At this moment, Gerard was still rushing on horseback, driven to the brink of madness under the influence of drugs. His sanity was slipping away bit by bit, and only he knew how long it would take to arrive.
Under the setting sun in the Demon Lord’s Castle, a silver-haired girl wearing a white dress and a sun hat was inspecting the experimental fields. She paced back and forth like a lion patrolling its territory, no longer the delicate and fragile figure she appeared as in front of her beloved.
Instead, she looked like a determined career woman. She bent down and crouched, her blood-red eyes fixed on the withered seedlings. Her slender jade-like hand gently touched them, but with no sign of life, she naturally felt a bit distressed, as if her efforts had been in vain.
Raising her gaze again, she saw that every single plant around had died without exception—there was absolutely no harvest to speak of. Apart from learning the lesson that foreign plants could not survive in this land, at the very least she now understood the reality. Sigh.
Even the hardiest grain-producing plants on this continent couldn’t take root here? What kind of cursed place was this?
She picked up a withered seedling and held it in her palm, silently standing up as countless thoughts raced through her mind. A trace of sorrow flickered in her eyes.
Was the land ravaged by black mist really that barren? Like a forbidden zone for life? Could the only option be to bring in fresh soil from outside? But even that wouldn’t work; it would soon become corrupted by the black mist again. After all, this environment was simply like this…
Treating the symptom, not the root.
Unless they made a massive upheaval to completely change the environment, but just the thought of it seemed impossible—absurd even. Whether in terms of manpower or resources, the Demon Lord’s Castle was far from capable.
And besides, Sig’s wallet wouldn’t stand for it either.
For this reason, she felt a sudden wave of despair, unsure of what to do. She didn’t want to disappoint Sig’s expectations of her.
But it really wasn’t possible. The reality was that harsh.
Could it be that they would have to eat monsters? That would be too outrageous.
However, it wasn’t entirely impossible, as long as it didn’t kill them… she gradually came to understand everything. Living was better than dying.
Besides, although those monsters were poisonous, Sig might have a way to deal with it. After all, he had said that the demon clan relied on monsters and insect tribes for daily life. For now, plans to cultivate grain were off the table; there was no time. A distant solution wouldn’t quench the immediate thirst, so urgent relief was the priority. The food they brought was nearly gone, and at most they could hold out for a little longer before needing a new solution to supplement supplies.
She decided to find a time to ask Sig, hoping he would bring some good news.
Speak of the devil, Sig arrived just then. His attire was plain to the extreme: linen undershirt and coat, torn linen pants, cheap street stall goods. His handsome face wore a carefree expression as he walked leisurely, yawning from apparent sleepiness. Whether by chance or design, he seemed to be passing by.
Beside him followed a green-haired girl like a persistent fly—Liv—buzzing incessantly in his ear.
Seeing her ingratiating attitude and coquettish gestures, as if she was using every skill she had ever learned, but with little effect. Even a glance from him failed to stir any interest, only annoyance. Probably Hakimi had been desensitized by Emilia.
When he saw Emilia, a slight glow appeared in his pupils, and he perked up a bit, raising his hand in greeting.
“Emilia, how’s it going on your side? The results… never mind, that was rude of me to ask.”
As soon as he said it, he quickly sensed something was wrong. His brow furrowed, and he fell silent, staring at the endless experimental field—lifeless, barren, with not a trace of green, a textbook example of failure, but also expected.
There was nothing much to say. He had long anticipated this. After all, as a Demon Lord, he had once tried to improve this place, to change it and make the demon clan stronger. Unfortunately, he had eventually given up, having tried many methods without exception, all ending in failure after failure.
He concluded that the previous ten or so Demon Lords had ignored this place for a reason. He trusted the wisdom of the ancients—they never lied. Yet, for some unclear reason, he held a vague expectation for the girl.
He came over beside her, snapped back to reality, and gently comforted her. He reached out with a warm hand to lightly pat her fragrant shoulder, smiling with reassurance, without a trace of mockery.
It wasn’t like before; if it had been his former self, he might have been sarcastic.
“It’s okay. As long as you did your best, truly for me, for the Demon Lord’s Castle, I won’t blame you. Emilia, sometimes the result isn’t what matters—it’s the process. Failure isn’t scary as long as you don’t lose faith in moving forward. So if there’s anything you want to say to me, I can tell just by your expression.”
“Thank you, Sig. I’m fine, no need to worry. I do have something I wanted to ask you about the monsters and insect tribes in the black mist. As a demon, do you have any experience with eating them? How do you handle their poison? Magic? Or steaming, boiling, frying, roasting? How long does it take? Are there standards? Could you tell me?”
Hearing this, she felt her heart warm slightly and smiled softly, but she didn’t hold back, pressing on with questions.
After thinking for a moment, he came to a conclusion. His eyes became hollow like an abyss of despair as he recalled past hardships, which led him to hardly be picky anymore. Those who could eat monsters were no different from “Old Eight” who ate excrement.
“Eat them raw. At first, I tried cooking them, but later found it too troublesome. I just use magic to process them simply and eat. As long as it doesn’t kill you, that’s good enough.”
“But monsters are poisonous, Sig.”
This shocked the girl greatly. She hadn’t expected it to be so wild. She thought the demon clan’s survival to now was truly bizarre. By all logic… well, the demon clan itself was already unreasonable.
“Poison? Does that even exist? Maybe, but we’re born and bred here, basically immune to that kind of stuff.”
Seeing this, he shrugged indifferently and gave what he thought was a reasonable explanation. His words were rough but made sense; that was just how it was.
His words inspired Emilia slightly. Suddenly, as if a heavy mental block had been lifted after days of constipation, a spark of insight hit her. She grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him while repeating:
“Sig, you’re a genius, a genius! How could I have forgotten? Native-born things are the only ones that can withstand the test. You guys are… exactly! That means deep in the black mist, there must be food adapted to this environment. If we can find it, we can mass-produce it and solve the current food crisis in the Demon Lord’s Castle. Even if it’s poisonous, we can select the ones with weaker toxins and continue cultivating until they’re edible. During this process, we might need your magic to assist in accelerating the ripening.”
She looked serious, and Sig didn’t dodge the point either. Nodding thoughtfully, he took Liv by the arm as a shield—he had no intention of doing the hard work himself. After all, he needed to save his energy to protect Emilia.
Naturally, Liv became the most suitable candidate.
“Liv, after raising you this long, you can finally be useful. This task is in your hands. It’s a great mission, so do it well—no funny business.”
He paused and handed Emilia a button as well, explaining.
“Press this, and Liv’s head will explode.”
With this, the plan was set. They would dispatch the trained militia into the black mist to secure water sources and search for food supplies.