’ of another faction. I think it’s best to cooperate with others to strengthen our influence right now.”

I looked at Lumia. After the priests died during the Northern Expedition, Lumia had been consistently receiving ‘love calls’ from within the Church. Elena looked at Lumia and said.

“Wouldn’t it mean we gain an ally if Lumia-shingwan holds a high position in the capital? Evan might not be able to use her for his usual wicked deeds, but she’d help take down other demons, right?”

I shook my head. My reason for not sending Lumia to the capital wasn’t personal. Although quite a few priests died during the last expedition, Alexander’s supporters still formed the absolute majority. As long as they were there, sending Lumia to the capital would be no different than throwing her into the jaws of a tiger.

“Not yet. We need to wait a little longer. There are still too many of Saint Alexander’s cronies within the Church. Besides, it’s uncertain whether the moderates will support Lumia. It would be great if we could wipe out Alexander’s gang, or if there was an incident that would make the moderates unconditionally support Lumia. But there isn’t one.”

“I. Can kill.”

Taffy asked. I shook my head vigorously and squeezed her cheek.

“Taffy. Thank you for the thought. But it’s too dangerous. We don’t need to do anything risky. Even if our influence is small, we’re in an advantageous position.”

Taffy was a good kid who wouldn’t do something if told not to. When I gently reasoned with her, her eyes sparkled as she nodded. Isabel looked at Rat Trap and said.

“What about the Thieves Guild? You said Fabian was the boss there, right? Since Fabian was Evan’s friend, is there any chance we could get help or have them on our side?”

Rat Trap shook her head at Isabel’s question.

“I don’t know. The Thieves Guild itself acts more like an intermediary, so I suspect they’ll just continue working with the new master.”

“That’s not good. The Flancia family is still trying to kill me, you know. If they suddenly put out another assassination request to the Thieves Guild, even bigger players than before might show up this time.”

“There’s definitely a possibility of that.”

Rat Trap didn’t deny my concern. Isabel looked uneasy at her nonchalant attitude, and Elena shot Rat Trap a slight glare before saying to me.

“Did Alice send a letter? Now that the hero incident is over, shouldn’t she be able to visit home?”

“She seems to still be busy. I haven’t received any letters since the one last week. They say the legal procedures for distributing the assets of those dead heroes’ families are incredibly complicated, but I don’t understand any of it. Is she that busy?”

“If it’s a legal matter, she’d be busy. Even when I was at the Flancia main family’s estate, the people working in the legal department always had dark circles under their eyes.”

“I hope Alice doesn’t get any scars on her face.”

As I said that, I reached out to Alice’s face floating in the air. Pale skin and red hair. A somewhat sharp expression, and dark circles under her eyes that added a touch of weariness. In my mind, I imagined undressing her sculpted body, and then having her panting during a back-alley encounter.

“No, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.”

“Trash.”

“Demon.”

Elena and Sophia threw in their remarks as if they had been waiting. I pouted, feeling Elena’s ‘Trash’ comment was too harsh, and gently ruffled Sophia’s hair as I said.

“Hey, you’re a demon yourself, so how can you use ‘demon’ as an insult? Try using a more demon-like curse.”

“Master. There’s no such thing as a ‘demon-like curse.’ Milia-nim also took ‘trash’ as an insult, and she really hated being called ‘bad’ or ‘loose’!”

I couldn’t really imagine Milia cursing. She seemed to be a woman who acted as elegantly as she looked. I asked Sophia.

“You said Milia came from the human world too, right? A long time ago?”

Sophia nodded. According to her explanation, Milia was the type of demon who lived in the human world long ago, became a demon, and had been living in the demon world ever since. I wondered if her elegant fashion and cigarettes, which gave off a strong vibe of the entertainment district, were learned during her human days?

I recalled my memories from the academy. Back then, Milia had talked about love and justice. Despite being a demon, she believed in those old values and even told me to prove my worthiness of love.

Whether it was me, spouting about love and justice, or her, claiming to believe in love and justice, we were both quite peculiar demons in many ways. I pictured her face and her elegant purple hair. I also remembered her faint purple eyes, like embedded amethysts.

“She was a strange woman, wasn’t she.”

As I said that, I took a breath. A faint floral scent tickled my nose. I sniffed and turned my head. Taffy was looking around curiously, and Lumia blinked and stretched her back.

Isabel and Elena, sensing the change in atmosphere, awkwardly looked around, while Rat Trap naturally stood in front of Isabel, placing a hand on her hip. Sophia said with a smile.

“Ah, this… I’ve definitely felt this somewhere before.”

“Excuse me-.”

Along with a knock, a decadent voice swept through the lobby. I couldn’t forget that voice. As soon as I signaled, Elena, Isabel, and Rat Trap quickly left the room. It was a signal we had agreed upon among ourselves for urgent situations.

Lumia opened a drawer to confirm the presence of holy water, while Sophia looked back and forth between me and the door, demanding my response. Taffy, who had been sitting askew, got up and asked.

“Are we going to fight?”

The question of fighting Milia, the Demon World’s branch leader, came out so casually. Her question made me feel incredibly reassured, and I chuckled, remembering how I used to grovel subserviently at the academy.

“Let’s hear her out first. See what she has to say.”

We could have ambushed her, but I didn’t know Milia’s intentions yet. She had told me she believed in words like love and justice. I was using those old words like a motto. Milia had spared my life once before.

My power had grown to a level Milia couldn’t easily mess with, and I had holy water stocked in the drawer just in case I needed to throw it at her. Therefore, I thought I should try talking to Milia. I said to Taffy.

“Taffy. Just in case. Hide upstairs, and if the person coming in now does anything strange, attack immediately.”

Taffy nodded, then became a shadow and ascended. Lumia met my eyes, nodded, and slipped a vial of holy water into her sleeve.

I said to Sophia.

“Sophia. Open the door.”

“Okay-.”

Sophia approached the door with a reluctant expression. From beyond the door, I heard a deep exhale, as if someone was smoking. Sophia, still holding the doorknob, looked back at me and asked.

“Are you sure you want me to open it?”

“Yeah. Open it.”

And the door opened.

Standing there was the same woman I had seen before. The Succubus Queen, Milia. She strolled leisurely through the lobby, dressed in flamboyant attire and a fur coat. She swayed her cigarette holder, surveying the ceiling and the room, then looked at me and said.

“Hello, Evan. It’s been a really long time since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?”

“What brings you here? You told me to come find you myself.”

Milia chuckled upon hearing my informal speech. She took another drag from her cigarette and replied.

“Evan. You used to call me Milia-nim when you were at the academy, but you’ve lost your cuteness? Has your love grown cold? I’m a little disappointed……”

She said that with a pout. But the twitch at the corner of her lips made me doubt her sincerity.

“I told you I wanted to become a dignified man. Milia. Right? Isn’t it enough to have my thralls act cute in front of you? As your husband, I need to show you a strong side. What do you think? Are you somewhat satisfied with this?”

I flexed my biceps and winked. As I said that, Milia threw her cigarette into the air and laughed.

“As expected, Evan is amusing. Well, I didn’t come here today to settle things, so you don’t need to be so tense.”

Milia sized me up. She blinked, emitting a faint demonic aura, then nodded and said.

“There’s something I need your help with.”