“Demon King, the eastern families have announced their submission to you. This is their letter swearing loyalty!”
Kurei handed a letter sealed with the eastern families’ crest to Via.
At this moment, Kurei was no longer just a maid in the royal court; she had also taken on secretarial duties.
“Only the letter of declaration?”
Via picked up the letter and flipped it over twice in her hands.
“The families also invite you to personally visit the east to accept their allegiance,” Kurei explained. “They say there will be no resistance and will present all the resources under their control as gifts. They only hope you will spare their lives and not exterminate them completely.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll pick a suitable time.”
Via smiled upon hearing that the eastern families were showing sincerity.
“Congratulations, Demon King! With this, the Desolate Fallen Continent is basically pacified!” Kurei said excitedly.
After the great battle at Starlight Palace, the leaders of the ancient families had all fallen, and the new Demon King Via was born. Via had reorganized the royal court under her own name and sent subordinates to recapture the Demon King’s Castle. She planned to rebuild the ruins and restore the old capital.
Although news of the new Demon King’s succession had spread throughout the Desolate Fallen Continent, it did not mean everyone would recognize this Demon King.
In the minds of most demons, Via was just some youngster who had appeared out of nowhere claiming to be the successor of Demon King Ville.
Among demonkind, strength had always been respected above all else. Naturally, many refused to accept Via.
Via herself understood this clearly. Mere rumors and stories would never convince everyone. After taking the throne, she would use overwhelming force to make the rest of demonkind realize that only she could sit upon the throne of the Demon King of the Desolate Fallen Continent.
Unlike her previous life as Demon King Ville, when she had acted as a mediator resolving conflicts between regions, this time she would make her name as a conqueror.
Thus, she led the new royal court members on a campaign to pacify every region of the Desolate Fallen Continent—from south to north, from west to east.
By demonstrating absolute, crushing strength, she forced those who still dreamed of resistance to face reality.
Now, even the last holdouts in the east had sworn fealty, and a new order had been established across the Desolate Fallen Continent.
Little Ha crawled out from under the desk and jumped onto Via’s lap. “Meow~”
She had now become the undisputed Demon King of demonkind.
Though this little creature was still just an ordinary cat, in terms of status she was anything but ordinary—she was the sole mascot of the royal court.
To others it seemed unbelievable that a cat could join the royal court, but only Via knew how hard Little Ha had worked to follow her all this way.
“Kurei, has Melu returned yet?” Via asked while stroking Little Ha’s head.
“Melu? I think someone mentioned she would be back today…”
Kurei had only spoken halfway when a knock sounded at the door.
**Knock knock knock!**
“Demon King, it’s me!” Melu’s voice came from outside.
“Melu, come in.”
Melu opened the door and entered the Demon King’s office, bowing politely.
Like Kurei, she had followed Via from the very beginning and now held a high position. She had replaced the late Hels as aide, becoming one of the Demon King’s right hands.
Although the work of an aide was heavy and a bit tiresome for the laid-back Melu, she was still happy to serve the Demon King.
“Demon King, here is the list of royal court members.”
Melu placed a roster in front of Via, then pulled out more documents from the large stack she had brought.
“Demon King, these are the results of the public opinion survey, and here is the situation regarding bandit activity in each region…”
Looking at the mountain of paperwork, Via felt as if she had returned to her previous life, buried under endless official duties.
She picked up one document at random—the public survey—and fell into thought.
The Desolate Fallen Continent was in such chaos, with bandits running rampant everywhere. Even if one wave was wiped out, another would soon spring up in its place.
At its root, the Desolate Fallen Continent simply lacked resources. Working honestly could never compare to the speed and ease of plunder.
Was there any way to solve this?
She pondered the question. Since she intended to lead demonkind and change the current state of the Desolate Fallen Continent, relying solely on violence would leave things no different from before.
“Demon King, would you like to consult the all-powerful Abyssal Demoness?” Kurei suggested quietly when she saw Via looking troubled.
“It has been a while since I last visited Lady Sashaya.” Via set the documents down and stood up. “You’re right. I’ve been traveling with the rest of the royal court members these past days. I’ll clear my entire afternoon schedule.”
The moment Via stepped into the witch’s manor, a crowd of adorable dolls swarmed around her, bouncing and jumping at her side.
“Welcome, welcome, welcome!”
“Little ones, where is Lady Sashaya?” Via asked the witch’s familiars.
“Lady Sashaya is taking her afternoon nap!” the familiars answered in unison.
“Then please take me to her.”
“Okay~!”
The dolls led Via deeper into the manor.
This was not the original manor in the Thousand Sea Abyss. Via had granted the Abyssal Demoness a separate plot of land in the Demon King’s name, allowing Sashaya to transform it however she wished into her new witch’s manor.
Via had come here today specifically to pay a visit about certain matters.
“Here we are, here we are!”
The dolls stopped.
Via peered through the slightly ajar door and saw the petite witch lying on the sofa with a book covering her face, completely still, as if asleep.
She did not wake Sashaya. Instead, she held back her laughter, walked silently to the sofa, and simply stood there watching without making a sound.
After ten minutes had passed, Sashaya irritably pulled the book off her face.
“Pretending to sleep is over, Lady Sashaya?” Via laughed.
“I’m truly impressed. If you had woken me up, I would at least have had an excuse to kick you out. I can’t believe you actually waited.” Sashaya sighed and sat up.
“I shouldn’t be that annoying, right?”
“You didn’t bring me along when you went out to fight, but the moment the fighting ends you come looking for me. You must have some troublesome matter you want my help with.” Sashaya saw through Via’s intentions at a glance. “Can I refuse?”
“That wouldn’t be very nice, Lady Sashaya. You are the chief archmage of our royal court now. You can’t just do nothing, can you?”
Sashaya looked somewhat helpless. “Fine. Tell me—what exactly do you need my help with?”