Chapter 9

Not the Three Great Kings, but the Demon King’s limbs and three great demon tribes.

Abraxas.

This and that.

More of the same.

Among them, Abraxas was the youngest and a character familiar enough to remember by name.

‘I’ve forgotten the other two.’

Due to his careless nature, he was also the demon that would die first every time they tried to conquer the Demon King’s castle. The other two wouldn’t even come to the castle unless certain conditions were met.

‘Was visiting the imperial city a necessary condition to summon the other two great demons? It’s pretty useless and just increases enemies, so I intentionally avoided it.’

Then, he started to seem pathetic.

‘He was a character that signaled the start of the Demon Castle entry episode, so easy to kill in any scenario that you don’t even need to look up strategies….’

Looking at him with eyes full of pity, sorrow, sympathy, compassion, and disdain, Abraxas raised one eyebrow as if offended.

“What’s with that look?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Hmph, such a dirty look for the great Abraxas from a worthless human is quite impure!”

Abraxas’ red eyes glowed. That was clearly a sign that a great demon was about to use magic…

“Be quiet. You haven’t forgotten our agreement, have you?”

“Oh, yes, of course, Warrior. I said I would do anything if you just spared my life. Hehe.”

Abraxas, who had been glaring menacingly, quickly bowed and groveled before Adam.

The dignified appearance from before was nowhere to be seen; before me was just a sycophant kneeling before power.

Adam ignored him and said,

“Abraxas cannot defy my orders, so he won’t lay a hand on Eve.”

I thought it over and then asked a question.

In an empire where oaths are common, it wouldn’t be strange for a peasant girl to ask.

“Is that like an oath too?”

“Similar.”

Adam nodded in agreement and then said he had things to do, and left.

He added that there was no need to worry about Abraxas, and that I should not get too friendly with him.

‘Hmm, I wasn’t planning on getting friendly anyway…’

Warriores are scary, but humans are annoying.

Once Adam had left, Abraxas reverted to his appearance before Adam appeared.

Proud and living like a demon who loves himself too much.

“Hmm. A human, not even a Warrior, staying in the Demon King’s castle. You’ve got guts.”

Abraxas said, raising one eyebrow crookedly.

The foolish smile and the look as if he would lick the Warrior’s feet were gone.

“And now that I think about it, you’re the human I saw in the forest?”

“Huh?”

That’s when Abraxas pretended to recognize me.

“I tried to scare a young human who dared to enter the forest at night by just emitting some magic power, but you ran away. It was quite funny!”

Abraxas folded his body, bursting into laughter at his own incomprehensible words.

‘The forest at night?’

Could it be that the presence I felt last time was Abraxas’ magic power?

“That!”

Of course, I ran away scared because I thought I was alone!

It’s not just me, any normal person would have done the same.

“You turned as red as a beet.”

“…!!”

This demon was serious about teasing people.

I couldn’t tell if my face was burning with anger or embarrassment, it was so red.

Seeing this, Abraxas’ eyes crinkled as he giggled.

“Even your neck is red.”

“…And you have red eyes.”

“This is a symbol of the demon race! These red eyes signify one chosen to receive magic power from the Demon King! Unlike you, shaking and turning your whole body red.”

“…”

He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it.

Arguing with him felt like it would only draw me in deeper. This is why the old saying to not converse with demons is never wrong.

Demons are said to bewitch people.

Abraxas fidgeted beside me, trying to irritate me further, but I didn’t give in.

Finally, he gave up teasing and asked,

“So what did the Warrior tell you to do? He sends away all the loafing humans with his monsters, but what makes you special?”

Special, huh. If I had to say, I’m neither special nor a standout human.

The game has already ended, and I was just possessed by a normal village girl without knowing what happens after.

…Just a regular person who came to take care of the Warrior’s welfare?

I couldn’t say that outright, so I fudged the answer. He probably wouldn’t understand anyway.

“I’m here as a maid of the Demon King’s castle. I have to clean the castle. It’s too big for just one human to handle.”

At the mention of the Demon King’s castle, Abraxas’ eyes sparkled. He looked excited like a child who hears his favorite topic being mentioned.

“That’s right! The Demon King’s castle is bigger and grander than the castles of humans! Our Demon King is the best! Much better than those foolish human kings.”

Abraxas giggled as he compared our king to his.

“He’s dead anyway.”

I replied coldly.

Your house doesn’t have a king, does it? We do.

“Eek…! No! Our Demon King is alive! He just went to hell for a bit, he’ll be back soon!”

“More like heaven!”

I left him behind, repeating ‘No, no… It’s not!’ as I looked for cleaning tools.

After grabbing a broom and a mop, I briefly pondered.

Then, I graciously placed them in the hands of Abraxas, who was rolling on the floor, shedding tears.

‘Good luck, then.’

Abraxas, who had been causing a small ruckus, suddenly stood up.

“What are you talking about, human! Didn’t you say you came here to work?”

“Right?”

“Yeah! But why are you giving these to me!”

As expected, Abraxas threw the broom down in front of me in a rage.

Of course, since Adam had warned me, he couldn’t actually harm me.

Seeing this, I smiled triumphantly.

Abraxas flinched but did not back down.

I decided to kindly explain to him.

“But if the Warrior is the boss, then I’m the middle manager, right?”

And I pointed my thumb at Abraxas.

“You’re the low-level subcontractor.”

“What! I am a noble great demon……”

I scoffed at his timid resistance and then crossed my arms, tilting them slightly as I opened my mouth.

“Oh, is that so? Then I’ll call the Warrior and tell him that the great noble deserves better treatment, and that you want to serve by his side twenty-four hours a day!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I turned around. Less than a second later, the noble demon called out to me.

“Wait a moment!”

I got him. I strengthened my curling lips into a controlled expression and turned back with a demure look.

“What is it? Oh, noble great nobleman.”

“Well, I was going to ask where to start cleaning.”

“Hmm.”

The broom he had thrown away was now in his hands.

A very satisfactory… no, a worker’s posture.

“First, sweep and mop the entire inside of the Demon King’s castle, then come to report to me. Oh, and if I see even a speck of dust, I will inform the Warrior, so keep that in mind.”

“…I’ll be careful.”

He grumbled as he turned away, but went to do the task I had assigned without any proper argument.

After sending Abraxas away, I thought about what to do for Adam.

‘Should I make the dish I couldn’t deliver last time?’

I remembered the last time when the creatures ate all of it.

I thoroughly inspected the interior of the Demon King’s castle and then entered what seemed to be the kitchen.

“Ugh, there’s so much dust.”

It was actually surprising that there was a kitchen in the Demon King’s castle.

The castle had been built hundreds of years ago, and it seemed that no one, including the Demon King and his minions, had cooked there, but it existed presumably because it was modeled after other castles.

It seems that the Demon King’s taste is quite consistent, always appearing in the same castle.

‘There aren’t many ingredients.’

Green-sprouting potatoes, shriveled radishes, and dirt-covered, ancient-looking carrots…

I laid out the ingredients and after pondering for a bit, rolled up my sleeves.

‘I should do it like Ben did.’

But no strange spices!

Thus, the kitchen of the Demon King’s castle began to emit the smell of warm food for the first time in hundreds of years.