Chapter 149: Small Change (11)

[A Terrible Defeat and Massacre in the North.]

The few surviving stragglers died in their nightmares, leaving behind a single scream begging for their lives as their last words. The media, busy gathering the soldiers who barely escaped from the North to grasp the situation, were churning out articles filled with sensational and gruesome descriptions.

[Commander Aliod, famous as a relative of the Hero Wolf, was caught while fleeing the battle against demons and brutally murdered. The adjutants, composed of Wolf’s relatives and those of his supporters, were also killed during their escape. The priests recommended by Saint Alexander were also hit by the demons’ bombardment and died miserably, while the magic cannons supplied by the Mobius Magic Tower reportedly malfunctioned and exploded without even being used properly.]

Each and every sentence was filled with elements that diminished the standing of the hero’s party. Alexander, while reading the newspaper, pondered on what on earth he should do. This was because the situation had taken a bizarre turn. According to the original plan, Wolf’s relatives and his supporters who dealt with the imps should have been welcomed as second heroes and solidified their position in the capital.

The enemy was imps. Imps were just such beings that could be wiped out in an instant if accompanied by high priests.

That’s why the subpar adjutants were forcibly included in the war.

The defeat and annihilation were the worst possible outcome he hadn’t foreseen. This was because Alexander’s position had become awkward. If he were to lead troops out now to deal with the imps, that itself would paint a strange picture. It would look as if he deliberately sent his supporters into a death trap to eliminate rising stars, wouldn’t it?

Alexander, along with apology letters to other families, explaining that his intentions weren’t like that, was busy appeasing the nobles who had lost family members. To him, the inconvenience of the nobles was more important than the people being killed in the North.

*****

Mobius was in a predicament of his own. The reason he had received so much state budget and donations until now was the expectation that his research would play a crucial role in the upcoming battles against the Demon Realm or wars. However, as the magic cannons created by him and his research team were destroyed without achieving anything, he was left worrying about the donations coming into the Magic Tower.

The budget cuts were, in a way, understandable.

So, Mobius closed the Magic Tower and accelerated his research. Because finishing his current research quickly was more important than people dying. The North was someone else’s problem. Ultimately, it was someone else’s problem.

If the research was completed, nothing else would matter.

*****

In a luxurious room at the academy, laughter could be heard. Peeking inside through the open door, an elegant woman with her purple hair tied up could be seen examining a newspaper with a smirk. She was wiggling her bare toes, not even wearing socks, and a fat, old man was massaging her feet.

He, sweating profusely, said to the woman.

“M-Madam Milia. The massage is finished. Hehehe……. Th-the reward you mentioned……”

Milia, who had been reading the newspaper, looked at the man with a smiling face. A portrait looking exactly like the man was hanging on the front wall of the room, and his name was engraved on a golden nameplate.

[Academy Principal. Princy F Princy]

To Milia, the fact that the principal was giving her a foot massage, and him clinging to her like a dog asking for a reward, were amusing. She said, folding the newspaper article.

“Yes, you did well. I should give you your reward. Kneel here.”

“Uhehehehe….!”

The principal was a man who emphasized the academy’s spirit, saying one should never kneel to anyone at the academy. However, his knees were utterly insignificant before the power of a demon and lust. Like a dog waiting for its food, as the principal knelt down, Milia lightly tapped the man’s forehead with her foot.

“Uoohhh!”

A purple aura erupted from the principal’s body, and was absorbed through her toes. Milia caressed her fair thighs and straight legs revealed beneath her skirt, and nodded. The principal trembled violently before collapsing onto the floor, gasping for breath, and knelt again with an ecstatic expression.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yes! Thank you! Madam Milia! Ask me to do anything from now on!”

The slave to lust, seemingly forgetting he was the principal, shouted in a servile and passionate tone. The pleasure the Succubus Queen brought by absorbing his essence was immense. Milia said with a laugh.

“Then get out for now.”

“Yes!”

The principal disappeared out the door with a speed unbelievable for his massive build. Milia reopened the newspaper and said into the air,

“Kelly.”

At her call, a blonde succubus appeared out of thin air. Her abs and tanned skin were attractive even to Milia. Kelly knelt before Milia and said.

“Command me.”

“Kelly. Have you heard about the incident in the North this time? An army marched into the North to catch the imps, but they were annihilated instead.”

Kelly nodded and said.

“Yes. I heard. It’s a pathetic story. To be annihilated by imps, I wouldn’t have gone down so futilely.”

She was the type among succubi who particularly overestimated her own combat abilities. Hearing her boastful remark, Milia chuckled and shook her head.

“Kelly. If you try to judge the world so simply, you’ll surely get yourself into big trouble. Think about it. Whose land was the North originally?”

“It was the land of the Beast King Baara. I heard rumors that he was a fearsome warrior, but those rumors were all false…”

Milia cut her off.

“Whoever that Imp is, the story is that Baara, who rose to the position of branch leader, was defeated anyway. Moreover, they annihilated the human army, and high priests were included among the humans. Shouldn’t we consider the Imp’s skill not as boasting, but as genuine strength?”

Kelly wore an embarrassed expression and avoided Milia’s gaze. Milia said to Kelly.

“What was our original plan?”

“It was a plan to seize control of the academy, use the academy’s teachers, gradually brainwash the students within the academy, and then use these students to take over the entire kingdom.”

“That’s right. Kelly. How far has our plan progressed?”

“The academy faculty has all been taken over, and now the stage remains to lure the students to our side. Succubi are being enrolled disguised as students, then engaging in fake relationships or secret prostitution. Most priests are also under control. If we maintain this status quo for about 5 to 10 years, we can build the foundation to swallow this entire country.”

“Right. If we just watch each other and wait for the right time, that’s how it will happen, but…”

Milia said so while shaking the newspaper. The newspaper contained an article about the destructive Imp Drak-Sai. Milia said.

“We don’t have time to watch each other anymore. Until now, we’ve been playing it safe, but this inconsiderate Imp has suddenly fired the starting gun, hasn’t he? This means we have to speed things up too. From this moment on, other branch leaders will start moving. That vampire hiding in the East, and that Baphomet in the West, they will all try to expand their influence and raise their names in their own ways.”

“Then what should we do?”

“We need to shift our focus elsewhere. Since we’ve established a base at the academy, we now need to expand our influence in other regions entirely. From what I’ve researched, there’s a place in the West called the Amaranth Educational Institute… It seems like a good place to infiltrate our people, as they periodically proselytize to others and it’s quite a secluded location.”

“Is that so? You mean…”

Milia placed her hand on Kelly’s head and said.

“Kelly. Go scope out the situation. You can do it, right?”

Kelly nodded and glanced sideways. Her gaze landed on a small portrait of Evan. As Kelly’s eyes moved to the frame, Milia tapped the frame with a smile and said.

“Did you hear that this one just got married to the Flancia family? To grow this much as a demon, I feel somewhat proud as a fellow kin, perhaps? It feels strange. He still can’t compare to me… but I wonder if he’ll really come to propose to me?”

Kelly gritted her teeth. She remembered the moment Milia took her as her subordinate. The sweet gaze and affection she had given her back then were vivid in her memory.

She didn’t like Milia focusing her attention on Evan. She suppressed her surging jealousy and said.

“Then, I’ll be back.”

“Alright. Go and come back.”

With Milia’s farewell, Kelly disappeared. Milia hummed a tune and put a long pipe tobacco in her mouth. She blew out smoke, threw herself onto the sofa, and laughed, facing the ceiling.

“Who will win? Evan? Who will take the Demon King’s seat?”

Milia asked herself the question and burst into laughter.